#even if it's been a while since i've listened to balance these characters still have my heart

[amelie-isnt-french]

I'll bite.

I need to know about the red string conspiracy doc.

Sounds very fun

I have been WAITING for this. Get ready for the combined brainrot of @alice-apparently and I, you poor soul. Now, listen up, 'cause we’ve got a labrynthine twisted task of a tale to tell, and if you don’t keep up, you might get lost :)

And obviously: spoilers for tmagp. don't keep reading if you're behind 🫵🏼

First things first: anyone currently descending into paranoia? we're already there, poster children of paranoia-land, that's us. May I present the title of the wonderful conspiracy doc -

There's also a TMA conspiracy doc Ali made, fully colour- episode- and entity-coordinated. It's like 24k words and not even fully done. don't worry about it.

Which is why we're going to be super normal and low-key about the Protocol red string doc right?

of course.

As you can see above, our collaboration relies on Ali's colour coding and her making nice, structured observations of possibly important things, while I provide the Latin and cheer her on. Balance is important in a marriage.

Also included in this all-round package: character info, quotes, etc.

I've since moved on from my "Gwen is evil" theory because I simply love socially awkward, abrasive characters who are good at their job a little too much (nervously shuffles Jonathan Sims, the Archivist, further behind my back). Still the hottest bitch at the OIAR, don't @ me.

Also also, in this house we love Alice Dyer and don't trust her any further than we can throw her. what is UP with all your comments Alice? What do you know???

Anyway.

But Ames, you say, didn't you promise quotes? I did, and I'll do you one better: tmagp quotes with additional obnoxious commentary from yours truly and Ali

If you'd like to see Ali lose her shit over the red canary implications (which I fully support), hop over to her tumblr @alice-apparently and give it a read. It's delightful.

Right. Moving on from the random screenshots. Basic outline of part one of the paranoia board is a section for every episode. Ali is listening to ep7 as I write this and having a great time (not), so there's not much in the ep7 section, except for this:

Thoughts and prayers, love, thoughts and prayers.

And FINALLY, my favourite section.

This is the speculation part, time line puzzle and colour coding reference, but my current favourite is this:

She's trying to reverse-engineer the case coding in tmagp, a noble cause. Godspeed, Ali, bc that is too many numbers for my silly little brain. I only excel at criticising stupid horror protagonists aka Personal Screening:

That's all for now.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk, and to send you all off, one last silly comment from me to you and the universe:

Bye!

#tmagp #the magnus protocol #the magnus archives #red string conspiracy doc #attention ali #first shift #personal screening #alice dyer #sam khalid #gwendolyn bouchard #colin becher #tma jmart #jonmartin #spoilers #tmagp spoilers

[saccharinemeat]

I'm sorry but HOW do you find sodapack to be worse than lairy??

Oh anon, you've opened a Pandora's box.

Let's go through it in parts,shall we?

First, Why people consider lairy to be 'bad'?

From what I've seen, it's often mostly based around the fact that Airy himself had Liam trapped on the Plane, and it can be considered that Airy has an inherent abusive dynamic with Liam because of this. This is the major one,since Airy doesn't show any animosity, negative or positive towards Liam immediately. He didn't pick Liam out of malice,or abuse,or anything. It just was coincidence,and he wanted them to play the game,but didn't punish him for not playing. Even stuff like the drowning is shown to be unintentional or at least, Airy himself doesn't seem to consider it a punishment. When it was time for Liam to be returned home after the 5 month period, Airy did so without major hesitation, it's not like he wanted to keep Liam more than wny of the other contestants.

Second, why is sodapack seen as wholesome?

No, seriously. Liam and Bryce are mostly friendly and amicable within the game, especially while Amelia was still involved,and after they are placed on the same team along with Texty and Stone but without Amelia, Bryce becomes quite less responsive and sort of gives up on trying to communicate with Liam, he is mentally checked out. At this point, it's more of a traumatic bond than it is a deeper friendship. The later development,which i will comment on, is mostly driven through Liam pushing Bryce,and Bryce only ever says hes glad they went through it way past the point of no return. There's implications that this is how Bryce just deals with things,he tries to see them as 'for the best' to compartmentalize them. Same as never mentioning Stella, same as deciding that his life post-plane was better. Bryce is not particularly attached to Liam on his own volition.

Third, fandom blindness

Okay,this part is where I criticize the fandom. So here it goes: At this point, the fanon versions of Liam and Bryce are forcefully fit into what you (general you) want them to be,rather than actually acknowledging them as they are. ONE's characters are all morally grey,however the interactions within themselves are more or less harmful depending on intention or disregard of care at an interpersonal level.

Let's look at 'fanon' liam,for example

fanon!Liam is:

kind

awkward

romantically interested in Bryce

trying to save the others

traumatized

non violent

caring for the fellow objects still in the Plane

Canon!Liam however is...

Obsessive

Manipulative

Doesn't care about Bryce's trauma

Selfish, wants to solve this mystery because he feels his life got ruined

Uses Bryce's guilt to make him go along with things

Traumatized

He's considerably violent

My point here is that the fandom has a particularly skewed vision of both Liam and Bryce and their friendship

Fourth, Intentional Harm

In the case of sodapack, let's see how these awful behaviors are spread or balanced within canon. Liam's bad or harmful actions toward the other in green, Bryce's are in red

Liam seeks the unknown address,and hitchhikes his way over there, fully on impulse.

↓

Once he sees Bryce's terrified reaction, he insists on having him open the door. He starts by explaining why hes here but starts getting mad, accusing Bryce of ignoring or not caring for the other contestants

↓

Liam yells about how bad things were for him in the 7 month period,drawing a comparison of how 'easy' it must have been for Bryce to forget it,guilting him.

↓

Liam walks away....and comes right back,instead deciding to sleep against Bryce's door,effectively trapping Bryce and making it so he can't leave his apartment or home at all.

↓

Bryce lets him in and states his boundaries about listening Liam out and giving him Bradley's address.

↓

Liam IMMEDIATELY manipulates him into driving them to Bradley's house. Bryce pays for the laptop,too.

↓

Bryce states his boundaries AGAIN and Liam insists until Bryce breaks and agrees to seek Oscar. At no point Liam has even TRIED to learn Bryce's name,he gets told his name on the drive there, Bryce is clearly uncomfortable with his game name.

↓

Bryce helps get some information out of Oscar and PAYS HIM for his time,which Liam didn't even consider. Also he does this without reviving Oscar's possibly traumatic memories,which Liam was willing to do and hadn't been considerate of the other's mental health

↓

Bryce,AGAIN states his boundaries,and tells Liam that he is NOT driving him to the smokestack. Liam says he understands.

↓

And immediately steals AND CRASHES the car. has a fight with Bryce,holds the car keys hostage,and calls Bryce 'soda bottle' during the fight. Bryce calls Liam out on doing this out of selfishness,and hits him.

And as an extra:

Liam couldn't have not noticed that Bryce said the waiting room looked like his childhood neighborhood/Bryce trying to reach Stella. He just didn't care enough.

Liam got himself and Bryce killed several times during this ordeal.

Bryce let Liam stay in his home out of guilt,not kindness.

Through all of these interactions, there's not an ounce of balance, it's mostly Liam doing shit to fuck up Bryce's attempt to return to normalcy,and Bryce doing mostly emotiona self-harming

Now, let's look at Lairy,and how Liam and Airy interact in terms of intentional harm

Liam in green, Airy in blue

Airy picks Liam as a contestant for ONE,at random

↓

Liam freaks out and breaks a leg during the challenge

↓

Airy forgets about Liam's cast and accidentally drowns him during another challenge

↓

Airy disappears for the 7 month period,then sends Liam back to san Francisco

So far,none of this is intentional harm. Let's jump forward to their out-of-game interactions

Liam pushes Airy out his chair and yells at him,trying to hit him, upset.

↓

Airy remains polite and a little confused and explains why he can't do that yet

↓

Liam talks to texty,and refuses to consider killing Airy

↓

Liam Negotiates with Airy

↓

Liam falls and loses his belongings, Airy attempted to hold him from falling

↓

After Liam does attempt to kill Airy,a tree breaks his leg, and Airy makes him a wooden cast,and a bed of reeds.

As it's visible, there's almost no intentional harm from Airy to Liam,and even the murder attempts from Liam to Airy are mild at best.

Fifth, Intentional Kindness

I'll keep this shorter,but, Bryce,once he meets Liam again back on Earth, doesn't show kindness to him unprompted at all. It's always guided through Liam's manipulation and behavior. He let's Liam in because Liam had him physically trapped. He goes along because Liam insists and guilts him. He helps get information out of Oscar and keeps it vague for OSCAR'S SAKE NOT LIAM'S,because he doesn't want to do to others what liam is currently doing to him.

He gets on the smokestack to ask for his keys back. Not a single act of kindness is unprompted. Bryce is a better person than Liam,and he falls for Liam's controlling behavior and struggles to say no.

Now, Airy is... tough,just as morally grey, Airy truly believes he's doing his best,and he has no animosity for actually hurting others,not even Liam. Not even when Liam is trying to Kill him. Airy, unprompted, makes Liam a reed bed,attempts to save liam from the fall, makes Liam a cast after his accident,and is generally open about his backstory to Liam. Airy has been alone 10 years,only with the plane and it's contestants for fun,trying to do something relatively harmless,and he is willing to send everyone home in exchange for the cassete player and because Liam asked and negotiated. He's happy to have Liam around. And Liam mourns Airy's death,too. He looks horrified when Airy speaks of how he was trying his best,and how his life was beforehand. There's even a hint of Liam basically becoming the next one to fill Airy's role at the end. He seems to understand this deep loneliness,and hears Airy out. Liam can resonate with someone he called a monster especially when in retrospective, Liam himself is more of a bad person than Airy is. Airy just,lost part of his mind in the process,but he stays kind. He could've killed Liam. with the computer,leave HIM in the waiting room,forever.

So... yeah

in the big picture, Airy is just a guy whos trying his best after then years of loneliness,and tried to do something that's morally abhorrent but without intention of harming anyone as long as it could be undone. He's not harmful or a threat to Liam,or at least,not more than Liam is a threat to him. It's sad,and doomed,and balanced

And Bryce is a poor traumatized man who got forced into doing stuff he never wanted to do,ans to relieve trauma he never wanted to relieve,just to be thrown back into the plane,for no reason,just to be trapped in a looping hell. He fears or at least really dislikes the way Liam manipulates him,and stays in denial about it. And Bryce is not a threat to Liam,in any way, other than Liam making Bryce responsible for his life as long as this own.

I think that's all i got in me,at least right now

#long post #osc #hfjone airy #hfjone liam #hfjone bryce #sodapack #lairy #please dont send me nasty anons I'm tired

[pochiperpe90]

[ENG] DISUNITI - Interview to Luca Marinelli by Gianmaria Tammaro

When choosing a role, Luca Marinelli lets himself be guided by instinct. He tries to listen to what his insides are telling him and to give a precise shape to his intentions. He doesn't move blindly;  he moves slowly, with the same awareness of someone who knows his work, even instinctively. It's useful for him, he tells me, to stay in touch with the story, with what he tells. Because that way he can become part of it. A character, until the last stop is called, never leaves; it's like a second skin, and he's there, docile, waiting, ready to come out. Luca has a deep and low voice. These days, while he's filming M. Son of the Century, he has freshly shaved cheeks and a cap that is always pulled down on his head, to hide his hair and forehead. The smile and the look, however, are the same as always.  Kind the former, intelligent the latter. When he speaks, he takes his knees in his hands, tries to collect himself, to compact himself into a single point. Not to limit the occupied space: but to find a center. We are in a park, in the late afternoon light, and a light wind is blowing. It had been a long time, Luca confesses to me, that he hadn't spent such a long period in Rome. In 2012 he moved to Berlin, and since then he has returned to Italy only for work reasons. "I've been in town since last spring, I think."

When you filmed the sequel of The Old Guard.

 "Yes, exactly. And now I'm working on this series".

 How did you find Rome?

"It's a question that, I confess, I don't quite know how to answer. I found Rome wonderful as always. And at the same time I felt tired. It's a beautiful city, and every time I have the opportunity to discover it more. Especially when I ride. And then I must tell you that I found her changed. Some neighborhoods aren't as I remembered them anymore, and that's okay: that's what happens to everyone, I guess; let's change".

When you will be finished shooting M., will you go back to Berlin?  

"Yes".

Why? Do you prefer it?  

"But no, it's not a question of preferring one city to another. Also in Berlin there is a fundamental part of my heart and a different dimension of life, just as important".

And does this diversity matter?

"Right now I feel like I have two houses, and it's nice. I feel at home both here and in Berlin. It took some time to reach this balance, I won't hide it from you. But now I'm really fine. Berlin is another dimension; it's not Germany. Berlin is Berlin, it's almost a place apart. I love his tranquility and his energy. When I'm in Rome, I feel a different kind of energy".

Tell me.

"There is a need to give oneself fully, to give oneself completely, when one plays a part or does something; but there is also a need to know how to withdraw in order to find one's own space. It's used to recharge. To fill again this container that is within us. Because when you work, you give everything. Everything is given. And you can come out of an experience exhausted. I say always that I don't get tired. But at some point, willy-nilly, fatigue still comes. Anyone who plays football has ninety minutes in his legs, he trains for that. When he goes too far, he risks overdoing it. So yes: it's important to stop and do something else, just to enrich yourself before the next project".

I imagine the type of preparation also changes

"Each project is completely different from the other: from the one that preceded it, and from the one that will follow it. The dynamics are the same, yes, because the set works, more or less, in the same way. But every experience is a different experience. And the city in which it's filmed has nothing to do with it; it's not just geography. There is more: much, much more".

What is your method as an actor? Indeed, I take a step back: you have your method?  

"I don't know. So, instinctively, I'd say no, I don't have it. Which doesn't exist. I've always had pretty much the same approach; and I modified this approach depending on the project and individual experience. Sometimes, over the years, I felt that I didn't do what I wanted to do in exactly the way I had imagined it; and then later, subsequently, I tried to improve. Keeping in touch with the reality of what we tell is something that helps me a lot".

Why?

"I can't tell you. I could foolishly answer you: "because I'm close to the story". But actually I think it's something else. It's like there's a smarter part inside of me. And it's this part that intervenes at a certain point, that understands what to do and that guides me".

Maybe it's instinct.

"I don't know. I tend not to ask. I tend not to compliment myself, or even see myself in a totally positive way. I'm not saying this out of false modesty or because I love to despair, no. I feel this is my approach: I need training, closeness to the thing we have to tell; and sometimes this closeness must also be on a physical level. Only later do I venture further in the project".

Why did you decide to play Mussolini?

"Well, I can't talk about that. Not at all. Let's take up this question again at another time."

Sure. Alessandro Borghi told me that you are like two brothers, that he's happy if you are happy. How would you describe your relationship?

“In a very similar way. I'm happy too if he's happy. I'm fortunate to have a group of very close friends: people I consider brothers and sisters and who, in some cases, I have known for more than thirty years. And Alessandro is part of this group. Every time we've worked together, we've talked about friendship. A friendship, precise, very strong. And next time too, the third time, we'll talk about a friendship: I'm sure of it. Indeed, I hope so. We meet again years later, with a greater awareness and maturity, because in the meantime we have grown up, and we face the same theme again: it's a wonderful thing".

Alessandro also told me that you are very different.

"It's true, we are. But that's also, I think, the beauty of friendship. Being different and still being able to find each other and be together".

Are you a rational or instinctive person?

“If Alissa heard you, she'd laugh…Look, I don't know. I don't think rational. In my head, I tend to get into a lot of trouble. If we talk about a project, I give weight to the first sensation I feel in this area here, from the neck down. And I have to say I have never been disappointed. Sometimes an immediate, definitive sensation came. Other times, however, I convinced myself and I totally trusted others". 

Has this trust ever been betrayed?

"From a film, you mean?"

From a film, a director or a fellow actor.

"No. Never betrayed. A project always has its own direction, and you must learn to follow that direction. Obviously, then, you too give it colors and a part of yourself. Bet on falling in love with someone else, and eventually you too fall in love. You rely on a director, you know a group of people who act with you. But if you get used to giving so much, you start to feel the urge to risk even more with something of your own".

So would you like to direct a film? 

"In general, not just at the cinema. Writing or directing, yes. I think about it every now and then. And in effect, a theater project already exists in the near future".

Does the anxiety of the set, of a new project, pass after a while?

"At some point yes, it passes. But I always see it that way. There are projects where it takes me less time and others where it takes me longer to ignore this anxiety. Or maybe it's not like that: because you always stay in character. It can happen that you completely abandon yourself to one thing before, turning off your brain. Or it may happen to succeed later. It's essential to trust yourself, and I say this first of all to myself. At the Academy I had a great teacher, Paolo Giuranna, who said: "trust the work you've done up to now; when you enter the scene, it's a blank page"".

How important was the Academy experience to you?

"Very. They have been three full and intense years. At the beginning I had a different vision of this profession, and then, being with others, with my class, I managed to find a more concrete dimension for what I had in mind. I remember the fire of that period, the passion. It's still there, sure. But now it needs to be fed. Before, however, it burned almost by itself. Instantly".

In some ways, you're talking about what it's like to be young.

"Yes, but also of not having experienced first-hand what it means to do this job. There is a substantial difference between working out and starting to play sports seriously. When you play sports, you understand that you have to deal not only with what you have learned but also with many other factors".

What relationship do you have with time? 

"I don't want to say trivial things... But time passes, and it also passes with a fair ease. It doesn't wait for you. He's not watching you. It would be nice to be able to live each day as if it was a lifetime. As if it was extremely important. To quote Thoreau: "As if one could kill time without hurting eternity." For heaven's sake: I spend whole days sitting, doing nothing, because mi pesa il culo (I'm a lazy ass)... (laughs, ed). But even that helps: do nothing, look around and don't box yourself in a phone. To stay. Simply. Throwing away some time makes me appreciate its value".

Even boredom has a purpose, in short.

“Boredom is interesting. It's curious. I get bored a little because I always try to do something - even here, perhaps, my wife would laugh. But I try, and I really try, to do something. Since adolescence, when I don't know what to do, I go out and about. When I read The Walk, I found this wonderful idea of ​​walking and learning to see what the world has to offer."

What is your relationship with Alissa?

"She's the person with whom I would like to share so much of this time, and I'm sorry when I can't: when I'm not enough with her and with our children. If I put time near her, to them, if I use them as a parameter of judgment, I wish I had more and more. It's never enough for me. I love sharing."

What are you afraid of now? 

"Fear is a strange word; a word that after meeting Claudio Caligari I tried to use less and less. I usually replace it with concern. Fear is something that makes you stop, and I learned from Claudio that it doesn't make much sense. You always have to keep fear at bay."

What worries you, then? 

"Maybe just the passing of time, because it holds together an infinity of speeches and aspects. I worry about not giving due importance to individual moments".

How do you experience success? I mean: what follows you is an extremely passionate audience. What kind of bond unites you with the viewers?

“This thing you're telling me excites me. As you know, I don't use social media. So I don't have a clear view of what's going on. And knowing that makes me happy. Above all, it makes me happy to be able to give something back to others and excite them. If I'm shy, it's because I've always been shy. Social media can be useful. They connect many people with little; think of all the protests that exist today and that start right from social networks. Being able to share a testimony with the whole world is important. But I can't do it: said exactly like that, in the Roman way. I can't use them. I get excited when I meet people: when they ask me a question, they tell me what they thought about a film. They are crazy moments, that shake you. It's what, at times, drives me to give more, to commit myself to the maximum".

You mentioned Claudio Caligari earlier. What other encounters in your career have influenced you so much?

"The meeting with Carlo Cecchi was very important, whom I met again, with my great pleasure, also on the set of Martin Eden: master in life and work. When I have a professional concern, I always want to call him. Sometimes I had, and he answered me with passion and sincerity. During the period of the Academy there were several important meetings, like the one with Anna Marchesini. In recent years, I have met many directors, actresses and actors with whom I have shared the set. And then, even if it sounds silly, there was the meeting with myself".

In what sense?

"Several times, over time, I felt the need to stop and refocus, to understand who I was and what I wanted. And so yes, I ended up meeting the many people I've been and who still live here; and I learned to know them all, more or less. This is also important: understanding where we are and how we got there. When I had dialogues with myself, I changed direction or went on, on the path I had taken".

If you could go back in time and give you one piece of advice - before you entered the Academy; when the fire was still alive, and burning on its own - what advice would you give yourself? 

"Go calmly. Listen. And listen to yourself. Have fun; have more fun. Smile. Enjoy everything; trust yourself".

I ask you the last question. Who is the actor?

"...what?"

Who is the actor?

"Someone who, trivially, feels he wants to communicate something, and communicates it. Someone who enacts a thought they've had or an emotion they've felt. Someone who is aware, hopefully, of all the possible consequences."

Like always, sorry for my English

#luca marinelli #tog cast #the old guard cast #magazine #rivista #intervista #interview #eng translation #english translation #mine

[yardsards]

reading the things you post/rb while not knowing what the adventure zone is is kinda funny. I'll be scrolling my dash and see "NAH 'CAUSE BEANIEMAN GOT SO SCHLORPED WHEN THE PIANO FLAVORED STICK OF DEODERANT GOT SCAMMED" and I'm so tempted to get context, but it feels like life would be funnier without it

okay so like. the adventure zone is an actual-play ttrpg podcast (aka they record themselves playing dungeons and dragons and similar games and then edit down the recording so it's fun to listen to)

and it's kind of like 5+ different podcasts in a trenchcoat. cuz there's 5 completely separate games (well, 5 plus a couple way shorter games, but 5 main ones). and since each game is already pretty wild on its own, the fact that there are FIVE OF THEM definitely makes it sound extra bizarre to outsiders lol

there's:

1: balance: a standard fantasy world with some minor sci-fi elements. it's about heroes tracking down and neutralizing dangerous magical items and uncovering secrets about their own pasts. by far the most popular season and imo the best, but it gets off to a slow start

2: amnesty: a story about cryptids and magic in a modern day appalachian setting. been a while since i listened to this one tbh and i don't talk about it as much

3: graduation: young adults going to magic college and getting wrapped up in a demon war. this is the least popular one but not actually bad imo

4: ethersea: freelance adventurers from an undersea city exploring the world in a magical post-apocalyptic setting. my fav behind balance

5: steeplechase: like a defunctland video meets a heist movie, secret crime rings operating within a theme park. very fun, still in progress

they're released kind of like different seasons of a show, one after the other, but each "season" doesn't actually need to be listened to in order (ie you can listen to steeplechase before balance, but you'd have to start at ep 1 of steeplechase and not just skip to steeplechase ep 32 or else you'd be really confused)

honestly i've been halfway considering getting different tags for each game but i'm too lazy to change now

ANYWAY

the thing about the adventure zone is that it's a *comedy* podcast first and foremost. so most of the weird bizarre funny bits are just as funny and batshit insane even WITH context. hell, i'd say a lot of it is even MORE funny if you know what's going on.

though there is also some buckwild shit that you just get desensitized to. like one of the 3 protagonists of balance is named *taco* (but spelled taako) because it was originally just gonna be a silly one-off episode, so the player was like "haha i'm gonna be XD random and annoy my dm with this zany noun name", not knowing that there were gonna be 68 more episodes and it would eventually grow into a deeply emotionally moving story. so by the end you're fucking sobbing over this character's love and loss and you forget that "taco" is not a normal thing for an elf/wizard to be called

it's absolutely delightful

#eliot posts #taz #the adventure zone #i get if you don't wanna listen bc the actual play genre isn't for everyone #but god it is so good and i love the sense of humour in it #the guys who made taz also made a lot of other comedy content and were VERY famous on tumblr in the mid-late 2010s #(honestly to an excessive degree where they were placed on pedestals. as tumblr is know to do to whatever famous ppl they latch onto) #and their comedy strongly influenced the meme culture and even vernacular of the site (and kinda the internet at large to a lesser degree) #there is a very high chance you have seen a meme with at least one of them (most likely griffin) in it

[time2commitbastardlyactions]

My thoughts on HEARTSTEEL (even though no one asked):

I should start off by saying that my expectations going into this were very low. I know that Riot's music team never disappoints, but the leaked splash art was a bit of a let down in my opinion so I tried not to get my hopes up and I was hoping some things would be changed before the skins' release.

Regardless, I watched the music video as soon as it premiered... and I haven't been able to stop listening to it since. The song is SO GOOD!! It took me a couple of listens before I really got into it, but to say it's grown on me is an understatement. Sure, it's not better than POP/STARS (that's a given), but I can honestly say I like it better than GIANTS.

The song might be a banger, but my grievances come from pretty much everything else.

First of all, I think the casting could have been better. Baekhyun as Ezreal was great, but everyone else just felt... Off?? I got whiplash when Kayn started rapping because his voice just caught me so off-guard (though I suppose it was Rhaast rapping, so that makes more sense). Sett and K'Sante were a bit better, but I still think it was iffy casting overall. There's just such a stark contrast between their singing/rapping voices and their normal talking voices that doesn't sound quite right to me.

Second, the music video was pretty decent. As I stated before, my expectations weren't very high, so considering how low the bar was I wasn't disappointed. There were a lot of good moments in it that I really enjoyed, but overall I felt that it didn't flow as well as it could have. I thought it was very flashy, fast-paced, and chaotic. This is all subjective, but I think the video could have been better. For what it was, though, it was decent.

Lastly, I wanted to talk about the skin designs. I said before that I was disappointed when the splash art was leaked, and the same holds true now. What I liked about K/DA and True Damage is that the skins provided a new, modern spin on the characters while still holding true to who they are. The HEARTSTEEL designs were disappointing for me because it kind of feels like they tried to change too much. Some of them work, but some of them don't. Ezreal and Yone both look amazing and I'm considering picking up Yone just so I can play the skin when it comes out. I'm still on the fence about K'Sante, Sett, and Aphelios. Kayn just looks mid, which is upsetting for me because I literally started maining him just for the skin. Sett looks like a car mechanic. These skins could have been so good, and I think what they should have done instead is gone for a more edgy/punky vibe all around. There are a lot of bright colours in some of these designs, and I think that's what's throwing me off. Kayn is the literal edgelord of Runeterra, and you CANNOT convince me that he would actually dress like that. The pink hair is fine, but the brightness of the pink should be balanced out with darker clothing (PLEASE just get rid of the yellow pants, Riot, I'm begging you. The design would immediately go from a 6/10 to 9/10 if you just made the pants black instead of piss yellow). The same goes for Aphelios, who is often characterized by dark, emo aesthetics. His design doesn't look bad, but again, it could have been significantly improved by incorporating some darker elements. This is kind of a gripe that I've had with HEARTSTEEL in general. Riot went with the same pop vibes instead of innovating and coming up with something new. The band in general should have been more punk-rock oriented than what we got. I saw someone online saying that Kayn should have been a screamo rapper, and I can't agree more. Overall I don't dislike the designs, but they could have been done better.

So that's the end of my spiel. I love the song, but there are a lot of things about the band that left me wishing. I just hope that Kayn gets a black chroma or something, and I hope that when they get a comeback after 5 years or so (if Riot doesn't forget about them before then), Riot listens to fan feedback and we get something even better. I think the group has a lot of potential and I've really been enjoying the Discord chats on Twitter. If you have opinions about the group, feel free to add on to this, as these are all just my opinions.

#league of legends #lol #heartsteel #sett #k'sante #aphelios #ezreal #yone #kayn #shieda kayn #heartsteel sett #heartsteel k'sante #heartsteel aphelios #heartsteel ezreal #heartsteel yone #heartsteel kayn #heartsteel paranoia

[medicallymercury]

I've realised that with my lack of episode reviews and my mainly posting about hating how the Teddy storyline has been handled/pretending it's the 80s, my blog has been pretty negative lately. While I'm sure there are people who enjoy listening to my ranting, it must be getting pretty endless for people who followed me while I was still doing reviews. Anyway, I am still mad about how they've handled Teddy's storyline (and always will be) but here's things I have liked about this miniseries, since it's finishing tomorrow:

Milo Clarke. He's doing the best he can with disaster scripts and whenever Teddy is anywhere near being recognisably in character, it's because of him. He's absolutely phenomenal, his understanding of Teddy and how much he cares about what he's portraying really comes through in his performance!

Actually, the whole cast is doing great! They are 100% the reason Casualty won that BAFTA.

Rash's storyline is very, very good. It's well written and well performed and balances the need to be compelling with the need to be believable and realistic very well. I think they've been developing the dynamic between Rash and Tariq well, too.

This is specific and happened a couple episodes ago now, but the reveal that Rida is the whistleblower was good.

Patrick is a great villain. He feels like exactly the kind of villain the show needed right now and I hate him so much, it's perfect. I've heard he's been a little panto villain for some people's liking but that makes him even more fun to hate, for me. He reminds me of the type of scheming evil Elizabeth Straker of series 2 had going on when she was introduced and I think she was great (though she got a redemption arc and a love story with Ewart in the end, which feels unlikely for Patrick).

STEVIE AND DYLAN'S FRIENDSHIP. Nothing else to say on that... just... the dream team. Hope it continues.

Jacob getting a storyline and getting scenes is just good to see because for months that was not happening. Or it would happen for one week and they'd drop it again. I'm glad he's getting the screen time he deserves.

Ngozi and Nicole my beloveds! I think they're very enjoyable characters and hope they stick around for a long time and get lots of storylines. I love them both so much. I see a lot of people shipping them and I get that, me too honestly.

This is basically all the stuff I would've been repeating in my review posts if I hadn't replaced those with series 2 reviews and book reviews ^^

#mercury not complaining (as much)??? #unprecedented. never before seen. shocking. #how long has it been since i did an actual review? #bbc casualty #casualty #shoelace fandom

[isfjmel-phleg]

Why I like it: Leave It to Psmith

I've analyzed this book to death. I don't even know what to say about it anymore.

It's probably the most familiar of the series. It has had the most adaptations--multiple theatrical versions and radio adaptations, a mysterious Hungarian film, an early 1930s film that removed Psmith and replaced him with one Sebastian Help, an Indian series in which Psmith is called...Rambo? (seeing a theme here--adapters seem to be afraid of Psmith himself). It crosses over with the Blandings series, which was then just getting started. It's easy to read without having read the earlier installments, for readers who are more reluctant to take on all the cricket etc. of those books.

Wodehouse intended it that way. Leave It to Psmith was written for a different audience than the other Psmith books. Instead of British schoolboys, his readership was now adult Americans who wouldn't have known Psmith at all since the earlier books hadn't been published in the US then. They didn't care about cricket; they were looking for the kind of plot that Wodehouse is more often associated with today. Hilarious, intricate shenanigans with some light romance. And the ever versatile Psmith fits into this new genre perfectly. Perhaps that's where he belonged all along.

Leave It to Psmith is one of the finest examples of Wodehouse's best style. There are different views on this, but I personally consider his work from approximately the early 1920s through the 1930s to be the height of his talent (he had finally fully found his voice, and the stories are still new enough to avoid the more overtly formulaic feel of his later books). And Leave It to Psmith is one of the books that kicked off that era of his writing. It's got everything. A witty and distinctive prose style that complements the theatrically-influenced story and characters. A memorable cast. A bizarre and silly but ultimately sweet central romance. A shocking newspaper ad. Flowerpot throwing. Jewel heists. Gun fights. An obnoxiously large chrysanthemum. Umbrella theft. A very elegant hat. Extremely strong opinions on hollyhocks. Mistaken identity. Imposters. The worst poetry ever. The motivating power of friendship. A dead bat that apparently was somebody's mother. It's not going to remembered as a Deep Philosophical Novel ever, but that's not what we need from it. It's just fun and joyful and a delight to read.

Even though this is the one book of the series that opens with Psmith in a genuinely difficult situation and relatively low frame of mind following his father's death and the loss of the family fortunes. Psmith has skated by on his father's money for the entire series up to this point, so taking away that kind of invincibility from him was a genius choice on Wodehouse's part. It forces Psmith to grow even further in a way that he never has before. We see him at his most vulnerable; the narrative gives us more of his POV than ever, and there's a marked contrast between what goes on in his head and how he presents himself. And it's at this point that he's finally in a position for something that's never been an option to him before: a romance.

Psmith and Eve's love story would probably not work in real life. But they're in Wodehouse-land, where realism isn't the point. The point is that they are two people who complement each other well and enrich each other's lives and need each other. They're both clever and dynamic and adventurous and alone in the world. She appreciates his eccentricities, which provide the excitement she craves. He appreciates her listening skills and sympathetic nature. She's warm-hearted and impulsive; he's a calculating thinker--and they balance each other out. Each has a brand of weird that works well with the other's. It takes them a little while to get matters resolved, but Eve doesn't put up with his nonsense, and he gradually develops the emotional maturity to trust rather than manipulate. When they do get together, it's not because he's done his usual fast-talking. It's a mutual choice.

We don't get to see much of Mike and Phyllis, but it's also clear that they're happy, and it's satisfying to see that Wodehouse gave Mike, the original protagonist of the series, the ending he deserves even if he is no longer in focus and the American audience wouldn't know or care about him from previous appearances. But Psmith cares about Mike a lot. That hasn't changed, and the lengths that Psmith is willing to go to for Mike's sake are endearing. The choice to give Eve a parallel role as best friend to Mike's wife reinforces the significance of this devotion. This entire plot happens because people care very much about Mike and Phyllis Jackson. That's pretty powerful.

This is the end of the series. We never see Psmith again. But it's an ending that leaves the reader satisfied. Psmith is not trapped in an endless loop of growthless status quo for our comedic benefit. We've watched him grow up from the worldweary teenager leaning on the mantelpiece at his detested new school to a joyfully singing young man running through Blandings Castle on his way to meet the woman whom he's about to have a future of adventures alongside. In many ways, he's still his old eccentric self, but his outlook has changed for the better. He's simply, genuinely happy. What more could we wish for him? What more could we hope for ourselves?

#Psmith Pseptember #thanks for waiting for this one #it has been A Week

[zuzu-draws]

I was wondering if you had any good obikaka fic suggestions? Like stuff where obito is crushing on kakashi but kakss3hi doesnt know it or something, just need some good shipp reading

Hmmm I'm someone who can be considered as a hardcore Angst-reader. Meaning, i like to read some stuff that will often leave me crying into a pillow or something. I guess i like it when characters go through pain x'''D Hahaha EMOTIONAL PAIN!

Unfortunately, some of the fics i would've put here have been long since deleted, but let me recommend some LEGENDARY ones that are still here! :-

Light and Shadow originally written by Kelakair, but translated by noppe

These three fics are LITERALLY my all-time favorite OBKK fics. it Absolutely destroyed me in the feels, I won't spoil much, But Hokage! Kakashi accidentally time-travels back to the moment He had killed Rin..and yeah well, i definitely recc reading this, this is so good. He's there right after Obito is done with his rampage.

To Save The Things We Love by Shyaway95, teslatempest

I'm not sure if this can strictly be considered as an ABO, i don't think it quite is. But it includes MPreg, so beware!! The Kid is absolutely adorable, Obito had no Idea he had become a dad (didn't even do the deed with Kakashi so WTF!) and parental! Kakashi. Obito catches the feelings while watching them (and protecting them) but denies it. Some good stuff if i may add myself lmao

Tsuku No Oka by octopizzy

Obito survives the Fourth Shinobi War. There is A LOT of heavy emotional tension between him and Kakashi. He goes on the journey for self-redemption with Sasuke. Sadly, one chapter is still left, but it's still REALLY worth the read!

Karmic Balance by Sanjuno

LISTEN!!! THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST STUFF YOU CAN READ ABOUT OBKK!! After the ending of the original Naruto series. Both Kakashi and Obito are reincarnated into the world of KHM (I literally don't know anything about this series), but their FIRST meeting in this new world WILL reduce you to tears. I literally cried to this in the past because it's SUCH a good hurt to comfort fic!! So fullfilling!

komorebi by tomorrowsrain

Read this, I am genuinely begging you to read this. This fic will give you a lot of angst WITH the most fulfilling fluff around the end! SO!! READ IT!! RIGHT NOW!! GO GO GO-! It's canon divergent i think, that starts from Tobi's Kyuubi attack on Konoha. Kakashi actually takes his side and kills some ANBUs in a fit of panic but they both end up getting captured and eventually exiled. Kakashi's guilt-ridden while Obito is angry, so angry at the world and also at Kakashi.

Chef's kiss~

Do Ninjas Believe in Magic? by kanna666summon

If you like Harry Potter AUs, this is one of the best i've ever read regarding OBKK :p Sadly :'') It's incomplete so far, but i'm still hoping the Author finishes it someday because i'm really attached to this fic.

I think that's enough fic recommendations for now. There were MANY fics i've loved which were written by SweetDreamsAreMadeOfNaruto , like "Breaking Insanity" etc etc, but sadly they've deleted all theirs fics :') Let me know if you enjoyed these! If you feel like it, go ahead and add your own recommendations in the reblogs/comments too!

Enjoy!

#Obikaka #fanfiction recommendations #obito x kakashi #fanfic #obkk

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #73

As it turns out, the weather today is not ideal for J to fly home with the plane. So J, Br, and I will be staying in Pennsylvania at least until tomorrow.

J tried to encourage us to go home. Br and I stayed. We spent time at a nearby cafe, making art and eating tasty snacks. When J was done getting 5 hours of flight time in the machine with an instructor (for insurance purposes), Br and I were glad that we had stayed; Joel tends to become extremely anxious when he is away from people he is familiar with for too long, and today was no exception to that general trend, ahaha…

I used the time to weave a wire tree. Br drew a self-portrait. And while we did our things, we spoke about various topics, from our various traumas to our dreams for the future.

Here are some images of the tree I wove together today:

...I hope that the tree I wove in your colors somehow can reach you. I hope that the Tree of Life I wove in my colors and encased in an epoxy sphere somehow reaches you. I entrusted some very important people with one of these things, with the hope that they would pass it along to you; they have the power to do this. I doubt that they will, but... even if they don't, I hope that the item I made is enjoying its time in Japan in a spot where it can be seen and loved.

...In any case. I feel very blessed to know Br. J and I met her at a chance encounter, going to an event called a "Star Party". A Star Party is when a bunch of folks interested in the night sky get together with telescopes in a place with minimal light pollution. Because there was so very little light pollution where we went, I was actually able to see the arms of my planet's galaxy for the first time; it was a marvelous sight to witness. Br, J, and I exchanged contact information, and we've been good friends ever since.

Since so much of your planet still seems like it's undeveloped (and thus there are still a lot of places where the light emitted from cities does not touch, yes?), I imagine it must be pretty easy for you to find places where the night sky is fully visible in all its glory, no? I can't help but wonder what your night sky looks like, what the arms of your galaxy look like, and so on. Are the constellations where you live very different from the constellations where I live? What sorts of colors do the stars in your night sky shine in?

…I wish I could hear your answers to all of these. I wish I could spend time listening to you talk about it. I'd never get tired of listening to the things you know and the things you think and feel about the things you know.

I've seen the moon in your world, though. Here's one picture we have:

We have this picture, too. This is probably the best one we have so far. But some guy has kinda photobombed it on us:

...That's okay though. He seems very excited and he's good at balancing on things. I don't mind as long as he's having a good time!

The moon in my world looks like this:

...So as you can see, the craters that face my planet look a lot different from yours. But, we have 3D models of our moon, which is pretty neat! So if you change the angle just a tiny little bit, you'll see that the craters on my moon are actually maybe a little similar to yours:

...It's not too terribly different at all, is it? I suppose I find that comforting, for some reason.

I hope someday you'll be able to take a nice walk somewhere and enjoy the sight of your moon and of your stars at your leisure. Since there's so much light pollution, I don't have a whole lot of opportunities to properly enjoy the night sky on my planet, so... please make it a point to enjoy the night sky on yours a little extra for me, okay?

You are loved, so please stay safe out there. Come back to us in one piece. Make good, kind, gentle, and loving choices.

I'm not sure what tomorrow will look like, but one thing is certain: I will write to you. So look forward to it.

Your friend, Lumine

#sephiroth #ThankYouFFVIIDevs #ThankYouFF7Devs #ThankYouSephiroth #final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy vii crisis core #final fantasy 7 crisis core #final fantasy crisis core #ffvii crisis core #ff7 crisis core #crisis core #ff7r #final fantasy vii remake #final fantasy 7 remake #ffvii remake #ff7 remake #final fantasy vii rebirth #final fantasy 7 rebirth #ffvii rebirth #ff7 rebirth #final fantasy 7 ever crisis #ffvii ever crisis #ff7 ever crisis #ffvii first soldier #moon #night sky #wholesome

[poorwritingandstalecoffee]

Hello, can I request platonic Lady D. headcanons with human reader who's also close to Heisenberg. Maybe it's that strange kind of dynamic which is working right only when the reader is around. But if there's only one of them with friend, then everything is fine. I've been in such situations, when two members of the group sometimes were ready to kill each other, but their common friend could balance and get along with both. Feel free to ignore or change the idea. Have a good day!

Okay, normally, I don’t write for Heisenberg since I never really feel any sort of inspiration for him, but I think this platonic spin of his character is working for me.

HC: platonic dynamic between Reader, Alcina, and Heisenberg

Alcina could kill Heisenberg on a good day, half-heartedly slash through his throat or throw him out the window of one of the towers to get rid of that dirty smirk.

She loathes listening to him bitch and moan to Mother Miranda about his little pets. As if it's not their fault half of the villagers just happen to wind up dead from the night before, wiping the concrete and wooden floors of their homes with blood and leftover bits of carcasses.

Pinching the bridge of her nose to try and retain what sanity she has left from the conversation, Alcina quips in despite her best efforts to stave off another screaming match. “Maybe if you could keep those deranged mutts of yours chained and fed, this would not have happened, and we wouldn't have a human blood shortage on our hands, nor would Mother Miranda’s power be diminished due to a sudden lacking of fucking mortal prayers!”

“Are you fucking saying MY lycans did this? MY LYCANS?!” If Karl knew he could reach Alcina’s height, he would have swung his hammer right across Alcina’s face for blaming his pets. Sure, his lycans tended to crave more human flesh during a full moon and eat all of his shares of meat quicker than he could restock, and maybe he forgot to double-check the locks on the underground cages. Still, that's no reason to blame his poor pets for something they couldn't control. He'll be damned, though, if he lets Alcina level a gloved finger at him for the blame.

“Ohh, so you can comprehend human language; I thought you only understood the jargon of a deranged hound. Considering you eat off the same floor as them, I would expect no more than that.” Alcina’s words were cold as ice and as sharp as her claws. She couldn't stand to listen to Heisenberg’s gritty voice go on and on with pitiful excuses, and she was about two seconds away from ripping out his vocal cords to shut him up.

She knew Mother Miranda was just waiting for the fight to break out; Donna was sinking into her chair—using her veil as a shield from the fight—while holding Angie back from jumping in; Moreau was growing anxious from watching, and Angie was chanting “fight, fight, fight,” with her little wooden fists pumping in the air.

Heisenberg jumped up and threw his glasses off to glare murderously at Alcina, which would normally petrify any human, and might even send Moreau skittering behind Miranda—but this is Alcina. He knew if he wanted to get a rise out of her, he’d need to use a sharper dagger and slice right over her soft spot. “You’re one to talk tits for brains; I’d think it was your daughters who ransacked the village for a bloodily midnight snack. Everyone knows they’re as rabid and mindless as my dear hounds. Even Mother Miranda has said a time or two that they could use a shorter leash.”

Alcina was twitching with unhinged rage and stormed forward—claws extended and scrapping the concrete floor—toward Karl, who only matched her step for step toward the center of the room. A sickening smirk spread through his face because he couldn’t deny he relished seeing her lose control from his heartless words. So, as he stalked forward with his hammer dragging the ground, he couldn’t help but put the cherry on top.

“What's the matter, Alcina? Feel guilty for not finding big enough collars for your killer bug babies yet?”

The entire church shook with the sound of her enraged scream reverberating off of the cracked walls. “YOU SLIMY, MENACING, PIECE OF SHIT, HEARTLESS BASTARD!!! YOU DARE TO INSULT MY DAUGHTERS?!” By then, her eyes were blood red with murder swimming in their color. Quicker than Heisenberg could react, Alcina sprung forward, snatched the man up by his throat, and slammed him so hard against the wall the concrete cracked into jagged lines. The air thundered with her movements, and she raised her claws, ready to slash through his flesh with unrelenting, merciless fury. “I WILL PAINT THE WALLS ON THIS CHURCH WITH YOUR BLOOD SPLATTER SO MUCH YOUR LYCANS WILL TRULY LEARN WHAT IT MEANS TO HUNGER IN BLOODLUST!”

The church doors burst open, with you entering just in time to see Alcina nearly rip Karl’s face off with her claws. “ENOUGH!!” You screamed, and both of them jerked their heads toward you in shock. Anyone who didn't know you would have thought you were out of your mind, demanding two immortal people with murder and unhinged wrath glinting in their eyes to back off. But they did know you, considered you their closest friend, thought you hung the moon and the stars, and would do anything for you.

You huffed in exasperation because there was never a day in your life when you could leave these two alone with each other without them trying to rip each other’s heads off. You adored them both as your dearest friends as they did toward you. Alcina would gladly slaughter an entire town of people if they so much as uttered a hurtful word toward you, just as Heisenberg would set his pack of lycans on any traitorous mortals who dared to upset you. If you asked them too, they would set the world on fire because they cared about you. Yet, that doesn't stop them from daily trying to kill each other and try as you might; sometimes, you couldn't either.

They knew better than to upset you and tried to remain civil with each other in your presence, lest they meet your cold shoulder for a week and have to grovel for forgiveness. Black God knows they despised such humiliation. So as you strode into the center of the room with bitter outrage and disappointment on your face, Alcina guiltily let go of Heisenberg, letting him fall to the ground with a thud. Karl picked himself up while grumbling, and both of them turned toward you with souring anger and quickly growing regret on their faces.

You rolled your eyes and pinched the bridge of your nose in frustration, thinking it was like trying to wrangle two irritable, misbehaving toddlers. Only your two toddlers were capable of mass murder. While barely controlling your simmering anger, you slowly and with a tense composure said, “I was gone for five. fucking. minutes. Care to explain why I arrive back to find you two inches away from clawing each other’s eyes out?!”

Alcina and Karl glance at each other quickly, hoping the other will provide some sort of excuse you will accept. They knew it was futile, though, and guiltily looked back at you, wringing their hands and preparing themselves for the scolding.

#michelle's works #alcina dimitrescu headcanons #alcina x reader #lady dimitrescu #lady alcina dimitrescu #heinsenberg #karl heisenburg x reader #karl heinsenberg #alcina dimitrescu x reader #karl heisenberg x reader

[kuwdora]

Star Wars audiobooks! I've been restless for new Star Wars since Andor ended. Been going through a handful of Disney era and Legends novels over the last few months. I have enough reactions to get down into an actual post. Mostly I'm just going to be foaming at the mouth over Marc Thompson and Sam Witwer's narration and falling over myself about the characters. I have listened to: Dark Disciple, Last Shot, Disney Thrawn trilogy, Heir to the Empire, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. Lots of these books I liked, some of them I didn't but the narration and characters are still amazing. Motherfucking MARA JADE. Asajj Ventress!!!!!!!! I have no rational mind about Maul and I am one of those feral stick figures chewing on Thrawn. Hnnghh.

First of all, let me start with Marc Thompson. He's been doing the audiobooks for years and years now. Here’s a great intro where he’s talking about the differences of doing character voices and learning the importance of bringing the right dynamic to the prose. He slips so seamlessly into his Star Wars voices reel, ahaha.

Here is a really cute Lip Sync Battle where Marc Thompson will say a line and then have a fan lip sync the same line back at the camera. His energy, his energy I love it so much. Everyone is having SO MUCH FUN. There’s also a cameo by Star Wars author Christie Golden in this video. Super cute.

First book:

Dark Disciple - Christie Golden Narrated by Marc Thompson

Alright I actually had picked this up ages go from my library and never read it but since I’ve been on an audiobook kick, Marc Thompson got me goin’ with alllll his voices.

I love Asajj Ventress so I was pretty much guaranteed to enjoy something from this book. Apparently it was written based on some unfinished scripts for an arc that would have happened if the show didn’t get cancelled. Knowing this makes a lot more sense with regards to the pacing and I think I would have preferred the animated episodic for this since I think a lot of the early Quinlan and Asajj stuff dragged a little too much. However I did appreciate getting more of a deeper dive in Asajj’s head and it really made me want to go digging through AO3 for some amazing character studies that I know must exist at this point.

But yeah, I didn’t think I’d enjoy the eventual romance between Asajj and Quinlan but Quinlan was such a perfect set-up for a fall from the Jedi Order. I think I’m just really easy when it comes to whumping the fuck out of Jedi with torture and their own emotional repression.

I was really into all the Dathomir scenes and the history of Asajj with her sisters being touched upon again and how she managed to not “go crazy from the dark side” because of the balance she found because she was a Nightsister.

A++ for Asajj having to go to Boba fucking Fett to mount a rescue mission inside a fake heist.

Really I think I’m just so easy for murdery women with a rage boner. Fuck Dooku.

Marc Thompson’s narration was a delight and I definitely would recommend this for anyone who enjoyed The Clone Wars series and wanted to get a little more Asajj screen time. Here’s a scene where someone pulled Clone Wars clips and put Dark Disciple audio underneath. Marc Thompson bringing incredible Dooku subservience and Sidious danger, hhhngh.

7/10, would listen to again even though I'd rather see the finished episodes.

Last Shot (A Han and Lando Novel) - Daniel Jose Older Narrated by Marc Thompson, Daniel Jose Older and January LaVoy

This book was extremely disappointing. Normally I am a fan of seeing fan-favorites have their mid-life crises but I was extremely bored and over with Older’s take on Han having an existential crisis of who he was as a father an husband in this post-Empire world. Lando on the other hand, was having a crisis of genuinely having fallen in love and not knowing how to handle that. I fucking loved that.

This book had multiple timelines and jumped around a lot and I don’t know if I just wasn’t focused enough while listening but the timeline jumps were jarring and incomprehensible at times. The action plot ended up being rather unsatisfying.

It was also very jarring to have three narrators for the different timelines and I kind of feel bad because I went and looked and Older’s narration is just consistently getting panned across all reviewers—and for good reason. Thompson and LaVoy are experienced voice actors and with Older in the middle, Older just seems slapdash in his reading. If it was just Older all the way through I might have been more forgiving but going back and forth with everyone… it really was painful at times.

It was a slog to get through this book, really. What I actually really enjoyed was all the original characters: an Ewok slicer, a nonbinary hot shot pilot, and Lando’s love of his life whose name is slipping my mind even now, agh. I wasn’t fan of the villain character, unfortunately, and it was a bit of a letdown that the action plot was just… I don’t know, boring. It was a riff on transhumanism except with droids and a bit of droid supremacy to it and I was just... tired by it.

Marc Thompson was KILLING it tho. His performances always fucking delight me. January LaVoy’s narration of Lando and L-3 were also really great even though I just wasn’t into the scenes themselves.

3/10 - do not recommend, HOWEVER I would read fic about the lady ewok hacker Peekpa.

Darth Maul: Shadow hunter By Michael Reeves Narrated by SAM WITWER

I am, as the fannish parlance goes, Not Normal about Maul or Sam Witwer's performance as Maul.

This novel takes place just before the events of The Phantom Menace and it’s a Star Wars story that is very, very narrow in scope. The stakes are still very high because someone has gained information about the Trade Federation’s impending blockade and Sidious sends Maul to go and take care of it. The whole story takes place in the underbelly of Coruscant and I gotta say, it’s really refreshing after going through a bunch of Star Wars shows, books and films where it’s all galactic hopping whirlwind stuff to have that's in one place and happening in a short amount of time. I think it's something like 2 or 3 days that all the events happen.

Michael Reeves is a man of deep characterization and creates an amazing sense of place in the Black Sun alley of Corusant. We get very little Sidious and Maul interaction but what bits we do get are fascinating and haunting. I do like the ‘less is more’ approach here with these two...although I will say I’m not sure I would have picked up this book if I hadn’t gone through The Clone Wars and lost my goddamn mind over Sam Witwer’s portrayal of Maul.

And his performance here. In this book. I don’t know what it is about Witwer but when he does Maul my brain just lights up in a way that I haven’t really gotten outside of live theater performances. He brings this sense of ruthlessness and competence to Maul, his gleeful rage and oscillating mania as he ends up tracking an information broker and Jedi Padawan. Oh, Witwer is truly just. Fucking amazing, okay.

I would love this book even if it wasn’t Witwer narrating it but my god he elevates it to a whole new level. I got my copy from the library but it is immediately on my to-buy list once I can buy books again.

Michael Reeves also wrote for Batman the Animated series and Gargoyles which makes a whole lot of sense in the way he’s able to just create such lush sensory detail of place and people, oh holy fuck. He’s the writer who wrote the Gargoyles episode about Broadway accidentally shooting Elisa with her gun (this is an episode that got pulled from airing and I don’t think they have on Disney+ right now). Aw man, alright I definitely need to read more of his stuff now.

The action plot is Lorn Pavan is a down-on-his-luck fellow who got information he shouldn’t have and he is trying to sell it, Darsha the Jedi Padawan gets sent down to bring in a Black Sun informant and things go tits up for her in horrible ways. Darsha and Lorn’s paths collide and they try to survive Maul. I love everything about these characters, except for the end where Lorn started having romantic feelings about the Padawan. Blech.

Also somehow I think I-5 is now my second favorite droid character I’ve come across in the greater Star Wars canon (Chopper will always be my #1 grumpy cat droid). Witwer has the best dry delivery for the droid character. Like. It’s so fucking GOOD.

I’m also impossibly impressed and obsessed with Witwer’s performance of Sidious and the Jedi Council. His Qui-Gon is SO FUCKING GOOD. His Palaptine has my teeth rattling in my head oh my god.

Here’s the first 5 or so minutes of Shadow Hunter, hhnngh. You get Maul, Sidious a drunk Lorn Pavan, and my new droid bestie I-5:

I am 100% going to be reading Michael Reeves’ other Star Wars novels. Apparently he has a series that follows a Jedi-in-hiding post-Order 66 and I want to just dunk my head in all the Star Wars noir, I guess, yes please.

10/10 - I love, would heartily recommend to anyone wanting a kind of story that’s more heavy on character and setting and also SAM WITWER!!!!!!!!! Maul. Hnnghghghgh.

TIMOTHY ZAHN TIME.

Thrawn Trilogy (Disney era) Thrawn, Thrawn Alliances, Thrawn Treason Narrated by Marc Thompson

This was my second time through the Disney novels. I watched Star Wars Rebels first, then my friend jb_slasher told me about Thrawn having novels. I had vaguely heard of Heir to the Empire over the years and also my friend recommended the Disney trilogy so I figured I’d start with that since I was diving off from Disney canon anyway.

My god I love this trilogy so fuckin’ much. Marc Thompson out here nailing it. This Thrawn is the type of character who is always the smartest person in the room and I should get irritated by that like all the other characters but mmmm, I have a competence kink. And I am just over the moon with how he instills loyally and allegiance in his crew who can now have a commander who is not interested in politicking his way through things but actually is committed to strategy and whatnot.

Also fucking Zahn made Thrawn go back to space college. And gave him a little protege who he grew to admire. Eli Vanto is a great character, I am reading a lot of slash about them obviously but yeah, I loved seeing his growth throughout the trilogy. And THRAWN ALLIANCE. Y’all. Y’all. The Star Wars memes about Thrawn and Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker are AMAZING and really do the hilarity so much justice. Here's a fantastic book trailer cut together with Marc Thompson' narration, hnngh.

This man absolutely knows who Darth Vader is and Darth Vader is like “oh fuck no you don’t.” And when Thrawn had met Anakin during the Clone Wars and Anakin had to try and work together with him? Perfection. Bonus Padme getting to be a ridiculous and foolish badass when she goes looking for trouble. And also her also having a competence kink for Thrawn, too. It cracks me the fuck uuuuuup, okay.

Thrawn absolutely hates politics so fucking much and I love to see how that is the primary way he gets thwarted or has to build his strategy around. Because people are fucking assholes and political everywhere. Seriously, have I mentioned how much I love Marc Thompson??

Thrawn Treason gave us more of Thrawn’s people and whatnot with the Chiss which I also liked but I’m really less interested in their motivations and experiences as a culture on the edge of the Empire. More here for Vanto now getting to be the fish-out-of-water and leveling up and getting all the respect he deserves.

MARC THOMPSON, y’all. He does a great Thrawn, an AMAZING whinybaby sycophant Ronan of the Starkiller Project, and his Eli Vanto Space Yokel intonation is 💋. Also I feel like the loyalty and trust that Thrawn earns from his subordinates really feeds into this praise kink thing that everyone develops by being around him. I love it.

10/10 will lose my mind and listen/read this trilogy again and also read all the fanfic about it.

Heir to the Empire Timothy Zahn

I am sorry it took me 30 years to get here but I AM NOW HERE FOR MARA JADE’S RAGE BONER. Let me repeat: MARA. JADE. !!!!!!!!!

Also holy fuck. Luke Skywalker getting to be smart, technically creative and able to navigate through terrible situations in spite of a Force-Blocking Macguffin is AMAZING. I was not expecting to be this into a post-Empire Luke but I really fucking loved it.

I also love all of the Han and Lando scenes in this (WAY MORE than Last Shot, sorry Daniel Jose Older).

Leia and Chewie!! On Kashyyk!! Talon Karrde was so great (Thompson made him kind of sound like Antonio Banderas??)

Thrawn and his bestie Pelleaon! What a fascinating dynamic.

I actually was not very into Thrawn’s vibes in this book as much as I was in the Disney stuff. I don’t know if it’s because of the vibes they wrote him in Star Wars rebels that got filtered back into Zahn’s take on him for the books (or if it was the other way around?) - Like, the calculating tactical and man of strategy is still there, but… hm, I’ve been struggling to articulate what about it that didn’t tickle me as much. He’s still playing the long game in every situation but I don’t know… I think there’s this more pragmatic view of people he has in the Disney books that he doesn’t get here in the first of this trilogy. I haven’t gotten to the other two books from this series yet so maybe I’ll feel differently later. The anniversary edition of the audiobook that I got from my library was narrated by Marc Thompson and he (you'll be so surprised) fucking nailed it all for me. Love love love.

10/10 timothy zahn, I love you. You got an amazing way of writing action. I gotta read more of your stuff. Anyway, I'm also starting the Ahsoka novella that I think (??) is not quite canon anymore since they got a final season for Clone Wars, but it's by E.K. Johnston and narrated by Ahoska's voice actor Ashley Eckstein. Don't have enough thoughts about it yet but I love Ahsoka so I'm sure I'll have a decent time.

#this is like 2k of me rambling and talking about my star wars feels wheee #star wars #kuwdora reads #star wars books #heir to the empire #thrawn alliances #thrawn treason #asajj ventress #thrawn #mara jade #sam witwer #darth maul #marc thompson #my posts #textpost #shadow hunter

[melodyofthevoid]

Spotify Discovery Review

So I wanted to try something new and figured I'd dive into more music thoughts, and since I've been actually listening to my Spotify Discovery (I needed new music lol) so yeah.

Overall Rating: 13/30 that I really like and even sort of like, so not bad. Probably won't be saving a ton of these for later listening, a few might go into some character playlists at least so that's good. We'll see if any grow on me. Below are some of the standouts good, bad, and indifferent. A few songs I didn't include bc they're instrumentals that I didn't really have any thoughts on. Not even neutral thoughts.

Good

Dear Alice (rainy days)

Slow and dreamlike, it's not really a surprise that there's heavy Alice in Wonderland theming but even though there's not a ton of singing, I found myself enjoying the ride.

Femme Fatale

A fantastic beat, a combination of western and tango aesthetics, a fast paced ride that makes me want to groove. Love the flirty danger that drips off of every word, it's got a solid identity and doesn't feel like it's trying too hard to be "edgy" or anything.

YOUR HEAD'S ON FIRE

Louie Zhong is always a bop and his lyrical style is always a joy. Unconventional metaphors and fun little bits, a very groovy guitar line that makes you want to wiggle.

Blink of an eye

Halfy and Winks make DSMP songs, I'm aware of this, however I love their musical style and lyrics. Gives me heavy inspiration for my own story just with how vivid and story based their stuff is. The revolutionary spark in here is nice.

Invisible Dan Avidan has popped into my feeds and I’m not really complaining? I love the rock style/retro vibe that this one has going on, his vocals really sell it. A little bit chase scene a little bit breakdown but overall a good time.

The Moon and Stars

Good folk vibes, gets close to scratching the same itch that The Crane Wives do but not quite, which is still a good time for me. We'll see if this fits a character in future.

The Manic

A great character song, will be applying to my blorbos soon. The pushing away from someone you love because you know you'll hurt them eventually and can't take it. Very good stuff.

Dance While the Sky Crashes Down

Eyyy Jason Webly, I remember you from WTNV. A tango for the end of the world and honestly isn't that a mood? I love the lyrics, although it drags a smidge at the end. Maybe because of TMA I'm a little more inclined towards this.

A song whose title is in Japanese. It's from land of the lustrous and I cannot copy paste the title.

Very eerie, very atmospheric. I haven't watched the show in its entirety myself, but I know that it has horror and suspense interwoven in some of the back half, and the clanking bells and echoes really give the sensation of being watched. Of being on edge. Good stuff.

Break Your Cranck

An altogether inexplicable piece. It’s done on a hurdy gurdy which is already a plus but. It. It sounds like electronica crafted by pirate bees. With some Indian influence thrown in for flavor. Like a space punk pirate bazaar. Very atmospheric but also so so confusing. I love it.

Dance of the blood drunk

A balance of wild carnival and orchestral splendor, feels like an epic batter on a grand scale. The unsteady thrill of never knowing if you’re winning or not.

Neutral

Absence

I kinda forgot what this sounded like tbh.

How Dare You

Pretty good? No real feelings on it.

I was an island

Again with the good lyrics, but the instrumentation and singing are on the verge of being unlistenable? Like I can listen, and I could see myself putting this on a character playlist or two for sure.

Tavern crawl

A fun little bawdy medieval style song, Annapantsu kills it as expected, but bar songs/drinking songs aren’t really my vibe? But I could see myself grooving to this generally.

Brand new city

Mitski, which is good, but some of her stuff doesn't hit me as much as it does others, and this is one of those times. Not bad by any means, just not something I can see myself going back to.

Cold, cold, cold

Has a story to it, the grandiosity is nice especially near the end but the whole song together doesn’t quite capture me in the way that other artists in this space do. I could listen to it if I was in a particular mood but otherwise it’s not a stand out.

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch

I do like the Jekyll and Hyde musical don't get me wrong but I'm not a huge fan of this one? It's mostly a song meant to establish the upper crust as mindless gossips and twits, the combination of the old Disney-musical style instrumentals and the rather vulgar (by Victorian standards) lyrics is funny but that's all its got.

Timekeeper's Heartbeat

An interesting case where I like the instrumentals and most of the lyrics but it fails to really coalesce into a song? There's bits that don't rhyme for no reason, it comes across like one of those English vocaloid covers that doesn't adjust for the context. If it is, I wouldn't be surprised.

Nah

Whiplash (Black Math) Don’t like listening to it, not much else to really say here.

Wish you were gay I’m aware this one is a bit of a darling in some of the animation meme circles but I don’t really care for the instrumentation or the lyrics. Unpleasant to listen to.

Two's a party Jazz/cabaret but there’s not really a depth to it imo. I find it a bit hard to listen to despite the singer being pretty good if a bit... too whispery. A combination of the lyrics and sudden trumpet jump scares ig.

Judas An interesting concept and premise, the dichotomy of a queer relationship contrasted with the religious imagery is layered but the vocal performance doesn’t really do it for me. Seems to want to be mountain goats but it’s a little too raw?

I DONT TRUST U ANYMORE Person with a guitar genre, valid feelings but vocal performance is a bit flat. Reminds me of blink 182 but with none of the energy.

#melody rambles #spotify discovery review #might also open up my inbox to song recommendations if y'all feel like throwing something in there

[alkalinefrog]

Just had the chance to read Lights of Avalon while writing my own HiJack fic, and its so apparent how much you GET Jack as a character. It's amazing to see the life you breathe not only into this different incarnation of Jack, but the Guardians and side characters like Jack's family. As someone who is more new to the HiJack fandom (Only been writing it for a year now) how do you get the characters this fleshed out and believable? I always struggle trying to balance out elements like that without it dragging to much. What is your technique for this writing wise?

Well, technically I've only been here for a year too--I think we're coming up on the anniversary of when I read OTNWAS and got trapped here, wow, time sure flies LMAO

This is my first ever ask for writing advice, dude I'm so stoked! I'll do my best to give you a clear answer, but sorry in advance if it's a little jumbled, I'm still fairly new to fic writing and this is only my second one asldfjlasdjf

For Jack specifically, I owe a large part of my understanding of him to talking about him with @jjackfrost! I feel like I had a good grasp on his general vibes from rotg, but talking with Robin and how he approached writing Jack in OTNWAS really helped flesh him out in my mind!

EDIT: I finished typing everything out and this answer is long af, I'm so sorry LMAO. TL;DR:

Focus on who Jack is as a person, and demonstrate who other people are through how exactly they interact--and more importantly, react--to him in his POV

9 times out of 10 people won't info dump their tragic backstories to each other, so give info about them in their actions as you move the plot forward. Come up with situations that can best showcase who they are as people. Show don't tell!

How much you learn about each character will all depend on who your POV character is (Jack) and what his relationship to them is like (the closer they are, the more heart to hearts he'll be inclined to share)

Details under the cut!

EDIT 2: ALSO THANK YOU SO MUCH, I'm so glad you like my characterization of everyone!! That's super high praise!!

Things are a bit different because this version of him never lost his memories and stayed human after falling through the ice, so I focused on who he is at his core--his centre, if you will hehehe--and what kind of person he was to begin with that would make the moon choose him. He's a really specific balance of mischievous but never malicious, immature but still responsible, and very very brave and compassionate and protective and HUHHHHHH my son 😭😭😭 His strength is in how he focuses on finding joy even in the darkest times, you know? And he's very self-sacrificing in order to bring that same joy for others.

When fleshing out the other characters in the story, for me it was important to remember that Jack is the POV character, so any info we learn about others has to come from their relationship with him and what he observes in them.

For example, his heart to heart with Bunny is way more guarded than the ones he has with his mother and Emily since they're still strangers to each other at that point. Neither of them are going to info dump about their tragic backstories to the other LMAO, especially since Bunny's not a wears-their-heart-on-their-sleeve character, but that's exactly why I thought that he'd be the best choice out of the three to have the initial real talk with Jack. He'd be the least likely to pry, which would let Jack relax a bit about dropping his guard.

In their conversation, I needed to give enough info to 1) get to understand Bunny's motivations a bit more, since he definitely sticks out next to Tooth and Sandy as a bard, 2) establish trust between him and Jack that can develop into a believable friendship later, and 3) give Jack more of a reason to think that joining the Guardians is actually an emotionally healthy idea too.

So then I thought about what exactly they'd share with each other, since conversations are always about listening instead of talking. Bunny doesn't divulge into the details of his past, but you get a sense that he's been through a lot given what he does share, and that he's already had his own character arc. Jack learns that Bunny is also deeply protective of his family, and that's something he can relate to. Jack's questions in turn show how lost he is, and that prompts Bunny to give only the relevant info that he thinks would help Jack.

But then for all that to happen, they needed to have another moment of bonding before it felt believable that they'd open this conversation in the first place, hence them being forced to team up in the snowball fight lol. Plus it wouldn't be a RotG fic without one good snowball fight LMAO. Pacing-wise, it also just so happened that I needed another more light-hearted scene to brighten the mood before things went to shit again since chapter 2 was so angst-heavy, and I needed to bring the Guardians back in to give Jack the option to leave, and you see how things are falling into place now lol

Writing the Guardians is suuuuuuper fun because they all have such fun and distinct personalities from each other! I get to be a bit less grounded when it comes to them too, since they bring a lot of comedic relief and are more whimsical in nature from the movie.

For Jack's family, it was easier to flesh them out through how much Jack cares about them, and how much he pays attention to what qualities in Emily and his mother that he loves most. In turn, you get to see how much they love him too.

Obviously you spend the most time with him and Emily, so I wanted to make their dynamic as siblings really cute (I drew a lot of inspo from my own relationship with my younger brother, which helped me relate to Jack more too). You see how much she takes after him with the tree climbing and how she follows his lead in all the mischief he pulls. She's self-sacrificing in her own way, with the scene where she pretends not to be interested in the pink dress when Jack catches her looking at it, and more importantly later when she tries to stop him from leaving and finally shows how much the accident and the guilt from it has been affecting her too.

Pacing-wise, they needed to spend the most time together in order to make Jack's sacrifice for her more impactful, and how much it hurts him to leave her, so I came up with a bunch of ideas for things to best showcase the different layers of their relationship--1) clowning the bards and each other for the humour, 2) stargazing for the intimacy, 3) snowball fight for the mischief, 4) their goodbye for the FEELS, plus that whole montage about winter before Jack saves her.

You only get one real scene with his mother, and I wanted to give her more character than just "mom," so I gave her an injured little boy to help take care of so you can see how warm she is as a person when she calms him down, in contrast to how Jack can reassure the kid in his own way by entertaining him and making him laugh. Then she gets some banter with Jack so you see her sense of humour. You get a hint of where Jack and Emily get their playfulness when she mentions that she's better at climbing trees to tease him lol.

Exposition-wise, Jack already knows that she's the town doctor, so instead of having him like, turn to the camera to say it lol, the scene with her stitching up the boy's cut demonstrates that. I gave Jack and Emily tasks that showed other aspects of her role without having to explain it, ie: shopping for supplies at the apothecary for her, and delivering medication orders she made for people in town. Idk if it was too subtle, but another reason I had Jack mention that they're short on cash was meant to show that she's not in the medical field for profit (SIDE-EYES AMERICA), so she's very selfless as well.

Aaaaaaaand that's about it so far without talking about what's going to happen next in the story. I hope that was helpful!

#writing Jamie for the one-shot was so much easier because I just made him very gen z LMFAO #ask #fsbt-fanatic #advice #tloa #the lights of avalon

[johaerys-writes]

I ADORE your writing! Do you have any book recs? 💗

THANK YOU!!! I do have some book recs, and I'm going to separate them in two categories: a) all time faves (aka books that rewired my brain), and b) my fave books I read this year.

All Time Faves

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: if you follow me for my patrochilles writing, then you already know I love this book 😅 It literally altered my brain chemistry when I read it and I have never been the same.

RotE: short for The Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb, it's like 16 books long and I recommend each one. Fitz is my pathetic little meow meow and the Fool is one of my favourite characters of all time. Read at your own peril LOL

Earthsea and Lavinia by Ursula K Le Guin: I'm on a quest to read everything Le Guin has written because her writing is just *chef's kiss*. I adore her prose and the way climaxes and conflict are handled, and I love the worldbuilding. Her Earthsea stories are just so wonderful and poignant, I particularly love the Tombs of Atuan and Tehanu. The latter is permanently on my reread roster, I read it once a year towards the end of the year when I start feeling blue because it's just so comforting. And I have to include my favourite quote:

"You are beautiful," Tenar said in a different tone. "Listen to me, Therru. Come here. You have scars, ugly scars, because an ugly, evil thing was done to you. People see the scars. But they see you, too, and you aren't the scars. You aren't ugly. You aren't evil. You are Therru, and beautiful. You are Therru who can work, and walk, and run, and dance, beautifully, in a red dress."

Please read it you won't regret it 😭🙏🙏

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: another long time favourite and one I reread at least once a year. It’s just one of the best books ever written (sorry I don't make the rules). I'm not sure if that is where my love of childhood friends to toxic, copedepent lovers and of unhinged, violent men in fiction came from but it sure contributed to it LMAO. I don’t consider it a romance book but I do adore the way it handles love and romance, among other things. It's just so bleak and cynical but also highly comedic in places and I could talk about it forever. TL;DR please read it haha.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong: I didn’t like this book very much when I first started it but it had become a favourite by the time I finished it. I've reread it several times (I think just this year I've read it twice), it's just so heartbreaking and beautiful.

Fave books I read this year:

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat: technically I finished the trilogy end of last year but I still think about it a lot. It's very well written and imo the perfect balance of angst, plot, intrigue and horniness.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik: I read it earlier this year and I literally can't stop thinking about it lol. It’s SO well written and very immersive and even though the plot itself isn't like... comforting, it felt like a great comfort to read it. Ever since I finished it, every time I start a new book I'm like "gah I wish I could read it for the first time again" haha. I'm going to be rereading it for Christmas I think!

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells: another series I enjoyed a lot this year! I listened to the audiobooks and the VA is just so good, he's Murderbot in my mind lol. I should probably reread the last few books because my attention span was awful while I was listening to them, but overall they're very entertaining but also touch upon important issues in a really interesting way.

She Who Became The Sun by Shelly Parker-Chan: I really enjoyed this book, the plot, characters and worldbuilding was very interesting and I absolutely love the way that gender queerness and "otherness" was explored. I am eagerly awaiting the next book 👀

Villains series by V.E. Schwab: a highly entertaining read, I was pleasantly surpised by how much I enjoyed this. I love me a close friends to sworn enemies story, especially when they are obsessed with each other in as homosexual a way as these two LMAO. The supporting characters were also very well written which isn't easy to find in stories with such a busy cast. Once again, eagerly awaiting the next book!

#johaerys answers #book recs #i've been in a reading rut lately but really want to change that lol

[duskterrace]

local ghost spotted posting intro five days late, anomaly muns claim. many express shock over ghost's sudden appearance. ✩ ( let's pretend this is introduction is actually on time and i wasn't panicked about how little i had ready lmao)

sorry for the super late introduction guys and thank you admins for being so understanding with me and my sweet summer child ! hi everyone ! ✩ im ghost ( they/them, 21+, est ) sleepy and back from the afterlife to offer up seo jinsol, your local 23 year old disaster astronomy major with the ability to manipulate the presence of yin and yang within themselves ! i've been so excited for this rp, and i honestly cant wait to start plotting with everyone. everything you could possibly need on jinsol is below, along with some headcanons and wanted plots! my discords available for anyone who needs it ( and pls need it tumblrs ims will be the death of me ). pls send a dm or leave a like if you'd like to plot so i can race over and gush over your muse(s) !

ㅤ STATS   |  ABILITY   | BIO (U/C)   |  PLOTS | PINTEREST  | PLAYLIST

✩ BASIC INFORMATION.

name seo jinsol  ╱ age twenty3 ╱ pronouns he/they/she ╱ gender possibly ╱ birthday december 13, 1999 ╱ birthchart sagittarius sun aquarius moon leo rising ╱ hometown hongdae, seoul ╱ orientation bisexual, androsexual lean  ╱ personality outgoing, playful, confident, thrill-seeking, sarcastic, impulsive, stubborn, hot-tempered, curious ╱ faceclaim choi san ( ateez ) & hwang yeji ( itzy ) ╱ character inspo post ponytail zuko & sokka ( atla ), jordan li ( gen v ), beast boy & starfire ( dc titans )

✩ HEADCANONS. tw: far too many avatar the last airbender references.

raised with manners, so they're very respectful. especially of their elders and women. they don't eat first when elders are present, they offer assistance with tasks ( normally being the first to jump to help someone ), they tend to offer to listen to someones worries, etc.

since their power is based on internal balance an yin and yang, they can be found doing a lot of activities around campus to clear their mind from time to time. ranging from yoga in the morning, to sketching, jogging, endurance workouts, forcing themself to relax, and burning incense. think uncle iroh but as a modern day, 23 year old college student. when their energy ( chi ) isn't balanced, they experience disharmony, a very tiring process that causes the typical results of disharmony except ... personified. so gender switching to female, being depressed, stressed and anxious with tummy issues ( normal hot girl sh*t imo ) all at the same time and against their will etc.

contrary to how i explain them, they are not as calm, collected nor as wise as uncle iroh. they more so have the personality of zuko, around when he started being hot and also sokka. so sarcastic, awkward, still a hot head, playfully, clumsy, and always cracking a joke or two. the vibes of a beloved leader that probably shouldn’t be leading.

they're wanderlust coded. i have this weird headcanon of them, where its a day off and they just turn off their phone at night and go for a walk in the city and just exist, looking at the city lights, sitting and looking at the river, grabbing ice cream even though its cold out side and then eventually heading back to the dorms as if they didn't just disappear for a few hours without a word. they definitely do this often too, while eating some cheap buy buy one get one snack they bought at the a convenience store.

despite how they may act sometimes, they love skinship; on that note, physical touch & quality time are their love languages.

silly but their side of the dorm follows the rules of feng shui and they’d probably playfully nag their roommate ( or any friend really ) to let them just to rearrange one of their things so their stuff fits in the room a little better.

following the ( TW ) death of their grandmother, they fell into the deepest depression and stopped wearing the patch for a while, ( no longer than a month ). the extremely negative emotions they faced kept them female the entire time, but soon enough they caught feelings for someone. feeling happier, they started the went back on the patch again. in the crudest tldr; they got their heart broken pretty badly. they decided to go off of the nullivi patch one last time after falling head over heels for a normal person. the showed them their ability, and just to be completely truthful about who they were, they shifted. it backfired pretty quickly and they were shunned, shamed and rejected. this is one incident they still struggle with letting go, and it currently affects how they view / form relationships.

they don't hate nullivi but they don't like it either. it messes with their internal balance which can make it tough to use their powers later and requires a pretty strict regimen when off of nullivi to balance their energies again.

They actively seek connections. They’d give anything to connect and have someone understand them, deeply and intrinsically without feeling like they’re being judged for who they are. They want to be able to open up and have someone see them for them; for whats really the inside and not just whats the outside, no matter what form they may take.

* more coming soon, only one braincell is on shift tonight .

✩ WANTEDPLOTS. *more plots en route.

CRUSH : it starts with those shy glances across the room and before they know it , all of a sudden all of the songs they listen to were about your muse. for some reason, your muse has caught jinsol's eye. your muse gives them butterflies, hope even, but they don't call it a crush for nothing. ( possible routes: unrequited & requited ) SPRING FLING : what you had was quick and fun, and meaningless. in the end, there was a clear agreement from both sides that it was no strings attached, hence a clean break was expected. so why does it feel weird watching you walk by them without a word? and why does it sting to see you with someone else? THE DREADED GROUP PROJECT : lets be real, no one in this group ever really liked each other. Since the start of the semester they've kept a pretty good distance from each other, but despite their best efforts, this year they share a class and even worse they've been partnered together for a group project. their final grade is literally dependent on them working together and fast. will they do suck it up long enough to pass ? ( 0 / 2 ) A RIVAL : no need for formalities here. this is someone they just can't seem to see eye to eye with. your muse is someone who sees their presence as a threat and/or vice versa. it could be a friendly rivalry, or a genuine grudge filled feud. whatever it is, bring on the angst ! ( * would be great for rival muses in other rally houses )  TRAINER:  someone they can honestly throw down with. as a member of samjoko, they're constantly trying to find new ways to use their abilities to their advantage. whether its through regular hand to hand combat or testing the limits of their powers, they crave the power to propel samjoko's reputation further and feel like its their sole responsibility to harness said power. EX: a recent ex that broke them / or / the person they broke . the first person they sorta came out to about everything. their playlist has to be full of sad-ish songs for a reason right? this person is the reason, the reason for their glow up in public, and glow down in private. the break up could've been they're fault, could've been the other persons. all they know is... they hate that they still think about your muse as often as they do.  OTHERS : fellow members of samjoko, other residents in blue dorm, the usual fwb/ewb, enemies, childhood friend, friend groups, acquaintances, roommate etc connections. maybe people in the same major/classes, or another club of some kind?

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤDo you wish to make a connection?        ▶︎ YES.ㅤㅤㅤ NO.

#nm:intro #⁺ 𝐉𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐋 ₊ / intro

[jouska-the-deer]

People still suck at writing Sonic the Hedgehog

Interpretations of Sonic outside of media made by Sonic Team often seem either unable or unwilling to reconcile the fact that Sonic is both kind-hearted and intelligent, but I think I've noticed a recent shift in the way writers try to reconcile it.

In general, there seems to be this belief that smart people are inherently more pessimistic toward the world and that kind people are inherently more naive towards it. So, when writing for a character who's both smart and kind, less knowledgeable writers end up flanderizing them in one of two ways:

The first way, which is how Sonic was interpreted in Sonic Boom and prior, is making the character act like a jerk who knows best. At worst, they'll be outright rude towards their closest friends, but any criticism they get for it will be ignored because their opinions are always correct in the eyes of the narrative. At best, they'll sometimes make mistakes and learn lessons about being nicer to other people, which is something their non-flandarized self wouldn't have struggled with.

The second way, which is how Sonic is interpreted now, is making the character a saint who solves everything with friendship. At worst, they'll give absolute tyrants a million chances, but any criticism they get for it will be ignored because their opinions are always correct in the eyes of the narrative. At best, they'll sometimes make mistakes and learn lessons about certain people being unwilling to change, which is something their non-flandarized self wouldn't have struggled with.

You may have noticed I straight up copy/pasted a couple bits of those last two paragraphs. Well, that's because those bits reveal a bit of truth in how Sonic is portrayed by Sonic Team. Sonic's opinions are always correct in the eyes of the narrative, because of the lessons he no longer struggles with. Sonic already learned to balance his desire to give people a second chance with the fact that some people just have to be stopped. When? Since the very beginning. Sonic has always been trying to defeat Eggman for good while also giving second chances to people who he thinks deserve it.

But how do you deal with people who are causing so much harm when you still think they deserve a second chance? Guess what? Sonic answered that straight up in Sonic Adventure 1.

Do me a quick favor and if you can listen to Open Your Heart, specifically the Sonic Adventure 1 version (Click here). You may notice that there're two distinct sets of vocals; One clean and high pitched, and one distorted and low pitched. (And if you're wearing headphones the audio will even pan during the chorus.) For context, this is the song that plays while Sonic is fighting Chaos.

You can figure it out yourself from there, but if you want me to really dig into the topic, feel free to keep reading.

So like, I shouldn't have to say this, but the dark negative voice is Chaos' view and the light positive voice is Sonic's. But notably, they sing together during key points, specifically those related to the anger, sadness, and hopelessness that Chaos has been feeling for ages. Sonic has recognized that 1. imprisoning Chaos as suggested by Tikal wouldn't solve anything because, 2. Chaos is only acting this way due to being blinded by hatred for those he perceives as selfish monsters, and 3. he's still very much currently destroying the world and won't change his mind because he's lost hope that there's anything worth holding on to.

What does Sonic do then? Sonic may be an unstoppable force but Chaos is a seemingly immovable object. Well, he literally uses the positive energy from his friends and within himself to stop Chaos' rampage and prove that there are still good people in the world that want to maintain peace. After he loses the fight, Chaos is able to calm down and see that the cute defenseless chao he'd been protecting ages ago had survived, living among the very people he had assumed could only be power hungry monsters. He's able to let go of his hatred and live a peaceful life understanding that good people still exist and the world is still worth protecting.

And that's where the question is answered. How do you deal with people who are causing so much harm when you still think they deserve a second chance? You do everything you can to stop them, and if they're still around afterward, show them that they didn't need to fight in the first place. But that only works if they had a good reason behind why they were fighting, and would have chosen peace otherwise.

Sonic wanted to give Chaos a second chance because he knew that violence was not truly in his nature. Had he not been forced into those specific circumstances, Chaos would have chosen peace.

And that's what separates characters who have done a lot of harm but Sonic still gave a second chance to like Chaos and Merlina, from those who have done a lot of harm but Sonic wouldn't give a second chance to, like Eggman and Erazor Djinn. The former wanted peace but became convinced that it was impossible, and the latter only wanted power and were willing to hurt others to obtain it. The characters who Sonic won't give another chance to have proven that when dealt a better hand, they'll still chose to hurt others solely for their own gain, because that's what they want. To stop them peacefully, Sonic would have to convince them to give up their true dreams.

And that, is why Sonic's opinions get to always be treated as right in the games, because they are right. He has an absolutely kind heart, a nuanced understanding of morality, and the integrity to never give in to selfish desires.

None of this means Sonic is always right, though. Most people already know of his impulsiveness, which is his greatest weakest, but also one of his greatest strengths. Sonic never waits to act, which is great when innocent people are seconds from mortal danger... but not so great when a situation looks to be one way but is actually another. He teases Eggman for pleading for a second chance in Unleashed and he kicks the Cacophonous Conch from Eggman's hand in Lost World, and both of those were massive mistakes.

But, despite making those mistakes, his mindset wasn't the problem. How was he supposed to know Eggman was a shockingly good actor leading him into a trap? How was he supposed to know the people Eggman was controlling with the conch were equally as evil? (Yes Tails tried to warn him but literally if he didn't Sonic wouldn't have looked stupid and it just shows how poorly written Lost World was overall.) Had Eggman actually been pleading and the Zeti good people, Sonic's actions would've been justified.

Still, those were mistakes, and Sonic always wants to do what's right, so he does what he can to fix his own messes. He restores the planet Eggman broke apart. He stops the Zeti from sucking the life out of the planet. Sonic always makes things right in the end, and so he has the right to be so confidant in his beliefs. So confidant in fact that he doesn't care about looking like the bad guy if it means doing the right thing. Oh look, there's a song about that too. From Sonic's fight with Merlina in Sonic and the Black Knight. (Click Here.) Don't be fooled by the feminine vocals, if you paid attention to the themes of the game, the song is clearly from Sonic's perspective.

So yeah, Sonic is kind but he's also smart. He won't let anyone change his mind on anything, but he doesn't need to change his mind because he follows his kind heart and compassionate soul. He doesn't worry about looking like the bad guy because he and his friends know his true nature. When he gets angry he lets his rage fuel his desire to save the day. He'll never shed tears of despair because he knows that if he keeps fighting he'll make things right in the end. Sometimes his impulsiveness gets him into trouble, but it also helps get him back out. No matter what happens to him, he'll always make it out in the end either through sheer determination or the help of his friends.

Sonic is absolutely silly; He makes dumb jokes about his enemies and talks to himself when there's nobody around. Sonic is completely serious; He's willing to kill someone if it means saving the world and has felt multiple friends die before his eyes and in his arms.

Sonic is literally just some blue hedgehog who can run really fast.

Sonic is a god, and could kill god, and there is not a difference!

But most importantly, Sonic is all of those things at once. He is a wonderfully balanced character who's been right from the very beginning and has spent all his games sharing his wisdom with others simply by being himself. He isn't perfect, but that's not due to some personality flaw he needs to correct, but because nobody can always have all the answers and know how to avoid all potential mistakes.

The problem is, writing a character like this is hard. Writing conflicts for a character like this is hard. Most writers rely on making their protagonists work through relatable flaws to create an emotionally compelling story... but you don't need to do that. Sonic's conflicts are mostly external, but we care about him succeeding anyway because he's a good person who's just trying to live his life.

So really, if you wanna write Sonic well, you have to just let him speak for himself.

...By the way I mean that literally. Dude listen to his character theme it's all right there! (Click here.) Even when his theme was altered in Sonic Adventure 2 the only thing that changed was how confidently the same ideas were delivered. (Click here.) But seriously listen to literally any of the game themes, final boss themes, and ending themes. (I'm not linking all that.) No matter the quality of the games, if Sonic wanted to teach you something he was gonna teach it... through the power of having a music department detached from the nightmare that is game development time crunch.

And that's why Sonic Lost World is the worst Sonic game. Because it was so pointless that Sonic didn't have anything to sing about!

Wait... what was the point of this post again?

#Sonic the Hedgehog #StH #Sonic #Writing #Characterization #Flanderization #Jouska's Thoughts #Tag Ramble #BTW just so we're clear I like Boom!Sonic and Movie!Sonic. They're not Game!Sonic but they're decent interpretations of Sonic. #Boom!Sonic was often snarky but he was still mostly a nice person. Movie!Sonic is widdle and is getting better just give him some time. #I dropped off of Prime from boredom but it annoys me solely due to people thinking it's canon when you can tell it's not just by watching. #You can also tell because game Sonic would've totally said 'I love you too Shadow' and it's honestly gayer that he didn't. #Game!Sonic screams 'in my hands I hold the ones I love' meanwhile Prime!Sonic is too chicken to say he loves his friend even as a joke. #Huh? Too scared to say you love Shadow? Wouldn't want him to think you're serious? Why? You could just say you don't. Would you be lying? #Okay but seriously there was a WIP I wrote years ago where Shadow chewed Sonic out and he responded by saying 'I love you too Shadow'. #Sure it was a ship fic but that scene wasn't romantic. Sonic nearly got himself killed by being dumb and Shadow was just worried and pissed #And now if I actually used that scene for anything people would think it's a Prime reference and that annoys me too. #Anyway it's almost 5 AM for me so I should stop typing about hedgehogs and go to bed already.