#But. I would Hate a tv show adaption of this game but I would love more live action like that in the game itself

[velvetjune]

need more melanie liburd behind the scenes

#watched all of the recent Sam Lake interview where he talks about how Melanie helped form her character! and that whole process #it was great to hear about #hope there’s a whole ‘making of’ for this like Control had #it’s probably partially due to there being more behind the scenes for every live action segment #but still #whether it’s the DLC or future Alan Wake / Control games #it’d be great to have more live action with her! I’m obsessed with how the dark place incorporates different mediums #and getting to see FBI casey and saga together at the end <3 #they both looked so good #this is going further and further into an unrelated tangent #But. I would Hate a tv show adaption of this game but I would love more live action like that in the game itself #such an incredible blend of mediums #and tbh it works with the story itself. whoever directed/edited/etc. the live action scenes #deserves sm love for how beautiful it turned out

[semercury]

How... Can you create something and have so much disdain for it at the same time? And I'm not just talking about """""adaptations""""" bc I see it happen with original works too. (Or... I learn about it. I don't have the energy to read things I want to read, much less force myself to read something where the author clearly hates what they're creating...) I just... How did we get here? How did we get to the point where people create our of anything but love and the desire to communicate parts of the human experience to other humans? How can you have so much hatred for the source material you are attaching yourself to? How can you create a character and yell at fans for liking said character???

#stuff sarah says #you know exactly what this is about lmao #or at least what sparked this. the final nail in the coffin for me on this topic #like. theres more. #ill never understand the like. people who were like #''we will create tv show from video game but refuse to play game to not interfere with my vision'' #my brother in Christ you don't get to have an original vision when you are adapting something #how can you adapt something or remake something and not be head over heels in love with the source material? #ive been watching videos too abt a certain remake ive been playing #and ill always love this remake. it holds a special place in my heart. but i mourn for the loss of what could have been #they literally were like ''this isnt realistic enough. we have to cut it.'' IN A RE GAME????? #i would say this is all hollywoods fault. but theres a certain french director i want to fight behind a gas station as well #bc he too is like i hate so many of my characters. like why did you make them then??? #why are you yelling at fans on twitter for pointing out the blatant flanderization of your characters? #characters that WE happen to love despite it all? #im just so mad. how did it all sink so low #and the kicker is i know if i tried to make something original it would get ignored #bc so many creators have made wonderful things that get cancelled prematurely bc they arent part of the circlejerk #im just mad and disappointed. #it sucks so much. can we please have a creative uprising and make good shit despite all this? #augh

[genericpuff]

I’ve seen some people try and defend Lore Olympus by saying that movies like Hercules and such aren’t accurate to Greek myth, yet they’re still loved. And I somewhat get where they’re coming from, i really do.

BUT- I feel like part of the problem with LO is the fact that if you replace the names, you’d almost be right to assume it takes place in a completely different setting. Meanwhile, if you take away the names from the Hercules movie, you can still tell where it’s supposed to take place. (And who’s who, if you know your myths). Plus the writing of Hercules is 100% better than LO.

The difference between LO and Hercules is that Hercules clearly has respect for the source material put into it. It might not be accurate to the source material - because it's being retooled as a Disney movie for children - but you can tell there's still a lot of thought, love, and effort put into it. The team behind that movie did research on the art and culture of Greece, and adapted it into a movie that was entertaining and recognizable as a Greek myth adaption.

They put our home boy Heracles/Hercules in a tunic! Do you know how shocking that must have looked to American viewers who didn't know a shred of Greek myth and wondered why the big buff hero was being drawn in a skirt? Still accurate though!

LO, meanwhile, writes Greek myth as if it hates Greek myth for existing. It comes across more as a white woman using these stories purely for profit and colonizing it with American-esque culture. The outfits have become noticeably less Greek since the beginning, the characters never eat Greek food anymore, and the locations are left as vague as solid color backdrops to indicate "The Underworld" and "Olympus" without actually showing any set pieces or understanding of how these locations would look and feel in a modern setting.

All of these examples I gave are things we saw a decent amount of in S1. But since then it's just become talking heads on top of flat color backgrounds, eating Chinese food and dressing in American-style clothing. When was the last time we saw a mortal? There's just nothing Greek about the comic anymore because either Rachel has gotten so complacent that she just defaults to what she knows without any research (so what she watches on TV and in movies) or she only bothered with her research in the beginning to get people hooked and convinced that she's a "folklorist" so that they'd keep reading the series and giving her money on good will alone.

Using Hercules as an example of "well it's not accurate to Greek myth either!" completely misses the point of what people are getting at when they say that LO is a bad Greek myth retelling. Guess what else isn't completely accurate to Greek myth? Hadestown. Hades (the game). God of War. Stray Gods. They all take creative liberties with the source material in order to adjust it to the medium and audience they're creating it for, but none of those adaptions are quite as disrespectful as LO's. And God of War literally has little angry man going around and brutally murdering the gods. It still respects the setting of Greek myth more than LO, but unlike LO, it doesn't try to constantly sound smart with its inaccuracies, it knows fully well that it's a video game first and foremost.

And that's the beauty of myths. They can be adapted across generations and used to tell new versions of the same stories. So it begs the question, why bother writing a Greek myth retelling if you're going to make it so non-Greek that you could have just as well just written a normal soap drama and have it still be virtually the same?

Compared to all of the other examples, LO is the definition of confidently incorrect. It should have stuck to just being Greek myth inspired, not a retelling.

#lore olympus critical #lo critical #anti lore olympus #antiloreolympus #ask me anything #ama #anon ama #anon ask me anything

[centrally-unplanned]

I watched the Scott Pilgrim anime! I was deeply ambivalent, which I am sure is a shock to no one who knows me and saw it lol. I think I have a sequence of thoughts, so I will tackle the obvious one first to get it out of the way: Marketing, Adaptation, & Genre Drift in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Starting from top, if you don’t know, the Scott Pilgrim anime is not an adaptation of the original source material, but an alternate history version of the events where the titular Scott isn’t present for the majority of the episodes and Ramona Flowers is the main character. Which has been controversial! Not…amazingly controversial or anything, this is an extremely low stakes scenario and from my analysis the majority of people liked it. But controversial enough to get insufferable Kotaku articles “explaining the backlash” which don’t explain the backlash well. Let me see if I can do a better job - its fun to set low bars for yourself to clear after all.

The backlash starts with the marketing; really just the professional drama-trolls would have objected beyond an initial reaction to Netflix announcing Ramona Flowers vs the World; as a concept it makes a ton of sense, and it is essentially what they actually did (well, we will get into that). But that is not how it was sold:

“Join Scott in his fight for love, life, and rock!” I’d love to, still waiting for the invite! This is the first teaser for the show, and if you do a quick “frame count” it pretty equally privileges Scott & Ramona both, but Scott is still on top and it deliberately hides any sense that it is an alternate timeline. It even has this screenshot as one of its final moments:

Which I am pretty sure does not appear in the actual anime! If it does its in some flashback alt-timeline scene in a later episode, not its implied context (in the actual episode Scott ‘loses’ this fight). I can show more evidence - casting the original cast of the movie to make it seem like a ‘recreation’, statements by O’Malley where he plays deliberately coy with the idea of how similar it's going to be, and so on - but I think I don’t have to, because it was intentional, you don’t have to read the tea leaves on this. The bait-and-switch is part of the marketing, not an accident from it.

That is the step 1: people are thrown about being deceived. The step 2 is simple - this is a deception about an adaptation. I am someone who constantly complains about shows sacrificing cohesion & storytelling for “the twist”, but its too common these days to be that mad over it in a mass way. My designated punching bag over at Kotaku points this out:

This is a recurring theme for metatextual work like Final Fantasy VII Remake and the Rebuild of Evangelion films: initially they’re presented as retellings of beloved stories, only for it to become clear at some later point that they’re going to take more than a few liberties and tell a different story entirely.

The difference here is that FFVII and Evangelion are remakes, not adaptations. FFVII is a video game being made into a video game again; Evangelion is a tv show + movie being made into a movie series. The FFVII decision was controversial, but fundamentally you can just go back and play the original game; fucking everyone hated the idea of the Evangelion rebuilds being remakes because that is pointless, the originals have aged amazingly, and they had to deviate to justify their existence (they failed at that, but a story for another time). Meanwhile, Scott Pilgrim is a comic, that has never been a TV series, or an anime. There is the movie, but did you know a bunch of comic fans hate the movie? You see a lot of comments like these all the time (from a discourse reddit thread debating the new show):

Personally, I thought it was fun. I agree with a lot of your complaints honestly, but I don’t understand how you liked the movie? I can’t stand the movie because I feel like the characters are all flat, especially Ramona who has absolutely no personality at all.

I disagree btw, the movie is great, but it is a loose adaptation - hell it was released before the final volume of the graphic novels was finished, it has a different ending! A short, cohesive movie could never adapt a long-form, episodic graphic novel. And its live action, stylistically very different. So this TV show was both branded as, and was expected to fulfill a demand for, a first “real” adaptation of the comic, that people wanted. The fact that Evangelion deviated in its remake is a poor comparison. Questioning that people want full adaptations of works they enjoy isn’t really worth our time.

Now I personally don’t care about the above two - I am explaining the debate, but they aren’t problems for me. Step 3 is where I start caring - I think Ramona Flowers vs the World is a great idea. They thought they made that, and I wish they had. But in the process of telling the bait-and-switch of the story, they also bait-and-switched the genre. There is this great quote from O’Malley about the original graphic novel’s story from an interview (whose headline we will revisit in another post, don’t you worry):

Yeah, I mean, when I was writing Scott Pilgrim the first time, I just wanted to come up with a very simple story engine: fight, fight, fight, get to the end. That gave me something to hang all this other stuff on, all this slice of life hanging out in Toronto.

Its such a nice summation of what Scott Pilgrim is - the fighting against the evil exes? Its all sizzle and jokes, none of it matters. Its a plot device to structure the real story, which is a slice-of-life romance drama, coming-of-age narrative, and extremely intimate portrait of Toronto’s scene of indie music venues and hipster coffee shops. The joke is that Scott is dealing with all this crazy video game/anime shenanigans on top of actually having to navigate very grounded past emotional damage and present challenges of adulthood. The heart of the comic is not the fight scenes, some of which literally happen in the background while other characters are talking, but scenes of a group of friends hanging out at 11:00 PM at a dive Korean restaurant:

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off meanwhile is not built around this cast. Its built around a mystery plot and Ramona Flower’s evil exes, who she is investigating, and Scott Pilgrim, uh, checks notes travelling to the future and fighting his …aged enraged alternate self from the original timeline…? Anyway, Ramona’s evil exes are mainly joke characters, comic reliefs who engage in crazy shenanigans. Half of the episodes are structured around them, and their episodes are filled with extended comedy bits and very-long fight scenes. Episode two has a 13 minutes long fight scene between two of them, including build-up, over control of the League of Evil Exes. Hell, they don’t even live in Toronto - a ton of the new anime takes place in New York City and a bit in California. The comic meanwhile has panels just…explaining locations in Toronto sometimes:

Listing the hours of operation, its so cute! The anime has no time for this in between its sci-fi plots and fight scenes, and its far cheaper for it.

The decision to focus on shallow characters like Ramona’s exes is downstream of the decision to focus on Ramona without Scott -besides the exes the rest of the characters are Scott’s friends, who Ramona gets to know through him. Which is the final point here - who are the characters people love from Scott Pilgrim?

All of Scott’s friends ofc. Characters like Lucas Lee are memes, not people. Obviously Kim Pine, Young Neil, Knives Chau and so on appear in the anime. Sometimes they have great scenes - like the adorable scene of Knives & Kim playing music together, Knives’s first time really trying to jam:

Which goes absolutely nowhere from a character perspective - Knives & Kim barely interact after this. It sets up Knives doing a comedy-meta musical for the plot, sure…but that’s boring in comparison to real emotional connections, Knives doesn't have an arc. But they can’t have more, because our main character Ramona Flowers doesn’t know these people; she wouldn’t just hang out with them, and she is busy with her mystery investigation. She sees them when she needs them for plot reasons. Kim and Knives and Stephen Stills are much flatter this time around (Julie, to her credit, kicks ass in this one).

Obviously I could point out that Scott & Ramona’s relationship in the anime, given that they have literally one date before Scott vanishes, has no depth to it, but that is easy. The funniest way to summarize this character issue is if you check the tags on Tumblr right now, you are going to be awash in Scott/Wallace shipping posts. Like I swear, at times its straight(?)-up 50% of the posts going on, its a rabid gay horde out there lusting for this sugar daddy/baby dynamic. Which makes sense, they have so much sexual tension & emotional depth as friends…in the comic. In the anime they barely know each other! Wallace hates Scott and interacts with him maybe a half dozen times, primarily to tell him to move out, then does his own shit. This is all people projecting comic!Scott/Wallace onto the current show.

There are more downstream consequences of these decisions & other issues (like the overdone meta elements, or abandoning most of the indie-music aesthetic) but this has gone on long enough. The point is that telling a different version of the story would actually be fine. It would disappoint some fans, sure, but if done well you would likely win them around. Hell, the original comic’s ending kind of sucks, good time to polish some things. But if you change the main character and the genre and the cast focus and all the character dynamics…at a certain point its just its own new story now. A story irrevocably tied to the old one, but not about any of the things the old one cared about. I think you can see why that would be a harder sell than Ramona Flowers vs the World, even if it was a good zany action comedy anime in its own right. You will get backlash from this level of drift - and you will deserve it.

Also fuck Lisa am I right? Jeez, 0 out of 2 for moving picture adaptations. What you get for being blonde I guess.

#scott pilgrim #Ash adaptation analysis #essay

[free-for-all-fics]

Just binge watched the IWTV series and it gave me many thoughts. No pun intended when I say it made me very thirsty. So I wrote some prompts! Warning: Some of these contain spoilers for the AMC show! Most of these prompts are written with the AMC show in mind, but they can probably be used interchangeably for either the 1994 movie or the 2022 tv series. Whichever version is up to you. Please tag me if you’re inspired by or write any of these ideas. I’d love to read it! ❤️🩸

Content Warning: Almost all of these prompts contain dark themes! Including: Toxic behavior, unhealthy relationships, power imbalances, abuse, racism, murder, and incest. If Dark! Fics aren’t your thing or you can’t handle such themes, that’s okay. These prompts just may not be for you, so ignore them and kindly move on. If you don’t like, then don’t read. Please don’t act as morality police and harass me or others. Don’t start arguments in the comments. Thank you.

1. You meet Lestat and Louis at a ball celebrating your arranged engagement to an odious man you don't love. While taking turns dancing with them, you're rudely dragged away by your jealous and controlling fiancé. Seeing how innocent and miserable you are, they later kill your unwanted groom and take you from your home, eventually giving you the choice to live with them and have a better life as a vampire.

2. You were Lestat's lover and companion heart when he was human. You were forcibly separated when he was abducted and turned into a vampire by Magnus. He believes you later perished in the French Revolution, until he’s delightfully surprised when he finds you in New Orleans while living with Louis and Claudia. You don’t look a day older than when he saw you last, and he realizes you had faked your death over a century ago. As he watches you seduce and feed on a couple of unfortunate humans, he falls in love with you all over again. You’re even more beautiful as a vampire.

3. Lestat feeds on you and drains you of blood to the point of near death. He gives you a choice: Join him in eternal life as his new companion heart and lover, or don't. Help him adapt to the modern world, or he will leave you to die and move on to someone else.

4. Haunted Mansion-esque AU: When Lestat was human, he was deeply in love with you, a black or mixed woman, despite it being unconventional and illegal. You may have had many plans for the future, but your love was like playing a most dangerous game. It ended tragically with you killed and him kidnapped by Magnus and turned into a vampire. But what if you’re reincarnated looking exactly the same as you did before in the early 20th century. Lestat becomes obsessed with you at first sight, discreetly following you around or using his powers to hypnotize you to come to him.

He acts overprotective and possessive when he courts you. Even if you don’t remember him or your past life yet, he’s undeterred in his advances. He’s determined to keep you safe with him and not let such a cruel fate befall you again. If that means turning you into a vampire, so be it. You’re his forever and he’s yours. You may hate him at first, but you’ll thank him for the dark gift in the end. He has loved you in death as he did in life and whether your memories come back or not, he’s going to stay by your side. What if in this life, you’re Louis’s neighbor/friend and he loves you too? Maybe not romantically, but there are many forms of love.

5. You’re Lestat’s younger sister and the only other person he loves in his family apart from yours and his mother. He cherishes you so deeply that he often protected you from your abusive father and other brothers by taking countless beatings and starvations to spare you. While you were only a teenager, you’d tend to his wounds and bring him food and drink. He insisted you came with him and Nicolas to Paris, where he would look after you as your legal guardian until you could be free as an adult woman. But after he was turned into a vampire, he tried to stay away. For years, he kept his distance and watched over you from afar as you blossomed into womanhood, while using his inheritance to send money and lavish gifts so you could live comfortably. He still wanted to provide for you, give you everything he felt you deserved but couldn’t have while living in poverty.

Until something happened that made him hyperaware of your fragility in your mortal state. He realized he was too selfish and loved you too much to condemn you to permanent death. He couldn’t bear it if you were lost to him forever, so he snuck into your house and turned you into a vampire. You live together for many decades before you go off on your own to explore the world. But you still correspond and visit regularly. You’re surprised and delighted when you stop in and discover your brother has a lover and a…sister? Daughter? Are you an aunt now? You’re not really sure what the family dynamic is but you’re happy for him.

6. Crimson Peak/Flowers in the Attic-esque AU: You’re Lestat’s sister. You sought comfort and protection from your abusive father and other brothers through each other, and your unhealthy coping mechanisms spiraled into a toxic incestuous relationship. After taking countless beatings and starvations, you’d tend to Lestat’s wounds and he to yours. While locked away together, you’d silently admire your bodies and touch each other gently, mindful of your scars. Your curiosity gave way to darker thoughts, and neither of you could help the urges you began to feel. Lestat and you are so fucked up. You’re overly co-dependent on each other, you both can be manipulative to get what you want, etc. You and Lestat are aware you might love each other too much, since you’ve had ugly fights fueled by jealousy where you’ve threatened to kill the other.

“If I can’t have you, no one can!”

“Do it, coward. You won’t. You and I both know a life without me would be even more unbearable.”

But neither of you would ever actually go through with it. Despite your issues, you cared for each other and wanted to get into a better situation. Even after Lestat became a vampire and inherited endless wealth, he couldn’t let you go. So he snuck into your Paris bedroom and seduced you. Afterwards, he used his powers to render you immobile so he could kidnap you. He turned you into a vampire and your bond can never be severed now. You may have been livid with your brother for turning you, but even that argument ended with angry hate sex to blow off steam. It’s no different than the many times he killed or otherwise drove away all the men and women who vied to be your lover while you were both still human. You were angry with him then, and retaliated by doing the same with all his lovers. These kind of sibling spats are common. If there’s one thing you both hate, it’s competition.

But still you slept together and all was soon forgiven. As vampires your lovemaking can be bloody and violent but it hurts so good. You can’t hear each other’s thoughts, but are so in tune with one another that you still know exactly what the other is feeling. When everything is good, you either hold hands or embrace without needing to say anything. You have your own coffins, but often crawl into each other’s so you can cuddle within the enclosed shared space where you spend hours talking into the early morning before going to sleep. You’re addicted to each other’s company. To the outside mortal world you may act as husband and wife. This is your eternity. You both fear loneliness and abandonment more than anything in the world, so as long as you stay together, neither of you will be alone and you’ll both be fine.

7. You’re a whore and have threesomes with Lestat and Louis. Unlike Lily and the others, you’re a woman of many talents with a unique spirit, so Lestat and Louis want to keep you forever as theirs. What started out as purely transactional sex and pillow talk has become so much more. They’re addicted to you and each other. Being a human and having sex with two vampires is on another level you never knew existed. Levitating in the air while your body is sandwiched between the two handsome devils, Lestat feeding on you while Louis may refuse to at first before Lestat convinces him to do it. Un petite coup, they call it. The little drink. Not enough to kill you, but just enough to keep them fit. The feelings of intimacy it awakens in you is beyond words. And all your senses are only heightened once your lovers turn you into a vampire. While you have your own coffin, you sometimes share a special coffin that’s big and spacious enough to fit 3 people.

8. You’re a human who willingly lets Louis feed on you in modern day. What Daniel doesn’t know is that you actually live in the house with him and Rashid. They take good care of you after the feedings and it’s like a poly relationship. Daniel doesn’t know how to respond as he watches Louis feed on you while you just nonchalantly talk to him like nothing is happening to you. He finds it so off putting how you hold eye contact with him.

Spoilers: Or you’re actually a vampire who pretends to be human by putting on a good show of acting faint and woozy after Louis feeds from you. You go by a fake name and wear contacts just like Armand. Louis and Armand are your lovers.

9. Phantom of the Opera-esque AU: You’re an opera singer or a First Chair in the orchestra and you’re elevated in Lestat’s eyes due to your immense musical talent. You’re one of the few human attachments Lestat keeps. He acts as your patron, providing you with money and lavish gifts. He visits you in your dressing room before and after performances, where you often get hot and steamy. He sometimes takes you back to his home where you sing and play piano (or another instrument) together. You may not know about his vampiric nature yet, but make no mistake: He will inevitably turn you one day.

10. In the books, Lestat mentions bedding a whole lot of women before he was turned so it’s possible he had children he never got to know. He finds out he had a secret accident baby over a hundred years ago when you, his daughter, show up at his and Louis’ home after tracking him down. Lestat being Lestat, he may not believe you at first, but you have substantial proof: A birth certificate, old belongings of his, miniatures of him and your mother, handwritten letters from the 18th century, etc. And then there’s your uncanny resemblance to him in both physical appearance and personality/mannerisms that even Louis points out. You’re not only a grown adult, but frozen in time. Maybe you had a family of your own before your vampire transformation, maybe not. But Lestat tracking down his descendants could make for an interesting story. Because he’s not your maker, you can hear each other’s thoughts. Lestat wants to know everything about you: Who your maker was, how you lived after parting ways with your maker, etc.

He doesn’t want secrets. In hypocritical fashion, he’ll probably keep secrets from you, but he doesn’t want you to keep secrets from him. You and your father are alike in so many ways, and sometimes that causes you two to butt heads and get into petty quarrels. It’s like an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. It’s like two walls trying to get the other to move. Whenever your father annoys you too much, you’ll block him out of your mind or he’ll do the same to you. From what your mother told you about him, you were expecting him to be a bratty and spoiled prince. She used to say you were his perfect copy and called you princess to annoy you. He does love you and you do love him, it’s just expressed and shown in very weird, unusual ways that don't make sense to anyone else. Your form of affection is unique to only you two.

11. You and Lestat are vampires in a complicated love-hate and co-dependent relationship. It can get very toxic and manipulative, especially since both of you are varieties of possessive and jealous or vain and narcissistic. Sometimes if either of you are bored, you do your best to goad each other into losing any sense of decorum or restraint. Like playing with each other’s emotions is a game. Your arrangement of, “You can fuck whoever you want as long as you come home to me.” quickly becomes “I thought we could have an orgy. You can fuck them and I can eat them.” Your sex life is full of depraved fantasies and decadence you indulge in. A hedonistic existence of drink, drugs, and parties. You’re both different flavors of fucked up, but you’re addicted to each other. You want him dead, you want him all to yourself. He wants you dead, he wants you all to himself. It’s far from healthy, but it’s all you know and neither of you care. You’ve let go of human attachments ages ago.

12. You’re a vampire who’s in a romantic/sexual relationship with Lestat and in his own twisted way, he actually cares about and loves you along with Louis. You were given the dark gift by your maker when you were a full grown adult, unlike Claudia. So you’re like an older sister or aunt to her. Claudia is envious of your mature body and asks you questions of the female sort that you do your best to answer, no matter how awkward they are. Some of the questions she has are similar to ones she writes in her diary. (If you know, you know.)

13. Ghost of Thornton Hall-esque AU: When Lestat was human, he was in love with you, a renowned singer. During a masquerade ball celebrating your birthday, a fire started that quickly spread out of control. You got trapped in the burning building and were killed. You’re the only person Lestat has cried rivulets of blood over in his vampire life. All Lestat has left of you is a necklace you always used to wear. That’s why he’s hesitant to turn Claudia after Louis saves her from the fire and tries to make excuses that she’s too charred and he doesn’t know where to bite. During the Mardi Gras ball, Lestat hears your voice whispering and singing sweetly to him. He may be losing his mind due to fasting, but he swears he can see you in the crowd, wearing the same blood red dress that you burned up in. Your black lace mask hides your eyes from him. He follows you, but keeps losing sight of you in the crowd when other men and women get in his way. It’s like trying to follow a ghost. Finally he catches up to you. When you turn around, you are indeed wearing the very same red dress you wore when you “died”. It’s now charred and black in some areas. He removes your mask and looks into your eyes - your vampire eyes.

14. You and Lestat go out to Lover’s Lane because it’s one of your favorite spots to hunt. The many lovey-dovey couples fueled by passion and sexual desire makes your meals that much more tasty. After you feed together, who could blame you if you also wanted to get romantic and passionate yourselves and make love outdoors or in the car of some victims before you disposed of the bodies? It’s practically like going out on a date anyway. Lestat and you go on date nights like this often. Your dates have also included going to the movies, sometimes watching vampire flicks to laugh at them and have a good time. Lestat uses his vampire powers to make an annoying movie goer who keeps shushing you start slapping himself repeatedly, just to entertain you and himself.

15. The relationship you have with Lestat is…complicated, to say the least. You’re human, but musically talented or have something else about you that makes him very possessive and obsessive over you. Maybe you remind him of his first love, Nicolas. He fears loneliness more than anything, so he tries to make you dependent on and love only him. He tries to isolate you and prove that he’s all you need. He can take care of you and give almost everything you desire. Toxic Lestat is so against you leaving because he doesn’t want to be alone. He lets you know of his plans to make you a vampire, whether you like it or not. It’s inevitable, he’s more than clear in no uncertain terms about that. But instead of rejoicing at his plans to give you this most precious and coveted dark gift, you tried to run away. He killed all the other passengers of the train you tried to stowaway on and blamed you for their deaths. You made him do this by acting out and being ungrateful, their blood is on your hands.

He used the conductor’s head as a macabre puppet to scare you before he coerced you into coming back home. You should be thankful he’s still respecting your compromise to stay human for a little longer after you pulled that stunt. You should show him some appreciation for all he’s doing for you, instead of acting like a spoiled and bratty princess. One time, you get into a nasty fight that ends with Lestat dragging your weak but still alive body outside, leaving a bloody trail. He then uses the Cloud Gift to fly high up into the sky while holding you in his arms. He tells you, “How I’ve waited. I have patiently waited in vain for you to love me as I love you.”

“Let go of me!”

“Anything for you,” he says as he strokes your cheek and wipes away your tears before letting you fall from the sky. As your heart pounds loudly in your ears and can be heard over the whistling wind, you thought surely you’d splatter on the ground below and be nothing but an unrecognizable mess of mangled flesh. But no. Lestat wouldn’t give you the mercy of permanent death. He only let you free fall for a few seconds before swooping down and catching you. As if to teach you a lesson and further prove his point that you need him. You need him to protect you from others and yourself. But who’s going to protect you from him, you think to yourself as you lose consciousness in his arms.

16. During the Mardi Gras Masquerade ball, Lestat had Tom appoint you, his vampire bride, as Queen while he was Raj. After fasting for three days before the ball, you play your part well. Both men and women try to crowd around you and vie for your attention, but you’re very particular about who you hand out boutonnières to. You can see Lestat surrounded by middle aged women he seduced but can’t remember from 10 years ago. They’re still fawning all over him. Ah, these must be the ladies from the Women’s Opera Society. They’ve gotten so old and wrinkly in such short time, poor dears. You use your hand fan to hide your smirk as you try not to laugh when you overhear their voices coated with sympathy. So they really believed him to be ill all those years? Just when he asks which of the ladies did he pull under the stairs during that dull lecture on Don Giovanni, you take that as your cue to pull him away. You can feel the ladies’ questioning and jealous gazes on you as you loop your arm through his and kiss his cheek then his lips.

You’re so radiant, all dressed in white and diamonds. But all the women’s eyes are drawn to the matching rings on your and Lestat’s fingers. You love putting on a good show. Even more so when you’re covered in blood during the after party when you and your vampire family start feeding on the selected victims from the ball. While you walk towards them in a straight line and assert your power, they run and scream in terror. In vain, they try to break down the locked doors and windows. It’s a massacre, a bloodbath, and one hell of a good time. (Whether you know of Claudia and Louis’ plan to kill Lestat or not is up to you.)

17. Vamps inspired AU: You’re a vampire who was turned against your will. During the 1970’s, you met and fell in love with Daniel, a fresh young journalist who was aspiring to achieve more as a writer. You were only together for a few short years before you left. As much as it pained you to do so, you knew you had to leave him before he noticed you weren’t aging and got suspicious. He could have a normal life and hopefully find another love. You loved him so much that you didn’t want to be selfish and condemn him to vampirism. So you parted ways both for his sake and to protect your secret, before he had his first interview with Louis.

Now it’s 2022 and Daniel is an old man. When he’s interviewing Louis again, he’s surprised to see you, seemingly either living with or working for the vampire, just like Rashid. When he questions you, you lie. You say you’re not his past love, but her daughter, and that your mother died. It isn’t until much later in the interview, after Rashid reveals his true identity as Armand that you also come clean. You tell Daniel that he was right about you, and that you’ll answer any questions he has. You spend a great deal of time catching up as you ask him about his life, family, career, etc. And he asks you about your own life, why did you leave, why didn’t you tell him or turn him, etc. (Maybe you’re Armand’s sister and over 500 years old so the sun has no effect on you either.)

#iwtv prompts #iwtv fic #interview with the vampire prompts #lestat x reader #lestat x female reader #iwtv smut #louis de pointe du lac x reader #iwtv 2022 #armand x reader #iwtv amc #fic ideas #random fic ideas #random prompts #pls tag me if you write any of these #I'd love to read it #iwtv spoilers #spoilers #spoiler alert #spoiler warning #interview with the vampire spoilers

[dg-outlaw]

"Holy Childhood Trauma, Batman!"

Okay, let's get into it. *spoilers ahead*

X-Men '97: Episode 5 - Remember It

So without boring everyone with yet another recap as every nerd fandom outlet has that covered, I want to highlight all the things that really impacted me with this episode.

The animation team, storyboard artists, and directing for this episode.

I love how this series has captured the essence and style of the original 90s series, but has amped up the actions sequences to an 11, 12, 13, or 20! It's been a hot minute since I saw the original series, but I just don't recall many truly badass anime-esque action sequences from the OG series. And while X-Men has always been more of a socio-political and interpersonal drama, it's always cool to see your favorite characters use their powers in unique ways and this was Gambit's episode. I also love the addition of tears in many of the faces of characters during key moments. It's a minor thing, but emphasizing them just shows the gravity of the emotions the characters are facing. Also, special mention to episode 1 as well with Cyclops' intro and the ending battle in the sentinel graveyard. This series is what we all wanted back in the 90s and honestly, I'd be fine if comic book adaptations were more in animation form than live-action. CGI and VFX can be cool, but having characters do insane, gravity defying things like in this episode without looking janky is so awesome.

The usage and variation of the X-Men theme.

In both these scenes (above) the X-Men theme is played, but in vary different ways and I love when a score or soundtrack can enhance the mood of a scene or just help tell a story or convey a mood/emotion. In the first, we see Gambit and Rogue heading into battle and the score is slowed down and just has this serious tone to it. We're not having fun. This is war and we've got our game faces on. The second is the traditional theme and fits the tone as Gambit is just showing off and being a badass. IDK. I'm not a student of music, but I still love this stuff and how even the same music can be varied to convey different moods.

The impact and stakes.

Without getting too political (even though X-Men is all about politics and social issues), it was hard to not feel an extra impact by this episode's destruction of Genosha given the events taking place overseas in Palestine (as well as so many other countries that don't get as much news coverage). Again, trying to keep this to X-Men, but seeing the mass loss of innocent life (even in a cartoon) in such a quick and brutal way just sent my mind there and it was hard to not tear up thinking about the real loss of innocent life in our world (but without superheroes to intervene). Not to mention, I was already prepared for the loss of Gambit thanks to being on the internet and not watching new content the second it drops.

Honestly, this episode felt like an epic finale given the gut punch of emotions, the action, and the destruction. I know there are many theories that this could/will be reversed or altered via time travel, especially with the presence of the Watcher and Cable's attempt to warn his mother, Madelyne Pryor, but narratively I hope we sit with the weight of what happened in this episode. Selfishly, I want it fixed yesterday but I know that if that were to happen it would minimize the stakes and take away from the emotional weight of this episode. Also, the X-women are going through it this season. First, Storm, then Jean, and now Rogue.

The Ending and Saying Goodbye

So, as mentioned above I had Gambit's death spoiled and while I hate that I still wasn't prepared. As I said, I was already dealing with emotions at seeing the destruction of Genosha, but when it came for Gambit's end I was falling down onto the ground even more. Add in the rest of the X-Men at home, only able to watch from TV, devasted and powerless, and then Rogue's emotional (Death of Superman-style) goodbye as the episode faded to black... I still can't watch this scene or think about it without getting emotional all over again.

That said, to all the kids who thought I was lame for picking to play as Gambit on the playground instead of then fan-favorite Wolverine like everyone else, this episode and his epic goodbye was just amazing. I think anyone wanting to do Gambit justice in a film or solo movie/series should watch this episode and take notes. While most of us hope to die peacefully in our sleep at a ripe old age, I think going out like a total badass hero is a close second and Gambit achieved that. I'm sure it'll get fixed eventually, but I think Genosha (when they rebuild) should have the Magneto and Xavier statues back up, but also have a giant one of Gambit as well.

And speaking of Magneto, having him have flashes of his childhood and embracing the Morlocks (especially Leech) at the end was just more piled on emotional damage... and apparently this is just the tip of the iceberg for this season according to the writer/showrunner. I guess the writers know their audience is probably mostly 80s and 90s kids who grew up with Bambi, Land Before Time, NeverEnding Story, Gremlins, and all the other emotionally damaging "kid" content we were exposed to back in the day. Do I need this level of trauma or PTSD as an adult? No. But I'll keep watching.

#x men 97 #gambit #rogue #magneto #gambit and rogue #and yes it was great seeing Nightcrawler but why here and now? #also all the romantic drama. love triangles and trapezoids and what not #this episode was one part daytime soap opera. one part political drama. and one part epic anime end of the world battle with stakes. #I was not prepared x-men '97. not prepared at all #so many more thoughts but I'm trying to minimize these long posts yet I'm failing completely

[enamoredwithbella]

PJO TV CRIT RANT COMING !!

If you don’t want to hear or don’t like it just don’t read it. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion

-

I’ve been on the pjo tv crit tag and I gotta say I agree with most of what’s on there 😭😭

All my praise for the show goes to the actors alone. I’m not stupid I didn’t expect the show to be an exact replica of the books cause that would’ve been boring as well but I feel like say “faithful adaptation” is a bit overzealous.

1. The changes

Some of the changes I love. Like them stopping for candy and Annabeth going in was so cute. Grover using psychological warfare on the God of war ate.

But a lot of the changes were just like ???? What was the point? And all the stuff that they revealed like 4-5 seasons too early. Stuff that was hinted at through the books that built suspense and intrigue just dumped on the table was a bit 😕

I remember finding out about Luke’s mom and why Luke REALLY hated his father. It literally had me gagged it was like finding out something I didn’t even know I was waiting for. The build up to them finding out Kronos involved was always a favorite cause it felt so raw. It was pure fear encapsulated by words, you could feel it, it was palpable and we just didn’t get that in the show. It was so “here you go. Kronos it was him *but said intensely*”

2. Them knowing everything

I do understand how it does make sense that they would know a lot of things from the jump as they all literally grew up with this information but a lot of the times where they didn’t realize exactly what was happening right away in the books have a slight reminder of how young and innocent they are. These neurodivergent 12 year olds who have been tasked with a Gods job and have been trekking across the states for days; yeah I wouldn’t expect them to be at the top of their game ALL THE TIME no matter how smart they are. The slip ups show that even though they’re these tiny warriors they aren’t immune to being a little naive.

3. Setting

I’m not gonna criticize the settings cause if that’s how Rick imagined it then that’s how he imagined it but I can’t blame the ppl who are a bit miffed at how the sets were portrayed. The underworld did truly throw me off.

4. Info dumping ?? Or not enough info idk

I also saw a post about how they would just throw random names out there pertaining to Greek mythology and then just not explain 😭😭 and all the stuff that they left out too (fields of punishment, isle blest, etc) which sets up for things in later seasons. And I understand the time crunch; 8 episodes 40 mins give or take and a dream is what they had. That being said this shit was a mess 🤷🏽‍♀️😭😭 like badly set up, script was not doing them any justice, and it felt so boring most of the time.

5. Whimsy and fun erasure

There were gems I will keep saying that. There were fun times but the fun times also felt very strategically placed whereas in the books it was sorta woven into the chaos. Charon being a lil silly, Grover playing the shooting game in the lotus casino and killing humans (I love him so much 😭😭), annabeth geeking over the architecture of the arch and going on a tangent about how it was made while Grover and Percy trade candy in the back. Talking to the animals and Percy finding out he can speak horse, the car wash where annabeth scares off a grown man in a Lincoln, “shows over! Thank you and goodnight!”, Percy and Grover clowning annabeth for watching the discovery channel unironically. I’m not saying I expected them to put all this shit in there cause again I’m not an imbecile but the type of wit and humor that made everyone fall in love with the books was cut out for the more serious stuff. And what’s so frustrating about that is I KNOW the actors would’ve ate it up. Walker especially that boy IS Percy.

I could keep finding stuff but I’m trying to be grateful cause even after all of this Rick did take the time to try and think of us and maybe it’s not his fault but idk it’s just a bit disappointing after the way it was marketed towards long time fans

Much love to Walker, Leah, and Aryan and hope for future seasons 😊

#pjo tv crit #percy pjo #percy tv series #percy series #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson and the olympians tv show #book percy jackson #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #leah sava jeffries #walker scobell #aryan simhadri #rick riordan

[jeyneofpoole]

hi i hate rick riordan and the obsession with movie/tv adaptations of other media. please use this ask as a chance to rant about everything you hate most in the pjo show. <3

omg hiiiii an anon after my own heart!!!! ok this is a very wide question and i do unfortunately have assignmence to do so i'll try and make it quick: my entire problem with the show is the total lack of character. the dialogue is completely expository with little to no room for relationship building or opportunities for the actors to, like, act. i fully believe that leah sava jefferies could have pulled off a really good annabeth if they didn't have her literally doing a powerpoint presentation on the plot of the episode every two minutes. walker is an incredible talent and a fantastic percy, and it would have been really nice to see him have a chance to be his character. oh also this is the tiniest nitpick but why the fuck is the score so boring??? you're going to tell me that the PERCY JACKSON show has a generic fantasy bullshit phone-it-in score??? the song for the end credits is the closest we get to any sort of theme and it's boring as hell!!!!

the exposition killed this fucking show, dude. i cannot believe that those scripts made it past a thought in rick riordans yucky little head bc that was abominable. no stakes no tension no fear no anxiety no dread like everybody's all on the same page at the same time percy is never out of his depth. never. medusa was practically wearing a name tag and the crusty thing made me actively suicidal. i do think that the worst episode was by far the lotus casino though because that was goddddddawful. first of all why were we there in the first place? to talk to hermes? to lin manuel miranda? this is what i'm fucking talking about the kids are always on top of everything!!!!! in the book they get roped in on accident and we get to learn about the characters' inner motivations (think of annabeth and her architecture game, etc.) but in the show we're in and out and spend 5 minutes driving a car around in a parking garage because we needed to pad out the runtime because our show sucks shit and we should all kill ourselves.

speaking of the hermes thing why was every single god there. like you've undercut the power of all the gods by having one show up every episode and a half to be boring and do nothing. the visual design is terrible the underworld and olympus are virtually indistinguishable and the pit to tartarus is in the open sunny sky for some godforsaken reason???? oh also having annabeth at the luke confrontation and turning it into a swordfight (like the only swordfight of the season, btw) robs the original scene of all of the horror and tragedy that makes it so good. percy is TWELVE and luke the ALMOST ADULT MAN tricks him with a SCORPION and then percy has to STUMBLE through the woods DELIRIOUS and DYING <- good and fucked up. LUKE and PERCY the PEERS OF INDISTINGUISHABLE AGE have a bad SWORDFIGHT and ANNABETH catches him with FACTS and LOGIC <- sucks shit. but what do i know i'm just a dyke on the internet. ok love you bye.

#anon i love you so much for this

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: April 2024

Ooooooooh it's getting warmer and sunnier and the days are getting longer! Yet I still stay inside to read and watch tv and stuff.

……….FILM……….

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) Loved it. A comedy that is so generous with the types of humour (sight gags, absurdist stuff, one-lines). Watching it I was thinking "oh this reminds me of watching Elvira" and then Cassandra Peterson shows up in the biker gang! Loved the whole thing.

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) I've been meaning to watch this ever since Sam Bosma shared the incredible poster he did. If I didn't know Hayao Miyazaki directed this then I would've spent the entire runtime thinking "whoa real Hayao Miyazaki vibes here." Great standalone film if you know nothing about Lupin III.

……….TELEVISION……….

Fallout (Episode 1.01 to 1.08) Having never played the games, I was really interested if this series would work for someone like me. It took a bit to connect and it mostly landed. Not bad at all but it hasn't really left a lasting impression.

Succession (3.05 to 4.02) Can't believe it's almost over. What I appreciate about this series is that it knows the show is at its best when the core trio are together and does everything it can to highlight this. But never forget that they are all awful people. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Delicious in Dungeon (Episode 1.14 to 1.17) This adaptation of the comic continues to be excellent. I hope folks dig the show so much that they decide to read the series as it offers a few more character details that are fun to discover.

X-Men '97 (Episode 1.01 to 1.07) Wasn't a big fan of X-men (comic or the show) as a kid but heard enough good things that I figured I'd check it out. While I'm not immune to the nostalgia of the intro, I really do think the show is fantastic. The story feels dramatic and just mature enough to allow for great character moments and the animation is top-notch. Really glad I gave this a shot.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Why I (Used to) Hate Video Essays by Extranet Shaquille and Yellow Paint by Caleb Gamman Just a coincidence but these two unrelated videos both veer away from their main topics to become a study in...media consumption/attention culture/the struggles of existing in our current times. (Video Essays) VIDEO (Yellow Paint) VIDEO

……….READING……….

Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (Complete) This feels more like the first Christie book I read (There is a Tide, still my favourite) in that there are twists and turns around engaging characters. Plus the victim was such an engaging villain. Based on the handful I've read so far, I think this would be a good entry point into Christie's works.

A Spectre Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto by China Miéville (Complete) After hearing a number of interviews with Mieville I was really excited for this but found the whole thing...frustrating. Maybe I'm not smart enough or maybe I'm not the target audience, but I don't really know who this book was written for. My gut tells me the writing is practically impenetrable unless you have a masters in English and that doesn't feel like the right fit for the subject matter. If brevity is the soul of wit then I'll leave it there and just say that the last couple pages, written clearly and with conviction, did more for me than the previous 150+ pages.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 13 (and also Volume 6) by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Rereading and also catching up on the latest volume! It's nearly over! Volume 13 is the penultimate chapter and I'm still impressed by how consistent the characters, humour, and dedication to theme this series remains. Really really incredible.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Tuesday crew is picking off the invading Elves fairly effectively but at what cost? And what are the repercussions of an act like this? Only time will tell. Also you can read all about their adventures here!

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 crew continues to dig into the mysteries of the mud banks but might get sidetracked by the fame and fortune of wrestling.

And that's it. See you in May!

#Monthly Media #Kolbisneat #Andrew Kolb

[writing-for-life]

Thessaly, Johanna and a weird meta about musical motifs (amongst other things)

Send me asks about everything Sandman-related!

As a little intro: A lot of people in the fandom want to see Thessaly cut from the TV adaptation, or at least see her changed substantially. I am not necessarily one of them because I don’t think it’s always necessary to blur the lines between fiction and reality that way, and I would be alright with portraying her in a similar way as in the Audible adaptation (where a lot of things have already been changed to make her character more palatable to 21st century audiences). It would also make Morpheus look a bit less morally grey (I mean, he falls in love with someone who is essentially a terrible person, knows it and doesn’t seem to give a shit. Then again, he often is morally grey, and people like to forget that ;)).

Having gotten that out of the road: I *do* think that “A Game of You” is hard to translate to the screen. I absolutely love it in the comics, but I think it’s one of those arcs that is tricky to do well for TV. I’d even go as far as saying it might be a dealbreaker for some people who haven’t read the comic/are show audience only, and it might jeopardise a potential S3. Not because of Thessaly or the plot as such, but because it operates on a similar plane as The Doll’s House, which was jarring to a lot of people in S1. And The Doll’s House has a far more straightforward arc and more Morpheus in it—AGoY has none of these things. I’d personally love to see it, but I would also love to see Morpheus’ full arc being brought to the screen, so I am a bit conflicted. I still think, and of course that’s just a personal opinion, that it would be best to just have little bits and bobs inserted into Season of Mists and do the whole Cuckoo arc as an animation, but that’s just me.

@tickldpnk8 and I already speculated wildly about S2, and sole speculation it is, but maybe you want to check out that post. I’m getting carried away here...

After that longwinded intro: Are we going to get Johanna instead of Thessaly?

What I actually wanted to write about is why the longer I think about it (and I’ve been thinking about it since S1, I'm really that sad), the more I can’t shake the feeling that they *will* replace Thessaly with Johanna. And the fandom is totally divided about it—some love the idea because they had undeniable chemistry in S1, others hate it for various reasons (doing Johanna dirty, keeping Thessaly "intact"--you name it).

I personally think it might actually elevate the story because it would make Morpheus look better (*if* that's what we want--I'm not really sure I do), and that’s what show-only-fans seemingly gravitate towards. As already hinted at, Thessaly/Murphy always seemed a rather unfathomable relationship, and it didn’t just make Murph look stupid, but also, as already mentioned, morally grey and not very discerning in his choice of women (hmm, maybe he just isn’t ;)).

Falling for Johanna wouldn’t be any of this. And it would be so easy to show why it went horribly wrong without making either of them look bad, and you could still feel for both of them. If we think about Johanna’s worst nightmare (literally), it’s what happened to Astra. So she would absolutely and unequivocally support someone like Lyta, who worries about her child. And she would do it for all the right reasons, and not because she’s a selfish bitch who just wants a longer life or is generally spiteful.

And it wouldn’t be hard for Morpheus and Johanna to hook up either. They could even leave the original idea intact: Thessaly just dreamed of him, and they started talking in dreams, bla bla bla. We already have the set-up for that in S1. Morpheus took away Johanna’s nightmare. She could just be grateful, relieved, whatever, and dream of him. Done. And we don’t even need to explain that at great length, because in the comics, we never really see them hook up anyway and just find things out after the deed. Although I personally *want* to see them get hot and heavy on screen, but that’s just me having my mind in the gutter because why would you not to show two sexy people with so much chemistry doing exactly that. However, I’ll survive the disappointment if they don’t—just 😂

But it’s not just the plot. It’s also everything we’ve seen in S1. I have already talked about this in other threads, most recently with @orionsangel86, but literally every shot with them in S1 was framed as a romance shot: the proximity, the play on height difference, the camera angles, the lighting. These are deliberate choices, either to hint at what’s to come, or to set up a distraction, MacGuffin, whatever.

Then the mention of “None of us can be trusted.”

Or the RAIN. I mean, I am so surprised no one has commented on that waterfall of RAIN when they say goodbye (or I’ve just not seen it). You cannot read the comics and ever believe again that Morpheus and rain, no matter where, doesn’t hint at terrible relationship outcomes.

Musical themes, oy!

But the thing that really got me was the use of musical motifs, and I am unfortunately showing my background from a former life here because I can never listen to a movie soundtrack without getting analytical about it. Johanna’s theme is called “Johanna & Rachel”, and it would be easy to just think of it as that. And yes, it is a love theme, but it doesn’t just play for Johanna and Rachel. It plays in Morpheus’ and Johanna’s last scene as well.

And here’s the kicker: Dream’s and her theme complete each other, as in: They both have what the other one is missing. They are musically extremely close, but not identical. Let me explain:

If you think of the opening lines of both of their motifs in scale degrees (like 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-(1)), they look/sound as follows:

Johanna (her motif begins right at the start, so I didn't timestamp it)

1-(minor3)-7-(2)-(1) | 1-(major3)-m7-1

If I put all of “her” scale degrees in a row, they are: 1-2-3-7

Dream (you actually hear his leitmotifs, and their subtle differences, best in his scenes with John Dee):

1-(7)-(6)-(5)-(4) | 1-(7)-(6)-2 (video is timestamped)

1-(7)-(6)-(5)-(aug4) | 1-(7)-(6)-2 (video is timestamped)

If I put all of “his” scale degrees in a row, they are: 1-2-4-5-6-7

Morpheus is missing the third (3). Missing the third, which s considered one of the most consonant intervals and DYNAMIC, also hints at his character, but that just as an aside.

Johanna has the third (both in its minor and major form). 

Johanna is missing the fourth, fifth and sixth.

Morpheus has them, in various forms (major and augmented—especially augmented intervals are highly unstable and create a lot of friction).

What they share/have in common are 1, 2 and 7:

The tonic (1) is what everything else hinges on. The supertonic (2) is musically fraught with tension and seeks to resolve into the tonic--back to base or a conclusion/resolution, if you will. The seventh (7), both as a leading note or subtonic, is also that: Tension that needs resolved.

So all they have in common is tension that needs to resolve into some sort of resolution.

(And before we are pointing out the obvious: of course both tunes have more notes in it respectively, but we are talking about the main motifs.)

What’s also super interesting is where their overall themes are going. Johanna’s is initially darker, but it actually has a lot of ascending lines and “light” before plunging back into darkness.

Morpheus’ seems a lot more regal (for lack of better term), but the lines are mostly descending. This becomes even more apparent when we are not just listening to the opening theme, but to the several variations of his theme (his presence can be felt literally everywhere, even in Desire's theme).

It just freaked me out majorly the moment I heard it for the first time in contrast. But I like to over-interpret musical stuff because I just hear it so clearly. I *do* believe that composers do these things on purpose, even if just subconsciously, because we can't separate what we know about a character from how we perceive them musically (I do it as well). Of course that doesn’t always mean that it’s exactly the purpose I am thinking of, or that it hints at whatever is to come. My brain tends to run away with these things.

But yes, musically, they are totally "on track", so let's run with it. I'll admit my embarrassment later when this all goes into a completely different direction ;)

(Also tagging @honeyteacakes in this since I encroached on your comments recently)

#sandman meta #sandman spoilers #sandman season 2 meta #sandman s2 meta #morpheus #johanna constantine #thessaly #the sandman #sandman netflix #sandman #dream of the endless #musical meta analysis #wild speculation #like really wild

[grumpylia]

i hate to be a hater but here’s a little yap about ep 6 of the pjo tv show

- i was soooo disappointed in this episode! i literally got bored halfway through LMAO and kept getting distracted which was so upsetting!! because the lotus hotel is one of my favourite chapters of the lightning thief!!

- starting from the beginning; i wish wish wish that we’d gotten the ‘you’re my friend, seaweed brain - anymore stupid questions?’ moment because i just love that moment

- but if they weren’t going to give that moment to us surely they could’ve at least given us?? something??

- instead of just luke’s fan service-y ‘old married couple line’

- i also think the whole the trio things tlt is clarisse thing is just?? underwhelming. the show hasn’t done a very good job at making us really understand the stakes here!!! it feels like they’re just fucking around and i don’t like it!! like they literally missed the deadline!! and that didn’t even feel like a big deal!! that should’ve felt earth shattering!!

- also where was the zebra. where was percy being able to talk to the zebra :(

- i wish also that they’d done more with grover in the start of this ep - they could’ve showed us his character rather than just giving us a massive exposition dump

- the EXPOSITION!! i was fine with it in the first few episodes, bc like the book isn’t exactly perfect with exposition either but it’s actually getting to a point where i think it’s taking me out of the story!

- why why why did they skip the lotus hotel stuff??? omg! i can understand some of the other changes (e.g. waterland) but the lotus stuff would’ve translated soo perfectly to screen!! it would’ve been such a good way to build tension without having the characters ohtroght saying to the audience “this is the lotus hotel. time doesn’t move properly here, and if you’re not careful you can forget who you are.”

- i still can’t believe that they didn’t adapt the book this chapter! it would’ve been so perfectly suited for screen! this tv show also has a tension/stakes problem so it would’ve been a great way to help fix that

- also they’re meant to be TWELVE ! ofc they come across a hotel with infinite food and games and money and love it! the whole point is that across the series we’ll see them grow and become more wary of these things! i could understand why they made the change with medusa, but them knowing what they were walking into here just felt like such a boring choice

- and if nothing else the lotus hotel episode should not be boring!!

- also why are we talking about may castellan🤨the reason it has so much impact in the og series is because you’re putting these pieces together and then it all just hits you

- but here it’s just like…

- and hermes’! i don’t have an issue if they wanted to include hermes’ in this scene - cancel me but i think lmm lowkey ate - but i don’t understand why they would do it in this very expositiony way. and are we not meant to think that hermes’ is neglecting luke too?? at least until som?? if i was writing this and i reallly wanted to include hermes’, i feel like there are sooo many different ways to include him that would’ve read sooo much better. still brainstorming what those ways are, but point still stands

- i did think the taxi scene was really funny tho sue me

i hate to be a hater because i really wanted to love this show! and i really did enjoy some specific moments and episodes! but i just wish they’d done a closer adaptation of the book - i think they’re trying to do way too much way too soon and they need to just let the characters and the story breathe for a bit before trying to really go heavy in with all these really in your face themes and exposition

#pjo tv #percy jackson tv series #pjotv #pjo tv show #percy jackson #the lotus hotel and casino #ep 6: ‘we bring a zebra to vegas’

[writingquestionsanswered]

how to get into reading more? I find it very it hard to get into reading and whenever I try to read books I could never get past chapter one.

Tips for Getting Into Reading More

Reading is a habit, just like exercising or brushing your teeth. The more consistently you do it, the easier it is to do. Reading is also a skill, meaning that doing it consistently makes you better at it. Whether that's reading a print book and training your eyes and brain to read better and faster, or reading an audiobook and training your ears and brain to listen and comprehend better. Try reading a book or audiobook every day for at least ten minutes, and after a while you'll find it's a habit and you're craving more.

Here are some other things you can do during that initial few weeks to help yourself along...

1 - Read Fan-Fiction - Go to AO3 or FF.net and look for fan-fiction of your favorite shows, movies, books, games, etc. AO3 also has podfic available to listen to. Fan-fiction is a fun and easy way to get back into a reading habit since it's easy access (your brain is already familiar with the world and you already love it) and it's free.

2 - Read Short Stories - Short stories are a great way to build a reading habit. You can find free short stories online via a Google search. Wattpad has a short story section and many libraries also offer them in their online catalogs. Or, you can by short story collections by author or anthology. You can also find audiobooks of short stories and recordings.

3 - Read Graphic Novels or Comic Books - Graphic novels and comic books can be another great way to get back into reading. The visual component can help draw you into the story, but the text makes sure you're honing your reading skills. Many graphic novels have audiobook adaptations.

4 - Read Bite-Sized Serial Fiction - Sites like Kindle Vella and Radish offer "bite-sized" serialized fiction which allows you to get absorbed in a story a little at a time. Bite-sized and serialized fiction works great if you're trying to build a reading habit by reading for 10 to 20 minutes a day. You can also find serialized audiobooks.

5 - Read Books That Were Adapted Into Movies or Shows - If you watch TV and movies, there are probably several that were adapted from books. YA books that were adapted into movies and shows (Twilight, Love Simon, The Vampire Diaries, The Hunger Games, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, The Sun is Also a Star, The Hate U Give, Dumplin', and The Princess Diaries--just to name a few) are especially good for getting back into reading because the content and story presentation is accessible and the lengths are usually manageable. But really, any TV show or movie you loved that was based on a book would be a great place to start. Most books that were popular enough to be adapted into a show or movie will also have an audiobook.

5 - Try Audiobooks - If you don't read audiobooks already, they can be a great way to get back into reading. Even if you're not training your eyes to read print, you're still training your brain to engage with a story which is just as important. If you're able to read print books, you might even try reading book one of a series on audiobook, then switch to reading the print version of book two.

6 - Reread Old Favorites - If there are any books you've read before and loved, try reading them again. Sometimes, revisiting old favorites can help us get back into reading because we already know we love the story, and familiar stories can be more accessible to our eyes and brains. Many older books and even classics have audiobook versions.

7 - Read Children's Fiction - Picture books, chapter books, Middle Grade, and YA books can be a great way to get back into the habit of reading. You might even try rebuilding your reading habit/skills from the ground up, starting with picture books, moving onto chapter books, then heading into Middle Grade and finally YA. Children's fiction tends to range from shortest to longest, with picture books being the shortest and YA fiction being the longest, but YA fiction still tends to be shorter than most adult fiction. Children's fiction is also written to be accessible to younger age ranges, which doesn't mean it's not complex or can't be enjoyed by adults, but many readers to find most Middle Grade and YA books to be easier to read than say A Game of Thrones or Outlander. Everyone is different, though, and every book is different. So it really just depends on the book and the reader.

8 - Try Reading Out Loud - If you're able to read print books/stories, some people find it's easier to read out loud. You can even read to your pet, pretend you're reading to a class, or pretend you're the author doing a reading at a book signing. It sounds silly, but sometimes this performative aspect can make it a little more accessible and easier to do.

9 - Audiobook Alternative to #8 - Something similar you can do with an audiobook is listen to a few minutes, pause it, and then talk out loud about what just happened as though you were discussing it with a class or book club. This can help you get (and stay) engaged with the story.

10 - Keep It Fun and Stress Free - The most important thing of all is to keep it fun and stress free. Try not to give yourself a hard time if you drop the ball. Do your best and give yourself grace if you struggle. Putting pressure on yourself or creating unreasonable goals only makes it stressful which makes your brain want to avoid it. Set up or find a cozy reading space if you can. Put on some light music and grab yourself a cup of coffee, tea, or your favorite beverage. Sit outside if the weather is nice. Walking or doing chores is great if you're reading an audiobook. You can also try reading when you're waiting for things. Try instituting a reward system, like eating a special treat whenever you finish a book/story, chapter, or you've read for your ten daily minutes.

Happy reading!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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#writing #writing advice #reading #reading advice #books and reading #wqaadvice

[fireylesbianhell]

i’m having thoughts about my boy

sorry newsies moots but it’s solace time baby

• William Andrew Solace was born in Texas but has tempratlily lived in and been too; New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nevada, California, Washington, New York, and later on in life Massachusetts and Maine. The only states he vividly remembers when he was young was New Mexico and Nevada, as they spent the longest time there besides Texas.

• Will left to camp when his mother stopped in new york and a monster attack very close to camp happened and the nearest satyr recognized him as a half-blood, dragging him with the other demigods (i headcannon one of them was Drew And that’s how those two met) and was introduced. He found his mother again and was able to stay there after some plot stuff i will flesh…later.

• cat person he is such a cat person he’s a golden retriever boy yes but he’s a cat person i’m sorry i’m right i am i know him he told me

• Will did get bullied when he went to a public school for a short time in new Mexico for being/acting “Gay” and it stuck with him a bit as he was worried what camp half blood would be like. but the camp was very friendly and he adapted fairly quickly after his siblings supported his coming out

• Will is Bi to me, and i feel he figured out fairly easily. Naomi wasn’t as religious as her parents and her traveling gave her a wider world veiw, so she wasn’t exactly homophobic but didn’t really let will know gay people existed. he kinda just got context clues along the way.

• Will came out to naomi when he was 14 and she accepted him, after some suprise and tears. it was confusing for both of them but she wasn’t angry.

• Will goes though whipped cream like a maniac. he puts it on everything. everything. i don’t know where i got this headcannon from but it’s mine now it’s my baby his favorite dessert is literally just reddi whip striaght into his mouth and nico is always absoloutley horrified whenever he finds his boyfriend straight up drinking reddi whip out of the fridge after a late night at the hospital wing.

• WORKAHOLIC!! BIGGEST WORKAHOLIC!!! EVER!!! does NOT take breaks does NOT talk about his own feelings. major case of therapist friend with no therapy

• Nico summons skeletons to help will with studying sometimes, hey, it’s better than a textbook

• Due to all the Shit He’s Seen, will isn’t really freaked out by nico or macabre at all. as to contrast, nico hates medical stuff and finds it kinda freaky

• Will has a very Work for what you get attitude and seeing his mother scrape by and work herself up made will similarly hardworking, independent and self sufficient. But he’s also a stubborn bastard who would rather take and remove a bullet then let someone help him either work wise or financially. It got even worse as he became the head of his cabin so much younger with so many younger kids to take care if

• Living in new mexico for as long as they did Naomi decided it was a good idea to have will learn at least some spanish when he was young and he picked up on it nicely, and decided to continue. he’s fairly fluent now and loves freaking Leo out all the time by talking to him in spanish when nobody else is around and he can’t prove it.

• Did also have a minor crush on percy, but mostly as a “woah look at that guy holy shit” and loved teasing annabeth about it (“If YOU love him so much why do you want us to get her together?” “nooo you guys are my OTP i’m not having that up just because he’s hot” <- COMPLETELY REAL INTERACTION THEY E HAD MHM TRUST ME BRO)

• Wants to pick up on some italian so he can do the same thing he does with leo to nico

• TRANSGENDER AND AUTISTIC IM NOT ELABORATING FUCK YOU ( i do have reasons but this is more fun)

• Favorite vide game is a tie between tetris and Majoras mask

• Favorite TV show was Malcom in the Middle as a kid and now is greys anatomy /j/j/j/j but i can gaurentee he hate watches it with the apollo cabin all the time

• Suprisingly fine with plants, yes sunflowers do look at him and everyone makes fun of him for it

okay i’m done (i’m a liar i’m not done but i am about to pass out sooo)

#will solaceblr #will solace #pjo #hoo #toa #Solangelo #Apollo cabin #cabin 7 #william andrew solace #tsats #pjo headcannons

[prettyshon10]

Good for everyone finding enjoyment in the new alive action show.

Personally, as it stands right now, I have no drive the finish the season. It’s not bad; I can say that much. There’s quite a bit that I like about it.

However, I really wish this show (and many other media pieces nowadays) would trust its audience and pace itself with an actual story and character development. Apparently the writing feels like it has to constantly tells us things instead of showing us. Not to mention the story is pushing ahead to aspects and events without any proper build up. Why did we have to see a vision of the fire nation invading the water tribe in the second episode? Can we get there first?

It feels like when your English teacher assigns a project and emphasizes that instead of just regurgitating information to prove that you know the unit just taught, you need to integrate that information into the work. Telling me things about the lore doesn’t impress me; show me you understand the core of the show by the expression of the story.

It’s the same with the characters. I wouldn’t necessarily say that they’re flat, but they don’t evoke too much emotion from me, and it’s because the writing is allergic to depth.

Which brings me to my next issue: the changes.

Look, I’m not the kind of fan who whines and complains about an adaptation changing things from the original source. I completely understand why that is, and there are quite a few instances where I love it (Shadowhunters and Percy Jackson tv series, for example). But in those instances, the changes were able to bring something to the table. They did well by the characters and the overall story. The changes I’ve seen so far with this show do nothing but make me ask “Why?” Why remove Aang running away from home, which serves as his guilt and shame? Why rework his skills and talents in airbending to be something he’s afraid of? Why make the driving force to get to the North Pole to prevent more bloodshed from an incoming attack when there was already a driving force to get there (learning water bending)? Why Kiyoshi in place of Roku? How does any of these changes add something to the characters? How does any of these changes elevate the story being told? Because I don’t feel like I gained anything new as a viewer.

Take away the fact that this is an adaptation. As its own show, I just don’t feel like it’s done a good enough job validating its existence and inciting me to want to watch more of it. Even for wanting to “appeal to Game of Thrones fans”, it misses the mark. Game of Thrones (up until the last couple of seasons) had incredible build up and depth of the story and characters at play. There was trust in the audience and in the journey. That’s why fans were so pissed with how it ended.

Also, I understand that this adaptation is “geared towards adults, not kids”. While I would argue that the original animation lands great with adults even 19 years after its debut, I’ll just say that the new show left this particular adult viewer underwhelmed.

Again, I’m glad there are people finding enjoyment in it. This is just my personal opinion. I don’t hate it—it’s MILES better than the film—but I don’t find it engaging.

I’m good off this. Y’all have fun, though.

#atla #netflix #avatar: the last airbender #love action #netflix avatar #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #iroh #suki #azula #fire lord ozai

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Austen Asks: 6, 12, 18, 24

6. Favorite movie adaptation

If we are including all movie and tv adaptations: I think Emma 2009 still reigns supreme in my heart. There's so many interesting interpretations of the text here that are plausible and yet not necessarily the ones one would think of first? It's a difficult balance of modern and faithful and I think it nails it really well.

If it is only movies... I'll pick a tv one and a cinema one (because I insist these are often separate categories enough).

Surprisingly, for the cinema one, I'm going for Love and Friendship? Epistolary novels are not easy to adapt? and it is an extra challenge to work with a main character like Lady Susan, and make her interesting to follow while not falling into girlboss-gaslight-gatekeep? And it's also not easy to shape Austen juvenilia into something workable this way' But they did and did really well?

I find I really like many of the tv movies XD ITV's Emma doesn't win because its Daviesisms bring it down, but otherwise, I really vibe with it. Northanger Abbey 2007 is much better than it has any right to be. The 1995 Persuasion is iconic for a reason. It's difficult to pick between those three.

12. Least favorite Austen heroine

This one is always a harsh question because I do truly love them all, and it makes it sound like I dislike one of them if I rate it less favorite. But I'll play along and say it is a tie between Fanny and Jane Fairfax, if she counts. It isn't really about finding them dull or boring or too uptight, but that I feel we wouldn't be friends. Sometimes they veer into Darcy's "my good opinion once lost is lost forever", and unlike Elinor, they tend to make little show of concealing it. Which, you know, it is justifiable in their circumstances, but would be exhausting to deal with (as I'd probably feel like I'm walking on eggshells around them. I often make blunders I regret soon enough, but I don't think they'd easily forgive or forget).

18. Moment that made you smile/happy while reading

So many, of course, but the first that comes to mind is Knightley's proposal. Yes, yes, we all talk about "if I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more" but what about "for dearest you will always be, whatever the event of this hour’s conversation, my dearest, most beloved Emma" and "you know what I am.—You hear nothing but truth from me." and "Yes, you see, you understand my feelings—and will return them if you can."? the whole thing is such an in-crescendo of joy and I clearly need to reread soon.

24. Already answered, but let's this time give a shoutout to Miss Bates, poor, hated miss Bates! She's doing the absolute best of a really trying and bleak life situation and she doesn't get enough credit for it, in this world of Mrs Bennet apologia and even Mr Collins apologia!!!

From this ask game.

#Jane Austen #ask #ask game #fictionadventurer

[milowing]

i just finished binging the dead boy detectives show, and i need to get my thoughts out, warning for spoilers

no spoilers tldr: its rlly good please go watch it i need a season 2.

now, onto the review(??):

it is very VERY different from the comics. this isn't *necessarily* bad, in fact i have no problems with pretty much any changes the show made, i just get antsy about cbms/tv shows changing the source material, bcs that happens all the time (i love the blue beetle movie but i will never forgive it for victoria kord). so here are some changes i liked: i liked the explicit queerness, i liked niko, i liked the fact that there were people in the afterlife actually looking for them, i liked how they wrote tragic mick (i love him so much), and i liked the setting change; some i didn't mind but would hate in the comics: edwin's magic, the whole brains/brawn thing?? (istg if a single one of you decides to portray charles as stupid, i will kill you), crystals personality & dynamic with the boys (she was fine but so drastically different from her comic self i would've preferred her to be an oc tbh), the removal of squooshing, the fact that the dead boys don't take cases from the living, edwin's hell being so much more violent, and the fact that they actually call themselves the dead boy detectives (i could be wrong but i've read all of their solos and i don't think they've ever done this??). the only change i really outright dislike is charles' death. i loved the part where edwin took care of him and read to him, but him being killed by the same bullies who killed edwin in the same place is just so much better than the lake. also, once again, crystal was a fine character, but that is just *not* the crystal palace surname-von hoverkraft i know!! where is her obsession with video games? where is her tech savvy? where are her insane parents?? i hope that one day we get an accurate cartoon adaptation of the toby litt run.

now moving on to the show itself!! i really liked the plot, the fact that it was semi-episodic, the cast of characters and actors was incredible. i just really liked it lol. tbh the literal only part of the show i didn't like is the fact that edwin and charles didn't kiss by the end. like... not even once. i wouldn't mind this if this wasn't a netflix show that wasn't getting much buzz, because i'm 99% sure this show isn't going to be renewed. also it felt kind of... idk, queerbait-y?? like there's obviously queer characters and content, but it feels like i watched this *for* edwin and charles' relationship and then they never got together. i feel like shows do this a lot, where, yes, there's a queer character, but they just aren't allowed to be in a happy relationship and get with the person they love. like idk it just makes me kind of angry, especially since we're probably not getting a season 2. i liked literally everything other than that, but it's just such a big scar on my enjoyment of the show that i can't help but mention it.

i don't really have much else to say other than: i really liked it, go watch it.

#dc #dead boy detectives #charles rowland #edwin paine #crystal palace #the sandman #milowing