#and at the same time we the viewers have also been exposed to so much new content

[somebluemelodies]

not to be in my feelings or anything but it’s after streams like quackity’s today where i just kinda sit there for a moment (several moments… a while…) and think about how many friendships have come out of the qsmp, and consequently the fact they wouldn’t exist and many of the cc’s probably wouldn’t know about each other if not for the server

quackity truly did something wonderful here goddamn :’D i will say it over and over again a thousand times

#all the cc’s have gained so many new relationships #and you can just tell by the way they talk about each other that it’s so genuine #and at the same time we the viewers have also been exposed to so much new content #and relationships of our own #that we probably wouldn’t have had otherwise #THE QSMP MAN #I LOVE THIS SERVER SM #qsmp

[whetstonefires]

So like, I'm pretty darn sure Mo Xuanyu did not actually make a pass at Jin Guangyao.

For several reasons, like for one thing hitting on your own actual brother who is also your boss is genuinely insane behavior, in a way nothing else we know about the guy actually matches, other than his reputation for being crazy which mostly seems to originate from the same point as the sexual harassment allegations. which tracks because even with rampant societal homophobia, that's such a crazy thing to do people would question it if it didn't come paired with the information that he's insane.

Then there's the fact that if that had actually happened, there's basically no way master spin artist jgy would have let it get out, because actually experiencing that would trigger his sense-of-uncleanliness issues so hard.

But what we see is that somehow Everyone Knows that it happened, but also that Jin Guangyao totally didn't tell anyone, because he's too merciful and kind and respectable. It just mysteriously leaked somehow that this private scandal happened.

(Also, to step up a meta level, the gay goth kid who was never quite accepted into his own family and wound up self-destructing was in fact guilty of the homophobic allegations spread by the powerful man who manipulates reputation for personal advantage? This is not the kind of story where that would be true. The thematic dissonance is too much.)

The only way it's believable that mxy made a move on jgy is if jgy spent a long time maneuvering him into it, hinting and deniably flirting and just generally being maximum skeeze, just a huge elaborate incestuous honeypot, just to bait a 'ruined reputation' trap. Which makes no sense at all.

I don't think jgy is necessarily above that kind of creepy grooming behavior but I do think he would hate it, and definitely wouldn't resort to it when sowing rumors would work just as well. and expose him to less risk.

So Mo Xuanyu didn't do it.

So what we've got is that Jin Guangyao systematically obliterated this kid's credibility.

No one would listen to anything he said after being expelled in that sort of context, especially anything against Jin Guangyao, whom he now has obvious motive to smear. This was a preemptive strike against some kind of leak.

It's exactly the kind of thing jgy would do--it targets individual vulnerability, leverages the weak points in Mo Xuanyu's reputation into gaping chasms, in a way that associates jgy with scandal but makes him personally look better. also shows signs of jgy projecting his own issues onto others. The MO fits.

And his motive is easy to construct: Mo Xuanyu had had access to his secrets, such as Wei Wuxian's manuscripts and probably a lot of the other ugly shit. And Jin Guangyao needed him silenced, due to some thing or other, but as with SiSi didn't want to have to kill him.

(A fascinating thing about jgy as a villain is the moments where he yields to sentiment pretty consistently contribute to his destruction.)

But then we come around to: so why didn't Mo Xuanyu sic Wei Wuxian on Jin Guangyao, then?

In cql wwx does have a curse cut for jgy, to keep him in the plot and create an additional open storyline to resolve, since viewers are gonna be denied romantic catharsis, but in cql the homophobia plotline isn't there because all the gay is censored, and mxy allegedly hit on qin su instead. which is less utterly unhinged to do though still big wtf.

In the book, mxy summoned the Yiling Patriarch just to kill the Mos. (Which he didn't even do lmao.)

So I've always been sort of poking at that, like if you're destroying your own soul to get revenge, why spare the person who deliberately ruined your life?

Even if he had done the thing, it was weird! Maybe even weirder; if you're in a headspace where making sexual advances anyone should be able to predict are unwelcome seems like a good idea in the first place, there's a pretty good chance getting punished for them isn't going to make you think you were in the wrong. Otoh there is a zone where he could have done it, gotten the backlash, cleared his head a bit, realized it was fucked up to do, and therefore not held a grudge in that particular direction, but it's still weird. (And also he definitely didn't do the thing.)

But if he was so angry, why was he not angry at Jin Guangyao? Who definitely kicked him out of the Sect, all else aside?

And then I looked at the passage in Jin sect where we swap to Jin Ling's pov and he tells us one of the few first-hand things we hear about Mo Xuanyu: He thought Jin Guangyao was the most amazing person in the whole world. He adored him.

And being betrayed and rejected by him didn't turn that into resentment. Even though he resented the other side of his family enough to want them gratuitously murdered.

So you know what I think happened?

I think Mo Xuanyu thinks it was an honest misunderstanding. That Jin Guangyao, his idol, falsely concluded that his gay little brother was creeping on him based on a misinterpretation of his admiring behavior, and was appropriately revolted. And that Mo Xuanyu doesn't blame him for it. He blames himself.

He went back to his mother's family to rot genuinely feeling like the ruination of his life was his own fault for being creepy. And died like that.

Because of that, to a considerable extent. How can you bend any of your will to saving yourself, to getting out of an abusive situation and seeking a better one, when you don't think you deserve to be saved?

Fucks me up.

#hoc est meum #mdzs #mo xuanyu #meta #internalized homophobia #homophobia #suicide #abuse #gaslighting #the untamed #cql

[randomgirlyoudontknow]

No one will probably read this, but as a long-time fan of ATLA (as in, I literally watched the show as it aired in 2005-2008), I wanted to share my thoughts on the live action. Let it be known that I am far from an ATLA purist––the original certainly had its own flaws and aspects that didn't age well, in retrospect. Despite the generally negative reviews I've seen from the fandom, I was actually very satisfied with this adaptation! But I’ve seen people saying that the characters were butchered, that it’s a soulless and superficial reproduction, and those who liked the live action aren’t capable of thinking/watching critically, which I wanted to push back against (I mean, I’m working on a doctorate in literature…I am quite literally incapable of watching anything uncritically).

The shift in tone to a darker, more mature one was a positive change, imo. It is definitely a much angrier show than the original, even if some of the characters were not as fiery as they should have been (*cough* Katara *cough*). Overall, while there were certainly decisions made that I didn't agree with (mainly related to pacing and narrative), I thought the cast and crew really captured the spirit of the original, and even added depth and nuance to parts I felt were initially lacking.

In general, I really appreciated the added emphasis on the cost and suffering of war and imperialism, as well as the depiction of the physical effects of bending. Now, I realize this is largely a matter of personal preference––for example, I'm very interested in depictions of war in fiction (I mean, my dissertation partially covers the impact of WWI on avant-garde art & literature, so...). But I've seen several claims that the live action glorifies war and violence in a way that is meant to traumatize the viewer, and I simply don't think that's true? While the original handled war, genocide, trauma, etc. in a phenomenal way for a kid's show in the early 2000s, it was also still sanitized when it comes to death and injury, to an extent that I feel like we, the viewers, almost lose sight of the fact that bending KILLS. Sure, we were exposed to its after effects, like the death of Katara and Sokka's mother or Zuko's scar, but there's something to be said actually seeing and acknowledging the very palpable danger that something like firebending presents.

I've even seen someone say that the show's depiction of "gratuitous violence" constitutes a "profound misunderstanding" of the source text, which I think is frankly a bad faith take. The death and violence, though more realistic, is still not a major focus of the show, nor is it glorified in any way. A glorification of violence would look like indiscriminate killing and maiming for the sake of edginess (looking at you GOT). We would see graphic depictions of death and injuries, which simply does not happen in this show (they even joke about the fact that we never see anyone die in Ember Island Players). War and fighting are still treated with the same depth and gravity as the original, only this time, the severity of its consequences isn't obscured from the viewer.

I also thought the show's handling of trauma (especially Katara's) was excellent. The choice to have Katara's mom's death revealed in flashbacks (specifically when around firebending) was something that really stood out to me. And the new characterization of Bumi, which I realize was quite unpopular, was another change I quite appreciated. His bitterness and cynicism seemed more in-line with someone who had endured 100 years of war and the suffering of his people at the hands of a brutal imperial force. Lastly, I was pleased to see the narrative attempt to address the role Iroh played in the Siege of Ba Sing Se (something that was absolutely missing from the original). The Earth Kingdom soldier confronting him and calling him a butcher was a powerful moment, for me. I truly hope the show continues to dive into this aspect of his character in future seasons.

Speaking of characters, I loved that we got extra background and insight into several of the characters. Zhao, for example, was unexpectedly quite funny, and his actor really did a phenomenal job of fleshing him out and making him feel like a real person (as slimy and smarmy as he was) rather than a stock, cartoon villain. And I have to give kudos to the actors who played Sokka and Zuko––they both did an incredible job of embodying their respective characters, in a way that felt highly reminiscent of the original. In particular, I thought the handling of Zuko's backstory was truly outstanding––perhaps even better than the original.

All in all, I felt the live action did a really nice job of balancing the darker sides with the light. While I've seen fans complaining that the show doesn't have the same goofiness and lightheartedness, I actually thought the humor worked really well––it was one of the few times I felt the overly ironic, Joss Whedonesque one-liners actually fit. Sure, the humor was a lot drier and more toned down than the original, but I nonetheless thought it carried the show's spirit well (loved that they let Sokka say “ass” not once, but twice). There were moments when I genuinely laughed out loud! I also appreciated how, despite the more mature tone, hope, friendship, and harmony still remained the most important aspect at the end of each episode.

There's a lot of room for improvement, but I was overall very satisfied with the live action, and I'm very glad that the series has been renewed. I'm very excited to see what the cast and crew does with the rest of the show!

#tl;dr i really enjoyed the live action #long post #there's honestly so much more i could say but my brain is currently fried #this is probably a little all over the place but i just finished up a book review and i am incapable of forming coherent thoughts #atla #avatar the last airbender #natla #natla positivity

[niki-phoria]

Hili I love your work <3 !!! could I please request a reaction on how each Enhypen member would defend/protect from the public after freshly revealing their relationship with y/n? pronouns he/him & thank you so much

⋆｡°✩ enha reaction - protecting their bf after their relationship is exposed

includes: established relationship, mix of angst and fluff, really struggled with some of these ngl, big shoutout to @/heeseunq for making the best enha gifs on this website

a/n: thank you for requesting !! i'm so sorry fics have been taking longer to make lately but i'm trying to catch up on them. i hope you like it :))

warnings: homophobia, mentions of hate comments

male reader (he/him pronouns)

⋆｡°✩ heeseung

(word count 209)

“heeseung-ssi,” the interviewer begins. she glances down at her cue card momentarily before looking back up at him. he perks up at the mention of his name, quickly setting his water bottle aside and leaning in closer to the microphone propped up in front of him. “you recently revealed your relationship with y/n. how does it feel to finally be out?”

“it’s… good,” he nervously chuckles. jay reaches over to encouragingly pat his shoulder as a silent way to encourage him to continue. “it feels good. y/n is the love of my life. i’m glad i’m finally able to talk about him.”

she smiles at him from behind her microphone before she continues. “there’s been a lot of love and support from the community, but there’s also been some negativity. how have you two been handling it?”

“there have been some rough times, obviously,” heeseung lets out a soft sigh. “but we have each other. all of the support has also helped, but… i don’t think there’s anything that would change the way i feel about him.” 

you smile to yourself from behind the cameras, adjusting your mask slightly to hide how flustered you are. heeseung winks at you from across the room as the interview continues.

⋆｡°✩ jay

(word count 200)

“y/n,” jay sighs as he reaches over to take your phone out of your hands before exiting out of the tab. he sets your phone aside before turning his attention back to you. “please stop reading the comments.”

“i’m sorry,” you whisper. “it’s just… they’re hard to avoid.”

jay lets out another soft sigh as he sets his chopsticks aside. he pushes his chair back to stand up before sitting beside you on the couch. he reaches a hand up to brush a stray strand of hair out of your face before resting a hand against your cheek. “i know it’s hard, but… forget what they think, okay?” he whispers. his hands fall to your waist as he gently coaxes you over to sit in his lap. your knees rest on either side of his hips as he traces small shapes against your hips. your arms rest comfortably around his shoulders as jay leans in to pepper small kisses all over your face. 

you laugh at the ticklish feeling, squirming away from him before jay leans in to pull you into a final kiss. “i love you,” he whispers. “nothing will ever change that.”

“i love you too, jay.”

⋆｡°✩ jake

(word count 218)

jake props his mangers’ phone up before he starts a new live, watching as the number of viewers slowly climbs up. his eyes scan through the comments, watching the various reactions to the sudden stream. 

“okay,” he finally murmurs to himself. “i wanted to come online to clarify a few things and answer your questions. i’ll try my best to explain everything.”

“are the dating rumors true?” jake softly sighs at the way the same question immediately fills the comment section on the side of the screen. his teeth catch his bottom lip momentarily - a nervous habit - before he looks back up at the camera. 

“yes. i have a boyfriend.” he pauses, fiddling with his fingers as he continues. “y/n is the light of my life. he means everything to me. i know that will be difficult for some of you to accept, but… there’s nothing i wouldn’t do for him. he makes me a better person. i’m in love with him.”

a flurry of responses light up the side of the screen. words continuously scroll by at a far too fast pace. jake startles slightly when his own phone dings from beside him. he anxiously opens the newest text message before softly smiling to himself at the sight.

y/n <3

i love you too, ikeu

⋆｡°✩ sunghoon

(word count 205)

you let your head fall against sunghoon’s shoulder as you anxiously await his manager’s return. the large conference room feels suffocating around you as you shift uncomfortably in the office chair. “hey,” he whispers. you shift just enough to look up at him, nervously biting your lip. “it’ll be okay.”

“you don’t know that.” your voice cracks as the words leave your lips. tears sting at the corners of your eyes. you let out a shaky exhale as your gaze falls back down to your feet. 

“y/n,” sunghoon sighs. he brings a hand up to cup your cheek, brushing his thumb against the skin. your eyes flutter closed at his gentle touch. you let yourself relish in the feeling for a few seconds as he slowly coaxes you closer before leaning down to press a kiss against your forehead. “we’re gonna be okay. i’ll protect you.”

you tug the sleeves of his hoodie down further over your hands as you softly smile at him. “i know you will. thank you.”

“nothing bad will ever happen to you,” sunghoon whispers; his lips quirk into a small smile of his own. he brings your intertwined hands up to press a kiss against your knuckles. “i promise.”

⋆｡°✩ sunoo

(word count 203)

you cock your head as sunoo continues to pace around your bedroom with his phone pressed against his ear. he lets out a long sigh as he hangs up from the call before tossing his phone aside on his bedside table. he sits down on the edge of your shared bed, holding his head in his hands. 

you furrow your eyebrows, moving over to kneel down in front of him. you rest a hand against his knee as you look up at him. “sun? what’s wrong?”

“nothing,” he finally sighs, shaking his head. “it’s just… my manager wants to talk to me tomorrow morning. he sounds upset.”

“sunoo,” you whisper. you bring a hand up to cup his cheek, slowly tilting his face up so he’s looking at you. you run your thumb against his soft skin in an attempt to comfort him before you lean forwards to press a kiss against his forehead. “i love you. you know that. it’s all gonna be okay.”

he takes a deep breath before nodding. sunoo reaches up to grab your hand, intertwining your fingers together before pulling away just enough to press a kiss against your knuckles. “come on,” he whispers. “let’s go to bed.”

⋆｡°✩ jungwon

(word count 216)

“y/n?” jungwon whispers as he carefully enters your bedroom. a soft sigh escapes him as he quietly closes the door behind himself. his lips quirk downwards slightly in a frown as he walks over to sit down beside you. 

you blink stray tears out of your eyes. jungwon takes your phone out of your hand before turning it off and setting it down on your bedside table. “jagi,” he whispers. he reaches over to brush a stray strand of hair out of your eyes before letting his hand fall to cup your face. “i love you. nothing will ever change that.”

“i know,” you sniffle. jungwon slides underneath the covers to lay beside you; his hand rests underneath your shirt on the bare skin of your waist. you reach up to take his hand into yours, momentarily pressing a kiss against his knuckles before nuzzling even closer to him. “i love you too.”

jungwon softly sighs, subtly pulling you even closer into his chest. he presses a kiss against your forehead before tucking his chin on top of your head. “please stop reading the comments. i’ll ask hybe to make a statement. we’ll never see the negativity again.”

you bury your face into the crook of his neck before you nod slightly. “okay. thank you.”

⋆｡°✩ niki

(word count 204)

you quietly knock on niki’s bedroom door, leaning against the wall beside the door. “niki?” 

you can hear a soft scuffle from inside the room before the door opens with a small click. you push the door the rest of the way open before quickly closing it behind you. niki is quick to throw his arms around your shoulders, leaning his body weight against you. you wrap your arms around his waist, gently beginning to rub a soothing hand against his back.

“i’m sorry,” he whispers against your skin. “i’m so sorry. this is my fault.”

“no it’s not.” you pull back just enough to rest a hand against his face. you gently tilt his face up so he’s looking into your eyes. “none of this is your fault.”

niki swallows slightly before he nods. despite your words, you can see fresh tears stinging against his eyes. “hey,” you whisper, bringing a hand up to cup his cheek. you brush your thumb against his skin to wipe away the stray tear that rolls down his face. “i love you, okay? we’ll get through this together.”

niki nods. he wraps his arms around your waist, leaning his head against your chest. “i love you too.”

#enha fluff #enha soft hours #enha soft thoughts #enha x reader #enha x male reader #heeseung fluff #heeseung x reader #heeseung x male reader #jay fluff #jay x reader #jay x male reader #jake fluff #jake x male reader #jake x reader #sunghoon fluff #sunghoon x male reader #sunghoon x reader #sunoo x reader #sunoo x male reader #sunoo fluff #jungwon x reader #jungwon x male reader #jungwon fluff #niki fluff #niki x reader #niki x male reader #tw homophobia #enhypen reactions #enhypen drabbles #enhypen sceanrios

[itsmaferart]

Talking about Rurouni Kenshin 2023

I'm going to write a lot and I might have a bit of spoiler!!!

As a fan of Rurouni Kenshin from 1996, and now that a new adaptation came out this year I wanted to give a little opinion of my own, focusing on the comparisons I've seen of the current animated version with the 96 version.

However, I think that in order to see and enjoy both adaptations it is necessary to clarify several points, and the first of them is the intention behind each adaptation and which points can be compared and which others cannot.

Clearly, both adaptations have been made under different directions, by different companies and different times, aimed at different target audiences. And this can be clearly reflected from the first chapters aired to date (at the time of writing this review). Actually, I don't want to talk in depth about Jin-e Udo's arc yet, since in anime 2023 the battle between them and several of the arcs that are still to be broadcasted have not been released yet, but I think episode 6- Kurogasa, serves to illustrate how the current adaptation seeks to move away from its 96 counterpart despite being the chapters with less changes from each other.

To begin with, the contextualization and presentation of characters...

While in both the manga and the anime 2023, we are given a little contextualization of the situation. We are not introduced to Mr. Tani, the person Kenshin must protect at the request of one of the policemen, he is a rather arrogant man who currently holds a political office so he has enough money at his disposal to hire many men to protect them against the threat of an assassin. Although, at the beginning he refuses with arrogance, when Kenshin reminds him how he protected him during the Bakumatsu, Mr. Tani's expression changes radically, adding that all his bodyguards are useless since Sanosuke himself has crushed them in previous times.

Much of this context is omitted in the 1996 version, and it is only pointed out that Kenshin has to go to protect Lord Tani, in the face of Kurogasa's threat.

Also the presentation of Jin-e are very different proposals. In the original version, it is done from the viewer's point of view. We can see Jin-e ruthlessly murdering the guards until he appears in the room. In that way, we are introduced how this is a ruthless killer who makes his way.

While in the 2023 version (and in the manga) it is left to the expectation. Neither Sano nor Kenshin see Jin-e killing directly, they only see the bodies he has left in his path until he makes a surprising presence in the room just when he attacks one of the bodyguards and that is when we see him kill the bodyguards.

Here we see how the approach of both anime is very different. While the original version, seeks to focus more on the killer Kenshin will face and the combat, to convey to the viewer the intimidating feeling of a new enemy. The current version, focuses more on setting the context and showing us the relationship Kenshin has had in the past during the battles. Each chapter shows us key pieces of what Kenshin was like during his Hitokiri era, as well as how those who participated in the war relate to the current government and Meji era.

In Rurouni Kenshin the social and political context is one of the bases of its story, as it is directly inspired by real events. While the character of Lord Tani is irrelevant in many ways. It serves to expose once again that many of those who participated in the war took positions of importance in politics and economics, becoming arrogant people who use power to their convenience. Something Kenshin is against.

Now, really my point is not to talk about which version is better or worse....or if the current version is better for being faithful to the manga or if it is a bad adaptation for not being the same as the 90's version.

But to understand that the original version was never intended to be 100% faithful to the manga, but rather an interpretation using the manga as a guide. The fundamental elements of the manga are respected and maintained, at the same time subtle and continuous changes are made that change the story. I understand that many of these changes are not really important but substantially give a very different interpretation at the narrative level. While this adaptation seeks to be faithful to the manga, following almost in its entirety the events that the original format raised.

The remake is not a remastering of the '96 anime, but rather an adaptation completely detached from its predecessor to stick only to the manga. And this can be reflected in all the number of decisions that the direction has had, from not using the original voice cast, the change in the drawing style, not using the (iconic) soundtrack of the original, not remastering the ending and opening version. Evidently, the current version aims to capture a more current audience, proposing a version that is more attached to modernity. The goal in itself is not to appeal to nostalgia to please the established fandom, but to capture a new one that may or may not have seen the original. And that's why I think many people don't like the differences between the two adaptations.

In my opinion, I don't see anything wrong with the adaptations being different. In fact, I think to a certain extent it's good that they don't play it safe by copying what the '96 anime achieved.

However, despite how faithful the Remake is to the manga, I consider that it has several points to be solved that makes it subtract points.

For starters, several of the comedy scenes that ARE in the manga are omitted. (There are scenes that are adapted while others are omitted) Which, well… I understand the desire to stick to a serious tone and rhythm, I don't pretend that they add comic scenes that are not necessary. But the comedy in the manga was not randomly placed, but emphasized the dynamic between the characters and gave more contrast to Kenshin's personality which is sweet, relaxed and somewhat silly, contrary to his Battousai personality. Subtle details like Kenshin ready to unsheathe the sword, but seeing Kaoru they end up cutting their finger, I think details that make the difference.

Not to mention that really the OST is unremarkable. It's not bad, but it doesn't usually stand out with the scene. I can understand not recycling the previous one, but a new one could be proposed to go with a better scene.

Most importantly, do not raise new technical resources:

Just like the OST, I really don't think that making a carbon copy of the '96 work is the best thing to do. But it would be great if, while not using the same techniques, they at least come up with some new ones.

In '96, the change of color, the use of negative, slow motion, worked to make the dramatic scenes stand out. The drama was intended to be more impactful and contrasting with the comedy and serenity of the rest of the scene. While in the current version (2023), we can see Kenshin's face very well drawn, his anger as Battousai is clearly seen, but there is a lack of ambience that envelops us in the tragic atmosphere as Kaoru's kidnapping. Although these are just details, I hope that for future fights they will focus on giving more emphasis to the combats and manage to transmit the epicness of this work.

Finally, I think that the 1996 adaptation is an incredible work that unfortunately was not completed, and really as a fan of the original anime and manga I think it is worth giving a chance to the remake that shows a lot of potential. The voice cast seems very good (I personally like the new voice of Kenshin) and the animation is quite fluid, and I like the drawing style, however, it has some considerable details to be polished. Although at the moment there are very few chapters broadcasted, there is still a long way to go to see the best fights. The point of comparing is in a constructive way to see those details that can or could have been better in both adaptations, without detracting from the achievements that each one has. Since both stand out in very different ways.

#rurouni kenshin #kenshin himura #himura kenshin #kenshin x kaoru #sagara sanosuke #yahiko myojin #kaoru kamiya #battousai #anime 1996 #A long analysis that nobody asked for but still wanted to do #I honestly like both versions #But I have high expectations of the Saito Vs Kenshin fight #I hope the new version does a very good version of that fight #the 96 version was too brutal

[phykios]

Review: "We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium"; "I Plunge to my Death"; "A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers"

Hey y'all! I'm back. It took a while to write this review, and not just because I had a busy holiday season. The more I tried to consider episodes 3 and 4, the more I realized that a lot of my critiques of them were things I had already touched on in the last two–poor exposition, bad lighting, rushed plot, etc–and so it felt a little redundant to say the same thing all over again. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how annoying you find me), episode 5 was such a cut above over the rest of the season, I finally have new things to say! With that in mind, the format of this review will be a little different, as I will compare the episodes side by side, rather than consider each one individually. 

For a brief, brief recap, the three episodes follow fairly similar plot beats: the trio travels a little, meets a mythological being that tries to mess with their heads, then they all try to sacrifice themselves for the good of the quest before figuring out an alternate way to win. This isn’t a criticism, by the way–the book chapters have similar formats, and repetitive framing is a great way of demonstrating character growth. And of course, there’s no better way to spruce up a travel montage with a little lore dump. 

What makes for effective exposition? It’s a delicate balancing act between making sure that the information you need to get across gets to the viewer, but not letting them know that you’ve done it. “Show, don’t tell” is the most common expository technique, and for good reason–information is better retained and more effective when it’s not delivered to you like someone reading off cue cards. And it’s most effective when it’s withheld until just the right moment. PJO TV is not… great at this. It’s mostly little things, one-off little lines, like Luke saying “I’m the best swordsman” or “Annabeth is the smartest,” but there are some more egregious examples, mostly with Chiron explaining the world to Percy. This, I get, and it’s not like Riordan did it that much more elegantly in the books. But I’m more annoyed about Luke info-dumping than anybody else.  

I was re-reading The Lightning Thief for several reasons, and one of the things about Luke is that he keeps things very close to the chest. It’s partly to conceal his villainy, but it also makes sense from a psychological standpoint, hiding his emotions not only to keep everyone from finding out the truth about him, but also to recruit kids for the upcoming war. Luke only opens up about what happened to him and Thalia once: at the very end of the book, just before he tries to kill Percy. It’s a powerful moment–the specter of Thalia haunts Percy throughout the book, the ideal of a hero he’s afraid he’ll never be able to measure up to, and we find out that she’s been haunting Luke as well, but for very different reasons. (She haunts the TV show as well, which I like very much–I just hope it pays off!) We are shown hints of his darker side earlier, but withholding the heel turn until now, and pairing it with the first time we see him actually talk about himself, is part of what makes this scene so good and so heinous at the same time. The first time we get glimpses of Luke’s true self, his motivations and what drives him, is the same moment where he crosses the line. And in the meantime, TV!Luke just lets it all hang out. 

Consider: 

Before camp, I was on the road. Me and a forbidden kid I met along the way. Her name was Thalia… A long time ago, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades agreed their children were becoming too powerful, so they made a pact not to father any more. And it held for a long time, until Zeus broke that pact. Until Thalia. A forbidden kid attracts trouble. Monsters everywhere, it's just a constant battle to stay alive. One day, we, uh, find this little girl hiding in an alley. Annabeth. We were worried about taking her in, exposing her to all that danger. Then we saw her fight. Thalia didn't make it. But Annabeth and me... we did. And we've been family ever since… Annabeth is the strongest warrior in camp. The only way left to prove herself is to go on a quest. [S1E2, “I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom”]

Why is he saying all this? Is it for Percy’s benefit, or the audience’s? What does this reveal about Luke’s character? What about this monologue reveals what Luke actually thinks about the pact, or Thalia’s death, or even Annabeth? We’re told he sees her like family, but what does he do to show us? 

For contrast, here’s Ares’ lore dump a few episodes later:

You're new to the family, young one, so let me fill you in on how we work. See, years before I was born, my grandpa Kronos ate my aunts and uncles. Yeah. Then my dad made him puke them back up, then chopped him into a million pieces and chucked 'em into a bottomless pit, so that kinda set the tone right outta the gate. Olympians fight. We betray. We backstab. We will push anyone down a flight of stairs to get ahead. And that's why I love my family so much. My dad knows he's not getting this bolt back with quests or goose chases. He knows there's a war coming. And in reality, I think he's okay with that. I think he feels it's just time for a war, so we're gonna have a war. Isn't that great? [S1E5, “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers”]

What does this reveal about Ares’ character? That he loves violence, and that the threat of war is exciting. That he doesn’t exactly hold his family in high regard. That this is something that is central to who the gods are. All of this is supported by Adam Copeland’s performance, which is flippant, funny, and immature. The details work in concert to show us who Ares is and what he wants, all without ever having him say it out loud. 

For all of its clumsiness, though, I actually really like Grover’s little monologue about the nature of questing as we follow the kids into New York City in episode 3. It has a very Fellowship of the Ring vibe (which I’m pretty sure is deliberate) which fits on a meta-level too, with Percy Jackson in conversation with epic stories of the past.

But you know what wasn’t in conversation with the past? The shortest Medusa battle ever recorded. 

I’m being a little hyperbolic for comedy’s sake, but genuinely I hated the Medusa fight. Not the Medusa backstory–sidestepping the sexual assault in a middle-grade book was the correct choice, and it’s not like a post-#MeToo Medusa is a shocking or novel idea–but not only should the fight have been at least twice as long, it was missing a full fourth of the mythological ingredients. The mythical Perseus has four gifts: the sword, the mirror shield, the helm of invisibility, and the winged sandals. The book reinterprets the shield as a glass ball. And the show doesn’t use it at all. Is this a nitpicky critique? Maybe. But some of Percy Jackson’s strongest moments are the reinterpretation of mythological scenes, and for those to work, you should incorporate the key details. 

Also, again, cannot stress this enough, it was way too short. At least the Echidna fight scene had some blocking involved. And acting. 

Speaking of acting, I will say that it’s very consistently well done. I think the kids are more than holding their own against the adults, and they walk the line between playing maturity and still being young very well, which is a very difficult thing to do. In fact, rarely is the acting ever a problem. Because, once again, it’s the writing that makes it fall short. 

Let’s do another comparison: Percy sending off Medusa’s head and Percy and Annabeth with Hephaestus’ chair. One is from the books, and one is new. Both are given the appropriate amount of weight in the episode’s runtime. Both are well-acted, well-blocked, well-scored. But the new scene feels out of place to me. Part of the problem is that, being a scene lifted from the books, Percy sending off Medusa’s head feels earned and supported by the material of the last few episodes. He’s pissed at his dad for ignoring him, and pissed that the gods are forcing him to do all this nonsense for reasons he only barely understands. Of course he’s going to foist a magical WMD on them. 

But the chair scene doesn’t have that prior support. Consider: 

Eat or be eaten. Power and glory and nothing else matters. Ares is that way, Zeus is that way, my mother is that way. He isn't that way. He's better than that. Maybe I was that way once. But I don't wanna be that way anymore. I won't be like all of you. I just won't. [S1E5, “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers”]

In a vacuum, this would be a great scene. Walker’s fear is palpable and real, and Leah delivers a heartfelt performance in anguish at her friend’s supposed fate. That’s all well and good, except that these characters have known each other for… what, three days? A week? And for all her talk of glory, Annabeth dispensed with that idea pretty much right out the gate, as she killed a Fury rather than hand Percy over to Alecto. She tries to sacrifice herself for the quest all the time. What power and glory is she seeking? 

This is an excellent scene that unfortunately doesn’t belong in this season. This scene, as my dear @frenchswissborder pointed out, does not belong after the Thrill Ride of Love (before the Zoo Truck scene as well!) but instead feels like it should be in the Battle of the Labyrinth’s Mt. St Helen confession scene. Putting it there at least would build on three years of friendship, rather than a handful of days of not annoying each other. 

I don’t mind new scenes. I want new scenes. If I wanted a one-to-one adaptation, I’d just read the books again. But the new scenes have to matter. They have to bring something new to the table. Let me put it this way: when The Lightning Thief musical said, “Fuck it, Cerberus is a DJ,” it was both leaning into its own medium as musical theater and riffing on the idea of the underworld being under a recording studio. When PJO TV says, “Fuck it, exposition time,” it feels like they’re reading off Mythomagic card stats. 

What makes an adaptation great, in my opinion, is how well it speaks to the subtext of the original work. The musical is excellent at this, in particular how it uses the conventions of musical theater to highlight the parallels between Percy and Luke by giving them variations on the same “I Want” song. Where PJO TV shines is how it speaks to the subtext of abusive adults. Abuse of children is sadly not always so obvious, and I like how the Mist lets Alecto, Echidna, and Ares act pretty much with impunity. They are predators, and they are able to move without fear of detection. This even applies to Medusa, too, having her pretend to offer Percy a way out, when she really is only interested in herself and her needs. 

But, as the show tends to do, this only causes the story to kneecap itself by neutering Gabe as an abusive figure. I understand why it is this way, as book Sally, for all her kind and loving nature, wasn’t exactly written with a backbone. Part of this, I assume, is just that The Lightning Thief was published in 2005, and that a) the conversation around intimate partner abuse simply was not in the mainstream, and b) Riordan just got better at female characters over time. So the trade-off is that by making Sally a more formidable, dynamic character in the show, they had to dial down Gabe’s uglier, abusive nature–which is going to be really awkward in a few episodes when Sally kills him just for the crime of being annoying. 

Stray thoughts: 

Just taking a moment here to say that I think the set design has been really gorgeous so far. Shout out in particular to the attic in the Big House!

I’m only just noticing this now, but the trunk of Thalia’s pine tree looks like there’s a human in there–bent knee, arms outstretched, head bowed–and I think that’s awesome. 

The idea of monsters sensing a demigod’s weakness and responding to that is so good, and I’m taking it. 

Earlier versions of this review had a long and annoying rant about Medusa’s origins, so allow me to tl;dr: there is no original Medusa myth. Ovid’s Medusa myth in Metamorphoses comes about 800 years after Hesiod’s Theogony, which comes after Homer’s Iliad. It’s not a question of Ovid against Hesiod against Homer, it’s a question of these authors plus thousands of pieces of pottery depicting hundreds of variations on the Medusa myth, and we cannot definitively say which one is the source of the myth. That said, I don’t dislike a #MeToo Medusa, I just mostly hate the discourse around it.

It’s nice to see some architecture nerd Annabeth, but between the way the show glosses over it, and the lack of crippling arachnophobia, her character is being reduced too much to “prideful” for my tastes. It’s not that Annabeth isn’t prideful, obviously, it’s just that she has more dimension to her than the show is currently presenting. 

Annabeth and Grover throwing water on Percy like a beached whale is very funny, but it did make me realize that they haven’t introduced nectar/ambrosia in the show. Maybe they’re saving it for the finale? 

Ares calling them all cousins makes me extremely happy. This was something that Riordan did in the early books, but he kind of petered off, presumably so as not to imply weird pseudo-incestuous things once Percabeth started, but I always loved it.

I’m saving the Percy and Annabeth relationship breakdown until after the season, but it is coming! (But I am sad that “seaweed brain” came out of nowhere :( we just rolled right over it!)

The lighting is really bad, especially in the dark, and I am learning to live with it, but I am not happy about it. 

Aryan is the breakout actor of the trio, in my opinion. Playing awkward is so, so easy to overdo, but he brings a sincerity and a quickwittedness to Grover that I absolutely adore–he’s a sweet kid, and he’s clearly scared, but he knows when to summon his courage and do the brave thing for him and his friends. 

Also here are some screencaps that I like. They don’t have anything to do with the review, I just think they’re neat :3 (IDs/thots in the alt)

#pjo tv #pjo spoilers #pjo tv spoilers #sasha review #this is a long one lads!

[silversodas]

Welcome Home, So Interesting Thing about The Hearts

When hearing about Welcome home I wanted to go in as blind as I could to try and see how much I could figure out on my own, before seeing to many others theories. I don’t have the energy to write a full essay at the moment, BUT I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE HEARTS (again, I am going in blind so I might be talking about something that’s been talked about)

What hearts? The hearts on the soles of Wally’s Shoes and Barnaby’s paws. It’s mentioned in both their bios that they share that characteristic. I thought that was a specific thing to draw attention to, so I looked to see if there was symbolism for having hearts on the soles of your feet, and holy crap there is!

Apparently there is a sister saying to “wearing your heart on your sleeve” called “wear your heart on your feet”. Symbolically speaking, when we wear our heart on our feet, they’re still exposed for others to see, leaving us open to finding romance (typically). But at the same time the strategic placement gives us more agency and control as we play in the risky game of love. Which sounds reasonable, but could become too guarded of a strategy if your not careful.

Barnaby has hearts on all four paws so technically he has harts in the palms of his hands and that also has symbolism, it’s main symbolism is charity from the heart, but also

For Barnaby, it symbolizes help that’s given out of love, who Barnaby helps the most is Wally and since it’s a characteristic that they share, it gives me the impression that it’s something between them which brings me to THIS DRAWING FROM THE WEBSITE!!

This is how the heart in hand symbolism is usually depicted open palm hand outstretched to the viewer. This drawing snagged my attention, it was strangely intimate. I almost passed over it, but looked to see if there was symbolism for blue hearts..and dude..

Red Hearts symbolizes romance and romantic love, and blue hearts symbolize a platonic connection, apparently for emojis it draws attention to a unique bromance or a connection between friends that are as close as brothers.

So…for the heart that Barnaby has in his hand, that symbolizes the help he gives Wally out of love to be romantic (that’s how I am reading it) but Wally himself is painting it blue, symbolizing platonic connection. Which, to me, says that Barnaby has feelings for Wally, but Wally sees it as friendship. Mostly because Wally doesn’t get it, because Wally’s gay coding is gay coded so I don’t think it’s a “but he’s straight” issue, but I do feel like a frustration is being vented here. Which is why I find it really sad

The fictional creators of the Welcome Home website are more framing devices then characters but the fictional creators of the show Welcome Home are characters, more or less. The whole show of Welcome Home feels like it was created by a gay man who put as much of himself as he could in the show without giving himself away because it was the early 70s. I mean technically it’s really obvious, but would go unnoticed by the people he is trying to avoid.

I get the feeling that what I read from the drawing is something the creator has been through. Maybe he was the Barnaby and his labors of love were seen as friendship and maybe held out hope even though he knows he shouldn’t or maybe he was the Wally and perhaps did return feelings but was still figuring himself out and couldn’t see those feelings for what they were so he painted them as friendship hurting his friend and himself as a result

I am trying to see what the “creators” of the show were going for when creating the show as well as see Welcome Home for its super natural elements, but that’s a completely different post. I am not really even sure what Wally is or how much of his own entity he actually is or if the others are even around at all, but certain pieces of art work shows a lot of personal heart and soul from the creator (character) and it makes me want to know more about him, and see what agency he has in the narrative

#welcome home #wally darling #barnaby b beagle #welcome home theory #I just now found this #and I herd it’s been around since 2018 #so if this has already been talked about and didn’t see #I am sorry #either way this information has been plagueing my mind #and I must be free of it you see

[highly-important]

Sincerity and Irony

People are getting sick of irony. The self-aware one-liners of the MCU were once refreshing but have worn out their welcome. (“Marvel One-Liners” is now a buzzword  for lazy or cliched writing.) Shit like HBO’s Velma is being described as “too snarky for its own good.”

The problem is that its lazy, or its so ubiquitous that it’s boring, but its also that this type of self-conscious comedy sabotages any sense of sincerity, suggesting that writers are embarrassed to be telling this type of story.

With the advent of postmodernism in the 60s, irony dominated entertainment and was pivotal in exposing the hypocrisies of issues like the Vietnam war. Television adopted a self-depreciating, ironic attitude to make viewers feel smarter than the naive public, and flatter them into continued watching.

Irony, sarcasm, snark, absurdist humor, etc, are all great for ripping off the mask and revealing the unpleasantness underneath. But once all the unpleasant realities are exposed, the illusions debunked, what’s next?

The Onion’s spoof of an Applebee’s campaign, encouraging hipsters to visit the restaurants “ironically” in order to mock the food, service and atmosphere. Then a second ad campaign, encouraging middle-age adults to go to Applebees to mock the hipsters. Neither group is actually happy about what is going on. The Onion video points out that irony and formality have become the same thing. At one time, irony revealed hypocrisies, but now it simply acknowledges one’s cultural compliance and familiarity with pop culture. Rebellion has been annexed by the commercialism it attempts to defy.

From David Foster Wallace:

Anyone with the heretical gall to ask an ironist what he actually stands for ends up looking like an hysteric or a pig. And herein lies the oppressiveness of institutionalized irony, the too-successful rebel: the ability to interdict the question without attending to its subject is, when exercised, tyranny. It [uses] the very tool that exposed its enemy to insulate itself

HBO’s Velma can’t joke about how teen drama lures in viewers with gratuitous sexuality and nudity while simultaneously trying to lure in viewers with a gratuitous locker room shower scene. It doesn’t matter if you’re ironically eating at Applebees or sincerely eating at Applebees, you’re still eating at Applebees.

The irony isn’t exposing any hard truths about the world we live in, it’s not rebellious at all, it’s simply pointing out its own willing compliance. Its defending itself from criticism by making the observation about itself before someone else does.

It’s sly, its disingenuous, its pseudo-sincerity. As David Foster Wallace puts it, “irony and ridicule are entertaining and effective, but at the same time, they are agents of great despair and stasis in US culture.”

The distinctive feature of satire, the thing that separates it from other forms of humor and that makes it defensible, is that it is a narrative means of presenting an argument against something that the satirist finds objectionable. Irony actually needs to be balanced out by sincerity or else what is the point?

This is also my problem with shows like South Park and the philosophy of “making fun of everything equally.” Roger Ebert on Team America World Police said this: “I wasn’t offended by the movie’s content so much as by its nihilism. At a time when the world is in a crisis and the country faces an important election, the response of Parker, Stone, and company is to sneer at both sides -- indeed, at anyone who takes the current world situation seriously.” 

But now, all we seem to want to do is keep ridiculing stuff. Post modern irony and cynicism just become an end to itself. This is cringe culture. This is CinemaSins. No one wants to talk about redeeming what’s wrong, or even enjoying what you like, because you risk just coming across as sentimental and naive to the weary ironists. Irony becomes a cage.

I won’t go into this too much, but this is also the problem with trying to satirize hate groups, racists, nazis, etc.

It reminds me of a lot of the ways in which transphobic people are ridiculed because they don’t seem to understand what pronouns are. Example, “GOP candidate roasted on twitter after calming there are no pronouns in the constitution.”

But we all already know her statement isn’t about grammar - what she is actually saying that trans people don’t belong in America. Pointing out her grammatical mistake doesn’t expose what’s under the mask, it redirects our attention to the mask. But we already know what’s under the mask. 

Imani Barbarin puts it best in this tik tok response to the video “John Stewart obliterates Oklahoma State Senator Nathan Dahm.” In Barbarin’s words “Republicans and alt right largely do not care if they are hypocrites. They’re not concerned if they’re seen as liars.”  “The space that we are in has shifted so far right that we forget they want to kill people. The debate is over.”

We are not dealing with rational or reasonable people. They are just fascists who want a group of people dead.

1920s Germany had an active queer nightlife scene. Cabaret performances often satirized politics and the Nazi politics. They were entertaining, I’m sure they were empowering, but satire didn’t stop the Nazis.

 I started writing this, because I found this quote from an interview with Howard Ashman that i think is really interesting:

 “Little Shop of Horrors satirizes many things: science fiction, ‘B’ movies, musical comedy itself, and the the Faust legend. “Little Shop of Horrors satirizes many things: science fiction, ‘B’ movies, musical comedy itself, and the the Faust legend. There will, therefore, be a temptation to play it for camp and low-comedy. This is a great and potentially fatal mistake. The script keeps its tongue firmly in cheek, so the actors should not.  Instead, they should play with simplicity, honesty, and sweetness--even when events are at their most outlandish. The show’s individual “style” will evolve naturally from the words themselves and an approach to acting and singing them that is almost child-like in its sincerity and intensity. By way of example, Audrey poses like Fay Wray from time to time. But she does this because she’s in genuine fear and happens to see the world as her private ‘B’ movie--not because she’s “commenting” to the audience on the the silliness of her situation. Having directed the original New York production of Little Shop myself, and subsequently having seen it in many versions and even many languages, I can vouch for the fact that when Little Shop is at its most honest, it is also at its funniest and most enjoyable.” 

The bold highlights are mine.

It would have been very easy for this film to try and deflate the silliness and strangeness of its own set  pieces. But instead of winking at the camera and pointing out how stupid it all is, it challenges us to invest in its world and take its characters seriously.

I think that there is still a place for irony, and that irony can still be done in radical and exhilarating ways. But I think in our current landscape, the real risk-takers and rebels are the sincere - those who risk the eye rolls, the yawns, accusations of naivete or sentimentality or melodrama. We need songs and stories that are real and sincere and empathetic. We need to fortify ourselves against nihilism and hatred.

#tw transphobia #velma #mcu #sincerity #post irony #long post

[sinswithpleasure]

Showing It All

—-------

A/N: This is for @asmodeussoularium, and also for me. I do not expect for this to get any notes, I don't expect anyone to even like or read this. In fact, I expect most of you to hate this, and I don't care. I wrote this almost entirely for myself only, and it's purely self-indulgent because I think this is crazy hot, and you'll just have to accept that it's a thing. Feel free not to read it if it isn't your thing—I get it.

Tags: Camgirls!01-line, Exhibitionism, Pissing (a LOT), Squirting, Scissoring, FxF.

—-------

"Hihi, everyone~!"

Choi Yerim, known among specific circles online as "cherrycherrychoerry", waves hello to the camera propped up in front of her. She smiles at the waves of donations and chat messages that begin to pop up, and she waves harder at the camera. 

"I'm with a special guest today! Come say hi!"

Next to her, Son Hyeju, known online under "wolfieolivia" waves and grins at the same camera. Both girls are clad in oversized button downs. 

"Today, both Livvie and I have a very special stream for you all." Yerim smiles, and her eyes glint. "We're going to do something that we've never done for this collab. I'm sure you all know we've been planning for this collab for a while now. The first has to always be awesome, doesn't it?"

Hyeju nods, her grin mirroring Yerim's, and she fiddles with the buttons on her shirt. She leans towards the camera, as if to let the viewers in on a little secret. 

"We've wanted to do this together for a long time, so give us lots of love, okay?"

At Hyeju's nod, both Yerim and her begin to undo the buttons to their shirts. Bit by bit, more and more of their skin is exposed to the camera lens for their viewers. Donations pour in for the stripping girls, and when their shirts fall open, Hyeju helps to tug Yerim's off her shoulders before she removes her own. Both girls kneel in front of the camera naked as they admire the other's body.

"Wow, Livvie… I knew you looked awesome, but off camera… fuck, you're so hot…"

"You're so beautiful too, Choerry. I'm already so wet looking at you."

"Oh, you perv." Yerim slaps Hyeju's shoulder, and she reaches a hand over to caress Hyeju's lower abdomen. She giggles when Hyeju's breathing grows slightly shaky, and she caresses her own too. 

"You drank so much water, didn't you? Your bladder bulge is so big." 

Hyeju moans softly at the pressure, and she retorts, “Same for you, isn’t it, Choerry? Yours is just as big.”

“Mmhmm! Just a bit longer, Livvie.”

Yerim turns to the camera and winks, her hand slowly crawling downward. She runs two fingers over Hyeju’s slit, and the other girl moans as the digits brush over her clit. Yerim takes Hyeju’s hand and slides it between her thighs as she fingers her.

“You can touch me too, Livvie.”

Both girls sigh in pleasure when Hyeju slides her fingers over Yerim’s pussy, and Yerim presses down on Hyeju’s clit in response. Both girls are so wet, turned on by the idea of what they’re about to do next—let it all out, relieve themselves for their loyal viewers on cam, show the world how they piss together and how much it turns them on.

Hyeju removes her fingers from Yerim, just as Yerim does from Hyeju. Both girls lick the slick off their fingers, and they grin at the other.

“Shall we, Choerry?”

“Mmm, let’s.”

Both girls lean closer to the other. Yerim giggles, and they join their lips together in a soft kiss. They break away after a short moment, and they giggle together. The two camgirls adjust themselves so the camera can catch both of their pussies in frame as they kneel.

"Enjoy the show, all of you."

Both girls lean in again this time in an openmouthed kiss. Hyeju raises a hand to knead Yerim's chest, the other resting on Yerim's hip, and Yerim squeezes Hyeju's ass with one hand, the other on Hyeju's breast as well. Both girls fondle the other as they make out, and they both let themselves relax into the kiss. 

Pssshhh…

Yerim is the first to go. Trickles of piss leak from her pussy first, dripping to the floor, before a strong messy stream sprays from her pussy onto the towels already laid out. Next to her, Hyeju follows up half a second later, her own high-pressure stream mixing with Yerim's puddle. Both girls moan in relief and pleasure as they intensify their makeout, the kiss growing desperate, their touches more rough. Hyeju pinches Yerim's nipples as Yerim kneads Hyeju's ass and squeezes Hyeju's breast harder. The loud hisses from their pussies fill the room, and lust burns so violently in both girls, the thought of exhibiting themselves, streaming their relieving themselves, them pissing for their viewers turning them on so much. Both Hyeju and Yerim can't help but feel so incredibly dirty yet horny at the thought of all their viewers masturbating to the sight of them relieving themselves while making out. 

"Fuck, Choerry, you're still going…"

"You too, Livvie…"

Both girls stare at the other pissing, and Yerim can't help but stare at Hyeju's pussy. The clean stream of Hyeju's piss is the direct opposite of Yerim's messy spray—Hyeju barely gets any of it on her thighs but Yerim's skin is covered in her own release as it sprays all around and over the floor. Both girls spread their pussies open for the camera, moaning at the pleasure of their own touch and the thought of their viewers watching their most private and intimate moments as the girls empty their bladders for their viewers' orgasmic pleasure. The lens records every detail of the girls' relief, every bit of ground their mixed puddle of piss covers, and when both girls' streams slowly come to a stop, they giggle and share another deep kiss as they rub their own clits for a small rush of pleasure.

"Don't go away, my cherries! We're not done~."

Yerim and Hyeju shift as they both smirk at the camera. Hyeju pulls a mattress, set up just out of frame, and both her and Yerim move onto it. Yerim chases Hyeju's lips for a short peck before she lies on the pillow set up on the mattress and spreads her legs open for Hyeju. 

"Hold on, Choerry. Let me get the camera…"

Hyeju picks up the camera and sets it up near Yerim at a 45 degree angle, the lens pointing straight at her body. Yerim turns to her right and flirts with the viewers—flash a wink, blow a kiss, fondle her breasts and thighs all for the viewers. When Hyeju obtains a proper angle, she steps around the camera to get back on the mattress. Yerim spreads her legs wide open, and both her and Hyeju giggle with excitement when the younger of the two straddles the older girl's right leg. Hyeju shifts herself up and pulls Yerim's left leg over her right leg to rest comfortably against her hip, and she lines her pussy up with the girl beneath her. 

"Let's have sex, Livvie."

"Mm, let's."

Hyeju sinks down, and their bodies share a kiss again, but this time, their nether lips meet each other instead in a show of sex. No more time for makeouts—Hyeju and Yerim have sex now, pussy to pussy, grinding against each other, chasing orgasm together for their viewers to watch.

"Fuck, Choerry!"

"Oh, Livvie, gosh!"

Both Hyeju and Yerim roll their hips against the other, and they moan in pleasure when their rhythmic movements cause their clits to grind against the other's regularly. Yerim grabs onto Hyeju's hips as she bucks her own up every time the younger girl grinds herself downwards, and Hyeju grabs one of Yerim's breasts, kneading the flesh with every roll of her hips. 

"Do you like it, cherries? Do you like watching us have sex?" Hyeju stares deep into the lens as she grinds against Yerim. She sighs when the girl beneath her looks up at her in pleasurable submission, and she grabs one of Yerim's hands from her hips to move onto her chest, groaning when Yerim kneads her supple flesh. Both girls begin to grind harder. 

"Fuck, my cherries, Livvie's pussy feels so good against mine, fuck, fuck!"

"Choerry, I feel so good too, fuck, fuck!"

"Livvie… I might cum if we keep doing this…"

"It's okay—ah!—I want to, fuck, cum with you!"

Both Hyeju and Yerim roll their hips harder against the other's. Their clits grind together harshly, and both girls can only moan as they work towards their orgasms together. The amount of slick staining their skin leaks between the gaps between their bodies, wet spots dotting the bed sheets beneath Yerim. Both girls moan uncontrollably with every movement, and Hyeju speeds up, Yerim following almost instantly after. 

"Choerry, I'm close, I'm close!"

"Me too Livvie, fuck, fuck!"

Two sets of moans ring out as both Yerim and Hyeju cum hard. The camera and mics pick up the visuals of both girls' hips bucking, sprays of squirt gushing over their bodies as the hiss of both girls squirting together add to their blissful moans of orgasm. Yerim and Hyeju shower the other in squirt as they rub their clits furiously to prolong and increase their pleasure, gush after gush of their orgasm streamed worldwide to thousands over their setup. When the girls fall back exhausted, Hyeju climbs into Yerim's embrace for a deep kiss, and Yerim picks up the camera to stream every detail of their makeout, all the way until they break their kiss. 

"That's all for today, my cherries! See you soon~!" 

#kpop fanfic #kpop smut #kpop fanfiction #loona smut #choerry smut #olivia hye smut #son hyeju smut

[blaqueswanzaghouliishiilikeda]

I think you’re slightly missing the point of that scene which is at that moment louis believes lestat has actually made the effort to compromise for the family (he doesn’t know yet that Antoinette is still alive) and Louis has agreed to kill people again after both lestat and claudia ganged up on him so as far as he knows claudia IS the only one who’s making waves for no reason. That’s literally what prompts her to expose Lestat’s lie after that though and once he finds out Lestat’s compromises weren’t real he also stops making an effort too and sees her provocations as necessary to getting them out in the second chess scene.

I think reading maliciously into that line is weird when we know at that point Lestat has gone to great lengths to fake his way back into the house and he hasn’t yet been exposed in that scene. Like we can say louis is stupid for believing them but that’s often how people treat victims of abuse (why are you so gullible, stupid, etc) when they fall for their abuser’s schemes.

i’m not calling louis gullible or stupid or any of that though. and i said i agree with the points. i just don’t agree with him. that’s what i’m saying. as a person on the outside who has the information i don’t agree with him.

im not reading malliciousy. it was further abuse to turn to a child who is reacting to abuse shes facing from the same individual and call her ugly. he didnt say i dont like when you do that cause. he is irritable and he gets to be irritable with her in a way that he doesn’t lestat. im not saying he’s choosing sides. ive seen it happen. parents who yell or get angry at the kids for making the abusive parent angry or antagonzing them when theyre gonna be that way anyways. thats why she responds with better angry than foolish or whatever. shes being mean right back. bc she wants to get out. she wants to get them both out and it will only happen if she does something. thats an insane amount of burden on a child. its a thing that happens often. kids having to step in and be the ones who fight against the abuser. and to have the parent who you want to be on your side talk to you like that is really not okay. of course shes being unreasonable. shes a child.

a child who can’t do much more and literally cannot be emotionally mature anywhere near where they are at. i’m asking how many times does louis speak softly and gently to lestat (with good reason due to the abuse) and expect more for the child in the situation. he is abused. and claudia is too. shes facing a unique brand of abuse lestat reserves just for her. and she is angry about that. and she is the one who didnt have a choice but to be there. how can she be the bigger person?

im saying i understand his perspective and still asking but how does that read to claudia? that’s what i was getting at. i have myself pointed out that louis doesn’t see a way out of this. so i know that.

but he also went to get lestat from antoinettes house. that’s where he found him. he believes lestat but thats not bc lestat has been in anyway genuine. at all. and louis has shown himself to suspect and say nothing. that is not me blaming him. that is me saying this is a thing i know he does. i understand why he does it. but why should claudia get the energy you cant give to lestat (again for good reason)?? he even admits to have pretty much already known. when he’s walking back with claudia and says theres no point in saying anything. ive been there. i know shutting down bc of overbearing trauma, but when there’s a child invovled then what? and again how often does claudia get chastised for barking and sniping when lestat chokes the collar he put around her neck? louis believes lestat. claudia has no reason to and does not. louis thinks shes not doing enough after everything she has done. i don't agree with him. i can both understand him and not agree with him. im not in his pov. im a viewer.

so to me. everyone endures and claudia bottles her anger and louis doesn’t do anything and lestat continues on as he does bc there is no recourse no matter if claudia says and does nothing. if claudia is antagonizing him lestat rages. lestat also decides to sit them down at a table where neither of them are saying anything and rage anyways. maybe he was taking out what louis said to him about reading in ep 5 or maybe it was something that happened then but we dont know for sure. the way the scene played out in ep 7 theyre having dinner and he starts yelling at them about books. so then what?? claudia is ugly when she fights back. because she was born of the ugliness that forced her into this position in the first place but only she should feel bad about that? and what about how ugly of a comment that was to say?

what im saying is i don’t like that he said that. and i dont agree. and it makes me angry. it makes me angry bc i know claudia’s position very well.

#louis de pointe du lac #lestat de lioncourt #iwtv #claudia #mw asks

[odd-one-advocate]

You know, it's pretty interesting how Only Friends viewers have such a black-and-white perception of the characters, that they can excuse anything the "good ones" do & show no mercy to the "bad ones" when they're wronged.

Like Mew, Nick, and Sand are seen as these innocent victims, while Top and Boston are labelled as the ultimate villains. Even Ray, who's far from perfect, gets a bit of a pass.

But let's face it, none of these characters are faultless. Yes, when they make mistakes or hurt others, it often stems from their own pain and brokenness (which is very human of them).

Boston, on the other hand, seems to do terrible stuff seemingly unprovoked, making it hard to empathize or forgive him? I guess this is why Boston bears the brunt of all the hate.

Most of these characters are flawed but are seemingly good people who do bad things. Meanwhile, Boston acknowledges his bad boy image, and he doesn't pretend otherwise. He owns his asshole-ness.

But when you look at everything he's done, like his whole thing with Nick, he's been pretty upfront about it. He made it clear that they're just friends-with-benefits and nothing more. He's honest about seeing other guys too, although he does sweet-talk Nick into feeling special.

But if we compare, Ray's not much different with Sand, minus the playboy aspect. Ray got close to Sand, led him on, but went to Mew as soon as he got the chance. He only comes to Sand when he's lonely. In fact, even after getting to know Sand's story, he said hurtful things to him.

But because Ray's got a load of trauma and self-destructive tendencies, we're more inclined to understand him, while we know nothing about Boston's past to redeem his behavior.

What makes Boston seem even worse is that Nick is way more obsessed with him than Sand is with Ray. I mean, Sand genuinely cares for Ray, so it's heartbreaking to see how Ray treats him. But because Nick is down atrocious & was probably way more hurt, Boston seems like the bigger dick in comparison.

Also, the night when Boston ruined the get-together at Sand & Nick's place by spilling the beans about Ray still loving Mew? Yeah, we hated that cause everyone was having a good time & it was none of his business to meddle in their relationship. 

But guess what, Ray did the same thing at Mew's party, exposing all his friends & ruining the birthday celebration.

Like yes, he was angry because he bears a one-sided love toward Mew so it seemed unfair to find out he's getting cheated on by the man he chose over him. But he publicly made a scene & even involved Cheum & April who had nothing to do with any of it.

It's just that Ray did it out of love & anger while Boston did it unprovoked. So Ray can get a pass but Boston definitely doesn't. 

Now, definitely the worst thing Boston ever did was hooking up with his friend's almost-boyfriend. That was a terrible betrayal, no doubt. He may not have done it to hurt Mew but he did it out of jealousy and the need to feed his own superiority complex, with zero excuses or remorse.

But as bad as that was, there's no excuse for him being illegally recorded having sex, not once, but twice, without his consent.

That's a cybercrime, plain and simple. Nick had no right to record Boston, especially because they weren't even dating? It's not like Boston was cheating on him because he never implied they were exclusive.

And then Sand stealing the video and everyone passing it around? Aren't they all cybercriminals for spreading around an illegal sex tape?

And how come nobody condemns Mew's threat to post Boston's non-consensual sex tape as revenge porn? Like I've seen people say "If I were Mew I would have posted it". HELLO? NO. That's .... not okay.

People are so blindsided by their hate for Boston that they don't see it as a violation.

Like I'm glad that Mew DIDN'T post it but threatening to show it to his dad, who may not even know Boston is gay? That's EVIL.

Not to mention, how Mew burnt the sketch Top made him in front of him, despite KNOWING he has fire-related trauma?

Like listen, I get Mew. His boyfriend cheated on him with one of his best friends; that's definitely the worst betrayal ever. So I GET him, we all get him. But if we can understand & excuse his actions, why can't we spare a little bit of that understanding towards Boston (or Top)?

Nobody calls out the cybersexual harassment against Boston because he's seen as a "fuckboy" who deserves it. Being a slut is obviously the worst thing a human can be.

Like, everything Boston did in this show is immoral, no doubt. But the others have committed not just immoral but illegal acts, all in the name of revenge or love or hurt.

So, while I won't argue that Boston is a first-rate jerk and a terrible friend who can't be excused for his actions, we've got to admit that he's not any worse than the other characters. 

Maybe it's because we haven't seen his side of the story, it's hard to empathize with him. 

Regardless, I think that disliking Boston for being a jerk AND realising that he doesn't deserve to be violated or cybercrimed are two things that can exist at the same time. That's my take on this.

#i rest my fucking case #they're all messy #boston sucks but i love him #only friends #only friends the series #only friends boston

[ruiniel]

Rating: T

Relationships: Eönwë/Sauron (past)

Characters: Eönwë, Sauron

Additional Tags: Angst and Feels, Flashbacks

Count: 2.2k

Also on AO3

Summary: The spirit of Sauron awakens in a strange place. Written as part of @myslashyvalentine 2024 for @verecunda!

Awareness brims like embers rising in the darkest night sky. He stirs, tries extending the tendrils of his will through the fiery veins of the earth, through its bones of metal that always lent their strength. But he tires, sooner than he expects, and the effort yields nothing: no earth to speak of, nor other minds to delve into and direct. He rises with the memory of movement, finding a too-bright chamber not at all resembling his last abode.

Tall windows shed light over white walls and silvery embellishments, and as he nears, he sees plush clouds drifting close enough to touch. This development is strange, to say the least. He’s not dreamt in Ages, and this one has lasted far longer than he can contend with. An attempt to awaken, however, changes nothing. 

Behind him, there is a door. He goes to open it, gazing upon a long, airy hall, dotted with the same impossibly bright windows lavishing intruding light over pale marble floors. At the end of the corridor there are gates of green brass, supposedly the way out of here. 

There is no echo of steps as he crosses the silent, empty enclosure. When at last he tries to open the way, the doors remain shut. He tries again, forcing his will upon them with no result.

“That is futile.”

Startled at another voice, not by the suddenness as much as the familiarity of it, he turns.

“The tower will not release you,” the new presence speaks again, landing gracefully from an unknown recess, and great wings slice through the rays of light flooding the hall.

“Release m—” he begins, only to realize he is not speaking but replying to the other’s thought.

A maelstrom of memory churns so fast he wavers, rekindling the last moments of his most recent, disastrous failure. It all bursts through the dam of his temporary stupor and leaves him cowering, bringing his hands to his head—to find he has no head, and no hands to speak of. 

“Greetings, Mairon,” the Herald continues in Valarin. He is the epitome of stillness, a monolith before the houseless spirit quivering in distress and confusion. “It has been a long, long time.”

Mairon…

The reminiscence of a word lost in a flood, long ago. Once a name lavished upon him by ones who would hunt him down. 

The mote of fire in his chest—or what should be his chest—spirals in frantic apprehension.

Surprise and stupor are not sentiments he is used to, and yet he’d had a taste of both lately: with his most recent defeat and the pain of being torn apart once again, his mind barely knitting back together after the fall. The last he remembers is hunger, gnawing at himself in the shadows. And now, this.

“What… are you doing here?” he asks, dread taking over at the overwhelming power Eönwë Urion exudes before his weakened, exposed spirit. 

“I was told you’d awoken,” the Herald says simply. “As you already saw, the doors will not open. Nothing you try ever will. Your place is here, now.”

“Oh?” Ire frosts his thought before the impassable, distant eyes of his peer. “You mean, not the Void?” he asks, in a voice of thought that once might have sounded demanding. Now that he is powerless, a meld of pride and fear slithers across his ghostly expression. 

“No, Mairon.” Eönwë says, the brightness of his gaze crossed by a fast shadow. “The Outer Dark is not for you.”

“Would that it were!” Sauron, the other facet, bursts forth in impotent rage, but before the shining mail and strong wings it is a weak flare of heat. 

“Look and see,” the Herald then speaks with unabated calm, a clawed hand pointing to the left. “The mirrors show us for what we are, and also moments of the viewer’s past. These you may use.”

It’s then he notices that each wall is indeed lined with mirrors. No, each wall, on either side, is made of mirrors, and as he nears Sauron sees the truth of Eönwë’s words: himself.

A wraith, with a countenance as he recalls his last bodily form. A face burned to the bone, crimson hatred blazing from the eye sockets. Clawed hands grasping at a stone seat, molten red from the rush of his fury. He feels detached from it now, though, like watching a severed limb without feeling the pain. “How long has it been since…” Since I’ve lost my dominion. 

“You’ve roamed long through the world, Mairon. Time is meaningless here, as you know.” 

“You always did love speaking in riddles,” Mairon says, unnerved at the hint of something he refuses to acknowledge. “What is this place?”

“A tower somewhere near the Gates of Dawn,” Eönwë replies, looking to the windows where a pale, blushing light blooms. “I am its guardian.”

“You mean, my jailor?” Mairon mutters, finding Eönwë staring emptily into one of the mirror-walls. “Your precious Valar have appointed you, of all people, to watch me?” If he had a throat and a mouth, he’d laugh. 

“No,” Eönwë says, and his thought has a tint Mairon has not felt in well over two Ages. “I offered.”

“You offered. And always the sentimental fool besides, are you?”

Eönwë looks his way then, and takes one step forward; nonthreatening, though he shines blindingly as he catches the light. “You are here, alone. Your empire is dust, all that you’ve twisted has been undone. All who entered Eä became part of it and that still means you as well as I, and all Ainur apart from your fallen master. No, Mairon, you are bound to the world, but with no power to shape it. You will watch from afar as it is reforged and slowly forgets you.”

Well, certainly more bitter than Mairon remembers. He watches Eönwë then, really watches closely for the first time since their incongruous encounter. The Herald looks the same, unchanged since Mairon had last seen him in that war camp after Angband fell. His long silver hair is woven down his back in intricate patterns, his determined brow adorned with the markings of his order, glowing beryl patterns swirling on his dusky skin. He wears no plate armor, and why should he? If Mairon could burn this all down and flee, he would without a second thought but it so happens he is at anyone’s mercy now. “But you have not forgotten me.”

The Herald’s lip quivers, and he shakes his head. “Indeed not. I stand here out of both duty and pity.” 

“I’d rather you didn’t stand here at all, at this moment.” It’s lowly and he knows it, but being bound is not something he’s ever withstood with grace, and he turns his sight from the Herald. Mairon has always been apt in detecting lies, and this one has, apparently, learned to be convincing enough. Eönwë, the righteous warrior of the Elder King, who could never fathom deceit nor understand wickedness. Who knew. Or, perhaps, something else drives his disbelief in that icy answer.

What if it is the truth?

The next moment he is blown to the side by the spread of great wings, bounding for the air; he’s left with the empty serenity of this place, and the image of himself, reflected wherever he turns his mind’s eye. 

“I fail to see the amusement in this.”

The frustration is clear in Eönwë’s voice as he side-eyes Mairon, who’s currently trying his utmost to keep a straight face, a beringed hand placed tactfully over his mouth.

“It’s all right, it really—” he snorts once, at which point Eönwë narrows his eyes further. “... it really is.” He reaches for the golden bracelet that’s suffered the wind Maia’s helpless tinkering even as Eönwë steps aside. “Not everyone has the inclination towards metalwork,” Mairon adds, and at Eönwë’s sigh slips the bracelet on his wrist. “But it’s wearable, I’d say.”

“Really.” Eönwë is thoroughly unconvinced, but Mairon can still sense the delight radiating off him when seeing his handiwork against the fire Maia’s skin. 

They step outside Aulë’s forges, heading down the peaceful streets at leisure. Almaren is bathed in golden light playing sweetly on Eönwë’s skin, enhancing the glittering teal of his crystalline gaze. “Come now, you cannot tell me a botched bracelet affected you so.” They’re walking close to one another, and soon enough Eönwë feels closer. “You have other skills besides…” He traces fingers along Eönwë’s forearm, hearing clearly the turmoil of his spirit. Eönwë does not hide from him, and very often Mairon finds he cannot, either. They flow into one another on waves of affinity. 

“Thank you for trying to make me feel better, but I’d hardly call that a skill to speak of,” Eönwë murmurs, looking ahead, but half a smile shines on his face. 

Mairon bumps a hip into him, and when they reach the fire Maia’s abode, takes a hold of Eönwë’s hand. “Oh but it is.” His amber eyes languorously follow the curve of Eönwë’s mouth, remembering how his body sang beneath it. He leans closer, “And I have need of it.”

Eönwë grins—beautiful, devastating—and follows Mairon when he turns to walk inside with a lazy stride. 

He’s going to strike the traitor down. His bloodied armor clinks haphazardly, weighing on his aching limbs. The Herald who led the host of the Valar paces before the gold-and-silver marquee glimmering in the sunset over lands and seas forever changed, over skies bruised with war; over the flaming mane of dirty hair and ruined armor of the Maia kneeling before him. 

His eyes are downcast as M— as Sauron stares into nothingness, looking for all the world like he’s lost it all. 

Eönwë runs a hand through his disheveled hair, disgust and anger warring as he brings his palms to his mouth, drags them over his face, breathes deeply. “Why have you come?”

No answer. Eönwë has always been the patient one, the one to offer chances. But this, this creature before him, so foreign and painfully empty, is not the one he knew long ago. “On your feet.” He cannot stand seeing the lieutenant of Angband prostrated before him, and he’s never known hatred—but now, looking upon that beautiful, timeless face and the seeding malice engraved upon it, he thinks he might have an inkling. 

“I do not…” The pale lips move, then pause.

Eönwë waits, seeking the flaming eyes carefully turned from his. He steps closer, unable to bear the sight much longer. “Why have you come to me?”

“I do not know... I have... nowhere else to go.”  Hollow voice, hollow stare.

His palm itches to reach for his sword, if only to damn himself too and to know what it feels like. Bitter is the memory of a day lost in the mires of time, when Mairon most certainly knew where he was going and with whom. 

But no, he will not be petty, though the ancient ache comes alive like molten rock cracking the surface of the earth, burning all in its path. 

He’s made the right decision, he tells himself that night when rest will not come, repeating the refusal over and over in his mind. 

The pardon is not mine to give.

“Not mine… not mine...” he whispers to the night. 

When he hears a stir, instead of reaching for his weapon, he lingers. He knows. And again, he will not be petty or a liar when the tent canvas trembles and a sheer form with blazing eyes steps inside. He says nothing, does not shrink back when warmth envelops him with primal urgency, a forgotten scent of embers and copper on his tongue.

No, Eönwë has never known hatred; but his insides are scarred by the same talons now gripping and clawing at his bare shoulders, and wishes he did.  

He will go mad, as mortals do. Day after day, if time can even be considered such, here, in this barren place of wind and silence, he wakes and takes the stairs, up, then down, then up again.

Soon, he gains something of a physical form. Mairon does not even know what or whom to curse anymore, so acute is the need to busy his mind with something, anything.

He gazes at the mirrors sometimes, conjuring memories. Days of glory, fallen empires, failure. Again, and again, he swam against the tide. Always he lost, but did he ever fight. He wanted freedom, he wanted to bring order to this wretched world, one they had abandoned but, no—

And it is then he realizes: he is tired. His spirit no longer craves the past, nor yearns for absolute control or greatness. 

“In the end, what was it all for?”

He knows the Herald stands behind him, and that is whom he asks. After all, Eönwë is not one to deceive. There was no streak of such in his Song. 

“I was hoping that one day… you might be able to tell me.”

He might be smiling, Mairon can hear it in his voice. For the first time in a long while, he thinks, he can also feel the bitterness beneath. It brings a measure of relief, though why that is, he cannot say for certain. Mairon gazes into the mirrors of memory. He looks beyond the years of dominion, before strife and wars, betrayal and pride, and before Time; seeking Almaren.

#ruiniel:fanfiction #sauron x eonwe #silmarillion fanfiction #tolkien fanfiction #sauron #eonwe

[caseopened]

PERRY: How did Girard know the right colors? PAUL: They must have come from the original. PERRY: Well, what are you waiting for? PAUL: I'm thinking. I'm trying to put myself in Girard's place. Now, if I wanted to hide a valuable painting, I certainly wouldn't put it in the gallery vault. It's the first place anybody would look for it. You know what I'd do? I'd put it right behind another painting of exactly the same size. One that no one in his right mind would even consider buying. [Paul and Perry check one painting, then another. The second painting reveals the original painting they were looking for.] PERRY: You're right, Paul. There's another canvas underneath.

I love this exchange from TCOT Purple Woman because it shows us exactly how Paul's mind works. He's very analytical in his thought process, turning over every stone until he finds the right puzzle pieces to put together.

He also places himself in the shoes of the people he's investigating; in fact, he says so right from the start! In this example, he puts himself into the mind of an art collector who's trying to hide a valuable painting-- one in which people believed to be lost to time. And in order to put himself in other people's shoes, he's got to know or be exposed to a variety of different people, their motives and mindsets, and how they function. This ties back to Paul knowing just about everyone and the reach of the Paul Drake Detective Agency. Paul is able to think like other people because he's been exposed to all sorts of people from all walks of life in his line of work.

And while he's talking through his thought process for the sake of the show and us, the viewers, I do like that we get to hear him talk it out. Simply speaking aloud is just as much a method of finding the right puzzle pieces to put together as it is to help ease Perry and his impatience/eagerness to get to the results.

Which leads me to this: we clearly get a good example of Perry's impatience here. There's plenty of other examples of this trait, but I do really think that Perry's impatience juxtaposed with Paul's calm demeanor really highlights the way in which they work off each other and help one another. In this scene, Perry wants the results now, but the only way to get results is to think it through. But when Perry has the proverbial blinders on and he's hyper focused on his casework, he can get so absorbed that he's not seeing the full picture. Paul becomes the steady mediator here, balancing out Perry until they're both on more even ground. It's Paul's calm thought process that helps deliver that full picture Perry needs for his case.

And I do think these traits are very much a sign of their professions. As a private investigator, Paul is very accustomed to the long stakeouts, the time it takes to dig up information, and the time it takes to track people and things down. He plays the long game, and he knows how to win it by not getting frustrated or impatient. I also think that Paul's demeanor in general is just very much more calm and relaxed, which is the right traits to have in his line of work.

In Perry's work, he doesn't play the long game that investigative work demands. He's working with the information that he is given while he interprets the law to formulate a case. That law is all in his head, ready to use as needed. And even if he needs to go back to law books or previous cases, all that information is still within his grasp. In investigative work, you have to go find information; it's not just in a law library in the office or within arm's reach.

And this all goes back to having the right people by your side. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but you're only as good as your team. And Paul and Perry are very much a team here. They balance each other out in a way that makes them all the better when working together.

#&. paul headcanons #&. perry headcanons #paul drake #perry mason

[aishu-no-melody]

Can you please talk about Roy Mustang for me? I'd love to hear your interpretation of him? What do you think of him in 03 vs brotherhood/manga?

Ok grab a snack lol.

So to preface I have to say that I don't like Brotherhood in general and my opinions on that play a part in my opinion of Roy. He's my absolute favorite character like I have a VHS tape from like 2005 where I took my sister's VCDs and literally took up half the tape of a Roy montage lol. But these are my opinions and why I think he has the superir portrayl in 03.

Keep in mind though I have seen Brotherhood once, havent read the manga in years, but ive seen 03 and COS SO SO SO many times.

So I feel like the overall theme of Brotherhood is "military and armestris good. Ishvalain immigrants bad." And the military in 03 is painted so much differently. It's more realistic and they drive home the point that the military fucked up and show us that Roy really has not been a great person. I mean in 03 we see him try to kill himself twice over the fact that he's killed so many people and especially he's haunted by the innocent children. When he kills Winrys parents he realzies hes become so absolutely immoral and rotten that he has killed his own people and gets turnt and tries to take his own life. He's shady, there's that scene where he threatens to blackmail child Edward/expose him and Al (it's early in the season but I can't quite remember what for) yet he tries to shelter them from how harsh reality is. He thinks by becoming Furher everything will be okay now, he will be forgiven, and the country will be better. Long story short he has his own agenda that sounds great on paper but in reality, at least in the first like half of the series, is impossible.

The growth of his character in 03 is huge and they kind of stealthily plant the seeds early on. He's no longer gunning for the position of Furher because of his own selfish reasons, he's actively seeking revenge for Hughes which makes him start to unravel.

Obviously the character of Pride/Bradley deviates from the source in 03. Actually all the homonculous and their personal foes are directly related to the people they're fighting. Edward/Sloth etc. The whole relationship of Bradley and Roy and also the characterization of Bradley as Pride is very deliberate - Roy fights Bradley and is severely wounded/almost dies fighting Pride. The entire series Roy has so much pride and so much of an ego that it's destroying him. He is literally forced to face his own deadly sin and to kill his own ego.

Ultimately he kills Bradley but in doing so his life unravels and he does not get to be the hero, the savior, the one that fixes everything which his pride previously convinced him he was capable of doing. In COS we find him isolated, depressed and a shell of his former self, waiting for Edward to return, crippled and alone. Even by the end when he saves the day in the fancy little air balloon, he still cannot protect Edward and looses him forever. He looses absolutely everything and the director of COS even said in some kind of interview or something that after the movie Roy still would never hold the same power he once did and have that same respect. So at the end of the day - he has thrown everything he's ever had away for good because of his pride. He has no happy ending. He redeems himself to the viewer (unless you're me and the second you first see him go 😍 zaddy I can fix him) but by then he is too far gone - he is both an awful person and a martyr. We know his heart ultimately is in the right place by the end but his war crimes and atrocities still exist and his failure is still very evident. If you've never seen it, look up the 10 of Swords tarot card - while I'm pretty sure they did not purposely do it, the meaning of the card and ESPECIALLY the imagery of the original card is so so accurate and I think the best summary of his character. Look up Labyrnthos or something like that their summary of it is the best.

So I feel like in 03 he has far more depth and his character arc is so, so, much richer.

To discuss this I also have to get into his relationship with the Elric brothers, mainly Edward. He and Edward are parallels of each other - both of them are arrogant and oblivious and in trivial pursuit of righting their wrongs, when in reality there is nothing they can do to rectify either situation or take back the damage they've done. Roy obviously does care for the Elric brothers but does not know how to show it properly and ends up hurting them more than helping them, he basically put them into a world that destroys them - Edward loves his brother but can't outwardly emote it in the same way Al can and ends up literally destroying Al's everything when he convinces him to help attempt their mom's life.

Edward hates people who use others for their own personal gain or for selfish reasons, he hates arrogance and hatred itself. He rightly identifies all these qualities in Roy who he appears to hate, when in reality Edward tried to bring back his mom knowing there's a chance he and his brother could die, he is also extremely arrogant and has no problem using all the militaries money and resources to do what he wants yet he cannot fathom why Roy, who sticks his neck out for him many times, gets angry with him or why some Ishvallans people are offended that he is in the military.

They have some distantly codependent relationship because they both realize they need each other - Roy needed to recruit Edward initially to show off, he also realizes Edward knows valuable information he uses to complete his goal, but also sees someone who needs some form of guidance and discipline. Edward needs Roy so he can access the power and resources he provides but he also at the end of the day, after leaving the military and coming back randomly and literally going AWOL, Roy (AND his team) does not abandon him.

So knowing that Edward is loyal, Roy assumes in the last episode when he runs into Edward on the street looking fine as hell, that Edward will join him in his battle with pride. Roy has to go into battle now alone which it seems he didn't apparently take into account and because of this he barely beats Bradley and almost dies. Edward finally accepts that Roy isn't 100% gutted and sees the good in him and finally becomes aware that the military he chose to join is corrupt, therefore so is he - he doesn't think what Roy is going to do will solve anything yet he goes and fights Dante to basically accomplish the same thing. You finally see that deep down they did always care about each other. When they say goodbye it is like the completion of both character arcs, at least for the series itself.

In COS they still follow the same path in that, yes, did they accomplish their goals? For sure, but now Roy -who succesfully killed Bradley - is demoted and exciled and miserable, and Edward -who got his brothers body restored - is alone and has absolutely nobody who understands him and is stuck that way for life.

This relates to my over feelings about Roy and his character arc because it adds to the depth of it. Their relationship is integral to it and would not be the same at all without it. I didnt talk much about Brotherhood because its been so long I don't want to mess up the facts on, but the one thing that plays into my opinion is that in BH Roy does get what he wants and I dont like that. Roy does not desevre that unfortunately and it is way boring because its like.....oh....ok? What a total shocker -_- VS Wow after ALL this, he fails even though we all think hes going to succeed at first. I also like how Edward is portrayed in 03 way better and all that ties into it to but that's another topic itself.

[lorbanery]

Listen

I'd never heard of most of the people mentioned in Hbomberguy's video either! It doesn't prove I'm smarter or more discerning than folks who had watched their videos, or that I can't be taken in by grifters.

All it actually proves is that their videos either never got pushed onto my recommended page, or their titles/thumbnails didn't spark my interest.

But you know whose videos did interest me? Illuminaughty's. That's right, I'd been following Illuminaughty for a couple of years up until the day video exposes started popping up on my recommended list.

I like to consider myself relatively good at spotting and avoiding scam artists. But I just never clocked Illuminaughty. Part of it was because, with very few exceptions, I don't like to engage with Youtubers outside of their main Youtube content. I don't follow people on social media, I don't join discord servers, I don't even generally watch personal/life update videos, because I don't like feeding that parasocial monster. So I didn't even see the whole mess on Twitter that started the subsequent rockslide.

But part of it was that ... I just didn't notice the red flags that Hbomberguy pointed out! He, someone who is very familiar with how to research and how to properly use and cite sources, saw things like unattributed quotes flashed on screen and vague statements about when and where quotes were found and they stood out to him. But I just don't have that background or experience. I was one of those people who fell for the tactics that HBG exposed as ways Illuminaughty covered up and suggested that there was more original content in her videos than there actually was.

Part of it was also that I just ... let slide the relatively small red flags I did notice. HBG mentioned her massive source lists — I remember thinking more than once that a massive list of sources like that would be way too much for anyone to actually sift through. But it was good that she was included sources at all, right? Or just how many flubs she has in her voice overs. Some people just don't have the time patience to edit those out or rerecord, though! And sure when she stumbles on a name it's almost like it's the first time she's come across that name despite having supposedly done all this research, but also some people are just bad at name pronunciations.

You know, I even followed Cruel World Happy Mind for a while around the same time (I unfollowed her before this for a wholly different reason, and while I've watched her videos about Illuminaughty because they shared important information, I won't be refollowing her). I remember when she posted that video where she talks about an issue she had with a mysterious other, larger creator over fan accusations of copying. Apparently a lot of other folks had been able to figure out that she'd been talking about Illuminaughty. I had no clue.

Everyone is susceptible to being lied to. Because that's what happened here to viewers at the end of the day. They were lied to about who had actually authored the writing in those videos. We're all susceptible to it! No matter how smart or discerning you think you are. You have blind spots, you have subjects you're don't actually know that much about. And we are all inclined to trust people when they present themselves as knowledgable, because most people aren't lying about that.

And that's not a bad thing! It doesn't make you stupid or naive to trust people when they say they know what they're talking about.

This shit happens. It's always happened, it's always going to happen.

The solution isn't never be taken in by a liar. The solution is gathering information when someone you trusted is accused of lying, of being open to the possibility, of not taking it as a personal slight against you and acting accordingly.

Because that's the other thing: It's not about you. It's not a test to see how smart or naive you are. It's a wrong that's been committed. The only person who did anything wrong is the person who stole and lied. Not the people who were lied to.

You've been given information because it's important. These people have harmed the people they stole from. You have the information now, not so that you can use it as a cudgel against people who had supported them, or will having missed this whole dustup; but so that you can make the decision to not or stop supporting them. So that you have more tools to identify plagiarists in the future.

[betyourue]

okay, let me just say this:

It's so interesting how KinnPorsche's relationship started with a huge mistake: having sex under the effects of an aphrodisiac.

Let me elaborate about this:

*I didn't read the books

*I'm just a casual viewer of the series

*My only purpose is to comment the fictional story as what it is

Kinn feels a special attraction towards Porsche because his bright personality and how he lives recklessly and finds a way to be happy under any circumstances. Also, Porsche is someone who is free (even if he's sinking in debts), he has the chance to build up his own destiny and plans to do it. In some way, Porsche is what Kinn wishes he could be. Kinn is completely stuck in the family business, he lives with the fear of losing someone he loves, trusting someone too much or dying. Everybody wants him dead, so he can't trust anyone, and this isn't something new for him, this has been like this his entire life.

Beside what he wants for his own life, he seems to be the only man on the family who is qualified to take his father's place. He needs to prove his dad he can do it and control his emotions and his impulses so he doesn't make mistakes. As we all know, his self control isn't the strongest, so it's very hard for him.

Kinn doesn't really have anyone beside him, every person around him keeps a business relationship with him, even his father. So, the only person who is closer than that is his toy boy and he has to pay for his company and probably doesn't really care or like him that much. It's all fake.

Kinn finds Porsche physically attractive too, and finds his personality completely strong. Kinn is very afraid of him.

This is why I guess Kinn can't be completely honest or intimate with Porsche unless he's drunk. That way he feel less exposed or weak, that way he feels like he's in control.

Kinn is the weaker of the two. He feels himself defeated by Porsche and that's why his whole life is out of control since they met, he can't control his impulses and that's why he fails to replace his dad properly, and he can't stand up for himself and that's why he never dared to disobey his dad and accepted this life he doesn't want.

Finally, we arrived to the point of this whole post: the main conflict.

Kinn likes Porsche in a special way and he knows that could be used against him, and he probably feels guilty that Porsche has to suffer the consequences of that. Because of that, he feels the need to take care of him after he vomited. Kinn just wanted to help him clean up, he didn't have any sexual thoughts but he is so damn weak. He knew it was wrong, that it wasn't the best time, but Porsche (under the influence) was begging for it and Kinn couldn't resist even if he tried. He acted like an animal, he lost himself for the time they had sex, he was wild and passionate.

When he finally wakes up and understands what happened he feels so guilty and upset. Even when he tells Porsche about "saving him" last night you can tell he feels so fucking hypocritical because he didn't save him, he did what he tried to save him from.

Porsche feels humiliated, hurt and abused. Kinn feels guilty and hypocrital. Both know they should stay away from each other. They just can't.

Porsche felt something special that night, he can't erase that. What he really hates about that night is that Kinn took advantage of him. He can't really trust him because it seems like his attraction towards him is "uncontrollable"... And at the same time, he feels emotionally dependent of Kinn. He hates him but still wants to be special to him, because Kinn is special to him.

Again, the huge mistake is the key of their relationship.

Their relationship is based on impulsive actions. It's meant to be reckless and passionately. What they had that night was so damn intense that it became addictive: when they are high on themselves they feel the happiest even if that means they sacrifice the reality. And when they are apart they can't get any satisfaction.

What will stick them together would be the craving of feeling what they felt that night again.

It kind of hurts, damn!

#kinnporsche #tv shows #kinnporche the series #episode 5 #episode 4