#yall know how much i love character analysis etc etc

[fyrewalks]

very emo thinking about how bob probably only had one deployment before tgm and mickey probably had like two (if i stick with him being 27). like? they were straight up babies asked to fly what was essentially a suicide mission. jake pretending bob didn't exist makes a lot more sense (on top of him being an asshole just in general). and also? how the hell did nat feel flying with someone she not only didn't know but was also so green??? this stupid movie robbed me of fun character exploration

[justtheclippy]

Tips and FAQ for Asks

Hello beautiful humans, I want to do my best to get to everyone's asks so here are a few things you can do to help make that happen! (if you're looking for the cast stream master list, skip to the bottom)

Please don't spam the same question repeatedly. I will get to you eventually, I promise! But when you submit the exact same thing multiple times, it just slows me down. I've got one single brain cell, please have mercy.

No spoiler requests. I cannot tell you anything about future episodes, when they will come out, what will happen to certain characters, how the story ends etc. We're limited on what we can say in general until more episodes release. The entire cast has signed NDAs (non disclosure agreement) preventing us from revealing anything, but more than that, we wouldn't want to ruin your experience of watching and engaging with the show organically! Trust me, just enjoy the ride, it's better that way.

Don't take anything too seriously. Please keep in mind most of these answers will just be for fun. My thoughts and opinions on the character, both for silly things like favorite dessert and more serious things like character analysis, are not hard and fast canon. Same goes for any of the actors. We can speculate about our characters, we know and understand them well, but when in doubt, assume its allllllllllllll non-canonical haha

Read through previous asks. This will help prevent asking things I've already answered. I'm going to be tagging (i swear I'll do it fr) my answers with #amanda asks and #tadc asks so you can find them more easily. If you do ask a question I've already answered IT'S OK DON'T PANIC I won't be upset haha

Even though I'll be tagging my answers so you can easily find them, here are a few frequently asked questions just to get them out of the way. If you decide to ask me something I've already answered, or something that goes against the guidelines above, I'll probably skip it, you silly geese.

Q: I've seen people use several different pronouns for you, what are your preferred pronouns? A: They/them and I prefer masc leaning terms generally! I'm queer, NB and very open about my identity. But people will sometimes use she/her because they don't know. I will never get upset with someone for not knowing- it's ok. But now that you've read this, you know! So you can go forth educated. You're welcome to correct anyone who doesn't know, but please be kind to each other. We've all been the person who didn't know before.

Q: What do you think of X ship? A: I love and support all the ships! Ships are part of a healthy fandom, keep creating content that makes you feel seen and that YOU want to see, that's the foundation of creativity. And if anyone disagrees with you, remind them that a lot of classics are just fanfiction about the gods at the time. It's always been here.

Q: What is your favorite ship? A: Bunnydoll and Buttonblossom, because the dynamics are so much fun.

Q: Do you like X AU? A: Yes. It doesn't matter what it is, yes. I love the AUs and if it's a new one, you better include a link so I can find it. I want all of them, thank you so muuuuuuuuch~

Q: Have you seen or played X game/show/movie/meme etc.? A: Always happy to chat about other media! But if you wanna ask about something specific, please include a link or explanation because lets be just so very honest, half the time my brain is off in adhd land so there's a good chance I'll have no idea what you're talking about at first.

Q: Have you watched Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure? A: Not yet! But due to VERY POPULAR REQUEST I will be putting together a watch stream to watch it live with yall. Once that's happened, I'll put the link here.

Q: Have you seen Queen's second game and will you be playing it? A: Yes, we've all seen the trailer and we're very excited! We will be playing it as a full cast, just like last time, as soon as the game is finished. For now, please go enjoy the demo and support the team! Once it's out and we're ready to stream it, I'll post the link here.

Q: Can you come to X convention? A: I will come to any convention that yall want to see me at!

BUT

In order for that to happen, you have to request me directly with the convention. Most will have either a request form on their site or a specific email for requests. Just write in that you would like to see me at their event, and then they will get in touch with my agent to book me!

Q: Can I request a song for you to sing? A: Of course! I promise yall I'll do my best to put out more songs this year. If there's a cover you want me to consider doing, or an artist/composer you'd like to hear me work with, let me know!

Outside of that, if you just want a little clip, you can drop requests in the asks and if I know the song I might record a bit. This is COMPLETELY dependent on time, especially if I'm busy. Please understand ❤️

You can also make requests during stream signings, which is easier to accommodate in the moment. Just put the request in the order notes, and I'll sing a little bit for you while I sign IF I know the song. So choose wisely.

Q: Can I write an ask just to show you cool stuff or tell you you're awesome? A: Of course you can! You can also tag me in stuff, that's ok too. I appreciate all the love and support yall have shown for me, Ragatha and the show in general. Yall are truly incredible. ❤️

Q: Do you have a PO Box so we can send you stuff? A: I'm setting it up THIS WEEK. I will post it here when it's ready.

Q: Where can I find X stream that the cast did? A: Moving forward, I will keep a master list of our group streams in order of date aired, to the best of my ability. If I miss one, let me know and I'll get it on here!

Saberspark TADC Cast Interview

Streamily Signing #1 (Amanda, Michael, Alex, Marissa)

Streamily Signing #2 (Amanda and Michael)

Streamily Signing #3 (Amanda and Sean)

Streamily Signing #4 (Amanda, Sean, Alex, Michael, Marissa, Vera, Hamish)

TADC Fan Game Stream: Game 1

Streamily Signing #5 (Amanda, Alex, Ashley, Sean, Michael, Marissa, Vera, Hamish, Wiz)

Fast Food Simulator Charity Stream (Amanda, Lizzie, Marissa, Michael, Ashley)

Marissa's Streamily Signing CRASHED by Amanda, Alex, Michael, Max (RU Caine/Jax), Julian (DE Jax), Adam (NL Jax), and Philip (NL Chad/Max)

[dynasty889]

I make thingy about Calypso cause I wanna talk about her and some of my just general thoughts about her. THIS EPIC: THE MUSICAL CALYPSO TAKE YALLS ODYSSEY AND PJO CALYPSOs SOMEWHERE ELSE (I might reference them though)

So first off, my general vibe of the character is kind of this optimistic yet isolated goddess to the point of delusion. I’m not exactly sure how to explain it, but considering her rather upbeat music I feel like that’s the vibe Jorge was going for, kind of like Circe in Puppeteer. It’s a great sound to the music but everything else tells you that the situation isn’t good (for Odysseus). In my opinion, Calypso seems to be unaware of the way she makes Odysseus feel. Now whether she’s actively ignoring it or genuinely can’t clock the situation is a whole other thing. I also definitely think she’s manipulative. Again, whether she knows she’s being manipulative or not is something else.

But something that I do find kind of interesting is her age in EPIC. In mythology, we can assume she’s at least a few centuries old (maybe even a millennia? If we go based on the fact she was around during the overthrow of the Titans but also I don’t know much time is in between that and the Odyssey so—). But in EPIC, she says she spent one, her entire life on the island and two, has been alone for 100 years. If she’s not exaggerating to get Odysseus to feel bad, then she’s pretty young in terms of deities. Only around 100 years old. It’s just a thought I had and maybe it makes sense. Hopefully.

Also, I know technically the whole “doomed to fall in love” and “imprisoned on Ogygia” comes from PJO, but that also seems to have a similar presence in EPIC. I think she did fall in love with Odysseus on her own terms rather than being doomed to, but I do think she isn’t able to leave. Maybe it’s not for some divine reason, maybe she just doesn’t know how to get off the island. Or maybe she is. But considering she’s been there her whole life and hasn’t ever bothered to just leave, I’m gonna assume there’s some divine reason she can’t leave. It’s kind of similar with Circe, whose characterization in EPIC seems to have similar elements from Circe in Madeline Miller’s novel (which seems to be indicated in a few lyrics in Done For and There Are Other Ways. Maybe even Wouldn’t You Like since Circe seems to know Hermes personally??? 👀👀)

Hmmm hmmm hmmm, I know there are other things I want to talk about. Oh yeah! I have a theory Zeus played a hand in keeping Odysseus on Ogygia with Calypso. You know, considering his attitude in God Games and some of the lyrics. Like not only does he get pissed at Athena beating him, but he also gets angry when he makes him “feel shame” (shame that he’s had Calypso trap Odysseus on Ogygia for 7 years?)

Anyway, this isn’t to say I like Calypso or am trying to defend her, but I do think she’s a very interesting character and deserves a little more analysis than “r*pist.” Why does she keep Odysseus with her? Are these actions the result of something that happened to her? etc. (these are kind of basic questions but just examples I suppose). Also I’m doing this because gigi’s animatics make me like her more than I should 😔

Also I just wanna say again Barbara Wangui is amazing.

Stream the Vengeance Saga guys

[hazbingirliexoxo]

“The Archer” Angel Dust Analysis

A/n: ALRIGHT YALL❣️ it’s been a hot minute (literally a whole month lol rip☠️) but I have FINALLY written this and am ready to share it with everyone!🤩 So I’m a huge Swiftie and I absolutely love Angel😭💕 so listening to this song: “The Archer” instantly made me think of him. I think the lyrics really highlight how his experiences with love have shaped the complexities of his true feelings and while we still have so much more to discover about his and Husk’s developing relationship in the show, I truly think that this song just “screams” them. If you haven’t listened to the song before, I definitely recommend to!😊 Anyway, lez get into it!😎

Note: For reference, I primarily used this article: https://gwtimes.org/1625/music-books-movies/the-archer-taylor-swift-lyric-analysis/ to organize all of my thoughts and opinions on why this song suits Angel so well. I think this author did an excellent job at explaining the real message of the song in regards to Taylor’s life, but this analysis is solely based on my OWN interpretation of how Angel’s character fits this song. Just wanted to clarify. THANK YOU AND ENJOY!!!❤️❤️❤️

Combat, I’m ready for combat

I say I don’t want that, but what if I do?

Cause cruelty wins in the movies

I’ve got a hundred thrown out speeches I almost said to you

Okay so, with these first few lines, we can think about how much Angel has been through, both in life and death. Like anyone else, he’s made mistakes and fought with many people he’s cared about before, whether that be with his birth family (ex: Arackniss, Molly) or his newfound family/friends he’s made at the hotel later on (ex: Charlie, Husk, Niffty, Sir Pentious, etc). But in terms of his actual familial background, Angel was born and raised in the mafia, meaning he’s used to seeing the indescribable horrors and violence associated with that lifestyle. He has no choice but to conjure up this metaphorical shield of “armor” in order to not only protect himself but also, survive. This ultimately makes it very difficult for Angel to form and develop good, healthy relationships, whether that’d be platonic or romantic, because as much as he craves genuine love and affection, isn’t that going against everything he’s known? To not care about what anyone thinks of him because at the end of the day, everyone leaves regardless? Angel Dust is a perfect example of being conditioned to this toxic, negative mindset he’s built for himself every day and we especially see more of this when it comes to his work with Valentino.

Now Angel is a celebrity, the most famous porn star in all of hell. Of course, due to his natural charisma and good looks, all eyes are drawn to him. He’s expected to essentially “put on a show” and show off what he’s “good for” because who could resist the seductive, charming Angel Dust? But that’s the cruel irony behind it all. Angel’s perception of his pornstar persona overshadows the reality of his true self, which makes it easy for him to push people away and not let anyone see the real him. He’s bred to allow people to chase after him, lust after him, because that’s the embodiment of who Angel Dust is, not who Anthony is. Angel Dust doesn’t care if people “leave” him because he knows that one way or another, there’s always someone else who will appreciate him for his “talents”, who will shower him with the desire and attention he so desperately seeks, despite it being superficial. But Anthony? No one knows who that is nor anyone would care to know who Anthony is in Angel’s mind, so rather than reveal his true thoughts, he decides to remain silent and keep them hidden from the public view as a way to protect himself.

Easy they come, easy they go

I jump from the train, I ride off alone

I never grew up, it’s getting so old

Help me hold on to you

Now, these second set of lyrics go a little more in-depth about Angel’s personal life and relationships. The first line expresses how easily he attracts people and yet still drives them away. The second one, however, can be explored through both a platonic and a romantic perspective. In a platonic lens, Angel struggles with making real, genuine friends (other than Cherri) because he’s afraid no one will be interested to get to know him. The same thing can be said in a romantic point of view. Angel loves to flirt, yes, but with his pornstar persona, he over-amplifies it and makes it seem like he’s “on board” in the beginning, but in the slightest sense of any seriousness or vulnerability, he “jumps off”, going his own way because he knows he’s unable to commit. This third line takes a look into how Angel is associated with being the “black sheep” of his family. Despite his somewhat childish nature, Angel’s always causing trouble and has never been the more focused, responsible type like his older brother: Arackniss. But due to these specific family dynamics, this shows how Angel feels like he’s never taken seriously with his true self. And because of that, he doesn’t understand how to grow and mature enough as a person to handle long-term relationships. The last line here can be portrayed as Angel’s inner thoughts and feelings towards his future love interest in the series: Husk. Angel is so used to giving up and running away from the idea of real love because of his own sexual abuse and trauma from Valentino. But throughout his whole afterlife, Husk is the only good man who respects and values Angel for who he truly is and despite how nice yet unfamiliar that feeling is, Angel’s terrified of losing it. Therefore, these lyrics can imply how he’s pleading for Husk to help him stay grounded and focus on exploring and pursuing this new relationship with him.

I’ve been the archer, I’ve been the prey

Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?

In the chorus, we can start to see the lyrics become even more personified towards Angel’s life. He’s been hurt by so many people, yet he’s also his own worst enemy because he’s done the same thing to those who he cares about too, ultimately straining or damaging the relationships as a whole. He wonders why no one would want to stay in his life, but deep down, he knows that he doesn’t make it easy for people to love him either. So in order to change that, he needs to believe in himself and trust that he can make a positive effort towards becoming better.

Dark side, I search for your dark side

But what if I’m all right, right, right, right here?

And I cut off my nose just to spite my face

Then hate my reflection, for years and years

Within the next verse, we can connect back to how Angel’s toxic mindset has made a profound impact on himself and his relationships. There’s a big part of him that’s always subconsciously searching for the negative aspects of letting people into his life, and that in itself, is what overpowers his psyche into not recognizing and acknowledging the positive facets as well. These next few lines can be referenced to how he strives to maintain his pornstar persona. The whole concept of Angel Dust is for him to be as appealing and desirable to everyone no matter what because that’s what the public likes to see. But unfortunately, what Angel doesn’t comprehend is that he doesn’t need to overemphasize this “mask” of his because the real, genuine people in his life (such as Molly, Charlie, Cherri, Husk, etc.) love and accept him for who he is internally rather than externally. This lack of understanding can also drive him to act impulsive with his emotions and lash out towards the people he deeply cares about, thereby causing him to feel hatred towards himself and regret the decisions he’s made later on.

I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost

The room is on fire, invisible smoke

And all of my heroes die all alone

Help me hold on to you

The metaphorical meaning behind these next lyrics can connect to how empty and restless Angel feels when he’s by himself. We know that he suffers intense nightmares and drug hallucinations from Valentino, but in this next line: “The room is on fire, invisible smoke”, this allows us to dive deeper into his inner troubles and the emotional turmoil and chaos he’s experiencing from it. He’s known to “burn bridges” and “start fires” with others because like I stated previously, he believes everyone will leave him eventually, so as a result, he shuts people out as a way to cope with this depression and loneliness, knowing that it’s still his fault.

I’ve been the archer, I’ve been the prey

Screaming, who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?

Here we have the main chorus again, but what’s different is that the word “screaming” is used. This allows us to really see and feel the intensity behind Angel’s emotions. It can almost be viewed as if he’s “crying out for help” and begging for someone, ANYONE, to reach out and stay there with him.

Cause they see right through me

They see right through me

They see right through

Can you see right through me?

They see right through me (2x)

I see right through me (2x)

This next sequence of lyrics is pretty self-explanatory, especially regarding Angel’s famous reputation. Based upon his story arc so far, the internal struggles and hardships Angel has faced throughout life and death have definitely taken a toll on him. Even though he aims to portray this glamorous, charming pornstar personality, characters like Husk can see right through Angel pretty easily and have no issue in calling him out for how fake he’s being. This not only makes Angel very hyper-aware of his mask “slipping away”, but also adds on an extra layer of anxiety and panic he’s feeling from losing control of that facade.

All the king’s horses, all the king’s men

Couldn’t put me together again

‘Cause all of my enemies started out friends

Help me hold on to you

The first line here is a clear reference to the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty, but the next few lines are what really emphasize Angel’s character even more. Angel is not an easy guy to get along with. He knows he can be an asshole and because of that, he’s made many enemies who could’ve potentially stayed as friends in his life if he didn’t push them away. But that doesn’t make him feel as if he’s alone right? After all, Angel Dust is fulfilled with receiving “love” from clients, fans, and Valentino all the time, so that has to mean something, right? This particular mindset is what fuels Angel to continue craving that form of infatuation and attention because it’s what he surrounds himself with every day. However, once that “high” dies down, who does he have waiting there for him at home? No one, because in reality, he IS alone and that terrifies him even more due to the fact that he’s the reason behind these self-destructive tendencies.

I’ve been the archer, I’ve been the prey

Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?

(I see right through me, I see right through me)

Who could stay? (4x)

You could stay

Combat, I’m ready for combat

These final lines of the song play a significant role in how Angel’s perspective on love can change for the future. Like I’ve said prior, Angel has never had anyone show real, genuine interest in him before, that is, until he met Husk. Husk has made it very clear in the beginning that he doesn’t like putting up with anyone’s bullshit. While his gruff, no-nonsense exterior may be off-putting to others, Angel is very attracted to how real Husk is in expressing how he feels and that is exactly the kind of person Angel needs in his life right now. Over some time throughout the series so far, we start to see a closer relationship develop between the two as well, how fond and comfortable they are of each other. This scares Angel because like all of his other relationships and his current predicament with Valentino, he’s afraid that Husk will voluntarily leave or be taken away from him forever. So in order to avoid that, Angel is determined to do everything he can to keep Husk a permanent part of his life.

Overall, Angel is well aware that he’s not an easy person to love, but with Husk, he feels as if he could be the one to truly understand and accept him for who he is. That maybe, and hopefully, Husk will be the one to stay for good❤️

A/n: yalll,, this is soo fucking long I’m so sorry😭 but I absolutely love these two with all my heart, literally on my hands and knees like this 🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️ but anywaysss I really hoped you enjoyed it just as much as I loved writing it🥰 PLEASE give me all the feedback you have! I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions, it would really make my day🥹 Thanks for reading loves!!🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

[couldtransitionsaveher]

GUREN ICHINOSE from OWARI NO SERAPH/SERAPH OF THE END

JUSTIFICATIONS:

"Ichinose Guren was born into a religious Sect which was created five hundred years ago in a political conflict in which two brothers from the main house fought over an Ichinose woman. She had chosen the younger of them and as punishment she and here lover were violeted and disowned. The outcasts created a new sect in their name. Guren is believed to be their saviour, the one destined to liberate the Clan from their oppression, paralleling her role. The main Clan, Mikado no Oni, view Guren and everyone of Gurens family as naturally weak and subservient in a way that clearly mimics patriarchal oppression. When Guren was five years old she met Mahiru Hiiragi, heir to Mikado no Oni. Guren was very obviously jealous of her and their meeting is used to symbolise Guren learning her place in the world. Continously throughout the Guren refuses to give up on Mahiru despite her quite frankly ruining Guren's life and being unable to catch up with her. Guren gives up her humanity to inject a demon all for purposes of protecting her friends and striving to liberate her clan, while also chasing after Mahiru and her power. This eventually leads Guren to cause the apocalypse in a first act of free will. (forced to choose between the strength she desires and her own emotinonal "weakness") Mahiru mends with Gurens weapon taking over as her demon, causing Guren to become a namanari (a half demon made from two separate personalities, Gurens and Mahirus in this case who's human personality slowly starts to adapt the demonic traits). In consequence of this Guren acts all the more feminine when striving to get what she wants (to ressurect all of humanity. I think thats also trans because its a sort of rebirth in metaphor for transition.) Transition could have saved her, as i believe her gender envy for Hiiragi Mahiru caused the apocalypse." - @cannibalfrodo

"im really shit at writing out media analysis i either do it solely in my head or via fic so yall are just gonna have to trust me for this one.

the writer really horribly sucks at writing female characters but it's clear from the start (in catastrophe at 16 most noticeably, but even in the manga too) that guren isn't written like any of the male characters (even the other male protag of the manga, yuu) and much more resembles the female characters. a lot of her personality and identity is heavily sculpted by the traumatizing and pressuring life she's lived so far (being brought up as the head of a scorned branch, beaten by adults for simply being born in the way she was, raised with a lot of crunching expectations, etc). most of her actions in ca16 come from a deep want to please who she's with, or to not cause trouble with herself (#same bestie)—she knows she needs to be a son for her father, for her clan, for their retribution. she knows she doesn't have time to think on her emotions or wants, which is very evident throughout all of ca16 until the final book as more and more shit piles up on her plate and she's forced by her romantic interest, mahiru, to finally confront her "human sin" (which is loving her friends. and also being trans).

she never fully opens up to anyone, this includes mahiru, but nonetheless their relationship IS different (guren is very much like "i love you, you're so much like me but braver, i wish i were you" @ mahiru). in their first meeting again as teenagers she compliments how beautiful and powerful mahiru has grown, and does so multiple times throughout the books, most of which are immediately after her inner monologue beats her down and she goes into great depth on why she's so weak and unworthy (especially compared to mahiru).

she's not allowed to be herself, as a man and definitely not as a woman, throughout all books and manga & i believe that if she came out to her friends (who love her so much and would support her through anything) everything bad she ever does in the future (which i didn't even begin to COVER the main series) could be prevented because she'd be much more happy with herself and spectre in her relationships.

also she experiences the end of the world. truly just a girl in the world" - @9ureshin

Reminder: Submissions are always open! Submit here!

Did you make your daily click today?

[biggie-chcese]

Oooo the positive fandom questions sound fun how about 1, 8, 11 and 13?

list 3 positive things about your current fandom(s)

i did just answer this same question here, but i think ill challenge myself to list 3 new things.

the sheer amount of toxic yaoi and toxic yuri appreciation in the rain code fandom. yall are so fucking real for this

the tgaa fandom's uncanny ability to bring out the most banger character analyses. just, genuinely amazing. whether it's character study fanfiction or essays written out on tumblr, i eat it up because so many are legitimately compelling. this is especially a shoutout to @hikari-kaitou's many posts about translation differences and general analysis that really changed my perspective on some characters, as well as one of my favorites- this novel length kazuma analysis. these things live rent free in my head and i always admire people who are able to articulate so many complex thoughts around stories and characters like this

i've gained some really amazing friends through both of these fandoms. just, people i genuinely enjoy talking to and that in turn makes me enjoy the source material even more

8. you hope more people will come to appreciate ___ (a ship, a trope, an episode, etc)

found family where the roles are really nebulous. don't get me wrong, if people enjoy the classic "these are the parents and these are all the siblings they adopted" that's fine and dandy enjoy your media however you want! i even enjoy it often enough and think it's cute

but. on the rare occasion i see it depicted in a way that's hard to label, it makes me so extremely excited and filled with glee. i'm sorry im gonna ramble for a moment

so for example, yakou and yuma. as much as i also enjoy the yakou fathero headcanon, i've gone insane over the one or two times i've seen them depicted closer to canon's explicit dynamic of "shitty boss and intern who are also roommates and mentor/mentee, except who is the mentor and who is the mentee changes at the drop of a hat and they BOTH fucking suck at it!!! yakou is yuma's savior, and yuma is (unintentionally) yakou's nuclear hazard level threat. the game very subtly implies that these two go out for drinks together, and yuma "millions in debt" kokohead still has to pay often enough for him to be surprised at the idea of yakou offering to do so. yuma respects yakou greatly, but of the NDA, yuma is snippiest with yakou and quickest to call the man out on his bullshit. it takes more time for him to act this way with shinigami than his own fucking boss. there are more things i could say, but they're spoilers so dont worry about it.

yakou is almost the arataka reigen to yuma's mob, but i can't even confidently make that comparison because they feel more equal than that. they feel more casual than that. i struggle to put a label to it and that's what i love about them. i would love to see more of this in general, for both fandoms i'm in, because it's fun as hell whenever i do see it

11. if you're a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making?

you know what, i'm pretty proud of my latest art, because i've finally drawn a background i dont mind looking at! ^w^

13. your favorite type of fandom event (gift exchange, ship week, secret santa, prompt meme, etc)

gotta say ship week, since it's the only one of these listed that i've actively participated in. prompt memes and gift exchanges are amazing too! i think i'd wanna get in on those someday. i dont celebrate christmas so secret santa's out of the cards for me. it'd be cool to see more similar events that aren't themed around holidays.

[berryblu-soda]

GLAD TO HEAR <3<3<3<3!!!!

oh heyyy dnd podcasts sound so nice!!!and with only Charlie as reference its already great news, hes so incredibly cracked at roleplay and storytelling, im sure its amazing!!! ahh its so cool you got the patreon stuff!!! so they do like, more than one campaign at a time then, is what im getting? <- no prob if you start going off abt dnd btw, my brother played for a bit so i can ask him if im not getting something <3

okok i respect it, but also, dungeons and daddies is such a silly name?? why´s it named that ? (/gen, funky names always welcome of course UvU)

oof hope you get a break if you need it :´) <3 (and i see podcasts are to you what fics are to me hshshsh, i get u!!) and heck yeah spooky season >:D!! what´s the theme👀?

yeah ninjago is great!! the unhinged and mismatched lore makes for great fandom discussions and opportunity to expand on stuff, several characters have a death grip on so many people even if they only showed up in one season or something :D! and zane asfdfsdgdsf easily one of my faves, love that guy ToT!!!

oh yeah!!! yall are already built great for the suspension of disbelief needed for mediums like this!!! and like you said, the visuals being left up for interpretation are there!! and they give so much creative freedom i love it!!! i can only speak abt ninjago but like, we got scar headcanons, facial features, height, hair color, etc!!! really feels like being back in the dsmp days :´) (did you start from the pilots btw? or season 1?)

*currently rotating blorbo inside brain and crying*

okok so im online, so its not too different from homeschool, just that theres more contact with the teachers and stricter deadlines, also in a group chat with the rest of my classmates so thats nice

since im in graphic design and digital animation we get a bit of... everything? like, yes art stuff and learning how to use different softwares + animating, but also i just dealt with basic html code (a pain if you dont know the basics btw, i did not know the basics :) ) and had assignments on like, market analysis and branding, and concepts related to architecture but without the math stuff?? its a fun but hectic time overall haha

Beeeeerrrry berryblu it's me frauggietheperson from- (what was it? were we both c!inniters back in the day?) sending you another letter hello! I have some new fixations (PLEASE ask me about them (you dont have to)) but the thing that inspired me to message you is that I'm starting ninjago :> (I'm not far in but it's like the same length of tma so I'm sure I'll be able to get thru it)

Anyway, how have you been? It's been ages and I've had so much going on in my life that tumblr seems just a bit too out of reach for me but I've wanted to talk!

OMG HIHI FRAUGGIE :D!!!!! BEEN A WHILE HOW ARE U?!!!!

yess!! inniters and boobers in arms <3<3<3 (<- that is the sentence ever lmao)

oooh!!! pls tell me abt your new fixations 👀!!!! i´d love to hear what youve been up to :O!!!

and yoooo!!! hope you find the ninjago blorbos nice :D!! ik quality wise its got its ups and downs (*trolls meme voice* season 7 killed my grandma ok a y?!) , but its a pretty fun time overall :3

anyways ive been great!! mostly busy with school so i havent been able to pop in and say hi TvT, also just watched Trigun stampede and would lay down my life for Vash aughh got a new blorbo haha!! hes so silly and totally not traumatized :)

[tarobytez]

disability in the Six Of Crows Duology; an analysis of Kaz Brekker, Wylan Van Eck, and the fandom’s treatment of them.

****Note: I originally wrote this for a tiktok series, which im still going to do, but i wanted to post here as well bc tumblr is major contributor to what im going to talk about

CW: ableism, filicide, abuse

In the Six of Crows duology, Leigh Bardugo delicately subverts and melds harmful disability tropes into her narrative, unpacking them in a way that I, as a disabled person, found immensely refreshing and…. just brilliant. 

But what did you all do with that? Well, you fucked it up. Instead of critically looking at the characters, y’all just chose to be ableist. 

For the next few videos paragraphs im going to unpack disability theory (largely the stuff surrounding media, for obvious reasons) and how it relates to Six Of Crows and the characterization of Kaz Brekker and Wylan Van Eck, then how, despite their brilliant writing, y’all completely overlooked the actual text and continuously revert them to ableist cariactures.

Disclaimer: 1. Shocker - i am disabled. I have also extensively researched disability theory and am very active in the disabled community. Basically, I know my shit. 2. im going to be mad in these videos this analysis. Because the way y’all have been acting has been going on for a long ass time and im fuckin sick of it. I don’t give a shit about non-disabled feelings, die mad

Firstly, I’m going to discuss Kaz, his play on the stereotypical “mean cripple” trope and how Bardugo subverts it, his cane, and disabled rage. Then, I am going to discuss Wylan, the “inspiration porn” stereotype, caregivers / parents, and the social model of disability. Finally, I will then explain the problems in the fandom from my perspective as a disabled person, largely when it comes to wylan, bc yall cant leave that boy tf alone.

Kaz Brekker

Think of a character who uses a cane (obviously not Kaz). Now, are they evil, dubiously moral, or just an asshole in general? Because nearly example I can think of is: whether it be Lots’O from Toy Story, Lucius Malfoy, or even Scrooge and Mr.Gold from Once Upon A Time all have canes (the last two even having their canes appear less and less as they become better people)

The mean/evil cripple trope is far more common than you would think. Villains with different bodies are confined to the role of “evil”. To quote TV Tropes, who I think did a brilliant job on explaining it “The first is rooted in eugenics-based ideas linking disability or other physical deformities with a "natural" predisposition towards madness, criminality, vice, etc. The Rule of Symbolism is often at work here, since a "crippled" body can be used to represent a "crippled" soul — and indeed, a disabled villain is usually put in contrast to a morally upright and physically "perfect" hero. Whether consciously on the part of the writer or not, this can reinforce cultural ideas of disability making a person inherently inferior or negative, much in the same way the Sissy Villain or Depraved Homosexual trope associate sexual and gender nonconformity with evil. ”

Our introduction to Kaz affirms this notion of him being bad or morally bankrupt, with “Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason”, etc. This mythologized version of himself, the “bastard of the barrel” actively fed into this misconception. But, as we the audience are privy to his inner thoughts, know that he is just a teenager like every other Crow. He is complex, his disability isn’t this tragic backstory, he just fell off a roof. It’s not his main motivation, nor does he curse revenge for making him a cripple - it is just another part of who he is. 

His cane (though the shows version fills me with rage but-) is an extension of Kaz - he fights with it, but it has a purpose. Another common thing in media is for canes to be simply accessories, but while Kaz’ cane is fashionable, it has purpose.

The quote “There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken.” is so fucking powerful. Kaz does not want nor need a cure - its said in Crooked Kingdom that his leg could most likely be healed, but he chooses not to. Abled-bodied people tend to dismiss this thought as Kaz being stubborn but it shows a reality of acceptance of his disability that is just, so refreshing.

In chapter 22 of SOC, we see disabled rage done right - when he is called a cripple by the Fjerdan inmate, Kaz is pissed - the important detail being that he is pissed at the Fjerdan, at society for ableism, not blaming it on being disabled or wishing he could be normal. He takes action, dislocating the asshole’s shoulder and proving to him, and to a lesser extent, himself, that he is just as capable as anyone else, not in spite of, but because he is disabled. And that is the point of Kaz, harking back to the line that “there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken”. 

I cried on numerous occasions while reading the SOC duology, but the parts I highlighted in this section especially so. I, as many other disabled people do, have had a long and tumultuous relationship with our disability/es, and for many still struggle. But Kaz Brekker gave me an empowered disabled character who accepts themselves, and that means the world to me. 

Keeping that in mind, I hope you can understand why it hurts so much to disabled people when you either erase Kaz’s disability (whether through cosplay or fanfiction), or portray him as a “broken boy uwu”, especially implying that he would want a cure. That flies in the face of canon and is inherently fucking ableist. (if u think im mad wait until the next section)

Next, we have Wylan.  

Oh fucking boy. 

I love Wylan so fucking much, and y’all just do not seem to understand his character? Like at all? Since this is disability-centric, I’m not going to discuss how the intersection of his queerness also contributes to these issues, but trust me when I say it’s a contributing factor to what i'm going to say.

Wylan, motherfucking Van Eck. If you ableist pricks don’t take ur fucking hands off him right now im going to fight you. I see Wylan as a subversion another, and in my opinion more insidious stereotype pf disabled people - inspiration porn.

Cara Liebowitz in a 2015 article on the blog The Body Is Not An Apology explains in greater detail how inspiration porn is impactful in real life, but media is a major contributing factor to this reality. The technical definition is “the portrayal of people with disabilities as inspirational solely or in part on the basis of their disability” - but that does not cover it fully. 

Inspiration porn does lasting damage on the disabled community as it implies that disability is a negative that you need to “overcome” or “triumph” instead of something one can feel proud of. It exploits disabled people for the development of non-disabled people, and in media often the white male protagonist. Framing disability as inherently negative perpetuates ideals of eugenics and cures - see Autism $peaks’ “I Am Autism” ad. Inspiration porn is also incredibly patronizing as it implies that we cannot take care of ourselves, or do things like non-disabled people do. Because i stg some of you tend to think that we just sit around all day wishing we weren’t disabled. 

Another important theory ideal that is necessary when thinking about Wylan is the experience of feeling like a burden simply for needing help or accommodations. This is especially true when it comes to familial relationships, and internalized ableism.

The rhetoric that Wylan’s father drilled into his head, that he is “defective”, “a mistake”, and “needs to be corrected”, that he (Jan) was “cursed with a moron for a child” is a long held belief that disabled people hear relentlessly. And while many see Van Eck’s attempted murder of Wylan as “preposturous” and overall something that you would never think happens today - filicide (a parent murdering their child) is more common than you would like to believe. Without even mentioning the countless and often unreported deaths of disabled people due to lack of / insufficient / neglectful medical care, in a study on children who died from the result of household abuse, 40 of 42 of them (95%) were diagnosed with disabilities. Van Eck is not some caricature of ableist ideals - he is a real reflection on how many people and family members view disability. 

Circling back to how Wylan unpacks the inspiration porn trope - he is 3 dimensional, he is not only used to develop the other characters, he is just *chefs kiss* Leigh, imo, put so much love and care into the creation of Wylan and his story and character growth that is representative of a larger feeling in the disabled community. 

That being said, what you non-disabled motherfuckers have done to him.

The “haha Wylan can’t read” jokes aren’t and were not funny. Y’all literally boiled down everything Wylan is to him being dyslexic. And it’s like,,,, the only thing you can say about him. You ignore every other part of him other than his disability, and then mock him for it. There’s so much you can say about Wylan - simping for Jesper, being band kid and playing the fuckin flute, literally anything else. But no, you just chose to mock his disability, excellent fucking job!

Next up on “ableds stfu” - infantilization! y’all are so fucking condescending to Wylan, and treat him like a fucking toddler. And while partly it is due to his sexuality i think a larger portion is him being disabled. Its in the same vein of people who think that Wylan and Jesper are romantically one sided, and that Jesper only kind of liked Wylan, despite the canon evidence of him loving Wylan just as much. You all view him as a “smol bean”, who needs protecting, and care, when Wylan is the opposite of that. He is a fucking demolitions expert who suggested waking up sleeping men to kill them - what about that says “uwu”. You are treating Wylan as a burden to Jesper and the other Crows when he is an immensely valuable, fully autonomous disabled person - you all just view him as damaged. 

And before I get a comment saying that “uhhh Wylan isn’t real why do you care” while Wylan may not be real, how you all view him and treat him has real fucking impacts and informs how you treat people like me. If someone called me an “uwu baby boy” they’d get a fist square in the fucking jaw. Fiction informs how we perceive the world and y’all are making it super fucking clear how you see disabled people. 

Finally, I wanted to talk about how the social model of disability is portrayed through Wylan. For those who are unaware, the social model of disability contrasts the medical model, that views the disability itself as the problem, that needs to be cured, whereas the social model essentially boils down to creating an accommodating society, where disability acceptance and pride is the goal. And we see this with Wylan - he is able to manage his father’s estate, with Jesper’s assistance to help him read documents. And this is not out of pity or charity, but an act of love. It is not portrayed as this almighty act for Jesper to play saviour, just a given, which is incredibly important to show, especially for someone who has been abused by family for his disability like Wylan, that he is accepted. 

Yet, I still see people hold up Jesper on a pedestal for “putting up with” Wylan, as if loving a disabled person deserves a fucking pat on the back. It’s genuinely exhausting trying to engage with a work I love so much with a fandom that thinks so little of me and my community. It fucking shows. 

Overall, Leigh Bardugo as a disabled person wrote two incredibly meticulous and empowered disabled characters, and due to either lack of reading comprehension, ableism, or a quirky mix of both, the fandom has ignored canon and the experiences of disabled people for…. shits and giggles i guess. And yes, there are issues with the Grishaverse and disability representation - while I haven’t finished them yet so I do not have an opinion on it, people have been discussing issues in the KOS duology with ableist ideals. This mini series was no way indicative of the entire disabled experience, nor does it represent my entire view on the representation as a whole. These things need to be met critically in our community, and talked about with disabled voices at the forefront. For example, the limited perspective we get of Wylan and Kaz being both white men, does not account for a large portion of the disabled community and the intersection of multiple identities.

All-in-all, Critique media, but do not forget to also critique fandom spaces. Alternatively, just shut the fuck up :)

happy fucking disability pride month, ig

[wetmithrun]

Elaborate more on that Kakyoin Polnareff Jotaro dynamic? Esp Polnareff and Kakyoin. I love seeing a teenager bully an adult man

hi im so sorry this took like 2 business days i kept forgetting i got asks. i have dementia (editing to add . im sorry this kind of became a kakyoin analysis and thats really funny because hes actually my least fave in canon :') )

(another editing to add. this aint even a kakyoin analysis this is a life analysis . of everyone . holy shit. oh my god)

looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnngg post below ;vv

anyway this is quite literally one of my favorite dynamics in jojo so far (these 3 but namely kakyoin and polnareff). i'm not a kakyoin or a jotaro expert but i like to think i am well versed in polnareffisms.

so as we know kakyoin never really socialized much growing up due to being a little freak weirdo who has a green monster. no hate 2 kakyoin but basically this means, in my opinion, he never developed a "real" personality because he had no one to reflect off of as a child and develop himself. and since we know that video games are one of his hobbies (and hes spent many hours playing that one particular racing game), i feel like he based some aspects of his personality on video game characters so often the shit he will say or do comes off as really uncanny and seems like something No Person In Real Life Would Ever Say Or Do

as a result he doesnt know how to talk to people or what's correct in social situations, ie when to be nice or when sarcasm is appropriate, or when to cry and feel sad etc. dont get me wrong, he understands sarcasm perfectly fine; in fact he got to fine-tune his sarcasm and rebuttal skills thanks to being one of dio's minions and living in that mansion where you have to be sharp as fuck or else the meanies are gonna tear you to shreds and not give a shit. another side effect of being a minion of dio, kakyoin also kind of became mean as hell. thats what happens when ur evil and also surrounded by mean evil people. once again, since he had no influences really growing up, he saw these people and became a social sponge and absorbed the way they talked to each other.

in short what im trying to say is, the little green booger is mean, awkward, Very strange, and still fumbling his way around relationships with other human people.

polnareff, on the VERY opposite end of this spectrum, grew up well socialized and very extraverted. he treats basically everyone like his friend as long as you dont insult him or hurt his feelings (which is amazingly easy to do) and in that case he'll either fight you or cry. it depends. or maybe both!

hes very in touch with his emotions and not afraid to express them; as a result whenever he Does experience a feeling he displays it Loudly and Dramatically. probably also because hes french.

as well as emotionally loud hes vocally loud. hes got a big mouth and a big voice and a big chest for it to resonate and echo around in. this was also very helpful for the environment he grew up in.

i personally headcanon that he grew up on a farm in rural france as sherry's sole guardian. they weren't in the meat business but rather animal products and crops. so think goats, cows, sheep, chickens- except they really didnt have all that much, because they grew up fairly poor. maybe 3 chickens and a rooster and like 2 sows (the pigs were used for truffle hunting if yall were wondering).

anyway this isnt a backstory post (but i can make one if wanted) so ill continue on with the social aspects.

another headcanon of mine is that jean's parents died when he was fairly young, somewhere between 12 and 14. so he had to take on the responsibility of a farm as well as raising sherry pretty early. subsequently, alongside being silly and flamboyant and easygoing, jean is always looking out for his friends and taking liabilities and feels responsible for nearly everything that happens. its why he was so hard on himself when something would go wrong during the trip to cairo; hes so used to being the caretaker, the one whose shoulders everything rests on, that when a disaster happens he gets in his own head about how he could have prevented it and its his fault for not doing so. (he took the deaths really hard.)

relating back to how emotional jean can be, hes also kind of like a Feelings Sonar. basically an empath supreme. he feels and reflects the energy of the people around him tenfold, which really sucks for him because the people hes around dont know how to be anything other than stressed out.

to kind of alleviate this he takes it upon himself to lighten the mood - nothing makes him feel better than making other people happy. so maybe he plays things up a little, acts a tiny more dramatic, gestures a little more, says off-color things at the wrong times. his antics almost never fail to at least get a grin, or even an eyeroll or a groan - hes content with that too.

he has a problem with boundaries though (both physical and emotional) so sometimes he pokes and prods too much, too far, anything to get a reaction; when someone snaps at him (usually nori) hes quick to escalate and take things to the extreme. (yea he experiences a wide range of emotions but no one ever said he could Control them or is even mature enough to try) its not uncommon to find nori and pol arguing with each other about something that started off as a joke, or even physically fighting (it usually doesnt get too bad, mostly shoves or 'roughhousing' but nori almost always wins because of hierophant) but sometimes if hes feeling silly or pathetic he'll hit nori w/ this face

and that usually (USUALLY) de-escalates the situation and they go back to being literal worsties.

also, honestly i think jotaro just doesnt care anymore. he finds pretty much everything annoying, those two especially. he doesnt quite get how or why theyre friends, or if they seem to hate each other so much, why do they still talk to each other.

speaking of jotaro. our very own mr kujo is somewhere in the middle between the two, emotions-wise. he often seems to be neutral to everything (on a good day), maybe even leaning towards annoyed or kinda pissed. something he would rather die before admitting though is that he actually does feel things, and hes not an apathetic monster of teenage hormones with the most serious resting bitch face since dio died.

usually his emotions are quite muted, even when he doesn't express them. physically, he might grunt, or his lips will twitch a millimeter, or he'll huff and sigh, or do that 'tch' thing or go yare yare and cross his arms. sometimes his face betrays him and thats what his trusty hat is for - he can easily pull the brim down over his face to hide any semblance of emotion cause he cant have bitches thinking he feels anything. (small note: polnareff has been forcing him to go hatless so he physically cannot hide his face. hes evil)

inside his head, its about the same. due to his quiet and reserved nature, he didnt talk about feelings or anything growing up and still doesnt now, so often when he feels something he cant figure it out or understand it, so he tends to bury it beneath apathy so he doesnt have to deal with something new - because that scares him. but jotaro cant be afraid, of course not, thats not allowed. if hes afraid, then what does that mean for everyone else?

aside from not being able to express himself properly, his emotions are hidden due in part to fear of vulnerability and being pulled apart, dissected like some kind of creature he took a scalpel to in middle school. (he went home and cried to holly that day.) mocked, ridiculed for being human and feeling things. anger, mostly, just anger. but that's something everyone feels, something men feel, so it's okay to get pissed off at the smallest things. that makes sense to jotaro at least.

as for his relationship with polnareff and kakyoin, they've helped him tremendously in his ordeal with emotions and expression. kakyoin's seemingly unafraid to be weird and bitter and sarcastic and uncanny (or maybe feels ... comfortable?) and jean's feelings, regardless of what they may be are always being aired out, conveyed in such intensity that even a stone wall like jotaro cant help but resonate in some kind of way.

the way polnareff and kakyoin so unabashedly dote on each other, hate each other, poke fun at each other, and encourage jotaro to do the same - well, maybe it has him coming out of his shell a bit. maybe sometimes he'll make a snide comment and catch polnareff off guard and flounder, or maybe sometimes he'll contribute to kakyoin's long, long rants about something he likes, maybe even chime in with more than a few sentences about his own interests.

........... so erm.

needless to say i think this is one of my favorite relationships in jojo ever and theyre all very healthy for each other. three weird kids who complete each other in almost every way and somehow manage to not kill each other in the process (though theyve come close)

so......... SO sorry about. all of that. let me know if you want me to elaborate on anything, dont be afraid to send another ask ;>>

[gaylienn]

February and March stuff

Ok so like the last two months I've been in an internship provided by the state or whatever, because I've been down with depression and I need to get up again or whatever. Doesn't matter, other than I just finished it and I'm going to miss the place, but for once I'm looking forward to the future! A few months ago I got an ask here asking me if I had a recommended tag, which I answered that no I don't, but always feel free to ask me about stuff, but now I've decided I wanna try to do one of those little blog like posts where I go through the media I've watched the past month and say a few words about it. I've never been good with words and analysis and shit, so it's not gonna be extremely... profound or whatever, but I'll just word vomit a bit. If anyone is interested in my thoughts and opinions on media, this is the place \o/ (I'll try to stay away from spoilers, but beware)

I'm doing February and March this time because I didn't consume that much in March

^ That's Cola, the cat from my internship :)

TV shows

So I just wanna warn yall that I've mostly (read only) been watching Korean dramas the past two months, but at least all the ones I'm going to talk about are on Netflix (at least here where I live)

All Of Us Are Dead

I love apocalypse stories, with or without zombies. There's something so interesting about human perseverance in the face of death and destruction that I just love. This show is about a zombie apocalypse outbreak on a high school, the school is the ground zero, and we follow a bunch of different high schoolers (and a few adults) dealing with the danger. I've seen people frustrated with various characters' actions in this show, but I personally really enjoyed the characters. They're clearly teenagers, and it's really hard to tell how people would react to or handle an event like this, so I usually enjoy most interpretations. Anyways, I really like this show too because it's relatively short, just 12 episodes long, and it wraps up its ending pretty satisfyingly in my opinion. It also focuses a lot on how the government and military handles the disaster, choosing who is worth saving and who isn't, something that's eerily familiar after two years of COVID pandemic... I'll recommend checking this show out if you're into zombie apocalypse media that focuses on the survivors especially. Also South Korea is just incredible with their zombie designs and acting.. man

Sweet Home

Okay, so I've had this show on my list for a long long time, but I've always kinda pushed it to the side because I didn't care much for the monster designs. And I still don't tbh. The show is based on a webtoon, and it's very obvious that it works really great as a comic, I think the monsters look way more interesting as drawings, than as CGI monsters. But still, I think they did well with what they had! And I didn't expect to like this show as much as I did to be honest. It's another Monster Apocalypse show, instead of zombies, people turn into various different monsters, and no one really knows why. We follow a group of mismatched people who are all stuck in the same apartment complex together after all hell breaks loose. We follow mostly Cha Hyun Soo (Song Kang) who pretty early one shows signs of turning into one of these monsters, but seems extraordinarily to be able to control it to some extend. There's this theme throughout the show of wanting to live, no matter what. Also each character is just interesting in their own way, showing all kinds of different viewpoints of life. Like varying ages and such (there are small kids, old people and anything in between.)

TW for some heavy themes like self-harm, suicide, abuse, alcoholism, bullying etc, take care of yourself first!

Kingdom

It's another fucking zombie show.. Would you believe it? Ok, Kingdom has been on my list for so long, and after the two previous shows, I was still on a zombie kick, so I finally watched it, and holy shit. This is so good. It's your "regular" zombie outbreak story, but this time it takes place in Korea during the 1500s (i think.) Already that makes it sound way more interesting and fresh! I gotta admit, I do not know that much about Korean history, so I can't speak much of that, but just based on what you're watching, it's working so well. The main character is the Crown Prince of Joseon (Korea) Lee Chang (Ju Ji Hoon), who under turmoil from a recent war, political conspiracy and the rumors of his father, the King's death, stumble across a plague of sorts, that seems to be resurrecting the death. Turns out, yeah, they're zombies. He allies with Seo Bi (Bae Doona), an assistant physician and Yeong Shin (Kim Sung Kyu), a young tiger hunter with a past. Both people were survivors from the "first" outbreak. It's a show filled with political intrigue, family matters and zombies, all in the beautiful backdrop of medieval Korea. The show has two seasons so far, I hope it gets another. It also has a prequel movie, called Kingdom: Ashin of the North, that I highly recommend checking out too. It's perfect to pick up after season 2's ending.

Juvenile Justice

Ok, so this one is a bit from left side. I don't mind law stories, and this was one was honestly okay. I'm at all not informed on South Korean law, but this show is apparently about a special law around juvenile criminals. The cases in themselves were honestly super interesting, what drives a child or a teenager to crime, and how each case is unique. I'm extremely bad at wording this, but it's just that my main issue with this show was the main characters. The juvenile judge Shim Eun Seok (Kim Hye Soo) who is very stern and hates juvenile criminals, and the compassionate judge Cha Tae Joo (Kim Moo Yeol) both seem like fun opposites, but I feel like they were just a bit too tropey for my liking. Like from almost the first episode it feels pretty obvious what both their pasts are, and it's not executed in the best way. Anyways, that's how I feel about them at least, but I kept watching for the kids to be honest.

TW for child abuse, sexual abuse, self-harm etc.

Film

Death on the Nile

I watched one movie in February, and it was this one. I went with my best friend to the cinema, we watched Murder on the Orient Express together too, so we've made it a tradition by now. Up front I gotta be real with you all, I have never read any of Agatha Christie's books (yet) or watched any of the older adaptions of her works, so I'm pretty blind and naive to these stories. I enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express, and I think Death on the Nile was just as entertaining. In case you don't know anything about this just like me (the sole other person in the world) this is a murder whodunnit story, from the POV of Hercule Poirot, a private detective or something. You know the type. He's invited by a friend of his that he runs into in Egypt, to a wedding of just the most peculiar couple. It's the perfect setting for social intrigue, and a murder :D

I can't say if it's worth it for fan of Hercule Poirot who already knows the story, but for someone like me who's going in entirely blind, it was very entertaining to follow along and try and figure out what happened! Also I'm curious to see where Kenneth Branagh is going with this seemingly connected story over the Poirot movies he's making.

Video Games

Elden Ring

Ok, so full disclosure, I haven't finished it yet. I know I'm getting relatively close to the ending, but I like to savoir these kinds of open world games. I decided to put it here because I have still used 110 hours on this game in March, so it deserves to be here. I haven't played any of the souls games before, only Bloodborne and Sekiro, both which are among my all time favourite games. The Dark Souls series hasn't spoken as much to me, because I'm a little tired of the medieval fantasy setting, so I was a little iffy about Elden Ring before it came out. Would I be able to enjoy it even if I hadn't played any of the souls games, would I like the setting which also seems to be medieval eurocentric fantasy? But fucking hell, this game is awesome. It's FromSoftware's first open world venture, and they delivered! I think an upgrade from some of the earlier FromSoft games, is the fact that you can run away. Sure you can do that too in the other games, but it's easier here, it's open world, if you're in a place you feel is too oppressive you can just go away.. Go somewhere else, explore that. I'm rambling a bit, anyways, I'm not entirely sure what's going on in the story, in true FromSoft style. Sekiro had a relatively straightforward story that you could follow somewhat, but my knowledge of Bloodborne's story is almost entirely thanks to this youtube video. So I hope that I'll get more informed on Elden Ring's story too sometime in the future :D

Gameplay is fun. Tough, but fun. It's an RPG so you can go in all sorts of directions, and personally I've ended up with two katanas, just hacking and slashing, and it works! The enemy designs are wild, interesting and fun! 10/10

Music

Idk music, idk how to talk about music, but I love listening to it, so I'll just list some of the music I've been listening to a lot the last couple months, in case you're interested.

Eve - Kaizin

Anything by Eve tbh

Woodkid - S16

JAURIM - 스물다섯, 스물하나

Bonus

I just wanna mention this here for fun, but I went to a fun escape room with my friends on my birthday, and it's only really relevant for people in Denmark, and specifically around Copenhagen, but if you're in a need of a fun escape room I really wanna recommend Midgaard Event's Downfall Spy Mission escape room, it was so much fun, and so much worth the money. It was well put together, the setting, the rooms, the acting, just all of it. Just be aware that you will need to crawl on all four at some point, just in case you got bad knees or something lmao

[diana-berry]

Hey! Real quick this turned out longer than I expected it to but I kind got on a 10 foot tall soap box and it took me a bit to navigate my way down haha. Okay, onto the discussion.

Ada looks so cool oh my goodness! She is most definitely a villain, even if she is a survivor like Freddy. But I swear all those who hate freddy are gonna love her cause she’s a pretty girl. If you like her that’s fine, I like her! She’s pretty (y’all know I like pretty girls)and looks like a really neat character! But she absolutely does not seem like a good or moral person. I need y’all to acknowledge that.

Like freddy, she’s not a good person, and it’s okay to like characters for being unlikable! I love good villain characters, and Ada definitely seems like she’s gonna be one of those. But please don’t try to excuse her actions! I know most of y’all certainly aren’t excusing freddy. Everyone always talks about how they hate him, and for good reason! Freddy is not a good person. He’s manipulative, cold, conniving, smug, heartless (like literally that is one of his traits), I could go on. He only cares for what he wants and doesn’t care who he hurts in order to achieve what he wants. I mean who supports that? I know I certainly don’t, but what most people ignore is the fact that he is indeed a well written character. I mean the fact that so many people hate him goes to show that. Not to automatically say that all hated characters are well written as that certainly isn’t the case. I’m just saying in my personal opinion and analysis that freddy is indeed well written.

But often the more conventionally attractive characters like Chloe, Edgar, Aesop, Norton, Mike, etc’s horrendous actions are excused in favor of them being ‘pretty’ or ‘hot’. Not kidding here, I was talking about why Chloe is a bad character morally and someone’s argument was “well she probably smells nice”. NO JOKE. This is a rather popular thing that happens in the fandom very often, and it’s...ugh honestly. Also I’m not saying those characters are automatically bad (EXCEPT FOR CHLOE BUT IF YOU KNOW ME YALL KNOW IVE GOT PERSONAL BEEF WITH HER), I’m simply saying their actions are often looked past because of their appearance. I actually think most of those characters are very interesting and I appreciate them a lot. Anyways this strayed pretty far from Ada I can just see people angelizing her already.

I could be wrong about her being the villain but it’s seems very likely that she is, especially based on what we saw in freddy’s second birthday letter. She makes me very uncomfortable with how she’s viewing Martha, yikes. Martha clearly has actual concerns about Freddy and his behavior, and Ada just writes it off as ‘pregnancy anxiousness’. I mean just look at Freddy’s second birthday letter and her information.

I mean- yikes. Hypnosis, bondage, not to mention that psychotherapy at the time was very much not what it is today. It was much colder and morally wrong, much crueler and just torturous.

Anyways, to close this off, Ada seems like a very interesting character and I look forward to learning more about her! What do you think about her? Do you think she’s gonna be a villain? Or will she shockingly be more of a protag? Feel free to let me know!

Also here’s a doodle I did of her! Her outfit was very hard to draw haha

[hhawkeye]

me at all points (with disclaimer that I know I talk about Hawkeye too much): can we meta about Margaret? can we? or Hawkeye's mom? or Carlye or Kyung Soon? or Peg even! just a lady for once and not always about the two white dudes!

oh peg the og blurry wife... what i wouldnt give to know Anything about you that isnt coming from bjs frankly unreliable perspective (I KNOW WHY WE DONT!! I KNOW i knooooow i know and appreciate the limited perspective and fact that we dont really properly see anyone from back home etc etc i know this. i enjoy it. but at the same time i can be mad about it!!!!!!!! same re: hawkeyes mom and his uhhhhh. rose tinted glasses outlook on his past and family and crabapple cove when i imagine in reality it probably. was not all that good considering we know hawkeye represses shit and is obviously romanticising due to being away for so long etc etc)

but RIGHT like. augghhhh i do see a lot of discussion on margaret out of any of the characters which like duh. shes a main character! but even then its... hardly anything compared to bj and hawkeye and actually like, even the bj/hawkeye meta is like. specifically beejhawk meta. it’s hardly ever just like “oh unrelated to the beejhawk thing here’s thoughts on their lives etc” yknow? it’s always gotta link back to beejhawk which is FINE i GET IT i understand. if not then why, etc, but come on!!!!!

like margaret is in literally (almost) every episode and she goes through SO MUCH development and change but everyone is like (mouth zipped closed emoji) and i just. ughhhhh. like im not one to talk bc in general i dont really. make big ass posts about ANY characters really or if i do theyre... incoherent rambling posts that nobody wants to read (THIS IS NOT ME BEING SELF DEPRECATING i am genuinely pissed off at myself for being Like That because i do know how to actually do proper character analysis etc i just.......... dont? bc brain broke and yknow. its fucking mash) but anyway its like. please. please i would like to see more margaret content

and christ the carlye stuff is soooo. like so much of it is just oh carlyes a bitch bc she didnt want to like, sit around and never feel fully like... valued? thats not the right word but augh. in her relationship w hawkeye and like. HELLO?

and kyung soon!!!!!!!!!! obv maddie horaetio had some AMAZING takes on that entire episode which <3 <3 <3 Yes. but in general she is so ignored and forgotten about even in the meta about hawkeyes manpain when hes being left behind!! (the classic “carlye left trapper left bj left”.... ok nobodys gonna mention kyung soon leaving? and how he took that personally even though it was like, his countrys fault actually, and he was not the one suffering there, and, and, and) which i know is partly because she is a one episode character who is never(?) mentioned again etc but its like. ok. yall talk about tommy all the time tho soooooooo........... no hate to tommy love his character love that episode but i mean. come the fuck on. youre telling me random white boy of the week is more interesting or has more like... potential? than kyung soon who literally held so many lives together at the cost of her own mental emotional and likely physical health because she HAD to and then she fell in love with someone who is literally! there! making things worse! even from the very start of the episode when he misjudges her and is like oh im sorry :( and its like ok lol you realise you have a LOT more to be sorry for right. but he does not realise this. because he is fucking stupid and barely realises he is part of the us military no matter how much he decries it like! god!

anyway whatever. again, long rambly post that is very disjointed and bad this is why my lecturers hated reading my first drafts of anything BUT YOU GET WHAT I MEAN AND I AGREE VERY MUCH. mx mash fandom unblur those wives

[magicalbluelightning]

2018 was.... a LOT:

I dragged a friend to a furry con (AWU)

Saw P!atD in concert

Failed a few classes, despite working as hard as I could & asking my professors for help :/

Changed my major from biology to indisciplinary studies, which is effectively the same thing but now I won’t ever have to take a calculus class ever

Made a discord account, joined a few servers 

Made a Ninjago discord server that now has over 70+ people and is fairly active (come join its really neat!)

Got into RvB and HxH as well as I’m more active in Ninjago fandom

Actually made progress towards releasing a webcomic (or two. or FIVE) wrt to getting a set storyline and character designs

Had a roommate for the first time

Realized I’m genderqueer as well as realized I can be both bi and on the aromantic spectrum, and that I’m not the cisgender aroace person I thought I was

Increased my confidence & improved my mental health drastically to the point I’m comfortable going up to strangers and talking to them (asking for help at stores, talking to the person sitting next to me in class on the first day, etc). I still struggle with anxiety & I’m an awkward mess but I’m definitely better than I was last year

Started writing again!

I had art in a zine! (@/ninjagozine)

Got hit by a car last month, not so fun but I was able to walk it off so I’m alright

Started questioning my beliefs & exploring various religions & theology, and realized just how fascinating it is to learn about different belief systems and how it affects culture & tradition & all that (probably why I love world building & character analysis tbh, it’s such an absolutely fascinating subject and I want to learn more). 

Despite my pen breaking and me overworking myself to the point of being physically sick sometimes (school work being a STEM major, writing AND personal/fandom art can be a lot for one person all at once), I think I figured out which direction I want to go in wrt my art and I’m more comfortable drawing backgrounds and adding details now!

So yeah. That’s just the stuff in my personal sphere of existance, yall know all the bullshit that went down with politics & the world in general so I won’t go into that.

But anyway! I feel 2018 was an incredibly necessary learning experience for me- there were quite a few ups & downs, but overall I think I learned a lot and grew as a person. Which I think is what’s important in the end, right?

Also special thanks to @jomeimei421 for posting so much RvB on your insta that I finally went “ah fuck I need to go watch this” and proceeded to binge all 16 seasons over the course of a week during my lunch breaks at work. So I thank you for my life :) (Love your art btw!)

I was going to tag a lot of people who made a positive impact, but tumblr ate this post 3 different times while I was attempting to tag people, and there’s so many people it took 3 hrs trying to figure out what to put on this thing and I have other things to do before midnight rolls around.

[Edit: Apparently it tagged people anyway??? Idk what happened but I literally cannot figure out what the fuck is going on and I’m just gonna assume this is another tumblr fuck-up. Anyone who got tagged I just want to let you know you were a huge inspiration to me this year, you’re all very wonderful :)]

So I want to say- thank you to anyone who’s ever talked with me, I can honestly say that while it’s certainly got more than its fair share of bad, tumblr is the place I’m most comfortable and I feel most free to be myself. So for what that’s worth. Thank you.

Here’s to making 2019 the year we all live our best lives, leave behind all the toxic people, and help each other live out all the goals & dreams we can think of. As well as the year I say “Anxiety be damned” and do the thing anyway (like leaving comments on fics bc yall deserve all the nice comments).

Thanks for 2018, I’ll see you all in 2019! 

Happy new year!

[ask-shakespearehigh]

Q&A post with the Mods!!!!

This is going to be a long one oh boy

How strict is the delineation of creative control vis-a-vis characters/plays between the mods? (@pedanticlecturer)

We generally have the plays split up along lines of “what we know”— we have a list at the very beginning of the blog. Sometimes we’ll draw the others’ characters (mostly me drawing some of Star’s…) but even then the final say on characterization is up to the “main” mod for that play — mod aster

what aster said -- mod star

What is your favorite play? What is your favorite character in terms of how they were written in the source material? (@pedanticlecturer)

I think my favorite play overall is Macbeth, just because I like the vibes (and the fact that I too could kill Macbeth), the fact that you don’t say it’s name in theatres, and the fact that it’s a play I did a full read through and analysis of in class. Favorite character? Puck from Midsummer. — mod aster

uhhhh,, hmm. ive always had a soft spot for midsummer since i saw it with aster esp bc of how fun the costumes were. of the comedies it has the largest potential to be the most visually pleasing bc of the concept of fairies,,,and im gay and dramatic so i love that. id die if i got to costume design for midsummer,,,or be in it,,,yeah. fav character. hmm. probably mercutio?? i recently saw a version of romeo and juliet where mercutio was played by a woman and oh my god it was amazing!!! not to mention mercutio’s portrayal in baz luhrmann's INCREDIBLE version of r n j!!! (I based my mercutio design on him) he just spends the entire time making dick jokes. love that. -- mod star

How do you answer asks so fast? I mean it's great but I'm impressed 😂 (Anon)

Personally, it’s a mix of: notifications on, quick drawing speed, and using the blog to avoid my class work — mod aster

aster is fast and (as you can see from all of my answers) im lazey -- mod star

Are there any elements/characters of the plays you're covering that you would have liked to work into this blog's plot, but couldn't due to the constraints of the setting or the synthetic nature of the blog? (@pedanticlecturer)

I wanted to make everyone gay but unfortunately due to plot constraints we have to have some hets but that wont stop me from making it lgbt as possible. -- mod star

I did want to make The Tempest more of a central play, but it just didn’t translate well. Similarly, other supernatural elements like the witches in Macbeth. This isn’t so much a constraint mentioned, but my own time/energy means that I want to show the Macbeth backstory, in a specific format, but I can’t right now— mod aster

Is there a hierarchy of import when it comes to each play's individualized impact on shakespeare high's general arc? If so, what plays are crucial to the foundation of the story? Which ones did you do mostly for shits and giggles? (@pedanticlecturer)

This is phrased like an ACT question and i might not answer it right so sorry in advance but: mod aster and i only selected a few plays for each of us to do given we dont know all of shakespeare’s works, but we tend to put more emphasis on the the more well known. But it also comes down to 1. How much we have plotted out for each play and 2. What the followers ask about most. Our two most popular are hamlet and macbeth bc people are familiar w those but around march caesar always becomes relevant again. I didnt even have designs for some of the characters until someone asked about them. -- mod star

I would say the same as star— it generally comes down to what people ask about. I will say that the overall plot is sort of separated into “has happened” and “is happening”. Like, the human potion of Midsummer, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth are all in the “aftermath” portion, while Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet, among others, are happening. We’re trying to incorporate as much as we can, and I don’t think any of them were really put in without some thought.— mod aster

What personal significance does shakespeare hold in ur guys' lives? (@pedanticlecturer)

I go to a theater school rn and so ive dealt w shakespeare (although not all of them) it also helps that i was in loves labours lost last year as moth and that i read hamlet and r n j. Theres also a theater in my state that always does One Big Shakespeare per season and they always do them super well!!! My love for shakespeare probably started w seeing midsummer at that theater w mod aster!!! So. Theater kid rights!! -- mod star

To be honest, I got back into Shakespeare Because of the blog. I’ve been friends with some people that got really Pretentious about Shakespeare, and it kinda put me off of it. I did have a book of abridged plays (the plays’ plots written out in prose, basically) that I read as a kid, which is what got me into not only the plots of a lot of the plays, but also the idea of having them illustrated. And, same as star, the theater in state does the One Big Shakespeare— and they tend to do some really cool things with the costumes, setting them in diff time periods. I haven’t been able to see any lately since I’ve moved, but they still slap. — mod aster

🥰😘💙🥰🥰💜💟🥰I 😍💗💚😍😍LOVE🖤🖤 YALL ♥️♥️🧡💛💚💝❣️💕💘💖💗💓💞💝❤️💛💜 okay now i have a question i swear— how long have the two of you been doing art??? and what were your first shakespeare plays??? (@hellaghosts)

Uhh i started drawing when i was like idk 12 and i have the giant boxes of sketchbooks to prove it!!! I moved to digital art at abt 14-15 but mostly stayed traditional until this yr when i got a Neat New Tablet so some of my sketchbooks are sitting abandoned rip. My first shakespeare was either romeo and juliet or midsummer nights dream and i love both of them v much!!! I have a very old piece of art that i did for r n j for my freshman class assignment on it and it hasnt aged well alsdjfjafd circa 2016 i think??? -- mod star

Oh man. I started drawing when I was about 10, but it was Bad. I don’t think I got much into drawing again until I was about 14? Sometime around the end of middle school/beginning of high school. I would say I started getting into drawing as more than doodling/coloring edits sometime around 2015-16? I would draw on my iPad with my finger, then I got a tablet for my computer, and now I pretty much stick to my iPad with an Apple Pencil. My first Shakespeare play was….. uh…… probably Midsummer???? I have No idea. We would go to plays when I was little, so I honestly don’t remember if I saw others before. It may have been Romeo and Juliet— I had that book where it was the original and the “modernized” with the little dog that explained things— which, if you know it makes sense, but if you don’t is probably a bonkers answer. — mod aster

Do you think this blog has like? An overarching thesis (be it b/c intentionally or simply b/c ur own take on the world has bled thru to the point where u believe it’s central to the piece at this point)? (@pedanticlecturer)

Not gonna lie, I had to read that like three times AND dm you to figure out what you were asking from us and all I have is “be gay, respect women, write your own happy endings”. — mod aster

This blog started with an ides of march shitpost and you think we have enough brain energy to write a whole thesis? I projected feelings of found family onto my half of the blog but idk if that counts. Be gay do crime 420 69 -- mod star

What’s the nature/rough dynamic of ur relationship? How do y’all know each other? (@pedanticlecturer)

Met mod aster when i was like 4 and even tho we didnt live close we became like, best friends although the Best part didnt start until we were like 13-ish and eventually we talked like non stop (about anime and homestuck. Yknow. 13 year old kid things) and we didnt see each other a lot bc of Distance and now its even worse bc aster is in colleg.,e but we consider each other siblings regardless of family bc we’re adopted into our own respective families so that bled over into our friendship and it would feel weird calling him anything other than my brother now. We’ve seen each other at our best and worst and if you really want a good insight on what we’re like as siblings watch griffin and justin mcelroy’s overview video of catlateral damage wherein i am griffin and he is the long suffering justin. -- mod star

Star is basically my long distance sibling and functionally the only cousin I recognize bc like their parents are basically an aunt and uncle and like our dads look enough alike that we’ve both accidentally gotten the wrong dad for a hug or similar so like. Anyways yeah Star is the Griffin to my Justin, complete with our absent middle brother who we love dearly— mod aster

Dubiously relevant q but what kind of music do y’all listen to when u do art (if that is indeed a habit either of u partake in) (@pedanticlecturer)

It can depend on the piece? I was working on some (unrelated) oc prints that were song-focused, and for those I just listened to said song on loop. Sometimes I have playlists. Sometimes I’ll just be in a Mood and throw a song on loop. But a lot of time for the blog, I’ll listen to The Adventure Zone for the billionth time, because I have Too Much Attention. I’ve also, on request from Star, linked the most recent “loop song”.— mod aster

I tend to obsess over the same like 3 songs every few weeks so those get listened to on repeat but it also depends on the tone of what im drawing or who im drawing i might genre switch bc of that. If im drawing ophelia i stick to lana del rey and if im drawing hamlet its the neighborhood, horatio is sufjan stevens etc. i have categorized,. Most of the characters i draw into different songs/genres/energies of music but not like i ever follow that. Sometimes i just pull up a really long nonsense video and forget to draw. Essentially: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ -- mod star

How’d y’all come up with ur pseudonyms? (@pedanticlecturer)

I love space so much and my main blog is starryeydsailor space gay rights!! Im also tiny and full of energy and bright so basically i;m star -- mod star

Uhhhh i was like “hey i want to do uhhhhhh flower?” And then I google searched flower names until I found one I liked —- mod aster

How did you end up deciding the rough timeline of events in canon? (@pedanticlecturer)

It’s mostly determined by like. How we choose per story? If that makes sense. Like, we just take story by story, and decide “is it happening, has it happened, and when?” And then we fit them together in relation to each other just by dint of. All existing at once. Like, I knew I wanted Macbeth to be in aftermath, because like, even though there’s no murder, the way I’ve translated it to the AU is still kinda heavy, and it’s something that I don’t know that I could do properly if it were happening right now. Also, it’s more interesting IMO to have them at different times. Tl;dr we wing it per story and slot them together— mod aster (mod star agrees I just can word better, in theory)

If you could tell the story of shakespeare high in a different format than an ask blog, would you? Obviously y'all are making very good use of the format, but would you want to write this as a animated series or like? a comic book? or is the form inseparable from the story? (@pedanticlecturer)

I kinda wanted to do a webcomic or maybe to plot develop through like, animatics but the element of surprise comes from the asks we get and really makes us think so the blog is a good start. We didnt think we’d get this far -- mod star

Pretty much what Star said— there are certain elements where it’d be neat to do as a comic or as an animatic. Like, the fantasy dream is like, an anthology webcomic of each story, where you can like, see other characters in the background and stuff. But to be honest, we develop a lot by what we’re asked— there was a post about developing worldbuilding by being asked questions and then pretending you’ve thought about the answer, and it’s not far off. Personally, it’s hard to just lay out a story, because I have a whole WORLD and what’s relevant? What are people interested in? It’s by getting questions that I can then focus in on an area to develop. And yeah, we Super didn’t think we’d get this far lmao — mod aster

Any headcanons about your characters that you don't think will ever come up on the blog through asks or plot posts? (@pedanticlecturer)

I could make a whole separate post for this!!!!! Mostly its voice headcanons (and by mostly i mean like 1 or 2) or relationship hcs!!!! -- mod star

Honestly same. I don’t think I have voice headcanons for mine, though I bet I could find some. I’ve got a bunch of miscellaneous headcanons that just kinda float around, but like they’re scattered, too numerous for this post, and also not always things I’m sure are canon yet.— mod aster

[badnewtattoo]

the gang makes paddy’s great again- thoughts.

i wrote this whole thing and then tumblr refreshed and i lost it.. this is why i use mobile. these are basically my overall thoughts and feelings on the episode with as much intelligence as i am capable of. i’ve never been one of those people who writes long analysis of iasip or anything, this is as close as we’re getting. also if you can’t tell already, i absolutely love meellisday.

-i can’t believe they all had sex with the doll... especially my boy charlie kelly i mean i expected it from mac (duh) and frank is kinda gross but... my boy, pls

-i don’t remember what i already wrote here because this is my second time doing this becauseeeee it got deleted

-there was more positive content i swear

-i liked cindy and the fact that she radiates pure evil. she was really weird, man. she was strange, i am a fan. i hope she comes up in the future here and there suggesting that they do more freaky shit and acting like a groupie for success.

-ok my biggest problem was the dialogue of this episode. there were a lot of cases of things just being straight up repeated? there was a line that dee said out loud at the dinner table and then repeated under her voice as a kind of ad-libbed chatter type thing and that was rough for a show so strong historically with its talking over each other scenes, improv, and fast dialogue. the jokes about mac banging the sex doll were ok to be repeated, i guess, but they kept making the same jokes about him with the exact same words and tone. in fact i don’t really get why they made the “mac is having sex with the doll” joke so often. since they all ended up having an orgy with it i rlly think there was a missed opportunity, they should’ve made fun of him for having sex with it after it was confirmed they all did because there could’ve been a moment of “..... wait but yall arent any better.... the” does that make sense? it does to me? like i know they did make a comment about it when dennis got back but it was a missed opportunity to not point out the irony.

-the storyline was not good. or the whole liberal tears thing was just very strange. it felt like they abandoned the show’s usual character driven aspects for the sake of driving the plot. they went with a humorous plot i guess but no jokes were made about the liberal/conservative thing from the gang so therefore it wasn’t funny? the gas scheme and the garbage schemes, for example, wouldn’t have strictly been funny on their own or excecuted by different people but they were good episodes and were funny to me because of the gang. the door to door song, the misspelled sign, the entire ridiculousness of the limo. maybe the plan was meant to be very run of the mill and unimportant because cindy was running it, like schmitty, but it was weeeeiiird and i think could have been done differently in a way that would have more positively impacted the story and overall episode quality. the labels, for example, could’ve been much better. my favourite part was the strip club and their interactions there, i wish there had been more of that vibe. also i think there was more to be done with charlie fighting the sex doll.

-dee didn’t have sex with the doll so                ha, go 2 hell incest supporters

-dee was pretty great in this episode actually. the only thing i disliked was her reason for wanting cindy gone being that she felt that she wasn’t special anymore because there was another girl. that was kinda dumb and i would’ve easily accepted had she just decided to go back with the gang without any reasoning. it doesn’t seem like dee to hate on another woman like that without reasoning, sorry if i’m wrong i really don’t know shit. it just didn’t sit well.

-the waitress!!!!!!!!!! i love her!

-ok so i think mary elizabeth is a great person and is also a very good comedic actress. she’s on santa clarita diet (i literally went through the show just to watch her) and i’m not even being biased when i say she is really good on that show. she’s so talented and funny on that show and shines in a way over there that i never really felt she did on sunny. not by any fault of her own but i don’t think the writing for the waitress has ever been all that interesting or with potential to stand out. i like the waitress because although she thinks she’s better than the gang and then charlie she is so obviously just as garbage as them but also has that quality of being just about the most mundane person on the planet. what i’m getting at here is she deserves better writing and could be as iconic and funny as all the other side characters and i think finally bringing her down to living with charlie could be a really good change for her character. you still have the potential for delusions of superiority, similar to how mac thinks people like him and thought he was straight or how dennis thinks he’s a lady’s man, the waitress similarly thinks she’s better than these people while being a garbage person who uses charlie and is now literally living with him. she’s always been pretty similar to charlie (more so as it’s gone on) but tells herself that he’s worse and again.. now that they really are in the same living space and are more clearly placed beside each other in the eyes of the viewer, i hope she can have more coooool and exciting story lines. hope that wasn’t too repetitive. i just want everyone to know how funny and awesome she has the potential to be and she deserves shining moments that characters like cricket, maureen, and the mcpoyles get. etc.

-hearing charlie kelly call the waitress “honey” and “sweetie” is so, so weird and again, that’s a testament to how good they are at acting

-also i wish they’d addressed the pregnancy thing they were going for (she could’ve at least been annoyed at him that it didn’t work out or whatever) and it didn’t make sense to me that the season 12 finale saw charlie as being uncomfortable with the waitress expecting a relationship with him and this episode didn’t see him as really annoyed or uncomfortable, or at least it seemed to be at a different degree and from a different angle. how charlie treated her was a bit similar to how he treated dee in rules the world but i wish the waitress hadn’t been at all submissive? like she slept with the sex doll and was being funny/rude about it?? i wish she had been that way the whole time or at least more significantly? i get that the joke was that she now was desperate like charlie had been but i can’t say it was done all that well or consistently, from my perspective? i wish they had more fighting and banter and whatever. idk man. 

-they said it was their apartment so i kind of wonder if frank is still living with them?

-also i felt like there wasn’t enough frank!!!!!!!!!!!! he was hardly there. i also missed the charlie/frank dynamic. if you can tell by this point,,,, i am a big charlie fan. 

-but yeah the first thing i noticed was a lack of frank. my deal is that it felt as though the gang hardly really interacted within themselves? everything felt pretty impersonal. usually there’s scheming and yelling and really fast/smart dialogue but it felt more plot based and focused on getting across a specific set of events as opposed to thoroughly being true to the characters. the sex doll orgy felt out of place and these stranger elements of the episode reminded me of the ski episode and flowers for charlie in the way that they were detached from how i recognize the gang’s personalities. yes. 

-dude!! i missed dennis! i didn’t realize how much i would want dennis back until he showed up and started doing that thing where he makes black and white judgements based entirely on personal preference. like in charlie rules the world at the end, i love that stuff. 

-i actually think dennis was the most true to form in his character, my only things i’d change would: i’d add in a “move past it” in his explanation of his return, i’d make the bird thing more natural, and i’d have him be more protective of the 80s (that was the insult, right? she said he dresses like the 80s? anyways we know den loves that shit pls)

-mac was cool too! as i said earlier i wish they’d repeated that joke a wee bit less but aside from that i absolutely loved the mac content because he doesn’t always get the best stuff to work with. rob, as i’ve said before, is truly underrated for his performance as mac because the character is so easy to read. mac is very easy to understand as someone who craves validation and easily speaks his feelings while also have distorted versions of self, though that seems to be going away (with the coming out, the obvious truth of him being ripped, and him straight up asking if they like him) which is really funny because instead of him being wrong about who he is and being oblivious, everyone else is oblivious about him because he used to be?? yes, her. though he’s still a denial ridden dumbass in many ways, now the gang is in denial about his apperance. anyways rob killed this episode and i hope people come to see that is equally as distinctive as charlie and dennis.

-i really did like dee here, as i said earlier. she was also rather true to form. no complaints, and i like how she seemed more integrated into the gang. i love when they all work together, or at least work with dee, and everyone is equal and none of them continually put down dee. that’s way more fun. 

-alright i think this is all i have to say for this episode? it seemed pretty foreign to sunny’s usual formula and reminded me the most of “flowers for charlie” in how it definitely strays from how what i view as a normal episode for the gang. there were good enough moments but it isn’t going to be one of my favourite episodes of the season. i really hope they don’t fall into the same hole arrested development did where they once would reach a conclusion every episode and stick to a format which changed in the 4th season for sure. i am ok with change but i hope not much is sacrificed. anyways, i am still a fan and am anticipating the rest of the season still! yes i’m aware that this is overwhelmingly negative but every negative i have for any sunny episode is usually leaps and bounds better than episodes of pretty much any other show.

[dramazones]

Oh Wow! Im finally here with a headcanon birth chart and analysis for jamie!

i'm on mobile so I cant even put this long ass post under a read more i am so fucking sowwy but anyways a lot of this was inspired from dewmie-in 's meta posts and also i rlly love astrology so pls follow them first of all or else ur a fake fan shhfhgjsjkfkd

☀️ ♓︎ Pisces Sun ♓︎ ☀️

There is no doubt that Jamie is a pisces sun. Some of the well known characteristics of a piscean are being the artistic ones, the ones more in touch with their emotions and the absolute dreamers of the zodiac, I can assure you this as a mercury and moon piscean!

And it’s quite obvious that these traits 100% match up to jamie’s surface character being a big theater nerd, writer, poet, and as an actor, he HAS to understand emotion in all its forms! While being the more compassionate of signs, that also comes with sympathy, and maybe even empathy.

to which he expresses when he tells steven that a good story with a quality protagonist HAS to include said protagonists struggles as well, now this might be a reach but perhaps this was self projecting after his own struggles in kansas, maybe even foreshadowing ooOoOh

(“a real hero must struggle” jamie struggles living in kansas, moves back to beach city, nails his first production and gains management position @ the theater, aka his heroic ending i guess idk, then more theater related accomplishments as mentioned in letters to lars ofc)

☽♎︎ Libra Moon ♎︎☽

One of the biggest desires for any libra placement is balance, And the moon sign being the emotion sign, Libra moons desire an emotional balance as much as they do in their environment. Libra Moons can also be known as a “people person” while typically depending on the study of others to lean their own nature.

Jamie fits the Libra moon description being a sort of people person himself. Though he’s capable of keeping a friendly conversation with just about anyone, There’s also no doubt that this guy has severe anxiety that affects his communication with others along with his emotional stability (even affecting him physically). The thing is that he’s managed to keep the anxiety and his social skills much more balanced the more we see him or i guess as time passes, not one of them overpowering the other. (see venus in scorpio as to why he limits himself socially as much as he would his anxiety)

While he desires emotional balance that also comes with a feeling of frustration and defeat when things are even slightly out of balance (also a symptom of anxiety ; easily irritated/defeated) such as his improv performance in letters to lars, ending his performance within a minute after feeling overwhelmed as it started going south.

So while there are several moments of him maintaining an emotional balance he also has another side of the scale that’s less balanced (astrology word play lmao) such as a general lifestyle balance, also nonexistent for jamie (even though your lifestyle heavily affects your behavior) in a sense that he lacks of a healthy sleep schedule being a mailman AND an actor, one occurring from the early morning to the afternoon and the other job occurring at night. Probably irrelevent but its MY sleepover and Ill add as much necessary info in this birth chart reading as i please.

Im also including buddys book as an example because though it was only jamie being the faceclaim for buddy theres no denying that since historical friction theres at least some parallels between the two characters sharing the same traits (being writers, returning to beach city to prosper in their careers, being absolute drama kings)

♀️♏︎ Scorpio Venus ♏︎♀️

One of the biggest aspects to Jamie’s character INCLUDES being an absolute sucker for romance so lets get this bread and talk abt his relationships w/ everyone and his views on love uwu

Scorpio being a water sign means healing is one of the largest aspects to the sign. Healing nonetheless comes with a relation to trauma being from the planet representing death itself. Life and Death go hand in hand to define each other, ya feel me.

while were on the topic of death lets bring back the parallelism between jamie and buddy thats been around since historical friction. in the play buddy is presumed dead up until william reaches beach city. ok. so hear me out. perhaps that was foreshadowing for jamie’s traumatic near death encounter with topaz and aqua. remember how I said the water element represents healing as well as trauma??? It all kinda ties in yall...

ANYWAYS It’s safe to say that Jamie is a person that’s been through his rock bottom AND trauma already (his death if you will), struggling to live a happy, or even regular (lets face it as far as we know the only thing he came back to beach city with was sunglasses, bitch was broke) life in kansas, the abduction, its not something you can heal from overnight. While he does show symptoms of severe anxiety (to say the very least) even after the abduction he’s also grown closer to working on healing, moving on from his overwhelming fear of rejection by prospering in theater (him coming back to life if u will), and as for anything directly related to the abduction is unknown, but its very likely he’s working on moving on from that on his own as far as we know!!

which brings up the next trait of a scorpion venusian! They prefer to be a mystery in order to protect themselves as a result of fear of getting hurt for trusting/opening up too much. The first time we see jamie since the abduction is during the re-election in dewey wins, where he doesn’t seem affected at all. Yes, Jamie is a pretty open book for the most part (see dewmie-in’s analogy to in/out of the closet in historical friction) however theres also moments where he limits himself, or perhaps another side to himself, a far more passionate side…

Holding back tears during his drama zone and waiting until hes alone to be excited abt delivering his letter in love letters, playing it cool when earning theater director position in historical friction, not to mention his room SHOULD play a very huge role in his secretive side. (see brodingle’s post on jamie’s room, his casual side vs his passionate side)

the venus in scorpio (or any scorpio placement rlly) also remains a secret not truly by choice, but theyre also studying others of interest. being an actor, Jamie should know a thing or two on body language and raw emotion as he sees it.

And finally, The venus is scorpio is a devoted, passionate, and emotionally attached lover. in love letters he falls for someone easily, and even if he learned in the end love at first sight isnt real he is most definitely the type to fall easily based on emotional connection alone! Also, his fear of rejection can easily play into his love life as well. Being in kansas getting constantly rejected and returning back home out of not just defeat but most likely homesickness as well. He missed his stable job. he wants stability, loyalty, commitment! yeah ok thts all i got for now ladies!

♂️♍︎ Virgo Mars ♍︎♂️

Mars being the planet of impulsiveness, energy, initiation and “doing it” being born under the sign of doing it efficiently and orderly gives a handful of traits that completely match up to Jamie and the way he puts out his energy into the world

Jamie has been the type to not just instantly put his energy into something new, but he’s also put his energy into mastering said thing! While Mars is the planet of impusiveness, Virgo is the sign of patience, the Virgo mars is a firm believer of practice makes perfect, and striving for overall perfect, which does in fact get overwhelming for Jamie the perfectionist.

In historical friction, though hesitant, he was not afraid to critique and analyze dewey’s writing skills. And although he was anxious again to go against deweys script and use pearls version instead, he went with pearls because he desperately needed to execute his first play flawlessly. this also occurs again in letters to lars, when his improv performance doesnt go as planned he doesnt just end it from there, in fact, he still has that sense of patience to critique his cast members on stage before getting completely irritated when they dont comply. imo its important to note this duality of patience and impulsiveness because this is an anxiety inducing combination that heavily matches up to Jamies energy.

it’s also important to bring Jamie’s room back in this, because while it was creepy as shit its also FILLED with books, and has really fancy stationery meaning he is in fact a writer. The Mars in Virgo is an attentive to detail oriented person, and being a writer, Jamie not only reads others’ works, he records his own with plenty of detail as seen in his love letter to garnet. Its in his nature by now to have an eye for detail as seen in his room, his costumes, his writing, etc.

Its very likely that his venus and his mars sign do sort of relate in a sense of the way he will present himself. The virgo mars wants a deep connection as the next person but refuses to express that “passionate side” as much as others, preferring to remain casual or present a “cool exterior” which plays into the venus in scorpio’s preference for a secretive side or to remain a mystery.

lets also not forget Jamie’s mime performance in Sadie’s Song. His body language easily read as excited and desperate for perfectionism. Theres no denying he spent time and energy into his act, probably studying mimes and all lol

plus the virgo mars being an attentive to detail type of person, scorpio venus’ silent study on their person of interest and libra moon’s dependance on the study of others to learn how to express emotion when and where and how all tie into each other. Jamie depends on detail before well, doing! he is the type to not just think before acting but hes also gotten quite anxious overthinking as well!

The Taurus Ascendant is a sucker for stability, loyalty, especially to their passions with change being their biggest weakness, very fitting to Jamie. Stability is what made Jamie return to beach city from Kansas because he was not used to such a drastic change in an unstable life, doing the absolute opposite of prospering in his acting career, another big desire for a taurus rising btw, they thrive for success!

They also need a sense of security and any chance at risking that security is a big no-no for the Taurus Ascendant. Jamie’s constant fear of rejection, his anxiety before a production that could make or break his career, he desires a sense of reassurance and security that will assure him that things will not turn out as horribly as his anxiety’s (cough drama zone cough) made it out to be.

⬆️♉︎ Taurus Rising ♉︎⬆️

now, in Reunited, hes completely moved on from garnet at this point. This takes places after the abduction, the only thing that would really be on his mind rn is healing and finding peace again with himself and in his surroundings. while hes handled this healing process alone (as far as we know) hes also learned about what he wants for himself including his love life. seeing garnet extremely happy and married and all makes him defeated for a moment not because “uUuuUUhH shes the one that got away!” its because he truly desires a passionate and devoted relationship as ruby and sapphires! which brings up the next topic!

In relationships, the Taurus Ascendant won't easily break up with someone they gave their heart to. Jamie wants a partner thats going to be as devoted and passionate as himself. He needs that sense of commitment and loyalty from someone and probably wouldn’t handle something as emotionless as one night stands for example! Any taurus placement has the same desires for romance as scorpio placements to be quite honest here, im just sayin as a venus in taurus and scorpio rising lmao.

🌊 Water Dominant 🌊

Ok so the thing is heres the thing. Out of all four astrological elements, Jamie exudes water energy the most, then earth, then fire, and lastly air. He’s not just an emotional person, he’s also an optimistic person, even when he overthinks things, he continuously looks into the future rather than his past so I think its important to note he also has that “psychic” aspect to him as well as having a strong sense of someone else’s emotions as much as his own.

let me also add in dewmie-in’s post where they point out tht jamie does in fact have a literal reocurring theme with water so even if he turns out to like not be a water sun sign in canon (highly doubt there will ever be a canon bday for him lmao the entire point of this post tho) theres no way hes gonna not be associated with water coincidentally. so if u didnt read their post tldr: being a fucking buffoon in the literal rain, throwing letters into the ocean, staring at the ocean on his free time, (aka during working ours, worlds okayest mailman) cries easily, buddy dying in water, jamie nearly being killed as instructed by a gem named aqua, jamie surviving in water after being THROWN off the ship. (i added a few more btw hshfhhdjd)

so yeah thats that on that, theres plenty more planet placements than that in a birth chart but i just felt like doing the usual ones i guess :P