#were you not paying attention to the narrative and instead just like. looking at a thin guy with a small ponytail

[marinsawakening]

BOTW Zelda's narrative is about how much she sucks at being Princess Zelda, how incredibly restrictive and stressful she finds that role. The tension created between Princess Zelda, the ideal, a long established tradition of divinely connected princesses, and Princess Zelda, the reality, who would much rather spend her time digging for frogs and studying ancient technology and can never seem to live up to the ideal is the beating heart of BOTW's story. Nearly every time we see Zelda she's cracking and straining under the stress of trying to be something she simply isn't, resenting her role almost as much as she resents herself for failing to fill it properly. So yeah I do wonder how anyone came to the conclusion that she's cis. The only way you could make her more trans is to make it canon.

[andy-wm]

Back to WHO : the MV

This is a continuation of the earlier post that discusses the song WHO, by Jimin. That post was a first impression focused on the lyrics - while this one looks more closely at the MV.

(Remember this is my interpretation, not an official statement by Hybe)

The more times I watched the music video, the more I wanted to yell, because look...

IT'S REALLY STARING US IN THE FACE.

And again, kudos to Jimin's team because it's the most obvious thing in the world ever but only if you ALREADY KNOW what's going on.

Here's a summary:

The music video loosely represents Jimin's attraction/sexuality/love life as a timeline.

New colours - a new spectrum shall we say - filter into his life even though he's trying so hard to 'keep to the program'.

He searches high and low for a girl to love, but alas, nobody makes the fireworks happen for him. Then Billboard Boy crashes into his life, threatening to destroy everything. Jimin has to weather the storm and figure out where his place is because Billboard Boy is a major disruptor - a tornado in fact. In the end, the fireworks are popping and the chaos is happening, and Jimin has to just go with it and finds his place again. His colours have been getting brighter and louder as he goes along and in the end he's prepared to walk away from everything in order to be the spectrum he is.

<<I'm not saying it's literally a count of how many girls or boys or enbys he's kissed. I hope his kissed all of them and then some, frankly, but that's none of my business.>>

A few things to pay special attention to:

Burning cars > cars = masculinity. fire = hot. 1+1=2.

Dancers > people he's interacting with

Rough weather, as represented by the wind-whipped papers and eventually even cars being tossed about the set > His attraction to men (and dare I say it, culminating in a focus on one man in particular)

Colour flares, machine text, and marks on the tape (horizontal lines etc)

Are you ready? Let's go...

Jimin enters the scene looking like sex on legs (no surprises) and strolls casually onto the road. Immediately our view of hm is blocked by a pop-art style poster blowing across the screen. It's immediately followed by a car coming around the corner onto the road. The car is on fire. Jimin watches it pass by and follows it.

He follows the burning car.... and so it begins.

The narrative starts from before BTS even exists. Jimin encounters several female dancers who he has brief and sexy interludes with. In fact i don't think there's a single woman in this MV who he doesn't at least look at. He really does try everything (and everyone) in his efforts to find HER.

BUT WAIT.... rewind...

Let's go back to the poster... it depicts a street scene much like the one we see here, with the words:

WHO IS!! TORNADO OF LOVE

Note: those are exclamation points not question marks.

It's not a question. This is telling us UP FRONT IN BIG LETTERS that 'WHO' is tornado of love.

I could probably stop here and just say 'ok go watch it again' but it's too much fun to go through all the details.

So let's continue...

Jimin has a little more steamy choreo with the female dancers before the lyrics tell us he has so many people to see and places to go, and he leaves them and joins 6 other men in what looks like a work environment....

Hello we are BTS!

Yes you guessed it... like Yoongi did in Haegum, Jimin has his members represented here. (Fan chant going off in my head...) and more delicious choreography follows.

Notice that while Jimin was dancing with the girls, the only signs of rough weather were a few glittery specs floating through the air, barely noticable. Those bits of glitter multiply when he joins the 6 men, and instead of a sprinkling of glitter, it starts looking like a light snowfall.

That's all about to change....

The first moment of reckonning:

At the end of this section of choreo, as Jimin sings 'who is my heart waiting for' and moves into the next phase we have a barely visible flash of light across the screen and rainbow colours bleed into the footage (at 1.14).

This is also the moment the significant rough weather starts. I'd say this is where Jimin starts noticing how he feels, and the turmoil begins, because this is also where he makes eye contact with the camera (1.23).

He sees us watching.

Fuck. I had a moment here. There's a look on his face as he walks past the camera and stares right into it.

AUTO CALLIBRATION...

As another millisecond flash of light and rainbow colours seep into the footage, The machine text 'AUTO CALLIBRATION' appear on the screen and flash there for a couple of seconds.

CALLIBRATE: To standardise... by determinning the deviation from a standard so as to ascertain the proper correction factors (Meriam-Webster definition).

"Get a hold of yourself, Jimin. Reset (your behaviour and desires) to correspond with expectations"

Jimin makes a very determined bee-line for the nearest girl and dances with her, ignoring the burning car in the foreground.

This brings us to the next phase of the narrative, and the next location - the performance space in front of the OASIS cinema.

(Do you see the doors of the cinema - BTS referenced again).

As he dances with this girl, the camera zooms out and we see that a crowd has gathered outside the cinema, watching them, but the crowd does not seem friendly and the dance seems performative - the movements are exagerated and obvious. The girl has Jimin in a headlock at one point and then she pushes him away and leaves. All in all it's an unpleasant event.

At this point the BTS members return (Although now there's one missing) and they dance with and around a number of female dancers. flashes go off in the crowd as the choreo is performed.

As they dance the wind picks up quickly and papers and cans are blown about. Even when Jimin is obviously interacting with female dancers the weather continues to pick up. Dancing with the girls isn't helping.

The camera pulls back and we see the same car as before, still on fire.

This is the moment when the penny (or billboard) drops.

All the other dancers scatter, dissapearing in a matter of seconds as the billboard comes crashing down. The billboard blocks his path. Wherever he had been planning to go - or whatever course of action he had planned to take - this man on the billboard forces a new decision. Jimin has to rethink his plans.

Jimin turns and goes in the opposite direction to everyone else. (A similar scene occured in Like Crazy, Jimin going the other way, rejecting the norm, going against the tide).

The machine text flashes "REWIND ... REWIND" on the screen and we see Jimin heading back to where all this started... where the original car on fire was seen.

He's travelling his own path now, but as he walks, alone in what seems to be the wrong direction, we see the store lights brighter, reflecting off cars and filling the space around him.

He's going through the motions with the girls he passes but the interactions are brief and in one case he actually dodges the girl completetly.

He retraces his steps amidst the chaos, and the weather really goes nuts. Now there are cars being thrown through the air, streetlamps exploding. The storm is almost upon him.

As Jimin steps into that original street again, the one with the neon letters spelling BLISS, the machine text reads PLAY. It's almost ike he's having a redo, where he accepts who he is from the start and allows the chaos to happen. And the chaos DOES happen, because the tornado has arrived.

THE TORNADO OF LOVE.

There's a flash and the whole screen is flooded with colours, blanking out the footage.

Jimin can no longer dance in step with everyone else at this point. He's doubled over, belting those high notes at the climax of the song while the chaos rages in the background. Without the music to give his actions context, it almost looks like hes in agony.

Sparks fly, lights flash, even the film itself is affected...

He eventually gets it together and rejoins the choreography, picking up his life so to speak. But his callibration is forever changed. the colours that bled into his life are there for good now, and and as he walks away after the music stops, we see that those colours are not just for the performance, they exist outside of that.

A note about the light flares we see throughout the MV:

It was really hard to catch these, some of them were literal milliseconds. I had to slow the MV down to play at .25 original speed and even then they were fleeting - well hidden.

Only the one at the very end was really visible.

In this one, the word PAUSE appears, as the MV ends. I wonder if that relates to their military service?

The flares of light and colour, those rainbow flashes, aren't always easy to find. Youvhave to be prepared to seek them out.

We will find them if we look for them, but i think Jimin won't show his true colours until after the lights go down and the performance is over.

I respect his decision (if that's what that is) and i will continue to meet him here his stands. I'll support everything he does knowing what I know and I'll continue to search for and uncover the hidden messages he sends us.

[kurishiri]

00 . . . “ the hunter and the cursed ones’ medical records ”

— this translation may not be 100% accurate or may contain creative liberties for characterization or narrative flow purposes. if you enjoy, please consider reblogging, but don’t repost or claim these as your own!

— this story is told from Roger’s point of view. it’s recommended, but not necessarily required, to read the second prologue before reading this.

— cw: none.

At an unexpected time, a pure white evil had descended upon England.

The castle had since suddenly become more noisy, but the one who had to pay attention especially——was someone like myself.

Alfons: I’m coming in, Roger. Victor entrusted me to hand you this book...

A: I must say, this is quite a sight to behold.

Documents were scattered everywhere in the room, leaving no room to maneuver or step around, and Al, seeing this, furrowed his brows.

Alfons: I can’t help but wonder if you’ve made a sore blunder and just up and left in the middle of the night?

A: All that said, I do hold my doubts on whether it’s even possible to run away with that big body of yours...

Roger: Trying to start up another argument as always, huh.

R: I was just thinking I should sort out all these different types of research documents.

Alfons: And why is that?

Roger: ‘Cause of Vogel.

R: Not like I know if they’ve got some ulterior motive hidden up their sleeve, but in those cases there’s no such thing as exercising too much caution.

Alfons: Seldom comes a time when I do agree with you, but it seems we do see eye to eye in this matter.

Al picked up one of the documents from the floor with his fingers.

Alfons: Well, I’ll be, this is our medical records [1], no?

Roger: That it is, it’s highly confidential too.

Alfons: Height, weight, medical history...

A: Dear me, to have this written as well. It’s as though the notion of privacy is nonexistent!

Roger: Don’t go taking my tenacity so lightly now?

R: Well, all that said, it’s not like I don’t know where you’re coming from. To know everything about someone else is basically the same as grasping their weaknesses.

R: But, on the flip side, you could also say that if I’m the one holding onto such information, I could save you guys’ lives.

Alfons: Hah. I suppose it is a case of the same coin having two sides.

Roger: Pretty interesting stuff, right? See, for example, Jude—

Alfons: .........

A: Just how long do you plan on continuing this?

While playing with the document with his fingers as though having little interest in them,

ashy gray eyes looked my way.

(I’ve never talked about the real reason I’ve joined Crown.)

(That is, aside from this person before me, who’s an old acquaintance of mine, though begrudgingly so.)

Roger: What, you want me to pay more attention to you?

Alfons: Most definitely not. So by all means, do continue your unproductive research.

A: Well then, I’ve done what I needed to do here, so I will take my leave.

Roger: Wait, Al.

Alfons: What is it?

I waved Al’s medical record as I read it aloud.

Roger: Alfons Sylvatica. Bearer of the Mirror Curse.

R: Sound for someone who’s regularly unsystematic. Has a stomach that rivals that of a beast.

R: And...

R: A friend from the old times, whom I’d like to get along better with me.

Alfons: And that is exactly why Jude calls you a ‘quack of a doctor.’

That was all he said before he closed the door, the sound cold and robotic.

Roger: Haha, he’s cold as always.

Now alone in the room, silence fell upon me as I looked out the window.

Rays of sun that penetrated through the leaves of trees came through, giving the medical records a streak of light.

(All I said was that I had an interest in the Cursed ones, so I was doing research on them.)

(But, that)

——was a complete lie.

There was no way I would choose not to succeed my family, instead joining an organization who specialized in assassination just because I was ‘interested.’

The reason I joined Crown, was because it was a place where Cursed ones gathered.

And it was also a place directly under Her Majesty the Queen, so it was a perfect place to gather information.

“The Cursed ones”——it was an absurd fate, bestowed by the whims of God.

(And I——want to rid the world of Curses.)

(That was the reason I turned to Crown,)

(and it was my ambition for a long time now.)

And the medical records of Crown showed that very ambition,

as I’ve made meticulous records on every member.

——No, every member but one.

(The Queen’s Aide, Victor.)

(On his record, and his alone, there is not a single piece of useful information written down.)

As I stared at his medical record, I felt myself returning to a memory from the past.

When I first met Victor, it was at the hideout a serial killer was residing in.

By the time I arrived at the scene, the criminal had already drew his last breath, and only long, jet black hair flowed in the wind.

That man turned around, not uttering a sound.

When our eyes met, the man with eyes like jewels gave me a lax smile.

Victor: Good evening to you. The full moon tonight is quite beautiful, isn’t it.

first. next →

full masterlist 📄

NOTES:

[1] the apparent pronunciation (furigana) for this is [カルテ] (karute). It’s a Japanese loan word from the German word ‘Karte,’ which I believe translates to ‘card.’ In Japanese, though, it means a medical or clinical record for a patient. Anyway, any time you see ‘medical record,’ it is pronounced as karute.

[david-talks-sw]

"The idea of it..."

This is obviously a reference to the ol' argument:

"The Jedi weren't bad but the Jedi Order as an institution needed to go."

So as a quick reminder I thought I'd point out:

1) George Lucas describes the Jedi's eradication as a sad thing, not something sad-but-necessary:

"[The] Jedi getting killed through the Order 66 of the clones is just done as one of those kind of inevitable pay offs in terms of getting rid of everybody, the Emperor is getting rid of all his enemies, but there’s a certain inevitability of it all and a sadness to it.  - Revenge of the Sith, Director’s Commentary, 2005

2) Out of 770 George Lucas quotes, I've never seen him refer to the Jedi Order as "an institution" once.

He does refer to the Republic itself as an institution.

"[In The Phantom Menace one of the many storylines is] the story of a young queen who's faced with the total annihilation of a people, and how she can get a sluggish political institution to pay attention to what's going on." - Premiere, 1999

He might be referring to the Senate instead of the Republic as a whole, but the point stands: he's not talking about the Jedi.

Which tracks with what Lucas defined as Dooku's reason for leaving the Order: his disenchantment with the Republic/Senate, not the Jedi themselves.

But let's go slightly further:

The Jedi Temple was designed as a place of worship that would contrast with the corporate coldness of the Senate.

Also, the Jedi were originally designed as a more organized police force. As the script evolved, they were turned into peacekeepers, diplomats.

Mace's room was redesigned so as to not convey that the Jedi were mired in bureaucracy and protocol.

And when describing the political situation of the Prequels, Lucas doesn't blame the Jedi, but rather the corporations and Senate:

"But as often happens when wealth and power grow beyond all reasonable proportion, an evil fueled by greed arose. The massive organs of commerce mushroomed in power, the Senate became corrupt, and an ambitious named Palpatine was voted Supreme Chancellor." - Shatterpoint, Prologue, 2004

Wow, it's looking like not only is the "Jedi Order as an institution needed to go" narrative not a thing per Lucas, but

3) Lucas went out of his way to make it clear that the Jedi aren't the issue, here, the Republic/Senate is.

So how did we get this narrative?

Well, it comes from a generation of fans and Star Wars creators who were not the target audience.

You know the type. It's the kind who, when asked if they like the Prequel Trilogy, will respond that they liked...

... but not the execution.

AKA they disliked the Prequels, but then EU books and The Clone Wars came out and provided them with enough material to form a headcanon justifying why they didn't like the Jedi, despite wanting to: it's because the Jedi are meant to be disliked! Totally!

The Jedi failed as an institution is an idea that comes from authors who wanted to engage with the material (it IS Star Wars, after all) but not the narrative that George Lucas had crafted, whose work then influenced older fans who preferred the author's retconned version of the story to the original one.

The rest is history.

As Prequels producer Rick McCallum put it:

"The myth begins on paper. During preproduction, filming, and postproduction, the myth becomes visible through the work of hundreds of dedicated people. Following the film's release, the myth becomes public and the public makes it its own." - Rick McCallum, Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones, 2002

[respectthepetty]

My Love (Color) Mix-Up

Disaster bisexual Aoki and stoic (aro?) Ida of My Love Mix-Up/Kieta Hatsukoi are color-coded boys in love, but unlike most series where the colors are quickly given, seeing the colors emerge throughout the series was a key part of the narrative.

So we must start with the plot:

Aoki likes Hashimoto who is a Green Gal (lively and hopeful).

When Aoki thinks about her or speaks to her, he is engulfed in his color, like in this moment, he is looking at her.

But normally, this Orange Oddity's color is muted (optimistic and communicative).

Because he thinks Hashimoto likes Ida who is a Blue Boy (stable and loyal).

Yet an eraser causes Ida to believe Aoki likes him.

Instead of freaking out, Ida says "bet" and so begins the delicious color extravaganza!

As mentioned, Aoki's color is muted.

But the second Ida starts paying him some attention, Aoki's color starts evolving.

First, he morphs from tan to yellow

After Ida works with Aoki in the play and immerses him in blue

But Aoki is worried about Hashimoto's feelings since he believes she likes Ida. He discusses this with her while both are highlighted by their color with hints of the other person lingering in the shots.

Yet Hashimoto informs Aoki that she actually likes Aida, Ida's Red Rascal friend (more like a Red Flag if you ask me, but he is spontaneous and energetic).

The entire class has to go on a trip, and Aoki feels more confident in his color after Ida confesses to wanting to try being with Aoki.

Once they get back home, Aoki freaks out

But he does a great job of covering it up.

Not really. Not at all. The boy is losing it! His love for Ida is evolving quickly and his emotions are written all over him in his brightening color. Some issues emerge with Hashimoto and Aida (telling you that he is a giant Red Flag!), so Aoki mutes his color a bit to not rub salt in his friend's wound, yet his tutor even notices Aoki in love, but is bothered that Aoki likes a boy. Aoki cannot hide his feelings, so his Blue Boy becomes a vegan for a day to squash that beef.

Aoki's color comes back and Hashimoto reminds him that in order to date Ida, who is doing everything right, he has to like actually go on dates with Ida.

And just like before, Ida says "bet" and asks Aoki out on a date.

The date is great despite Aoki picking a movie where the dog dies in the end and both boys are solid in their colors.

Well, until Aoki freaks out again believing that Ida doesn't feel as deeply as he does (which it would be kind of hard to tell since Ida's sweater turns from the softest blue into white). However, with Hashimoto's encouragement, Aoki decides to properly confess to Ida about just how deep his feelings are (as if it isn't obvious).

But Ida tells Aoki that Ida already admitted to his teammates that they were dating after they questioned seeing the two out together on their date. Aoki, worried that Ida will be bullied for dating him, breaks up with Ida and falls deep into the blue.

Ida's teammates explain to Ida how Aoki came to them claiming that they were never dating and begging for the team to be kind to Ida. Ida realizing what Aoki was doing runs after him (Japan and that damn running!), and we get one of the most fucking satisfying color exchanges from any show ever.

DO YOU SEE THAT?! DO YOU SEE IT?! Aoki, void of color, walking aimlessly, immediately is surrounded by Ida's color the second Ida hugs him, then the camera pans out to show how BOTH of their colors are present.

*I'M SCREAMING!*

Ida talks to Aoki in Aoki's color letting Aoki know that he feels just as deeply for him as Aoki feels for him.

When Aoki finally turns around, both boys are equal in their colors and feelings.

Aoki believes Ida, and they sit down to watch the lights, covered in their love and colors.

And the show ends where it began, with an eraser.

This colors post was brought to you by this random piece of text

[majorbaby]

it takes a conscious effort to break your patterns of consumption and unlearn the notion beauty, interiority, diverse ways of existence aren't exclusive to whiteness or maleness. part of that isn't your fault. certain music is played on the radio, certain shows survive cancellation no matter what, certain people seem to be able to commit the worst possible acts against other human beings and are excused on account of their creative genius. others are selectively punished, with good reason sure, but still, selectively.

now more than ever it's easier to immerse yourself in art made by people outside of the mainstream. reading lists, free resources, playlists... all this stuff is more accessible than ever, but you've got to make an effort to give it a try. it's black history month, the recs are pouring in, go have a look. or take a chance on something absolutely no one has recommended anywhere and if you find something you like, rec it to someone else because the likelihood is they haven't heard of it.

tracy chapman's "fast car" is one of eleven songs that appears on her self-titled debut album. can you name the second hit single from it? if you're american and you fell anywhere left of center as of the 2016 election, it should be on the tip of your tongue if you were engaged in your country's politics at the time, regardless of your level of actual investment in the system. if not, the next time you're doing a task you need both hands with, washing the dishes, having dinner, doing your makeup, put that album on.

there's a post with over 100K notes on here that i see all the time of bruce springsteen and clarence clemons kissing. there's a part of that that is immediately meaningful to many if you're lgbtq, and a part that is harder for non-black lgbtq people to feel the weight of. but it is worth trying to do and was part of the reason why they kissed so often in the first place. clarence clemons was from norfolk, virginia. he released multiple albums outside of his work with the e street band. they may not be for you, but give them a try.

give enough music, or movies, or books that aren't a part of the approved canon a try, and there's no way you won't find something you don't feel as passionate about as you do about springsteen, siken, the beatles, what have you.

james baldwin was a prolific artist. see if you can't find something of his you like more than giovanni's room.

immerse yourself in ringo sheena, who mitski cites as one of her influences.

if you have difficulty paying attention to music you don't recognize, (i get it) make a playlist that alternates tracks you know and love with brand new tracks. start small. 5 faves of all time, 5 you're going to try out. you won't like everything, but you might find yourself looking forward to 6 songs instead of 5 eventually.

for movies, pick an actor whose performance you loved in something and explore their work. last year i picked whoopi goldberg, also a prolific artist, with a vast body of work that's pretty accessible as a result of her constant, intentional effort.

if you're an artist yourself, you can only stand to improve by getting to know your fellow artists better. so expand your notion of what art is. you can do it for free in lots of cases, and you're spending that time listening to music or reading or watching movies or series anyway, what have you got to lose?

anti-racism sometimes means engaging in real-world narratives of pain endured by brown and black people. that pain permeates much of our art, but we're just as three-dimensional as everybody else, and every aspect of our experiences come through in our work. you know that already, because what else is happening when you indulge in various genres. for everything you love or enjoy, there's a brown or black person who's doing something along those lines, in many cases, those genres wouldn't exist in their current form without the influence of our communities, some more than others, depending on where you're from. you can actually keep one foot inside your comfort zone and dip your toe into something else. that choice is both a joy and a luxury.

[onlycosmere]

Editing

tahollow: I always wondered exactly what editing was, but I figured it was more of making sure things align with the main focus of the story/characters instead of truncating the novel.

Brandon Sanderson: There's really three big stages to editing.

1) Substantive Editing. This is usually the editor reading the book and offering an "Editorial Letter." The editor often doesn't leave any marks on the manuscript in this stage, but instead writes everything out on the large scale. They might offer suggestions for improvement, but more often than not, they just highlight the problem areas and ask you to rethink them or ask for more clarity. Sometimes, you'll do a call an explain what you were trying, and you'll bounce ideas off each other of how to better achieve it.

I have four people usually doing substantive edits with me. Devi at Tor. Gillian from the UK. Peter from my own company. And Karen, my continuity editor. All are seeing the book early, and all are making large-scale notes about problems to work on. (Karen's focus is on continuity first--large scale continuity like timing of days, and comparisons to previous books. The others don't worry about that much, and focus on things like character arcs and structure.)

2) Line editing. When I had Moshe, he did both substantive and line editing. These days, Gillian is our primary line editor, and she does a second pass to cover this after doing her substantive editorial letter. She's a very good line editor, by the way. This is the "Make the page bleed" type thing you might hear of an editor doing. They go through and try to help you clarify. During this stage, they will trim, though the focus is on helping you find the right words, identify trouble sentences, and the like. Gillian usually has a handful (four or five) of these per page, depending. Some pages have none. Some have more. Tightening IS a focus during this stage, but it's again more about clarity.

After this stage, I do my own revision where--with a spreadsheet and wordcounts in hand--I cut 10-15% of the book, line by line, to really condense and make it pop. This is where I pay attention to language most. If I'm writing a book with a strong voice and distinctive prose, like one of Hoid's novels, I look to really implement it here. If I'm trying something more clear and concise, where I want character voice to dominate not narrative voice, I really try to get the writer to vanish here and let the character and story reign.

Because of this, I can track exactly how much I trimmed from Wind and Truth.

3) After this, a separate set of editors take over. The copy editor is focused on maintaining a style guide and making sure that there aren't line-level contradictions in the book. (Did you say his eyes were green here, and blue in a different chapter?) A copy editor is also a "first line" proofreader. They aren't supposed to make, or suggest, sweeping changes--at this point, the page numbers and the like of the book are getting locked in for pre production.

Peter Ahlstrom, my editorial VP, oversees this. I make changes during this stage, but when I do, he actually puts them into the text. He then works with the proofreaders, doing multiple passes.

So, not counting beta readers and alpha readers, I have five main editors on a Stormlight book.

Devi

Gillian

Peter

Karen

And Terry (our primary copyeditor.)

Each has a different role, though all of them but Terry offer a lot of substantive changes.

[annislittleshopofhorrors]

You know, I love your blog and your funny/shady comments about 🐟 unable to handle her husband getting the attention and not her.

But I’ll admit, I always laughed it off because we can say that but nobody really knows what’s happening.

Until yesterday. LMAO. I know, I’m sorry for not really listening to some of y’all… but she needs some serious help and for once, to put down her goddamn phone.

I also realized that I knew she was going to try and do something to put the attention back on her and nothing she does on IG is ever a coincidence. This is the actions of a very manipulative but also very stupid individual with narcissistic tendencies. To her five asskissers, look away.

She follows that light and dwell designer the day after people made fun of her for showing her PT apt (btw, now I wonder if she was hoping people would think it was the house her husband was allegedly building for her in PT like some blogs believe)

When that didn’t work, follow this designer lady back after months (funny how she does this quite often when she’s not getting the attention she wants).

Follows some random directors. She still wants a job. That custom ugly furniture ain’t gunna pay for itself!

Posts a random photo dump of suggestive photos to indicate nothing but also making sure the ones who care will try and figure out if she’s in MA, NY, NYC, Canada, Wherever the narrative of where she lives fits.

meanwhile, her husband is in NYC filming with his attractive female costar who is much more well known than her (even if it’s the nepo baby comments) and has two films of her own coming out this month and her Madame web movie is still doing pretty well on Netflix.

Their pap photos are much better received by the general public and have comments shipping them and wishing they were together instead. Yikes!! Also…they actually do look good together. They fit.

Btw, I don’t think 🐟 is jealous of Dakota because of Chris. TBH, I don’t think she’s into her “husband” at all. From her actions, she doesn’t care about him or his well being. She cares about what his name can do for her. That’s it. And right now his name is being lumped with Dakota and not hers and I think it’s pissing her off. She needs to get those cheap outfits comped one way or another and her Liberia film isn’t cutting it. Miumiu not calling her back and nobody wants to see her in a solo pap walk….so.

Sorry to all the team asslickers on here but even you have to admit yesterday was a hilarious show your ass moment.

Sidenote: I like to think CE is putting on a bigger effort to look like he likes Dakota because Celine song is directing this film and he wants to do well for her. And also, he seems to simply just like Dakota. She’s pretty hilarious in her own right when she’s not being a flat actress 🤣 and maybe…just maybe, he wants to show you all whose watching that he does know how to act like he’s in love with someone. He just didn’t want to the last time he was in that park.

😉❤️

Yep, she doesn't care about him (and I don't think he cares about her). It's all about using his name to be mentioned in some gossip magazines. Otherwise these magazines wouldn't talk about her. And even the Portuguese magazines have to mention him when they talk about her. The Portuguese people don't care about her. I'm not even sure if they know her name.

[agendabymooner]

it’s time to go ! max v. x ofc (hearth sister!ofc)

“sometimes giving up is the strong thing.”

summary: sylvie edson ford hearth swore not to think about what had happened back in 2012, but max verstappen has a different plan with his absent childhood friend. OR lando norris has a bad habit of sharing things that he isn’t permitted to share— like her phone number.

content warning: written and text messages applied, frenemies to lovers (ish), hurt/comfort? or angst, use of explicit language, model!student!ofc (sylvie), mentions of anxiety, consciousness, childhood friendships

note: i had to listen to a lot of ts songs. thank you all for the 82 followers!!! i’m so glad you guys are enjoying the content i make. i honestly had been making them because i keep them in my notes but never wrote full narratives of them. if they are written down, they’re normally not published— aka they’re in my wattpad draft. so… i hope you guys enjoy this xx

masterlist

Everybody swore that the two would get together eventually. Too bad it didn’t work like that.

Christmas was what Sylvie considered the best time of the year. She loved the way Christmas lifted the spirits of everyone, no matter how difficult the year had been for them. She loved being one of the children who would chase each other down the halls while parents gathered around and talked about the last season. She loved being around people that knew her well.

The thing was, however, no one knew her anymore. Not as well as they used to.

For a supermodel-on-the-rise, she sure felt conscious about the amount of eyes that watched her as she stepped foot inside the ballroom of the estate. The tulles of her red skirt should have given her more space to breathe, but she felt her body hyperventilating as she nearly dove headfirst into the mini bar.

Looking down on her newly manicured nails had been a habit of hers that night. She pretended to admire the polished nails while she waited for the bartender to mix her strawberry daiquiri, not wanting to look up and meet anyone’s eyes.

The teenagers and the ones who recently left that phase wondered how… How did she change that much?

Her physique certainly matured more than anyone could expect. Her slightly rounded cheeks were replaced by the sharp jawline that could possibly kill. Her eyes that avoided any form of communication were foxy and just as sharp as her jaw. Her nose was just as sharp, as well. If you were to ask Lando, she didn’t have to wear heels to out-height him. Her body and face were no longer recognizable. She was ready to be a fan favourite and a well-paid supermodel.

Funnily enough, she prioritized racing first before she did her child modeling classes. How she managed to transition from one thing to another in the span of three years, nobody could answer. She was a jack of all trades, said by her mother, just like her siblings. She was one of the many sisters who had more options to pursue instead of just sticking to racing. So for her to continue with modeling and fashion… yeah, she already knew how to operate before she was even hired by an agency. At least now she didn’t have to struggle with finding work. She didn’t have to worry about getting hired by a team.

Her career now was clearly something that she couldn’t act on, though. She was always told to walk, don’t pay attention to what everyone’s talking about and get a move on.

But this party wasn’t a runway. The judging eyes didn’t want to pay attention to the details of the clothes, but rather, the figure who wore the dress herself.

“You’re a bit tense, lovie,” Tilly was a blessing in disguise, shaped in the form of a woman who carried a 20 weeks worth of a precious gift in her womb. She must’ve picked up on Sylvie’s discomfort that she decided to strut towards her sister’s direction as quickly as a pregnant woman could. “You could have stayed at home, as I said.”

“I’ve got to say hi to them at some point,” Sylvie murmured to her sister. “Especially Lando. That bloke wouldn’t let it go if I decided to avoid him, too.”

“Well, they should be around here,” Tilly quipped as she rubbed her stomach. Seeing the movement in her peripheral vision, Sylvie spontaneously reached out and got a feel of the bump. She tried to ease her mind by doing the most peaceful thing. “They’re not looking at you for the wrong reasons, Sylv. I promise.”

“If they are, then they’re going to have to face Maman and I’s wrath,” Tilly cheekily smiled. Tilly looked past Sylvie’s shoulder as she said, “Look. Here are the boys.”

Sylvie was glad that her glass was empty and already resting at the counter, otherwise she would have made a scene if she had dropped it after being attacked by a bear hug.

“Fucking Lando,” she swore beneath her breath, trying to pull him off as she turned feeling restrained. He wouldn’t let go. She would have sworn once more, preferably aloud this time, had it been for the other boys that stood excitedly with him. She couldn’t even look at them properly due to the hold that Lando had on her.

“I told you I was going to kidnap you,” Lando let out an evil laugh before waving enthusiastically at Tilly, “Thanks, Tils! I’ll return her to you later!”

“Good, you better,” Tilly called out.

Her poor feet would be dead by the end of the night and Sylvie knew that she was fucked if she didn’t do anything about it. It wasn’t like she could stop Lando from dragging her down to wherever he’s taking her to just so she could slip out of her Valentino. She couldn’t seem to stop him especially when they both passed by familiar faces. Especially one that she didn’t want to see.

Fucking Max Verstappen. She thought that God was laughing at her that night.

She couldn’t even look at him by the time that they formed some sort of circle around the lounge room.

The telly was on, but it had been playing nothing but the screen of the karaoke waiting to show its texts and tunes. None of them paid that much attention to it, especially her.

The boys seemed like they were craving for companionship of a woman as they surrounded her with curiosity and excitement. They tried to get her attention while she was still speaking to another person. She felt like she was what Fergie was talking about in Fergalicious.

She still couldn’t look him in the eyes, situating herself between Charles Leclerc— her favourite enemy in the track and George Russell— the boy that she once called “everyone’s crush”— to avoid sharing a conversation with Max. She made sure she sat next to the two, not looking at the Dutchman as she continued to catch up with Lando and the other people she was acquainted with.

Most of them knew who she was, of course. She had been friends with most of them for years, finding themselves in the same track as they trained. She competed with them, offering nothing to the boys but fun and friendly competition. She saw things differently from everyone else. No matter how much she wished to be an F1 driver, she didn’t push past her limits— not even when her father told her to.

She was dubbed “the Wild Mustang” at the age of 10 after she realized that she was able to reach the pedal and brake of her mother’s vehicle.

The boys had never seen someone do a donut in their own parking lot before. Let alone a 10-year-old girl—thank god for her Uncle Gilles for teaching her how to do that on TV. Despite their amazement and enthusiasm, Sylvie was no longer allowed to be in the vehicle on her own after she was caught doing another donut while the other kids watched and cheered. Sylvie clearly made everyone’s time because of her wildness and risky attitude. Oh, and her blunt mouth.

So for her to sit silently as she nodded to whatever it was that her acquaintances were talking about? It wasn’t her.

Ever since she left the academy, at the age of 14, she didn’t look back. She didn’t look back at her own friends, either. Lando was the only one persistent enough to barge inside her room only for him to find out that she was packing to go to university.

Extremely early advancement program, she said. She went to university and while she was there, Lando made sure that she’d call him at least once in a while. Otherwise the security would have a problem fighting with a 4 foot something boy who only wanted to see his friend.

Nobody truly saw her behaviour change besides from her family… and Lando. She seemed more reserved when she’s out and about, much to Lando’s dismay. He really hated it when he was the only one who would bring the energy into the room. As if she lacked the power. Lando was convinced that he annoyed her because of the lack of retorts she had passed to him.

He didn’t stop talking to her. He abruptly confronted her about her behaviour instead of trying to skirt his way around it. He was more than relieved that she wasn’t annoyed by his presence, yet he was curious to know what had her acting like this. She had been like that since she left the academy. Her silence could be interpreted as sourness and hatred.

Regardless, they saw each other every other six months whether it’s during the race weekend or an event hosted by a family. But she never went to any of his racing tournaments.

She had attended certain Formula One race weekends throughout the absence of her racing career. People only caught a glimpse of her whenever she went, wondering how fast she’d disappeared even when she visited each garage.

Her attitude remained the same to her family, though. That’s why Tilly and her sisters wondered how people could see Sylvie as an introvert or a bitch. She made fun of Tilly back when Toto was still a stranger to the family. She spoke to whichever Mercedes staff had brought her to the grandstand or hospitality. She was… still her.

She refused to speak to people her age— that weren’t her sisters, of course. Especially those who were familiar with the tracks and familiar with who she was. She never looked at them. She didn’t feel comfortable being in this room. Lando was just pushing her to speak as much as she could since his attention was everywhere. He was friends with everyone in the circle and that meant that she, too, had to speak.

Still, she couldn’t seem to reply to Max. She’d only have a passing comment if he asked something to her. He was clearly trying to get her attention, but her eyes were trained anywhere else but his own pair.

“I want some more Coke,” Lando complained, “you should have gotten more, Alex.”

“Eh? Why me? Why don’t you get up?” Alex Albon replied with a scoff, “You’re the one who’s drinking it.”

She took this as an opportunity to dip out for a moment as she said, “I’ll grab ‘em.”

“Thanks Mustang,” Lando’s boyish grin appeared on his face as she stood up from the carpet. Her skirt slightly wrinkled from sitting on the floor for too long, but her feet were thankful that the low heels that she wore were taken off. “You are the best.”

“Only when you need something, espèce de salaud paresseux.” you lazy bastard. Charles snorted, clearly understanding what she just called Lando as she walked down the hallway to find the little man cave that she once explored. The room was dark, the only thing that brightened was the mini fridge with cans of Coke in them.

She didn’t know why she tiptoed towards it, kneeling down to its level as her fingers touched the cold metal. She didn’t even realize she couldn’t carry that many cans. Lando, on a good day, would drink a dozen of the mini cans and Sylvie learned that you might as well get them all now before he bitches about running out of drink.

“D’you need help?”

“Oh, Jesus Christ!” She hit her head when she tried looking up to see who just spoke. But she didn’t need to look. She already knew who decided to corner her. In a dark room.

“Shit, shit, sorry schat,” Max swore as he reached out, “are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied with a hiss, “lost a fucking brain or two but I suppose I am.”

The last time that they spoke was at the paddock during the 2014 Silverstone race. That was when he shoulder checked her unintentionally, leaving her to bark at him in annoyance before stomping off. They didn’t even see each other’s faces.

“Here, do you need help?” He asked genuinely, gesturing with his empty hands as he offered some sort of support.

She didn’t bother hesitating, just shoving the cold cans of pop in his arms while she turned to grab more. She busied herself with the fridge before she groaned after hearing him clear his throat.

“So uh… How have you been, Sylvie?”

“Delightful,” she responded drily.

“How was your first and second term?”

“Busy.”

“How are you doing with the…modeling stuff then?” Oh he really wouldn’t leave without getting words out of her mouth.

“Great,” she muttered. He still wouldn’t catch onto the disinterest in her tone. Was he really this oblivious or did he lose a brain cell or two for the past few years?

“You look—“ he cleared his throat once more, feeling his face flush pink as he remembered the last picture that he saw of her. The holiday collection of Victoria’s Secret Pink. “You looked very beautiful at them.”

She paused, wondering what the fuck was he doing in the man cave with her. What was the reason for his intervention? Did he corner her just to compliment her latest project?

“Thank you,” she sighed before grabbing the last of the cans, kicking the fridge closed as she walked past him.

“I want to catch up with you,” he voiced out as they walked down the hallway. It remained empty, the ballroom was obviously occupied by loud music and loud guests and hosts. The lounge room, despite it being a few feet away, remained loud as well as the boys sung their hearts out. Poorly.

His voice echoed in the hallway, leaving her to pause and turn around. She remained standing there as he finally jogged towards her. They were both still cradling cans of pop as if those were their children.

“It’s just…” Max trailed off, wanting to scratch his head but couldn’t. “You stopped talking to all of us after you left. At least all of us but Lando.”

She wanted to scoff. She wanted to laugh at his face. There was no way he’d have this much audacity to assume that she’d even dare talk to him. Not after all of that fiasco.

“Some of us were wondering,” he rocked back and forth on his feet. “Especially with where you went after all of that. I was going to apologize to you.”

“Hm,” she hummed disinterestedly. She was itching to go back to the lounge room.

“For doing that,” Max spoke meekly.

She was infuriated for the first time in four years. She had never been angry about this. She downplayed her anger and acted as if she had only quit the academy when she was already on her way to become the first female F1 driver. She pretended that he didn’t exist, because God only knew what she could do at the thought of him.

Back in 2014, when she learned that he was a reserved driver, she begged her sister for something so silly. To fire Max. She didn’t really mean that. She only wanted to say his name with disdain to let it out of her system. But then she returned to her routine of being silent and keeping some shit to herself, not wanting to slag him off any further as an ounce of guilt filled her mind.

Then he said some shit like this. He wouldn’t even tell her what he did. She had never been so angry since now.

But she could only offer nothing but a cold tone. “For doing what?” She asked coolly, looking at him in the eyes as she challenged him.

Her coldness left him stammering, “F-for the uh…” then he was silent.

Watching his mouth clamp shut, she laughed humourlessly before shaking her head in disbelief. “If you’re going to apologize, you have to recognize what you’ve done first. Oh, Verstappen,” she tutted, “you are so silly.”

Walking back to the lounge room, she left him behind in the hallway. Maybe after today, she could cry herself to sleep this time. She hasn't been able to cry ever since she left. Maybe after letting that out, she’d be able to rest a little bit better.

Everyone thought that, after growing up with each other, they’d end up as something else that’ll last forever. But if anyone had seen this confrontation, they’d express how wrong they were. Because the first glimpse of her long lost lover turned into something like hate. It wasn’t the same as it was before 2012.

[stateofdreaming14]

I lost the post but I saw someone say that Uraraka not ending up with izuku made a majority of her arc somewhat useless and I pretty much disagree bc imo the ending is the answer that completes her arc

The thing is that people didn't pay attention to her full arc because they assumed they already knew where it was leading. That she (like any main girl in a shonin story) would become strong through her admiration of the MC and they would end up together in the end. But, I think most people (even myself at some points) forget the greater picture of mha. Bc mha is a show that sets up many shonin tropes to purposely subvert them. (Like bakugou being the typical MC type but being the rival instead. Or the typical 'rival turns on mc' arc except he doesn't). And that more than anything makes me think that, contrary to what some may believe, uraraka's arc was planned to be this way from the beginning and the general audience just hadn't realized it.

Now let's talk about her arc bc it is interesting to me especially in the way it feeds into a greater story among all of the characters in the show. Of course, the ways she fits into the shonin love interest character arc is obvious. She starts of stronger than izuku power wise but it is clear that he has some deeper well of motivation/determination helping him defeat the odds that she can learn from. Watching izuku defeats the odds inspires her in a way that drives her to become stronger and it causes her affection for him to grow. Everyone seems to think she has a crush on him and the thought of it makes her blush. But, the subversion comes in the form of her main villain, toga.

You see, the main purpose of a villain is to drive the conflict with their heroes. They do this by opposing/exposing some fundamental belief/flaw of the hero. This creates narrative tension and drives the direction of the conflict. Usually the hero overcoming the villain (and how they overcome them) shows a deeper meaning to the arc of the story. Of course, toga is a character who literally tries to become people claiming she has a crush on them. Toga tries to define the battle as between two girls who have a crush on the same guy, but it's obvious that toga doesn't really love izuku at all. She doesn't seem to understand love at all. She sees love and the desire to become someone as one and the same with no differences. She can't understand the difference between admiration/hero worship and romantic love. This the main conflict becomes one of defining love and admiration. I would say that, in typical mha fashion, there isn't a black and white answer to the question either.

Uraraka's answer to toga isn't to defeat her (thus narratively declaring her the moral victor as well) it's to say that toga looks like she needed saving. She confirms that she primarily admires izuku by choosing the most izuku-esque answer there is. Saving those that need saving, even the villains (and playing into the greater lesson of the meaning of heroes and villains in the process). Then toga does the sad mans parade which adds another layer to the conflict. Because it shows her finally displaying a truer (if platonic) love, but this love coexists with the admiration/desire to become. Thus it confirms that the two emotions could exist together. They could have stopped it there and still left open the possible potential for izuocha, but instead this segues into the final layer (which I adore). It is a confirmation that there is admiration between toga and uraraka. And uraraka acknowledges that there is potential for true love there as well if only they were given time to let it grow.

The way that this arc defines admiration and love in a way that plays into the greater story of the meaning of heroes and villains in their society can have its own essays, but as a bkdk shipper myself I think the way it affects their story is the most interesting. Bc the story draws clear parallels between uraraka/toga and bkdk. Mainly in the way each (katsuki and toga) die for their sweeter half while holding items that remind them of the other. But also in uraraka's lament that perhaps if she had known toga as children perhaps things could have ended differently. This parallels how bkdk as childhood friends DID get a better ending. They admired each other, and, because they were given the time and opportunities, that admiration was able to become a love that made them both stronger.

Something something ochotoga (idk their ship name sorry) is the tragic Yuri mirror to bkdk's happy yaoi love story. Their what could have been is bkdk's reality and personally I would love some fics exploring uraraka's mixed feelings about this (especially when bkdk get together bc of course she wants her bestie to be happy but also tragic gay yearning can't be stopped).

[river-of-wine]

I know I’ve been talking about Molly and Abigail a lot but I love them and people are way too mean to them, and when I see people blaming them for things such as the failure of the bank robbery all I can think is this. Do you really think that the game wants you to dislike Molly and Abigail? These two are portrayed incredibly sympathetically throughout the game, and it could not be made more clear that they are victims.

Abigail was a sex worker at seventeen years old, and she had a baby at eighteen. Her son’s father abandoned her in a gang with an infant to take care of while she was still a teenager, and he has been absent in his son’s life and refusing to accept Jack is even his son for four years. All she wants is for her son to have a better life than she had as an orphan growing up in bars and brothels, she wants John to be responsible for Jack and everybody else does as well, even Dutch of all people tries to tell John he shouldn’t abandon his own son. Literally all she wants if for her family to be safe, and that is not the unreasonable ask that people seem to make it out to be. She is a young woman with a traumatic past who loves her family, and who, in the epilogue, just wants a life with her son and her husband where they won’t be in danger anymore. Abigail is one of the biggest reasons why John ends up changing into a better man, why he goes from the deadbeat he starts the game as to who we later see him become for the better. Do you think that’s how the narrative would portray a traitor? How it would show Abigail to you if she were anything other than a desperate young mother trying to care for the people she loves?

Molly is a young woman in an abusive relationship. She is alone in America with nowhere to go and presumably no means to support or defend herself if she ever did leave Dutch, which is a hard enough thing to do in a relationship like theirs even when you are not an isolated Irish woman in 1899. She is completely alone in the gang, she has no friends and no one will properly listen to her no matter how hard she tries. She is in love and she’s worried about Dutch, she never asks him for more than the bare minimum of, as she says, “respect and affection”. She is not asking to be the only focus of his attention, she is not asking him to focus entirely on her instead of the gang, she just wants to be looked at, to be called by her first name, to not be ignored by a man who supposedly loves her. Molly is driven into depression and paranoia by her isolation from any support in the gang and Dutch’s abuse, and she ends up so desperate for somebody to pay her any attention that she says something she knows will get her shot. She is revealed to be innocent in one of the most important cutscenes in the game, the final plot twist that Micah ratted on the gang, and after this, but there is doubt before. Karen doesn’t believe her, Mary-Beth doesn’t believe her, Arthur himself is what keeps Dutch from shooting her and he doesn’t believe her. In the money ending, Arthur will plead with Dutch, telling him it wasn’t Molly and to kill Micah instead. Do you think that’s how the narrative would portray a traitor? Is that how it would show you a victim of severe abuse who wanted nothing more than to be loved?

Each have their own flaws in addition to this, but that’s because they, like the men that are so highly praised within the fan base for their brilliant writing, are complex characters. They are three dimensional characters with personalities and wants and needs, who make decisions or react in ways we might not understand because they are their own people in their own impossibly difficult situations. Just think about the actual storytelling of the game, because nothing is done accidentally. There is a reason for every narrative choice made because it was all written down and performed with the intention of telling the story properly. There is a reason why no one questions that Molly was innocent after it is revealed and why her arc ends with that cutscene, and it is because she was innocent. There is a reason why John changing his ways for the sake of his family, both because of Jack and because of Abigail, and finally listening to his wife for once is shown as a good thing, and that’s because it is. Have whatever opinions you like about a character, but don’t pretend the game is telling you they are something that they’re not

[alatismeni-theitsa]

https://www.lifo.gr/stiles/optiki-gonia/kaos-einai-i-shesi-mas-me-ti-mythologia

Can they stop with modern labels? Every time they try to say that ancient Greece was a queer paradise where it was far from this.

It was criticised in society unless the man was powerful and rich. Like it was a tiny minority and they create this narrative of ancient Greece have over 50% being queer or something.

It's time for our xenoi friends and followers to learn another Greek term. Xenolatreia. It means "worship of anything foreign (mainly from the western countries)", which is a widespread phenomenon among Greeks for the past 2 centuries. It's the following sentiment: "Anything that comes out of western countries is good and it should be praised because we here in Greece are a bunch of illiterate monkeys who live on trees, and cannot see the Deeper Message our Superior Westerners show."

Lifo has had some decent articles over the years but this one reeks of xenolatreia. Lifo supports that the Greeks hate the series because it has queer people in it. so it goes on a campaign to show that Greek mythology had queer people. Which, sure, I don't disagree, but it misses the point. While some Greeks surely have been offended just by the existence of queerness, Lifo misses the REAL reason why Greeks in large felt their mythology was butchered by KAOS. They even wrote it in the article themselves:

"Zeus is a paranoid authoritarian dictator in mid-life crisis who fears losing his power and murders his aides to vent. Hera is a promiscuous goddess who repeatedly betrays Zeus and has mutilated mute priestesses for protection. Dionysos is a spoiled and immature zoomer who, apart from pranks, indulges in orgies with all genders. Poseidon a sadistic god of the sea, who tortures the crew on his ship for fun. Prometheus is gay and killed his lover so he could overthrow Zeus. Orpheus is a famous pop singer and Eurydice does not love him. Theseus is black and gay. The Erinyes are tough-as-nails mechs that look like they stepped out of 'Sons of Anarchy'. The Fates resemble a three-member jury in a talent show. The Trojans are a terrorist group that acts against the gods. Crete is more reminiscent of California than the Mediterranean."

Queer and diverse identities in general are nothing bad. The way KAOS mixed everything into a salad is the real bad thing, and the showrunners hide behind the queer representation when they are met with any other kind of criticism. It's the same tactic Lifo follows here. Only extremely stupid people would have an issue if Ganymees and Zeus were a couple in the show when it was also a part of our mythology. The problem about KAOS for the larger population is not the queerness.

Lifo continues:

The idea we have of Greek myths is, at best, a jumble of bits and pieces created by the Greek school: Zeus has sexual relations with mortals, Hera is jealous, Dionysus engages in revelry, Persephone for some reason resides in Hades , a bird eats the flesh of Prometheus, Aphrodite is the most beautiful and Athena the wisest of the bunch, Artemis hunts, Apollo plays the lyre: a very general and vague idea, much more chaotic than the mixing of myths which "Kaos" attempts.

What a shitty argument. Did you pay any attention in school, I wonder?? Do you know that we know our myths also outside the Greek school and that the Greek school teaches based on the ancient sources, and we often read the ancient text itself?? Also, no, the situation here is not more absurd than what KAOS does. The mythology is what it is. KAOS takes an already established thing and makes a turd out of playdoh.

Instead, we demand that a series aiming for commercial appeal follow our preferred script line and stay true to what? In our own obsessions, revisions, angulations and Christian puritanisms?

To our freaking culture, dear Lifo. To the myths we wrote and passed down for two and a half millennia, dear Lifo. They are fairly widespread and they are very difficult to get wrong.

[herejusttosufferalong]

Y'all, I've been glued to this saga because L and R are so similar to what I went thru with my ex, like down to the sleeping on the couch thing, only reversed, that I don't know whether to laugh or cry. A and S don't know what they're in for.

Storytime: My ex's Rory is called Mike and they met playing a sport in college when X was a freshman and M was a super senior, so he's ~4 years older. M took X under his wing and they became bros for life I guess. M is super nice and goofy but a hot mess as a person, can't be trusted with the simplest of tasks but gets by by being beloved by everyone. X has consistently thrown him bones, brought him on to projects and recommended him for gigs at the expense of his own career and reputation. You can't make this shit up.

X and I were long distance for the first ~year of the relationship, I moved out to him to a small ass town an hour away from anywhere because of his job and because it was cheap. We were in a 1bd apartment and the first little while was bliss, hot and heavy, amazing. It was my first time living with a partner. Maybe a few months in, M calls X - he got a job in the city an hour away and he's moving down. X gets the brilliant idea to invite him to stay on our couch until he finds a place. I was fine with it at first because he was a super nice guy but I had no idea what I was getting into. Ladies, when I tell you I became the 3rd wheel in my own relationship and a ghost in my own home, I'm not being dramatic.

I was working from home so I was alone all day in a town where I knew no one who wasn't connected to X in some way and when the two of them would get home, they'd bro out with each other and I basically had to compete for my bf's attention. We stopped doing anything that didn't include him and constantly had to be mindful about how loud we were in the bedroom because he was on the fucking couch. I couldn't relax in my own home that I was paying rent and bills for. Mind you, M at this point was further along in his career than X and making way more money. Two months pass, he still hasn't found a place and instead commutes an hour each way to work. Then the fucking pandemic hits. I was the only one working initially and I was at home with the two of them playing video games, working out, watching TV, yelling, laughing, on TT, on Zoom with their other buddies 24/7 while I was trying to work. We'd constantly end up doing whatever they wanted to do. Dude stayed on our couch for like 10 1/2 months, only paying for groceries, takeout and activities here and there. I kinda snapped during the holidays, I drove across the country alone to be with my family and didn't go back, my dad then made a round trip to go get my stuff because I just couldn't even look at X. Only then did it occur to X and M that maybe M should move out. But you know what the narrative in his friend group is about me? That I'm a cold bitch who broke his heart.

I look back on it now and I'm angry at myself for being such a dummy, I was a total pushover. My X wasn't a bad dude, he was just too much of a bro to know how to be a bf. He always felt a need to include everyone but that cut into the little time we had together. In my defense, he was really hot lol.

It's crazy to think how different my life is now with my fiance, we just bought a house earlier this spring, which wouldn't have been possible with my X because he spends all his money on his hobbies. X literally did the same HBS thing L did after I dumped him, hit the gym like crazy, he follows like a thousand half naked girls on IG, likes all their posts and thirsts in the comments, it's beyond cringe. This is also on his fully public IG account that he also uses for work. He hasn't been in a serious relationship since, I'm told he's become quite the fboy, but he's collected a seemingly infinite amount of new bros judging by his posts. M is still in the picture, of course, although he has his own place and a serious gf now, while my ex has a new roommate who he plays an expensive, niche equipment sport with that he spends every penny he earns on. My ex was a Leo, so I'm not surprised L has it prominently in his chart.

This stuff is not uncommon among younger Millennial men. My now fiance is 5 years older and he is a Man. He shows up for me the way I show up for him, he doesn't make plans without considering me and he's on top of his finances. He's a serious person. I never knew I could be at peace like this. I know what I'm building towards with him. A and S are just sidepieces to the main love story that is L and R and if/when one of them gets dumped, the other one will as well. They're there because they go along with what L and R want. It'll come back to bite them in the ass but they'll learn an invaluable lesson the way that I did - don't date a manchild who won't prioritize you over his friends.

some good advice for the youngins

thank you for sharing 💜🥃

[kiefbowl]

I really loved your post about how you shouldn't settle for a man who acts like you're lucky that he is with you. As a straight woman who has never been in a relationship at the big age of 23, who is also insecure about it, it felt really valuable to me. I also wonder if what you talked about can also be applied to dudes who make a whole thing about how their gf is depressed/insecure/whatever but they love her anyway. I was feeling sad today (for reasons not even related to a man) and being a girl who is sad that naturally made me think of the song that's like "this is the story of a girl who cried a river and drowned her whole world...although she looks so sad...i love her when she smiles". And I caught myself thinking "i wish i could find someone who loves me even though i'm sad a lot of the time." And then I remembered your post and I was like...oh...hmm

I think loving someone who struggles in this way is different than loving someone "despite" them being "ugly." However, yes I think you should be cautious about men who lay it on thick that they love you despite your depression. I thinks some things to keep an eye out for:

does he encourage healthy practices for you and him, or does he enable your bad habits?

does he pay attention to all your emotions, or seems only deeply interested in your sadness? does it feel fetishistic?

does he seem to have a narrative about you he puts forward to his friends and family? like, is your depression your number one feature? does he act like it's his story to tell, rather than take cues from you when and how to talk about it?

does he talk about your depression like a muse, or his own motivation to get himself better? this is objectifying.

does he connect your sadness and trauma to beauty, physical or otherwise? huge red flag.

outside of your relationship, is sadness sexy for him? were other girls he dated depressed (and it's all he talks about)? does he have a hero complex he finds arousing? does he make offhand comments about sad singers, sad movie stars, sad video game characters? this might be esoteric, but people reveal themselves in small ways when they're not thinking too hard about it.

does he keep you sad, does he take you down a peg? does he remind you that you're sad, that you're depressed, does he whittle down your self esteem? when you have a good day, does he ever say things like it won't be long until you're depressed again? does he never let you forget you're only a sad girl woman, instead of a full complete person?

does he expect you to act differently for him than he does for you when he is suffering from similar issues and symptoms? if he's sad, should your world stop to get him back on his feet - yet when you're sad, it's a fact of life and his only responsibility is "loving you"?

any expectation on his part that sex with him should be healing - red flag, big red flag. that's your determination, and you are in your right to say no to sex, any sex act, anytime. you don't have to "try" anything to see if it makes you feel better, you don't have to pretend orgasms are magical drugs, and you don't have to lie about if the sex you just had was good or bad, or did something extra for you or not. loving sex might help your symptoms, or might not, you don't have to convince yourself one way or the other. especially not for the sake of his ego.

Additionally: does being with him feel like it's aiding your health, recovery, or just in general? This is true of all relationships for everyone, but I think if you know you struggle with depression, it's important to remember that you need to prioritize treating your depression, and that shouldn't be a shock or surprise to someone who loves you. If your relationship is taking energy away from yourself, and if it feels like it exacerbates your symptoms, let him go. He doesn't have to be malicious for this to be true. Your relationships should be fulfilling, help you thrive. Not everyone can do that for you, even loving people who try their best might not be who you need right now.

Good luck!

[fantasyinvader]

You know, it makes sense that people don't trust Rhea or the Church… at first. The game does make them seem shady as hell at the beginning, and we're even told to be wary of Rhea. But when you take into consideration Verdant Wind, how Claude says that it's important to get to know people rather than cling to faulty first impressions, it really should be telling the player something there. That despite those initial impressions, you're the one leading the Church right now trying to save Rhea from a tyrant. Claude is realizing the Church and Rhea don't have to be his enemies, and when you look at Seteth's solo ending (minus the translation making him sound intolerant before) he works towards Claude's ideal regardless of route. Meanwhile, Claude is also figuring out how the Agarthans tried to feed him information to turn him against Rhea.

His power of friendship speech, him being willing to reach out to the Church in friendship, is the climax of his character growth. Rather than trying to use people like pieces on a chess board, he's willing to work legitimately with others. He finds out the truth about Rhea, and in his S support reveals that he views people relying on her (as they will with Byleth) as a good thing whereas before he believed that people could only rely on themselves. He learns that Rhea was one of the few survivors of her people being wiped out, having to hide the truth and even glorify the allies of the one who did it. He saw her as an outsider herself. Claude is also the one to point out that Rhea had people from not just from the countries at Fodlan but people from other countries, including having a woman from Dagda as one of her knights, at Garreg Mach as well as how the Church doesn't actually preach isolationism.

Claude's arc realizes he was wrong. That as an outsider, he came in and started making assumptions based on a lack of knowledge or being fed misleading information by the bad guys. Just like the player can be if they pick the Black Eagles class. It's why Byleth's flag, a symbol linking the route to Buddhism, is also present in Verdant Wind as it's the only route where Claude ultimately realized people were trying to manipulate him, so he didn't allow their narrative to guide his actions. It's CLAUDE'S enlightenment, as he wasn't tempted from the proper course of action. If he believes so strongly that people of other faiths should be accepted, he should be trying to help the Church against those attempting to wipe them out. And this path results in Claude not just fighting the person that the Agarthans used to commit genocide. Can't be any more "fuck racism" than that.

But instead of accepting all that, we have people who want Claude to kill Rhea, still believing that she's the cause of racism in Fodlan despite how Claude realizes that isn't the case. They want Claude to side with the person who flat out told him she can't leave Fodlan in his hands because he's not from Fodlan despite the translation making it sound like they hold the same beliefs (at least, until Claude grows out of them as part of his character arc). They like the version of Claude that says he could never be friends with Dimitri, despite Dimitri working to help the people of Duscur, and pisses off Sylvain when Sylvain would otherwise have worked to fix the issues with Streng. Instead of the Claude who knew the Empire wouldn't accept taking an L against the Alliance and returned with Almyran forces to stop another attempt by the Agarthans to take over, they want the Claude who seems confused people would be upset at him invading their countries and killing their families.

Verdant Wind, really, puts the Church into it's proper context. It looks suspect, it acts shady, but if you actually take the time and pay attention to the world… they're not the bad guys you were expecting them to be. No, they're the group the actual bad guys, the ones behind Fodlan's problems, wants to take out.

But instead, people don't want that story and insist Claude's delusional idiot self from Hopes is who he really is. Really, it's kinda telling how people reject his story because they don't want to change their mind in the face of the game's reveals. They can't accept the message of a game written for middle-schoolers.

[thedemiseofdj]

I have way too much to say about Jason Grace as a character so I might as well start here. I will also preface that while I might be critical of things in the Riordanverse, I do like it, I just think Jason in particular was done hella dirty. I’m also not working with a fully fresh memory of the franchise so if I say something stupid feel free to yell at me.

The relationship between Percy Jackson and Jason Grace was underwhelming, but it could’ve been a lot better. I think it boils down to three main areas: their rivalry, their relationship as foils and their eventual friendship

As Rivals

Jason and Percy’s rivalry basically boils down to “They fought because they were possessed,” and I think that they could’ve had plenty of reason to actually not like each other. This is part of my belief that the HoO series could’ve been longer to flesh out a lot of stuff. But I do believe that it’s bizarre that Percy and Jason meet, initially get along, and then come to blows in the same book. I know they were possessed, but that didn’t have to be the case. I think there were some things that Rick could’ve used to give them actual reasons to fight

I think it would boil down to two types of reasons: a systemic one and a “personal” one.

For Jason, I believe it was canon that the gods didn’t pay too much attention to Roman demigods, so it would’ve been interesting to have him go on a Greek quest while his memories are returning, see the amount of involvement from the gods and go: “So y’all can help, but the choose not to help the Romans? Fuck that!” I think the second reason that Jason would have to not like Percy would be to have him see how much the Greeks care about getting Percy back and contrast that to the Romans, who didn’t look for him and went as far as to replace him and you have Jason go: “Fuck That!” This would eventually turn into “Fuck Percy Jackson,” because even though Jason’s not really mad at Percy, he’s the poster boy for what Jason is really mad at

For Percy, you have him see the safety net that the Roman demigods have in New Rome and go: “Why don’t the Greeks have something similar? Fuck that!”. You can also have Percy find out that while he pretty much lost eight months in the blink of an eye, Jason was only asleep for a few days and go: “Fuck that!” This turns into a “Fuck Jason Grace” attitude because Jason is also the poster boy for what Percy is actually mad at

All in all, I don’t believe that they need actual personal gripes with each other, they just need to view each other as the easy target for the actual things they’re mad at.

They would eventually do fight, but not right away. In an ideal world where there is more space in the narrative(more/longer books), there would be at least a whole book where Percy and Jason just don’t get along. However, they wouldn’t come to blows by themselves. This is where the eidolons come in. Instead of it being a full possession like it was in the books, it could’ve been that the eidolons just stoked the tension that was already bubbling under the surface.

Who wins this fight? I would want it to be Jason(probably because I like the character and project on him way too much to have him lose). But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who wins, it just matters that the truth comes to light and they eventually talk it out.

As Foils

Jason and Percy could’ve been interesting foils because they both occupy the same space, both being big three powerhouses and leaders at their respective camps. However, they operate completely differently.

Both of them are opposites when it comes to their personality. Percy is a much more untamed, free-spirited rebel while Jason, even though he chafed under rules, still followed them. They are such opposites to the point where some characters that like one, automatically don’t like the other(Annabeth to Jason and Piper to Percy).

Percy is the type to sacrifice the world to save the people he cares about. And while I personally don’t believe that Jason is the ‘needs of the many’ type, he’s certainly not gonna go that far

They are also interesting in how similar they are.

On a basic level, both of them are good people who want to do the right thing, but it goes far deeper than that

I have a headcannon that Jason Grace’s fatal flaw is ‘Self Sacrifice’(I might get into this more in another post). This gives Jason an equally “job interview-y” flaw to Percy’s ‘Personal Loyalty’(as much as I love that being Percy’s fatal flaw, it is very much like when someone says “I’m too *insert good trait*” for the greatest weakness question in a job interview, at least in my opinion)

As Friends

Like I said before, Percy and Jason occupy the same space, so they both can relate to one another on a much deeper level than most others. In canon, they get along great after their spat and I wouldn’t change much about that.

I feel like their similar positions in life would allow them to trust each other

I do think that it would’ve been cool to see them go apeshit together with their combined strength more often

God I hope this shit made sense. I mainly just wish Jason and Percy’s fight had more meaning.