#bro i was JUST planning an essay based on this

[randybutternubber]

Heyyyyyyy do you have any funny head canons on the children :-9 if they squabble and stuff in your opinion. Give me the sillies !!!!! (I do too but I wanna hear urs)

YOU HAVE OPENED THE GATES OF HELL PREPARE FOR MY BORDERLINE SEVEN PAGE ESSAY ON THESE RANDOM FUCKING CHILDREN

I decided to do the ones that get less attention in general, especially since I have the most thoughts on them

HCs under cut because I may have gone overboard with the length

Ghost kid

Best friends with a batmin ball that had a very poorly drawn face on it from the age of six to eight.

Sebbo (spoon girl) buried the batmin ball using a spoon as a shovel after it got neutered by the barber (he thought it was a bug and shat his pants)

Not a native of the nowhere and was taken to the nowhere on Halloween, hence the ghost costume

Lost their arm pretty quickly after being taken to the Nowhere. he’s quite a friendly child and is very compassionate towards animals, but unfortunately, this has its downsides as not all animals in the Nowhere want help.

Friends with Sebbo

Has been squatting in houses since day 1 of living in the Nowhere and has no plans to stop

Would go CRAZY for squishmallows

Doesn’t have well formed empathy/sympathy for humans but is super compassionate towards animals

Zero concept of gender and doesn’t care what you call them, he just want to pet your dog

Nonverbal but has very expressive body language

Spoon girl

Her name is sebbo (based off of game files)

She sneezes like a middle aged divorced golf dad and due to her nose bleed these sneezes are NOT victimless

LEGENDARY rage tantrums

Literally only wants to watch gen 1 my little pony, Formula One, or a very specific documentary about some random Swedish sheep wool factory

Swedish

If you compare her to pippy longstockings you will end up needing to go to urgent care for a rabies shot

Calls ghost kid Ande (sounds like Andeh) which means spirit in Swedish. (His file name is actually spöke for anyone wondering, which also means ghost/spirit in Swedish. The only reason I’m not giving him the Sebbo naming treatment is that spöke absolutely does not sound like it’s spelled (sounds like Spurkeh) and Ande actually sounds like a name. I’m a quarter swedish and have a very Swedish family on my white side so I got the most incomprehensible Swedish lessons in the car ever, so please don’t roast me in the reblogs if I got this wrong, I remember like five words and this is one of them, same thing with Korean😭

Living embodiment of “ANDE WE’RE 10 NOW, WE SAY CRAP, NOT POOP”

Broke one of her legs at some point in the Nowhere and ended up in the hospital (HC based off of concept art where she was in a wheelchair and using crutches)

Has severe trauma revolving around doctors and medical stuff

Has never seen another ginger in her entire life but will fight to be the alpha

Warrior cats kid

Expert at digging and climbing out of holes, THE CHILDREN YEARN FOR THE MINES!!!

Rusty

Has a cleft lip

This isn’t a HC but something that not a lot of people realize; he has a lisp

Only reason I’m not drawing him as ginger because of his name is because I also designed Noone as ginger and he lost in a 1v1 to a rabid cabbage patch kid. He’s been through enough

He’s around 14

Very lithe

Despite being a trapeze and tightrope performer, he is TERRIFIED of heights, making his experience at the circus even worse

The dummy has been malding over Rusty for a ridiculously long period of timeand bro had no fucking idea and nobody even knows the reason why 💀

Also a warrior cats kid but kept in on the downlow. Yes he did name himself Rusty after firestar but if you tell anyone he will cry

Noone

A nice kid but will deadass ask some of the most insensitive questions and has NO idea. Also verbally cooked a middle aged man and spent like a whole episode sassing him so she can definitely be mean if she wants to

Also has really severe medical trauma along with trauma from being paraded around on TV because she was the first person to be cured of whatever the shit water sickness is

Her real name was Ruth, but once she started forgetting her parents (they basically ditched her anyways 😭) she started just using Noone as her real name

Master of inappropriately prolonged periods of intense eye contact

Really dislikes/is afraid of dolls/dummies because of what happened to Rusty/in JuJubee’s toyshop

Very untrusting of people post Nowhere abduction because of how Otto treated her and because of the ferryman. Plus basically every kid she met in TSON was met with a terrible fate (Goo kid is probably alive but she doesn’t know that)

Autism (all these children got some sort of neurodivergence though, I mean just look at them)

WORST BACKSEAT DRIVER EVER (ASKED TO LEAVE THE ROWBOAT)

Has a few scars on her face from her right before she had a seizure when getting clockwork oranged. She tried to take the mri suction thingies off her head but she ended up scratching up her face in her panic

#little nightmares #little nightmares 2 #little nightmares comics #little nightmares 3 #Rusty TSON #noone the sounds of nightmares #tson noone #noone tson #ghost kid little nightmares #the spoon girl little nightmares #sebbo little nightmares #I also just don’t want to name ghost kid after a part of a bike #ghost little nightmares

[milestelleronlyfanss]

anyone who says max is a plank of wood character did not watch the same show I did AT ALL.

The main problem he suffers from from a production standpoint in my eyes is the fact that the writers use him as one of two main spokespeople for The Message of the episode (along with ms moynihan) and therefore he has some of the most clunky dialogue of any of the main five, but if you get around that bro is literally just everybody's mother. My proof is the Not So Great Outdoors episode, when he tells everybody to go pack and then comes back to the most atrocious amount of things possible in the car and gets mad. You know who does that for long road trips? Moms that's who. Theres other proof I have lined up but thats going to make this take too long to get out. I will die on the hill that Max is a single parent basically though.

The only thing I wish they had included more of is the highschool senior mindset because literally if you do a single extracurricular activity you are just going through it by senior year, especially if its not one but two very time consuming extracurriculars (that at the high school I went to were like 3 hour practices every day but one MINIMUM) that based on seasons might be already hard to manage AND THEN getting turned into a T-Rex on top of it and being hunted by a billionaire raptor man??? Max is 100% just flying in survival mode and that burnout is going to hit fast and hard I guarantee it. (I am aware Caruso does both of these sports as well but I have a whole essay on him planned too Ill get to that then) He should get to be bitter bc even though he was probably already going through it brosephine was winning at life, and probably would have been set for college, but now has to stay home with the children that got dumped on him because GOD FORBID he try and actually get the group project done. I think they could have very well given Max more of the exhausted woman at starbucks asking how much it would be to fill a venti cup with expresso energy, but that is really the main issue I have with how they approached the characterization of him in the show, but by NO MEANS is he just like there. Show producers should have given him the nastiest caffeine addiction AT LEAST! if not weed if were being real here.

I think the reason his characterization is so bashed on from what i've seen in the fandom is that as a character he doesn't have as obviously definable character traits like someone like Buzz or Rodger does, and the above mentioned sometimes clunky dialogue, BUT IT IS THERE!!!

#dino squad #rolf maxwell #max dino squad #his name is literally rolf how the hell are you going to say hes a plank of wood now? #checkmate mfers #i just sense this vibe from him #not the mom shit thats literally everywhere all throughout the show #they should have had him slam down like 3 monsters every ep though

[blankerthought]

since i'm already thinking about it and for once, don't plan on writing an essay on it, i'd like to point out to rpf-hating people that ideally, the point of rpf at no moment inlcudes or implies that you want the real life people you're creating this about to see it. it's real person fiction, something created for and by fans to enjoy, and ideally would never reach the people you're basing it on unless they're specifically searching it out.

nowadays, with online celebrites spending so much of their time, well, online, interacting with fans constantly, some nudging against fandom spaces should be expected, but to imply that simply creating fiction is immoral is very much something borne out of purity culture. thought crime isn't real, and most of the time, neither are any of the things we write on paper, asides from maybe the people we're referencing.

the other half of this, the argument that will be brought up over and over, is that of us showing it to them. to that, i say: well, i sure as fuck didn't. most of us writing it didn't. it was those who wanted moral outrage who brought the works written out to spaces where they'd find solidarity in shunning them- and in doing so, most of the time brought them to the attention of the actual people in point.

i cannot speak for those who did write it, did show it, did delight in discomfort. i do not know why they would do that, and i don't plan on arguing on their behalf either.

i also cannot speak for those celebrities who read their fics, liked their art, and for some reason also informed the rest of us fans that they'd done both and were actually delighted at this all. (yes, this is about dream. and also everyone else. what the fuck, gang.)

also, i'd just like to point out that according to my sources (aka: trust me bro) there's three levels to rpf:

Celebrities who nobody wants to see rpf of, much less them

Celebrities who many people want to write rpf of, with them not particularly enthused on the matter

Celebrities who loudly and enthusiastically want rpf written of them, preferably having passionate gay sex with their friends.

which can be caracterized with argentinian ex-president mauricio macri, whose fanfic i had to glance past once or twice and subsequently wished i could scrub my own brain off with sandpaper; markaplier, who Does Not want to see fanfic of himself, and dreamwastaken, who regularly likes pictures of himself and his best friend about to have sex.

so keep this in mind for rpf works, and act accordingly.

#lo's stuff #i promised i wasn't gonna write an essay but like. #dreamwastaken #rpf #fanfic #real person fiction #fandom wank #i'm not tagging the other two examples because. no #my stuff

[dr-lizortecho]

for the behind the scenes... 4, 10, 15 💖

4. Do you outline before you start writing? If so, how far do you stray from that outline?

Okay, so fun fact about me, I am physically incapable of outlining. English teachers and professors alike have tried their hardest to beat it into me (I am now capable of the bare minimum of a thesis + topic sentences) but haven’t been able to. Everytime I have been forced to create outlines for grades or anything the moment it is created the idea is spent, all energy and drive completely dissipated. Leaving me with no ability to move forward with the project or topic, so I have been known to twist the sentences around and take essays in the opposite direction.

However, when writing a plot driven story that exceeds 15k I’ve quickly learned not planning and releasing data in increments makes for a flatter fic. So like last year I trial ran my first outlined fic, and stuck to it (for the most part, I did juggle to include Dallas and Heath). And I like it? For larger more encompassing stories, specifically mysteries? But ik I’m incapable of doing it and staying to the outline for anything smaller than say 25k. But I do have a few general ideas of where I want things to go when I start them, so at least there’s some sort of structure.

10. Do you enjoy writing dialogue, exposition, or plot the most?

Exposition! Hands down my favorite part, it’s where I throw in all the connecting pieces and truly explore the characters and their feelings. Without it I couldn’t/wouldn’t fic. Dialogue is a headache, cause if it was up to me they’d all talk like me (and I literally say dude-bro on a regular basis 😬).

15. A Hollywood producer tells you that they want to film just one of your fics. Which fic would you want it to be?

Swing Life Away! It’s my baby, the fic nearest and dearest to my heart. Truly less of an excuse to discuss the pod squad and team human, and more to peer into social and cultural responses to child abuse and how it affects adults. Like it was a way to dig into all the different formats of relationships and interconnectedness that arises because of that as well.

Whether it be the siblings relationships with each other, or how they attached to their romantic interests, or how they all had a different relationship with themselves because of it (again, based solely on hours of research and personal life experiences, I’m not a psychologist).

Anyways, who doesn’t love a good mystery disguising a different mystery, following teens who are falling in love???

behind the scenes of fic writing asks

#thanks for the ask 💜💖💜 #asks #tw child abuse #fic stuff

[buzzdixonwriter]

Home To Stay! The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories [review]

QUESTION FROM AUDIENCE: “I heard you got Bradbury’s interest in adapting his stories in comic book form by doing a couple without his foreknowledge.”

WILLIAM F. GAINES: “That’s the nicest way anybody has ever put it.”

. . .

The first thing I did after getting home from the 2022 San Diego Comic Fest where I learned of this then-upcoming EC Comics anthology was to get my pre-order in immediately –

-- and, man, am I ever glad I did!

I presume most folks reading this know the backstory, but in case you don’t:

EC Comics ripped off Ray Bradbury, but instead of getting angry, Ray wrote a letter praising the adaptations then ever so casually mentioning he hadn’t yet received his royalty check…

Publisher William F Gaines fired the check off ASAP then asked Ray if they could adapt more of his stories.

“Sure,” said Ray, “Just pay me and put my name in the cover.”

Thus began of a beautiful publishing relationship, one celebrated in this great oversized Fantagraphics collection of not just all the official Ray Bradbury stories EC adapted, but also the ones =ahem!= “inspired” by Ray but uncredited to him.

The EC adaptations occurred at a sweet spot in Ray’s career.  Though his some of his earliest stories showed signs of promise, a lot of what he wrote and sold reads pretty gawdawful even by the low standards of pulp magazines of that era.

Ray cited his short story “The Lake” (which is not quite a ghost story…) as the moment he realized he got a handle on his writing muse and after that came a decade or so of pure gold.

Even after that golden age, he still wrote top notch stories and essays, and lived out his life as one of America’s most respected writers.

The EC Comics stories played no small part in that.

As I’ve oft pointed out, behind Ray’s aw-shucks small town midwestern boy exterior percolated one of the shrewdest minds when it came to marketing and self-promotion.

Case in point, when tipped off by his good friend / special effects animator Ray Harryhausen that Warner Bros. planned to plagiarize “The Foghorn” as the basis for an upcoming movie, Ray didn’t waste time or money suing but got Harryhausen to set up a meeting with the studio suits to discuss writing the screenplay.

Ray got ‘em hooked real good then dropped the bombshell he actually wrote the short story they intended to rip off.

The suits blanched, expecting a threat of a lawsuit, but instead Ray agreed to write the screenplay at standard WGA rates…

…so long as they put in all the advertising “based on the Saturday Evening Post story by Ray Bradbury.”

The suits, thinking they were getting off cheaply, readily agreed, patting themselves on the backs for dodging a lawsuit that could have put the kibosh on their movie.

And when The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms came out, millions of Americans saw posters and advertising that told them Ray Bradbury wasn’t merely Ray Bradbury but rather “Ray Bradbury, Saturday Evening Post writer” and then holy %#@& that made him a Major American Author!

Pretty savvy for a kid from Waukegan, huh?

The EC stories did the same thing.  While not the most popular comic books of the era, they sure impressed tens of thousands of young readers that Ray Bradbury was a name to note when looking for sci-fi and horror stories, and that game Ray a market penetration the rest of the sci-fi community could only envy.

Home To Stay! The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories is an exquisite volume, over three hundred pages of early 1950s sci-fi goodness.

The stories EC “selected” included some of Ray’s best, selections from The Martian Chronicles and Dark Carnival that retain their power to this day.

Wisely, Fantagraphics opted not to color the original black and white art.  Designed for conventional four-color comic book printing, the original black and white art is strong on its own, but can be ill served by modern printing standards.

Trying to ape the original garish art style -- which worked well for a comic book printed on cheap paper -- would produce an eye gouging ugly mess on the large size and higher grade paper Fantagraphics selected.

Conversely, coloring it to modern standards would undermine the strength of the original art.

Better by far the high quality reproduction of this volume.

And the stories themselves?

Well, first off they’re illustrated by a bevy of powerhouse hitters from that generation of artists, names that are familiar and beloved to this day — Johnny Craig, Reed Crandall, Jack Davis, Will Elder, George Evans, Frank Frazetta, Graham Ingels, Jack Kamen, Roy Krenkel, Bernard Krigstein, Joe Orlando, John Severin, Angelo Torres, Al Williamson, and Wallace Wood.

The stories themselves are adapted by ED editor Al Feldstein to varying degrees of success.  When he no longer needed to hide his source material, Feldstein could let Ray’s own words do the heavy lifting, and those stories can absolutely soar.

Included in this volume are such timeless Bradbury classics as "A Sound of Thunder", "Touch and Go", "The Million Year Picnic", "Mars Is Heaven","There Will Come Soft Rains…" and of course, “the Lake.”

Feldstein, of course, got Ray’s attention by mashing up the short stories “Kaleidoscope” and “Rocket Man” into the title story, “Home To Stay,” a blend that Ray himself later admitted he should have thought of when writing those stories.  He gave serious thought to suing EC but instead chose the Christian thing to do (in Ray’s own words) and sent of his famous letter that (a) got him paid and (b) started this incredible collaboration.

And I must say, the stories work best collected together, not folded in with other, more outrageous work.  I’ve read reprints and facsimile editions of early EC comics and while there are diamonds to be found, there’s also a lot of zirconium.

Collecting all Ray’s stories in one really gorgeous volume is a brilliant idea, and one I’m glad Fantagraphics risked.

  © Buzz Dixon

#Ray Bradbury #EC Comics #Al Feldstein #William F Gaines #sci-fi #comics

[strawbearytae]

NAURRR how could u end it like that 😭 I was hoping there’d be some more action or something after oc found out jk goes to yonsei :’(

Are they gonna introduce their friends to each other just to hangout together any time soon??? Cause I would love to everyone like 😶😶😶😶😶 Nd then shit blows up lolol. and then jk and oc realize that they’re falling for with their ex but it’s okay bc they’ve both changed over time and are good people who should stay together 😁😁😁 NGJSHD OMG WAIT WAIT who do you think is gonna hurt more when they realize each other’s identities? like jk, bc he fell for the girl whose heart he purposely broke and ruined—thereby breaking his ow </3—because he couldn’t bear to see her get dragged down with him for his mistakes? Or oc bc she’s falling for with her ex that she reallyyy liked (loved even, I think??) who broke her heart out of the blue (and according to her) bc of the very things she’s insecure about🤔

how did the high school people come to the conclusion that jk goes to yonsei? All namjoon did was post a picture of him

this is really irrelevant and literally nothing will change at all no matter how you answer it lol but it’s been bothering me tbh. is jaegguk’s name 재국? why is there an extra g 😭 

and if I may ask a Korean language-related question: when are you not supposed to call an older guy 오빠? I thought it was it was a general honorific for a girl towards an older boy. Do you have to be close to use it? what about a stranger then. I assume it’d be (name)씨  but what if u don’t know their name?

-comet

LOVE BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY I WANNA SKIP TO THOSE PARTS TOO😭😭😭 But unfortunately my stupid ass wants something called ”cHaraCtEr dEvELopMent” like wha🤧🙄

I WANNA SKIP TO THE ANGST BABY😭

AND A HANGOUT REUNION??? OH MY MY MY😭😭😭 I would love to write that but nooooo we need jk and yn to be deeper in their relationship 😭 Istg the logical side of my brain and my fan girl side are constantly fighting over pacing for this story🤡 Unfortunately, I am planning on making everything slightly more complicated than a BOOM HEY THEY’RE YOUR EX! So get ready for a real sh*tshow soon😌✨

I feel like yn and JK would be equally guilty, horrified and terrified when they find out? Like JK for obvious reasons while for YN???? Jungkook relates to a part of her life that she would rather forget (I.e. her obvious insecurities + homewrecker allegations), so meeting him again would remind her of the bad place she was in yk?

I don’t think I’ll really go into this but what I think would’ve happened was that those internet trolls (sorry I mean ex-classmates) would’ve found Jungkook’s Twitter through Namjoon’s and found the school he’s going to (probably he posted about it or he’s following the school’s Twitter). Which is also how the brutal ones are dm-ing him all that hate yk?

For Jaegguk: His name IS 재국 BUT I slightly went for the more romanized version of his name. Like yk how some army’s spell Jungkook as “Jeongguk”? It’s similar to that. Because depending on how the reader reads “guk” it can easily become “걱” instead of “국”, so the extra “ㄱ” insures more the “ook” sound ig. Tbh I just made him jaegguk to fit his Twitter username nfjdjfhdhd🤧

Now this one is tricky and I could probably write a whole essay on the formal and like more truthful implications of what 오빠 means. Truthfully and technically, 오빠 does mean older brother or anyone older than the female speaker… HOWEVER, there’s kinda like a flirty aspect to it… 오빠 kinda carries a similar meaning to “babe” or “baby”. kinda. It’s more like an very very very innocent version of “daddy” too ig. It’s kinda difficult to really express in a few lines the implications that 오빠 can have. But most the time, between friends, you don’t call the other person 오빠 unless you really think of them as a brother or you’re flirting with them. It’s like bro/babe in one word and you kinda have to figure out what that person means based on your relationship with them.

For example, I have a childhood friend that is 2 years older than me that I call 오빠, but we are 1000000% not dating. I’ve known this dude since I was a fetus and sang Dora the Explorer everywhere. There’s no way we’d ever date but we have a mutual respect for each other so I still call him 오빠.

However when I was first flirting/썸-ing with my ex-bf who was 20 months away older than me I started calling him 오빠. We called each other by names before but that quickly changed when we found a mutual interest in one another.

If you’re a girl and you meet an older guy that you’re legitimately gonna be friends with, you’d more likely call them [name]-ssi until you’d both agree to drop honorifics. When that happens you’d most likely call him by his name and if you start mutually showing interest then you might transition to 오빠.

It’s quite complicated and there’s some guys who tell you to “call them 오빠 because they think of you as a little sister” when in reality they’re flirting with you.

This turned out wayyyy too long, sorry.

In yn’s case I made her call JK “오빠” because she was making fun of him but she’s gradually showing interest in him. Plus, JK seems to hate it rn so it’s funny… ahhh the things I do for the crackfullness of my fics🥴

I should started a Korean-with-Minhee series or soemthing shfhdjdj but thanks for reading my very LONG explanation, I hope I didn’t bore you 😅

EDIT: The -ssi thing… hmm most of the tome the first thing people do is introduce themselves so they’re most likely to know each other’s names… Unless you’re like working with them in which they have titles like Director Kim that you’d refer to them by instead of [name]-ssi… So there really isn’t a situation that you wouldn’t use [name]-ssi. just like english, if you dont know their name: just ask😊

#papercuts #comet anon #I literally love your asks you ask so many questions that I didn’t even think about???? #like I can feel your love for my story and it makes me go uwuwuwuuwuwu #Korean with Minhee💗

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

Hello! You may have answered this already but do you have a favorite Victor date?

Hello (´ ∀｀)ﾉ I love the way you’ve asked the question cause I honestly could never choose “one” favorite Victor date HAHAHA.

I really can’t choose a single one, so I hope you won’t mind this becoming a tiny list.... (• ▽ •;) If I had to select a few (I will be including some dates that haven’t been released in the global server yet)—

—

[it’s not a chronological order]

Innermost Thoughts Date (unreleased) – Victor’s 5th birthday date. This date is so so so SO beautifully written, everything about this is honestly utter perfection; I haven’t ever cried reading a date as much as I cried reading and re-reading this one. The feelings you feel when you love someone, that you can love someone like THAT and what you can do for them – and how those feelings can actually transcend your phone screen. The symbolism of single white rose, the love letter, the pure and raw emotions.... this date just takes you on a ride. If I could read one date for the rest of my life, as of now, it will probably be this one~ ಥ‿ಥ

-

Mind Quest: Deep Spring Tide Night (unreleased) – Most of the times it’s hard to arrange the whole setting into one AU date. So, even if you aren’t an AU enthusiast, this MQ is hopefully bound to change your mind. I was saying the other day, I could actually write an MQ sized essay on why this is SO EPIC AND A MASTERPIECE. But the MQ itself is very self explanatory, so~ If I’m given the chance, I will definitely try my hardest to squeeze this one in the list of only materials I can read for the rest of my life HAHAHA.

-

Mind Quest: Taste of Life – The traditional Chinese wedding date. This is another emotional rollercoaster. You can tell that I’m ALL in for emotional stuffs HAHA. It’s a very very beautifully written, meaningful piece. ✨

-

Deep Love Date – THE ELDREDGE KNOT. We have a strong tie gang based on this HAHA. When you know the story behind the knot he uses in the date, another new layer of significance is automatically added to everything in the date 🥺

-

Rainy-day Date – A date I come back to very often. I guess we all hit a point in our lives when you feel that there isn’t a single place on this earth where you could go, hitting the rock bottom. And so, this date is so so soothing and healing, rediscovering how he’s always been walking right alongside you while being the first glimmer of dawn that lights up your darkness, at the very same time. 💓

-

Eternal Promise Date – Victor taking MC to his departed mother’s house and completely revealing the memories he holds so so dear, and of course, MC’s first visit to her future in-laws after they started dating officially HAHA~ 💝

-

Dazzling Date – The much anticipated first kiss, just how well planned the entire layout of their journey was, as well as just how much worth the wait it was! After this date was released in CN, “Victor finally kissed me” once became the 6th most searched topic on Weibo HAHAHA.

-

Mind Quest: Ablaze Night – The full circle of their journey together and continuing to move forward, together and how they are recognized as “Victor x MC” by everyone. It’s emotions of all sorts, I mean ALL sorts. And this date adds a rocket speed to their relationship going forward with every content that follows. 🚀

-

Mind Quest: Preference (unreleased) – I absolutely adore every content that features Victor’s family members HAHAHA. Such a kind, loving, warm and welcoming family – even without sprites, I’d bet they’re absolutely beautiful 2D humans. Unfortunately, due to the censorship we will be getting the edited version of the date in EN server. Sadly the spiciness has been toned down by a few degrees, but it’s still a very beautiful and enjoyable date with a sweet and significant confession –

whether it’s the 11 year old Bro Vic from the playground in their childhood, or the CEO Victor, the Teacher Victor, the Chef Victor or the Ordinary Citizen Victor – no matter which side of him at which age, he’s always been the one she likes the most.

And of course, he reciprocates with something equal as an answer. (◠‿・)

Owh yes, did I mention, the adorable blushing Victor who blushes even fiercely cause MC says he doesn’t know how cute he is when he blushes HAHAHA~ (*´ω｀*)

-

Countryside Date (unreleased) – There are many, many Victor dates where they act like a couple who’ve been together for over 40 years throughout the date HAHAHA. But this date in particular, I don’t know why, I treasure very much. Probably because it screams “HOME”; which is unquestionably a Victor x MC theme. We get peeks inside their every day life together, their view towards life and future and just how much they emphasize on the “simple happiness of being with the one you love”. And how, again, nothing in the world matters as long as they can hold each other’s hand. 🥺

_––_ I should put an end to this cause my list could honestly go on forever HAHAHA~ ♡

#mlqc victor #mlqc li zeyan #mlqc cn #ask

[theintoccabile]

okay but everyone who hasn’t watched this masterpiece, by which I mean The Great Queen Seondeok, you don’t know what a magnificent villain Mishil is

like her whole character??

The show literally starts with a soldier saving the king from a whole bunch of enemies and then the soldier takes off their helmet and behold it is Mishil

Then you learn she’s his concubine and casually orders people killed on the side?? Deep conversations happen between the two of them about ruling

Then he’s like hey now that I am dying time for you to enter a temple and disappear from politics :D

And she’s like sure and he’s like yep not happening and secretly orders this dude to kill her.

But this dude reports to Mishil instead and she’s like lol then slay me and he’s like DON’T EVEN JOKE ABOUT IT

Anyway RIP king, Mishil grasps power, it’s an amazing scene I’ve rambled about it before. She fakes his last will and makes that one prince the next king with the stipulation he will marry her. She already starts Seeing him. Then this fucker just backs out because his mom doesn’t approve. Okay bro your funeral

Mishil already has a kid from this union but if you set a baby down in the palace and walk away surely someone will adopt them whatever rip new king clearly YOU falsified the previous king’s final wishes

And then a lot of other shit happens she basically rules the country the new king having little real power but I can’t write a 5k word essay here anyway later on her interactions with the princesses and especially Deokman are AMAZING, incredible, I am here for this shit. Mishil is “the foe she trusts the most”, Deokman tries to think like and learns from her to beat her and bases her plans on Mishil being a nearly flawless master strategist

Mishil fucks things up for the royal family and tons of others all based on wanting to be queen aka the king’s wife, partly out of spite

Later we learn that while the other 2 most trusted people at the king’s side back in the day (both men) both got cool nicknames in respect of their skills, hers was “downfall causing beauty”

Mishil thinks morality is cute but she does have principles she doesn’t go against... unless.

She refuses to use the son she abandoned (until she is about to lose it all and needs someone to carry on her legacy/lead the people she will leave behind). She will not weaken the border defenses to stop her own total defeat/death because she and her comrades bled to uphold that border.

Her inner circle is like the “inner palace” in a palace drama but with way more politics, with her as the ruler. There’s her husband she married because he has a high station, her concubine lover who is arguably closest to her but who has no such fancy background, the sons she has with them (these dudes even form 2 seperate factions), and her brother also is always there for the party though HIS 100 kids aren’t invited

Anyway while Mishil tries to create a king she can control/marry again now that the direct male royal line has ended, along comes Deokman who is like “king? as in a guy I, the princess, could create by marrying now? lol nah may I kindly have that throne okay thanks” (there‘s also Chunchu who’s relevant here but it’s complicated)

And Mishil is FROZEN she is STUNNED and DEVASTATED because she’s been trying to be the king’s wife for most of her life which now seems such a paltry thing to her, and now here comes Deokman just grasping for that throne which would never have occured to Mishil who’s always worked WITH the system to try and overcome her limitations that stem from her background

And then Mishil is like fuck “just cause” winner takes all and now Deokman is stunned because she had no clue what she awakened in Mishil but unlike others she knew something wasn’t right when Mishil initially retreated

Anyway this shit is AMAZING and brilliant and Mishil is the best no other villain will ever come close bye

#villains #female villains #The Great Queen Seondeok #mishil #queen seondeok #uhhh this got long can you tell I #am passionate about this show and the amazing character that is #mishil but can you blame me?? no.

[chill-study]

g’day !

i’ve seen many studyblr app recommendation masterposts through the years but in the end, i always ended up deleting most of them. so, here is a selected list of the most useful and handy apps/websites for students i’ve been actually using for a while! (all in my humble opinion ofc)

here are apps I actually use for studying !

— scribbr (apa citations). MAN. automatic apa generator for free. you’re welcome.

— notion. the best online writing tool i’ve come across. to-do lists, timelines, code, embeds, block equations, automatic table of contents… you name it. anything you ask for, they’ve got it.

— notebloc. photo/text scanner. this came in really handy during quarantine, but i’ve gotten used to scanning many of my notes/drawings to have them on my phone for whenever i might need them.

— class central. online college courses. some are free, some are not, but if you need more detailed info on a subject bc your professor sucks this is your place.

— quizlet. you probably already know what quizlet is if you’re on studyblr. if not, let me tell you: it is h e a v e n. life savior if you have to review and don’t feel like getting up from bed.

all of these are free ! most are illegal, but that’s fine because in this account we believe in copyright abolition supremacy.

— library genesis. the good old libgen. free research papers and works.

— sci-hub. the long lost sister to the pirate bay, which was taken down (rest in peace). more of the above.

— scribdful. remember scribbr from the generic study apps? well, it isn’t for free. but i got you. here’s how to access those scribbr documents.

— internet archive. digital library, old versions of any websites [wayback machine]… it is basically the internet’s storeroom.

— worldcat. another online finder of books, films, papers, music…

— academia.edu. careful with giving them your personal e-mail bc they are the most annoying site i’ve come across when it comes to spam. for these cases: yopmail.com [temporary email generator]

— sparknotes. a life savour ! online notes on specific literary works. some are free, others require a yearly subscription for only $4.99. i’d say it’s worth it.

— google scholar. you know this one, right? no? it’s basically a filter for google searches so you only get academic results.

— wikileaks + similar alternatives: cryptome, globaleaks, ajtransparency. you know, all the leaked, classified info, pics and vids about corruption, crimes against humanity, war crimes… they make a really good bibliography, as if you were an infiltrated interpol spy. all completely safe (tho you need tor bowser for some of them bc of the possible blocked and censored sites and links)

— e-flux. just a personal recommendation. a great magazine with academic essays on social topics and art. contemporary artists are invited to write about specific topics.

— also, make sure to check your national libraries; many of them keep their catalogues public and online ! here’s an example from the new york public library.

general day to day apps / sites that come in handy more than once or twice.

— google calc. wait. this isn’t in the generic section bc i use this for tracking my monthly expenses. i’m a student which also means i’m poor. here’s a copy of the quadrant i use hehe. money money money – abba (lyrics)

— flo. basically for tracking your period. they have a premium version but i’ve never needed it. i’m just very disorganized so i need an app to remind me of when my period is coming.

— yuka. food scanner to check if the brand is healthy/over processed!!! damn this is such a good way to control what you eat and have an idea of what’s behind each product.

— eat this much. bro. free automatic meal plan generator based off the daily kilocalories you want to eat. IT EMAILS YOU A GROCERY SHOPPING LIST EVERY WEEK. whoever made this is definitely going to heaven. app and website.

— workaway / wwoof / aupairworld. these are quite famous. they’re here bc they might come in handy if you’re taking a gap year like i am, in case you want to travel for free and fully invest on the local culture. i’m going to france this december help!! [they all have relatively expensive yearly subscriptions if you’re poor like me]

— skyscanner. cheap flights finder in case you’re planning to take a trip anytime soon.

— polarr. photo editor with free online filters from other creators. more people who are going to heaven.

— zombies, run ! if you get bored while you’re going on runs like me and you need something to really boost your dopamine levels, here is a zombie apocalypse simulator to play on your headphones. really gives you that main character about to murdered in the eighth season of a bad apocalyptic fox tv show vibe.

i see you’re struggling to find some memorable good films to watch. let me give you a hand.

— mubi / filmin catalogues. these are not for free. i only have mubi, but filmin is also great. still, if you’re looking for film recommendations, you can access their catalogues online and from their respective apps.

— dbox.to. we love illegal sites. this is the best one i’ve found so far for watching films and shows.

— letterboxd. you have to know this one. no? it’s where all the film twitter memes come from, like that one chick ashley that said: troy (2004) - i can excuse historical inaccuracies but i draw the line at achilles being straight.

— imsdb. like imdb but with an uglier design. just movie scripts everywhere, in case you need to check, quote,… whatever.

— playphrase.me. dear santa, i want playphrase.me to be nationalized for christmas. you need to become a sponsor of the project if you want to use it without restrictions: script searcher for thousands of films! maybe consider checking them up?

now it’s the turn for langblr, though y’all probably already know about these. still:

— goodreads. letterboxd but for girls and gay people. book tracker.

— wordreference. translator with many options. i use this one for checking specific words’ meanings.

— linguee / deepl. these two are from the same developer. linguee i use for expressions/sentences and deepl when i don’t feel like translating that entire german exercise on goethe’s faust.

— reverso. another translator, kinda similar to linguee in case you’re not completely certain about what something means.

— urban dictionary. if you aren’t a native english speaker or if you’re too awkward to ask the meaning of the expression that your overly social friend has just said and everyone laughed to but you: urban dictionary is your friendly dictionary for colloquialisms and internet slang.

— chrome extension: language tool. forget about that stupid grammarly; steve jobs had us long before we knew. online grammar checker for many languages. make sure to click the perfectionist mode for more accurate help!

if you like studying listening to something on the background:

— nobody [youtube]. if you want to feel like you’re living in a dark academia film these are the soundtracks you were looking for.

— asmr rooms / asmr weekly [youtube]. if you like ambience sounds playing on the back these are my two favourites.

— simarchitecture [youtube]. i plead guilty to the jury. no, but seriously. if you like having someone in the back talking, simarchitecture has the most chill channel in history. and crazy real-life buildings built on the sims.

these i find interesting about a wide range of cultural & social topics. all of them on spotify !

— the magnus archives. mystery & spooky scary stuff.

— last podcast on the left. cool cinema reviews.

— sip & slay. true crime with two hosts with alcoholic tendencies.

— review from the terrace. chill film reviews.

— camping gathering. cute friendly talk about the host’s ongoing daily life.

— you’re dead to me. fun history from the bbc.

— the 2 lads podcast. remember isaac that cute guy from teen wolf? well his name is daniel sharman and he has a v interesting podcast where he talks about love, sex, drugs, mental health…

— radio garden. not a podcast but an app! if you’re an average radio enjoyer like me this has been my latest obsession. if you’re not a regular radio enjoyer, then you should be. radio stations from all over the world in case you’re looking for new music, trying to learn a language, in need of listening to kazakh talk shows… (you sometimes come across private radios like international airports or county sheriff offices but shhhh)

and, finally, here are yt channels that could come in handy for making up your mind on a specific topic, or even for research purposes. most are about cinema but ok.

cinema related:

— alt shift x

— art regard

— every frame a painting

— the narrative art  (historic video records from films/directors)

— we need to talk about film

— just write

politics:

— shaun

— vice

— e-flux videos

specific random subjects:

— wired (ignore the fucking wired autocomplete blahblah and you’ll get what you’re looking for)

— also check universities’ yt channels: you’ll find many many uploaded courses for free ! here’s the mit’s, for example.

ok! we’re done.

hope this was useful. happy illegal browsing ;)

[saby-chan]

Fire Lord Ozai: A blood thirsty monster or the less fortunate “Zuko” of his generation?

Hello again and thank you as always for clicking and allotting some of your time to read my humble post! Since I’ve happened to notice quite an increase in posts lately regarding the controversial character and nature of the former Fire Lord, the now imprisoned fallen prince Ozai, and I’ve personally promised in my previous post that I will share my own analysis on him if people asked me to do so (which actually happened), I am here to deliver my own take on this very intriguing man’s character, while also building a potential past for him based on stuff gathered from the show’s cannon.

I would like to start this essay with what I find to be my favorite quote ever: ”Monster’s aren’t born, they are created.” ~ Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto) What I like about this quote soo much and find very inspirational is the truth it holds within its short, yet powerful message. We are often fast to judge a “book by the cover”, to reduce others to what we assume of them by their appearance or latest actions that we’ve seen them do, but never actually take a moment and wonder where they come from, if this person we soo harshly look down upon really has been this way since their very beginning?

I’ve come across many comments on social media related to ATLA, especially on YouTube videos on which people would throw with harsh comments such as “Aang being a coward for choosing to spare the villain just because they saw a dumb baby pic of them” or “Ozai is the essence of evil and even as a baby he’d been a monster”. I can’t help but wonder who hurt these people to make them be so cruel? Like, how messed up must you actually be to say that a baby, a friggin baby, is the embodiment of all evils? Or that a child was a coward for choosing to see his opponent’s last bits of humanity and opted to spare them?

Aang was soo morally conflicted about the idea of killing Ozai not only because it contradicted the morals of his people, but because he himself understood that this man hadn’t always been the cruel beast he came to met in their first and final showdown. It’s important to note here the fact that upon finding that picture, Aang was actually convinced it had to be Zuko as a baby since it looked so innocent and cute and was actually surprised to learn it was Zuko’s father. And that’s the thing, Ozai was born like us all as an innocent and sweet baby. Babies aren’t in any way evil or twisted, they don’t even have the notion of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ defined in their small, still developing minds. In fact, the very choice of the creators to add this picture in the show is meant to tell us this very thing: this man wasn’t always like this. But if he wasn’t always like this, then what happened to make him become this way?

Well, in order to find out the reason, we must go back in time to the very beginning: Ozai’s childhood and upbringing. For this next part I am going to solely focus on the show cannon, as the comics aren’t the products of BryKe and have a lot of inconsistencies to the source’s cannon (you can go and read my other post on why they fail when it comes to Zuko’s character and his family).

 From what we know and can easily deduce by ourselves just from their appearances, Ozai and his brother Iroh have a huge age gap between them (somewhere between 10 and 15 years). This has to be our first red flag: isn’t it soo odd that this family opted to have their children at such a long distance between pregnancies? It almost feels as if Ozai hadn’t actually been part of his father’s actual family planning... In other words, he was a ‘mistake’ child (I actually hate having to use this terminology, but it will become relevant to when we expand on Azulon’s relationship with his sons). Sure, some may argue that Azulon actually decided to have two sons in case something were to happen to his first born, but wouldn’t it have been more logical to have his second born at 2-3 years max distance from his first? Why choose to have your second child when you are much older and thus risk having a baby with issues, if your sole purpose of this child is to serve as an insurance that you don’t ‘run out’ of heirs? It just doesn’t make much sense, so let’s go for the moment with the possibility that Ozai was an unplanned pregnancy.

This perspective actually gives way to another very interesting aspect: remember the infamous “Born lucky...Lucky to be born” quote? What if I tell you that there is a possibility that this quote wasn’t Ozai’s personal wicked invention, but actually something he himself heard from his very own father? It had been puzzling me for a long time why he choose to say “You were lucky to be born” to Zuko, which implies that Zuko wasn’t supposed to exist. I mean, it’s soo odd that Ozai went with something implying that Zuko was an unplanned pregnancy, since Zuko was the first born. So my theory is that maybe Ozai wanted to convey a different message to Zuko when he said that quote, but due to his anger he ended up replicating the same line he received from Azulon at some point in his childhood. We never got the exact flashback when the line was delivered from Ozai to Zuko, so we don’t have the exact context that lead to it (remember, we are excluding Yang’s take on the matter from the comics).

I mean, this feels like something that wicked old Azulon would have said to his least favorite child. Okay, so let’s go with the scenario that Ozai was an unwanted child, to which we could also add the possibility that Ilah’s health deteriorated after the first birth, which makes plausible the family’s initial decision of stopping at 1 kid.

Moving on, we know from the old ATLA character wiki’s that Ozai’s character design was made with Zuko in mind, being meant to be a grown up version of Zuzu, without the scar. An interesting choice indeed and even Iroh’s letter to Zuko on Ozai from one of the ATLA books describes Ozzy in a similar way to teenage Zuko in book 1: stubborn, feisty, determined and with a volcanic personality (easy to anger and competitive), so it means that these were intentional choices to imply that Zuko and his father are more similar than we were led to believe at first glance. Maybe Ozai was the “Zuko” of his generation. Also, in one of the interviews on the royal family, BryKe stated that Ozai worked very hard to get where he is in book 3, referring to his firebending specifically (we all know how Ozzy got the throne, so clearly, he didn’t “work hard” for that), so maybe he wasn’t always the strongest man alive, with the most exceptional firebending skills out there, like Azula who showed ease in her learning, but rather someone closer to Zuko’s weaker performance as a child, building his way to success through endless hard work until he became the prodigy we know today.

Continuing with our theoretical scenario, after his birth, the second child show’s lesser skills compared to his brother Iroh (by that I don’t mean that he wasn’t gifted at all, but that maybe Ozai wasn’t as fast and great of a learner like his big bro), so Azulon opts to just ignore him and continue focusing solely on his golden child. In my headcannon I actually think that Ilah survived the birth and so she was left in charge of the younger child’s education and upbringing. At this point Iroh is already 10 or older, so he is forced to focus on his development, which prevents him from spending time with his lil brother, but just for the sake of being positive, let’s assume that Ozai still had both his mother and his big brother to keep him sheltered from Azulon’s darkness for a small portion of his childhood.

I choose to believe that Ozai had his mother’s love for a small bit of his childhood due to his willingness in the show to allow Ursa (who mind you, as the granddaughter of Roku was considered a treacherous individual) to spend a ton of time with both Zuko and Azula and share her philosophy with the children, as seeing his wife playing with their children probably reminded him of his own bitter-sweet memories he had with Ilah. They also probably spent a lot of their time near the turtle-duck pond since that pond’s existence prolly dates long before Ozai and Ursa married and had their own children.

Unfortunately, Ilah dies and little Ozai remains all alone, to be influenced negatively by his father (and even by his grandpa Sozin, we don’t really know for certain when the old man died, so he prolly was there for a short time when Ozzy was still a child). Azulon most likely blames Ozai for his wife’s death as the second birth might’ve really had a huge toll on Ilah’s already fragile body, bringing her closer to death, so he still neglects and ignores the child, if not straight out bullies and abuses him for not being on par with Iroh. This prolly leads to Ozai becoming jealous of his brother since Iroh has their father’s love, pushing them further apart. I headcannon that this jealousy between the siblings led to Ozai complaining to his dad when he finally had too much of their father’s discrimination (at a similar age to when Zuko prolly did and got the infamous line, if not younger) only to get the “Iroh was born lucky, you were lucky to be born!” line with the sole purpose of hurting him since now the child knows that he was never wanted.

When Azulon scolds very furiously adult Ozai in Zuko’s memories for daring to ask to be named crown prince, he literally says something like “What, you dare ask me to betray MY own son?!” (this is like red flag number two), line that pretty much testifies how Azulon chose to pretty much treat Ozai as if he wasn’t his son too, showcasing how much he despised his second born and favored the first child over him. Since we are on the topic of their last conversation, the punishment Azulon gave to his son alone proves this man’s level of sadism, which leads me to be believe that Ozai’s childhood was full of this type of punishments for bad behaviors that could be easily corrected trough a long serious lecture or a lesser punishment focused more on teaching him an actual lesson. 

The old wikis also mention on the page about the hall with portraits of the previous Fire Lords that it was the place where Ozai chose to spend most of his time in his youth, seeking advice from his ancestors. I mean, seriously now, if he had a good and supportive father and a present brother in his life, would Ozai had chosen to seek guidance from the dead instead of his living family? That piece of information that was easily overlooked by many proves how lonely this man was in his youth.

So for the most part of his life, Ozai grew up under the toxic influence and abuse of his tyrant father who refused to acknowledge him. Yet he managed to grow up still full of determination to one day prove his worth to Azulon and gain his acceptance (just like we saw with Zuko in book 1, who was desperate to regain his honor and be accepted by his father). But unfortunately, no matter how strong he became or how good of a firebender he was, Azulon was unmoved and unphased by his second son’s performance.

From what we could gather from the little info we received in the show, it seems that Ozai was never sent to the battle field to aid his older brother, being kept as a stay home prince, with the only occasion he actually left home being to search for the Avatar (I don’t think Iroh was sent to do his part on searching the Avatar since he strongly believed that there wasn’t going to ever be one, so it’s safe to assume Azulon assigned Ozai with this mission just to get rid of him for a few years) and the only purpose he ever served to his father was to become part of the old man’s genetics experiment in order to create strong unparalleled firebending offspring (which I am pretty sure were meant to be ‘biological war machines’ used by Azulon in the war, as he didn’t really seem to give a shit about Ozai’s children compared to Lu Ten). So just imagine the level of disappointment and dishonor Ozai must’ve felt as a man and young aspiring soldier to find out that he was going to be used like a ‘non-bending daughter’ in a strategical marriage and never get to serve his country in what he’d been taught was the greatest and most important war for their Nation.

All in all, this marriage didn’t really end up that badly because it seems he and Ursa were actually very compatible. The old wiki for Ursa states that she was a noble woman and the perfect match for Ozai, which leads me to believe that show Ursa was intended to be a very strong willed and determined woman who earned his respect. The show never stated that Ozai never wanted his first born or that he was disappointed with Zuko from birth like the comics say, so it’s safe to assume that Ursa and Ozai actually ended up falling in love at some point since they had not one, but two kids with relatively a short time in between pregnancies. 

There are actually many signs in the show that actually prove that these two loved each other and Ozai didn’t abuse his wife: from the fact that they went every year to see Ursa’s favorite play despite Ozai hating the poor performance of the Ember Island Players (I mean, what man would do such a sacrifice as to endure the same torture every single year just to make his wife happy if he never loved her?), Ursa’s undeniable and sincere love for their children (in the show it was never stated that Ursa saw Zuko and Azula as someone else’s children, so if she were indeed an abused woman who was forced to have these children, she wouldn’t have ever loved them to such an extent, especially Zuko who resembled his father the most physically), the fact that Ursa had equal rights in their marriage and raising of their children (her even scolding and grounding Ozai’s favorite child without hesitation), to the most significant scene to the Urzai ship in Zuko’s flashbacks: Ozai sitting troubled all alone in Ursa’s favorite spot by the pond, in a sad and brooding atmosphere, after he lost her, instead of celebrating what had to be the happiest day of his life since he was finally crowned Fire Lord (it’s clear who had more importance in his heart: Ursa meant more to him than the throne, so losing her outshined his achievement). In fact, Ursa must’ve been the only thing that still kept him outside of the darkness that threatened to swallow his heart and once he lost her, Ozai had nothing else to keep him on the right path.

And even as a father, it seems that Ozai wasn’t always cold and distant to his children, as his true self depicted in Zuko’s memories on Ember Island shows him caring for both of his children, even holding Zuko close to him with a protective arm on the boy’s shoulder. Except the Agni Kai, there don’t seem to be any instances in which he was physically violent towards his son before the banishment (Iroh literally let Zuko in to join that faithful war meeting willingly. Would’ve he done that if he knew his brother to be very violent towards his children in case they disobeyed? If yes, then it would make Iroh actually very questionable on a moral standpoint) and even on an emotional level, I don’t really think that he was actually abusive to him (at least while Ursa was there) because from Zuko’s conversation with Zhao, he’s adamant that his father will take him back and even states "You don't know how my father feels about me. You don't know anything!", meaning that the father he used to know showed him a level of respect and genuine affection (if Ozai were to bully Zuko since the boy’s very early childhood, do you think this kid would grow up to be so sure that his father wants him around and would he defend this bully when someone badmouths them in front of him?).

Even with Azula, despite people demonizing her from early childhood and saying that she was manipulated since birth by Ozai to become a war machine, I do believe that she shows genuine love and affection towards her father. I do choose to believe that back in the good times when the family was happy, Ozai spent quality time with his daughter, filling in the gap left by Ursa’s neglect. I theorize that the reason why kid Azula badmouthed her grandpa and uncle was because she was being very protective of her father: since she used to like spying and eavesdropping, it’s safe to assume that she prolly witnessed many instances in which the old man bullied or insulted Ozai, favoring Iroh over him. It’s a bit harder to see it that way since her snarky comments involve dark topics, but since they live in a society governed by power and war, I see them as something similar to if Azula would’ve said “Uncle sucks and he will surely be fired from his job!” or “Grandpa is old and weak, he should leave the family business to dad!”. Even the fact that the only thing capable of shattering her to pieces was her father leaving her proves how much she cared for him. Ty Lee and Mai’s betrayal was a big blow on Azula’s control and sanity, but she didn’t breakdown until Ozai discarded her after his coronation as Phoenix King. There’s nothing more painful in this world than to be left behind by the person you loved the most and was there by your side your whole life, whom you wanted to follow to world’s end and back. That was the moment Azula finally realized that the father she used to know and love was actually gone and had been in fact, long gone for years at this point.

But if Ozai cared for his family what made him change? Easy, it all comes back to the fact that his father never acknowledged him. The throne doesn’t seem to be his ultimate goal in life since Ozai discarded of the Fire Lord title very easily, tossing it to Azula without any remorse or hesitation. It was more about the meaning behind getting the crown: replacing Iroh in the line of succession was the ultimate proof of his father’s acceptance, that he wasn’t only a “mistake” and “failure” in his father’s eyes, but since Azulon ended up saying and doing what he did, backfired Ozai and made him understand that no matter how hard he tried, the old man will never see him for what he is. So yeah, for a proud man like Ozai this was a hard defeat to swallow, which in turn sparked his strong desire of winning the war and becoming the king of the world: if Azulon wouldn’t accept him even in death, then Ozai will prove to the whole world that he was above his father and his “perfect” brother by accomplishing what they never could and even better and no one was going to stop him, not even his own family.

This is what differentiates Ozai from Zuko: while both had similar upbringings, Ozai never broke away from his obsession of gaining his father’s admiration, allowing himself to fall prey to the darkness left by Azulon in his heart and abandon his true self, only to become the copy of his abuser, while Zuko stood up to his dad and chose his own destiny. If Aang were to come back around 20 or 30 years earlier, then he might’ve actually been able to save Ozai just like he saved Zuko, but unfortunately it wasn’t this way.

Do I think that Ozai could still be saved and redeemed even after the events of book 3? Definitely! Since he’s actually a broken man and still has a tiny bit of humanity left within, I think he still has a chance to change his heart. The only thing is that it’d be a long lasting process: first off he needs to spend a long time in solitude and reflect on his life’s choices and his past, understand where he went wrong and that what happened to him in his childhood is called abuse, which he ended up replicating on his own children. After he understands his wrongdoings and becomes willing to rediscover his true self, he needs to understand the truth about the war, that everything he’d known was fake propaganda and that there was nothing glorious in what he, his father and Sozin did under the excuse of “sharing their Nation’s greatness with the rest of the world!”. But most importantly of all, the only remedy that could possibly save him is love. It sound cliche, but by responding to hatred with more hate like Zuko did in the comics would never change the world “for the better” or bring it “to reality”. The only way to save both Azula and Ozai would be trough showing them the power of love, hope and empathy, how they don’t have to struggle alone and push everyone away. And especially by redeeming Azula, she would be a very important piece in Ozai’s redemption: since he had a closer parent-child relationship with Azula and cared for her the most when he did care, realizing how much he made her suffer through his actions, that would probably break Ozai enough to make him admit that he was wrong all along.

So yeah, this is my analysis on Ozai’s character using the cannon information from the show and old wikis and why I think he is just the product of a very bad environment and an abusive parent who never showed him love (if there’s a reason for why Ozai might be uncapable of showing a healthy parental love to his children is because you can’t show what you’ve never learnt yourself), being the Zuko of his generation who never got to experience the positive influence of an “Uncle Iroh” to guide him on the right path. 

You can agree with me or not on this one, but this is what I choose to believe. Maybe I am way too good by choosing to see any potential good in anyone, but I feel it’s a better way than to counter hate with more hate like Yang did in his monstrous portrayal of Ozai in The Search.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments and if you agree with anything I’ve said, feel free to leave a like and to reblog this post.

See you next time and stay safe! Bye-Bye!

Saby out.

#atla #atla rant #avatar the last airbender #ozai #azulon #ursa #zuko #azula

[anonymouslyangsty]

Taka defending Mondo’s gang or the gang defending Taka

Heck yeah

Taka definitely has limited ability to defend the gang. It's not like he's going to be around during territory fights or anything. So I definitely see most of Taka "defending the gang" being "him defending Mondo from his father's scrutiny"

Takaaki doesn't care that his son's gay. Taka's already gone through so much in his life; he deserves anything that makes him happy. So Takaaki's issue is not that he's dating a boy, but WHAT boy he's dating. Mondo Owada, a literal gang leader...

Taka definitely has a list of all the great traits Mondo has, plus mentions the boy's future plans outside of the gang. He also has a 29 paged essay on the complex social impact of gangs, and how the removal of the Crazy Diamonds would most likely cause a power vacuum, making way for more dangerous groups.

The CD probably protects the streets to some degree. You won't have drug dealers selling to kids while they're around, plus they keep more aggressive gangs out.

Takaaki probably eventually warms up to the idea, but it's a process.

(Also, RIP to Takaaki's hair. Because there's no greater stress than realizing that your kind, innocent son has a type, and that type is delinquent.)

Now, quick tangent on the gang defending Taka. Why the HECK aren't there more fics about Taka getting caught up in gang activity??

I mean seriously, the angst potential is RIGHT THERE. Plus it makes so much sense. Mondo, this feared gang leader, just revealed a MASSIVE weakness by dating a freaking hall monitor. Hell, they don't even need to be dating at that point; just being seen around him would be enough.

Plus, even outside of that, there are reasons for enemy gangs not to like Taka. Not only did his grandfather's corruption likely affect some of the gang members, but his father is a freaking COP and has probably arrested them at least once. They have every reason to dislike Taka just based on his family, and that's BEFORE you realize how much of a rule-following, strict boy he is.

And also, Taka's no pushover, but he's probably really easy to kidnap. You KNOW he takes the same route home everyday and at the same time. Not hard to plan a kidnapping when you know where the target's going to be.

So yeah. Let Taka get kidnapped as leverage over Mondo. Let Takaaki have to team up with the Crazy Diamonds to save him. Let Mondo have to question if being in a relationship with Taka is worth risking Taka's safety.

Because Taka would absolutely want to continue their friendship; he's not going to let some cowards intimidate him into leaving his bro! But Mondo? He's worried about this happening again, about Taka getting hurt worse than he already has been.

Also! Think of the conflict Takaaki would be in. He knows Taka loves Mondo, but is that worth the risk of Taka getting hurt again? His desire to protect his son might lead him to thinking the safest option is that Taka never interact with Mondo again.

Seriously, this idea has so much potential. I have seen like 2 fics that even bring up the idea and it's a CRYING SHAME.

But outside of that specific situation, I can't see the gang needing to defend Taka much. When Taka does see the gang, it's usually in a pretty chill environment. Mondo doesn't take Taka on their rides or anything, because he knows Taka would just have a bad time.

But if there WERE a situation, you know the entire gang goes into "You are NOT laying a hand on Ishi" mode. Like yeah Taka can fight, he's ripped. But that doesn't mean they're going to be protective of him. Doesn't matter if he's the same age as their leader. Doesn't matter if some of the members are younger. Taka is Baby and must be protected at all costs.

Honestly? That's probably for the best. Taka would see a turf war and decide that calm negotiations are the best options. He wouldn't want to resort to violence...which is a good way to get punched in the face.

#Kiyotaka ishimaru #mondo owada #danganronpa #takaaki ishimaru #an ask tag

[kicktwine]

ask dump (big long)

1) ABDBHTDND YEAH THEY DID UM, they did the ”no THANK you..! etc etc BUT IM WEAK” song too! Wild how that is now. points at them hey I know those guys

2) OHHH….. THIS HITS……….. I like missio sometimes but this is a nice chorus also: Vanitas… yeah I, like, always love music recs. they can be hit or miss but it’s only fair with how much music I find and then immediately go what if I showed everyone

3) how many does he have in there now, eleven? Twelve??? He signed up for one mouse and he got eleven human children or at least nine to ten human children, two young adults, and two regular adults who aren’t going to be helpful—

4) aaaaaaaaa thank you!!! 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

5) MMM I haven’t thought extensively about cowboys for a while… it’s been mostly space up here for now, haha. I like my space murder. But that’s not to say I haven’t given them some fond passing thoughts! Two bros sitting in a river 5 feet apart cos they’re covered in mud and smell awful and one of them is very loudly blaming the other for the plan that involved hiding behind a barn (actually the last thing I wrote in my notes is a mini totally unfinished drabble of hiding in Lea’s bar but the “great hiding place” Lea has is in his floor)

6) gosh I Have to wonder if it’s a case of destiny/universal “the nature of humanity is that every so often someone invents homestuck again” or if we just, like, had common knowledge of the book of prophecies. Or not even the Book, maybe, I have to assume that knowledge/observance of the Foretellers phased out pretty quickly, but prophecies left unfulfilled would linger for generations probably. Or maybe they’re even old stories, a tale of seven masters of the past drawn in to a chess game, or the game based on the old fairytales, or the numbers 7 and 13 are ingrained in local culture … see, because obviously Xehanort implies that this prophecy/old masters stuff ISNT common knowledge, but Eraqus CERTAINLY knows about it and it’s in all the architecture/local myths… ok but then also, if we’re to take the opening chess game as more than just clever symbolic narrative bookends, everyone’s symbols ARE right there. I just kind of registered that’s probably what you were talking about. In which case our questions are still there, how much did the common populace know and how much did eraqus know? Did he like, end up with three apprentices who had very distinct chess symbols as keychains and go uh oh john or what—

hey why’d you do this to me. I’m a tired college student in scala on my sixth response paper about the prophetic legitimacy of foreordained keybearers versus the self-imposed creation of destiny as following common legend and I’m arguing with some guy named Einar about how you can’t just fake a prophetic fulfillment by claiming to be the Crown piece in chess. You can’t just KIN A CHESSPIECE, Einar.

7) ABGDJGD TY..!!! To be honest they also live in my head rent-free! Some of them need to start paying rent because I’m supposed to be in school getting Better at storyboarding—

8) hard same hey thats just bc magnet is uhhhh. The best spell? Aside from mine spells

9) SEE AGAIN I DONT KNOW bc for one Sora obviously isn’t ENTIRELY unique, if he’s able to be diagnosed so quickly, but this “holding your nobody and two to four other people in there” kind of thing probably has never been seen before. But for another, Roxas and Xion have copied a keyblade. Just like — a keyblade? Copied entirely? Wild.

anyways keyblade manifestation is a mystery to me and I’d love to see it explored because what we know the Lore is, is this: they were fashioned after the likeness of the x-blade. They can be bequeathed to others (shown to not necessarily mean that exact keyblade is passed down, probably this means the ability to wield can be bequeathed). They can be WILLFULLY given. They come from the heart, they are not welded out of steel. They are…. questionably sentient, or maybe just sapient, or somehow are picky about who holds them. Side note khwiki is telling me things I Did not know about the whereabouts of Ven’s heart during 358 and also the ability to wield two which requires more than one heart obvi but which is named synch blade??? always question the wiki but these have sources. Anyways. Keychains can swap their forms so they have a Base and Custom Skins mode. There are three kinds, Light (common), Darkness (Michael mouse??? Not his bbs one the rod one which I GUESS is a counterpa Iiiiii am getting off trackaaaaa), and Heart (which I’m guessing is just the x-blade, maybe the gayblade, and the kh1 keyblade of heart??). Um. What was my point here. OH yeah I was just gonna say Bro Wild. This is completely a mystery to me. Does every keykid’s base form keyblade look different, and we were all just given cool keychains? Are there some kids who melded unique keychains? If I were connecting dots wildly and with reckless abandon I’d say yeah and also you cannot just suddenly one day wield one, you HAVE to be bequeathed, but as soon as that happens it sparks the creation of your own personal heart sword. Every keyblade is manifested independently — those wielding a family keyblade have the ability to summon their own, if necessary, but the family sword is taking up that space in their heart and theyd have to get used to making their own. since, it seems, keyblades (summoned) will die and solidify if their bearer dies, but keyblades (unsummoned) will either disappear or summon themselves somewhere else and retain a small piece of your… essence. A legacy keyblade, I feel, would be a little something like feeling every past Avatar and you are the avatar, but you can’t talk to them. They’re there tho. Also I think that having an exceptionally strong heart would be not only a moral requirement for ensuring the keyblade’s duty is upheld, but also a physical requirement! youre carving out a bit of your heart to make room for a sword. Weak hearts should not do that even if they want to.

aye… how was that longer than the scala answer? You got me on tangents again in these essays I

10 (submission from licilou22)

NGDBFDBFSHGDHFDHGDA 😎👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼 WHEEZING

#ask #MANY ASKS (10) #well 9 and a submission #anon #kh #oh to be a tired scala graduate student #oh to write thesis papers about keychains #anyways love u alll……. Thank u for asks #…… 💕💕💕👁👄👁 #paopubell #rosie-kairi #licilou22 #infernal-fox #metazone

[lockefanfic]

With the end of Business Trip in sight, discussions about the male oc’s partner are being brought up. Similar discussions have been made months ago with suggestions like Locke writing alternate endings per potential partner or a polyamory. While the author himself has shut these down, I would like to discuss why it is more likely for there to be a 2yeon ending than a SaMo ending.

Firstly, it has been revealed that Jeongyeon and Nayeon are his two favourite members in the group. Locke has written a mini fic about how Nayeon has moved up his bias list, overtaking Momo, while he has always maintained his stance that Jeongyeon is his ult bias. Furthermore, he has shown his love for the 2yeon ship, writing a 2yeon threesome piece outside of the BT universe.

Secondly, Nayeon has the most chemistry with Jeongyeon. From hailthegoddessjihyo’s ask, he has proven that Jeongyeon is likely to be the oc’s endgame partner. From BT Chapter 45, Jeongyeon has initiated sex with both oc and Nayeon, showing her acceptance of Nayeon as a sexual partner. They “[shared] some inside joke [oc wasn’t] privy to” and had shared intimate moments in the chapter themselves, such as Jeongyeon roleplaying with Nayeon as a cop, the latter’s job in the story.

Thirdly, there are trust issues between Sana and Momo. While they were best of friends in the early parts of the story, the two girls have grew apart, especially ever since Sana’s betrayal in the Taiwan storyline. Upon Sana’s return in Hawaii, she appeared much more apologetic to Momo even though she wasn’t, as she presented her true self to oc.

In conclusion, 2yeon is a more likely endgame than SaMo. However, these arguments are based on the fact that the author chooses a 2 girl ending, which he has time and time again expressed he was against. But at the end of the day, this is just a theory and we will all be satisfied with the ending Locke chooses.

~~~

A mini essay that I just felt like writing. I’m planning to do something similar once you finish the story ;)

Can’t let my bro hailthegoddessjihyo get all the credit lmao

Professor @chong-ong over here will be teaching Business Trip 101: An Introduction to an Overly Long, Pretentious, and Poorly Written Smut that Got Out of Hand. This is a six credit class beginning in September and spanning both academic terms.

As for 2yeon vs. SaMo, yeah, 2yeon definitely have the advantage in that they actually like each other, whereas you just know Sana would throw Momo under the bus if it meant a better shot at OC. :P

And yes, the ending will just be one girl. No polyamory here unfortunately lol. Maybe in an alternate universe one shot or something because...

...the fic writes itself

#asks

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Crooked Timber's Ministry for the Future Seminar

Kim Stanley Robinson's 2020 novel "The Ministry for the Future," is a fierce imaginative work. Robinson doesn't just depict a future beyond the climate emergency and capitalism itself, he depicts the specific, wrenching transition that takes us there.

https://www.orbitbooks.net/orbit-excerpts/the-ministry-for-the-future/

As I wrote in my review, the (variously attributed) maxim "It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism," isn't quite right. Imagining postcapitalism is an easy lift, but imagining the path to that world is *very* hard.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/03/ministry-for-the-future/#ksr

Robinson didn't leap into this project - he's been working up to it for literally decades, at least since the publication of the "Three California" books, which include one of the most uplifting novels I've ever read, PACIFIC EDGE:

https://memex.craphound.com/2015/01/15/pacific-edge-the-most-uplifting-novel-in-my-library/

Meanwhile, his 2312/Aurora/New York 2140/Red Moon novels constitute a kind of rangefinding exercise, starting 300 years the future and then walking his projection backwards to find a plausible route to get there.

https://memex.craphound.com/2017/03/18/new-york-2140-kim-stanley-robinson-dreams-vivid-about-weathering-climate-crisis/

But all these brilliant novels really seem to be warmup exercises for the main event, The Ministry for the Future, which depicts the intermeshed systems of economics, politics, geoengineering, streetfighting and tragedy that might rescue us from dying in our own waste-gases.

It's urgent, frightening and hopeful, raising as many questions as it answers.

These questions are now taken up in one of Crooked Timber's "seminars": a series of interdisciplinary essays about the book, culminating in the author's response.

https://crookedtimber.org/2021/05/03/the-ministry-for-the-future-seminar/

The first of these essays comes from Maria Farrell: "What is Ours is Only Ours to Give," about the digital technology at the core of TMFTF, namely blockchain and independent social media. Farrell is characteristically incisive on these elements.

https://crookedtimber.org/2021/05/04/what-is-ours-is-only-ours-to-give/

Her thoughts here tie back to her notion of the "prodigal tech bro," and how we should treat the tech industry's claims of genius with skepticism - even when those claims are cloaked in confessions of being an EVIL genius.

https://crookedtimber.org/2020/09/23/story-ate-the-world-im-biting-back/

The next essay is Oliver Morton's, digging into the solar geoengineering in TMFTF, and the "sustained contradiction" such an effort might produce - relieving the urgency of addressing carbon production and accumulating new policy debt in the process.

https://crookedtimber.org/2021/05/05/on-solar-geoengineering-and-kim-stanley-robinson/

Morton's a very good choice for this role: his 2016 book on geoengineering, "The Planet Remade," remains one of the best technological, economic and political overviews of the subject:

https://memex.craphound.com/2016/05/04/the-planet-remade-frank-clear-eyed-book-on-geoengineering-climate-disaster-humanitys-future/

Next is Jessica Green's "Can the World’s Bankers Really Save the Climate?" which drills into Robinson's fictional carbon markets, where central bankers are pressed into service to save the planet in an unjust (but rapid and necessary) compromise.

https://crookedtimber.org/2021/05/06/can-the-worlds-bankers-really-save-the-climate/

Green's an expert on climate and finance, so she's as good at spotting the cards that Robinson palms here as Farrell is with tech. Green credits Robinson with identifying the "true sources" of climate obstruction, but thinks he's missed the mark on how to deal with them.

Next is the Roosevelt Institute's Todd Tucker with "Ministry for Your Future Soul": praise for KSR's depiction of the scientific process, scientists, policy wonks, and the progress of policy. Tucker calls Robinson a "Gramscian science fictionologist."

https://crookedtimber.org/2021/05/07/ministry-for-your-future-soul/

Robinson's "dynamic imagination...makes the book valuable to policy nerds" because "fiction can inform planning," specifically through that exercise of starting with the outcome we want and then working backwards to imagine the steps we need to get there.

This "backcasting" method has many and varied adherents. It's the method that Anonymous used to create its notorious ops, as documented in Biella Coleman's 2014 book on the ensemble:

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-anonymous-ghost-in-the-machine

But it's also the method that Amazon uses for new product decisions: starting by writing the press-release announcement and then working backwards to sell the org on developing the product to go with the press-release:

https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/amazon-uses-a-secret-process-for-launching-new-ideas-and-it-can-transform-way-you-work.html

Next is Belle Waring's "Sudden Tempest of Ultimate Summer," which goes straight for the political violence in TMFTF, and KSR's seeming discomfort with this violence, coupled with his evident belief in its necessity.

https://crookedtimber.org/2021/05/10/the-sudden-tempest-of-ultimate-summer/

As Waring points out, alongside all the nonviolent tactics Robinson depicts, there is a lot of (mostly offstage) violence - and when that violence is onstage Robinson pivots away from it, subjecting the Davos hostages to Powerpoint presentations instead of a firing squad.

Waring also grapples with the intimate, gendered role that violence plays in the book - the relationship between heroine Mary Murphy and the traumatized antihero Frank May, who holds her hostage, and whom Murphy subsequently dedicates herself to.

The next installment - Half the Earth? - comes from John Quiggin, a trained agricultural economist who delves into Robinson's depiction of a successful "Half Earth" transition in which humans surrender half our planet to other animals.

https://crookedtimber.org/2021/05/11/half-the-earth/

Quiggin is pretty bullish on the possibility of this happening, noting that we have more than enough food as things stand and that human fertility is already below the replacement level everywhere except Africa, where it's still trending down.

For Quiggin, vacating half the Earth is do-able: "We are, suddenly and surprisingly, at a point in history when radical change seems not just possible but likely."

Next is Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, whose "What’s In Our Way?" - a frank look at how KSR depicts north/south politics, and the realism behind a scenario in which mass death in India leads to little change, while the erasure of LA sets change in motion.

https://crookedtimber.org/2021/05/03/whats-in-our-way/

Táíwò calls this "equal parts fatalism, pragmatism, and optimism," and while he acknowledges its realpolitik, he also calls upon us to imagine something better - led by the global south, rather than the "elite of the elites."

There are three more responses to come: from Henry Farrell, Suresh Naidu and Robinson himself - a contribution I'm eagerly awaiting. Based on my own experience with the CT seminar on my novel Walkaway, this will be an intense project for him.

https://crookedtimber.org/2017/05/10/cory-doctorow-seminar/

For all that the seminar raises serious questions about whether TMFTF can be a roadmap (as opposed to an inspiration) for a transition to a better, sustainable future, the book remains an awesome, towering accomplishment, a beacon and a delight.

What's more, Robinson has walked back his early 2020 idea that TMFTF would be his last novel for an indefinite period while he worked on nonfic (about the Sierras and conservation). He says he's back to writing novels, which is *outstanding* news.

I read TMFTF as I was writing THE LOST CAUSE, my post-GND climate novel about truth and reconciliation with white nationalist militias and plutocrat wreckers.

You can read the prologue here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-decameron-36398964

That book is now done, and reading TMFTF and thinking about its boldness, its brilliance and its flaws made me reconsider my own story. Imagining the end of capitalism remains the hard problem of our future, and Robinson has done sterling work on that problem.

The Crooked Timber seminarians are carrying on the work Robinson started in TMFTF, shoring up its weak spots and calling attention to its sturdy frame. Taken together, the CT essays and Robinson's novel are a heady tonic for a world in transition.

#pluralistic

[sssrha]

WangXian wouldn’t have been very functional pre-Wei Wuxian’s resurrection

So I was talking to @litescheme on Twitter and I decided to pour my heart out about how I hated the general fandom consensus that Wei Wuxian going to Gusu when Lan Wangji asked him to would have solved all of his problems, primarily because the idea of just straight up going to Gusu is incredibly flawed. Lo and behold, they agreed wholeheartedly. We had a great discussion and now I’m here to relay the discussion onto Tumblr in essay form uwu.

(By the way, this is based mostly on CQL with a good bit of novel added in, as well as a few hints of the donghua.)

Part One: “Come back to Gusu!” is a great romantic notion but a terrible plan of action.

First of all, one must ask the question: what on Earth was Lan Wangji’s game plan with the whole “Come back to Gusu!” thing? I think we can all agree that most of the Lan Sect hated Wei Wuxian - by the end, at least. Lan Xichen certainly had less than charitable feelings toward him. With such a hostile environment, the only way I can see Wei Wuxian surviving within the Sect is while being forced into a Madam Lan-type situation. I find that prospect more reminiscent of a horror movie than a heartwarming fic about healing.

Luckily for us, we can safely say that canon Lan Wangji would not have done that! Due to certain childhood trauma, Lan Wangji definitely would not have forced Wei Wuxian to do anything, go anywhere, or stay anywhere that he didn’t want to. That isn’t even touching on how much Lan Wangji genuinely wanted Wei Wuxian to be happy, and forcing Wei Wuxian to do anything had generally been proven to not make him happy. Good on him!

The next point: why would Wei Wuxian have gone to Gusu in the first place? Even while ignoring WangXian’s rampant misunderstandings, Wei Wuxian always actively had a reason to not go to Gusu. During the Sunshot Campaign, he was a major player and commanded a huge amount of power that probably aided the Sects greatly. During his stay in the Burial Mounds, he had a community of war prisoners to protect. How could he go to Gusu?

I’ve seen fics where Lan Wangji ensured the safety of the Wen Remnants, and while I absolutely adore the trope, I really don’t see that happening with canon Lan Wangji. First, I don’t think he’d grown as a person enough to fully rebel against his Sect until Wei Wuxian was in immediate danger, and second, I straight up don’t think that he had the sway to. Pulling that kind of stunt implies a good deal of political power within the Sect...and also implies that Lan Wangji would have had enough power to escape a punishment which he clearly never thought he deserved. However, I could be wrong on this point! Politics has never been my forte. 

Also, I don’t think anyone can bank on the Lan Sect accepting the Wen Remnants. After all, the Lan Sect participated in the First Siege of the Burial Mounds and thus, presumably, also the slaughter of the Wen Remnants.

Upon further reflection, I figured that the only time Wei Wuxian might have actually gone to Gusu was that brief period of time after the Sunshot Campaign and before he met Wen Qing. However, for him to agree, I figured that three things had to happen:

Wei Wuxian had to understand that Lan Wangji wanted to help him, not hurt him.

Wei Wuxian had to come to the (false!) conclusion that Jiang Cheng no longer needed his help or support at Lotus Pier.

Wei Wuxian had to accept that he was worth saving in the first place.

(The concept came pre-set with some delicious Yunmeng Bros angst because Jiang Cheng would almost certainly take Wei Wuxian (permanently) going to Gusu the same way he took Wei Wuxian taking the Wen Remnants to the Burial Mounds: a betrayal, a promise broken. Emotionally, of course. There definitely wouldn’t have been political pressure closing in from all sides the way there was in canon.)

I was going to expand on that concept, but then I hit a bit of a hurdle: I genuinely did not, and still do not, see any reason for Wei Wuxian to actually go to Gusu. At that point, Wei Wuxian was doing everything he felt he needed to: he protected Jiang Cheng because Madam Yu told him to (and because he genuinely cared for him, but Madam Yu’s command was his driving force) and he only left Jiang Cheng when Wen Qing - someone he perceived himself owing a greater debt to due to the golden core removal - came along. When looking at it from that regard, I don’t think Wei Wuxian would ever see a reason to go to Gusu.

So, even after clearing up the miscommunication, Lan Wangji would have to present a good reason for Wei Wuxian to listen to him. 

I don’t think Lan Wangji going up to Wei Wuxian and saying, “Please come back to Gusu, I want to protect you,” would have worked. Considering how prideful Wei Wuxian was back then - with a good bit of it justified when you consider the fact that he killed a large amount of people in a single night during the Pledge Conference (though the exact number is never actually confirmed as far as I remember) - I don’t see Wei Wuxian taking the implication that he needs protection very well. No matter how many good intentions Lan Wangji had, he would have ended up offending Wei Wuxian at that point.

Another route Lan Wangji could have taken: “Please come back to Gusu, I want to play Cleansing for you.” Again, I don’t think this would have worked. (At least, that was definitely his stance in CQL and Wei Wuxian still didn’t do anything.) In Chapter 78, Wei Wuxian mentioned that the Sound of Lucidity had no effect on him. The Sound of Lucidity is, presumably, one of the Song(s) of Clarity, of which Cleansing is the most powerful. Lan Wangji used the Sound of Lucidity at the Pledge Conference after the battle had started. I don’t exactly know why he didn’t use Cleansing when it was more powerful... Either way, after he played the Sound of Lucidity, Wei Wuxian said, “You should’ve known since long ago—Sound of Lucidity is useless to me!” Thus, Lan Wangji asking him to go to Gusu so he could play Cleansing probably wouldn’t have seemed like an especially compelling reason to Wei Wuxian.

After some thought, I figured that post-resurrection, Wei Wuxian agreed to stay with Lan Wangji in the Cloud Recesses after the mystery was solved because:

He was not as prideful as pre-death Wei Wuxian.

He saw no reason to go back to Lotus Pier since Jiang Cheng made it very clear that he was unhappy with him.

He managed to process and confess his feeling to Lan Wangji, who did the same.

Pre-death Wei Wuxian has none of this. Basically, Wei Wuxian at that point had no reason to go to Gusu for anything other than a short visit.

Now, I don’t know if any of you have noticed, but this entire time I’ve been ignoring not only the reality that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji’s relationship pre-death was...very bad, but also something else very important: the Stygian Tiger Seal. 

The Stygian Tiger Seal was, of course, stupidly powerful, and Wei Wuxian only kept it because it would take too much time and energy to destroy, and it was meant to deter anyone from attacking him since he already knew that so many people were against him. One of his main fears was someone else - someone with impure motives - getting their hands on it, so of course he was paranoid wondering who would try to steal it from him. Lan Wangji asking him to go to a place where Wei Wuxian would be surrounded by people who hated his form of cultivation? Yeah, that didn’t sound that great. 

(Also, can we please take a moment to appreciate this excerpt from the novel: “The Stygian Tiger Seal’s powers were considerably greater than what he had imagined. He originally wanted to use it to assist him, but its powers were almost exceeding him, its creator” (Chapter 30). Almost. He said the Seal was not as powerful as him! The Stygian Tiger Seal was, indeed, strong, but he was more so! I see a lot of fanfics paint the Stygian Tiger Seal as what made him so terrifying and...it was certainly a part of it, but he did most of it on his own! Ah, we love terrifying main characters~)

Now, I’ve acknowledged the existence of WangXian’s miscommunication, but I’ve never actually addressed it. So, here it is: I do not think Lan Wangji confessing to Wei Wuxian (even before his stint in the Burial Mounds after the Bloodbath at Nevernight) would have gone well. In Chapter 2, there is this excerpt: “Wei WuXian’s eyebrows twitched. Not only a lunatic, a homosexual lunatic as well.” This requires a bit of interpretation because it’s not exactly clear what Wei Wuxian’s eyebrow twitch means, but I’ve always interpreted it as annoyance - or even disgust - at the addition of “homosexual” to Mo Xuanyu’s profile. I’m not saying that Wei Wuxian was necessarily homophobic before the entire events of the novel, but I sincerely don’t think Wei Wuxian would have appreciated Lan Wangji - or any other man, for that matter - confessing to him. If even (immediate) post-resurrection Wei Wuxian had that attitude, I can imagine what would have gone through pre-death Wei Wuxian’s head. 

So, Sunshot Campaign, post-Sunshot Campaign, and Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian would all definitely not go back to Gusu, nor would they appreciate a confession from Lan Wangji. That leaves the question: what about pre-Sunshot Campaign Wei Wuxian?

Part Two: Why I really don’t think WangXian would have worked out pre-Sunshot Campaign.

From here on out, “Wei Ying, come back to Gusu!” is no longer relevant because, well, Lan Wangji never said it before the meeting in the supervisory office. (And I think I’ve made my point regarding that as well as I could.)

Starting with Cloud Recesses-era Wei Wuxian...I think that, out of all the different versions of Wei Wuxian, he would have been the one of the two most-likely to get together with Lan Wangji (pre-resurrection, of course). Even then, I don’t see that high a likelihood of that actually happening. Why? Repression! Fuck both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were so deeply repressed at that point! Lan Wangji was obviously more aware of his feelings, and Wei Wuxian...I don’t know, I haven’t read the novel far enough to actually have this be a legitimate interpretation, but looking at CQL, I don’t really think Wei Wuxian was in love with Lan Wangji at that point (but I don’t have much evidence to back that up other than my a-spec radar...).

And even if they did somehow manage to overcome their repression - and actually both had feelings for each other in the first place - they were still teenagers! Fifteen at the beginning, I’m pretty sure, and fifteen-year-olds are decidedly bad at maintaining any sort of relationship. That doesn’t even touch on the fact that WangXian was probably legitimately incompatible at that point. Lan Wangji still lived and breathed the rules and Wei Wuxian didn’t give a fuck about them. To maintain any sort of long-term relationship, they’d have to simultaneously undergo a whole novel of character development...which is doable! But! I don’t exactly see it as plausible.

Then, of course, Wei Wuxian got kicked out of the Cloud Recesses and WangXian didn’t see each other until two years later, at the Discussion Conference in Qishan. I don’t really see long-distance relationships working out very well in ancient China, so I can’t imagine them properly maintaining their relationship throughout that. And, of course, Lan Wangji’s rage after Wei Wuxian pulls his forehead ribbon was also due to his repression. Considering how short the Discussion Conference seemed to be, I don’t think there was much room for a relationship to develop. 

At the Indoctrination Camp, Lan Wangji had a whole swarm of things to worry about other than his (frankly painful) pining for Wei Wuxian so, again, I don’t see a romantic relationship developing at that point in time. 

A time-frame that I think can be uniquely isolated as a very possible place to develop their relationship would be while they were trapped in the cave with the Tortoise of Slaughter. Mostly before they killed the beast, though, since afterward, Wei Wuxian had too much of a fever for any romantic shenaniganry. My reasoning is that the cave was the first time since Wei Wuxian’s punishment in the Cloud Recesses that the two of them were forced to spend a long stretch of time together, and thus could potentially open up to each other. I remember in the anime that Lan Wangji sheds a few tears as he mentions that the Cloud Recesses had burned, that his brother was missing, and that his father was...dead? Severely injured? One of those two. He was back in business-mode pretty soon afterward, but if Lan Wangji could have been persuaded to open up a bit more by an persistent and concerned Wei Wuxian, I can see a slow confession being teased out of him - there was certainly enough time!

Then again, them getting together would only happen if Wei Wuxian were both comfortable with the idea of gay men and willing to accept that he was, in fact, attracted to Lan Wangji, and if Lan Wangji were willing to let go of the rules enough to be comfortable with Wei Wuxian’s naturally rebellious nature.

After that, WangXian doesn’t meet again until the supervisory office, and I’ve already talked about all of that.

In conclusion, “Come back to Gusu!” was sweet but misguided and WangXian wouldn’t have effectively happened pre-resurrection.

Now, what does that mean for you? ...Nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing. This doesn’t mean I’m forsaking all fics where WangXian gets together pre-resurrection (in fact, I absolutely love them!) and I’m definitely not trying to say that my interpretation is the only right one. I’m not trying to police what everyone thinks and decree that all fics where Wei Wuxian is open about liking men are wrong or any crap like that. Those fics are great and I love them! These are my (and @litescheme’s) thoughts on the matter that I (we) wanted to spill out into the greater world! You can agree, you can disagree, you can ignore me (us) entirely! But if you read through this meta, then I’m assuming that you found the concept interesting. That is all I was going for!

(Well, that and trying to thoroughly debunk the notion that Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian getting shoved into seclusion in the Jingshi by an apologetic Lan Wangji would be in any way “healing” or even “good” for Wei Wuxian, because honestly? Fuck that.)

Ahh, thanks for reading!

#is this a hot take? #you bet ya #do i care? #not anymore #litescheme i hope this lived up to your expectations ;-; #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #mdzs #mdzs meta #wwx #lwj #wei ying #lan zhan #feel free to ignore if you disagree!!! #i'm not gonna force you to read it

[doshmanziari]

Musical Offerings for the New Year || What is “Radical Music” in 2021?

Near the end of 2020, a bunch of musicians populating a chatroom, including myself, each submitted ten minutes’ worth of our work to another musician, Chimeratio, who generously compiled it all into a set totaling nearly ten hours.¹ The work didn’t need to be new; just what we thought might best represent our abilities/style(s) and/or perhaps what we were especially pleased with. The set premiered in late January. Since I have some tentative plans for reorienting Brick By Brick this year, while not overriding its emphases, I wanted to share that music with anyone who’s interested.

I compiled the four videos into a playlist, although you can also access them individually: here (1), here (2), here (3), and here (4). If you care to, and are on a computer, you can also view the accompanying chatlog and read people’s responses from when they were listening to the live broadcast.

The compulsion for this project was sparked by excited discussions over and usage of the term “digital fusion”, most helpfully propagated by Aivi Tran, designating a computer-based body of work that for years lacked the rooftop of a commonly agreed upon genre-name. While describing my music has never been a big concern, even if it’s usually felt impossible (what, for example, is this? or this? I dunno!), I’ve appreciated how the spread and application of this term has brought together people who may have felt isolated.²

As “digital fusion” gained designative traction, I witnessed the activity in the aforementioned chatroom explode over the course of a few days. Before, a day’s discussion might’ve been a few dozen messages; now, there were dozens of messages every half-minute. This had positive and negative ramifications, the negative being that conversations often proceeded at a pace of rapidity which precluded concentrated thought. Eventually, I bowed out because the rapidity exceeded my threshold for meaningful interaction; but I was glad that significant invigoration was going on.

I wanted to share this music also because it intersects with thoughts and talks I’ve been having stemming from the question, “What is ‘radical music’ in 2021?” This was stimulated by a 2014 talk given by the writer Mark Fisher, wherein he contends that, were we to play prominent “cutting edge” music from now to people twenty years ago, very nearly none of it would be aesthetically shocking, bizarre, or revelatory (think of playing house music to an audience in the early 1960s!). Fisher also observes a trend of returning to music which once was seen as the future -- as if, deprived of a shared prograde vision, imaginations turn hazily retrograde; ergo, genres such as synthwave or albums like Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories.

It isn’t my goal here to argue about the “end of history.” Fisher’s time-travel hypothetical, however, rings loud and true to me. Visible musical radicalism has, for at least a decade, been strictly extra-musical, in the sense of songs like “This is America” or “WAP”, where one’s response is primarily to the spectacle of the music video, the performer’s identistic markers, and/or the manner in which the lyrics intersect with (mostly US-centric) ideological hotspots. Musically, there is really nothing radical here. Any vociferous condemnations or defenses of a song like “WAP” deal in moralizing reactions to semantics or imagery: how progressive or regressive is the political aspect? how propelled or repelled are we by the word “pussy”?

It would be a mistake, and simply wrong, to assert that the only music one can enjoy escapes the parameters outlined above; and my inability to coherently categorize some of my own music hardly raises that portion to the status of radicality. But the question here pertains to what is being made, and I think that if we’re going to seriously consider the nature of truly radical music today, we do need to question if such a quality can prominently exist when our hyper-fast consumerist cycle seems to forbid not just sustained, lifelong relationships to artwork but also the local, unhurried nourishment of creative gestation. Now, in my opinion, there are good, even great, examples of radical music still being made in deep Internet-burrows, and for evidence of that I would offer some of the material contained in the linked playlists. Moreover, I’d say that this quality can exist in part because these little artistic communities are so buried.

Let me share a quote that another person shared with me recently:

For culture to shift, you need pockets of isolated humanity. Since all pockets of humanity (outside of the perpetually isolated indigenous people in remote wilderness) are connected in instantaneous fashion, independent ideas aren’t allowed to ferment on their own. When you cook a meal, you have to bring ingredients together that have had time to grow, ferment, or decompose separately. A cucumber starts out as a seed, then you mix it with the soil, water and sunlight. You can’t bring the seed, soil, water and sunlight to the kitchen from the get-go. When you throw those things in to the mixture without letting them mature, the flavor cannot stand out on its own. Same thing with art and fashion. A kid in Russia can come up with a new way to dance, gets filmed on a phone, it goes viral quickly but gets lost in the morass of all of the other multitudinous forms of dance. Sure it spread far and wide, but it gets forgotten in a week. In the past, his new art form would have been confined locally, nurtured, honed, then spread geographically, creating a distinct new cultural idiosyncrasy with a strong support base. By the time it was big enough to be presented globally, it was already a cultural phenomenon locally. This isn’t possible anymore. We’re consuming too many unripened fruits.

The main impression I have here is that radical music today will, and must be, folk music. Our common idea of folkiness might be the scrappy singer strumming a guitar, but my interpretive reference rather has to do with the idea of a music being written, first of all, for one’s self, and then shared with a small-scale community, which in turn helps the artist grow at their own pace. This transcends a dependence upon image, the primacy of acoustic instrumentation, or the signaling of sincerity versus insincerity. It is a return to the valuation of outsider art, so rare nowadays. As someone who I was recently in dialogue with wrote, “Where can you find new genuine folk music? Pretty much just with your friends, imo. Even then, the global world is so influential and seeps into any crack it can find. I think vaporwave was radical and folk for a while. Grant Forbes made that music way before the world knew about it.”

Sometimes, a lot of fuss is made over what’s seen as “gatekeeping” within certain communities. It can be, depending on the context, justifiable to question and critique this behavior. At other times, the effort of maintaining a level of exclusivity, of retaining an idiosyncratic shapeliness to the communal organism, can be a legitimate attempt to protect the personal, interpersonal, and cultural aspects from the flattening effect of monoculture. Hypothetically, I welcome the Castlevania TV series and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate having introduced new and younger demographics to Castlevania. In actuality, stuff like “wholesome sad gay himbo Alucard”, image macros, and neurotic “stan” fanfiction being what’s now first associated with the series makes me want to put as much distance as possible between my interests and those latecoming impositions.

The group-terminology David Chapman uses in his essay “Geeks, MOPs, and Sociopaths in Subculture Evolution” is kinda cringey, but some of the cultural/behavioral patterns he lays out are relevant to the topic. Give it a look. If we cross his belief that “[subcultures] are no longer the primary drivers of cultural development” with our contemporary consume-and-dispose customs, we’re left with the predicament of it’s even worth attempting to bring radical/outsider art beyond its rhizomatic habitat. This is troubling, because it would mean that artistic radicality no longer might not only refuse to but cannot encompass cultural upheaval. It would be like if dance music were invented and -- instead of progressively permeating nightlife, stimulating countercultural trends, and ultimately being adapted as the basis for pop music globally -- only were listened to via headphones by a few thousand people on their own, stimulated a group meeting once a year or two, and never affected music beyond a niche-within-a-niche. That’s a very sad picture to me.

⁂

¹ Chimeratio has also maintained an excellent blog on here dedicated to looking at videogame music written in irregular time signatures, far preceding higher-profile examinations like 8-bit Music Theory’s video on the same topic.

² For myself, creative isolation has had its uses, because it has led me down routes that are highly personalized. The isolation can be dispiriting too. Although a lot of my music is videogame-music-adjacent, almost none of it uses “authentic” technology, such as PSG synthesizers or FM synthesis; and the identification of those sounds is fairly important for recognition.

#music analysis #radicalism #digital fusion