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thetamehistorian · 7 months

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I recently rediscovered the joy of Primeval and it's derailed all of my other writing plans so enjoy this snippet I guess!

Portsmouth, UK

Captain Hilary Becker had survived SAS selection, two tours of duty – which had included four miserable months in the Afghan desert with insurgents taking pot shots at him on the regular – and growing up as the only boy in a household with three older sisters.

That was to say that he categorically refused to let an overgrown prehistoric chicken become the reason his mother received a knock on the door from a sympathetic officer. With the butt of his EMD rifle nestled firmly in his shoulder he let off another burst and finally hit the sodding thing. It had been getting a little too close and bite-y for comfort for a moment there.

“Sitrep Captain?” Evan, his second and frequent bane of his life asked over the comms, presumably in the hopes that she could get off babysitting the scientist duty and have a piece of the action.

Becker didn’t so much nudge the stunned dinosaur back through the anomaly as shove it home with extreme prejudice. Look, what Abby didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. “Fan-fucking-tastic, Lieutenant.”

“SNAFU, copy that sir.”

Truer words have never been spoken.

Becker could hear the grin in Evan’s voice. There were days he was glad that Special Forces hadn’t recruited female officers back when he’d been in training. Evan was exactly the kind of feral that would have thrived in that environment, which probably explained how she’d ended up in his unit, thinking about it. It took a certain type of person to last at the ARC.

Becker tried not to contemplate what that must say about him.

Heaving himself up, EMD still trained on the anomaly, he held back at grunt as the scar tissue on his side twinged at the movement. “ETA on Temple?”

“Two minutes,” came the reply, echoed a second later by the man himself.

Finally, some good news. After the fiasco with the first, very broken, locking mechanism, and then the creature incursion, Becker could do with some haste.

“What are these little buggers anyway?” he asked, having set up in a better position to snipe any others that got ideas about coming through.

“Eoraptors,” Temple informed him, slightly out of breath. Over the sound of the comms, Becker could hear approaching footsteps. “Late Triassic.”

“Small, fast, lots of teeth, omnivores,” Matt added helpfully from somewhere halfway across the country.

Two anomalies opening at once wasn’t exactly common, but it wasn’t the first time it had happened during his time at the ARC. Becker hoped they were having more luck corralling the herd of peaceful giants back through their anomaly his team were with the overgrown chickens. Sorry – Eoraptors.

With a scuff of boots on the floor, Connor Temple burst into the room, set down the new locking mechanism and activated it with a speed that would have the instructors at Sandhurst grudgingly impressed. This time, blessedly, the anomaly behaved itself and shrunk down to a closed state. Connor let out a sigh of relief. Becker did too, but he was more subtle about it.

Then the mad genius that Becker had the misfortune to call his colleague looked at him, grinned in a mildly manic way that could have been either the result of too little sleep, or humour, or both, and said, “So, James, eh?”

Despite his attempt to hide it, Becker did not miss the way Connor’s eyes flicked down to the ID plate on his EMD, the one that matched the dog tags round his neck which clearly proclaimed him to be one Captain H J Becker.

He was well aware of the ongoing debate at the ARC regarding what those initials stood for and was just glad that Connor hadn’t overheard the first part of the conversation.

There was a reason he went by his surname, after all.

Banging his head against the wall, Becker looked up toward the ceiling of the powder magazine – grade II* listed Hils, Maddy has enthused upon their arrival, one of the best examples of a bastion trace fort in the country - and once again cursed the universe for opening an anomaly at his favourite sister’s place of work.

SNAFU - "Situation normal: all fucked up" or 'this sucks, but that's the normal state of affairs'.

#primeval #fanfiction #my writing #captain becker #connor temple #matt anderson #ocs

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ggomos-maribat · 2 years

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[18/?]

original prompt | complete masterlist

The problem with babysitting your siblings during patrol is that they get reckless. Just because there's an unknown force saving them without them realizing it, they get complacent.

For example, they lose their fair share of Batarangs.

More specifically, Damian loses a lot of Batarangs.

Inari scowls when she finds another one sitting near the edge of a rooftop. Isn't a Batarang supposed to come back to you?! Why don't you ever pick up after yourself Robin?

She slips it into her collection and jumps down into a street to follow Robin. Casting her invisibility, she waits until he's in an alley with a dead end before flicking the blades one by one.

Fwoop.

One pins down the corner of his cape. Robin halts, pinned into place. "What---" He draws his sword. "Who's there?!"

Fwoop. Fwoop. Fwoop.

Before he can register what's happening, more Batarangs fly by, attaching him to the wall until he can no longer move. His katana drops to the ground when one of the Batarangs catch his gloves and trap him to the wall.

"Show yourself!" Robin growls.

Inari doesn't move from her hiding place. Instead, she snaps a photo with her staff and turns on her earpiece to secretly tune in the family comms line. Unfortunately for Robin, he's not able to turn on his comms.

"Has anybody heard from Robin?" Batman asks.

Inari watches with amusement as Robin tries to reach for his ear but fails miserably.

"He went west, right?" Says Red Robin.

"Red Hood, you're nearest. Check in on his location."

Inari grins and leans back to wait for Jason. Red Hood drops into the alley in no time, takes one look at Robin, and doubles over laughing.

"What---what happened to you?!" Red Hood cackles.

"They appeared out of nowhere!" Robin struggles against the Batarangs. "I am guessing that they are my lost Batarangs."

Red Hood snorts. "They came back to haunt you?"

"This is not a laughing matter, Hood! Free me!"

Red Hood snickers. "Hold on a sec." He puts a finger to his helmet. "Hey, Replacement? Yeah, I did. You have to come here . . . No I won't say why. Just come here."

Next, it's Red Robin's turn to laugh at Robin, who glares and flails.

"Take these away!" Robin yells.

"Yeah, yeah, in a minute." The two vigilantes move to his side and Red Robin snaps a quick photo.

Inari smiles to herself proudly. Lesson learned, Damian.

Taglist:

@tinybrie @sinoffalsejudgement @its-maemain @kamarallil @toughluna @golden-promises @whatamoodhoney @trippingovermyfeet @m4ster0fnone @alexizlazy @plz-excuse-my-inner-gay @maybeanalien0-0 @imchaotic-dontmindme @ev-cupcake @flowers-n-fandoms @crusherccme @ji-nk-ies @depressed-bitchy-demon @duskyashe @multplelifes @authorpendragging @iloontjeboontje @thatonecroc

*if you want to be tagged, feel free to ask in the comments and I'll add you to the taglist :)

#maribat marinette dupain cheng #dc x mlb #maribat #maribat fanfic #mlb x dc #bio dad bruce wayne #maribat batfam #fox dcw #maribat fic #dc x miraculous #disclaimer #i have no idea if the batarangs can really do this #but its funny so i'll roll with it lmao

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astriiformes · 1 year

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u (asexual) were not always included in the lgbt community 😭 y’all started existing in 2008 after the hard work was all done don’t lie

Usually I wouldn't reply to a message like this -- it was sent in response to a post that included plenty of examples of historical ace and aro involvement in what we now think of as the queer community, and was obviously sent just to be inflammatory and get an upset reply. I'm secure enough in my ace and aro identity -- and have more then enough allo, queer friends who consider me a part of their community -- that mean asks on tumblr aren't about deter me from my activism, both in the aro/ace sphere and the broader queer one.

But this particular anonymous ask just so happens to be one of the most astonishingly self-centered, short-sighted examples of ace hate I've ever gotten, so let's have a little talk about what's going on here.

Anon, it takes a special kind of person to claim the hard work is done and over on Trans Day of Remembrance, when we are mourning at minimum 32 people who were killed in the United States for being transgender in this last year -- and at least 327 people globally; on the heels of 2021 being the single worst year the Human Rights Campaign has recorded for trans murders on the United States, and when just yesterday night, 5 people were murdered and another 25 injured in a shooting at a queer club. When 2022 has seen the highest number of pieces of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation filed in the United States on record -- many but not all targeted at not just trans people, but trans youth. When states like Texas and Florida are sending social workers after parents who support their children's gender transition and scaring queer and trans teachers out of schools. When there is an increasing movement to ban books featuring queer stories from schools and libraries across the United States -- including ones like Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, which talks extensively about the author's aromantic and asexual identity as well as their gender journey. When TERF rhetoric dominates the news and political spheres in the United Kingdom, and British trans folks face horrific waits of three, four, five, and more years to access lifesaving care as the number of providers in the country who can offer it to them dwindles. When queer Ukranians are speaking out about the danger the invasion of their homeland by a country with a number of trans- and queerphobic laws in place puts them in (and when queer Russians have been living under those laws for some time now). When queer and trans people all over the world are watching all of this with worry for ourselves and the people we love.

What part of that is easy? What part of the hard work is done? Trans and queerphobic sentiments are on the rise and you seem to think you have some kind of laurels to sit on -- and worse, some kind of moral superiority. Tell me you aren't involved in the fight without telling me you aren't involved in the fight.

I (asexual) happen to have marched in a protest for trans rights in below-freezing weather this week. I had a conversation with the vice-president of my university's queer student organization about how I'd like to get involved in leadership next year. I helped talk a peer down from feeling suicidal when she came into the queer student center crying. I have also been talking a lot lately with my queerplatonic partner about how much happier she is having learned to embrace her ace identity and how much more comfortable she is in an ace relationship. I have been fighting for this community out on the streets while you decided the best use of your time was to hide behind anonymity and try to tear someone fighting for you down.

Because guess what, anon? Even if you want to pretend this fight -- that, yes, ace and aro people have been in all along -- is over, I don't think you deserve to have your right to marry taken away just because you grew complacent any more than I deserve to have a doctor make belittling comments towards me while I hold my queerplatonic partner's hand in the ER just because we're not married. (And yes, the latter actually happened to me this year, in this oh-so-easy world where all the fighting's done and where ace people were apparently never victims in the first place.) You're a bully, but you're human, and my queer advocacy doesn't exclude anyone -- even jerks.

I've been identifying as aromantic and asexual since I was 16 years old. In the last decade, I've received dozens of messages like this, and had hundreds of other horrible judgements slung at me in the reblogs of my posts. I've had people I marched with in Pride parades say insensitive things about my identities the very same day. I've watched other ace and aro friends bear similar trauma at the hands of our own community and We're. Still. Here.

My friends from the university's ace and aro club marched side-by-side with me in the snow, with handwarmers stuffed in our gloves, to protest earlier this week. Another of my aro/ace friends founded a queer affinity group in a major international charity club that has hundreds of members worldwide now, supporting each other and forging life-long friendships. Another ace friend is on a committee at my university fighting for more gender-neutral restrooms on campus. I've helped queer friends move from unsupportive homes and spoken at others' weddings when most of the rest of their family refused to show up. The queer community is my home, and it's an honor and a privilege to fight for it, even if it's a tragedy to still have to. I don't have to prove I belong here.

But you -- who seem to to think that tearing down someone different from you, in a community that's been about being different from the start, is the pinnacle of activism? You might.

#honestly just stared at this message in my inbox for five minutes like really? we're doing this today? TODAY????#like i know the people who fling this kind of thing around are not exactly considerate or stirring activists but. goddamn #going to do my best to tag diligently here but let me know if i miss anything #aroblogging #aceblogging #transphobia cw #queerphobia cw #homophobia cw

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denimbex1986 · 2 months

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SHAPIRO: The new movie "All Of Us Strangers" is a love story where something feels slightly unreal. Adam and Harry, played by Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, appear to be the only two people living in a high-rise building in London. And what are the chances? Both of them are gay, single, attractive, kind and wounded. You can't help but wonder, is this a metaphor or some kind of fairy tale?

ANDREW HAIGH: I always saw it as allegory, as fable, as a trip through his subconscious, whatever it might be. But at the same time, I still wanted it to feel grounded in some reality.

SHAPIRO: Andrew Haigh is the film's writer and director. He has told stories about queer joy before - the movie "Weekend," the TV show "Looking" - but "All Of Us Strangers" is a different kind of story.

HAIGH: I think it was always a film about someone trying to escape loneliness rather than be - wanting to stay within it. And I think all of our decisions sort of came around, like, what does it feel like to be alone? And then what does it feel like to be intimate again with someone? What does it feel like to connect?

SHAPIRO: It's also a very personal story. Andrew Haigh told me he filmed the scenes where Adam reconnects with his parents in the house where the director spent his own childhood.

HAIGH: It was just another example of wanting to somehow just feel really deeply connected to the material. And if this was a story about someone going back into his past, it felt like I had to go back into mine at the same time. So it was a strange environment to be shooting in - you know, scenes in my old parents' bedroom or scenes in my bedroom, you know, kind of recreating how that used to feel.

SHAPIRO: Did anyone on set ever say, why are we doing this in the home that your parents used to live in?

HAIGH: (Laughter) They would basically be like, are you insane? Like, why would you do this? Why would you put this - put yourself through this? And occasionally, people would come up to me and be like, are you OK? This must be very strange for you. You know, like the scene between him and his dad when they sort of come to terms with some things. That's, you know, in my old front room. But it was - you know, it was cathartic, if I'm honest. Like, it was cathartic. I think as you get older - I'm 50 now, so the idea of going backwards to see where the rest of your life should be is quite interesting.

SHAPIRO: I mean, if you don't mind my asking, were you OK? What was it like for you?

HAIGH: I didn't have a particularly happy childhood, no. I mean, I certainly wasn't a happy kid. My parents split up when I was young, and I was coming to terms with my sexuality. And, you know, this is the '80s. It's not the best time to come to terms with your sexuality back then. So, yeah, I was a troubled kid, let's say.

SHAPIRO: And so the experience of revisiting these incredibly intimate scenes in the room that you, as a child, were in, I mean, what did that feel like?

HAIGH: Yeah, it was just - it was powerful, I guess. And I think, you know, the film is so much about, like, the pain that we keep buried. Like, and that can be from big or small trauma. That can be from loss and from grief, but it can be from something a father might have said to his son when he was young, or something a mother might have said, or something they heard on the television. Whatever it might be, there's so many things that can cause trauma in us as we go through our lives. And I think it is about, like, staring them in the face sometimes and, like, trying to excavate that pain in order to sort of find some liberation. And so being back in my house was - sort of helped that. It really did. It kind of - it's like I couldn't escape it.

SHAPIRO: One theme that comes up in the film is something that I think all gay men of a certain age have in common. You, Andrew Scott, the actor, and I are all within five years of each other in age. And growing up gay in the '80s and '90s, for the most part, meant being told that you would likely be lonely, bullied, ostracized and probably die of AIDS before your parents were old enough to retire. This is something that Andrew Scott's character tells his younger boyfriend, where Adam says, for a long time he wasn't into sex. Andrew Haigh, what kind of legacy did it leave for you to survive to see the other side of that?

HAIGH: Look, I think it's so - because the world has moved on so much, let's say, and things are very, very different. It's easy to forget how we actually used to feel in that time. I mean, I was terrified for 15, 20 years, you know what I mean? And growing into my sexuality in the shadow of AIDS and in the shadow of really intense homophobia, I genuinely thought that my life would not be possible, that I would never find love. And if I did find love or I found anybody, I would probably die. And I think that's a horrendous thing for a generation of people to carry around with them. And I think it's important to remember that that is how we felt because it doesn't go away. It's still there, embedded within us. And I think for a younger generation, they may think on that with slight surprise that that's what we had to kind of go through and feel. But I think it had a huge legacy on a whole generation of gay men especially, and they are still dealing with it every day. They're still trying to kind of get rid of the shame that they felt and the terror that they felt growing up in that time.

SHAPIRO: Did you and Andrew Scott talk about how growing up in that stew affected each of you differently, and how it affected his character, Adam?

HAIGH: We definitely talked about it. I think the great thing about when you sit down with someone that's also gay and of a certain generation, you barely need to say anything because you understand that you have a very shared experience. It doesn't matter where you live. It doesn't matter if you're in America or if you're in the U.K. You have that shared experience of growing up at that time. So of course we talked about it, and we did talk about how it still affects us now in small ways that you don't quite realize, how that kind of shame can suddenly bubble up again or that fear can suddenly bubble up again, even though you think you've got past it and moved on. And so for Adam, it was such a fascinating thing because he's going back to meet his parents, but he's also going back to meet himself in a certain time. So he's being reminded of so many things that have been buried within him.

SHAPIRO: So you describe the process of making this film as cathartic, and I'm curious if you can tell us more about what was the before and what was the after? Like, what have you left behind and where are you now, if that's the right way to characterize it?

HAIGH: Yeah. I think what I wanted the film to be was compassionate to everybody. So I wanted it to be compassionate to people who have gone through an experience of, say, growing up gay and saying, listen, I understand what that feels like. This is my version of that story. But I also wanted it to be compassionate towards parenting and how difficult that can be and how you are a product of your time. And you learn and you change and you grow. And I think in a strange sense, I've managed to sort of forgive a little bit - forgive myself for being angry and unhappy at times, forgive my parents for not saying the right things always. And so I feel like that's been quite cathartic to me. And also, I suppose, understanding on a deeper level kind of even what I think about love and what I think love is about, and how I think it's about being there for someone else almost more than it is them being there for you. And I think the film has really helped me understand the connection between parental love and romantic love and how so closely entwined they are.

SHAPIRO: Andrew Haigh directed the new movie "All Of Us Strangers." Thank you so much for talking with us about it.

HAIGH: Thank you. Thank you very much.'

#Andrew Haigh #Paul Mescal #Andrew Scott #All of Us Strangers #Weekend #Looking

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cozymochi · 3 months

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Hello? I was wondering what the price would be if I wanted a picture with two diffrent perspective? Like one character is a bit more in the background than the other two? While the two in the are more in the foreground sort of as pillars to the character in the background?

I have been trying to decipher this question for days 😩 Without a visual, the wording has been stumping me on what you exactly mean.

Normally, I’d answer this privately but this is semi-pivotal commission info so I have to clarify a few things publicly. Since I didn’t quite understand, and sorry if I still am, I have made two examples based on my own assumptions!! So, this will just have to do for now. Starting off, the price just kinda… depends. Note: Exact price info is on my doc in the link within the link of my pinned post. I will not be using the specific price amounts in this post for the sake of generalization.

My first guess was an image composed like this:

Which, in this case, it’s just 3 full bodies regardless. So it’s just the usual full body price (for whatever category) + two full body “added characters.” Not exactly different. It’s still drawing 3 figures clearly in view.

ALTERNATIVELY MY OTHER GUESS was an image composed like this:

And this falls into a combination of a full body (presumably), yet the foreground has two half-bodies. In this scenario, the starting price is based on how much a figure’s body is seen (i.e the highest starting point). In this case, since one figure is a full body and that’s the highest tier in this example, the starting price is whatever that is. However, the “additional character” fees will follow the one in the half body section rather than the full body section to balance it out. Cuz I’m not drawing additional full bodies. So, it’d be like 1 Full body + 2 “added character” half bodies. The normal starting price for half bodies does not apply here in this scenario cuz the full body is compensating for the work as a whole. In any private comm discussion I will always clarify this with specifics before any payment is made. (Otherwise commissioners might assume they’re paying more than they actually are.)

This can be mixed n’ matched but always know that whatever the highest tier is will be where the base price starts. Another example: If it’s a “half body” + 2 “busts” in a single drawing, then because half body is the highest tier in this scenario then THAT would be the starting price instead. The two busts would just follow the “additional character” fee for busts. So on, so forth.

TL;DR: Rule of thumb: I mostly just operate on how many figures there are at all and how much is clearly seen, since that’s where most of the work is going. The more figures there are the more strenuous it gets. Whether or not somebody is more in the foreground or background doesn’t affect much, unless the commissioner specifies how much is seen to start with. I’m just doing what I’m told to do.

HOPE THAT HELPS SORTA KINDA

#cozy ask #starting it at whatever is the highest also is a preventative measure in case anyone tries to cheat me.#which has happened numerous times in the past.#I Think its fair to reduce the price according per character if the others aren’t as strenuous.

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vro0m · 4 months

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Do you think the younger drivers have an advantage on the track because they play those driving video games so often? I was thinking about Gran Turismo and an article I've read about surgeons who play video games regularly having better precision in surgery than the ones who don't play.

So I wonder if the F1 drivers who play driving simulation games in their downtime are better off than the ones who don't. Idk all the ones who play, but Norris and MV come to mind

Hiii Anon! Very interesting question! I wasn't sure how serious I should get with the answer but in the end I followed my heart and went serious and extremely long because that's always what I do anyway.

Tl;Dr : No, probably not.

There's two ways video games could impact real life F1 skills, and that's through training of skills directly or indirectly related to F1 driving.

The first possibility is training skills so tightly similar to the ones used in real life F1 racing that it transfers to real life racing. Think of actual sim driving for example. It can be used to learn unfamiliar circuit layouts, where to brake, where to accelerate, etc. I don't know enough about the F1 racing games to know if they are accurate enough for it to transfer, but I guess if they are it could help learn the circuits. However, it also means the in-game physics need to be good enough for the car to react in the way it would IRL, otherwise it's pointless when it comes to where to brake, for example. We know that's what they're trying to do with professional driving sims and when the on-track data and the sim data don't correlate that's a big issue for the team. And we also know that the car performance vary a lot between teams so how accurate can the video game really be?

Another thing to take into account here is that driving an F1 car is extremely physical, and when you play a video game you don't get all the physical feedback and sensations you would driving the car, which makes it way easier. Your vision would be more stable without the vibrations and the bottoming and the bumps in the road etc. You can focus more easily without the noise, the radio comms, the pain, the exertion, the heat, etc. But also you're missing info like physical sensations, wind, probably to some extent watching around to see where the other cars are, etc. So racing sims can never be accurate enough.

However, there's also indirect skills. I've kind of mentioned that one or twice before when listing what I would test the drivers for if I was hired to study their cognitive and psychological profiles, but there are more general cognitive skills that they're bound to have unusual performances in compared to the general population, otherwise they wouldn't be able to do what they do. For example, their attentional skills must be different to most to be able to deal with the distractions I mentioned earlier such as radio comms, visual disturbances, vibrations, pain, etc. for a whole race. I would bet on their short term/working memory, which allows for the active retention of information (think mental calculus : you need to remember the numbers AND apply an operation to them), to be very good, because they're being told their times and other people times and need to conclude stuff from that, etc.

So a possibility is that playing certain games (and not necessarily only racing ones) serves as training for these transversal skills that aren't exclusively tied to racing an F1 car. We have data that suggests that it is the case, and that video games can be beneficial for so called soft skills. BUT. Really though?

See the thing is my thesis was on a subject parallel to this and so I've learned a thing or two about the effects of video games and one such thing is that even though we do have studies that show positive outcomes to playing video games, the skills learnt through video games unfortunately don't transfer to new contexts very well. Even when said video games are actually gamified training programs rather than commercial video games. It means for example (and this is a made up example to be clear) you might have data showing that people who play Call Of Duty a lot have above average visuo-spatial skills due to learning to shoot people precisely and quickly but that doesn't necessarily help them navigate an unfamiliar environment IRL better than average because although both tasks rely on visuo-spatial skills, the task they've trained for (shooting people in a video game) is extremely specific and the gains don't necessarily generalise to other similar but different tasks (finding your way in a new city).

So all in all, I don't think them playing video games makes much of a difference. Not in a direct training way, especially as people who have access to actual professional racing sims + regularly drive actual cars around actual circuits ; they would learn way more by doing the real thing, especially for years, than, say, by playing fun video games during their winter break. And not in an indirect way either, because they're bound to be such outliers in the relevant transversal skills anyway that I don't think playing video games would make much of a difference. It's not impossible that directly or indirectly the video games are somewhat beneficial for them, but imo the gains would be negligible.

#f1 #2023 winter break #vro0m's asks

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discluded · 1 year

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KinnPorsche is my first view into BL fandom. Every time BOC announces something the comments from many fans are all about what they want instead and how the announcement is bad for the artists they have. Wtf? This level of entitlement from fans who have no insight into the actual business or plans is so disheartening. Is this normal? Like they announced a tour date for HK and people are like why another tour date, we need a series, we need the artist to be actors etc. Do they think making a series costs nothing? Do they not recall we got 14 WHOLE amazing episodes? It all breaks my heart.

Hey, I don't usually talk about fandom drama but sure I'll bite since time it's about business and I guess there's going to be new people coming in once in a while (hopefully!) wondering about why the fandom is so messed up.

Anyone who doesn't want to hear about the merry-go-round of drama from the last 6 months, should probably bow out.

So it's a bit of a multi-fold problem.

(1) You're right about the entitlement, but part of it is because many fans are coming from a background of engagement set by kpop where there is so much contentification of the idols' lives and their work schedule is really unsustainable and harmful.

Fans will hear that and go "boohoo the company is abusing them!" and then turn around and demand an insane level of content/access and not put two and two together... In fact, some fans named kpop agencies as better talent management companies when they headed to KPWT Seoul like many of those agencies aren't notorious for working their idols/trainees to the bone. It's inheriting a set of expectations from a toxic industry where the core content also is smaller/more bite size (songs vs. whole series).

(2) BOC is an extremely young company and are facing growing pains. Some things they've done from the KPWT promotion and talent management side are genuine missteps that need to be corrected. For example, they announced a KPWT date in Vietnam and then later had to cancel the date after it was apparent the scheduling was too tight. In the cancelation of the date, they also misspelt the name of the city (HCMC), which was named after a revered leader in Vietnam. Fans had already started booking travel/hotels around that date so it was already a cause of inconvenience and fans felt even more upset because BOC refused to apologize for the misspelling. Some of it now is genuinely fans being overreactive, but a not-small part is friction that was built up from missteps BOC made earlier, and thus is now leading to fans feeling sensitive whenever they feel that they are being slighted.

A lot of fans already decided they dislike BOC so there's no incremental improvement BOC can make at this point to win them back. But there genuinely was a lack of comms/PR leadership and planning by the company in the middle of this year.

Somewhere in the middle of these two - fans feeling like BOC does not take care of their artists and the lack of socmed/PR/comms leadership is the Daemi problem. feel free to search "kinnporsche daemi" on YouTube to learn about that. I know at least one person made an explainer video and I'm not also interested in talking about it.

(3) BOC is also competing within the Thai BL industry with GMMTV, which produces the majority of BLs that air in Thailand. Again, this is a problem of expectation setting. GMMTV is a well-oiled machine that consistently turns out bad to mediocre to acceptable products like clockwork. BOC served a single Michellin-star quality feast, but fans are looking at GMMTV and going "They're going to McD's five times a week" as though those two experiences are comparable.

(And a horrible machine in some ways -- it was recently exposed that an assistant director was using his powers to predate and he was arrested so like, fans really need to ... not hold GMMTV as the standard).

I'm not saying fans' expectations are valid. They are not. But a lot off fans were on BOC's side during the airing KPTS and had been rooting for them, and there is an explanation for why some fans now have unfavorable feelings towards them. The fact that they dug their heels in and refused to apologize / openly acknowledge improvements are needed when they made obvious missteps made a lot of people who generally feel neutral about them like myself not that inclined to stand up for them in other instances. Combined with toxic industry standards coming from other fandom (kpop) and industry (Thai BL) angles, it's not really surprising to me that this is where we got to.

#cw fandom drama #be on cloud

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user-null · 7 months

Note

1 and 18

thanks for the ask!! 🫶

1- how often do you wear lolita fashion?

i try to wear it as much as I possibly can! it can go from 1 to 3 times a week, it depends on how often I go out (and where) I don't go to any interesting places and as I mentioned in another ask, I don't have a comm so for example, I wear lolita when I go grocery shopping 😅

18- what are you inspired by?

i don't think I have a set inspiration nowadays, I guess the closest would be to "make lolita daily and casual"

#ask #dreamfilleddonuts #lolita ask game

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fifteenblackcats · 1 year

Text

Okay so I recently watched this tik tok about Jason Todd that had some great points about his character. The main thing that interested me was the fact that the person in the video pointed out that Jason feels like a fan fic character. As someone who loves the character and has read all of his comic series, I have to agree.

Tbh it’s not usually the fault of Jason’s character that he feels like a fan fic character, that’s more Dc’s fault. Like when it comes to his own series, they usually don’t have the best writing and can’t really compete with other bat family comic series. Personally I love all of his series, even the New 52 Outlaws series (which I know is a controversial opinion lol), but overall when I recommend Jason’s comics to my friends, I have to literally warn them that the overall writing isn’t good. The only comics of his that I can say that are genuinely good are the Task Force Z comic he was in and the short story from Urban Legends. Basically anything written by anyone besides Scott Lobdell. I personally mainly read Jason Todd comics for his character rather than the quality of the writing.

Back to Dc’s treatment of Jason Todd. I swear I love Dc, but they fuck up their canon so much. Which includes why I think Jason feels like a fan fic character when he really doesn’t have to. A lot of it is tied to Dc’s continuity issues. Personally I don’t have a problem with the fact that two of his friends, Starfire and Roy Harper, are originally Dick Grayson’s friends. I understand why some people may have a problem with it, but in my opinion characters don’t always have to be tied down to friendships with one character for the sake of canon. My main example is how he is a part of the Bat Family. Jason of course will always be Bruce’s son, so in that way it makes sense that he’s with the Bat Family. But with everything else it just doesn’t make sense. Mainly Jason’s morals once he comes back from the dead. He is completely fine with killing criminals, which is why it is very contradictory that Batman would let Jason be a part of the Bat Family. Bruce is very stubborn and very strict about his moral code, so it really doesn’t make sense that he would let Jason operate with the rest of the Bat Family. It’s kinda this reason that I have to say that he feels like a fan fic character. I know that Bruce gets in fights (physical fights too) with Jason about the killing, but Jason in many Bat Family stories is still included in many of the Bat Family comm channels and many Bat Family events. Again I love Jason, but it would really make more sense for his character to be an anti hero who keeps to himself. Technically he does this, but since he’s such a fan beloved character DC always includes him in the Bat Family, even when it doesn’t really make sense for Bruce or Jason.

In recent years since Rebirth, Dc has tried to make canon make sense as to why Jason should be with the Bat Family. Jason’s moral code is slowly changing to being less lethal by using rubber bullets instead of real bullets. So far I guess this works? At least he’s not killing as much anymore, but his morals haven’t really changed. At least in my opinion. It seemed like he mainly agreed to use rubber bullets to stay in Gotham, otherwise Bruce would kick him out of the city. Tbh this seems like a temporary solution to a large issues relating to Jason’s character. He of course can stay an anti hero that kills, but then I think it doesn’t make sense for Jason to be a part of the Bat Family where everyone has a similar moral code to Batman (expect for maybe Kate Kane, but even then it seems like it is very rare for her to decide to kill). Either Dc should create a real character arc to show why Jason wouldn’t want to kill anymore or just separate him completely from the Bat Family. Maybe they could have him be a main vigilante in another nearby city, like how Nightwing is for Bludhaven. Otherwise it does kinda seem like fan fic because it doesn’t really make sense for Jason to work with the Bat Family so closely. Besides the aesthetic of Jason be the edgy anti hero of the Bat Family.

Anyways those are just my thoughts and you don’t have to agree of course. As someone who loves his character, I don’t exactly like saying he feels like a fan fic character, but his poorly written comics (which I still love, but I can be honest with myself) and convenient place with the Bat Family in canon make me feel like he can give fan fic vibes.

Anyways here’s the video that inspired my post:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRsDGw1R/

#dc comics #batman #dc #batfamily #bruce wayne #batfam #jason todd #red hood #nightwing #kate kane #rant

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hanenoaozora · 1 year

Text

Me vs Energy Cost

When I started playing Genshin Impact, I had no concept of energy cost or energy recharge. My very early team was anemo traveler, Kaeya, Benny, and Beidou. Traveler, Kaeya, and Benny need 60 energy for a burst, while Beidou needs 80. I didn’t think too much about how long I had to charge Beidou’s burst, even though me and my sad skills were very dependent on her shield*.

Then, once I’m comfortable with Qiqi’s healing mechanics, I played her a lot (still do😉). Sometimes she swapped Benny out, sometimes she went together with Benny. She and Benny carried me against two abyssal beings in the Chasm (yeah, I’m that sad).

Later on I had Ayato, Thoma, and the last addition to my Yashiro team: Ayaka. At this point, I already know what it means to recharge energy, so for the those whose burst skills I rely on the most, I’ve learned to prioritize ER stats/substats in their weapons and artifacts. Problem is, for DPS class characters like Ayato and Ayaka, you generally want to prioritize their ATK stats and crit ratio, and these stats leave little room for more ER. Fortunately for Ayato specifically, his burst stays on field for a very looooongggg time that it feels fine even if he can’t burst every rotation (fyi rotation is something I should care more, but don’t 🤣), so I don’t have that much trouble with his energy requirement. At some point I put an ER Heart of Depth sands on him though, and at ~170% ER it was so much fun.

Anyway, as I have mentioned before: I’ve had a lot of high-energy cost characters since the beginning. Another character that I bring with me often recently is Xingqiu, and he also… require 80 energy 🤣 Aaaaaand… now that I really, really want to run Yashiro comm team, I’ve started building Sayu and when I checked her skills… yep, you guessed it. With how OP dendro traveler is, I now have him wield dendro and turns out his burst also requires 80 energy.

So, like… I don’t know what I’m trying to say here… 🤣 I guess… since I’m so used to bringing characters with high energy requirement, 80 has become some sort of standard for me and anything below that feels “cheap”, as opposed to the other way around for a lot of other people… 💁‍♀️

*later I found out that most people build Beidou to be a damage dealer and not a shielder, and thus pairing her with The Bell was super not optimal… which is the sole reason why I kinda stop playing her. Because I can’t parry if my life depends on it… and yeah, finding out that I had been playing Beidou wrong kinda killed the joy of playing her for me >_> Just one example that the internet can be so very annoying when it comes to Genshin…

#genshin impact #genshin impact rant

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swervesbootycall · 1 year

Note

Literally anything with riptide, man- love me my ocean man

//. Cybertronian Ex-Autobot neutral reader. Hope this is something.//

“I haven’t been held hostage in a while,” Riptide sounds almost impressed, “I didn’t think you would really go through with it.”

“I guess that explains why you practically volunteered,” you mutter.

It was work to move forward keeping Riptide’s gun pressed firmly against the spot marksmecha like yourself referred to as the “point of no return.” There were cranial injuries, even near complete destructions, that the right mechanic could bring a bugger back from, but you had a long, solid habit of never inflicting them. One shot: one less Decepticon. That had been your modus operandi from the moment you’d been forged up until your—

“The deserter!” Some bot or another yelps on finally spotting the two of you enter the ship’s main corridor.

“Your ship’s security is awful,” you grumbled to Riptide, “I assumed the alarm had been sounded back in the brig.”

“Red Alert was re-stationed a while ago, that’s probably why.”

“No idea who that is, but at least the name’s unsubtle enough to guess,” you raise your voice, “yeah it’s the deserter. The assassin. Tell Ultra Magnus to get a pod ready for the nearest waystation or you’re volunteering for next example.”

You jab the gun a little harder against Riptide and he winces, making you wince. You want to apologize, but the ruse is too important. Too much on the line. The bot rushes off to sound the alarm. You stick to the wall.

“I think they would let you go, if you just explained the situation. The war is over. And Ultra Magnus is-“

“Still running the place on military rank and code. Everybody’s still got their badges,” you mutter, “and it’s not like I haven’t racked up a body count on both sides. If you were serious about helping, just. Keep quiet.”

Riptide looks at you, concern in his faceplate, and you look away with a cough.

Very quietly you add, “please?” --- You spend the flight to the waystation pacing while Riptide sits and watches you.�� "What are you worried about?" "Who says I'm worried?" "You're biting the paint from your hand?"

You exvent and face Riptide. "It's not easy to relax with," you gesture to the Lost Light, which lazily follows your small craft. "You really think they would have shot you down without me?" "I don't know what to think." You check on autopilot again. Check your weapons. Check your comms. You're so busy checking things that your don't notice Riptide until his arms are around you. His chin rests on your shoulder. "I'm glad I got to see you again, if that helps." What it does is bluescreen your processor. "Riptide. I'm not. It's not good that we... reunited."

"Huh." "Huh?" "Just huh." Slowly, you set your gear down and, cautiously, hug him back. "I didn't think you would really go through with the hostaging," Riptide finally says, "because we both know you can't lie for scrap." "...Well. Good thing we were the only ones who did." "Hah, yeah." You don't mean to kiss him. You really don't, but another thing you can't do for scrap is resist your feelings for Riptide. You've never been able to. You didn't mean to find yourself under him for the brief time you were stationed together, and you don't mean to now.

And just like then, he knows this somehow. Riptide doesn't escalate, he lets the two of you slide to the floor and just holds you- careful to avoid your scratched out insignia. "You want to focus on finding your brother," he says half to you, half to himself, and ten percent to no-one. "I'm sorry." "It's okay." "It's not. I owe you so much, Riptide."

"Okay, then just try to stay alive so you can pay me back. Hey, maybe if you find him we can capture both of you! Then you won't have to hostage anyone." "...That's...that's an idea. That exists. Thanks Riptide."

"You can kiss me again if you want."

--- You bolt the instant the pod touches down, transforming for maximum speed. Riptide watches you go ant touches his faceplate. At least you got to say goodbye this time. He wonders if you'll forget him. Maybe that's okay. Maybe it's best to try and forget too... not that he was able to before. He smiles. Nah. He has to remember you. Otherwise, how would he explain all the new paint transfers to Ratchet?

#riptide/reader #riptide mtmte #minors dni #well.#this uh #this got away from me!#anon this is what happens when you rec “literally anything”#some of you may be thinking hey Ish this is weirdly specific #yeah #this is gonna be a case of “I wouldn't do that” I have a feeling #well maybe you need to turn into a gay space plane and maybe it'll hit different #i tried to actually put smut in here and then failed #whoops #anyway

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riftwalker-limbro · 11 months

Text

scarred - part 3

masterpost

----

The new warframe still hadn’t exited his room after several hours. After half a day, he’d at least managed to make contact with Ordis through a texting application on the datapad, as he had dutifully let Kelth know. After a full day, Kelth had grown tired of sitting around, and decided that the warframe was more than likely harmless, since he hadn’t shown any tendencies to turn his inner turmoil into outward destruction. So, they’d restarted hunting for Ordis’ drives.

Kelth and Sufford were just on their way back to the Liset after picking up the third successive drive when Ordis pinged them through comms.

“Hey Ordis, what’s up?” Kelth asked, curious.

“Hello, Kelth, the new warframe has, erm-”

Alarms went off inside Kelth’s head immediately. Sufford’s easy jog changed into a run. “What did he do?” they asked.

“He hasn’t done- oh, nothing like that, the Orbiter is still in pristine condition!” Kelth breathed out a sigh of relief, but before they could relax entirely, Ordis continued: “He’s just, well, ventured into the Helminth ward.”

“Did he hurt himself?” Kelth asked, instantly back on edge.

“No, no, he’s just - Sufford may need to do his Helminth-communication thing again, because Ordis fears that I may have given the warframe some ideas.”

Sufford had reached the Liset by now and easily jumped in. Kelth would’ve liked to disconnect and go check things out on the Orbiter, but if he was in the Helminth room, there wouldn’t be much they could do except yell at the door from a safe distance. They’d need Sufford there to be their hands.

“What kind of ideas?” they asked instead. “Dangerous ones?”

“No, no- I think he might be trying to figure out the Helminth?” At Kelth’s baffled silence, he hastily continued. “Ordis was showing him the table projector, and as example, the reconstruction of what he originally looked like - which I realise now might have not been the best idea- too fucking late- but he didn’t seem necessarily upset by it? Rather curious, actually.”

“So now he’s arguing with the Helminth? About his design?”

“Ordis- doesn’t fucking know- thinks he might be? Not sure what else it could be about. He’s still sending Ordis messages, questions about resource values and how easy they are to get.”

“Well, oops, guess he doesn’t like how he looks,” Kelth said, hiding their unease at the situation under dry humour. “We’re almost there, Ordis, Sufford can go and check out what he’s up to.”

And he did, as soon as the Liset had once again docked with the Orbiter. In the Infested ward of the ship, the new warframe stood a safe distance away from the chair, typing away furiously at the datapad. His speed with it had improved significantly, Kelth noted. Then, he looked up to see Sufford, and without missing a beat, motioned him over. While Sufford did so, baffled, he expertly flicked open another window on the pad and typed out another message.

“This isn’t an unreasonable ask, right?”

When Sufford looked up at the other, confused, he took the pad back and moved over to another tab, showing him. It was a new version of his reconstructive projection, modified again to bring back the tails and wrist-fins, but now incorporating them into a removable coat instead of directly onto his chassis.

“Cost too much,” the Helminth groaned. “Unworthy.”

The scarred warframe let out a frustrated whistling sigh, tabbing back over to the text application and tapping out a new sentence.

“How can I convince it?”

Sufford took the datapad from him, awkwardly hovering his fingers over it.

“Ask him or the Helminth how high the costs are,” Kelth suggested, before humming, thoughtful. “Hm. The Helminth is practical, so it makes sense that it would reject a purely aesthetic change. You could always spin it to-”

Tersely, Sufford shoved something at them through transference. It wasn’t a transference function, but it was- oh, they could use the comms systems like that, too?

“Hello?” they spoke through his speakers. The other warframe startled back a little, snapping up his head to where the speakers were located on Sufford’s shoulders.

“You can hear me?” After a second, he nodded. “Good. I can’t be in this room myself or I’ll get sick, so we’ll just deal with that like this for now. Let’s see, how many resources did the Helminth say this would cost?”

He switched to another window with a list of resources already prepared, not insignificant but not as bad as his original repairs had been. “That’s doable-”

“Useless,” the infested mass interjected again. “Pointless.”

The other warframe hissed out his frustration. He didn’t even take back the datapad, but tapped at his previous question again. “How do I convince it?”

“The Helminth doesn’t listen to anything it doesn’t think is practical,” they began. “The gaps in your armour might’ve been patched, but it doesn’t look too sturdy, all torn-up like that - this coat could be like an extra layer of armour.”

The other stared at them for a minute. Through the datapad, he asked: “Armour for what?”

“What do you mean, armour for what?” Kelth asked, mildly concerned. “Did you- have you never been in battle?”

He carefully shook his head.

“Well,” Kelth said, baffled, “there’s not really a way around it? You’re a warframe, it’s, uh, kind of in the name. And outside of the few bases and allies of the Tenno, you’re likely to get attacked on sight, or worse, so it’d be better to be prepared.”

After another moment of frozen staring, the warframe typed out his next question. “I thought you said the Old War was over?”

“Yes? That doesn’t mean the system isn’t an absolute shitshow right now, though,” Kelth said. It was interesting but also worrying to see just how little this warframe knew of the current state of the system. Demonstrating their knowledge of the entire situation, explaining it like this, was kind of fun, though. “Grineer and Corpus are always in some kind of scuffle, the Infestation is everywhere trying to kill everything, and sometimes a huge Sentient on Uranus tries to cause trouble.”

The other’s body language communicated unmistakable surprise. Kelth gave a joyless chuckle. “Like I said - a mess. We see a lot of fighting.”

When the other didn’t make a move to type more words, they took the pad from his hands, meeting no resistance. They tabbed back to the new projection, humming as they considered it, rotating it this and that way. “This looks like it’d cover up most of the damage, while not hindering you from running, that’s good - nice design, by the way. Should be doable to get that shopping list filled in a day. You’re apparently capable of communicating with it, but since you haven’t had any luck haggling with it - Sufford, could you give convincing the Helminth a try, please?”

Sufford nodded, handing the datapad back to the other warframe and walking over to the Helminth’s mouth at the back of the room, sitting down in a meditative pose next to it.

“I can talk with you more in the lounge if you’d like,” Kelth said through the speakers, preparing to disconnect. “Sufford needs to focus for this, and he can’t do that with me here.”

When they saw the other warframe nod, they left Sufford to his task, and blinked open their own eyes in the somatic link.

“Hm,” Kelth said into the darkness of the closed device. “What do you think, Ordis?”

“He sure is a strange warframe,” he said immediately. “Painfully uninformed- missing a lot of context, it’s hard to gauge what is going on in his head. Your idea for the armour is sound, though, Ordis thinks.”

“Thank you,” Kelth said, “but I’m just basing it off of what I had originally assumed the coat to be for? I’m not really sure what he’d intended with it if not- oh,” and they winced a little, “he must’ve really not liked how he looked.”

“Maybe it’s the- broken, scarred- injuries he wants to hide,” Ordis said, before heaving a staticky sigh. “Ordis is afraid the glitch is getting worse again. Oh, I do hope it lets up again soon- not a fucking chance.”

“Hm,” Kelth said. “There are frames out there I’ve seen that do just look like that, but maybe for those, they’re not actually vulnerable spots - or maybe he just genuinely doesn’t like the look of them. Either way, the stuff he needs for it isn’t too much. Maybe we can even ask Kali, see if it has anything spare. And, hey, Ordis, we’ll figure it out.”

They patted the inside of the somatic link. Even if Ordis couldn’t feel it or even see, it’s not like they had many other options to reassure him.

“I hope we will, soon,” Ordis sighed. “Ordis is contacting Yura with the list that the warframe sent me earlier. The reply might not be instant, so you might want to go to the lounge instead, to talk to- oh, he’s just… walked through immediately. I guess he doesn’t want to chat.”

Kelth snorted. Maybe he’d improve after he got this coat and felt more comfortable. “That’s fine, he’s got you to talk to if he wants. Oh, then I might just go to my own room, see about getting a quick nap - finding your mystery drives is still taking a lot out of me with the focus, but it’s getting easier every time. Three in one go, this time!”

They exited the somatic link as Ordis stayed worryingly silent. “Ordis?”

“Don’t overexert yourself,” he said, seemingly on autopilot. “And- oh, nevermind.”

“No, no, what is it?” Kelth asked, concerned, staying right outside the somatic link for now.

Ordis sighed. “You finding these drives to find out what happened to Ordis is nice, and all, and that’s not to say that Ordis isn’t curious, but-”

“You’re worried what we’ll find?”

“Yes, I suppose.”

“Whatever we’ll find,” Kelth promised, “we’ll always be a team. Okay?”

Another sigh. “Ordis hopes that will be true, but there’s really no way to-”

“Hey,” they interrupted, putting on a stern tone. “Always a team. Yeah?”

He snorted. “Okay,” he said, smile breaking through in his synthetic voice. “Thank you.”

—

During Kelth’s nap, the requested resources had been supplied by Kali, and work on the new coat had been started. Three more drives later, it had been finished - but it wasn’t a great success, as it barely fit the warframe, who made it very clear that he was incredibly annoyed about this fact. Sufford said it might be ego, and was already starting to show doubts of how effective a warrior he could be, if he was that concerned over the fit of a simple coat. They defended the scarred warframe to him - he was likely just embarrassed about it, and they were convinced that if they could get him comfortable, he would loosen up significantly, and they could start testing out how he did with transference and figure out exactly how unfounded Sufford’s concerns were.

A few rounds of alterations by the Helminth later, and the coat already fit him much better. Kelth seemed to have had the right idea about him - he seemed much calmer with it, less likely to jump to annoyance and snappishness, less likely to stalk off to his room instead of hanging out in the lounge. None of the larger scars were visible anymore when he wore it, only some thinner lines sneaking out from under the edges. They pulsed with light like Sufford’s scar did, though much more intense - there was no layer of sword-still skin covering them like he had, for the simple reasons that there had been no spare material like there had been in Sufford’s case, and that adding even more foreign material was likely to decrease the frame’s mobility more than the coat would.

In any case, he seemed much calmer, much more stable, and Kelth figured it was as good a time as any to introduce new variables.

“Hey,” they greeted the still-unnamed warframe, who was sitting on the couch in the lounge, reading something on the datapad he’d solidly claimed as his. He gave a short nod in acknowledgement of them, not looking up. They remained standing, leaning casually forwards on their cane, hiding their nerves.

“Got a question for you,” they asked. Now, he did look up, so they continued. “There’s someone who’d like to meet you. Its name is Kali, and it helped a lot with gathering up your fragments and providing resources and credits to get you fixed back up.” The warframe remained entirely motionless, and Kelth didn’t know if it was in surprise or anything less nice, so they rushed to reassure him: “There’s no pressure, if you don’t want to meet it I’ll just tell it that, but I figured maybe you’d like-”

Before they could finish that last thought he was already nodding vigorously and navigating to the text application - they’d made painfully little headway teaching him sign so far, so text was still his primary method of communication. He only typed two words. “Sure, when?”

#sufford is not at all annoyed by how fast the new guy got good at datapads no not at all #bastard successfully wrangled. god.#there might be- whoof. 2-3 more parts of scarred depending on how shit works out #i might have estimated this one poorly but it's my dang story and i choose to not give a fuck about wordcount #vince took over what can i say. he's fun to torment #genuinely want to write his POV of this someday. i can't tell how erratic and unstable he sounds here because i know what's up #but im hoping he feels Off and like there are Several Things Going On There that kelth is just either Not picking up on or Not asking about

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evareviews · 1 year

Text

‘This is Why’

Paramore’s newest release This Is Why, might just be the best Paramore album to date. Don’t get me wrong – I love their old, emo music. Like many little emo children back in the 2000’s, Paramore dominated much of my listening; from the second I heard Misery Business, I was hooked. Being the type of person who is incredibly resistant to change, I personally did not find their Paramore album much to my taste – for me, I felt it strayed too far from the Paramore I knew and loved. It didn’t stop me from listening to After Laughter of course, but again, I just did not see Paramore in the songs. To me, those two albums are almost a crossroad for the band – they were exploring and trying to re-invent and find themselves as a band after so much conflict between the members. Some wonderful songs from these albums still – Part II, (One of Those) Crazy Girls; Pool and Idle Worship to name my favourites – but as an overall, to me, it just wasn’t what I saw Paramore to be.

Hayley’s self-titled album, on the other hand, was truly a masterpiece. Petals for Armour was what I listened to on repeat in the first covid-19 lockdown – her pain and anger, brought out so beautifully with her magnificent vocals, truly showcased an unmatched talent. Sudden Desire, Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris, and Crystal Clear, display her vocal range and musical abilities to their highest form. Petals for Armour was such a step away from Paramore, and especially the Paramore I was used to – leading to a wondering of what this meant for the band’s future.

Their first single since After Laughter, This is Why, again took a step in another direction. You can see the elements of Paramore and After Laughter within the song, yet still brings a completely new era into the equation. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the album – with the accompanying singles of The News and C’est Comme Ça, I was expecting a newer, improved era of their 2013 and 2017 albums. What has been produced, however, is something entirely different. This is Why, is that perfect blend of Hayley’s solo projects, and Paramore as a band – Figure 8, especially, for me, is the perfect example of such. The lyrics, raw, emotional vocals and the accompanying music mesh perfectly, combining Hayley’s solo work exploration, and Paramore’s new era.

I saw a tweet (@tinyhottopicbish) upon release date, suggesting listening to Pool, Crystal Clear and Liar in a sequence. The way the songs flow into each other, across the span of three sperate albums, made me second guess my initial reactions to Paramore and After Laughter. It is almost as if a plan was truly made – perhaps this was always the route Paramore was to go. I’ll re-iterate that I am not a fan of change – when My Chemical Romance’s Danger Days album was released, I was almost hurt by the drastic change in their tone and mood. Paramore's 2013 album brought about the same reaction. But we all must grow up and mature at some point, and Paramore’s evolution is clearly one for the better. This is Why, is a wonderful example of such maturity: it is different but holds elements of their roots still at heart. It has made me re-think my emotions on their 2013 and 2017 albums, and although they will never be my favourite of their six albums, This is Why may have overtaken Brand New Eyes, and I am so excited to see what the future holds for Paramore.

#paramore #paramorealbum #thisiswhy #thisiswhyalbum #newmusic #newmusicreviews #musicreviews #album #albumreviews #music #indierock #2023 #2023music #newalbum #newparamore

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