#What kills me is that this is EXACTLY the kind of drama and genre I typically despise and yet here I am losing my MIND

[spicybylerpolls]

Well, unknown hero agent man / pen symbolism anon, i hope you're reading this, cos you hit the nail on the head! this kind of symbolic storytelling is not only a fine art of cinema (being lost these days a little sadly, what with the whole netflix speedy turnover etc), but exactly what (good) films of the horror genre aim to do.

horror has long been a way to creatively tell 'normal' dramatic stories through subtext and symbolism. not sure if this is still a way around traditional censorship but im sure it began that way. films like the exorcist, the shining, rosemary's baby... all classics that are filled with subtext. its also an exciting way to talk about things that might seem trite or too bleak when portrayed as a 'straight' drama (this is the term meaning 'non-genre based' or 'non-musical' lmao). So you could say that ST is NOT straight, in more ways than one 😉

but much of this will go over casual viewers heads, so its finding the balance between making a story believable on the surface (another dimension exists! scary government men trying to kill us!) and subtextually (the UD as a metaphor for trauma/AIDS/closeted homosexuality/abuse etc) if viewers are clever enough to see/feel it. i say feel because much of storyviewing is instinctive instead of analytical.

so ST incorporates both - not just metaphorical, vague storytelling, but also real issues too. but it goes one step further, and actually has characters talk explicitly about reading deeper into stuff (murray's behind the curtain speech). it's a very meta show, even for a genre piece, which is why it astounds me that some people think it's not that deep lol. and some people think that only literature can be deep, but never tv or movies - which is an insult to anyone who has ever been passionate about cinema tbh. It's a statement that would probably rip the heart out of the duffers' chests and stomp on it. these guys are super nerds who have dedicated their adult lives to this passion project. as finn said, 'most people make it then just cash in - im so glad they still care'.

I'm sorry you don't feel comfortable talking about the beauty of this storytelling on your main. it really does surprise me that the fandom is so censorship obsessed because sexual metaphors have long existed in visual media, and especially in horror films. there used to be a long post about byler and a potential sex scene at lover's lake on here, but the user disappeared and the post went missing. it was about all the sexual imagery in ST, with a focus on byler in s4. i especially loved how they mentioned mike's introduction, where he was just in underwear: it is both appropriate for the setting, but also gets the audience used to him as a growing lad with a body and draws attention to those uncomfortable, potentially sexual aspects of being a teen. i mean, he was in tiny pants for god's sake. did we need to see that? why did we see it? etc etc

hilariously, they also referenced the always sunny in philadelphia scene where a character is in a therapist office talking about a pen being a dick. he then puts it in his mouth and chews the pen lmoao

i think you'd enjoy @therainscene's rod symbolism post too. I'm personally hoping for some explicit sex scenes with byler, because the show so far has arguably been telling that story metaphorically already for 4 seasons, and bringing it out of the subtext could be a storytelling device in itself. bringing byler's secrets into the light. after all, this is a period piece that aims to shed light on a bygone era. its not a propaganda piece that needs to remain coded; the reasons for staying secretive still exist for mike and will in the 80s, but times have changed since then for us as a global audience, and more importantly, the aspirational message has changed. what message would the duffs want to send to viewers that are still bigoted? clearly one of the beauty of homosexuality, seeing as will, our fav gay boy, has been the darling sympathetic victim of the show since s1e1. the show needs to remain true to both the 80s while also having a strong message for this decade in order for modern audiences to be able to gain something from watching this story; in order for there to be a reason the show exists at all.

so to answer your question, i had never picked up on the pen symbolism until now, but i immediately agree, not least because 1) it must have a meaning that connects to byler's conversation otherwise why does it just interrupt them with no reason? (from a storytelling pov), and 2) because of the always sunny scene lolllll

thanks for the discourse! if you stick around into s5, im sure we will be able to start discussing this on our mains. it'll be a new era and there might even be gifs/pics of byler to accompany our 'spicy' discourse haha!

Amazing/fascinating points! Thanks for adding to the discussion!

#byler #spicy byler #will byers #mike wheeler #no poll

[polyhexian]

Eda refers to the Martlet as Marty. I feel like Jasper would find this endearing. Idk if they're friends (does Jasper even HAVE friends in this AU? sad) but they'd at least be running in the same circles. Casual acquaintances who appreciate each other's work. They exchange idle chit-chat in the night market.

If anyone figures out who the Martlet is before Jasper makes his identity known, it's Luz. She's smart, she's genre-savvy, she still low-key thinks she's in a fantasy story (lol), and she IMMEDIATELY clocks the Martlet as 1) Having a mysterious identity, 2) Having a mysterious BACKSTORY, 3) Being low-key sad, like, ALL the time despite his cheerful badass persona, clearly he is HIDING INNER PAIN, 4) HE'S GOT A SERIOUS SOFT SPOT FOR KIDS AND AN APPARENTLY-PERSONAL HATRED FOR BELOS, THIS IS NOT ADDING UP TO ANYTHING NICE, 5) It is entirely possible she gets a glimpse of his Emperor's Coven sigil at some point.

It's not a priority for her to figure the guy out, and it'd take a while for her to collect all the pieces to the puzzle. But after meeting Hunter she pesters Lilith for information about the Golden Guard, which leads to talk of the old one, so she knows Jasper existed. She knows Hunter is an orphan being raised by an Evil Emperor, which is just…welp, there are stories that go like that and they ALWAYS involve parental drama. She sees the Martlet and Hunter fight and notes that Marty's not as antagonistic as he could be.

…Bahaha, I have no idea how to make the timeline on THIS concept make sense, cuz she doesn't know Belos = Philip until Hollow Mind and who knows how that episode would even go down in this AU, BUT imagine her cornering Jasper like "ARE YOU CALEB WITTEBANE???" and Jasper just. fucking losing it. XD

(Does Jasper know Belos's name is Philip? Does he know the surname Wittebane? Does he even know he's human? Or does he put two and two together when he catches Luz watching an echomouse journal entry? Does he get just as interested in the journal as she is, but his interest is more morbid curiosity?)

Once Luz figures things out, or once things come out, she is just, like. Unholy screeching. OH MY GOD IT'S LIKE A REVERSE DARTH VADER SITUATION.

"Human," Hunter says, infinitely tired, "WHAT are you talking about?"

"Huh, yeah, it kinda is," Eda muses.

Jasper says that bullshit "people like me don't survive stories like this" line exactly one time around Luz and she is NOT having it. NUH-UH. NO SIR. You are NOT allowed to become a sacrificial father figure immediately after being reunited with your son! Her insistence on this is only PARTIALLY due to her own paternal loss trauma, it is also very much fueled by her love of storytelling! She drags out a whiteboard and does an impromptu presentation on TROPES and CHARACTER ARCS! She gasps as she realizes - it's not HUNTER'S redemption arc that's the big one here, it's JASPER'S. He's been riding a redemption arc for 16 years! You don't just kill off a character after that kind of development! Everyone knows Redemption Equals Death happens, like, IMMEDIATELY after the Heel-Face Turn, we are WAY past that threshold! Jasper is kinda overwhelmed but appreciates her optimism.

YEASSSSS

He doesnt have FRIENDS.... but he knows people. Like he works with the CATTs fairly often. He probably shows up to meetings and stuff and hangs around. People KNOW him. He probably does know eda, they're very similar and both hate Belos. He's cagey and he's not going to reveal much but I imagine there's been a time or two he's gotten seriously injured and it's her doorstep he shows up on. He might work with the CATTs but he doesn't trust them. He feels in his bones a trust for eda. She won't turn him in, she won't pull his mask off or tear his identity from him. She'll annoy him sure. But she won't MAKE him do anything. So once in a blue moon he shows up bloody and miserable on her doorstep to ask for help. He stays the night and he's gone by morning. He probably leaves something as a thank you. Maybe some stolen snails. Maybe a stolen owl beast potion. Potion ingredients. Whatever he has.

Luz ABSOLUTELY clocks his shit IMMEDIATELY. The only thing is she doesn't know about Grimwalkers. She's missing info on the golden guards. But it's obvious he's Hunter's dad and it's obvious Hunter doesn't know that. So she thinks like... maybe he escaped Belos but left Hunter behind... but like he is still his like biological dad. She thinks he left Hunter behind and is filled with guilt.

It's not until he is unconscious on Camila's couch and she knows what Grimwalkers are that she's like... putting the pieces together

AND ABSOLUTELY SHES ON THE "NO MOTHRRFUCKER YOU DONT GET TK DIE TRAGICALLY NOW"

[spontaneousglitterbees]

Legally required to ask for Kokichi for the ask game

[For this ask game]

gosh ur so right anon. I am so sorry this got readmore levels of out-of-hand full spoilers for NDRV3 and also rated C for Current Hyperfixation.

favorite thing about them

Counter-intuitive, but I know my past self (including the era when V3 came out) would have hated Kokichi for the same reasons I like him now. Mainly:

I really did go into V3 expecting to loathe Kokichi as a nuisance at best; I’d been spoiled on Ch. 4  before getting into DR because I thought ‘my aim sucks I won’t play it anyway’  and, loving bees and assorted bugs as I do, I figured Gonta would be my favorite. And I mean, he’s up there, but this little shit. How dare he be an engaging character.

Unsure where I said it previously, but Kokichi seems like the kind of guy who would run a How to Beat [X Movie] channel out of earnest (admit so or not) love for the thought experiment of it all, which isn’t just relatable, but a very interesting Type of Guy to have in your killing game scenario. The one constantly pushing the boundaries, but not quite meta-level aware they’re in a video game; genre-savvy and trying to Actually Accomplish Something Constructive. He also goes about it in such a way that launches a couple malatovs at every bridge he has, which, having been anxious and overly rejection-sensitive in high school, is fucking wild to me. You are going about this in the worst way you could, on purpose, and that is fascinating. Mentally I am putting him in a microscope slide because What Is Your Deal

Plus, the way he constantly has some kind of front up to a point where Saihara can’t decide who he really is by the end of Ch. 5… hmm chameleon complex? I find it quite simple, really. Unclear to me if they meant to make him Like This but doubling down on constant over-performance of social signals because communicating frustrates you and it lets you feel some small degree of control in your life is (in my experience at least) very autistic of him and as a result hearing the whole V3 cast consider him entirely indecipherable down to the bitter end… oof ouch real anxieties? 

least favorite thing about them

A) Some of the iconography they chose for his talent. Which I’m pretty sure they pretty much ditched outside promos? So B) Some of his art in the wake of Ch. 4 is… wonky, but not in a way that looks fully deliberate? It undercuts the drama for me a bit. I think Kokichi seems much more menacing when he drops pretenses entirely and just goes blank instead of trying Very Hard to act out a particular emotion (like he does pretty much all the time). Instead of the demon face, something more like this?

favorite line

I blame this for getting "The more that you suffer, the more I enjoy it" stuck in my head, plus the combo of "Now you'll never, ever forget me for the rest of your life! [...] I stole your heart, so now I'm satisfied." The two surface Kokichis asdfghjkl

Looking for quotes though it came to my attention that in Chapter 2 he says "[...] I wanna win this killing game! So I'm not gonna run from it, I'm gonna crush it! That'll be waaaay less boring, don'tcha think?"  kicking screaming they knew exactly what they were doing

shipping and handling

tbh I less ‘ship’ and more ‘please make them interact with one another’, so grains of salt I suppose!

brOTP

Kokichi + Miu. Gotta find who in the amalgamate server said ‘in any other circumstance they’d be besties’ because they are Correct.

OTP

This is a self report but like fuck it we ball Kokichi ♢/♠ Kaito

If you know the intricacies of what that means you may be entitled to—

Pretty much this vine

nOTP

I guess I'm a little squicked thinking of Kokichi/Gonta in a romantic sense? See at least in TAPP they've still got a Lot to talk about before comfortably calling one another 'friend' instead of 'working on it'

random headcanon

Ah a lot of these are already sprinkled in TAPP so what’s one y’all haven’t heard before,,

He started painting his nails during the game initially to interrogate (RE: get-to-know) Rantaro, and kept doing it to discourage himself from biting his nails and cuticles all the time. There's only like one sprite where he does it, but I think it could be a nervous tick

TAPP!DICE may not be real but the tea party policy absolutely is

I've drawn him in skirts doing outfit memes, but I think for him it's less concrete than feeling like dressing femme sometimes and more that, post-game and organization-less, he has no idea who he's supposed to be anymore and is throwing pretty much everything at the wall in many facets of his life. Including but not limited to saying 'screw uniforms' and seeing how long it takes him to get in trouble with HPA for wearing different clothes every day. After long enough unchallenged he starts getting his classmates to do it too. Considering... their entire circumstances in TAPP, they get away with a lot more than the other classes 

unpopular opinion

Is it unpopular to say that some of the info from Kokichi’s FTEs should have been in the main plot? The knife game scene, besides being my favorite, seriously clues the player into what he’s like beyond the artifice without having to posthumously dump that exposition in his room, and that a lot of players confused by him are likely to miss out on characterization that would clarify things Irks Me.

song i associate with them

Oh, only one song? Too bad, 'cuz I Can’t Decide - Scissor Sisters

My other cop-out is 'Cause I’m a Liar - Mcki Robyns-P, which I’m working on a cover for in Synth V

Other than that? I haven’t built up nearly enough song-based associations with the DR cast yet somehow, but I’ll throw in Queen of Nothing - The Crane Wives which is less a Kokichi vibe than “I’m writing TAPP!Kokichi in the wake of Chapter 5” vibes. Isn’t this what you wanted? Time sure feels like it’s running out. Finish what you started, Queen of Nothing, wearing such a heavy crown.

I don’t know if this is in the spirit of the prompt but the thought did occur to me that a Trial 5 animatic to I’m Alive from Next to Normal would slap really really hard actually.

I need more peppy songs in my life, is what I’m gathering.

favorite picture of them

Let’s split it like this:

Favorite from the game? Probably this one

The face of a man asking “what are you gonna do, shoot me?” promptly before getting shot.

Sprite? This one

Is it genuine curiosity? Is he mocking me? Some mysterious third thing? Yes.

and a fanart that lives in my brain rent-free (the-everlasting-ash). Linking instead of reposting bc please support the original artist. There are many, many wonderful pieces of fanart out there, but this one carved a niche in my brain and stayed there (it is the cover image for DR art on my phone on account of Stunning).

Also for the uninitiated on TAPP- [Talent Acquisition Pilot Program AU Masterpost]

#answers #Anonymous #ask games #danganronpa #dr #new danganronpa v3 #ndrv3 #danganronpa v3 #drv3 #kokichi ouma #kokichi oma #took me so long bc i made a gif and a sprite edit #genuinely surprised I couldnt find that bit from randy writes a novel in gif form #so i made it myself (thats why the gif is amateurish OTL) #also first DR sprite edit i hope its okay #i kept the pose the same and just tried to change his face and reduce the shadow intensity #sometimes the most powerful menace is a lack of it #TAPP AU #TAPP AU adjacent

[ihopesocomic]

Another way I think IHS is better than MP that I don't think anyone else has mentioned yet is the comedy. You guys certainly do a far more competent job at placing comic relief at the right and appropriate moments. Moments like Adamant's flashback to how her head got stuck in a meerkat hole and Quiet sang despite the former being annoyed. Or when Fade the squire freaks out like a little cat when Diamond gives him a good swipe! You guys do it well and it doesn't interfere with the comic's tone.

To be fair, it's very easy to be funnier than MP. It had no idea what it was doing for drama, and comedy is WAY harder to write. Which is why I'll never write a comedy LOL I know my limits. But thank you! I ask for all kinds of input on it, so it's good to see that people are enjoying it for what it is. Using humor sparingly in something like this helps to break the tension. Which is really all I need it to be.

I know comedy is subjective but there's still basic rules to follow, based on context (and geography). So it's really important to establish early on what kind of mood you're going for. So it's not jarring when there's humor later. This is like. Basic shit about genres. It's not forbidden knowledge, this is just stuff people know without realizing, so I expect people in the industry to know this better than anyone.

I know some of you might be thinking "What humor?". First of all, exactly. Second, I'm talking about A) Hover's ableist jokes at Nothing and Quickmane. B) Hover's near-constant deflection every time she opens her stupid mouth in episode 3. C) Shit like after Feather makes his big anime protagonist speech in episode 6, Nothing is all "How aboot we start with getting some sleep tonight before fixing the whole world?" like not only was that not funny, but it was literally after this kid broke down about his family being killed and hating Pride Law, like read the room Nothing, jfc. D) In episode 7 Powerstrike being like "I know she did (love me). Only Sunce knows why." And she laughs about it, like was that meant to be funny? Was it tongue in cheek? I still don't know. But all I could think about is how abusive she was to her daughter right before she disappeared. So whether it was meant to be funny, or her coming to some sort of realization about herself, it doesn't matter because she's trying to find humor in her being an abusive fuckin parent while her kid still cares about her.

Then there's Ghost in episode 10, where we presumably hear (from Ghost) Tangle's last sobs of desperation before getting mercilessly killed by someone he trusted. Whether or not you feel Fire deserved psychological torture or not isn't really the point. The point is MP thought that after Nothing gets the shit beaten out of her, and tells Fire to kill her, it was a good time to lighten the mood. Which is just disturbing. Or as someone tried telling me "It's a dark comedy, it's supposed to be disturbing". Like yeah, I know what dark comedy is. Some of my favorite movies are dark comedies. But that's the big difference here isn't it? MP isn't a dark comedy, it's barely a comprehensive story. I know what it was trying to do in the scene, and it didn't work due to the scenes leading up to it, I dunno what else to tell you.

It's fine if you find it funny, I find lots of unfunny things funny. I still think this is funny. I could honestly go on about this scene, it pisses me off in a way other scenes don't, but I've already rambled too much.

Like there's a fewwwww places I could probably fit in humor if I was writing MP? But I would start by having Hover know what fuckin tact is. But I'm not a professional. - Cat

#ask #ask us stuff #cat answers #my pride mention

[alleyskywalker]

THROBB FORTNIGHT Fic Recs: Days 6-10

Day 6: Role/Fortune reversal

A Different Tide by VagrantWriter (M, 54k)

This one is a true classic! A fortune reversal romance/coming of age novel where Robert's Rebellion fails and after Ned is killed in the fighting, Robb is sent to live as an exiled bastard on Pyke, under the guardianship of Quellon Greyjoy. Meanwhile, the Greyjoys never fought in the Rebellion and just generally the things go a little differently for them because of that. Theon grows up at home, but as a third son, not the heir, and with the menacing presence of his brothers still very much around. This story tracks Robb's and Theon's friendship as it grows and flourishes into romance, and as they are forced to navigate the drama and intrigues of the Greyjoy family and Euron's deadly power games. The ending is a bit bittersweet but ties up all the loose ends nicely and with hope, and takes exciting turns getting there!

Day 7: Pining

Artificial Respiration by cheerynoir (T, 3.7k)

This fic is actually part of a series but honestly can be read on its own (though the series overall is great too)! A modern AU with a seemingly very simple, cliche premise: Robb gets dumped and turns to Theon for comfort and snuggles. Now, the hurt/comfort is cute and sweet but the pining is what gets me every time. Theon is so far gone, but also so convinced that Robb will never reciprocate - it's exactly the right type of painful. The POV is heartbreaking and masterfully done, exactly Theon's combination of internal chaos and external projection of confidence/nonchalance. But what makes it even better is that Theon is definitely an unreliable narrator and it becomes obvious at one point or another that perhaps his pining is not oh so unrequited after all. But of course, in true throbb fashion, they are incapable of actually communicating with one another, so they pine and suffer and cuddle. And it's honestly a joy to read.

Day 8: Execution/“Robb’s Choice”

Tears in Waves by Rovardotter (T, 1.3k)

An excellent, tragic rendition of this genre! More gen than ship, but Robb's pain at having to Do The Deed is heartfelt and genuine. I appreciated how this fic did the characterization, how there was no pretending that Robb would ever consider endangering his family or honor for Theon, but that doesn't mean the situation is easy for him and he suffers from the resulting guilt. This is just a beautifully executed (…no pun intended) bit of angst with a gut-punch of an ending.

Day 9: War (Romance)

Babel by mautadite (E, 6k)

Perhaps a loose interpretation of this prompt but I'm glad I have a chance to rec this fic, because it's one of my favorite No Defection AUs. In this one, Theon never goes to Pyke and ends up taking the arrow meant for Robb at the Crag. As he recovers, the boys have to deal with the wartime politics of Balon's rebellion that they suddenly hear about as well as their own relationship. The tension and characterizations are really well done in this one! And! Smut I actually enjoyed (lol)! If you know me, you know that's kind of rare for me. But it really does fit in so nicely here, and really plays up Robb being eager but a bit inexperienced.

Day 10: Reincarnation

Phantom Life by VagrantWriter (M, 15k)

A really cleverly done reincarnation fic where Theon lives a life in the "real" modern world and has a lot of the things he didn't get in canon - a happy love and marriage with Robb, children, a close relationship with his sister, even a reasonably supportive father. But then one day he begins to remember his past Westerosi life (while no one else does) and it drives him a little mad. This fic is engaging and enthralling and keeps up the suspense where you keep wondering how this will all resolve. It's got both that fluffy modern AU feel in part but also deals with Theon's (and Theon and Robb's) canon issues. A bit of both worlds! And of course, a satisfying resolution and happy ending ❤

#throbbfortnight #throbb #theon x robb #asoiaf #game of thrones #fic recs #recs #theon greyjoy #robb stark #op

[ppg-villains-defense-lawyer]

PPG Fanfic: Sins Of My Youth

Chapter 22: Evil People, Evil Plans

Rating: T

Genre: Drama/Angst/Friendship

Characters: Ace, Snake, Lil Arturo, Big Billy, Bubbles, Blossom, Buttercup, Him, Sedusa

Pairings: Past Ace/Sedusa, Ace/Snake

Story Summary: The gang, now in their early 20's, have moved up in the world. Now with their own apartment, jobs, and (mostly) law-abiding lifestyle, you might even say they're redeemed. But, not all is as it seems.

As Ace grows to resent his boring, minimum-wage life and his grudge against those who put him there increases, he makes a decision that could change his and his friends' lives forever.

Chapter Summary: When faced with impossible odds, Ace makes a desperate decision. Meanwhile, Snake tells the police about his crimes, and Sedusa makes her own plans

Link to FFN

Link to AO3

Link to Fic Playlist (one new song added)

Short Snippet down below:

"Moments ago, you claimed that you were the one who killed Mojo Jojo. Can you explain what possessed you to do this, Mr. Copular?" she asked, holding her microphone in front of his face.

"The name's Ace, toots," he grinned. "To be frank with ya, he was gettin' on my nerves," he started. "He was threatenin' my buddies' here and havin' us do his dirty work, actin' like he owned this town. I had to put him in his place, remind him who exactly he was dealin' with."

Mrs. Carlson raised an eyebrow and snorted. "And who exactly was he dealing with? The leader of a minor street gang who hasn't been active in the last five and a half years?"

"No," Ace smirked, his fangs visible. "The man who put an end to the Powerpuff's little reign of terror."

At this, Mrs. Carlson's face fell. "Do you care to elaborate on that?"

"Sure thing, doll. I'll explain it real nice and slow for all the folks at home. I know none of ya are that bright," he grinned. "Me and my boys took the girls' powers away all by ourselves. Well, with a bit of help from an old friend," he smirked. "But good ol' Mojo ain't have nothin' to do with it," he walked over and patted the giant laser gun. "And if the kind folks who work at City Hall, or what's left of it, don't hand over the key to the city within the next twenty four hours, well, let's just say that won't be the last "tragedy" Townsville will face."

#ace copular #sanford d ingleberry #snake ppg #lil arturo #arturo de la guerra #big billy ppg #gangreen gang #ppg him #ppg sedusa #mojo jojo #bubbles utonium #blossom utonium #buttercup utonium #professor utonium #powerpuff girls #ppg fanfic

[antialiasis]

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat/Evita

As you probably know by now, Jesus Christ Superstar is my favorite musical, and the main reason I developed any sort of interest in musicals generally. I have also mentioned before that other popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals have not tended to do much for me. The Phantom of the Opera is too florid and lengthy and the characters don’t interest me enough, Cats is amusing fluff but has no real plot or character depth.

But also, perhaps that shouldn’t be very surprising. After all, I tend to be interested in media for its stories and characters more than presentation or spectacle - and Cats and Phantom don’t actually share a writer with JCS. The stuff I love about Jesus Christ Superstar includes the songs, sure, but I wouldn’t care so much about them in a vacuum. The guy who wrote the lyrics, made the story what it is, is Tim Rice.

So a little while back I figured it was high time I actually looked into at least the other well-known Webber/Rice collaborations, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Evita. (I gather abroad Joseph is like, a play every middle school puts on, but not over here; I had never heard of it until I looked up stuff about Jesus Christ Superstar, and never heard a song from it until I went and listened to it recently.)

(Some 5000 words of rambling under the cut, about these two shows, comparisons to JCS, and some character analysis, plus a bit of a digression about the trouble with translating musicals to film!)

Joseph is a pretty amusing one. It’s a show originally written as a fun retelling of a Bible story for kids to perform, before JCS, when Webber and Rice were 17 and 20 years old - specifically, it’s the story of Joseph, not the father of Jesus but Jacob’s favorite son from the Old Testament. Once I listened to it I did vaguely recall hearing the story before, in religious education classes as a kid: Joseph has prophetic dreams about greatness, is betrayed by his jealous brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt, eventually ends up the Pharaoh’s right-hand man after deciphering his prophetic dreams about an upcoming famine, then reunites with his contrite brothers and father.

It’s pretty wild, but you can definitely see the seeds of JCS in it - an isolated story from the Bible, told through a series of songs with very modernized, casual lyrics with a bit of a cheeky satirical energy with regards to some of the source material. But where JCS is a dramatic, emotional reinterpretation, Joseph has very little interest in drawing out the drama of the story it’s adapting, for the most part, and sticks with just retelling it with tongue firmly in cheek and a deluge of indulgent pastiche of a dozen different musical genres. The Pharaoh? A shameless Elvis parody, because why not. The brothers? Sing an over-the-top country song about how Joseph was heroically killed by a goat after they have sold him into slavery, and then later a parody French ballad about how much they miss him.

I quite enjoy just how plainly it presents the whole Joseph being Jacob’s favorite son thing, the narrator talking cheerfully about the coat his father gives him to make it clear that Joseph was the special one, and him telling his brothers about all these dreams he’s having that are clearly symbolic of how much greater he will be than them:

I dreamed that in the fields one day, The corn gave me sign Your eleven sheaves of corn All turned and bowed to mine My sheaf was was quite a sight to see A golden sheaf and tall Yours were green and second-rate And really rather small

What a hilariously smug-slash-oblivious little prick. The brothers are still obviously the villains here, but without exactly commenting on it per se, the musical cheerfully leans into the things a modern audience might find kind of preposterous or silly reading this story, and thus sort of subtextually asks but honestly, wasn’t it kind of dickish of their dad to just pick a favorite son and lavish him with special gifts for it? Isn’t Joseph himself being kind of a dick with this thing of telling them repeatedly about how hey guys I had this dream that I’m way better than you and in the future you’re all going to bow down to me?

And Jesus Christ Superstar does essentially the same thing - though often in a less humorous and more simply speculative way. It asks things like, isn’t it kind of weird and morbid of Jesus to tell the apostles that the bread they eat is his body and the wine they drink is his blood? What if it wasn’t a grand metaphor, but just him expressing his disillusionment with everything, and with them; what if in this moment he just feels like they wouldn’t even care if it was, and he’s right because they don’t even react? Or what if he’s just sort of morosely hoping maybe at least it’ll make them remember him when they eat and drink?

Joseph does have a little bit of a character arc going, which saves it from being entirely fluff. After we’ve seen his (possibly oblivious) self-aggrandizement at the beginning, Joseph gets betrayed and sold into slavery by his brothers, then jailed on false charges, where he goes through a lowest point in the song “Close Every Door to Me”, about how he’s insignificant and it doesn’t matter what happens to him, but he’s holding on to the thought of the Promised Land for strength. After that lowest point, he’s learned some humility - not long after this, when his fellow inmates ask him to interpret their dreams, he agrees to try but isn’t sure he’ll get it right, and is almost sheepish about admitting that well, he hasn’t been wrong before. So by the time Joseph actually gains the glory and prestige that he dreamed of, it feels reasonably earned, not only because he’s been to hell and back, but because he’s stopped being the kind of insufferable, arbitrarily privileged ass he was at the start in the process. (Or, at least, that’s what I get listening to the 1991 London cast recording that I picked somewhat arbitrarily on Spotify. I also watched the 1999 movie with one eye while drawing, and there Joseph honestly kind of felt like he was still pretty smug by the end. I like it better if there’s a character arc.)

At the end, his brothers come from Canaan, which is suffering from the famine, to Egypt to beg for food. Of course Joseph is there to receive them, only for them to not recognize him there in his Egyptian finery. Joseph decides to take them for a bit of a ride, to test whether they’re still the dickheads who tried to kill him and sold him into slavery; he responds to their groveling with angry fake skepticism - telling me that you are hungry! That could be lies! during a famine, sure. They grovel all the more, and he makes a show of saying they’ve moved him and that he’ll give them what they came for and more. Only he slips one of his golden cups into his younger brother Benjamin’s sack, then angrily stops them as they’re trying to leave, theatrically searching their bags until he finds it in Benjamin’s and demands to lock him up and throw away the key. And the brothers throw themselves at his feet to say there’s no way Benjamin did this, and to please have mercy on him and jail them instead.

This whole bit, the brothers groveling and Joseph putting on this charade, probably taking out some justified anger through scaring them and the power he wields over them, while also legitimately trying to test their characters and whether he can forgive them, is my favorite chunk of this show. “Grovel, Grovel” just has a melody I like, the energy and tension of the music for “Who’s the Thief?” is great (and amusingly reminiscent of the motif I dubbed ‘Authority’ in JCS), the character dynamic of what’s happening is just interesting and more layered than anything preceding it, and it sort of drops to a bit of a more serious and tense feel there in general, the brothers genuinely desperate and Joseph pushing mercilessly to learn who they really are and whether he can ever trust them again…

…and then we launch into “Benjamin Calypso”, a sudden jarringly upbeat number where the brothers continue to argue that there’s no way Benjamin stole the cup and he should take them instead in the most nonchalant, utterly unserious way possible. The mood whiplash is something. After that Joseph reveals who he is and the brothers get like two lines to ask if it’s really him, we explain their father came and joined them in like five more lines, and then it’s time to reprise the early number about Joseph’s vision at the beginning of the story for the finale. There’s no followup on the reunion or what just happened at all!

And I guess that’s fair. The entire rest of the show is deeply silly, exaggerated pastiche where the brothers act like the snidest of villains, and we aren’t supposed to care about them. But one way or another, I find myself honestly wanting a more cathartic resolution here. Judah does offer himself up in exchange for Benjamin, sure, but in that song where he’s otherwise busy jauntily comparing Benjamin’s honesty to coconuts and palm trees because Caribbean music, it’s impossible to take that at all seriously, or actually feel like it means anything about his character or ought to move Joseph to forgive them. And then we don’t get any followup, and all in all it just means it sort of starts to present an actually interesting dramatic situation, in its slightly tongue-in-cheek way, and then goes, “Never mind! Anyway, more pastiche!”

In the original story in Genesis, Joseph was explicitly feeling a lot of emotion during all this - he overhears them talking in Hebrew about their regrets over what they did to Joseph, and from there he multiple times has to excuse himself from everyone’s presence to weep, until he’s fully sure that now his brothers would rather sacrifice their own lives than sell another brother. I honestly think that makes sense, and that it would have worked (and probably worked better) to include more emotionality here. But oh well! It’s a pretty fun silly show with some fun songs in it, and that’s all it really wants to be. What If Joseph But We Took It Seriously is basically what JCS is, and I for one am happy with what we got there.

Evita is quite different, a more ambitious and very much adult-oriented show postdating JCS by several years (like JCS, it was first released as a concept album, in 1976). It’s about the life of Argentinian First Lady Eva Perón. I don’t know much about the real-life history or how accurate it is to the actual woman, but the musical at least depicts her with a sort of blend of deep cynicism and a degree of twisted admiration for her sheer ruthless drive and ability to win influence. After an opening framing device, it starts with her as a working-class country girl forcefully persuading a singer she’s had a fling with to bring her to the big city. Once there, she immediately ditches him to pursue her own ends, freely using sex with men for whatever advantage it would get her until she has a popular radio show. After that, she begins a relationship with future president Juan Perón, with the express intent that it would be mutually beneficial to both of them, by leveraging her popularity with the public for his political endeavors while giving her access to further power and influence through him.

(I’d be surprisingly good for you, she proposes; would you be good for me too? In the Icelandic cast album that I found on Spotify, she just proposes that I’d be a pleasure for you, which misses the entire point. Similarly, his subsequent verse where he agrees that I can understand you perfectly / and I like what I hear, what I see, and knowing me / I would be good for you too is rendered as I feel my heart pounding / and I like your words, this sight, and believe me / I’d do anything for you. According to this translation this was just an average love at first sight thing I guess? He’s not even calling back to her own words or acknowledging that he gets what she’s after? Good job, guys. It’s a pretty good translation in terms of the poetry and phrasing and all, but man do they drop the ball on conveying the correct narrative here. Overall I get the impression from the album cover and song choices that the people behind this Icelandic production thought the core of this story was supposed to be the romance between Eva and Juan? Which I truly don’t think is meant to be the point, at all.)

They go on to campaign and win despite that Perón thinks the whole concept of having to get votes to get into power is needlessly annoying (her radio rhetoric for him involves claiming that he loves you, understands you, is one of you; if not, how could he love me?). Eva becomes massively popular in her home country but doesn’t succeed quite as well on a European tour where the Italians compare her husband to Mussolini; they make a bunch of money ostensibly for charitable causes, some of which winds up back in their pockets through secret Swiss accounts (apparently this bit is historically dubious and that verse is cut from later versions of the show), all while Eva is venerated as a saint; but finally she starts to grow weak with cancer and then dies, her life deliriously flashing before her as she thinks about how in the end her choices were hers and hers alone, and she chose to burn bright and briefly, even if perhaps becoming loved by so many didn’t quite add up to being loved more. It ends with a statement that money was raised to build a monument to Evita, but only the base was ever completed, and her body disappeared for seventeen years. I guess the implication is that the monument was a scam to some degree too?

As a plot it’s a bit unfocused. There isn’t really a proper climax to the storyline here; “they make a bunch of questionable money, she goes on a tour that’s neither successful nor a total disaster, and then she happens to die a while later from cancer” is kind of an anticlimax, lacking any kind of cohesive overall punch that’d make it resonate by itself (and to be clear, that’s usually the case with real events, which is why fiction based on true stories tends to change bits around to make them work better narratively; I get the sense from Joseph and JCS as well that Webber and Rice like to stick very closely to the actual series of events they’re adapting even if presenting them liberally, but that can unfortunately be a bit of a detriment when they’re trying to adapt straight-up recent history instead of a myth). Instead, this musical is more about its themes and the general character study going on.

In particular, our narrator is not Eva herself but “Ché”, a man who may or may not have been modelled after Ché Guevara. For the purposes of the musical he is mainly there as a representative of the general Argentinian working class, telling the story after Eva’s death after becoming disillusioned with her and her husband’s reign. In a way he is Evita’s Judas: the cynical POV character observing the eponymous subject of the show from a critical point of view, who is given a chance to comment on them and their legacy with the benefit of hindsight. Unlike with Judas, though, Ché in the musical is speaking only from that perspective of hindsight, not actually present during the story’s events other than when he briefly reenacts attending Perón’s rallies at the time - mostly he’s an immaterial narrator giving sardonic commentary on the events of the show.

(On Wikipedia and Genius, there are both people insisting that on the original concept album he was definitely meant to be Ché Guevara but that element was removed later when it was staged, and also people insisting that he was never supposed to be Guevara originally until the director of the first stage production decided to dress him like Guevara. On the original concept album he has a whole weird unclear side-plot going on, concurrent with the main events of the show, about his efforts to produce and sell insecticide, which Wikipedia suggests is based on Guevara’s life. As best I can tell the point of this subplot for the album’s narrative is to portray Ché as motivated partly by personal spite/jealousy/misogyny in his criticisms of Eva - towards the end of the first half he gets excited about the prospect that surely if some girl can rise so fast by her efforts in the sack then a man who offers more could do the same, and at a later point, during the song “The Actress Hasn’t Learned the Lines (You’d Like to Hear)”, Eva coldly dismisses him when he tries to sell her on his insecticide, which makes the critique that Eva didn’t do much for the working man sound more like he’s just kind of mad about that. I guess in some sense that adds a layer of ambiguity to it, unreliable narrator and all, but it feels very muddled and mostly just serves to make him seem like a dickish weirdo, undermining his character and everything else he has to say; I’m not surprised this subplot got removed entirely in every version after that. There’s another little bit later on the concept album where Ché declares he used to be loyal to his country, but for all he got out of it he might as well have been loyal to some other country, which I guess is imagining that this spurned Ché Guevara into traveling and instigating revolutions in different countries, giving up on his birth country of Argentina. This seems like pure baseless historical speculation and again is just weird and muddled by the whole portrayal of the insecticide thing, and again got ditched from later versions.)

My favorite song here is probably “Waltz for Eva and Ché”, which I’d argue serves as the real climax of the musical, even though it isn’t even a literal thing that happens. (The aforementioned Icelandic cast album does not include it; in fact, there’s barely any Ché on it generally. Again, it feels like someone thought this was supposed to be a grand romance and this guy constantly criticizing the heroine in the background was just spoiling the mood, I guess.) In this fantasy sequence, Ché finally interacts directly with Eva, challenging her on her corruption and broken promises, while the unfazed Eva staunchly defends her actions and approach in her own pragmatic sort of way:

There is evil Ever around, fundamental System of government quite incidental So what are my chances of honest advances? I’d say low Better to win by admitting my sin Than to lose with a halo

[…]

Allow me to help you slink off to the sidelines And mark your adieu with three cheers But first tell me who'd be delighted If I said I'd take on the world's greatest problems From war to pollution, no hope of solution Even if I lived for one hundred years

As far as Eva is concerned, idealistically trying to work on big problems she’ll never magically solve doesn’t actually make anyone happy, so what’s the point? Ultimately, she doesn’t care about causes or governance or politics per se, really, but she cares a lot about being a figure that inspires the common people of Argentina. And sometimes that involves being as glamorous as possible, living the high life as a working-class girl turned first lady, and sometimes it involves charity work that’s very showy and feelgood even if it doesn’t exactly make the best use of the money, and that’s all kind of the same to her; there’s corruption and evil everywhere in every political system, but at least she made people smile to the point that they chant her name. What else is there, really?

In the final verse of “Waltz for Eva and Ché”, she admits for the first time that her body is falling apart, and she wishes she had more time. And in her final lament, where she speaks of how she thought the more that loved me, the more loved I’d be, she wishes she’d had children of her own. She does have some regrets, in the end. But while she lived she committed so hard to everything she did that she’d just suppress any such thoughts out of existence. And as a result she played the game so well she was possibly the most powerful person in her entire country by the age of twenty-six; who else could say that?

As a character she’s a bit of a puzzle, but definitely intentionally so - I get the sense most of this musical is just Tim Rice trying to figure out what might have been going on in this woman’s head. (And, yeah, this is obviously just an interpretation of a woman who was an actual person, and all my commentary on her is strictly about the character as portrayed in the musical, and not about the actual woman, about whom I know very little.) One is never quite sure how much she means of what she’s saying - a distinctive feature of her character is that she constantly says things with what sounds like total conviction and sincerity that we know are lies, or stretching the truth, or are connected lyrically and musically to times she was definitely lying or stretching the truth. You could definitely argue for an interpretation where she’s doing that in “Waltz for Eva and Ché” too - just unflinchingly saying whatever justifies her actions as if she believes it, even in an imaginary confrontation. But my read is it does seem that one way or another it comes to matter a great deal to her that the working-class people of Argentina love and adore her, in a way I’m not sure much else matters to her. She has some base craving for being loved, and even if in the end all the love and adoration of the masses can’t quite satisfy it, she was still driven to a large extent by that craving.

Class is a running theme here. Eva comes from the working class, as I mentioned, and her family were thrown out at her middle-class father’s funeral, as mentioned offhandedly near the beginning of the show (her mother was his mistress); from there, she seems to have developed a determination to show them, to be better and get further and be more known and adored than any of the people who dismissed her for her origins. She climbs the social ladder relentlessly, but continues to be scorned by Argentina’s upper class no matter what she does, simply because of where she comes from, and for all of the musical’s cynicism about Eva herself, that’s one thing that it definitely sides with her on. Similarly, the powerful woman getting where she is by sleeping her way to the top is kind of a misogynistic trope that I can’t help but side-eye a bit (I suspect it’s probably a pretty direct reflection of the apparently very merciless biography that the musical was supposedly based on, given what I mentioned earlier about the way they tend to stick quite closely to the events they’re adapting, but nonetheless), but at the same time the sexism and misogyny that Eva faces wherever she goes are also a recurring theme, both from the upper class, in Europe, and from the soldiers of the Argentine Army who think she should just shut up and spread her legs. Eva’s unrelenting defiance in the face of this adversity and refusal to bow to it, and continuing success despite that, is ultimately something I feel the story kind of admires in her, in spite of the many ways it’s harshly critical of her. She saw something she wanted, and she simply did whatever she had to do to get it in her not very advantageous situation as a woman in the 1940s, and successfully made it to the top that way despite being disparaged and scorned at every turn, without ever giving in.

So that’s the overall picture I get of her character here: the formative experience of being treated as lesser and unworthy at her own father’s funeral spurned this woman into obsessive unflinching determination to make it in the biggest way possible and earn the public’s love and adoration, at whatever cost, with very little regard to what she had to do or enable to get there, and while the deepest core of that drive may have ultimately been a longing for more personal love and acceptance, she channeled it into an incredibly successful drive to be loved by her people. For all its flaws and questionable elements I do think it’s an interesting character study, hence the rambling; I’m often drawn to characters whose actions might seem puzzling at a glance but have a coherent core driving them that makes the character click if you think about it, and while Eva doesn’t press my personal character buttons super hard otherwise, I think she’s definitely an example of that.

We watched the 1996 movie based on Evita, too. It leans away from the Ché Guevara thing, with Antonio Banderas portraying Ché as simply an everyman (he gets whumped a little bit, which was fun). The performances are good overall, and it’s more faithful than I was expecting; aside from lyrical tweaks and adding a song that’s incorporated into later stage productions as well, the main notable deviation is that “Another Suitcase in Another Hall”, a song originally sung by Perón’s mistress (a one-scene wonder), is moved earlier to be sung by Eva as Augustin Magaldi (the singer who brought her to Buenos Aires) ditches her, and is only briefly echoed later by the mistress. This is a significant shift because originally Magaldi is firmly meant to be someone Eva is simply using for her own ends and immediately ditches when she’s made it to Buenos Aires with him, while in the film it tries to make this a sympathetic moment for Eva, and thus implies she actually did naïvely love Magaldi and think they’d stay together - starkly different from her original characterization, where her proclamation that Would I have done what I did if I didn’t think, if I didn’t know, that we would stay together? is one of the establishing moments of that thing where she states things with total conviction that are shown to be not even a little bit true.

I can imagine three reasons for this change. One, they thought having another actress playing a bit character sing this famous solo song before never appearing again would just feel weird in a film, which is valid; it definitely does feel like a storytelling choice that happens in musicals but really goes against what anyone would expect in film. Two, they just wanted to give the more famous actress the song (Eva is played by Madonna). And/or three, they wanted Eva to be more sympathetic and Magaldi less so, which I can also understand, particularly given she is explicitly fifteen years old at the time and “musician who sleeps with a fifteen-year-old girl is the one being used and manipulated actually” is undeniably a bit hmm. But it kind of contradicts the rest of how it all plays out a bit - I didn’t really get the sense from the lead-up in the movie that she actually loved Magaldi or wanted anything from him other than the ticket to the city, and in general Eva is still just as ruthless! All in all, I sort of get the change, and it creates sort of a neat parallel where Eva inflicts the same humiliation on this other girl that she’d suffered herself back when she had nothing, but I’m not sure they entirely pulled it off in a way that makes sense.

I think the film also suffers from a sense that many shots are simply filling time as they want the music to play for exactly as many bars as originally written; the pacing feels glacial a lot of the time as a result. I wasn’t quite devoting my full attention to the Joseph movie so it’s hard to entirely have an idea of how it compares in that regard, but I feel like that one did this more successfully, with more energetic shots and staging.

I’ve come to feel increasingly that musicals are just quite hard to film well; Joseph really leans into being super stylized and framed as a sort of heightened version of a stage production, which is one way that I think can work pretty well, but it’s just a lot easier to get restless watching a film than actors on stage, and if you’ve got a song playing and cut to different shots while it’s happening, those shots really need to be interesting and hold the viewer’s attention, rather than just arbitrary filler. In something stylized along the lines of a stage production, you can sometimes get away with doing that with cool choreography and spectacle, but if you’re going for something more grounded and realistic, like Evita, you need to figure out how to make interesting, meaningful shots out of the moments where a song is having an instrumental interlude or repeating a verse or a chorus (assuming you don’t simply cut those bits out of the song), and that’s just a lot harder than saying it.

(Incidentally, we also watched the 2021 West Side Story film recently, and I think Spielberg absolutely nailed doing this in an overall realistically styled and toned film - it does feature people doing group dance choreography with perfect seriousness as if it’s a normal thing to do, but both there and in other songs it carefully makes sure the characters are always doing something, with a flowing character dynamic that maintains a sense that something is happening and keeps it from feeling like we’re filling space or waiting for the song to be done. Tricky thing to do, but absolutely possible!)

All in all, neither Joseph nor Evita are making it onto my favorite musicals list, but they’re interesting in their own very different ways, and I enjoyed diving into them and rambling a bit. Musical rambling, I have missed thee.

#musicals #joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat #evita #jesus christ superstar #ramble #character analysis

[autodach64]

Detective L

Crossposted from my Dreamwidth:

Finished Detective L tonight! Very fun❤

• Luo Fei is very pretty and the show milks this by putting him in various outfits and situations - it knows exactly what itch it wants to scratch, haha. Bai Yu voices himself which is always nice. • Laid it on a little thick with the plagiarism. Come on guys you didn’t have to lift the main theme from BBC Sherlock. • Qin Xiaoman is a typical young protagonist: Fresh off the academy, enthusiastic but naïve, she struggles to adapt to the realities of the world and of police work. Luo Fei is her foil: Experienced and resourceful, he knows how to navigate his environment. He has a playful side to him, while Qin Xiaoman is more serious. Both of them are kind and hardworking people. They work well as protagonists and I enjoyed their dynamic ❤

Haphazard (spoilery) notes per case under the cut:

• Case 1: Cheongsam Lady gets murdered (or does she?) I like the case. I expected Luo Fei to solve the first case flawlessly as an introduction but he actually doesn’t get his way immediately. And it turns out to be no murder at all! Very fun. One caveat: I don’t like the mean-spirited way a lawyer’s work is portrayed, a very common problem of the genre. A lawyer telling his clients about their rights is sinister and malicious, while police trampling all over these rights is good and necessary. Urks.

• Case 2: Accountant Lady gets murdered OMG it took me forever to figure out Ben Jie Ming is called Benjamin XD. I like him though. Luo Fei and Qin Xiaoman go undercover as a couple! Delightful. I love that it fails immediately lol. The conclusions here are a bit... unsatisfying? They had no proof against this Chen guy, I don’t like the assumption that a man in a wheelchair can’t possibly ever walk, and there is no answer to the threat letters at all.

• Case 3: Evil Music This is where I started shipping the main characters ❤ Nice actions scenes, and I liked the deductions too. I did not expect the final twist at all! Although some aspects seemed… oddly familiar… *cough*BBC Sherlock*cough*

• Case 4: The tailor’s wife I could see the solution coming, but I was surprised the murderer managed to kill everyone she had a grudge against - I expected one potential victim to be saved. That first victim was really dumb. Why did she tell her about how they tried to kill her and steal her money? Keep your mouth shut and you get to live.

• Case 5: Arson Predictable, but still fun to watch it play out, and they had the balls to make an established character the murderer. Loved Qin Xiaoman and Luo Fei’s little pyjama party, and the 4th wall breaking in the extra. Super cute ❤

• Case 6: Return of the laughter killer I called this one too! I knew it would be her immediately. But overall the conclusion was lackluster – none of them has a proper motive. Killing random students because your girlfriend’s dad was a clown??? (Did I miss something?) This case is where I started shipping Luo Fei/Xiaoman/Benjamin OT3❤

• Case 7: Agatha Christie Murder Mystery They all look so prettyyy! ❤❤❤ I did not see the brother switcheroo coming! The motive was again a little wonky.

• Case 8: I don’t even know? What is this case??? What’s going on? Who are these people? Why should I care? And wtf is this ending??? The show does a terrible job of introducing the new characters and the story - I could not get invested at all. Why not instead make use of the characters that we spent 20 episodes establishing for the big finale? Even Dr. Huo could not save this mess of an ending – or rather, lack thereof. I dislike this on principle. We ended this one on a low note folks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Overall I liked this drama. I feel like it knows what it wants to be and succeeds at that beautifully – if only they had kept it up for the those last few episodes!

#detective l #bai yu #cdrama

[translations-by-aiimee]

Mistakenly Saving the Villain - Chapter 9

Original Title: 论救错反派的下场

Genres: Drama, Romance, Xianxia, Yaoi

This translation is the product of my limited knowledge of Chinese characters as I attempt to learn the language. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 9 - Nie's Poison Scripture

Yue Wuhuan stood in the library of Medicine King's Valley, looking at the precious books on cultivation skills and secret methods around him, feeling as if he had entered a mountain of treasure.

Both Song Qingshi and the original body were the types who didn't want to worry about trivial matters in life. The library was a forbidden area, and there were no medicine disciples to clean it, so the books and objects inside were all messed up. Something over here and another over there, and only he knew where everything was. After Song Qingshi brought Yue Wuhuan in, he asked him to tidy up the table, and then went to find the book he needed.

With difficulty, Yue Wuhuan moved his gaze away from the book and looked at the Luohan bed by the window. There was a low bed in front of the Luohan bed, and there were hundreds of books piled on it, as well as dry pen and ink and a large pile of rice paper covered in scribbled and altered handwriting. This seemed to be the place where Master read and rested on a regular basis.

He walked over and resigned himself to putting the books next to each other, and suddenly found a tattered copy of "Nie's Poison Scripture" hidden underneath. Yue Wuhuan's breath stopped for a moment, and he realized that Nie was referring to Nie Jue, the Poison Master who killed like a sack of shit thousands of years ago and made the righteous world tremble in fear. It was likely that this book contained the recipes for the Poison Master's various poisons.

Yue Wuhuan quietly glanced at Song Qingshi, who didn't seem to be paying attention and secretly opened the book. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the beginning was Nie Jue's famous formula for the Thousand Dispersal Powder. The Thousand Disperal Powder was colourless and tasteless, capable of killing even first-generation cultivators. . .

This kind of killing method without cultivation was exactly what he was looking for in Golden Phoenix Manor.

Yue Wuhuan quickly flipped through the pages, hardwiring the recipe into his mind.

Thousand Disperal Powder, Soul Devouring Incense, Puppet Pill. . .

Every kind of poison was a sharp butcher's knife.

The killing intent that was once suppressed turned into a raging tide that stirred up his thoughts, and countless vicious methods of using them emerged in his mind.

No one knew that his heart had long been refined into a demon from hell, looking forward to a mountain of corpses and blood and that he wanted to destroy not only himself but the entire filthy world, including himself.

"This book is not suitable for you." Song Qingshi's voice came from behind him.

Yue Wuhuan gently closed the book, put it back on the pile of books on the table, then turned around as if nothing had happened, a submissive expression painted on his face again as he said the excuse he had prepared: "It's too old. I'll clean it up. I accidentally scattered the pages of the book when shifting it. Please forgive me, Master."

Song Qingshi put down the pile of books in his arms. He picked up the Poison Scripture, flipped through a few pages, and found that there were indeed traces of pages falling off.

Yue Wuhuan looked down at the ground. His palms were slightly sweating, and he was extremely nervous.

"Your foundation is weak, and it's too early to learn this book." Song Qingshi didn't notice his thoughts and quickly ignored the matter. He gave the instructions carefully, "Toxicology and pharmacology are interlinked. You have to start by recognizing medicine. For example, the heavenly grass seed and swallow orchid seed are very similar in appearance, but their toxicity is very different. If they are used incorrectly, their efficacy will be greatly affected. Therefore, you must first learn the basic pharmacopeia, know how to identify drugs, be familiar with pharmacology, and then learn alchemy and pharmaceuticals before you can finally study this poison scripture."

Yue Wuhuan raised his head abruptly, and asked incredulously, "I can learn Poison Scripture?"

"Why not?" Song Qingshi didn't understand. He thought about it and stuffed "Nie's Poison Scripture" into Yue Wuhuan's hand, comforting him, "I think you can be more confident than that. The things in the poison scripture aren't that difficult. With your intelligence, you'll be able to master them very quickly, but you need to pay strict attention to safety when refining. Many medicines in it cannot touch your skin, and some of them can still infect you through the air. . . If you don’t understand something, you can ask me at any time .”

Was this a question of self-confidence?

Yue Wuhuan was completely dumbfounded as if he had been slapped. He was speechless for a long time.

Oblivious, Song Qingshi continued to metaphorically slap him again and again: "If you're interested in poison, it's best to learn how to wield concealed weapons and spell formation together. Poisons are much easier to apply. I'll give you all the related books later. After sorting it out, you can also use my laboratory. . ."

Yue Wuhuan really can't help it, interrupting the excited person in front of him: "You haven't thought about what I would use it for?"

"I know." Song Qingshi's eyes were full of relief. He had long been worried that the personality of the Shou protagonist was too kind and susceptible to bullying, just like a beautiful flower that had no ability to protect itself and could only be picked by others. He was also very worried that the system teacher would pull him out of this world after completing his task, making Yue Wuhuan lose his protection and fall into the devil's lair again. He said seriously, "Wuhuan, don't be afraid. It's not your fault for being beautiful, it's the fault of those beasts. Spells, poisons, hidden weapons. . . If the immortal world is a world of beasts, you have to have the means to protect yourself from being bullied by anyone."

"Is it wrong to not want to be spoiled?"

"Is it wrong to not want to be bullied?"

"Is it wrong to not want to do something you don't like?"

The breeze blew across the window sill, bringing in a clean breath, and the faint scent of medicine in the air disturbed his heart.

Yue Wuhuan listened in a daze to the words that no one had ever said to him. Every sentence was like a dream.

"From now on, never let the world humiliate you again."

. . .

Learning requires discussion and progress together.

Song Qingshi liked to study with friends the most, especially those who were as smart as him. The professor he followed was a world-renowned international medical master, and all the brothers and sisters were the best of the best. He misses the happy times when he studied and did experiments with them all.

Yue Wuhuan had a high IQ and was diligent and eager to learn. What more could you ask for in life if you have this student friend?

Top Student Song was overjoyed. He helped tidy up the unwanted books on the Luohan bed. He cleaned the table and then cast several cleaning spells. He served spiritual tea and various cakes, lit the refreshing incense, and then pulled Yue Wuhuan to sit on one side and began to read.

Yue Wuhuan's heart was a little flustered. He quietly observed for a long time and found that the person next to him was indeed reading without distractions, with no other meaning. He gradually relaxed his mind, and quietly read the book.

At some point, dark clouds covered the sun and raindrops fell on the eaves, playing bursts of music. The damp wind blew a few drops of dampness and cold through the window, onto the scholars inside the house. Yue Wuhuan soon felt the coolness. He got up and turned on the luminous peals, gently closing the sheer window. He looked back but saw Song Qingshi still looking at the scroll in his hand, so absorbed that he didn't even notice the changes in the surrounding environment.

Yue Wuhuan approached step by step, carefully raising his beautiful eyes. This is the first time that he wanted to look at a person carefully. In his mind, he carefully depicted this snow-coloured man wrapped in white jade, with slightly messy hair and a slightly immature face. Although his appearance was good, he was not stunning, but he had the clearest eyes in the world. He didn't know desire, free from filth, just like a crystal that unintentionally fell into the tumbling mundane world, not tainted with reddish dust.

Yue Wuhuan watched from the side for a long time, but he didn't raise his head.

It seems that, except for this room full of books and scrolls, no one could be caught in his eyes, and in his heart. . .

Yue Wuhuan suddenly felt very ridiculous. If someone knew that the rumoured eccentric Immortal Medicine King and the famous Mr. Wuhuan were staying in the study room but not doing anything except spending a quiet day reading books together, they would think it's preposterous, right?

People must have ignorance in order to succeed.

To be ignorant is to be pure, to revert to the simplest form.

No one realized that the Immortal Medicine King was just an idiot obsessed with books. All of his misbehaviour comes from his obsession with books, his madness. No one knows how to get rid of his crazy shell, but inside is the simplest heart. . .

Yue Wuhuan bowed his head and smiled quietly, then the smile turned into a slightly bitter one. He thought of the first meeting between the two by the river, the touch of his fingertips brushing the ends of his hair and his cheeks, and he felt a little hot. If he had known about what would happen today, he would have punished himself to make himself more decent and not let him see his embarrassing side.

It was dark. The rain stopped and the moon showed its face. There were a few insects in the grass.

The study room was like a world isolated from the real world, where you couldn't feel the changes of the outside world. There was no noise, no disturbance, only the soft sound of pages flipping and the lingering deserted fragrance of medicine.

Yue Wuhuan reads the book, feeling an unprecedented peace of mind. . .

How good would it be if this was what life was like?

Song Qingshi suddenly put down the book, picked up a pen and began to scribble on the paper.

Yue Wuhuan looked sideways but saw that he wrote very quickly and in a hurry. His handwriting was very scribbled, and it was almost impossible to understand the content. Only the names of medicines were visible.

Suddenly, he stopped writing and fell into deep thought. His left hand accidentally touched the wet handwriting, staining it with a large ink mark. Then he unconsciously raised his hand to his cheek and a black mark appeared on his face.

Yue Wuhuan stared at the black mark, finding it extremely glaring.

He endured and endured but finally couldn't help but find a handkerchief and wipe it carefully, wiping away the traces that stained the innocence in his heart.

Song Qingshi finally woke up, and when he looked back, he realized that it was already dark. He looked at the ink marks on the handkerchief in Yue Wuhuan's hand and realized what a stupid thing he had done. He said embarrassingly: "I tend to get lost in my reading and often lose track of time. Are you hungry? You can wake me up next time."

Yue Wuhuan smiled and shook his head, "I was also engrossed. I didn't realize it was late."

"Here you are," Song Qingshi pushed all the cakes on the table to him, "I've had my fill, so I won't be hungry."

Yue Wuhuan didn't refuse. He picked up a piece of hibiscus cake, thought for a while, and usually found a topic: "Master, you are working so hard, but what important prescription are you researching?"

Song Qingshi tidied up the messy papers on the table and replied, "It's the Six Meridian Rejuvenation Medicated Bath."

Yue Wuhuan's hand holding the hibiscus cake stopped suddenly, and he stared at him blankly.

"It's what you need to use later." Song Qingshi scratched his head in distress, trying to find words to explain. "This medicine can reopen your blocked meridians, but I tried the medicine and found it was too painful. You may not be able to bear it. I'm trying to find ways to reduce the pain. I'm still not sure whether it's better to slow down the effect of the medicine, or to numb the pain-sensing nerves. We may have to try a few more times..."

When the meridians are open, there was hope to return to the path of cultivation. . .

Why do this for him?

"Master," Yue Wuhuan heard his voice trembling, "I'm not afraid of pain. . ."

"No one is not afraid of pain. That's why medicine finds various ways to relieve a patient's pain. Severe pain can even lead to shock." Song Qingshi looked down at the paper in his hand again, stating something that was most natural, "I don't want you to suffer such pain."

Why couldn't he even let him suffer?

Why did he have to be so nice to him?

Why?

Yue Wuhuan frantically wanted to know the answer.

Finally, he asked the question that had been circling in his heart for a long time.

Song Qingshi didn't understand why the novel system must keep secret from the protagonist, let alone what OOC is, but his intuition believed that Yue Wuhuan's current mental state was not ready to bear such absurd truth. He didn't like lying very much, so he thought about it for a long time, and when Yue Wuhuan thought he wouldn't get an answer, Song Qingshi smiled embarrassedly.

He remembered the day he was reborn and saw the beautiful ray of sunshine that dispersed the dark clouds in his heart.

A small kindness made him no longer afraid of the strange world.

"You once wished me good luck tonight, and I want to have a lifetime of good luck with you."

The author has something to say: Confused Top Student Song: Are other book-travelling systems different from mine? Will the system teacher still provide online tutoring? Doesn't OOC mean casualty at work? (on Operation Casualty)

#mistakenly saving the villain translation #mistakenly saving the villain #bl novel #chinese novel #english translation #chinese bl #danmei #danmei novel #yaoi #yaoi novel #yue wuhuan #song qingshi

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@bixiebeet @spengnitzed @moonbeamelf 

@professorlehnsherr-almashy @thealmightyemprex @amalthea9 @themousefromfantasyland

I am reading issue five of volume two of the IDW Ghostbusters Comics, and I want to share this dialogue piece between Winston Zeddemore and his fiancee, Tiyah Clarke:

“Looks like you were right about that whole “Ghosts attacking us in some way” thing, huh? You shoulda played the lottery.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t make a joke out of it. You could have been dead.”

“Why couldn’t you have just quit?”

“What good would that’ve done me? Maybe you should ask Dana Barrett how leaving the circle of crazy worked out for her.”

“Look, if this were a movie, all the stuff I’ve seen, I probably would have split up with you already, y’know, just to keep you safe.”

“Is that how you -”

“Hell no. Baby, those things came after me in my home. It was personal. Maybe it’ll never happen like that again, and maybe it will... but I’m not going to tip apart my life on maybes. We can’t hide from trouble. I love this job, and I love you... and I’m not giving up on either of because something bad might happen.”

“So... what do we do?”

“We do exactly what we’ve been doing.”

“But what if -”

“No what ifs.”

I love this dialogue because it adresses something I tought about romantic relationships in genre fiction (superheroes, sci fi and fantasy) for years: In a universe with monsters, ghosts, aliens and supervillains that will constantly put people in danger, why should a character be forced to choose between the relationship and fight against evil, when evil will come after you anyway? Evil comes after you when you fight it, and evil comes after you don’t fight it. In these kind of universes, you can’t hide from trouble.

So we better be happy with the joys we find in life, forming connections with family, friends and even enjoy romance if we wish, instead of isolating ourselves fearing our loved can be kidnapped our killed for knowing us, or giving up fighting evil to enjoy a tranquil family life.

Writers should let the drama come from the alien and supernatural treats, and not use this as an excuse to abuse of the “Will they, will they not” relationship drama trope.

Let the characters of your universe enjoy being together, wether platonically or romantically, and makes this their moment of calm and peace.

After all, isn’t that for what they should be fighting to protect?

#ghostbusters #idw ghostbusters #erik burnham #dan schoening #luis antonio delgado #winston zeddemore #tiyah clarke #fandom musings #superheroes #pop culture

[dangermousie]

And now as a result of trying to save FL’s father’s life, ML gets publicly whipped and thrown in jail (with no medical treatment for the welts; dude you are gonna have scars if you don’t die of sepsis, that is.)

When he’s finally released, his reaction:

Meanwhile FL is planning to run off with hobo on another harebrained adventure (the man who almost got her killed and then helped zip, you remember?)

You know, I wish I could say I feel bad for ML, but his unwavering devotion to an impulsive, ungrateful moron no matter what is beginning to make me wonder if he is just as epically stupid as she is. Like - she is not exactly pretending she cares for him on even a simple decent human being level, nor does all his behavior ever get any different result. At this point he’s cashing misery checks he writes himself.

I was telling mutuals that the difference between something like this and Siege in Fog is that in the latter both of them lashed out and hurt the other, both seriously wronged each other, both were complicit in miscommunication and pain (and not to mention, FL had a first love AND our ML was pretending to have a mistress etc etc.) It felt equal and even and logical (within confines of the melo genre.)

But here, in making him saner (in the novel, he apparently rapes her at one point - yeah) and basically someone whose main characteristic is openly adoring her and saving her life over and over and her not even loving hobo (let alone loving him before meeting ML, as in the novel), this turns the whole narrative into a decent if hot headed dude and an utter ungrateful and impulsively moronic heroine. And that’s a pity. It doesn’t help that perhaps I’d be willing to buy his simping more if they had insane chemistry or if she was so beautiful/charismatic I could buy ML doing anything to get her. (City of Streamer and Siege in Fog both have that. Too Late to Say I Love You has that too AND the heroine saving ML’s life and his eventually wronging her as well blah blah.)

(Much more my type of thing heh.)

Anyway, this bit from Siege in Fog sums up what kind of dynamics I love (and the novel of Love had) and we are not getting here:

Alas, in the drama of Love in Flames of War, ML is piece of cloth.

#cdrama #love in flames of war #shawn dou #siege in fog #city of streamer #too late to say i love you

[project1939]

100 Films of 1952 

Film number 96: Navajo 

Release date: February 12th, 1952 

Studio: Lippert Pictures 

Genre: Drama 

Director: Norman Foster 

Producer: Hall Bartlett 

Actors: Hall Bartlett, Francis Kee Teller 

Plot Summary: A seven year old Navajo boy grieves the loss of his grandfather, a wise man who teaches him to keep his mind on positive thoughts. This gets very hard to do when he is forced to go to a white man’s school- he feels nothing but hatred for the white men who tortured and killed his people throughout history.  

My Rating (out of five stars): **3/4  

I give this film props for tackling a difficult subject- the treatment of Native Americans by white society. Unlike almost every film from the early 1950s, this humanizes Native Americans. I can’t think of another film from this era where a native person is the protagonist. Unfortunately, it just isn’t the greatest movie, despite its good intentions. (Some spoilers!) 

The Good: 

As I said above, this movie humanizes Native Americans, even making them heroes. It gives audiences the chance to see the world through the eyes of a native person. This was non-existent in mainstream film of the time. 

The actress who played the little boy was very effective. I was shocked to discover it was actually a girl playing the role. She had the charisma and appeal to carry the film, and I felt heaps of empathy for the character. 

I liked the grandfather and his lessons for the boy. He tells him to let go of the hatred and bad thoughts he has- those kinds of thoughts are “a black path that only leads to darkness.” By focusing on positive things, “in one good thought there is good for all the people.”  

The film was actually filmed on location in a reservation. It definitely looked and felt real. Plus, the views of the deep canyons were stunning and beautiful. 

There was a white man the Navajos called PantsFallingDown, and it always made me chuckle. 

Learning things about Navajo customs and culture I was ignorant of 

The fact that the cast was almost all Native American 

The Bad: 

The film was shot without sound, and everything was overdubbed later. In several instances the actors were not very good at the dialogue.  

I didn’t like the narration. Instead of hearing the little boy speak in the scenes, all we got was non-diegetic narration by a different actor speaking as the boy. I just didn’t like it very much. 

I felt a little ambivalent about how the white people were portrayed. The people who ran the school were all shown as very caring, gentle, and kind. I’ve heard way too much about what the reality was for these schools, and it doesn’t exactly line up with the portrayal in the film. It kind of felt like it was trying to reassure a white audience that white people are good to Native Americans now. 

In one scene a white teacher is trying to gain the little boy’s trust, so he comes over to him and pulls out a pocketknife! He was actually giving it to the boy as a gift, but it felt crazy to me that he grabbed a knife in front of a scared child! 

The fact that his mom and sister died after he had already lost his father and grandfather. It was a lot of cruelty to put a little boy through. 

The intentions were good, I know, but it simplified relations between whites and Native Americans. It didn’t exactly validate the boy’s very justified anger toward white Americans. A big theme of the movie was about him learning to forgive them. It’s complicated, because the grandfather’s message about the danger of hatred was very wise... but I wish the movie didn’t simplify it by making all the white people in the film “good.” Because they definitely weren’t all good in the 1950s or the 1850s. 

#project1952 #1952 movies #100 films of 1952

[scorbleeo]

Drama Gossip: The Romance of Tiger and Rose (传闻中的陈芊芊)

Source: Google Images

Having finally sold her TV series script, aspiring screenwriter Chen Xiao Qian soon falls under the scrutiny of the male lead, who refuses to act out the role. Vowing to make her script successful, she starts re-writing. While napping, she is transported into her own story, becoming the Third Princess Chen Qian Qian, a side character. Armed with the knowledge of her own script in which her character is soon to be killed in the third episode by Prince Han Shuo, the male lead, Xiao Qian is determined to stay alive and find her way back home.

Source: MyDramaList (2020)

One of My Favourite Chinese Dramas

Considering this was a rewatch, The Romance of Tiger and Rose will most probably stay an all time favourite now. Do not be fooled by any trailer you watched for this drama nor the synopsis, because this drama is so much more and I don't think enough people talk about how much more.

Lets begin with simpler matters. Yes, this is a period drama. Yes, this is somewhat an wuxia drama. Yes, this is a romance drama. And yes, this is a comedy drama too. A little information about me, I like a mix of genres in the shows I watch, especially Chinese dramas or movies.

The Romance of Tiger and Rose is exactly what I ask for, despite it being a period drama, it does not have the 'serious flare' that many period dramas have. So, even though we get the standard political intrigue or betrayal, it's really not what drove the entire show. Likewise, the poster of this show typically means this is a romance drama but no, it's equal romance and equal comedy. You kind of do not expect what's coming because of the comedy aspect to it. Making this drama a really fun time.

For those who understand tropes, I'll make it easy for you. This drama consists of: Enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, jealousy from the male perspective and depends on how you view it, the "over" protective trope to the point of sacrifice.

I shan't say anymore because I truly believe everybody should watch this drama with as little information or spoilers as possible. Just know that, this really is a comedy drama before it is a romance drama.

Rating: ★★★★★

P.S.: Yeah, I would love a second season with the exact same cast but I really don't see how there can be a second season. At least not in a way that the second season will be a direct sequel to the first one.

#drama review #the romance of tiger and rose #传闻中的陈芊芊 #chinese drama #chen qian qian #han shuo #zhao lu si #ding yu xi

[j-graysonlibrary]

Silverfalls Court Chapter 20

Title: Silverfalls Court

Author: Jay Grayson

Word Count: 50K

Genres: drama, suspense, who-done-it, LGBT+

Available on: Kobo and my website

Synopsis: A young girl, lost in the bliss of her first relationship, will do anything in the pursuit of what she believes is true love—even sneaking out of her house in the dead of night. Unfortunately, she is met by someone she didn’t quite expect. Her fight or flight instincts kick in but she in no match for the killer in the woods.

And her death won’t be the only one.

The once peaceful and quaint neighborhood of Silverfalls Court is thrown into chaos and upheaval when bodies keep showing up in the woods. When it becomes apparent that the murderer must be one of them, suspicions grow thick and trust is shattered.

Some, like Lisa-Marie Castel, want to play detective and solve the case on their own while others, like Dominique Pulmer, want to keep their heads down and wait for things to return to normal. Some might even wish to capitalize on the bizarre nature of the story while those who have been personally affected are left to pick up the broken pieces of their lives amidst the chaos.

Full chapter 20 under the cut:

20. Broken Cycle

After Peter, Jason felt like a young man again. Back in his college days, the entire reason he killed those girls was because he was unable to stop himself from doing it. Each moment of his day was filled with waking dreams of taking their lives and, at night, he was gifted dreams of the same nature.

It was impossible to deny those urges then and it was becoming impossible to deny them now. 

He knew exactly who he wanted to kill too.

Jason couldn’t stop himself from sneaking to the second cul-de-sac and checking in on the Vicks. It was Thanksgiving and most of the neighbors were out of town or staying in and eating. He looked into the window and saw Susan and Lamar talking while standing close together.

Then they parted suddenly—almost as if they were having some kind of fight. Jason knew that only Susan’s parents were over for the holiday so he guessed it had something to do with that.

He quickly stepped away from the window when he saw Lamar take off. The sound of the back door opening and closing let Jason know that he went to their backyard.

With a smile, Jason knocked on the front door.

Susan opened it in just a few seconds and looked up at him in surprise. “Mr. Burns? What are you doing over here?”

“I always come by to bring Karowitz and Mrs. Winter some of my wife’s pudding. And I thought I’d check on everyone while I was over here.” He shrugged. “You can call me Jason, by the way. There’s no need to be formal.”

She smiled back and visibly relaxed. “That’s sweet of you.” Her attention went back into her house for a moment before she returned to him.

“Something the matter?” Jason guessed.

“It’s nothing, really. Just a small disagreement.”

“You two should have a nice date then,” he suggested before gesturing out to the woods, “There’s a really good spot by a pond that’s great for a private picnic.”

“Oh, really?” Susan brightened up some.

“Yeah, I’d show you now but it’s too dark. Maybe tomorrow morning I can meet you out there and show you the spot. It’s very romantic—I used to take Hailey there years ago.”

With a date set, all Jason had to do was tell Hailey that he had to go into the office in the morning and then head over. He fingered the wire-saw in his pocket as he walked to the meeting spot.

Susan smiled the second she saw him. “I can’t wait to surprise Lamar with this.”

“Come, it’s a little further in.”

Jason walked her further into the woods than the other kills and had her go ahead of him with the promise of a hidden paradise on the other side of the brush. Though, the second she stepped before him, he hooked the wire around her neck and held her tight until she stopped fighting.

She was dead but that was better for discretion. Jason could do whatever he wanted to her body without having to worry that she’d scream and attack him. Plus there was an inherent eroticism to the red lines around her neck and the blood in her eyes.

Just as he started to unbutton his pants, he heard the unmistakable sound of footfalls in the leaves. He frowned and took his leave—disappointed and wound tight.

On his way out, he heard the voices of Lisa-Marie and Brandon. Of course it was them, he thought to himself and cursed mentally. Everything he wanted to do was ruined and he couldn’t kill again despite how much he wanted to devolve into a spree.

Luckily, Lamar was believed to be Susan’s killer and he mysteriously disappeared. Jason was sure he was killed by the Castels though he had no proof other than his gut. Still, he kept quiet since it all worked out for him.

But then he heard Madison talking. “Mrs. Winter saw some man by the Vick’s place before Susan was found dead. Isn’t that spooky?”

Hailey responded, “Where did you hear that?”

“Victoria told me. She, Serena, and Jumin are doing that project for school around Mrs. Winter’s house. And she said she saw the killer!”

“I don’t like that…” her mother mumbled.

Jason could punch a hole through a wall if he let himself be overtaken with emotion. But he held back and just thought through everything. His old plan, back when he killed that first girl, could still work.

Getting into Mrs. Winter’s house wasn’t difficult in the slightest since the old woman never locked anything. Even easier was killing her as she had no fight in her and her scream got caught in her throat.

He set her body in her bathtub and left through the same window he’d entered from. Lisa-Marie would definitely go looking for the woman once she heard the same piece of gossip and Jason didn’t want to risk being almost caught by her again.

When the town meeting was called, the teens were accused almost right away. Jason internally smirked as his original plan was coming to fruition before his eyes.

While the other parents defended their kids, Hailey looked to Victoria and asked, “…You haven’t had any blackouts lately, have you?”

“Not any big ones,” Victoria answered and pushed her mother away. 

“I’m sorry, Lisa-Marie,” Jason said and grabbed Victoria by the shoulders, “My daughter is ill. If she did do something, she didn’t mean to.”

“Let go!” Victoria yelled and freed herself. She whipped around to glare at them. “You’re not even going to try to stick up for me?! You know I didn’t fucking do it!”

“Language, Victoria!” Hailey scolded.

 “Excuse me, Miss Lisa-Marie?” Madison spoke up as she approached the stage. She really did Jason’s work for him when she said, “I think my sister might have killed the first girl too.”

“Madison?!” Victoria hollered.

“Go on,” Lisa-Marie coaxed Madison into continuing.

 “I wasn’t supposed to tell but Vicky was sneaking out at night to meet with Leigh. In the woods.”

Everyone’s judgmental stares landed on Victoria. Just as Jason imagined, she was an easy scapegoat. She even grabbed her hair and screamed, making a spectacle of herself.

He grabbed her again. “I’ll keep her in her room while you work something out, Lisa-Marie.”

“Thanks, Jason,” Lisa-Marie replied and smiled.

He locked her up, playing at being the reluctant parent all the while. Victoria didn’t care, of course, but Jason still made sure that she knew he didn’t really ‘want’ to lock her away in her room.

The problem came when the police didn’t immediately take Victoria away. Jason realized he might have acted a little too well since officer Redfield offered them time to keep Victoria in their home while they collected evidence. He knew they wouldn’t find any, however.

Jason stood in his bedroom and stared out the window as his mind started to drift away. He needed to do something else but he wasn’t sure what his next move could be.

A serendipitous answer came when he saw Dominique run out of the Castel house followed shortly by Lisa-Marie running inside. It was a bizarre sight so he walked outside and lingered by their backdoor. Whoever had been out there last hadn’t properly shut the door so he could hear the couple arguing faintly.

“How could you tell him?!” Lisa-Marie screamed. “You absolute BAFOON!”

“I couldn’t hide it any longer! Dom knew something too—he would have kept coming over here until he got to the bottom of it!” Brandon defended.

Jason had noticed that Brandon was off lately. The man had been stopping by his house every day since locking Victoria up but he only had questions about her the first day. After that, he’d been asking for vague advice and trying to see what Jason had to offer in the way of marriage counseling.

He’d asked him strange things such as “what would you do if you found out Hailey had done something you didn’t approve of? Would you talk to her about it or support her no matter what?”

In retrospect, Jason should have seen it was about something he and Lisa-Marie had been involved in. But, Jason hadn’t thought of Lamar in months so it didn’t stick out to him.

“You didn’t have to tell him we killed Lamar,” Lisa-Marie snapped, bringing Jason’s attention back. It also confirmed his earlier theory.

Jason smirked as he realized he had a much better scapegoat than his daughter. With a confirmed murder, everything else could easily be pinned on the Castels.

Although, if Brandon was left alive he might relay some of the things Jason told him. None of the ‘advice’ he gave him was particularly incriminating but Jason didn’t want to risk anything coming back on him. Even if it was insignificant.

So, Brandon had to go.

First thing in the morning, Jason snuck in through the open back door and took a look around. Lisa-Marie’s collection room was closed so she was probably stewing over her emotions in there. He quickly and quietly moved up the stairs and into the master bedroom.

Brandon was a fairly fit guy and if he’d been able to kill Lamar then Jason knew he couldn’t deal with him head on. He had to trick him or surprise him.

The man wasn’t in the room but the bathroom door was cracked and sound echoed from somewhere further in. Jason stepped closer, listening intently.

It sounded like Brandon was taking a piss. There really was no better chance, he thought and marveled at his luck.

Jason readied his wire-saw and approached Brandon with careful steps. As Brandon shook himself dry, Jason threw his hands over his head and drew back on the wire as hard as he could. The man gasped for air and threw his hands about but confusion overrode anything and he was unable to make contact.

The wire cut deeper into his neck and some blood squirted out as his body started to shake in one last attempt to survive. Jason breathed heavily and dragged him a few feet away to dump him into the tub. He looked down at him and grimaced.

There were a few things he’d have to fix before leaving.

Jason tucked his penis back into his pants and flushed the toilet. He washed his hands, feeling dirtier than he usually would, and fled.

The call to meet from Lisa-Marie was far more chaotic that time around. She accused Dom with everything she had but no one let her get very far with it. Not only had she been suspicious from the start but Dom knew, for a fact, that she and her husband had killed Lamar.

Jason just helped move things along.

“You know NOTHING!” Lisa-Marie yelled at the entirety of the neighborhood. “None of you! It’s all lies! I’m telling you the culprit is Dominique and you’re all turning against me?!”

“I know who it’s not…” Jason said lowly and glared at her, “It’s not my daughter. I locked her in her room for no reason. Because of you. You and your sick game!”

“I didn’t make you do that! It’s all wrong. YOU’RE all wrong!”

“There is no one else, Lisa-Marie,” Hailey stood by Jason. 

“Did you really kill all of them?” Gary asked as he took his wife into his arms. “Even Susan?”

“Even Peter?” Polly added with glassy eyes.

“I didn’t kill anyone!” Lisa-Marie continued to try to defend herself. 

“It’s over, Lisa-Marie,” Dom told her as the police started to swarm around them.

And, just like that, it was over. Jason let Victoria go and, even if she was pissed at all of them, she wouldn’t cause any further problems. Everyone accepted that Lisa-Marie was the guilty party and they could move on with their lives.

Jason had done more killing than he ever thought possible and without being caught. He had enough memories to last him a lifetime and there was no way that it could ever come back to haunt him.

It was perfect.

Which was why he was so confused by his current predicament. Though he was, by no means, ready to give up just yet.

“You have nothing,” he told the girls with certainty.

“Sure about that?” Jumin appeared from the back hallway. He held in his hand a camera which he promptly flipped open. “Because I think we have a recording here of you killing Carson…just now.”

“…What?” Jason clicked his tongue. “Let me see that.”

“Ah-ah.” Jumin shook his finger. “I think you’ll know it’s the real thing if I play it from here.”

He hit the play button and, while Jason couldn’t see the footage because of the distance between them, he could certainly hear it.

“…You?” Carson choked out.

“Yeah, didn’t you know?” Jason heard himself and he felt his stomach sink. “You wrote all about it in your shitty little blog.”

“It’s…just….made up.” Each word was harder for the man to say as the wire constricted his throat.

“What?” Jason asked, sounding just as confused as he felt now. “What do you mean? Why did you make me the killer?”

“I…” Carson didn’t get to explain as he lost consciousness.

But, as Jason very well already knew, he didn’t leave it at that. He heard his own ragged breaths echo through the hall as he finished the kill on the video.

Jumin shut it off. “How’s that? Oh, and p.s., I already called the cops.”

Jason felt his eye twitch. He had to get the tape away from them but he wasn’t sure what he could do after the fact. Leaning back on his daughter’s mental issues would only work in her case. He didn’t know what he could do for Jumin and Serena other than kill them.

“What’s the matter? Got nothing to say now?” Victoria asked and crossed her arms.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, a small stampede of feet came down the stairs. The dogs arrived first followed by Hailey and Madison.

“What on earth is going on down here?” Hailey asked as she took in the odd sight.

“Serena and Jumin?” Madison’s face scrunched.

“Stay back Mrs. Burns,” Serena warned, “Your husband is the killer.”

“What?” Hailey gaped and looked between them. “There’s no…that’s ridiculous.”

“We have the tape to prove it,” Jumin assured her.

“…Honey…” Hailey looked at Jason with wide, uncertain eyes.

Jason sighed and let his shoulders slump. “May as well get in something I always thought about,” he said before lunging toward his wife.

Screams ripped out of everyone—or so it seemed—it was too chaotic to really tell. Jason made contact with Hailey but he was soon pulled off and thrown backward by Jumin who was a lot stronger than he appeared. The dogs inserted themselves into the action as well. They both barked and started jumping around, biting and scratching at whoever they could.

Jason took the opportunity to leave the scene. He had no clue where he’d go but he needed to get away from there. “Fuck’s sake…” he breathed and started to run.

Lights flashed on and several police cars peeled around the corner and into the cul-de-sac. In the heat of the moment, he’d forgotten the small fact that the kids had said they called the cops.

“Damn.” Jason stayed put and raised his hands prematurely.

Victoria led the way out of her house and everyone followed closely behind. She saw her father standing on the lawn with his hands in the air as the police rushed out of their cars and surrounded him. To her surprise, he didn’t resist at all and let them cuff him.

“What’s going to happen to him?” Hailey asked and looked at the officers.

“He’s coming to the station,” one of the men answered her and stepped closer. “We may need to talk with all of you as well.”

“I have the proof,” Jumin spoke up and lifted the camera. “It should be all you need, honestly.”

“Alright.” The officer took the camera from him and looked between everyone. “We’ve got some EMTs over to check out the body that was reported. Mrs. Burns, if you will, we’d like you to come in with your husband. If we need you kids, we’ll come back later with your parents’ permission.”

They all nodded as Hailey walked with the man to a squad car. Victoria watched as her father was shut inside a different car and she felt a weight lift from her chest.

Serena kept her eyes on her friend for a long moment before she rested her hand on her shoulder. Not only would Peter get justice but everyone who had died would be given some peace. With a voice that was barely a whisper but still loud enough to hear, she said, “It’s really over this time.”

Victoria didn’t look away from the cop cars but she nodded. At least, she hoped Serena was right. She wanted her to be right. “Yeah…”

All of the neighbors began to leave their houses to check out the commotion. The Jungs spotted Jumin in confusion—he waved at his parents and sister but didn’t say anything. Similarly, Polly gave her daughter a look but there were no words exchanged. Mabel made eye contact with the kids and smiled before giving them a thumbs up in approval.

In the second cul-de-sac there was also an audience for the EMTs. A body bag was pulled from Carson’s house which left little to speculation. The Dicksons met with Karowitz while Diana joined Dom on his lawn. She covered her mouth and didn’t take her eyes off of the body bag.

“Excuse me,” Dom called out to a woman who helped set the body in the back of the truck. “Do you know anything about what happened?”

“We were told there was a murder.” She smiled sadly as she had no further information for him.

He and Diana exchanged a look but then both noticed a police officer joining the fray. He shared some words with the EMT before standing in front of them and resting his hands on his hips.

“We’re taking in your neighbor, Jason Burns, under the suspicion that he has killed Leigh Duval, Peter Rosello, Susan Vick, Ophelia Winter, Brandon Castel, and Carson Fawk. The evidence thus far is damning so this will hopefully be the last time we have to come over here for anything but, please, try to keep the chatter about this down. I just wanted to let you all know since you’ve been through so much this year.”

The officer bowed out and left with the EMTs, creating a silent vacuum in his wake. The Dicksons looked to Dom and Diana but they didn’t approach them—they only talked to each other in hushed whispers.

“Jason Burns, huh?” Diana said and sighed. “I knew I should have checked on Carson…”

“It’s not your fault,” Dom told her instantly. He frowned and stared forward at nothing in particular. All the details sunk into his mind and he felt sick to his stomach. “He could have just killed you too.”

“Maybe.” She admitted and, after a moment, asked, “What do we do now?”

He glanced back over to her and considered his words carefully. Everyone had to deal with the aftermath in their own way and he knew his answer might not line up with her views. Still, he responded in earnest, “I’m moving the fuck away.”

[End]

#silverfalls court #my novel #writeblr #lgbt writers

[sellbuymusic]

Artist of This Week : bEAu

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We've brought an interview with this month's artist, bEAu!

[image 1] Introduction of bEAu - Sellbuymusic artist

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Q1. Please introduce yourself. What genre of music do you mainly produce?

A1. Hello, I'm bEAu. Currently, I'm working as a drama background music composer and bEAu is my stage name. Since I mainly work on drama background music, I don't really stick to a specific genre when composing. When I release my own albums, I tend to produce more ambient and minimalist music!

I think it's influenced by the artists I like. The reason why I started making video music was also because of the artists I admire. When I work on dramas, I have to write songs even for genres I'm not familiar with, so the concept of genre has become less important to me. ^^;;;

Q2. How did you come to know about SellBuyMusic?

A2. While preparing for the drama 'Hyena', I happened to discover Sell Buy Music while looking for music references. In the United States, there are many library companies like Sell Buy Music that are widely used in the drama industry, and I happened to come across a Korean library company during this opportunity.

Q3. Are there any artists or songs that inspire you?

A3. There are two artists who gave me the biggest inspiration to do video music. One of them is Olafur Arnalds from Iceland, and the other is the world-renowned maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto, who recently passed away.

Both of them always give me great influence and inspiration. It's hard to pick a song that inspires me because they have so many hit songs, but if I have to choose, I would pick "Ólafur Arnalds - Ágúst" and "Ryuichi Sakamoto - andata."

Q4. Is there a particular aspect that you pay the most attention to when making music?

A4. I always think about the situation and scene first when I write a song. I spend a lot of time thinking about what kind of situation and scene the song can be used in. I hope that people who listen to my music can feel like they've become the protagonist in a drama. Music that makes sad scenes sadder or helps people feel more in love when they're in love. That's why I always try to write music while thinking about the situation and scene.

Q5. If you have a favorite song among the music you created, what song is it?

A5. I think the songs that were inserted into the hit dramas last year come to mind first. The two songs that I like the most are "Who Was Killed" from the "Penthouse" OST and "Lovely W.Y.W" from the "Strange Lawyer Woo Young-woo" OST. Especially, I personally love "Lovely W.Y.W" because it suited the cute image of Woo Young-woo in the drama so well~ 😊

Q6. Can you introduce the attractive points of your music to your readers?

A6. I think the charm of my music lies in its ability to enrich videos. So, the intensity of the music is important. In that sense, my music plays a role in adding to the video. I think the charm of my music is that it does not overpower the video or detract from it.

Q7. When do you get musically inspired in your daily life?

A7. I think it's when I'm taking a walk or daydreaming at a café. I enjoy observing people while walking or daydreaming at a café. Then, I unfold my own imagination. I often get inspiration from imagining, "What kind of music would go well with that story?" while creating my own mini-theater alone.

Q8. Who do you want to be known as in the music industry?

A8. I want to be known as an artist who people say, "This song is definitely his!" An artist who always approaches with a new feeling and makes various attempts. I also want to be remembered as an artist's artist. That's exactly what I admired about Ryuichi Sakamoto. He always tried new things but made music that fit so well. It's my dream to become such an artist. ^^

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[janecrockeyre]

scum villain is a greek tragedy disguised as a regular tragedy disguised as a comedy disguised as a danmei

this is going to be long, and this is only PART ONE.

a.k.a, Analysing the plot of Scum Villain’s Self Saving System through Aristotle’s Poetics, because I Have Mental Issues

Part One: Introduction and the Tragic Hero

Scum Villain’s Self Saving System is a tragedy disguised as a comedy, unless you’re Shen Yuan, in which case it’s a mixture of a romance and a survival horror. It's a fever dream. It's a horrible, terrible book that made me feel new undiscovered emotions when I finished reading it. 

The thing is... SVSSS shares characteristics with some of the most famous tragedies in the West, such as Oedipus Rex, Medea, Antigone, the Oresteia... if you haven’t read these, I’ll explain everything. But the gist of my argument is this: SVSSS is the perfect tragedy. In triplicate. 

Tragedy as a genre is old as balls and so it has meant slightly different things to different people over the last few thousand years. I'll be focusing on ancient Greek tragedy, which was performed at the yearly Festival of Dionysus in Athens during the 500-350s BC (give or take a hundred years). Aristotle, when writing about this very specific subset of tragedy, had no idea that one day Scum Villain would be written, and then that I would be using his work as a way to look at Shen Qingqiu’s Funky Transmigration Mistake. Anyway!

Greek tragedy greatly influenced European dramatic tradition. I have a lot of opinions about white academics idolising and upholding the classics as the "paragon of culture" but I'll withhold them for now. I have no idea if MXTX has read Greek tragedy or not, so don't take this as me saying they are writing it. 

In my opinion, tragedy is a universal human constant. We are surrounded by pain and hurt and none of it makes any sense, so we seek to process that pain through drama, art, literature, etc. We want to understand why pain happens, and how it happens, and try to make sense of the senseless. The universe is cold and cruel and random. Tragedy eases some of that pain. 

On that note: Just because I am analysing Scum Villain through a Greek lens doesn't mean that it was written that way. I'm pasting an interpretation onto the book when there's probably a very rich and deep history of Chinese tragedy that I just don't know about. If you ever want to talk about that, please, god, hit me up, I would love to learn about it!! 

Anyway, tragedy. MXTX is excellent at it! Mo Dao Zu Shi? Painful dynastic family tragedy. Heaven Official's Blessing? Mostly romance, but she managed to get that pure pain in there, huh? 

But in my opinion, Scum Villain holds the crown for the most tragic of her stories. MDZS was more of a mystery. TGCF was more of a romance. Neither of them shy away from their tragic elements. 

Scum Villain would fit right in between the work of Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus. How? Let me show you. Join me on my mystery tour into the world of "Aristotle Analyses Danmei..."

Part One: The Tragic Hero

What is a tragic hero? Generally, Greek tragic heroes are united by the same key characteristics. He must be imperfect, having a "fatal flaw" of some kind. He must have something to lose. And he must go from fortune to misfortune thanks to that fatal flaw. 

There are two (technically three) tragic protagonists in SVSSS and all of them are tragic in different but formulaic ways. Each protagonist has their own version of “hamartia” or a “fatal flaw”. 

Actually, hamartia isn’t necessarily a flaw - rather, it is a thing which makes the audience pity and fear for them, a careful imperfection, a point of weakness in the character’s morality or reasoning that allows for bad things to happen to them. For example, in Oedipus Rex, the king Oedipus has a “fatal flaw” of always wanting to find the truth, but this isn’t exactly a flaw, right? Note: this flaw can be completely unwitting, as we see with Shen Yuan. It can also be something that the protagonist is born with, some kind of trait from birth or very young. 

Shen Yuan

Shen Yuan’s “hamartia” is his rigid adherence to fate and his inability to read a situation as anything but how he thinks it ought to be. He believes that Bingmei will grow into Bingge, and it takes several years, two deaths, and some truly traumatising sex to convince him otherwise. 

Shen Jiu

Shen Jiu’s fatal flaw is his cruelty. It is his own sadistic treatment and abuse of Binghe which directly leads to his eventual dismemberment. This is kind of a no-brainer. Of course, it isn't all that simple, and as an audience we pity him for his cruelty as much as we fear it because we know it comes from his own abuse as a child. This just makes him even more tragic. Delicious. 

Luo Binghe

Luo Binghe’s fatal flaw is a complicated mix of things. It is his position as the “protagonist” which compels him to act in certain ways and be forced to suffer. It is his half-demonic heritage, something entirely out of his control, which sets in motion his tragic reversal of fortune when he gets yeeted into the Abyss. He also, much like Shen Yuan, has the propensity to jump to conclusions and somehow make 2 + 2 = 5. 

As well as having their respective “flaws”, all three protagonists match the rough outline of a good tragic hero in another way: they are in a position of great wealth and power. Even when you split the different characters into different “versions”, this still holds true. Yes, Luo Binghe is raised a commoner by a washerwoman foster mother, but his dad is an emperor and he also ends up becoming an emperor himself. 

Yes, Shen Jiu is an ex-slave and a victim of abuse himself, but Shen Qingqiu is a powerful peak lord with an entire mountain’s worth of resources at his back. 

Shen Yuan is a second generation new money rich kid. 

Bingge is a stereotypical protagonist with a golden finger. Bingmei is a treasured and loved disciple with a good reputation and a privileged seat by his shizun’s side. 

In a tragedy, having this kind of good fortune at the beginning of your story is dangerous. Chaucer says that tragedy is (badly translated into modern english) “a certain story / of him that stood in great prosperity / and falls out of high degree / into misery, and ends up wretchedly”. If we follow this line of thinking, a good tragedy is about someone who has a lot to lose, losing everything because of one fatal point of weakness that they fail to address or understand. 

If we look at Shakespeare, this is what makes King Lear such a fantastic tragic protagonist. He is a king in control of most of England, who from his own lack of wisdom and excess of pride, decides to split his kingdom apart to give to his daughters, favouring his murderous, double crossing progeny, and condemning his only actually filial daughter to death. He loses his kingdom, his mind, and his beloved daughter, all because of his own stupidity.

This brings us to:

Part Two: Peripeteia

This reversal of fortunes is called peripeteia. It is the moment where the entire plot shifts, and the hero’s fortunes go from good to bad. Think of it like one of those magic eye puzzles, where you stare at the image until a 3D shark appears, except you realise the shark was always there, you just couldn't ever see it, waiting for you, hungry, deadly, always lurking just behind that delightful pattern of random blue squiggles. 

Each tragic hero has their own moment of peripeteia in SVSSS, sometimes several:

Shen Qingqiu

In the original PIDW, SQQ’s peripeteia presumably occurs when he finds out that Bingge didn’t perish in the Abyss but has actually been training hard to come and pay him back. There’s really not much I’m interested in saying here - as a villain, OG!SQQ is cut and dry, and the audience doesn’t really feel any pity or fear for him. As Shen Yuan often mentions, what the audience feels when they see OG!SQQ is bloodlust and sick satisfaction. There is also the trial at Huan Hua Palace, which I will talk about in Shen Yuan’s section. 

Shen Yuan (SQQ 2.0)

One of SY’s most poggers moment of peripeteia is the glorious, terrifying section between hearing Binghe for the first time after the Abyss moment, and getting shoved into the Water Prison. 

“Behind him, a low and soft voice came: “Shizun?”

Shen Qingqiu’s neck felt stiff as he slowly turned his head. Luo Binghe’s face was the most frightening thing he had ever seen.

The scariest thing about it was that the expression on his face was not cold at all. His smile wasn’t sharp like a knife. Rather, it showed a kind of bone-deep gentleness and amiability.”

This is the moment of true horror for Shen Yuan, because he knows what happens next: the plot unfurls before him, inevitable and painful, and he knows that death awaits him at Luo Binghe's hands (lol). Compare it with the bone deep certainty with which he faces his own downfall during the sham of a trial later in the chapter (I’ve bolded the important part):

“In the original work, Qiu Haitang’s appearance signified only one thing: Shen Qingqiu’s complete fall from grace. [...] Shen Qingqiu’s heart streamed with tears. Great Master… I know you’re doing this for my own good, but I’ll actually suffer if she speaks her words clearly. This truly is the saying “not frightened of doing a shameful deed, just afraid the ghost (consequences) will come knocking”!”

After the peripeteia is usually the denouement where the plot wraps up and the threads are all tied together leaving no loose ends, but because this tragedy isn’t Shen Yuan’s but the former Shen Jiu’s, it’s impossible to finish. 

Shen Yuan cannot provide the meaningful answers that the narrative demands because 1) he doesn’t have any memory of doing anything, and 2) he wasn’t the person who did them. Narratively, he cannot follow the same path as the former SQQ because he lacks the same fatal flaw: cruelty. 

This is why Binghe doesn’t kill him - because he loves him, rather than despises him. And this is why Shen Yuan has to sacrifice himself and die for Luo Binghe in order to save him from Xin Mo: because the narrative demands that denouement follows peripeteia, and SQQ’s fate is in the hands of the narrative. 

(Side note: I believe that this literal death also represents the death of OG!SQQ's tragic arc. The body that committed all those crimes must die to satisfy the narrative. SQQ must die, like burning down a forest, so that new growth can sprout from the ashes. After this, Shen Yuan's story has more room to develop instead.)

It must happen to show Bingmei that SQQ loves him too. And this brings us to Bingmei.

Bingmei

Bingmei has two succinct moments of utter downfall. The first is a literal fall - his flaw, his demonic heritage, leads his beloved shizun to throw him down into the Abyss. From his point of view, SQQ is punishing him simply for the status of his birth. He rapidly goes from being loved and cherished unconditionally, to being the victim of an assassination attempt. 

He realises that he is totally unlovable: that for the crimes of his species that he never had a hand in, he must pay the price as well: that his shizun is so righteous that no matter what love there was between them, if SQQ sees a demon, he will kill it. Even if that demon is Bingmei. 

The second moment is when SQQ dies for him. Again, from his point of view, he was chasing after a man who was struggling to see him as a human being. Shen Qingqiu’s death makes Bingmei realise that he has been completely misunderstanding his shizun: that SQQ would literally die for him, the ultimate act of self sacrifice from love: that SQQ loved him despite his demon heritage. 

Much like King Lear holding the corpse of his daughter and wailing in sheer grief and pain because he did this, he caused this, Bingmei gets to hold his shizun's cold body and cry his eyes out and know that it was his fault. (Kind of.)

(Yes, I’m bringing Shakespeare into this, no I am not justifying myself)

Maybe I'm a bit sadistic, but that scene slaps. Let me show you a comparison of scenes so you get the picture. 

Re-enter KING LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his arms; EDGAR, Captain, and others following

KING LEAR

Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones:

Had I your tongues and eyes, I'ld use them so

That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone for ever!

I know when one is dead, and when one lives;

She's dead as earth. Lend me a looking-glass;

If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,

Why, then she lives.

[...]

 KING LEAR

And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life!

Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,

And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,

Never, never, never, never, never!

Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir.

Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips,

Look there, look there!

Dies

Versus this scene in SVSSS: 

Luo Binghe turned a deaf ear to everything else, greatly agitated and at a loss of what to do. He was still holding Shen Qingqiu’s body, which was rapidly cooling down. It seemed like he wanted to call for him loudly and forcefully shake him awake, yet he didn’t dare to, as if he was afraid of being scolded. He said slowly, “Shizun?”

[...]

Luo Binghe involuntarily held Shen Qingqiu closer.

He said in a small voice, “I was wrong, Shizun, I really… know that I was wrong.

“I… I didn’t want to kill you…”

PAIN. SO MUCH BEAUTIFUL PAIN. Yes, I know Shakespeare isn’t Athenian, but he was inspired by the good old stuff and he also knew how to write a perfect tragedy on his own terms. Anyway. I’ll find more Greek examples later.

This post was a bit all over the place, but I hope it has been fun to read. Part Two will be coming At Some Point, Who Knows When. This is a bit messy and unedited, but hey, I’m not getting paid or graded, so you can eat any typos or errors. Unless you’re here to talk to me about Chinese tragedy, in which case, please pull up a seat, let me get you a drink, make yourself at home.

ps: if you want to retweet this, here is the promo tweet!

#svsss #scum villain #luo binghe #shen qingqiu #shen jiu #greek tragedy #hello followers this account has been silent for a long time but today i bring you whatever this is #long post #i am gonna cross post more art here from my twitter i think #you guys really like my shitposts on here