#though that may also be because I’m listening to the music from the actual scene right now

[quibbs126]

My brain has basically fully convinced itself that Megatron is going to die in the Transformers One sequels, specifically in self sacrifice to defeat the Quintessons

It keeps appearing in my brain, it’s basically solidified itself as a concept now

[ch6sos]

random choso headcanons

i <3 choso i <3 making odd ball headcanons so here u guys go

content warning mentions of "metabolism", social anxiety/anxiety (not bad though) + motion sickness, and this is not proofread and lowercase so if any of those Like makes you tingle please don't read this my sweet

he’s emo as hell, he listens to emo music. now he's the one i actually imagine listening to my chemical romance, pierce the veil, etc. (bc with nanami I feel like he'd listen to more 80s-90s rock music but this isn't about my first husband)

he suffers from insomnia and finds it difficult to sleep unless he has someone he cares about in the room or at least snuggling with him.

peacemaker: he is a peacemaker when it comes to his brothers.

"hey yuji, you should really share with him. "

"no!"

"yuji...." 

"fine."

he has an earthy aroma—he often uses colognes with earthy notes that are not overpowering (i  think he might be sensitive to strong scents).

i imagine him experiencing motion sickness. for some reason, i imagine him feeling dizzy in a car, or being unable to handle a rollercoaster without feeling extremely unwell.

would probably work at your local hot topic especially if this was set during the 2000s era where hot topic was actually catered to the alternative scene. or a tattoo shop!

several piercings. on his left ear, he has an industrial, a triple lobe piercing, and a conch— his right having a double helix piercing, a tragus, and a single lobe piercing.... and then he has an eyebrow piercing and a labret piercing :)

enjoys watching christmas movies because a lot of them are about family!

deeply family-oriented, he genuinely just wants to grow up with a family. a big one, too.

thus he may have a fear of being alone, which makes me believe that he is introverted but also genuinely afraid of ending up alone as he grows older. he values the presence of family and wants to ensure that they always surround him.

he comes across as a bit shy initially, not necessarily awkward, but it takes some time to get to know him.

still not too talkative but genuinely chill to talk to.

has a lot of accessories when he wears outfits, especially bracelets or necklaces. 

black is what you find in his closet. just black (and a couple of purples and reds but mainly black)

he be thrifting them outfit pieces too idc idc he not a shein warrior

is a bit insecure about his dark circles and markings on his face (i could imagine he still has the markings but they look more like a scar rather than what it looks like in the actual manga/anime) so he begins to cover them up with concealer sometimes.

eats a LOT of junk food and somehow doesn't gain weight. bro probably can eat a whole box of pizza with wings and doesn't even gain a pound.

he is genuinely clueless/oblivious when it comes to relationships like he doesn't know when someone's flirting with him unless they tell them straight up. and when they tell him he's like:

"...oh! me...?" because he genuinely thinks, “wow, someone likes me?!?!”

plus he would ask before initiating even after being in a relationship

“do… do you mind if i kiss you?”

“cho we’ve been dating for five months”

“oh… i’m sorry for asking… again.”

spends a lot of time on his hair !!! he has to wake up early sometimes just to do his hair. and he doesn't plan on cutting it, only trims it once in a while.

when he's home he either has it down or has it in a ponytail. he even has a silk pillowcase so it never gets frizzy.

cats or dogs— no. he likes turtles. he even has a pet turtle.

i think that he wouldn't vape or smoke the way people might expect him to. i believe he may have a weak immune system, which would make it difficult for him to engage in such activities.

socially anxious as hell bro tweaks out when he has to order at a restaurant... 

but overall he’s an anxious person, i feel like he’d suffer from anxiety a lot (as someone who has anxiety i just can tell he’d be the type to have it too)

when he dates someone he's really touchy with them because he craves physical touch. he especially enjoys when someone plays with his hair he falls asleep in a millisecond.

he loves sketching in a notebook, he loves drawing nature a lot! he likes going to the park or a forest and drawing what he sees. he also enjoys drawing people and i imagine he always draws pictures of yuji too, and he shows them to him.

tease him and his face is red, his eyes are widened, and his face is in absolute shock...

literally the sweetest guy ever; he's always looking out for everyone and makes sure everyone around him is okay

he's always cold thus needs someone to cuddle him.

is fascinated by some amphibians and watches national geographic sometimes when he knows they're going to talk about amphibians. especially frogs!

his most used app on his Black iPhone 13 Pro Max would be Spotify and he is top 0.1% listener for some underrated metal band

creative hobbies more than physical hobbies (sketching, journaling, sewing)

HE CROCHETS IDC WHAT ANYONE SAYS HE LITERALLY MADE A CROCHET ROSE FOR YUKI I D O NOT GIVE A DAMN 

when he laughs it's like a silent soft chuckle, and he usually covers his mouth when he does it

gets emotional easily, especially when he receives love. for a long time, he couldn’t believe that he would ever be loved so when he is receiving affection he gets overwhelmed and tries not to cry because he thinks “how?? why me?”

he loves holding hands. he tries not to freak out but when someone holds his hands when he’s freaking out or just in general, he loves the feeling of their warm hands against his very cold ones

apologises alot even though everything is not his fault

when he’s mad he needs time to cool off especially because he gets emotional easily. he needs time to himself before calming down before discussing his emotions with someone.

speaking of emotions, i don’t think he’d be bad at expressing emotions or speaking about it, at first yes but he begins to grow better at it and plus sometimes the way he shows emotion is more impulsive and involuntary rather than on purpose

listens more than talks because he is too busy getting sidetracked by his own thoughts or he genuinely can't talk to people sometimes

he has a fidget toy because he is always fidgeting with his fingers so yuji got him a fidget toy (probably a fidget spinner) and was fascinated with it and it didn’t help it just something he distracts himself with when he doesn’t feel like being present in a conversation or just in general

cried when yuji graduated and gave him the hugest hug of his life. and i don’t mean a few tears he BAWLED he was bawling because he was so proud of his little brother.

spends time with yuji a lot sometimes more than his own friends and they always go to the arcade or mall together

yuji got him a picture frame of him and choso posing and choso cried for several days because he couldn’t believe he has such an amazing brother

learns gen z lingo just for yuji

“oh yuji! that was very w rizz of you!”

“...what?”

“i didn’t know you had that much aura!”

I  Love Him

Missing him come back emo king

[pinkberrytea]

✨Writing Interview Tag Game✨

Eeee tysm for the tag @nyx-knox and @honeybee-bard! 🥹🙌❣️

When did you start writing?

I used to write fanfiction when I was 13 years old, but as an adult, this is actually my first time dabbling in creative writing! I released my first work back in April, crazy to think it’s been barely four months since I started!

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Horror and mystery are actually my favorite genres, though I'm not sure I'd be able to pull either off? I should give it a go one day, maybe!

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

To be honest any comparisons at all would make me plenty happy since I barely consider myself a writer 😅 There are some people in the fandom who are endless sources of inspiration for me though, all authors in my recs list and ao3 bookmarks, for starters.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

No BG3 merch sadly, yet!

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Just daydreaming honestly. Also listening to music helps plenty! Researching lore and brainstorming ideas with friends too. But mostly just daydreaming!

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Hurt and comfort, and also angst. Lots of it, for some reason. It does surprise me how angsty all my writing ends up coming across, but I try to balance it out with some melodramatic fluff, I guess? I do want to try my hand at some less serious/more lighthearted themes eventually though, branch out a little!

What is your reason for writing?

Coping, mostly. Also as a sort of therapy, to sort out my feelings about themes that are important to me and that I’ve been processing through media. And no less relevant, simply as a self-indulgent outlet! I write what I myself would like to read.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Every single comment is incredibly motivating for me, but of course, I do twirl my hair and kick my feet whenever someone tells me about which passages they liked the best and how they specifically felt about a certain scene. Also, whenever people pick up on a detail I was sure would go by unnoticed!

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I want my readers to think of me as a friend, as someone who is always accessible and up for talking about writing, be it mine or just in general!

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Oh, this is a toughie. I have a very flowery and verbose style, though I’m not sure that’s a strength? I guess it could be, depending on your preferences. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword, really.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I don’t think highly of it from a technical standpoint, but I do pour my heart and soul into every single piece, and that makes them all special to me.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I can sincerely say I write mostly for myself, otherwise I wouldn’t even be able to write anything at all because I don’t think I could live up to anyone’s expectations. Though of course, the feedback I receive on a piece may in fact influence whether I feel inspired to expand on it or just move on to something new. Even if I’m typically my own main target audience, comments are always greatly appreciated!

No pressure tags ✨ @locallegume, @judasiskariot, @inkymoonbunny, @starryjuicebox and @kalmiaphlox!

[spork-supremacy]

Thunder bringer

Okay so I like Epic the Musical and when listening to the Thunder saga when it came out, and when listening to Thunder Bringer I thought "Hehe, this could so be a Ras convincing Jay thing," mind you this was pre-DRs2-Pt2 leaks so no actual spoiler just a kinda verbal animatic I made through ✨notation✨, less of an actual analysis.

“Pride is a damsel in distress

Hiding away where only I can undress her

Try all she can not to confess in the end

It's all the same once I

Apply all the pressure”

(in context this line is zeus mocking odysseus so of course he’s comparing pride to a ‘helpless woman’) 

In my context pretty much the same thing but it’s Ras mocking Jay in front of the other administration agents

Just imaging him circling Jay as he tries to intimidate him

“Thunder, bring her through the wringer

Show her I'm the judgement call

The one who makes her kingdom fall”

I’m thinking Ras sicks Jordana and Cinder, and the other wolf warriors on the agents and kinda forces Jay’s hand into revealing his power

Also the ‘her’ quickly changes from meaning pride to referring to both it and jay real quickly

“Lightning, wield her, use and yield her

Show her what she can't conceal

For true nature will be revealed”

Continuation of above thought

Tries to convince Jay to join through showing how he could gain by showing the respect/fear he could earn from others

“Tell me, Odysseus

If I were to make you choose

The lives of your men and crew or your own

Why do I think they'd lose?”

Jay doesn’t give two shits about his job and probably doesn’t like most of the agents, finding them annoying or incompetent, but they are all he has so he can’t admit it.

“Enlighten me, King of Ithaca

Since hunger was far too great

I wonder who'd take the weight of the damned

And suffer a gruesome fate to the

Thunder Bringer, here to ring your

Ears until your deaf with fear and

Spear you while your death is near

Lighting wielder, here to yield your

Time for you have passed your prime

Sublime you for your act of crime”

(these last lines are about eating divine cows and getting punished for it, consequences yay)

Once again more battle scenes as jay slowly losing control of his power as he had been repressing it before.

There could be a good chance the administration or just Jay, betrayed the wolf clan or cheated them in some deal so this could be punishment.

[ZEUS, spoken](Ras stand in)

Choose

[ODYSSEUS, spoken](Jay stand in)

Choose?

[ZEUS]

“Someone's got to die today

And you have got the final say

You?

Or your crew?”

[ODYSSEUS]

“Please don't make me do this

Don't make me do this”

-Jay still has a conscience and prefers most consequences of his actions being more of an indirect result.

[SOLDIERS, Penelope]

“When does a comet become a meteor?

When does a candle become a blaze?”

“ (I can take the suffering from you)”-Penelope bit

“When does a man become a monster?

When does a ripple become a tidal wave?

When does the reason become the blame?

 (Let me take the suffering from...)

When does a man become a monster?”

-Just imagining all the agents behind him are murmuring about the choice he will make, they slowly are starting to understand though, that they are not surviving this and they slowly start to compare him to a monster

- Also as he deliberates there is just a faceless voice (Nya, of course it’s Nya, granted a vague memory/ idea) calling out to him to chose the selfish option because it will lead to less personal suffering.

[EURYLOCHUS](literally can be any known agent, maybe Prentiss because he works directly under Jay)

“Captain?”

[ODYSSEUS]

“I have to see her”

[EURYLOCHUS]

“But we'll die”

[ODYSSEUS]

“I know”

Jay probably was found with his Yin pendant and later researched the meaning of it, or was told it by another person in the administration from Ninjago. So that plus not caring much for his coworkers, probably means he’d rather risk them for one person who may actually like/love him.

This I think is weirdly consistent with early show Jay at least, selfish mf 

He also just needs to know who he is engaged to.

also the guy touches Jay's shoulder and pretty much gets immediately electrocuted after he says "I know"

“Thunder, bring her through the wringer

Show I'm the judgement call

The one who makes her kingdom fall

Lightning, wield her, use and yield her”

Here Ras makes Jay kill his agents by himself to further prove that he has switched sides and because it could be a nicely emotional shot as he leaves everything he’s ever known behind.

“Show her what she can't conceal

For true nature will

 be revealed”

Maybe a good close up on Jay’s face as his regret and fear slowly turns into him enjoying the thrill and buzz he receives from electrocuting everyone and finally being free of his personal hell.

I also imaging an electromagnetic field growing around him and engulfing everyone into a kind of electrical storm it creates.

Bonus idea i thought of when we only had the first snippet of song:

“Lightning, wield her, use and yield her

Show her what she can't conceal

For true nature will be revealed”

This little section taken out of context

I just think it would be funny if over this showed a Jay vs Nya fight in the tournament and once she figures out who she’s fighting, and he kinda picks up that she is starting to hold back more. Dude probably thinks she’s into him and doesn’t want to wreck his ‘pretty face’, so he tries to seduce her. Like, mid-fight. It kinda works.

[wouldntyou-liketoknow]

Comparing Killers

I sent an ask to my buddy @insane4fandoms a few days ago, and in their reply, they mentioned potentially doing a character analysis for both MadPat and my very own fanmade cannibal EgoPat Caliban in the future.

(This stemmed from one of their latest drawings. Again, thanks so much for remembering my scrunglies, friendo ❤️)

SO, being the way I am, I took some random inspiration and now I'm going through with that exact analysis myself! Just following my instincts as a writer and all that stuff.

___

MadPat:

Now, just to get this out of the way because I have a sneaking suspicion that someone’s gonna read this and automatically assume I’m being stuck-up: I really like Mad as a character. Matt has done an amazing job portraying him. . .though, Matt just has a knack for unhinged characters in general, lol.

And thanks to Matt's acting skills, Mad is an enjoyable villain. He’s cluster of chaotic problems shaped like a man in his thirties, and we all love him for it. (Honestly, I kinda see Mad’s behavior as similar to that of The Actor from all of Mark’s projects. Comedically evil with a tendency to throw tantrums when things don’t go his way.)

The FNAF Musicals have made many slight tweaks to the lore of the games to not completely plagiarize the story. So, of course, Mad is a slightly-tweaked version of William Afton: it’s made very clear that his crimes include murdering kids. On top of that, he has no problem playing long-cons with pizzeria employees before eventually killing them, too.

We’ve seen plenty of times that Mad is pretty much never afraid to get violent. Oh sure, he tries to put a mask on when he needs to, but it’s easy to see all his urges beneath that mask. (And again, much like Actor!Mark, Mad ain’t too shy about being callous and hostile to almost everyone around him.) He’s very quick to anger. To make things worse, he’s also quick to desperation.

While Mad is too smart for everyone else’s good, he’s still pretty damn impulsive/irresponsible. His crimes were all concentrated on the pizzeria; it didn’t take very long at all for the disappearances to pile up and gain unwanted attention. Now, a bunch of missing-person-cases are one thing, but leaving evidence is quite another.

Hell, in the beginning scene of Web of Lies, the wacko-in-a-bearsuit himself literally said, “Every INCH of this place is INCRIMINATING! Ten minutes of poking around this place and they’ll discover what I did. . !”

If Mad were to hear of Caliban's work, he'd probably be impressed at first and automatically assume that Caliban is just like him, just with more people-eating. However, if Mad were to actually meet Caliban and get a better read on his personality, Mad would likely end up insulting him one way or another. He'd see Caliban's professionalism as tedious.

___

Caliban Crawford:

Though I've made it pretty obvious that he's my special boi, Caliban is an objectively bad person. He may be insane, but he’s not delusional enough to deny that. Whenever his and/or Murdock's targets happen to be alive when they’re dragged to his den, he can be very, VERY sadistic throughout the butchering process. (Especially if the target has done something to personally affect him, Azalea, or any of his other peers.)

Sure, he doesn’t complain about working with dead bodies, but having a live meal is quite a special occasion. In such cases, he enjoys watching the unfortunate soul in question squirm and listening to them scream/beg. Taunting, dragging things out, making morbid puns all over the place, the works.

Despite all this, I’ve specifically crafted Caliban to be an extremely morally-gray character. (To be honest, the only fanmade ego of mine who’s full-on evil is LeviathanPat.) He’s still able to be logical/rational when he needs to. He takes pride in his self-control; yes, he has cravings for human flesh, but he knows he can’t afford to just attack any person he sees whenever he gets hungry. He knows he has to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL in order to keep his business away from the authorities. So, he only eats those he and his peers (Murdock, Azalea, etc.) are hired/paid to bump off.

On top of that, Caliban still has some humanity left. While he’s obviously nowhere close to a perfect angel, he’s still able to form genuine relationships and treat those in his circle with kindness/respect. Get on his good side, and you'll have quite a strong ally.

Though his morals are limited, one of the biggest differences between him and Mad is the fact that Caliban would never, NEVER stoop so low as to harm a child. In fact, he tends to avoid children altogether due to his own childhood trauma. (Totally not me projecting because I grew up in a dysfunctional family with verbal/emotional/psychological abuse.)

Getting back to the juicy stuff: Caliban is smart and efficient with his work. He prides himself on not leaving any evidence behind. (Yes, he still makes occasional mistakes, but even then, the aforementioned evidence still comes in very tiny amounts.) That's why he and Murdock became friends and started working together in the first place: since Caliban divides up which parts can be cooked/eaten and which parts can be sold on the Black Market, it really is easy for targets to just seemingly vanish into thin air.

Though my stories involving Caliban probably show him acting calm (despite his pun-addiction, lol), please, PLEASE don't be fooled. He's got just as much unhinged energy as Mad. He just happens to hide it a bit more often. But he definitely has his chaotic moments; half of the time it's out of unhinged joy, and the other half of the time it's because an enemy pissed him off enough to get their skin privileges revoked. (Basically, it's not that much of a stretch to see Caliban as a combination of The Hermit and Mack.)

Now, if you've seen @insane4fandoms artwork of him, then it's pretty clear that some inspiration was taken from Hannibal Lecter. And while I definitely appreciate references like that. . .well, that inspiration is mainly just for Caliban's appearance. I've said before that Caliban is nowhere near as arrogant as Hannibal. Even so, if Caliban were to see/hear about all of Mad's shenanigans, he'd write Mad off as being sloppy and unimpressive. If he were to actually meet Mad, his opinion would just get worse; he'd see Mad as a fair bit annoying and bratty.

___

@sammys-magical-au @b-is-in-the-closet @im-a-weird0 @themarpsimp @lexusinsannus @crazy-obsessed-enby @rozeliyawashereyall @gaymingintrovert @lampsforsocks @forestcouncil @x-hotrose-x @v1rus-seal

[marengogo]

Silver Lining - What If #6: FOR(ever) ↔️ YOU(ng) - Jikook the Musical

Good Morning - by Verbal Jint  [10 Years of Misinterpretation Part I]

[Music is a very big part of my life and I’m MOSTLY INCAPABLE of writing without music, so I just thought I'd share what I am listening to while writing this]

🐺 — 🐺 — 🐺—

Dear Ladies, Gentlemen and Distinguished Enbies, welcome to a one day only “showing” of FOR(ever) ↔️ YOU(ng) - Jikook the Musical. Tonight I shall try my best to narrate a cute little story, which has various songs as centre plot developers; hence a “musical”. Taken individually, all these events may seem absolutely disconnected, and with no relevance to each other. However, as I started to collect them, they turned out to compose quite the neat little story about two boys their love for music and perhaps each other? So grab a snack, and a thin hat everyone, sit, relax and enjoy the show.

SCENE 1: FOR YOU

This story brings us all the way back to almost 8 years ago, to be precise, the year is 2015, the date is August 18 and during BTS’ Japan Official Fan Meeting Undercover Mission in Osaka (this fan meet went on from the 13th to the 20th of August), while playing a game, JM suddenly loses consciousness and falls off stage. He is taken to a hospital immediately and as soon they are explained the situation, Big Hit Entertainment tweets the following:

 TRANSLATION:

The same day, JM himself goes ahead and posts the following

TRANSLATION:

Fans panicked. Obviously VERY LUCKILY FOR ME: I WASN’T AROUND AT THE TIME. As for his members, I am sure they were worried out of their minds, so much so that one particular member would express his relief perhaps at having JM safe and sound back with them, right on their very stage. This member was JK, whom two days later (August 20), on the last day of this event, as they performed "For You", walked right by JM and stopped for a couple of seconds, looking at him while he was singing part of the song’s first verse. For the rest of the song, it would become quite visible how JM couldn’t help but smile (cutely).

SCENE 2: I KNOW

So, even though we do not have an elaborated tale of what all the members must have felt exactly, it is safe to say that JM’s accident had a bit of an effect on JK’s mind. So much so that, a couple of months later, while he was playing around as Romeo & Juliet with JM, on the shoot-set of Season Greetings 2016, JK suddenly “refused” to play with JM because, and I quote:

Let’s fast forward to June 2016, this time we are in Paris, and the boys decide to start a VLIVE just before performing at KCON and, at the beginning of the live, we only have VMIN in sight. They start to talk about RM & JK’s new song “I Know” and, as the two are actually in the room but off camera, Tae asks  bribes JK to sing a bit of the song. We still can’t see JK, but, while Tae looks away JM looks straight into JK’s direction as the latter proceeds to sing

🎶Know you love me, boy

So that I love you🎵

… The expression on JM’s face is priceless the things I’d give to know how JK sang this to JM. ANYWAYS, RM eventually also joins into a funny rendition of the song and when they are done, VMIN resumes talking to ARMY and though we will never know for sure what caused it, perhaps JK’s expression, or the lyrics, or the fact that it was JK or all things together, or none of the above, BUT JM did stumble his way through trying to describe the song, in the words of Tae, JM suddenly seemed to be a bit “nervous” almost as if someone had suddenly serenaded him out of nowhere.

Another example at JM being flustered actually happened a month earlier to the Paris trip, at the ISAC where the Tannies needed to sing a song called Hand in Hand and while they are practising (at minute 0:57) I believe that JK might have change the lyrics to “promise me” but don’t quote me on that!, which made JM react in that way Joon and Hobi on the other hand; LOOOL 😬.

Basically, 10 months had effectively passed since the “For You Incident-Serenade” and it feels as if JK might have caught on to the fact that the easiest way to get a flustered reaction from JM is to sing to him. Perhaps he had to sing at him a couple more times off camera, in order to confirm this theory AS ALWAYS; WE WILL NEVER KNOW but from this moment on, whenever he’d find a chance to, it would seem like JK would take the topic at hand and find a way to romantically sing it at JM.

SCENE 3: A DAY LONG AGO

It is finally February 2017, and love isn’t the only thing in the air, in fact, on paper actually, on February 7, JK graduates high school. He is visibly hella excited, and though he goes to the ceremony alone, all his members show up, and afterwards, on their way to the restaurant, VMINKOOK share a ride.  For the most part jikook are doing most of the talking and at a point in which JM is talking a very eager looking JK suddenly starts singing, at JM, the beginning lyrics from A day Long Ago (오래전 그날) by Yoon Jong Shin.

AND, For the very first time on-camera, JM does his very best not to react. We can still see the slight hint of a smile, but for the most part, he’s successfully brushed it off and he is very quick at keeping the topic of discussion on track.

This might have thrown off someone like your-truly, but JK? No, the boy likes a good challenge. JK nor was discouraged, nor did he try to force JM to listen to him, he just went along with JM. We are talking about an almost 20 year old boy who, for the greater part of 2016 (that is when he turned 19, which is the age you become an adult in Korea) has been trying his mighty best to have his hyungs, and JM in particular, understand that he is now an adult and that he has been for quite some time. But hyungs gonna hyung, immaright? Sorry JK…

SCENE 4: BEST OF ME

Now, I don’t know what happened in the months between JK’s graduation and the 1st of October (2017), but there seems to be no on-camera attempt of JK even attempting to sing at JM, in fact, if anything, JK has been trying to appeal in different ways. For example, JM-Encyclopedia JK makes an appearance, or I’d rather not call you hyung makes a strong comeback. Regardless, for the first time, at the Fan Meet in Goyang (1st October, 2017)  JM is singing at JK lyrics from the “Best of Me” where he substitutes the word heaven (cheonkook) with Jungkook (he would do it again on episode 28 of RUN BTS, which would be broadcasted on November 7, 2017, but telling from the hairstyles it was probably filmed around the same period as the Goyang Fan Meet).

We are now halfway through the movie, and though our heroes have gone through a series of back-and-forths, they haven’t really encountered any “conflicts” per say; namean? Sure, JM is the one doing the singing now, because maybe he is trying to get JK’s attention. Had he lost said attention? Had something happened between the two of them? Or had their relationship evolved to a point in which he was just trying to return some of the musical energy he’d received thus far? WE WILL NEVER KNOW unless they tell us that is. But what we know is that a good 30 days after this, JK would take JM on what we now know to be, thanks to Beyond The Story, a healing trip to Tokyo, which would give birth to the first and most famous gcf: GCF in TOKYO. 

SCENE 5: BOY WITH LUV

Upon returning from Japan the two of them feel closer. It looks like they had the time of their life and they can’t seem to be able to talk about anything else. Basically they appear to be quite smitten with this shared experience, and perhaps, with each other? In addition, while still being the maknae, JK is sort of shifting into being more of a protective entity for JM and though JM tries his best to keep him in that designated maknae-slot, he also can’t help but indulge in the “offered protection”. 

They are now spending a lot more time together and this fact is not lost on some people in their environment, regardless of whether said people want to admit it or not. Particularly in 2018 (where, before even getting to the infamous Nampyeon-Namchin December )

we are in Hamilton, September 22nd, on their Love Yourself Tour. As they perform Attack on Titan, during the song’s break, JK pulls a For You Serenade-typa thing, but this is not 2015 and JK is no longer 17. This time, he focuses on JM for the whole part, hair pushed back and all, and for the first time in a while JM is visibly flustered, he silently giggles, turns towards ARMY, and also pushes his hair back. JK’s satisfied expression as he got JM’s attention says it all.

Yeah, this is not the same JK. He is not a boy who is relieved to see his bandmate's being well and alive, or trying to use the situation to his advantage in an awkwards manner. NO. This is a 21 year old, who’s just come back from the trip of a lifetime, this right here, seems to me, to be a boy with luv. 

Speaking of which, fast-forward a couple of months, May 21, 2019, they are in California, and as they are getting ready to perform on The Voice, Memories 2019 will show us how, for the first time JK substitutes words of a song while singing at JM. He substitutes the word “Love is” with “Jimin” while singing Boy With Luv at JM, who acts like he is ignoring him completely but actually proceeds to sing along. Who knew there was an art in serenading and beginning serenaded? Jikook circa 2015 🤡

Indeed, there is nothing stronger than a boy with luv, let’s not forget that a couple of weeks prior to this (May 5th to be exact) Rose Bowl-gate did happen. Well, up to this point, all seems very flowery and very peachy; what could go wrong, right?.

SCENE 6: THE TRUTH UNTOLD

AND, here we are, the part right before the end of the “musical”. We all know some sort of “big conflict is coming” and at this point some might just turn off the movie and leave it at a happy place but the majority will probably just brave it through to this day I start watching Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet and stop the movie right before the part whenthey take the fake poison, nobody dies in my Romeo + Juliet, thank you, bye! . Let’s brave it through.

Things are going quite well in Jikook world. The Tannies were given a break for the first time ever and thought JM left to go explore the world, he made sure to travel all the way back to Seoul to spend JK’s birthday with him, just to then travel off again; dedication. BTS then takes off to go and shoot Bon Voyage 4, and amongst the many things JK goes up a mountain and comes down with snow for JM; devotion. The two of them are living life, all while diligently performing touring as well.

Thus comes the end of the Speak Yourself tour, Seoul, October 26, 2019. The vocal line performs The Truth Untold and it happens, not only do JK and JM turn to face each other as they sing the last part of the song, but they also change “And” to “But”.

Jikookers who notice are left speechless, but jikookers weren’t the only people who noticed. That and a series of “jikook moments” throughout 26th-29th of October, made October 30, 2019 quickly roll by and the following happens:

I can’t even imagine what it must have felt to have experienced THAT. To be honest I don’t even want to think about it, but then actually is more like “I can’t believe they actually fucking did that…”. BUT, guess who won the IDGAF war?:

JIKOOK

I bet many thought jikook would perhaps “tone it down”, but they kept being themselves. They kept being as affectionate, annoying, close and “flirty” as per usual, I mean some time in 2020 we got 👇🏾

So yeah, I suppose, love will always win.

SCENE 7: GOOD MORNING

It’s now 2023. All the boys are getting ready to go to MS, as a result, they are giving it their all working on solo projects. Jikook has finally managed to become a bit more private, and this isn’t as a consequence to what happened in 2019 (if not we wouldn’t have had that hickey-incident). A lot has happened since then, but I believe that, perhaps, as things got more serious, and as they got older, their relationship naturally progressed into something more mature, personal and deeper in significance. For example JM associating JK with the song Young Forever

*The writing in the shoe where JM is sticking his tongue out says Jeon Jungkook.

a song that holds a very special place in JM’s heart; tattoo-worthy special. 

There is that, the adult side … Aaaand then there is also JK & JM quietly spending 4 days together in NYC/CT, in the midst of JK’s debut (perhaps getting content ready?) and there is also JK half naked in bed trying to bait JM into doing a live with him and starting off the bat with singing at JM the initial lyrics from Good Morning by Verbal Jint.

🎶Good morning – that’s what I texted you

I think I’m into you, it’s dangerous 🎵

… I suppose old habits die hard.

THE END

Always respectfully yours 💜🫰🏾

Marengo.

DELETED SCENES:

THROUGH THE NIGHT by IU

MAKE IT RIGHT by BTS

DAY vers.

NIGHT vers.

ROLLIN’ by BRAVE GIRLS:

[happilylovingchaos]

Music and Fic Monday for @lonestar-s5countdown

Sorry I’m late-ish! I’ll give a combination of recommendations for music and fanfics today (which is almost over where I am). And wow, there’s a lot involving TK (I’m getting concerned about how much he and Carlos get whumped, I don’t really care if it’s just me 😰).

([Re-])Surfacing Dive for Beginnings and Ends:

Beyond a lot of the stories written by @carlos-in-glasses, @paperstorm and @lemonlyman-dotcom that I think are also beautiful character studies of the Lone Star characters may not get explored enough (and in some cases even exploring parts of the characters that get most focus in-show), I wanted to give a few shout-outs to other, older one-shots/ full-length stories.

Lonely eyes, you don’t have to be alone tonight by @wwasted: A coda that takes place in between the bar scene and the end of 1x03. It’s very cute w/o dragging out too much of either man’s angst, which I liked.

The elephant in the juice bar by @taralaurel: Where Tarlos begins for real after 1x10, and TK tries and fails to keep a metaphor steady as he decides to take a chance.

Getting better by @lonestarbabe, Pigeonsplotinsecrecy: This fic really plays with the meaning of the words “begin” and “end”, especially with a mental health recovery arc and especially with TK. It’s not for everyone, but it describes how relatable, tedious, solitary and multicolored the process can be.

Rosa mundi by fiddlersgreen: A one-shot where TK, Owen, and Carlos make it to New York without incident and properly mourn for Gwyn… and it’s quite a spiritual experience.

You were the greatest thing by hoodieweather: TK is mournful after the events of season 2 as he goes to visit Gwyn and Jonah, but re-learns something important about life. Takes place in the breakup era. Before the ice storm? Actually def before the ice storm.

First aid by @heartstringsduet: I like to call this the gritty version of “Tarlos Begins”, only both characters have more fragile coping methods of surviving life in New York City. When those methods gradually fall apart and threaten to completely implode their lives, they have to face their respective truths and learn how to live— both with the people around them, the real versions of each other, and with themselves.

Not really bridal style by paperyowl: Tarlos begins again immediately post-3x04— with some relationship negotiating required. The author really nailed Tarlos’ voices for their first fic in the 9-1-1: LS fandom!

Haunted by the ghost of you by @strandnreyes: A sad and hopeful combination of 3x04 and 3x08, where Tarlos begins again with an unexpected end.

I’m not mean enough to fully recommend hurt no comfort Tarlos fics, or hurt no comfort fics in general (and I’m still less than a year into using Tumblr anyway), so for a definitive “end” fic in that category, I may direct you to MissPudim’s works where the issues with the whole Iris arc is addressed and Tarlos handles it Extremely Badly. Or this fic called Gone where… it’s… okay, hell. They still handle it bad, it’s still kind of an end and it’s a bittersweet end, albeit in an AU. And another one by bythebry, Ain’t got no tears left to cry.

Where all this love comes from by @carlos-in-glasses: I think I’m not the first one to recommend this story but I think it counts as a general “begins” for both TK and Carlos (mainly for Carlos, though). And I’m listening to Postmodern Jukebox while trying to re-recommend it… if you’re curious, I put one of their cover songs on the bottom of this post. Needless to say, I loved this fic!

TK (Begins):

Jewish for Himself by 7ate9: I felt a sense of completion to read a fic that goes into TK’s POV about how the religion Gwyn wanted to raise him under is, in a word, complicated (as hell). Yes, just as much as his career and gay identity. For that, I’m thankful to the author! (And not just because so many opportunities for TK’s Jewish rep was wasted…)

TK begins by writedontfight: Exactly what the title says, with a plausible and saddeningly real scar of loss in TK’s life.

Numb and Thirty days by come2gusu: TK begins again, and good GOD I’M SAD ABOUT 3x08 AGAIN nooOOOOOooO….

Carlos (Begins):

Duality of a day by @marjansmarwani: I loved this exploration of how double-edged the wedding day would feel for Carlos— the beginning of a new chapter in his life with TK, and the punch-to-the-face end of Gabriel’s own life (spoiler alert).

to build a home by @freneticfloetry: This story was the first “Carlos Begins” story I’d read. I thought I wouldn’t like the canon divergence that happens at the end, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Dancing, happy, seen by @endlesstwanted: Carlos’ POV as he falls in love at first sight with TK.

Silver lining’s gold and shining by @paperstorm: “Carlos begins”, with a little help from Iris. For me, it also parallels “Chimney Begins”.

I fell for you like a child (oh but the fire went wild) by ellay_gee: Told in a 5+1 format about Carlos’ experiences with love. It was so cute!

Tender eyes that shine by @alrightbuckaroo: Much like “to build a home”, this fic exuded “Carlos begins” energy with more focus on how the Reyes’ “identity” shaped Carlos, and him focusing on unlearning the emotional repression that comes with that ideal.

Music Recs for @tellmegoodbye:

If the Lone Star music team uses this cover of AC/DC my country-music side would be tickled. Just thought that a down-South version of a rock song would be a cool bookend to the pop collab “Old Town Road.”

Postmodern Jukebox is one of my favorite cover bands, and they’ve made a lot of songs I’ve heard of really appealing for me— retro takes on pop songs! This one cover of Oasis’ songs brought to mind another procedural spinoff, NCIS: New Orleans, for the jazz funeral feel added to apparently hotly-debated interpretations of the lyrics (I only just looked on Reddit, so…). But considering what’s happening, hearing the song in the context of Lone Star breaks and warms my heart.

[myraelvira]

Glenn Rambo

Glenn Marshall Rambo was born on December 4th, 1970 in Alice, Jim Wells County, Texas. His father was Gary W Rambo, and mother, Rebecca Anne Roark. Though he had siblings on his mother’s side, I’m unsure if there are any on his father’s side.

There wasn’t a whole lot that I could find about Glenn’s life, other than some old forum posts that talked of him posthumously. On my death space, there was a post from the user “Puke”, who copied and pasted a letter/description about Glenn Rambo, and the life that he lived.

Glenn was raised by his mother and grandmother in Violet, Louisiana, St. Bernard Parish, the New Orleans area. He was “blessed/cursed’ with a unique appearance “which some found strange or evil”, and would lead him to be harassed on a daily basis, by closed-minded law enforcement and those who called him and his family “witches”. Others in St. Bernard would always see Glenn walking everywhere, with a big boombox on his shoulder, taking his time and listening to his music. He soon acquired the affectionate nickname “Lilac Ozzy”, finding a safe haven connecting with “freaks” like himself in the growing underground Hardcore/punk/metal scene in New Orleans.

Eventually starting a band called Nuclear Crucifixion in the mid 80’s with friends Donovan Punch, Brian Patton, Dave Moran, and Darren Shallenberg. This band would eventually morph into the early iterations of Soilent Green. Their shows would be memorable not only for their “ahead-of-their-time” fusion style, but also Glenn’s outrageous stage persona. He was a true performance artist, as recalled, and would eventually end up singing with bands like “Nun Molesters”, “GM Pussy Bitch”, and “Swarm”. Glenn is remembered as the guy that, “knew every lyric, every riff, and who had such an extensive knowledge (of) music in general, that you could talk for hours and hours with him, and he’d just keep recommending new bands, or pulling out obscure and arcane types of music you may not have heard of”.

Despite people thinking that he was sinister, he was actually “one of the most genuine, loving, intelligent people you’d ever meet.”. He’s remembered for his dark and piercing appearance, while also having an absolutely hypnotic speaking voice. Low, modulated, and subtle; a true Southern gentleman. Glenn loved reading, obtaining information, and devoured books. He was always thirsty for knowledge, and a deeper understanding of spirituality. “No garden variety Satanist”, Glenn was more interested in human nature and all its darkness. Wise beyond his years, he was also very sensitive. You could talk to him seriously about any number of topics. He also had a keen sense of humor, and a sense of absurdity. Glenn was a lover of animals, who he adopted a whole flock, and called them his babies. He’d walk around the French Quarter with his beloved ferrets stuffed in his pockets, sneaking up his jacket, curled around his neck.

Glenn had epilepsy, which caused him to be on meds his whole life; the condition gave him seizures, but he considered it a blessing in disguise, because it “gave him visions that other people couldn’t see.”. His mother had epilepsy too.

He would take something potentially tragic, and turn it into something unique and magical. When he’d see you, he’d come over to give you a hug and a kiss. Glenn is recalled as a healing presence, a truly enchanting soul.

Glenn stayed in Voilet, Louisiana because he and his mother didn’t have a car, his leg was broken, and he didn’t have anywhere to evacuate to. He thought that they could just bear down, and ride out the storm. They may not have wanted to leave the comfort of their home, when they didn’t have anywhere to go to. But, “when the levees broke, they didn’t stand a chance.”.

One of his favorite quotes was, “Invoke me under my stars! Love is the law, love under will. Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well! He, my prophet, hath chosen knowing the law of the fortress, and the great mystery of the house of God.” Liber al vel Legis 1:57, Aleister Crowley.

♦♦♦ [Music History] ♦♦♦

On the metal archives, Glenn’s musical history is still rather vague. It lists that he sang for the bands mentioned before, though the only ones with dates or links seems to be Soilent Green and Nuclear Crucifixion, as of June 2023. I’m not sure what the exact time frame was for the other bands.

Nuclear Crucifixion is listed as having been from New Orleans, Louisiana; one source states Metairie in particular. They formed in 1987, and lasted through 1988, though the archive also states 1989. I don’t know the info about that specifically. This iteration of the band had 2 demos, the first being “Killing Ourselves To Live”, in 1987, and the second, “Torture of Humanity”, in 1988. The former starts with a song titled, “Nuclear Vomit”, which was later reworked into some Soilent Green songs, like “Numb Around The Heart”. Both demo releases were on cassette, no label. The band was also listed as being spelled “Crucifixtion”, with a T, and at some point it was called “Seveth”.

The band’s music was very underground, with this general old school Death Metal feel, which is right on par with the nearby Florida Death Metal scene that exploded around that time period. Though it may be obvious to those my age and older, for the younger audience, it seems that the band’s name was inspired by the idea of nuclear fallout. During this time period in the US, with the cold war, many pieces of media reflect this fear; the first to come to mind for me, is ‘Retaliation’ by Carnivore.

The first NC demo was spelled “Nuclear Crucifixtion”. The band photo that is found on the metal archives was taken by Al Hodge of Tungsten, in what was Donovan Punch’s grandmother’s garage. The garage was where they practiced, the area previously having been used as a dance studio by his grandma. Soilent Green also practiced there when they formed, and in the early 90’s Jason Pizzolato’s band Apostasy would play shows with Soilent Green.

Sammy Duet, second to the left, wearing a ‘Nun Molesters’ shirt.

While “Nun Molesters” isn’t listed as its own page on the metal archives or discogs, a few videos from Jason Pizzalato dates the band at having played from 1989-1991. I assume that this was virtually a name change for the band Nuclear Crucifixion, since it had similar members. The band had a man named Joey Hall who was on vocals for the demos and shows, but it should be noted that the band would switch instruments, and invite friends and audience members to join them on stage. Glenn is actually listed as having played drums here.

Glenn would include their Nun Molester recordings at the end of some demo tapes for Soilent Green that he dubbed and sold. As Pizzolato said, “Classic Nun Molester songs include, ‘We Like Smoking Weed’ and ‘Big Pussy’.”. Joey Hall is listed as having later become a cop.

Nun Molesters seemed like a hilarious band to see live, as the demos were quite silly. Though musically great, the eloquence of “I like to eat vagina” cannot be understated. Or maybe that was Nuclear Crucifixion? :p

A video from the amazing ‘Acid Bath Archive’ actually shows a small snippet in time of Nuclear Crucifixion’s life, where Glenn Rambo and Brian Patton were interviewed. The interview was from Pagan Fest, July 22nd, 1988, which took place in Dallas, Texas.

A cassette of the first NC demo is shown, with some footage of the band playing. Glenn stated that they decided to play at Pagan Fest because they really like Dallas, and how the people would listen to music and “accept it for what it is, instead of denying it for it ain’t.”. When asked if he’d still help underground bands if they got famous, Glenn said that he absolutely would.

In 1988, Soilent Green was formed. Also having Rambo, of course, the band’s first iteration seemed to consist of him, Brian Patton, Donovan Punch, Marcel Trenchard, and Tommy Buckley. Some of the earliest demos, as posted by Jason Pizzolato, state that Soilent formed after the ashes of Nuclear Crucifixion. Once again, the time frame is a little confusing, and I don’t know if Nun Molesters was its own separate entity from Soilent. The metal archives states that Soilent was formed after Rambo, Punch, and Patton left Nuclear Crucifixion, though I am unsure what their reasons are, for why they left that band.

The early iteration of Soilent Green is vastly different from the records we know today. A 1989 demo provides a thrashy feel, and the ones from 1990 have that underground early Death Metal feel. The tracks posted by Pizzolato remind me a lot of Macabre’s album “Dahmer”, which actually came out 10 years after those! Early Soilent had this fantastic Death Metal feel which could have really turned them into a major forerunner of the genre, at least, in my eyes. Or ears. It feels like the sound that they achieved in 1990 seemed to be somewhere that Glenn wanted to achieve, as his vocals settled in the Death range, and to me, were great! I’m reminded a lot of bands like ‘Ripping Corpse’, ‘Death’, and ‘Baphomet’. It almost makes me sad that this iteration of the band didn’t continue on.

In 1989, the band released their first demo, which was on cassette. According to videos of the demo by Pizzolato, the demo was recorded at Protech Productions, in Marrero, Louisiana.

In 1991, a demo was released called ‘Satanic Drug Fog’ which was recorded in 1990 in Baytown, Texas. This was recorded the same time as their other demo, ‘Squiggly’. Squiggly is also known as ‘Squiggly Demons’ and ‘Soilent Green’. Both were on cassette. Ten songs were recorded total, with 2 being left off the tapes. I am unsure why, let alone whatever happened to those songs.

In 1991, a 7” vinyl was released that had 4 songs, one being from Soilent Green. The song was “Circle of Death”, which was on side B. The other songs included were, “Waiting in Silence” by Slugs (also on Side B), “World View” by S.I.K., and “Brainwashed Society” by the Detrimentz. Interesting to note, Slugs was the band that Kirk Windstein and Todd Strange were in, before it turned into Crowbar.

In 1992, Soilent Green released a demo, though there is no official art or title for the project. An interesting note about this demo though, is that Donovan Punch had broken his arm the night before, at an Exhorder concert, and couldn’t play guitar. As such, he is only backing vocals. Pizzolato was friends with the guys, and he and his brother listened to a cassette that Punch brought of the recordings, so that they could record the guitar parts from him. This demo was to be released in 7” format by Relapse Records, but it never happened. Years later, the band ended up putting out a handful of releases on the label. This demo would be the last to feature Glenn Rambo, and as far as I know, might have been the last piece of music that he’d ever record.

I’m not sure why, or how, Glenn Rambo ended up leaving Soilent Green, but in 1993, he was replaced with Ben Falgoust. In an interview with Richard Metal Fan, in may of 2023, Ben stated that he’d help Soilent when they’d play shows in the Texas area. He said that there was some kind of situation with their singer at the time, and they parted ways; which later, Ben was offered to join the band.

But I’m not sure what that reason was, let alone what happened to Glenn after that. Between the years of 1992-2005, I have no idea what might have happened in his life, though it doesn’t seem like he created anything musically.

On August 29th, 2005, Glenn passed away, having been found dead in his mother’s home. His ex-girlfriend Stacy, and some National Guardsmen went to his mother’s house, because they hadn’t heard from them since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The bodies of Glenn and his mother were still in the house. A friend named Melissa posted on the (now defunct, not archived site) nola underground:

“Glenn had a broken leg, and he and his Mom had no car to evacuate. If you know them, you probably know that his family didn’t have much money. I’m not sure where they are going to bury them, or if there are any next-of-kin that could help. Maybe we can all take up a collection to make sure that they are buried properly and have grave markers. I don’t even know how to go about doing something like that. It just makes me sad to think that after we have all lost so much, we are now finding out that we have lost good friends as well. Glenn was an important part of the NOLA scene, and a good friend to many of us. He will be dearly missed, and fondly remembered. -With Love and Sadness, Melissa October 2nd, 2005”

Glenn M. Rambo was buried at Saint Bernard Memorial Gardens, in Chalmette, Louisiana. He was 34.

His mother, Rebecca Anne Roark, was buried in the same location, she was 61 (June 8th, 1944-August 29, 2005). They were survived by family, as listed in their obituaries, which was published by the Time-Picayune, on January 3rd, 2006. Their funerals were on January 4th, 2006.

Glenn’s death was a shock to many, as there are still accounts online which have blogged, or commented about their sadness. One in particular is Paranoize, who was friends with Glenn, and played shows with him in the past.

While Glenn may not have spent that much time on Earth, I believe that it is still important to acknowledge his influence on the music scene. Going through the history of Soilent Green, and the music before that point, it’s clear that his musical endeavors helped form the eventual NOLA sludge scene, which grew to prominence in the ‘90’s. My heart goes out to his friends and family. I can only pay my respects, and say thank you, for everything he made.

Thank you Glenn, may you rest in peace.

My video on him:

♠♠♠ [Sources] ♠♠♠

This write up would not be possible without the Metal Archives, The Acid Bath Archive, and most importantly, Jason Pizzolato. Thank you so much.

[Web Sources]

https://youtu.be/68nQOuxqkiI https://youtu.be/tAmuZAv-U-w https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GDJM-1NJ https://youtu.be/icx0adFemoU https://youtu.be/nI8DXC1h9b0 https://youtu.be/q97egKqJDqc https://myspace.com/glennrambofest http://mydeathspace.com/vb/showthread.php?3358-Glenn-Rambo-(35)-victim-of-hurricane-katrina https://youtu.be/Z7GU0jwL8gU https://youtu.be/eGJ3uJ1D7pM https://youtu.be/pI9VgyJKuiU https://youtu.be/HCOwGIgUoUo https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Nuclear_Crucifixion/Killing_Ourselves_to_Live/141704 https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Nuclear_Crucifixion/28688 https://paranoize.livejournal.com/23230.html?utm_medium=endless_scroll# https://youtu.be/cAvKzqemxYk https://youtu.be/bfCEN2xpBBg https://youtu.be/eGJ3uJ1D7pM https://youtu.be/etR5jf7nP90 https://www.youtube.com/@JasonPizzolato https://youtu.be/oHFSXVt3tWA abt 5 min https://bravewords.com/news/ex-soilent-green-singer-glenn-rambo-found-dead-in-mothers-home https://blabbermouth.net/news/former-soilent-green-vocalist-glenn-rambo-found-dead https://www.discogs.com/release/11231697-Various-Housecore-Records-Compilation-Volume-1

[persicipen]

Tbh i feel genshin has been watering down some quests mainly because the cast had been increasing. There are too many characters atp.

But regarding each nation, we do get liyue content every year with the lantern rite and event mondstadt has some smaller events. They keep having itto festivals idk whyy, and literally a rock n roll festival without xinyan was absolutely illegal.

Sumeru was anyways overdue for the sabzeruz festival, and it'd be stupid for them to not do it. Sumeru feels like home mostly because of the way the characters interact with each other. As a south asian myself i might be a bit biased here, but i feel in the other nations, some of the characters are still like strangers to each other (inazuma bec of the war, fontain because of the work they do but ig that's been changing after the archon quests).

Now with natlan the abyss is become the centre stage again. We saw them bring back the traveller's purification abilities, and some abyss related lore in kinich's tribe quest. So i guess we're finally gonna be back on track with our main objective! So let's hope they play it out well 👾

hii, i love whenever i see you in my inbox ready to discuss things <3 and sorry for taking a few days to reply, but i’ve been busy and couldn’t gather my thoughts properly! beware of long yapping below the cut ₊ ˙ ⊹ .

i’m not south asian, but sumeru does feel like home. i must say that some earlier mondstadt events had the same vibes because they used to feature most of the cast interacting with each other, but it’s been a long while since a proper mondstadt event.

so, with natlan i’m really torn. the quests are overall well done, but at the same time not meeting my expectations. but that’s a topic i already wrote essays about when talking with my friends. in short, i don’t think natlan is a good representation of the nation of war. i’m not talking here about cultural aspects, but just the premises genshin itself promised to deliver. and i think they failed. inazuma is still leagues above when it comes to that grim and heavy atmosphere of war — in terms of world quests and exploration, not in archon quest and character interactions, though. i entered natlan feeling like i’m walking through a summer map, dancing, singing, sunbathing, without an ounce of fear that the abyss may suddenly attack.

but yes, the cast for now has quite solid interactions among each other and they feel very human, albeit more serious than just being friends — they are warriors fighting for the same cause. i can’t wait to hear them talk more and do stuff together!

the watering down quests issue is disproportional, kinda — i wouldn’t expect the same amount of personality exploration from, for example, xinyan, who’s just a girl trying to get her local neighbourhood to listen to new music, and mona, who can literally peek into someone’s fate and is affiliated with the hexenzirkel witches. but yes, music festival without xinyan was criminal. so many young and mortal characters have to fight for screentime with centuries old characters that know teyvat’s most guarded secrets.

we had multiple events focused on itto, who’s basically just a neet with an interesting oni legacy going on in his past (that wasn’t even brought up besides his story quest, a pity), but barely any focus on pretty much any other inazuma character. there’s also candace, who’s a direct descendant of king deshret and doesn’t even have a hangout yet — we got a few meaningful scenes with her only now, during sabzeruz festival. fischl and rosaria are from early genshin patches and don’t have their hangouts, too, although fischl had an amazing arc during the second summer event (no longer accessible for most players, a pity, again).

the beginning of fontaine quests was more like navia’s story quest than her actual story quest, and she’s present throughout the entire fontaine chapter despite being “just” a mortal — she’s in top characters with most voicelines, and it’s been barely a year since her introduction. good for her! but other mortal characters in just as influential positions (if not more) are so easily forgotten — keqing, ayato, jean, kokomi, and such. sara is the right hand of the shogun herself, and she doesn’t have a hangout, either. her appearances in events turned her into raiden simp and that’s all lmao

i do have some gripes because hoyo should rethink releasing fodder characters if all they plan to do with them later is to abandon them because they’re just… a guy LOL unfortunate to be the fan of these characters </3

[pupmkincake2000]

The symbolism of rain

I thought about the symbolism of rain in any kind of media, and did a little research, because it rains quite often in the game. But I want to look at examples of rain symbolism just on the example of Hank and Connor’s relationships.

1. Unhappiness And Melancholy (Sadness and Depression)

Rain often washes over a scene when the protagonist in a film, TV show or literature is ‘awash’ with sadness. When a character is sad or moody, rainy weather is often employed as a way of showing how the world is empathizing with the character. Rain can also be a sign of being alone or left out.

And it suits at least a few scenes. Someone may say that I exaggerate, or see something that may not be there, but I believe that everything is exactly as I’m saying. We see Connor as he is heading to meet Hank at Jimmy's Bar. We don't yet know that Hank is a depressed sad man who has a drinking problem due to the loss of his child, but the rain and the general atmosphere seem to predict meeting such a person: unhappy, melancholy and depressed, although he hides it behind a mask of rudeness and weak smiles. In fact, given the following variants of symbolism, Connor in this case - symbolizes the hope for something new. He appears almost out of the darkness under the rain in Hank's life, as if to pull him out of the bar into a new life.

2. Ominous Foreboding

Rain may also symbolize foreboding. In fact, this symbolism often parallels the use of rain as a sign of melancholy – because the rain is indicating that there are no good prospects to come.There are “dark clouds on the horizon”. Indeed, it can often take place in the final scene of a move that we know will not end well.

Here we can also refer to the very first meeting of our boys, since their meeting and the further development of their relationship depends on one choice or another. They end up heading out in the rain to Ortiz's house, where we first encounter both human and android cruelty. It could also be the chasing scene with Kara and Alice, as in that case Connor could die if he didn't listen to Hank trying to keep him out of the Highway.

3. Rebirth And Renewal (Calmness)

Rain can also represent rebirth. Rain is a requirement for plants to grow and is a vital way of regenerating water sources. Thus, it can be seen as a life giving source. The use of rain as a symbol of renewal is perhaps most commonly employed at the end of a long reign of terror.

In this case, several scenes are also suitable. Even Hank and Connor's very first meeting at a bar could mean an actual rebirth for both of them. This is essentially a meeting when fate brings together two lost souls, although one of them does not even suspect that he has a soul.

The scene at the Chicken Feed and the conversation between Hank and Connor that bring them closer. It practically doesn’t matter what kind of relationship they have, since the conversation really turns out to be calm. The rain seems to let them be themselves for a bit. Hank shows concern, just like Connor shows flirting, even though at that time it is most likely a program of social relations, but it is this conversation that also causes Connor’s software instability, and Hank feels quite comfortable and calm in the company of an android, and talks to him like to a person, even if this is not the first time, but this is the moment when there is nothing around except the sound of rain (except for the music from the van) and a calm atmosphere.

Hank doesn't send Connor back to the car, although he could, because in fact, while Hank eats, he doesn't need anyone around him. But Connor's company, despite all the words that he does not like androids, is pleasant to him. He easily answers the android's questions, although he could well ignore him, and asks questions himself, although again, he could just silently eat his burger. And he also obviously enjoys light flirting, otherwise Hank would not have smiled at the end.

4. Romance

YES. Rain is commonly present in romance movies, especially where it’s used as a symbol of love. I guess it is the fact that someone would stand in the rain for them makes it romantic.

And there are many examples of lovers kissing in the rain, where the atmosphere can be somewhat intimate. An example would be the kiss of Mary Jane and Spiderman, the kiss of Elizabeth and Will (not only in the rain, but also in the torture of battle), who not only kiss, fight for their lives, but also manage to get married.

There are actually many such examples, and in the case of Hank and Connor, too many scenes fit the word "romance". I have already cited their first meeting as an example. Indeed, this is a fateful meeting when we first see their interaction (in romance novels, the meeting of future lovers often happens in this way, while one of the potential lovers is always very unhappy with such a meeting at first).

The Chicken Feed scene is, in my opinion, the most amazing and well suited for the development of love relationships. In it, we see both a simple heart-to-heart conversation, and the rapprochement of two people who until recently were not enthusiastic about each other, and we see flirting.

And let's not forget that it is in the rain that two Tracis tell Connor about love, it is in the rain that Hank approves of Connor's choice to let go of two androids in love, although in fact they can turn out to be dangerous precisely because only a few minutes earlier Hank talked about how people have forgotten how to love and take responsibility for relationships, preferring only to use soulless machines for their own pleasure.

But in fact, if you analyze this scene, you can understand that Hank himself needed love, wanted to love someone and be loved (and then we smoothly move on to the bridge scene. But the bridge also has a certain symbolism: the connection in time and space. Permanent feature which, just like marriage, unite inseparably two elements. It is also a symbol of love, stability and living together in two).

And let's not forget about the scene in Hank's house, where we can also observe many moments of rapprochement and revelations, while it is still raining outside the window. Connor literally bursts into Hank's life, breaking any barriers (window), which is even written in Hank's profile. We hear a lot of funny lines, and the one where Hank calls Connor his own android, we see a lot of tactile contact, and Connor teasing Hank, and we find that magazine by Hank's bed that has an article about android partners,

we see as Connor makes his own choice for the first time: Hank's shirt. And how he looks Hank up and down, smiling.

Moreover, I am sure that this smile is sincere (and it is not difficult to notice that Connor smiles only when he is around Hank, even in those moments when this is not required). That is, there is everything here to really start believing in them as a couple.

5. Determination

Rain can help film makers and story tellers highlight a character’s determination.Characters will often struggle through rain. In such instances, rain is being used to highlight the fact that nothing will stop what is occurring – it will happen regardless of any obstacles.

I don't really have much to say here, except that almost every scene with them fits that description as well. Their meeting was inevitable. if they hadn't met at Jimmy's bar, they would have met under different circumstances for sure.

6. A Pause For Introspection

Rain may also be used to represent a pause in the action. The rain can come through and force characters to retreat indoors. In these instances, the characters will often be shown drinking tea and looking out the window, waiting for a break in the weather for the next action scene to occur.

7. Cleansing

Rain can be used as a metaphor for the cleansing of a scene. The rain may wash away blood or even the sins of a character.

In fact, a character having a shower has a similar effect here because it is the falling of the rain and the washing away of dirt that has the cleansing effect.

While we may literally see the rain as cleaning our skin, the true metaphor is of washing away the sins of the past to start anew.

Hank in the shower. Although this scene is more comical, but after it, Hank begins to talk about love in relation to androids, and as it turned out before that, he was reading a magazine about android partners. Although many scenes between the two of them fit this understanding. And the scene with Kara, when Hank does not let Connor die, and I have already said enough about Chicken Feed.

8. Change

Lastly, rain also has a renewal and rebirth aspect to it.  As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” It can symbolize a good thing coming after a bad time or it can just mean the washing away of the old and regrowing something better.

And there's nothing to add here. Hank and Connor change each other. Their meeting is literally the most fateful in their lives. And even though the changes may be different, they are still changes that affect their lives only if they are together, if they are next to each other. This is the development of Hank's character as a sweet, gentle, kind, noble and loyal person, and the formation of Connor's humanity thanks to Hank and his influence.

[manjuhitorie]

Ongaku to Hito March 2023 Issue - Bocchi the Rock! Insights and Interviews with Bandmen

Shinoda from Hitorie: I’m a big fan of the guitarist who does the arrangement work for Kessoku Band, Mitsui Ritsuo (also known for his work in The Youth, Lost in Time, and la la larks). I’ve been listening to The Youth since I was a teenager, and now that I’m older have I gotten the opportunity to perform shows along with Mitsui-san, on top of getting to go out drinking with him as well. Before I had watched the anime ‘Bocchi the Rock!’ I had happened to stroll upon the music video of “If I could be a Constellation” from the soundtrack. I had assumed it was just any other old popular song, until I saw Mitsui-san’s name on it. “Holy shit, Mitsui-san is gaining traction?!” I thought, [he laughs]. To top it all off the song was absolutely brilliant. I had been hearing the name ‘Bocchi the Rock!’ floating around a lot at the time, but this song is what finally got me to sit down and watch it.

I had started with the manga, so I then got to really appreciate just how well the anime expanded off of the snail’s pace of the 4 comic. It made me realize just how mighty the anime really is. The creators’ sheer determination to shape it into something people would enjoy runs deep through every aspect of the show, and that’s what makes it such high quality.

Not to mention that it depicts real life. What had surprised me the most were how realistic the octopus rice crackers in Enoshima on the screen were, that scene alone made me feel like I was watching live-action instead of anime. Also the scenery of Shimokitazawa city and the guitar section of the music store and stuff. It made me go “Hey I’ve been there before”.  When you actually know the city, it makes you wonder if maybe the girls really are out there in the city rocking out somewhere. That’s the level of attention to detail we’re talking with this show. The part I especially empathized with while watching was Bocchi-chan’s mentality, the way her mind works. Her mental struggle with people; the way she afraid of certain things when it comes to interacting with people… It all really hit home. I would never my crawl into a garbage pail or hide under a cardboard box to perform as she did but, the meta portrayal in scenes made me realize that I too may shelter my heart.

I’ve always been not so great at talking with people but, I’ve always enjoyed standing up in front of a crowd more. So concerts are nothing but a joy for me. That’s the difference between Bocchi and I. Though it’s true that playing guitar in the comfort of your own home versus performing on stage are two totally different worlds. There’s some things on guitar you can only play at home for some wild reason. I find that skills I’m technically capable of will, for some reason, just refuse to show themselves on stage. Possibly because when you’re aware that you’re standing up in front of an audience, along with the subsequent necessity to align yourself with them and the other performers, it all impacts your performance in a strange way. Bocchi-chan was stressed over this at first too, and I understand her sentiment deeply. I was like “I feel you!”.

After receiving advice from others did Bocchi-chan slowly but surely begin to find her own style and put her own twist on things- this part was really so much like what happens with real bands. By doing music with others do you actually reflect on yourself more. In my case, I was under the impression that I was the best guitarist in the world back when I first joined Hitorie. There, my bandmates politely told me that I needed to practice more, and I realized that in order to adapt to this band I would need to put much more effort in. My naivety chipped away at me. There’s so many things that you’ll never understand simply by mulling all by yourself. It’s all more the reason why doing things with others is so beautiful. That’s the epitome of bands if you ask me.

The most impactful episode to me was episode 8, when Kessoku Band had their very first concert. It was all going downhill, and I was thinking to myself “Been there, done that”. The bass drum flipping over during the intro was so realistic, merely listening to it made me feel nervous, yet then to flip the tables did Bocchi-chan improvise and rip out an ad lib guitar solo. Just wow that was so cool! Bocchi-chan’s talent and potential of which she was never able to unleash alongside the band finally awakened. It was so cool that I cried just watching. I can tell the people making the show have an abnormal amount of passion, they make us viewers feel as if they’re watching an actual living breathing band in action, and it’s just incredible.

Also the music itself is purely and simply great too. Mitsui-san had mentioned in an interview at some point that he had purposely wrote the songs with fewer notes. He refused to use instruments other than the ones the characters use, and he eschewed from letting instruments drown each other out as much as possible. And the fruits of his efforts turned the album “Kessoku Band” into a single collection of an unbelievable amount of electric guitar. Just last year was there discourse and theories on the internet about how guitar had become obsolete and unwanted. Because many artists are skipping the guitar solo and stuff. Yet this album pays no heed to such and is just a raw unadulterated masterpiece of rock.

When I see albums like this take the number 1 spot in rankings, it makes me realize just how much of a farce discourse on the internet is. I’m sure there’s people out there whose interest in rock bands was piqued after watching the anime but, I want people to take this opportunity to start forming their own bands and come on down to see some shows as well. Also, if the anime is going to continue on into the future then I would love the chance to be a part of it. Please let me write a song for ‘Bocchi the Rock!’!

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Takamura Yoshihide from BLUE ENCOUNT:

Our bassist, Tsujimura (Yuuta), had told me about “a cool anime” he had seen, and that’s what got me to watch it. I had spotted the name in Twitter trends prior but I was sitting on the fence, like “It must be good if people are talking about it, maybe I should watch it too”. Then only once I saw the incredible quality of the first episode did I too get hooked.

Bocchi-chan’s shut-in tendencies and negative vibes were striking. Such as playing guitar in her closet, or getting so depressed that she sunk into a trash can. Nobody in real life would actually go to such lengths, yet that's exactly why the exaggerations were so impactful. This kind of thing is only possible in anime, and I love it when people use extremes to portray. Not only does is it exciting to watch, but they painted the scenery of Shimokitazawa so vividly and realistically that it brought back memories of back when we were in indie band and we performed there ourselves. Between the year 2010 and 2011, we were constantly performing at a venue called Shimokitazawa ReG. Not many people came to see us back then but, when we opened for KISD the tickets sold out off of reservations alone. I was thrilled, yet then on the day of the show only about half the people showed up. So in episode 8 when due to a storm people who payed for tickets didn’t show up, it really struck a chord. Plus, there really are people who only show interest in the band they came to see, and don’t so much as bat an eye at the other. And how to attract their attention is the number one struggle of an indie band. Playing a guitar solo to do so, as Bocchi did, is one orthodox method. I myself jumped down on to the floor once (he laughs). I just wanted the audience to at least look at one of us, so I just desperately threw myself out there. That’s why I personally really understood how the girls on stage must’ve felt too.

The other part which left a huge impression on me was Hiroi Kikuri. Ordinarily she’s just another sake-loving drunk, yet when she gets up on stage does her other charismatic side show its colors. I think they really hit the nail on the head with this. People whose livelihood is a tad off from the humdrum; people whose sensibilities are a bit strange, they can still become a star. That so the impression I got. They may have exaggerated it, but I do believe this was the kind of message they were aimimg to express.

Also, for indie bands and amateurs, are the managers of livehouses actually big people in their lives. So I thought the fact that they included a relationship between Kessoku Band and a livehouse manager, Seika, was great. The first livehouse manager to ever support us was someone by the name of Kumamoto B.9 Fukuda-san. Unlike in the anime though, he was a big scary dai-senpai who made chills run down my spine whenever I saw him (laughs). Yet, it was until later did I learn that behind the scenes he had actually been looking out for us, had been taking care of things for our band, and had gotten us a lot of connections. It’s really thanks to people like him that bands are able to grow, slowly but surely. Having someone close who supports you is just so important.

The interesting but difficult part of being in a band is that you’re a bunch of different people all striving for the same goals. Each member of Kessoku Band has such unique personality, they’re all enjoyable, and I must say, that they start off with such a high level of musical ability. Bocchi-chan is absolutely incredible at guitar, and the other 3 are way past the high school level. We could never have held a torch to them back when we were in high school ourselves (laugh). Yet unfortunately throughout my life I’ve seen my fair fill of players whom may be incredibly skilled individually and yet never make it as a band. When it comes down to the aspects that aren’t just raw technique, they run into a wall, such as the struggles involved in creating something together with other people, or the questions posed about how to make their concerts a success. The difficulties and challenges involved in being a band, they’re all represented in episode 12. And that’s what made it feel so realistic. Getting emotional and snapping at each other mid-concert, snapping their guitar strings.. By getting through it bit by bit did Kessoku Band’s concerts improve bit by bit too. All the little things add up and make bands grow.

With that said, if you were to compare Bocchi-chan in episode 1 to her in episode 12, it’s evident that she hasn’t changed much. And I love that. Her shyness is part of her core personality, it wouldn’t just change overnight. Just performing a concert at a shool festival won’t turn your whole world upside down, the next day is just any other old day, and that’s the end of it. I absolutely loved how that was the ending for the show. Despite life not dramatically changing, obtaining a single, small valuable experience may just impact one’s mentality and the way one interacts with the world even just a teensy tiny bit. That’s why it felt so relatable, and natural to watch.

I haven’t read the manga yet so I have no idea what will happen next but, if it’s to follow the same patterns as other classic media then I’d imagine they’ll strive to become mainstream. However, I’m also interested in just seeing more of whatever antics the gang gets up to at school and at the livehouses.

————————————————————

Takeuchi Kiyoka:

Strolling down the streets of Shimokitazawa, passing by a giant merchandise store on her way to a concert venue, Goto Hitori. As soon as she arrived at her destination “STARRY” did her face turn pale, as she internally screamed the words “Is this hell on Earth…? “. The venue “STARRY” of which Kessoku Band makes their base of operations is modeled after the real life venue “Shimokitazawa SHELTER”. When I first entered SHELTER I too had shared the same sentiment as Hitori going down that dark stairwell in the first episode. The accuracy astonished me.

The anime is stuffed with countless moments, spectacles, and sights of which anybody who’s interested in bands has surely seen in their life at least once. The streets of Shimokitazawa are obvious but, the insides of SHELTER were even depicted with such detailed accuracy. From the stairwell when you first enter, to the big clock, the wall covered to the corners in band posters, and the arched steel pipe chasing the walls. In reality the steel pipes are a blackish color while the anime instead opted for an eye-catching red, plus the size of the backstage area is slightly different but, even though they did switch things up a bit for the sake of the anime, the overall faithful re-creation and the sincere delicate process with which they made it is just pouring out of the screen.

The home base of the alcoholic rocker Hiroi Kikuri, Shinjuku FOLT, too is lovingly modeled after the existing venue, Shinjuku LOFT. The black and white checkerboard floors, the screen veiling the stage, the stage passes plastered across the backstage walls- they’re all sure to evoke a strong sense of familiarity for anyone whom has ever been there. Countless anime have been incorporating real life places into their stories over the years but, what makes ‘Bocchi the Rock!’ unique is that they potray the places and environments surrounding Japanese band culture with minute detail. There’s never before been a “band anime” that explained about how livehouses are treated as restaurants, or about their ticket quota. They don’t merely display a place, they go the extra mile to depict the various affairs and experiences which accompany band life. That’s what gives the show such a high resolution, that’s why it feels as if the members of Kessoku Band are drawing breath before you.

Things may be adapted for the animation but, a reality that brings real life and entertainment together is truly within ‘Bocchi the Rock!’. So I can’t help but wonder if maybe the girls are out there rehearsing in a studio right now, or maybe they’re off doing some part time work somewhere, or what if they’re planning their set list for their next show- these flights of fantasies of mine just naturally take off. Yet more so then anything, do I think this. To a livehouse I want to go, to a concert.

[quibbs126]

So I’ve been making this

So basically last night, I was listening to some music, specifically Not Gonna Die by Skillet, more specifically a version on YouTube with the intro (because I’m not the biggest fan of Good to be Alive where the intro actually is). Anyways, when it’s night, my imagination tends to be more active and I tend to have more energy. While listening to the song, I eventually got this mental image in my mind of this scene with Dark Choco, and the more it crystallized the more I wanted to draw it. I was going to go to sleep and maybe do it in the morning, but I realized that I probably would forget the vibe and not have as much energy, so instead I decided to power through and draw the idea

It was a bit difficult since I had limited references for the pose I wanted, and I suppose I can admit the sword looks a bit off anatomically, but it looks good enough I think, and lets me keep the eyes revealed

I did eventually have to stop drawing, because my iPad had been worked all the way down to 4% (and it was at 30% when I started, the poor thing), not to mention it was around 11:30 already which is pretty late for me, and my earbuds had been running nonstop for over 2 hours (yes I was listening to the same song, it’s how I keep the vibe). I was at least able to get the pose, base colors and lineart done, and I’m still pretty proud of where I left things last night

Today was mostly just doing the background and lighting, which admittedly I may have fumbled. I’m not very good at backgrounds and I didn’t know how to draw lightning. I tried my best, but honestly I don’t think I got the image in my head. Didn’t help that my brain was playing the wrong Skillet song this morning

Oh yeah and by the way, the background is supposed to be from this. That’s what I used as reference

The lightning both feels like too much and too little. Like, it’s crowding the picture, and I can’t have more because it’d be way too crowded with it, but also at the same time, it doesn’t feel like enough, like there isn’t as much power as I wanted

Actually wait, maybe I can add some small particle effects to like, enhance the lightning feel. That was in the original sketch but I omitted it in the final. If you see one with that, you know I did that

Edit: I did indeed do that

To be fair though, I don’t think I have the art skill to properly convey the image in my head. Basically the scene is that Dark Choco is using absolutely every amount of his power for this final swing down, so much that it’s too powerful and the Strawberry Jam Sword completely shatters. But also it’s too powerful that Dark Choco’s body simply can’t handle it, and he basically ends up exploding. The scene depicted would be the wind up to that final swing that destroys the both of them

This isn’t necessarily the first time I’ve come up with this scenario, and the setup would basically be that he turned on the Cookies of Darkness slightly earlier, because he didn’t want to destroy his homeland again, and he tried to get rid of them while in the kingdom but not yet at the Citadel, but he ended up failing, so with nothing to lose, he chases after them and decides to put everything into destroying them, even if it likely ends in his death. After this he probably killed Pomegranate and crippled Licorice in some way (I don’t think he’d attack Poison Mushroom), so his final act did have some effect, but he’s still dead by the end of it. And he and his father never got the chance to properly reconcile because Dark Choco thought that could never be a possibility anymore and he had resigned himself to his fate

But yeah, I just don’t know how to convey that sheer overwhelming power and emotion that this scenario suggests. I tried my best though

I also want to submit this to the Dark Cacao Forever contest, but I’m not sure if it’s good enough for it. What do you think?

[livlepretre]

Ok so I’ve been wondering about a few things, when Elena and Klaus are in NOLA, she tell him she knows that he’s sleeping with Rebekah and Stefan, and to me he sounded like that that was information that he would have rather her not find out. Why? Wasn’t that before he fell in love with her?

Secondly, in chapter 10 or 11 when Elena sort of walks in on their threesome, how did Stefan and Klaus not notice she was there? Like even though they were preoccupied should’ve they have vampire-sensed it?

Thirdly, how did Stefan and Rebekah feel when Klaus stopped sleeping with them?

Fourthly, I’m dying to know where Stefan and Elena are going after their field trip!!!

I love this fic so much and I read it at 3am instead of studying for my college midterms 😅 So congratulations you have me hooked! This is so much better than TVD and I actually stopped watching after season 3 because in my opinion, it was awful. Seasons 1 and 2 was peak tv. I tried to pick it up again but then I stopped watching again after Nina left. The soul of the show was gone and that was the final nail in the coffin for me.

ehh I think it was part of his private life. He wasn't going to tell her about it straight out, but it wasn't that secret either. It literally just went over Elena's head to even notice a mxm relationship between her boyfriend (whom she assumed was het) and Klaus (whom she also assumed was het), let alone uhh sibling incest. but I don't think Klaus x Stefan was all that secret, she just misread A LOT of stuff as Klaus holding Stefan captive as opposed to like... being a vampiric lover. but yeah, this is all before Klaus was in love with Elena. He falls in love with her near the end of the first nola arc. Elena actually falls in love with him first. so in that scene where Elena says she knows, he's making her spell it out because he wants her to speak blatantly about his sex life. He knows she's typically shy about that topic and he wants to push her boundaries. If Elena sees it as him not liking her knowing, that's because she's unreliable as a narrator. Pretty much any observations other than the literal dialogue is subject to Elena being an Hilarious Unreliable Narrator.

In that sex scene-- think about the incalculable stimuli we process through our five senses at any given moment. Our brains have to actually filter out most of it in order for us to pay attention to whatever we're focused on; it skips things, makes assumptions, hallucinates, all sorts of weird and interesting things. Now think about vampires. They can see and hear and smell and taste (and feel?) so much more than us. What may as well be infinitely more. I'm sure they have to filter out things too-- probably a lot of it automatically. This is my explanation for why they are able to have private conversations in vampire abodes at all. Because in theory anyone could eavesdrop at any time, right? Unless there was loud music playing all the time? But we can assume that in order to eavesdrop from a distance, they typically have to be zeroing in, because otherwise it would just be more noise to filter out, just like they ignore the sound of the worms and ants and every other insect in the ground. So what I'm getting down to-- Stefan and Klaus were distracted. They were literally mid-fuck. I hope they're not paying attention to Elena in that context, whom they can probably hear all the time anyway, whether she is accidentally peaking in or not! (Actually, can we all headcanon that they are listening to Elena during? Because that's an interesting thought.) But even though neither of them looked up, we can assume that at least Stefan was aware. He came down to the kitchen to seek her out soon afterwards-- because he knew the cat was out of the bag. As for Klaus-- I think we can assume he noticed, as well. But really, if you were having GREAT sex and then you peripherally notice someone looking in who then gets embarrassed and flees, would you stop having sex, or would you shrug it off? Again, them being too wrapped up in each other to notice Elena at all is her observation, her perception-- she is upset to discover she has yet another romantic rival for Stefan and also it's rocked her assumptions to their foundations. She's also just found out that sibling incest is apparently a vampire thing. Girl is SO unreliable about what actually happened.

How did Stefan and Rebekah feel: relieved. Stefan already felt like he was juggling too much and was one bad catch away from having his heart ripped out and Rebekah wanted to be free to pursue Stefan as her own, without her brother making her relationship difficult and about himself. But the other side of that is that Stefan was also worried about what this meant for Elena-- he had a dark premonition about it-- and Rebekah was a bit unnerved by her brother's unprecedented feelings development.

Oh, well, Stefan and Elena have to go to Chicago-- both because Klaus wants them to go, and because how could they fail to revisit the sight of their breakup?

and ooof! same feelings about tvd! it's so true!

[the-pale-chancellor]

I’m glad I get to talk about it with someone finally!

And while I do understand where you’re coming from for the most part, I do have a few rebuttals.

Also I must confess, I don’t speak Russian in any way shape or form. I’ve seen the subtitled earlier productions enough that I mostly know what’s going on, but I bet I’ve missed a couple things in this new show.

I’m gonna try to do it smart like you did and piece out my opinions.

First off

Characters: I know I’m in the minority but I actually LIKE most of what they did with Crysania. In my opinion from reading the books it felt like lazy writing for her to have no personality. As the female lead she needed to be fleshed out more. This Crysania gets to have emotions and a personality outside of feelings for Raistlin. It also feels like she is fully immersed in the more joyful and compassionate parts of her faith which make a lot more sense for her character instead of going from stoic and cold to insta love. Also the fact that it’s her singing at the end the poetic justice is just *chefs kiss!* GIRLY FINALLY GOT TO HAVE THE LAST WORD SHE DESERVES.

Raistlin honestly got more fleshed out as well. His one redeeming quality is that he shows compassion for those who are powerless and bullied by society. And he got to show off this quality quite a bit. As for what you said about the scene before the battle of Zhaman, I don’t see it quite as a Jesus thing so much as like him using his manipulative side to win himself a war, which is more or less what it’s always been in this show. Also they took out him assaulting Crysania which I appreciate. Also in the books Raistlin was pretty sick most of the time. So it’s accurate.

You’re right about the cabaret thing that’s weird. But does it bother me all that much? No not really. In the book if I remember correctly they were in a literal courtroom with Rasitlin on trial for his past so…..is it really and weirder?

Were the costumes bad? Yes. Was the set weird and sound quality bad? Yes. Did I find it weird the actress playing Crysania was blond? Yes . but none of those things really took away too much from it for me. I like seeing new actors get to play these parts. I don’t know if they’ll be other performances of this version, but if they can just iron out the technical issues and make some improvements costume wise I think it could get better!

Oh but Crysania still doesn't have emotions outside her love for Raistlin. All this cheerfullness may seem like her actually being fleshed out, helping and confronting the injustice (and yes, in the scenes with Istar she does just that, props to her, even tho if I remember correctly she kinda did the same in previous versions, might be wrong), bUT. When listening to what she's singing (and I am just conveying it because you don't know the language), she now doesn't go from cold to insta loving. She goes from seeing Raist for the first time and insta loving him, all her thoughts and songs are about how she could save him from like the very beginning of the musical and that's what bothers me. Yes, coldness seems lazy on her, but that happy babbling just feels wrong to me.

Of course you may like her new variation though! Everyone has different opinions and I believe yours is as valid here, just saying what I noticed :)

Also, about the Abyss part. Even though I didn't like cabaret, I, for some forsaken reason, adored the actual tango. The way Raist moved under control had something in it, but I remember similar thing with Egorov somewhere. Yet, God forbid me from talking any further because I will not stop internally laughing about 12th doc appearance of that man.

Overall: I'd say it wasn't all horrible, not at all. I'd put 6/10 for the whole thing, probably Saint-Petersburg's version is better as it was filmed 10 days after the YouTube one (and is actually on sale rn, but it costs 2000rub/~20$ so can't watch it). They need to polish things A LOT, but overall - fine enough.

Thank you for having a convo of opinions with me! Needed to share this with someone :)

[d1stalker]

hii 🫶🏻

this may be a weird question but, as someone who’s been inspired by your writing and now really wants to get back into writing again even though it’s been years, do you have any advice on how you come up with such creative ideas for your fics?

like not only do you come up with unique ideas that are so interesting and exactly what your readers yearn to read, but you’re also able to make them deliciously lengthy which is such an impressive goal that many writers would love to achieve! so i would really appreciate any tips you may have on how you do that (and maybe also any tips on writing dialogue because your dialogue is so incredibly realistic, meanwhile mine has always been disastrous because of how much i struggle with it… lol) 🥲

but yeah, feel free to just ignore this ask! i don’t mean to dump my struggles onto you. i’m just such a fan of your writing and never fail to be impressed by you, so i thought i’d ask <3

anyway i hope you have a great day / night! thank you for writing and sharing your fics with us!

Another amazing message yawl are gonna make me cry 🥺❤️

I'm so happy I had a role in reigniting your interest in writing! I've always had a really active imagination, ever since I was really young I'd just think you know? I know that isn't helpful at all so here is some stuff i do that gets me thinking:

listen to music (specifically film scores - so I can imagine scenes that go with them)

sit down and write a list of what ifs - these can serve as possible au ideas!

read other stories! the more you read, the more ideas can merge into eachother, creating something completely unique

I primarily do the first and last. I also listen to music as I write to really get into the mood, and I find the ideas just come to me that way. Also, this is no shade to anyone because everyone loves a good trope, but I feel like there are a lot of stories with similar plot points, so I try to actively choose something else to write about.

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Length wise, it's all actually a bit accidental. I mean, there are some stories that I know will be long based on how much detail in the plot I include, but for the most part, I think it's just because I cannot stop writing. This goes back to what I do to get ideas, and when I have a good idea, I am able to flesh it out and write a lot!

For dialogue, I say what I write out loud! If I cringe, or like physically cannot bring myself to say it, then it's getting scrapped. I kind of just write what I would say, and go from there! (this is terrible advice I'm sorry)

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You didn't dump any struggles on me! I'm so glad you messaged and I hope you post something soon - I'd love to read it :)

[nicromancytarot]

Hi, may I ask a question?

Can I please get some channeled messages about my first date with my future spouse, how will it be? Also, if 18+ messages should come through, kindly include them in the reading. I'm 21 years old

Thanks in advance! 😊

Bro this bitch doesn’t want you knowing this I swear, I just wrote a massive (it wasn’t that big) paragraph answering this question, and the app went all weird and broke, so now I have to rewrite this, sigh.

Anywho! I’m seeing your future spouse wants to take you to somewhere where they will end up spending a lot of money on you, cliché I know, however I did channel a fancy restaurant, one which is very expensive, I honestly didn’t want to write about a restaurant, I wanted something fancy like bungee jumping, or performing a blood tie or something, however I have been disappointed again (I’m just salty that I have rewrite all this.)

Confirmation on the restaurant though! The song “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin started playing as I began to write this. Which is some fancy classical song known for being used in movies for fancy restaurant scenes, I think it was in Ratatouille. (I’m getting a message from either my own subconscious, or my very enthusiastic spirit guides, you should 100% listen to jazz music) OH MY, WAIT!!! (I’m channeling on the spot and I want to convey that) Maybe they’ll take you to a super fancy and expensive jazz bar (I shall come as dressed as a glass of red wine, to fit in with the scenery!)

I don’t know why I’m feeling so humorous, I’m writing this with a straight face right now, your spouse is funny, they’re making me funny.

They will make it clear that they are looking for something serious and long lasting, they will come to you with a long list, like one of those medieval scrolls, and they will be testing you the entire time to make sure you fit their desired spouse (spoiler: you do.) They won’t actually come with a script, they’re very sarcastic, I am very sarcastic right now, I’m so sorry, this is a mess, blame your spouse, not me I am innocent! They will however have some type of mental checklist that they will make sure you fill all of their gaps (I think that was a sexual innuendo, not too sure, they have heavy dry humour, and I’m bad with sarcasm.)

They will make you feel very listened to, and you will listen to them, you guys make a very good match, I do however think they will make too many dry ass jokes to you during your first date, and it’ll confuse you so bad because you won’t be able to differentiate the sarcasm and truth.

This will leave you a little disappointed, and not taking seriously! However, they will message you later that night telling you how much fun they had, and how they found another place they would like to take you to next!