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#i can't get over the style on this episode
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Titans United: Bloodpact is doing a "Brother Blood takes over the world" plot with Dick and Tim and I'm here for it
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hauntingblue · 1 month
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Try not to make fights between two women look homoerotic challenge level impossible
#if franky isnt good with swords why does he have a sword on his mecha 💀 just for the shogun bit#inu inu fruit??? he is just like inuyasha... omg.... crossover of my favourite things.... yamato i love you.....#yamato eating the protector deity of wano fruit.... calling himself oden.... his father must be fuming he is the antithesis of his person#obv its very much on purposes but lmao rip bozo (kaido) you didnt think much about that one.... maybe the deity of wano wants its people to#be free and not slaves of a weapons industry idk....#not olvia omg... and saul.... and clover... they changed little robin's name.... and her mom's voice is the same as hers lmao it's too much#robin said this is way too nice.... can't be real#once again thinking about robin holding her mothers hand..... and becoming an archeologist to make her proud.... the hands....#but now it's not about her mom now its about her friends.... also her childish heart omg.... truly#talking tag#watching one piece#episode 1042#robin defending sanji's honor akdjsks#robin that was so slay... take care tho.... ily.... until next time#luffy on the floor passed out having a tantrum about food. incredible#fucking caribou again.... DIEEE!!!!#MOMO FLY AGAIN!!!! GET OVER YOUR FEAR OF HEIGHTS#also yesterday i was showering and thinking about like dying like this cant be right... i am on thay level....#episode 1043#'i am not soft on women' oh yeah i bet...#see how good armor haki would have been here..... i have been saying this#robin's face..... strongest element in all of one piece.....#robin wanting to become strong for someone else.... just like nami.....#OHHHH SHIT!!!!!!! she said i wanna be with my friends 😁 -> 😈#that was so cool. also black maria is DEAD. that was a CLUTCH WWE STYLE. DAMN. robin getting there by thinking about his friends :)))#what love and human connection do to a mf (positively)#OH SHINOBU'S ABILITY.... MOMO..... OMG#episode 1044#robin ily that was so cool. call me any time btw.
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mean-scarlet-deceiver · 10 months
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what is your opinion on the episode
wharf & peace.
Hmm, I really only discuss Seasons 1-7.
I did go ahead and watch this one and I have to say it only confirms the wisdom of my original boundaries, mwaha. I can't get invested either way.
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Mood, Skarloey. Big mood.
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oh Callisto can finally rest
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lenofiga · 10 days
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#ahhh I recall this was one of the first event stories I read so i didn't really have a good grasp of their dynamics and relationships#but I def remember wanting to punch fi because of this scene#It rubbed me the wrong way how he's kinda dismissing fa's feelings just because he's younger#and therefore acc to him lacks experience to understand the world like he does as well as fi's feelings#and like well there you go?!! if that's what you think#how is he supposed to know how you feel if you don't tell him he can't read minds can he??#also how fi was like you could have fixed me you know but you decided you were too obsessed and eager to die for your best friend instead#and then I found out they probably only spent 5-10 years at most then and fa was in his late-teens early twenties#do you expect rtl and mimi to be on the same page for example??#but then seeing how much fa cared for bianca and lnox and his other brethren#it probably would've taken him a lifetime to get over alc no fallout or fallout#in that sense I think fi was right to distance himself if he's not comfortable w that BUT like don't expect to be welcomed again w open arm#idk where I stand here even now I think I wanna reread the episodes about them again before deciding i'm just kinda rambling here#but like bro please just communicate properly instead of dropping the news of your imminent demise to your estranged student#first thing after reuniting in centuries#then there's also me questioning whether fa would've understood even if fi tried to express how he felt anwy#either way fa doesn't owe it to fi to reciprocate how he feels and live up to his expectations#my first read of this felt like i'm judging some randos or acquaintances for their tea and drama aita style
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idiopathicsmile · 7 months
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you know what really grinds my gears?
okay, bear with me: so as you may know, harry houdini and arthur conan doyle were friends, at least for a while.
by the early 1920s, both arthur conan doyle and acd's wife jean, aka lady doyle, believed whole-heartedly in spiritualism, talking to ghosts and all of that. (sidenote: this was of course right on the heels of a devastating world war and a devastating pandemic, both of which had created a huge population of grieving people, so spiritualism was having a moment.)
lady doyle sincerely thought she had the ability to go into a trance state and pass along messages in writing from the dead. she offered to do this for houdini. houdini agreed.
lady doyle attempted to channel houdini's late mother. she basically drew a cross at the top of the paper and filled it with generic platitudes addressed to "harry." houdini's mom was jewish and didn't talk like that, so houdini knew the jig was up, even if lady doyle didn't. but not wanting to make the situation awkward, he kind of went along with it to their faces.
then acd decided to publish a glowing account of the seance, and since both he and houdini were super famous, it got a lot of attention, and letters started pouring in for houdini, asking if this was true. ultimately, houdini couldn't lie about it. so he essentially said, like, "yeah, i think lady doyle THINKS she can talk to ghosts but she absolutely can't." and it ruined his friendship with acd forever.
and then of course a lot of the people running seances weren't even well-intentioned like lady doyle, they were just simple charlatans taking advantage of traumatized people mourning loved ones. in houdini's youth, he and his wife had traveled the carnival circuit where he did an act pretending to commune with spirits, so he knew all the tricks of the trade AND he had lingering guilt over having done this, AND he was infuriated by this increasingly popular wave of con artists so he decided to assemble a team of anti-grifting grifters and together they went on the road exposing whichever spiritualists were preying on the locals.
houdini's best agent was a young woman named rose mackenberg, who donned disguises to visit the fraud de jour and then importantly sussed out what non-supernatural thing was actually happening, and then houdini would demonstrate the techniques onstage to packed audiences.
(if you want to know more, check out episode 175, "ghost racket crusade" of the podcast Criminal or read Tony Wolf's book The Real-Life Ghostbusting Adventures of Rose Mackenberg.)
but yeah, what really gets my goat is that all this happened and as far as i know, we still don't have like four seasons of a Leverage-style historical procedural about rose mackenberg and the rest of the crew having adventures in the 1920s as they unmask craven hucksters all over the united states. (what we do have, apparently, is one season of a show called "houdini and doyle" which is about the oddball friendship of two contrasting men solving sometimes-actually-supernatural mysteries, and whose premise does i think at the very least a real disservice to houdini's whole quest and also totally erases rose, who is arguably the most interesting part of this story to me.)
i am just steamed about this. steamed.
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ao3commentoftheday · 5 months
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Idk if this is too broad of a scope for this blog, but if you could answer this, it'd be great.
I've been in a writing rut since I started getting serious about writing, and I've identified the issue in the past month or so: I slant heavily on the gardener end of the writing spectrum and all the advice on writing I've ever seen was for architect-style writing. Not once in the eight years I've been serious about writing did I find any guides on gardener-style writing (and if it says it's gardener-style, it'sreally just architect-style with gardner aspects), and my experience has just been more or less jamming a square peg into a circle hole, getting nothing written and feeling bad about it.
Now I'm unlearning all the architect-style habits that are destructive to me as a writer, but I can't find any resources for gardeners aside from Stephen King's On Writing. If you or any of your followers know how to help a gardener's writing, that would be great. I have so many fic ideas I want to write, but can't since I'm learning to write all over again.
For those who don't know what gardener and architect refer to when it comes to writers, a gardener is a writer who starts with the seed of an idea and lets it grow in whatever direction the light shines. They prune it and weed it as they go but otherwise let the idea lead the way. An architect, on the other hand, plans their stories out first and then writes them. They have a structure and the details all mapped out first and then the writing is just executing on that vision.
As a gardener myself, my biggest piece of advice is to avoid writing advice. Like you've said, the majority of it is aimed at people who do things like plan and plot and worldbuild ahead of time. Because of the structure that that writing style enjoys, providing "one size fits most" writing advice works well for it.
I tend to find a lot of that advice to be counter to what I need to do. Planning a story out ahead just makes me feel like it's already written. Building out the world before I start writing it feels like a hollow exercise - more like writing an encyclopedia than developing a land and culture for my characters to inhabit.
What I find useful is taking an episodic approach to writing. The entire story will be like a season of a television show and each chapter is like one episode. I always have my eventual "season finale" end goal in mind, but any particular chapter can meander closer to or further from that goal. It's alright to take a circuitous route, as long as I get to my destination in the end.
It's also alright if my destination changes as I'm writing. Sometimes those meandering paths take me in a more interesting direction than I was originally going down, and that shifts the story. As long as you're vaguely following a three-act structure (or 5 act or 7 act), the flow of it will feel familiar to your readers and they probably won't really notice it happening.
This advice I'm giving might not ring true to you either. You didn't have a specific problem to address, so I've been wandering a bit in my reply. Really what it comes down to is paying attention to yourself and your needs. Figure out what it is that keeps you writing and what it is that makes you stop. Do more of the former and less of the latter - and don't worry if what you're doing is "weird" to someone else.
I write directly into the AO3 window (which AO3 specifically tells you NOT to do, btw) because drafting first in google docs or something takes the fun out of it for me. I post my chapters without previewing them first. I write in 800 to 1500 word sprints, and I focus on dialogue, and I almost always try to end on a joke or a pun or a cliffhanger. These are all things that make writing an activity that I want to do.
I can't really say anything much more specific given your ask, but I hope something in here was helpful. Let's see if any gardeners out there have some resources or advice that might work for you.
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phantomarine · 9 months
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Clam's Quick Tips for Starting Your Very First Webcomic
Howdy! Here are the three bits of advice I tend to give people who ask me about getting into webcomic-making. Maybe they can help you jump into the fray with a little less fear.
1) Make Your First Chapter a Pilot Episode
You will be told by webcomic veterans to start with a short, simple comic idea first - which is wise - but if all you can think about is your big magnum opus, then you might as well hop in, right? Otherwise you'll just be glancing back at the other cooler project forever.
But if you can't start with a small simple story, start on a small, simple part of that larger story. Your first chapter should be a snapshot of the main conflict - show us a simple scene with few characters, ease us in slowly, keep things clear and focus on emotion/impact/clarity. Get the audience to care by offering something easily digested, but full of promise.
Once you're done with that 'pilot' chapter, and you're feeling more comfortable with the whole comic process, you can open the gates and show us the larger world. At that point, you'll be way more ready.
2) Simplify Your Art Style For Your Own Sanity
Always try to make your webcomic's art style as simple as possible - the standard rule is to use only 75% of your artistic skill for every comic page you make. Otherwise you will burn out quickly and terribly.
But you also need to be PROUD of your art style. If you're really feeling itchy, add a couple bells and whistles to your style so you can look at the finished page and say "Yeah, looks cool." You'll find the right balance the more you draw.
Also, don't be afraid to change your art style as you go along. Ultimate consistency is often impossible in webcomics anyway - so embrace your desire to try new things, streamline your work, whatever you feel needs to happen to be happiest. Sometimes the coolest part of reading a webcomic is noticing that style change - so don't hesitate to embrace it!
3) Resist the Reboot! RESIST!
The curse/blessing of drawing the same things over and over is that you'll inevitably get better at drawing those things. The trouble comes when you look back at old stuff and start thinking "Damn, I could draw that way better now."
You must recognize that this feeling never goes away. Not after a hundred pages. Not after three hundred. Not after a thousand.
I think everyone should be allowed one soft reboot for their first webcomic. Redraw some panels that bother you. Change up some dialogue if it doesn't make sense with your new story ideas. Do maintenance, basically. One of the beauties of webcomics is that they can be easily edited, without reprinting a whole book or remaking a whole game.
But if the ultimate purpose of a webcomic is to tell a story, then constant reboots will just be retelling the same story - slightly better each time, but the same at its core. We've heard it before. Most audiences would rather you save your strength and just keep going, rather than circling back year after year and going "Wait wait wait! I'll do it better this time."
Reboot early, not often, and only when you absolutely must! You're a storyteller, and you're constantly getting better at telling your story. Don't be ashamed of it - look back how much ground you've covered, and keep walking!
---
That's a good start. Happy webcomicking - don't be afraid to jump in, but be prepared to learn a lot very quickly. And if this advice doesn't work for you or adhere to how you did it, that's absolutely fine - webcomics are diverse by nature, and so are their creation processes. Feel out what works best for you, and good luck!
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partycatty · 3 months
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Johnny cage and mayB some others being mind numbingly in love
Like they talk to reader and everytime just feel so stupid afterwards because theyre so in love and do stupid shit to impress
i love stupid men anon this works so well for me
johnny, raiden, kung lao, syzoth > stupid in love
warnings: big stupid hot sexy men (what else is new?), bojack horseman minor spoiler?? LMFOAMOF
+ bonus surprise character at the very end
masterlist
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johnny >
• have you guys LMAO have you guys seen the. DLGHSDKJ the episode of bojack horseman where bojack gives diane the D in from the hollywood sign?? johnny is SO extra like that and for WHAT.
• OR YOU GUYS KNOW WHEN TODDLERS LIKE REALLY WANT TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING AND THEY JUST KEEP SAYING "LOOKIT" LMFAFOIFMOA
• "reader, reader are you watching - reader, reader watch -" as he's like about to absolutely FUCK UP a nerds rope or some stupid shit
• okay i'll be fr. johnny is by far the most concerningly extra of the entire group. he will put himself in stupid danger just to impress you.
• "watch me take on all these guys at once!" he'll call out to you during your time at the academy, surrounded by a dozen monks. he's in a sling and bandages the next day.
• "kenshi, i bet you sento that i can jump from the roof like bi-han did!" BAM.
• he'd randomly give you expensive gifts out of absolutely nowhere. or he'd give his one of many glasses away to you because he "has no use for them" or they're "out of style" (he's lying, he just wants to see you wear something that's his).
• oh? you briefly mention you're a tad chilly during training? oh no, johnny's top fell off, i guess he has to give it to you now. you know, to stay warm. oh, you don't want his top? okay, here's a comically fluffy, expensive coat! and it just so happens to be your size...!
• lowkey i headcanon johnny as, despite being an actor, pretty blushy if someone matches his energy or really gets under his skin. you'll pass by him with a witty comment about his fighting style, or even just to tell him he cleaned up nice after getting his ass kicked by raiden. johnny just stands there with steam spitting from his red ears, hand on his chest as he fights a stupid grin.
• he is down ASTRONOMICALLY. not even the elder gods can stop this man from being so drunk in love when you're around. he makes it everyone's problem.
raiden >
• we see how flustered he gets when he's called out by kitana. he's a grown man with dick and balls but he's also flustered very easily! he'll be decently vocal about his affection for you, but then word trickles down to your ear, at which point it's so over for him.
• walks into walls when he's so entranced by you training. like face first into a wall, his hat fluttering to the ground. kung lao loses it.
• he can't even hear what you're saying when you speak to him, it sounds like an angel muffled by the clouds of heaven. raiden's also not the greatest with his powers granted by the amulet. if you go in to touch his arm playfully, a jolt of electricity pricks your palm and you yelp. raiden can only sputter apologies as he bows down, his cheeks tinted.
• he's the type to do little favors for you, ones you barely notice. your spot at the table is tidied, the training dummy is prepped for your fighting style, or he's the first one to bring you something if you forget it. that, and tiny favors to butter you up to him.
• "reader, you said you were nauseous last training. i prepared you some tea," he'd slide the small cup over to you, fighting a goofy smile. he rehearsed his script a few times, so he sounded more static than intended.
• will ask you questions about training or the weather just to hear your voice. he couldn't even recall what you were saying, he just loved the way your lips moved.
• kung lao pokes at him for this often, nudging him or making comments about you being his partner when you're not. raiden will stomp on his foot to keep him from talking about his infatuation if you're around. as if you don't already know.
kung lao >
• he's totally the bouncing on his heels type of man. he'll stare at you with a stupid grin, like a kid in a candy store.
• "was there something you needed, kung lao?" you'd ask as you tended to your own duties, organizing various equipment into baskets.
• "ah, no, not at all," he'd wave you off with a grin. "just enjoying... the view."
• you cringe at his words, chuckling to yourself as he speaks you in a daze. his mouth runs off before his brain can stop it from happening, so his biggest downfall with his crush is yapping. he'll sit there and explain his family history to you, or how much he hated farming cabbage, or his favorite meal at madam bo's just to keep you around long enough.
• kung lao always has this desire to keep you close by, so he continuously does stupid shit to keep you by his side. including but not limited to accidentally slicing his hands on his hat, one that he swore was a genius idea. in concept, probably.
• he wants to impress you so bad. SO BAD. anything he does is deserving of a bragging right if he's the one to do it. lao would totally try to shrug it off so you could gas him up more. any compliment, forced or not, was music to his ears.
• "yeah, i totally beat raiden," he'll check his nails nonchalantly as he leans against the wall, telling you the story of the cabbage competition for dinner against his best friend. "really swept him."
• "that's just not true," raiden would try to interject when he heard lao's version of the story. kung lao just holds eye contact with you, grinning, as he shoves raiden aside by his face.
syzoth >
• im sorry IM SORRY BUT I JUST LOVE THE HC THAT HIS TAIL WAGS I KNOW THATS NOT HOW THAT WORKS JUST- JUST BEAR WITH ME.
• you hear thumping when you're around, though you're never able to find out where it's coming from, so you chalk it up to the monks landing blows against the wooden dummies.
• but the sound lingers when you're at dinner. the table is... rattling.
• you look up to see if anyone else notices or if you were hit too hard during training. but, you see everyone staring past you. just down the table, syzoth is sitting with a pile of bugs on his plate, his tail thumping in and out of view.
• "syzoth," kenshi will gently say, leaning into his ear to whisper something. syzoth flushes a green tint and tries to resume to his meal, the bugs scurrying out of his chopsticks as he struggles to keep it together.
• out of respect for his dignity, you hold your tongue at his obvious affection. syzoth tries to keep it under wraps but he can't help it when you're just so cute!
• he'll stand close by you, inching closer and closer until you notice. he'll slip you little trinkets and flora with a small smile. anything from a rock that matches the shades of your eye, to a flower he picked by the gardens, to a stick. a nice stick, to be fair! you wonder if this is zaterran courtship.
• "it reminded me of you," he'd lean into your ear. your bedside table is decorated with various... outside decor.
BONUS! kitana >
• kitana knew she couldn't get entangled with the umgadi after seeing how risky mileena is with tanya, but my god were you breathtaking.
• you would often accompany her in the carriages as she waved to her people, eyes transfixed on her. you're devoted to her protection. it is your god-given duty. your eye contact was too much at times, and kitana would often catch herself staring at you, her hand suspended in the air. she'd forget to wave.
• "is everything alright, my princess?" you would ask innocently, in a low tone to avoid raising suspicion. kitana's mind short circuits when you call her... yours. even if you're referring to the umgadi's worship. she shakes her head and clears her throat, pulling her mask up higher to conceal her blush.
• if she were to give speeches on her mother's behalf or otherwise, she'd find herself forgetting what the rehearsed, or hell, struggling to rehearse. you were the one she'd come to for help with speeches, yet you made things ten times harder when you'd lean in to listen to her better. it makes her mind absolutely numb.
• "and you tell me to steer away from the umgadi," mileena would rasp into her ear as the sister sat on their thrones, you positioned by her side and eyes forward. "it seems you picked a favorite, sister."
• "i'm not the only guilty one," she'd hiss back to her sister, nodding at tanya. "it won't get in the way of duties, as long as mother doesn't know."
• you'd fight to netherrealm and back for your princess. as you fight off intruders or threats, kitana forgets to escape, instead transfixed on the way your muscles would contract and flex with each blow.
• she wants to be the one to care for your wounds. the power imbalance means nothing to her, you're her equal.
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Can you give examples of Aang showing Empathy? Oh wait, you can't.
Actually, I can - because unlike you, I base my opinion of the characters on the actual stuff that happened in the story, not the bad faith takes dumb people on the internet come up with.
Zuko literally only survived past book 1 because Aang was the ONLY person amongst the heroes that gave a single fuck about his well-being. Aang offered to be FRIENDS with him as early as episode 13, even though this dude is trying to kidnap him.
In the first damn episode we see him realize and try to remedy Katara's struggle with no longer being able to act like a kid and have fun. He wants to travel with her so SHE gets to learn waterbending. He willingly lets Zuko take him into his ship because he understood that a conflict could lead to the people of the water tribe getting hurt or killed.
In Warriors of Kyoshi he apologizes to Katara for letting all the praise and admiration go to this head. He makes sure to put out the fires Zuko and his crew started in Suki's village.
He tries to help remedy the Hei-Bai situation, even though he is unsure of himself and even scared, because he knows he is the only one that has any chance of helping - and the thing that allows him to connect with Hei-Bai is the fact that he is ALSO upset about the destruction the Fire Nation has caused AND hopeful that the world would eventually heal.
He thinks Jet is awesome because he wants to help people that are being oppressed by the Fire Nation - and then is horrified when he finds out his intension is to "free" them by killing everyone
He wants to help the two rival groups not only safely cross the Great Divide, but also stop hating each other.
He confesses that he hid the map to Hakoda because Bato, Katara and Sokka are showing how much they appreciate and trust him and he feels unworthy of it after what he did because he knows it'd hurt him if the roles were reversed.
He is so devastated by the fact that he ACCIDENTALLY hurt Katara that he swears to never firebend again. He is also able to recognize the same principle behind his mistake in Zhao's fighting style, allowing him to win the battle against the bastard.
He accepts the fact that the Northern Air Temple is now occupied by people who not only don't belong to his culture but also don't understand it and unknowingly destroyed something sacred to him (and that one of them had been forced to make weapons for the Fire Nation) because these people have nowhere else to go and he doesn't want them to suffer.
He is furious at Pakku for refusing to teach Katara waterbending, because he knows how much it'd mean to her and how unfair it is that she can't learn it just because of her gender.
He is so devastated by the death of the Moon Spirit that the Ocean Spirit latches onto him to avenge it and save the day - and the leve of destruction it causes haunts Aang, even though the violence was against his enemies. And still, he tries to go into the Avatar state again because people are dying and he can't accept that.
After the fall of Omashu, he wants to rescue Bumi, not because he needs a teacher, but because they're friends.
He felt empathy for Toph when she was explaining to her parents how lonely and unappriacted their over-protection made her feel.
He and Katara both feel bad for snapping at Toph during "The Chase" and wanted to apologize for not understanding that being part of a group was a radical change to her, even though she had refused to even try. He also didn't have a problem with fighting alongside Zuko and Iroh against Azula, AND he looked concerned when Iroh was injured.
After Katara comments on the fact he called Toph Sifu but not her, he calls her Sifu while bowing, to show that he respects her both as his master and friend.
The hopelessness and downright depression he was feeling after Appa was stolen only starts healing because he saw a couple being happy with their newborn baby - the same couple he decided to help cross the Serpent's Pass, even though he and his friends had just been allowed to take a much safer route to Ba Sing Se.
His understanding and sympathy towards Jet, even after everything the guy did, was so strong that it freed him from literal brainwashing.
He doesn't want to push his love for Katara aside to gain power because he cares about her too much - and then does it anyway because, even though not making her his main focus 24/7 offers the risk of her being hurt, him neglecting his mission guarantees she'll get hurt.
He is devastated to learn that the world thinks he is dead because he knows he was everyone's last hope - and yet in the end he still accepts the burden of failure because he understood that, at that moment, everyone would be safer if no one else knew he was still alive.
He goes to a Fire Nation school and bonds with the kids, wanting to give them a taste of freedom and joy, as well as trying to understand what the war is like from their perspective. The same episode also has him pull Katara for a dance because he noticed she was feeling left out.
The boy felt empathy for, and understood the mistakes of, both Ruko and Sozin. SOZIN. Aang could see the humanity in the monster that is responsible for him losing his entire culture and everyone he loved.
When Zuko spoke about wanting to control his impulses so he wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone, Aang explicitly connected with that struggle and saw them being teacher and student as fate, and Zuko agreed because that's how deep their connection was.
Aang is not happy about Katara wanting to murder a man, but he still lets her take Appa on her mission and is not disapproving when she ultimately spares the guy but does not forgive him and makes it clear she never will.
He feels empathy for freaking Ozai, to the point that refuses to kill the guy - even as he has the balls to say that Aang's family, his people, deserved to die. He spared that guy - but only after he had a way to do that without it meaning the death of more innocents. Aang, the pacifist, was going to turn his back on everything he believed in just to avoid more human suffering.
So yeah, miss me with your bullshit and don't come back until your brain is developed enough to understand a cartoon aimed at kindergarterners.
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starry-bi-sky · 9 months
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This is very inspired by @minnesota-fats post about Danny being Bruce Wayne's clone (which has been rotting in my brain for two days) but an au where danny isn't just Bruce Wayne's clone, but also not fully a ghost.
both ideas can be used separately honestly, the idea just came to me while thinking about the bruce wayne clone idea, and a lot of this idea is just "danny without his ghost powers. i might probably make a part two that delves into him being bruce wayne's clone.
Hear me out.
A Danny Fenton who has the ghost sense and the fangs and the pointed ears and the scary eyes and an increase ecto-essence, but does not have the ability to "go ghost". His accident occurred when he pressed the "on" button on the outside of the portal, and the button electrocuted him due to faulty wiring. He ends up miraculously surviving but not without some new additional abilities (and electricity-based trauma).
Since Danny no longer has a built-in alter ego with the invert wardrobe to match, he doesn't see the point to take ghosts back to the ghost zone. What the hell can he do anyways? All he has is a cosmetic add-in, a lower body-temperature with an impressive ability to hold his breath longer than a human realistically should, and a built-in ghost detector. Not very helpful if you ask him.
That is, up until he goes into the lab after his parents catch a relatively harmless ghost and sees them vivisecting it. He's horrified. He thought his parents were using hyperbole when he said they'd tear them apart molecule by molecule.
(Granted, he also believed that ghosts were unfeeling up until he saw this random ghost being absolutely terrified for its existence on the table.)
After an argument over his parents harming the ghost, Danny goes back up to his room and refuses to leave, not even for dinner. Later that night after his parents went to sleep, Danny steels his resolve and sneaks back down into the lab and releases the ghost back into the ghost zone.
This happens a handful of times, until, finally, frustrated, Danny tells the latest captured ghost to tell anyone inside that if they even think about coming through, he'll capture them and bring them back to the zone himself. It's for their own safety.
The ghost agrees, and goes back inside. Danny steals a "failed" thermos from his parents' stash of weapons. The next time that a ghost shows up, its the lunch lady from episode one. Danny manages to defeat her without being seen, but knows that if there's gonna be consistent daytime ghost attacks then he can't base his luck around fighting without witnesses.
So he fashions himself with a makeshift outfit. This really only consists of an old, nondescript hoodie and a plain black face mask. Its the best thing he can do at short notice, however. Later, for his nighttime ghost fighting, his outfit is only slightly better.
He considered using one of his parents' lab suits. But white sticks out at night and the material doesn't protect you from road burn. His outfit is pretty homemade, with knee and elbow pads under his clothes and multiple layers. A long sleeve shirt over a hoodie over a black denim vest he found on sale. He later on manages to make brass knuckles ghost-proof and manages to stitch them into his gloves. (he gets very good at sewing).
His favorite part of the entire outfit, is a Casey Jones-style full-face mask he found while thrifting. It allows him better breathability than the face mask he was using (calling Rule Of Cool law here), and he can use his scary eyes to make him look more intimidating. His gloves, his mask, and his thermos are the things he carries around with him constantly, and, later on, wears baggier clothing to hide the fact that he's wearing knee and elbow gear under his clothes.
Did I mention he has long hair? Danny has long hair (because GNC danny ftw, it goes past his shoulders) that he braids back. it's a bit sloppy but it keeps his hair out of his face well enough. He takes the fenton creep stick with him.
(He and Bruce have, ultimately, a more lean build than a bulky one. It helped Bruce with his Brucie Wayne persona big time when he had to look like a pretty skinny boy, he uses body language, optical illusion, and body armor to make himself look bulkier as batman)
He still goes by the name Phantom. He still has a bitter rivalry with his parents, who have no idea that its him. They think he's probably some other ghost with beef with the other ghosts (he still triggers their ghost sensors), and still want to capture him.
He doesn't talk around the living. He doesn't have any fancy voice changer and dropping his voice hurts and ultimately, he just uses ASL if he ever has to talk in front of people. The ghosts know his voice at night, but not during the day.
He hardly talks to the living. He avoids them like the plague actually. When he defeats a ghost and there's an audience, he barely sticks around to have a nice friendly chat. He tries to get away as soon as possible. He's paranoid over people finding out who he is. He doesn't have that ghost form to fall back on here.
Oh god this is getting so long, so i'll post another part soon.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 4.5 (Dani interlude) Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 7.5 (Dan Interlude) Part 8
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amuseoffyre · 6 months
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I can't think of many shows that use both the original orchestrations and the songs with as ruthless and beautiful efficiency as pirates. I know a lot of shows who give it some of the focus, but it has been so solidly consistent across the board for every. frigging. episode of OFMD.
The songs they pick not only tie in perfectly, but the tone, style and mood carries across into the scene. And are even incorporated into the filming of the scene as well, to make sure they get exactly what they want.
The way they used The Chain is quite frankly mind-boggling, knowing that they filmed it with the music playing on the set at a higher speed, so when they slowed it down, they had pinned beat-by-beat every single shot of that scene to exactly the point they wanted in the song. The drumbeats matched up with the British drummers and having Frenchie on his lute knocked flat right as the guitar cuts off. It's just... AAAAAA.
And now we're in S2, they're doing the same brutally perfect scalpel work with the themes from the score for the first season. I've yelled about it before, but I will yell again about these three in particularly coming for my throat:
when Stede shows Ed around the Revenge and shows him all his cool things, there's a jaunty little harpsichord melody playing. That melody came back when Izzy showed Stede how to be a pirate and do cool pirate things
when Izzy crawls away from the crew, the solo cello notes that are part of the Blackbeard theme start playing
when Izzy opens his note from the crew, letting him know he belongs with them, he starts crying to the piece of music that plays over Ed's mum telling him "we're just not those kind of people"
It's such perfect understated parallel story-telling, demonstrating that something similar is happening to the characters without having to say a single word, and I am hoping against hope that we get either "Do You Concur?" or "Be a Lighthouse" back again in the next 3 episodes.
ohhhhhh if we get Ed and Stede doing a fuckery together with Lighthouse over it, I might actually cry. That is far and away my favourite piece on the entire OST because their signature instruments switch and alternate between harmony and melody and it's so perfectly them.
(However, if we get Ends Tonight again, I might bite someone)
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lady-ashfade · 2 months
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The trio
Day 11 of celebration marathon
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Platonic!Trio x reader
-£ ask: Can you do something about how Percy, Annabeth and Grover would be meeting a new mortal friend after the quest? Like Annabeth having her first friend outside camp and maybe having all the awesome kid moments she missed ie sleepovers, movies, school dance... stuff like that. Grover making a friend he isn't trying to protect or save and can just be himself. And Percy making a friend with the confidence he got from knowing he's different but not broken. (I loved tonight's episode and can't wait for season two! I hope your enjoying the books they were my favorite when I was 12) @poemfreak306
-£ Warnings: fluffy friendship, hcs, me just going with what my brain comes up with, I haven’t slept since yesterday.
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It’s funny how you were so excepting of their situation. Of course you were confused but you got over it pretty fast.
you had watched them defeat a monster on your way home from school and hid while they took care of it. You actually thought you were losing your mind.
They were just surprised as you when you went up to them, a normal human. I mean humans could see through the fog before but you were different.
“So…you actually have goat legs?” You point down at Grover as he blushes and nods.
“Awesome.”
You took them to your house and offered them a place to stay for the night, or some meals at first since they didn’t want to stay around you to long.
Annabeth likes to talk about things she feels like she can’t around anyone at camp, like girly things. Maybe you teach her a new hair style? Or show her a new teen magazine with cutes boys, then show her new movies she might like.
(I have a feel for wound either love or hate legacy blonde and you can’t convince me otherwise)
She likes when you gossip about your regular life and the problems you have, she likes to live through you. She also likes to teach you things to if you ask.
Grover is so happy to have you. He doesn’t feel the pressure. Not that it’s a problem with the other two but he likes to chill in your room. He’s a sucker for laying down in your room while you listen to music and play with his hair. Also, teach him videos games and battle him. He likes to visit you all the time to complain or rest up. You are his battery charger.
Also, Grover loves you because you always prepare snacks for him. He eats anything, Tin cans and random things he could find but you take the time to make him something. Makes him feel loved and cared about.
You are a blessing in Percy’s eyes. The other kids made fun of him for his whole like. But here you are, not a care in the world. You do scold him if he gets hurt and about being more careful tho he enjoys that. He had a kinda normal childhood with his mom so he knew a lot of things like you did so it was easy to bond. You got all his references!
Percy likes it when you listen to him rant on about his problems, about how camp is, or how he killed some monster. He enjoys how excited you get when he tells his stories. You call him and the others your hero’s.
Movie nights are always fun with them. Either you and Percy are showing them a movie you watched or you show them something.
If it horror. Grover will be watching intently while eating popcorn unlike what you thought the first time, he likes it. Annabeth is screaming at the tv how they are messing themselves up and somehow ends up rooting for the killer, (she never will admit she yelps at times) and Percy is in the middle. Sometimes his curling up and turning away, or laughing at the screen.
They get to be kids and enjoy a sleepover, eating snacks and throwing them around, laughing so hard they cry, staying up “all night” and then crashing.
Everytime they return to camp they have a new photo of you to hang up. Even as a mortal you are their best friend and they wouldn’t change it any other way.
taglist: @maria699669 @purplerose291 @itzmeme @ravenmedows
-£ this was edited poorly so many mistakes are made because I’m having a hard time keeping my eyes open.
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nunalastor · 29 days
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The official hoof art and the beach art you reblogged has me daydreaming about a beach episode.
Not sure if the Pride Ring has an ocean, but Lucifer has canonically made a wildly popular theme park called Lu Lu World, so maybe he's made some water parks or (artificial) beach resorts too. So maybe after the construction of the new hotel's completed and Alastor's returned to the group, he decides to take his daughter and her new family to one of his water parks for some fun and relaxation after a really harrowing experience.
They get there and everyone's prepared to have fun, Charlie and Vaggie are cooing over how pretty/cute the other looks in their swimsuits, Angel definitely chose something racy and he's playfully flirting with Husk, and Husk carrying the cooler full of beers and rolling his eyes at Angel but has a knowing smile. Cherri Bomb joined in as well and is hyped to go surfing for the first time since she died and offers to teach Niffty who giggling like an embarrassed schoolgirl by the amount of skin on display. Lucifer's excited to show off his waterpark to Charlie and her friends and he closes it to the public for the day so that they can have it all to themselves. They get there and everyone is eager to jump into the water. Everyone except Alastor, who takes a seat in the shade and decides to read while everyone else is playing. He doesn't even take off his Hawaiian shirt.
Angel Dust teases Alastor for being a stick in the mud which just gets him grabbed by an underwater tentacle. Alastor has a laugh at Angel's terrified screams, but doesn't do anything more than scare him. Angel Dust decides he's gonna mess with Alastor in turn, so he gets everyone together and proposes a game; try to get Alastor's shirt off.
No it's not just 'cause he wants to see Alastor shirtless, shut up Husk.
It takes some cajoling, but eventually Angel's able to get everyone on board with the game. Mostly everyone. What follows is a series of Looney Toons style antics involving badly faked accidental tripping, booby traps, and at one point a giant fan. But whether through bad luck or Alastor's preternatural senses, he manages to dodge each and every attempt. Up until the very last moment when Niffty actually does trip for real and covers his shirt in fruit punch. Alastor's annoyed but he doesn't get mad at Niffty. He just goes to the changing room to clean up away from the prying eyes of the weirdos he's found himself in the unfortunate company of.
Lucifer feels kind of bad, realizing they may have crossed a line or three. So after Alastor's been gone a while, he grabs a towel and his spare shirt and follows Alastor to the changing room to offer him a hand.
But when he walks in he's stunned to find Alastor shirtless, running his shirt under the faucet. Nearly every inch of Alastor's torso is covered in horrible, rough looking scars. The moment Alastor notices Lucifer staring at him in the mirror he goes full demon, antlers elongating, bones popping out of place, and roars at Lucifer to get out. Lucifer isn't scared of Alastor exactly, but his heart is pounding nonetheless as he runs out of the changing room.
(No idea if Alastor's scars are still canon - or if they ever were canon - but god I hope they are.)
When Alastor eventually steps out of the changing room, back to his normal form, dressed, slightly damp, Lucifer is waiting outside for him. Lucifer starts to stammer out an awkward apology for barging in when he knew Alastor was changing, but Alastor cuts him off. With a perfectly pleasant smile that is at odds with the icy look in his eyes, he simply says, 'let's keep this bit of unpleasantness to ourselves, shall we?' and leaves to rejoin the group.
Since Alastor's determined to act like nothing happened, Lucifer goes along with it. Still, he can't quite shake the image out of his head.
(I don't think the scars are canon but who gaf about canon tbh.)
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cosmicstarlatte · 1 year
Text
Coconut (Obey Me!)
━━━━━━━━━━ ✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
You got a coconut and need help opening it. You decide to ask your favorite guy. Does he fail or succeed?
»Characters: Demon Bros + Dateables
»Tags: Shitpost, Humor, Mammon's At It Again, Levi Is My Fave
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Lucifer:
"Hand it over."
He's heard of coconuts but never seen one up close
Gently tosses it in his hand for a feel
Hmph this will be easy
ItWasNot.png
Had to pull out the old worst cursed magic he could think of
It didn't work
The many cursed tools in the dungeons also didn't work
Sweating angry mess...how's it not open!?
Angrily chucks it through the wall
It knocked out a poor unsuspecting Levi
"I will get you literally anything else you desire that's not that."
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Mammon:
"Why's it furry?"
"What do ya mean you're s'pose to eat it?"
He didn't understand why you wanted this thing but he wasn't going to let his human down
Got upset that his attempts did nothing, however he hatched an idea
Got a booth at the carnival
"Pay up and test ya strength! How tough are ya!? HEY YOU! YOU'RE NOT A WIMP ARE YA?"
After hundreds of tries from monsters and demons, the coconut finally split open
He brought it back to you (wearing new bling and all)
"The Great Mammon never disappoints! Also...can ya get me more of 'em?"
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Levi:
"Wooaahh a coconut!? I've seen these in so many anime beach episodes!"
The otaku was excited you came to him for help!
He was going to get it open one way or another!
He tried for an hour before sending you off
"I'll come find you when I open it!"
It would be years before he returns
(You lived in the Devildom after the program)
He journeyed through the Devildom in search of knowledge for his quest
He developed surprising friendships, suffered painful losses, but also discovered a new meaning to life
He did eventually find a way to open the coconut
He came back home wizard style
"I bring you that of which you requested"
"Levi no one knew where you went, you were just gone! We were worried!"
"I got your coconut open though! Quest complete!"
He thought the hugs and kisses from you were worth it, the coconut must've meant a lot to you!
I love him so much yall
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Satan:
"A coconut? I've only ever read about them. Bring it here."
Gave it a few curious knocks
This will be easy 2.0
Tried to peel it and saw it did nothing
Tried to karate chop it, still nothing
He chuckled and a black aura surrounded him
I see.
He tried punching it and then clawing at it for a while
There is no god, just nothingness
He lost his shit in demon form
His rampage destroyed a chunk of the house
Coconuts are no longer allowed at the House of Lamentation
Like you can't even say the word coconut
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Asmo:
"What is that?"
He did not want to touch whatever that thing was
He saw the disappointed look in your face and changed his mind
He tried to break it open in half with his bare hands but it was futile
Why is this thing so tough?
He was not having it, he was going to open your precious coconut!
"MAMMON!"
He could only think of one other way
A grumbling Mammon appeared
"Just stand there a second will you?"
He knocked the coconut against his head (HEY!) and the coconut split open!
It did break one of his manicured nails though but he thought the happiness on your face was worth it
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Beel:
"Did you bring more?" (You did)
Was excited to try a human world fruit
Tried to break it in half with his hands
Was surprised when it didn't...but no worries!
He briefly bared his fangs and gave a sharp bite
It made a little opening and he was then able to split it with his hands
He was happy trying something new with you and was excited for future recipes
Yeah...no struggles here ajsjdlgkskdldk
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Belphie:
"Huh? You want me to open that?"
He was surprised but flattered you'd go to him
He wasn't even sure what that thing was
He tried to strangle it but just couldn't get it to open
Then he tried to threaten it
Still didn't work
Was exhausted at this point and thought a well deserved nap was needed
You found him clinging to the coconut like a plushie
You never got it back
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Diavolo:
"Oh what a cute little silly fruit!"
He thought it looked precious!
Of course he would open it for you!
After a few minutes of trying to get the thing open, he was getting flustered
This can't be from the human realm? It's...it's diabolical!
He gave a sad pout and tried a *different* approach
"Please little one, open up will you?" He politely begged the unforgiving fruit
It magically split open and he triumphantly gave you your coconut back!
...Still not sure how that works but it's probably just... a Dia thing LMAO
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Barbatos:
"I would be happy to. Although can you pick it up in say 30 min? I have another task to attend to."
He traveled to the human realm and picked up some chopped coconut and fresh coconut juice for you
He's a demon of many talents
He's also a demon of many secrets
He's never mastered the art of opening human world coconuts but he wasn't going to let you or anyone else know that!
He gave you a beautifully arranged plate and fancy jar
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Simeon:
"I can try."
He knew of coconuts but never touched one
He tried knocking it a few times but it didn't work
He tried to remain calm as he tried a few other methods
Burn it. Burn it Simeon.
No just ignore the voice
After one more attempt he lost his cool
He had quite a colorful vocabulary
Threw dangerous celestial magic spears at the indestructible fruit
Luke freaked out and knocked him out in panic
Luke was quite frightened and didn't trust coconuts after Simeons rage
Simeon hates when they refer to it as The Incident™️
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Solomon:
"Sure! I will handle it."
He's opened a few in his lifetime
He found a way to get it open every time!
He gingerly touched the coconut
So we meet again
He took the coconut and chucked it fiercely against the wall
He smirked at the small shattered pieces
He thought back on the first coconut he ever had the displeasure of meeting...he will never be made a fool again
You decided to buy coconut juice instead
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»Note: Imagine you ask Belphie to open a banana and he just immediately strangles the thing, like is that just how he opens things?? Yep, a new headcanon acquired!
⬦You might also like: Mexican Restaurant︱Waffle House︱Devil-Mart⭐
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autumnsxxangel · 8 months
Text
SandRay are an homage to Wong Kar-Wai's Happy Together and in this essay I will..
...actually explain it because I see people catching his homage's to Western queer media, but not really his shout outs to Eastern queer media.
I assumed there would be allusions to Happy Together when I first saw the trailer, but this last episode centered around Ray really cemented it for me. After all, why would P'Jojo reference all these Western queer shows and not talk about what is probably the most iconic piece of Eastern queer media ever?
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Wong Kar-Wai & Happy Together
For some background information, Wong Kar-Wai is a famous and insanely influential Hong Kong filmmaker. If you're a film nerd, you probably know who he is and recognize his style. If you like film and metas, I would recommend watching some of his stuff because afterwards, you'll realize just how much influence he still has on modern media, especially in Asia. Stylistically, he's known for rich color grading; thematic usage of music; an unending sense of nostalgia, heartbreak, and missed opportunities; and dialogue that mean nothing on the surface because everything meaningful is boiling just under, left unsaid (If you've watched Everything Everywhere, All At Once, the entire actress universe sequence was an homage to Wong Kar-Wai). His actors always do a phenomenal job because so much of what they need to portray can't be communicated through words. It makes sense why SandRay, aka FirstKhao, were chosen to represent Happy Together as they are the strongest actors out of the group.
Happy Together, simply summarized, is about two men, Ho Po-Wing and Lai Yiu-Fai, who are in a very tumultuous relationship. They end up in Argentina because they wanted to visit the waterfall that's on a lamp that they own. They get lost, end up using all their money, and have to figure out a way to get back to Hong Kong. While there, they break up, get back together, and break up again.
The movie was released in 1997 and is still ranked as one of the best queer movies of all time. The two main characters are played by Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung. You might recognize Tony Leung as Simu Liu's dad in Shang-Chi. Leslie Cheung was in Farewell, My Concubine, and was famously a bisexual man with a long term male partner. This is significant because it was virtually unheard of to be out and open at that time (he made his relationship public in 1997 though he had mentioned bisexuality in earlier years), especially in Hong Kong which was, and still is, very homophobic. Leslie received a lot of hate for his sexuality and androgyny. (If you're interested in learning more about Leslie as a queer Asian figure, this is a good video essay that goes over his work and his life).
Sand as Lai Yiu-Fai
Fai's, and in turn Sand's, character can be summed up by one line, "One thing I never told Ho Po-Wing was that I didn't want him to recover so fast. Those were our happiest days."
Both Fai and Sand are very static, straightforward characters. They stay above board for the most part and work a variety of jobs to survive. They have their morals about what is right and wrong, which unfortunately is both of their downfalls.
In Happy Together, Wing breaks up with Fai because he is bored with the relationship. He basically says, "I'm bored being with you. Let's break up. If we happen to meet again, we can try again." Then he leaves Fai stranded on the side of a highway.
Later, he reappears in Fai's life. The first encounter is a fight, much like Sand and Ray's first meeting in the bathroom. The second encounter is because Wing gets beaten up. He goes to Fai because he knows Fai will feel obligated to take care of him and he does. It becomes the beginning of their rekindled relationship.
Similarly, Sand has a strong sense of obligation. There are already metas out there about how Sand has a bit of a hero complex. He sees Ray too drunk to drive and he had to step in. He doesn't just take the keys and order a taxi. No, he takes the keys and drives Ray. Sand sees Ray being all sad and pathetic and he can't stop himself from helping. It makes him feel useful. It makes him feel needed.
Both of these men are caretakers. They show affection by providing care. Sand ends up cooking for Ray just as Fai cooks for Wing even when he's sick. As an added bonus, they both make fried rice.
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Both Sand and Fai are characters that stand completely still. Ray and Wing always know where to find them. Sand can always be found at YOLO and Fai is at his apartment. Because of this, Ray and Wing come and go as they please. They know that Sand and Fai will take them back...until they finally don't.
Ray as Ho Po-Wing
Starting on a base level, both characters are bratty, needy, promiscuous, spoiled, and selfish. But most importantly, they both share a love of fluffy cardigans.
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(I also have a theory they keep putting Ray in wife beaters as an homage to the 90's HK cinema style because otherwise...I just don't understand why, as a rich asshole, he's always in wife beaters. By Thai BL logic, he should be in shirts with too many buttons unbuttoned.)
Wing and Ray are both the ones controlling the pace and direction of the relationship. They come when they need someone to nurture their wounds, both physically and metaphorically. They leave when they're bored or have things they deem more important. They both initiate intimacy and won't take no for an answer.
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Wing does this by first trying to join Fai on the couch and then chasing after him to the bed and begging him to let them sleep together.
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Ray does it by continuously getting Sand to get in the car with him and then using his puppy dog eyes.
They are both also very, very pouty.
Wing's line is "We could start over". He says it every time he comes back after he's the one that ends the relationship. Fai always fights taking him back, but he always does it anyway.
Ray doesn't really have a line yet (unless you count his "na na naa~"s) but he bats his eyelashes and so far Sand has given into him every time. Sand keeps trying to set boundaries, but the moment Ray begs a little bit, Sand crumbles like a house of cards and lets Ray have whatever he wants.
Relationship Parallels
Wong Kar-Wai is known for making movies about star crossed lovers who are meant for each other, but aren't meant to be together.
Like Wing and Fai, Sand and Ray fill in each other's cracks in a way that complements each other. However, because of the nature of the cracks themselves, them complementing each other is exactly what makes the relationship so toxic. One stays and one goes. One takes and one gives. One is steady and one is flighty.
Most of what I wanted to say about the parallels between their relationships is in the character comparison. What I'm more interested in is the future of SandRay's relationship, especially if they continue to parallel Wing and Fai's in Happy Together.
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Obviously, Wing and Fai don't end up together at the end. It wouldn't be a Wong Kar-Wai movie if they did. What is interesting is that Fai's relationship with Wing eventually pushes him into becoming something angry and spiteful. Once Wing heals, Fai knows that he'll become bored and want to leave. In an attempt to get him to stay, he steals and hides Wing's passport which is insane because they are both gay men stuck in a foreign country where they don't speak the language.
Wing, of course, leaves anyway.
There is also a third character, Chang, whom Fai ended up liking. These new feelings are what eventually pushes Fai to leave Argentina and move on from Wing and move on with his life.
The question is, if SandRay follows that same path as Happy Together, what will be the passport that Sand tries to hold over Ray and who will be Sand's Chang?
Stylistic Parallels
Smoking
Making Ray and Sand smoke is definitely an homage to Happy Together with the added bonus of being a metaphor. For the most part, we rarely see characters, especially main characters, smoke in Asian media because smoking is reserved for 'bad' characters.
Cigarettes in Happy Together represent boredom. Fai and Wing smoke at the beginning before they rekindle their relationship because they are just moving through life. Once Fai and Wing get back together, cigarettes stop making an appearance. It isn't until their relationship started deteriorating that we see the men smoking again.
This can also be said about Sand Ray's relationship. They started their 'involvement' with cigarettes. However, the last time we actually see them smoking is in ep 2 right before they hook-up. Since then, we have not seen either of them smoking. This probably means that we'll see one or both of them smoking again when their relationship starts to break down.
(In the preview for ep 5, there is an ashtray in the background on the balcony so let's see if Boston finding out about them is a catalyst for them to start breaking down.)
And of course, there is the added homoeroticism of asking for a light.
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Ray's Opening and Closing Scenes
Ray's episode is really what made me go "I see you P'Jojo".
Ray's episode starts with a shot of him isolated and in emotional pain. The camera is claustrophobically close and it keeps moving around. He has a little voiceover opening. It's calm, it's contemplative, it's a little existential, and it is irrevocably sad. If that is not a Wong Kar-Wai staple, then idk what is. Even the song that starts playing gives me 80s, 90s Cantopop vibes.
Ray talks about how Mew being his emergency contact and the one he goes to. Fai talks about how Wing always comes back to him and says "Let's start over".
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The movie and the episode ends with both of them once again isolated, alone. They've been through an emotional journey and they've technically moved on. But there's always the idea of not being able to fully let go in Wong Kar-Wai's movie. So just like how Fai has physically removed himself from Wing, but not emotionally, has Ray actually fully removed himself from Mew?
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Cinematography
Then there's just a collection of scenes that reminded me very heavily of Happy Together and Wong Kar-Wai's style. I would have added pictures from his other movies for comparison, but Tumblr only lets me put 30 images in a post and I don't want to make a 2nd post.
This scene is specifically from the 1st trailer so I hope they keep it in the show.
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This one I call the inevitability of falling. Both Sand and Fai realize they're fully committed to their decision to take care of Ray and Wing here.
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The end title card
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Actually, all of the end title cards give very Wong Kar-Wai vibes. Look at that saturated, neon color grading. Look at the elongated shots. The intense feeling of isolation.
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I'm assuming we'll get all the characters at one point, but so far it looks like the end credit cards indicate who the narrator of each episode is.
Anyway, that's it for me! Sorry it was so long and rambling. I tried to organize my thoughts but as I was thinking, more thoughts would pop up and I'd get distracted. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
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