dearlyyaki

[dearlyyaki]

@neil-gaiman good sir and mighty overlord of us all, if somebody (hypothetically me) wanted to put on a good omens or sandman play in a university (hypothetically my university) would there be an actual way to go about acquiring rights? (i would give you a free ticket and it wouldn't be your first time visiting my uni since you have an honorary doctorate here) thank you & hope you're doing wonderfully ---

#thiswouldbemydreamtowrite #neil gaiman #neilpleasehelp #good omens #the sandman #terryprachett #st andrews #theatre #playwright

[dearlyyaki]

thinking about Ugetsu saying 'over and over, I've thought about what I'd do if Akihiko never came back. No matter how many times I thought about it, I couldn't imagine it clearly. I'd think he'd suddenly come home tomorrow...or maybe not. But at the same time, I want this pain to end as much. But then again, I don't want all the things filling this room to disappear. Maybe something will remain. Even if we can never be the same again, even if we go somewhere far away, I hope at least the music will remain' at 2am and getting close to bawling my eyes out.

Ugetsu, Akihiko, and the grief and pain that comes with desperately holding on to something that's broken, desperately wanting to let go at the same time, being stuck in the middle space that left them unable to do either.

[dearlyyaki]

joe being the first one to make it to cherry after adam hurts him and carrying him bridal style is something very personal to me

#matcha blossom #sk8 the infinity

[dearlyyaki]

Murata Ugetsu / Kaji Akihiko

my first fic ahhhhh

#given anime #given manga #ugetsu given #akihiko x ugetsu

[dearlyyaki]

nvm its working!!

[dearlyyaki]

ao3 help! i posted a fic for the first time and it's not showing up under the ship tag it should. is this just a time thing - should i just wait a few hours?

#ao3 writer #ao3 help

[dearlyyaki]

watching sk8 the infinity for the first time and dude - what the hell is up with adam - how did he just slap cherry head on with his skateboard and call it part of an official race like wth that is not skateboarding my man that is assault

#poor cherry #matcha blossom #sk8 the infinity #sk8 cherry #adam hate club

[dearlyyaki]

in order (mostly highlights / not full head): dark red, golden / caramel, red, purple & pink, pink, purple & pink & blue, purple and pink currently

Pls reblog if u vote :)

If yes, let me know what colors

If no, what colors would you do?

#its a lot

[dearlyyaki]

go ahead and destroy me

[dearlyyaki]

okay but likeee seijoh four stans took a W this week.

matsukawa issei canonically nicknamed hanamaki takahiro “hanapippi” (affectionately)

and oikawa tooru nicknames iwaizumi hajime “godzilla-hajime, hajime-chan and smug-zumi”

matsuhana and iwaoi nation wya? scream a little louder.

[dearlyyaki]

i hope ugetsu gets his happy ending too :// whether it's with akihiko in the future or with someone else.

#he deserves love as well #and peace #given anime #given manga #ugetsu given #ugetsu murata #akihiko x ugetsu

[dearlyyaki]

[dearlyyaki]

OH GUYS I JUST MADE A HUGE REALIZATION

So, the thing about Sauron is that he's a masterful liar in that he very rarely actually lies. He merely implies by stating half-truths, and allowing others to come to the wrong conclusions on their own. In light of this, I've been marinating over a few of his lines that felt the most "off" to me, the closest to being uncharacteristically outright falsehoods. And I think I've hit on something.

Come down the rabbit hole with me!

Alright, so the first thing I clocked upon rewatch was the odd specificity during Sauron and Galadriel's chat in the prison. He warns her that “the heir to this mark is heir to more than just nobility, for it was his ancestor who swore a blood oath to Morgoth." Not just an oath, but a blood oath. This calls back to the conversation between Arondir and his captain, where Revion mentions that "the blood of those who stood with Morgoth still darkens [the Southlanders'] veins." It's also notable that the key-hilt relies on blood to form the blade of its sword.

During this same conversation, Sauron also says that "it was [his] family who lost the war." Again, another odd turn of phrase. It's hard to imagine that Sauron is speaking as himself here, given that while he may have loved Morgoth I doubt he saw him as family. But, it also doesn't track well from the Southlander perspective-- they weren't particularly influential in determining the outcome of the war, one way or another. (Or at least, I assume that they weren't, because the Southlanders aren't mentioned in any of the canon texts the way that other humans who sided with Morgoth and fought in important battles were.)

Next is the argument that he and Galadriel have in the forge. I find it very interesting that he leads by saying something objectively true-- that Galadriel doesn't know "what [he] did before [he] ended up on that raft," alluding to his time serving Morgoth. But, curiously, he follows that up by saying that she doesn't "know how he survived," and he seems to believe that it's a sin egregious enough to contribute to them "cast[ing] [him] out" as much as being allied with their enemy-- and not just Galadriel, but the Numenorians and presumably the Southlanders.

And then it hit me. Who is Sauron, besides the Lord of the Rings? Sauron the Deceiver, yes, but Sauron the Wizard, Sauron the NECROMANCER. Sauron, who will go on to start up the cult of Morgoth and perform human sacrifices! He didn't just take the heirloom from the dead heir of the Southlands-- he straight up TOOK THE HEIR OF THE SOUTHLANDS.

Think about it-- Sauron clearly hates being seen as lowly or less than. Why, then, would he choose the form of a "low" man? Unless... he had no other choice. Because his previous form was so badly damaged by Adar's attack that his spirit had to latch onto that of another to survive, a body whose blood was already sworn to Morgoth because of an ancient pact. Halbrand's family really did lose the war, because Sauron is still alive because of them. The war isn't truly over because of them.

Look at this carving from Ostirith! That is human sacrifice right there.

Halbrand isn't just a mask that Sauron created, he was a real person at one point in time. And that is what guarantees that, even if he could be forgiven for his past transgressions, Sauron would never be accepted. If Halbrand is dead, then every word from Sauron's lips has been him puppeting the corpse of a man he murdered, and if some part of Halbrand is alive in there... well, it doesn't bear thinking about. It does make this line much more ominous though:

"Halbrand, I thought you had died."

YEAH I BET SAURON YOU SICK FUCK

God, I haven't even touched on the Mystics yet.

They also lend credence to this theory, because although they misidentified The Stranger (aka Gandalf, he's probably Gandalf), they did seem to have some knowledge of both his and Sauron's re-emergence. Perhaps they're operating under the information in a prophecy about the comet-- it would track with Sadoc's comment that the star fall does "not bode well." However, I do find it interesting that they weren't surprised to find "Lord Sauron" confused, and indeed expected him to potentially resist their help... say, like someone who had come back from the dead and was in a different, unfamiliar body?

And lastly, there’s the music. Oh boy, let’s talk about the music!

The original soundtrack for Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore is famous for its use of leitmotifs, pieces of music used to represent a character, place, or idea. Bear McCreary, the composer for TROP, is following in his footsteps. I’m biased, but personally I love leitmotifs— giving a character a signature piece of music or musical cue makes moments so much punchier. If you’re wondering why the track that plays when the Numenorian fleet departs for Middle Earth, titled “Sailing into the Dawn”, makes you feel like you’ve had jet fuel injected straight into your veins, it’s because in addition to just plain slapping, it’s emotionally satisfying! It’s the grand unification of multiple leitmotifs in a beautiful triumphant tapestry: there’s the Southlands theme, the Numenorian theme, Elendil and Isildur’s theme, AND Galadriel’s theme.

But, that’s the kicker: because leitmotifs carry so much narrative and emotional weight, it’s a huge no-no to use them carelessly. If Theme A has been associated with Character A, you really shouldn’t use it for Character B unless there’s a clear reason for it, like if Character A is taking up Character B's mantle or is being influenced by them. Think of how upset an audience is by cheap twists in writing: it works the same way with music.

This is actually a HUGE portion of why I spent so much time going back and forth on whether I thought Halbrand was Sauron or not-- because Halbrand's theme IS the Southlands theme. "Surely," I thought, "they would have composed an entirely different piece of music for Halbrand if he was Sauron." Because Halbrand is tied so strongly to the Southlands theme, the Sauron reveal would basically tarnish its emotional weight moving forwards, which is a very bold move to make.

And then, again, realization hit me. All of the leaders in TROP share the same leitmotif as the nation they rule. So, Tar-Miriel's theme is the Numenor theme, and Durin III's theme is the Khazad-Dum theme, while their subjects have themes of their own: Elendil and Isildur have the track called "Father and Son" and Durin IV has a track that's named after him. Bronwyn and Arondir also have their own leitmotif separate from the main Southlands theme.

In this way, Halbrand IS the Southlands. And what happens to the Southlands? It's taken over and twisted by the enemy into something unrecognizable... which is the same thing that happened to the real Halbrand. They share the same fate, and so the musical connection is entirely appropriate.

I'm not saying that I'm 100% convinced that this theory is true, but the textual evidence is there. And man, what a great plot beat it would be! To reveal that, the entire time that Sauron has been talking about redemption and recompense, he's been using someone else's skin to do it, callously exploiting the hopes of an entire nation of downtrodden people for his own personal benefit... it would really cement him as a villain in a deeply personal way to the Southlanders, to Galadriel, and to the audience. What a twist of the knife to learn that the bright future and hope that Halbrand represented to his people, the friendship and camaraderie that he forged with Galadriel, were possibilities that had been denied to them because of Sauron and his selfishness.

[dearlyyaki]

ATTENTION

If you see this you are OBLIGATED to reblog w/ the song currently stuck in your head :)

#blue hour txt #and ceilings lizzy mcalpine

[dearlyyaki]

i am this close to booking a ticket to korea and going to the skz recent concert stadium and finding hyunjin's damn couple rings.

#he looked so sad #skz hyunlix #hyunlix #hyunjin stray kids #stray kids yongbok #felix lee #stray kids hyunlix #guys if any of you have them #give them back :(

[dearlyyaki]

PLEASE

felix: what are friends with benefits?

chan: uh a very special kind of… friend

felix: oh like me and hyunjin?

hyunjin, chokes on his coffee:

[dearlyyaki]

as we go into the my policeman era please please please remember to give david and emma the credit they deserve, as well as all the other actors! as a harry fan ik a lot of us maybe got into the film or book because of his involvement, but the book is such a beautiful material to work off of and i know emma and david also worked incredibly hard, so let's remember them and give them as much attention as we do harry!

#my policeman #mp #harry styles #harrys house #harry styles my policeman #david dawson #emma corrin