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supercantaloupe · 11 months

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The Rent Post™

aka, a lengthy screed on how rent the musical goes about adapting la boheme, where it fails, and what can be done about it

so i’m admittedly a reformed Theater Kid™. and tbh i still very much am a Theater Person, even a Musical Theater Person, i’m just in my 20s now and my taste has shifted away from what’s mainstream on broadway right now and closer to the world of opera. but there absolutely was a time in my early teens when i was Really Into Rent, as many Theater Kids™ were…and there was also a time in my later teens when i thought about it and realized that rent was not only just not my thing, but that there were some significant Problems with it, as its own work and as an adaptation. now, having finally seen boheme for myself, i feel like i’m really in a place to piece together how the two works compare to one another, and why/how i think rent falls short of success (as a piece of theater anyway. obviously rent is not lacking in commercial and popular audience success, for better or worse).

i knew years ago that rent is a direct adaptation of la boheme, but wow, only after seeing the opera did i come to realize just how closely rent follows boheme: in plot beats, in character names, even borrowing a couple of lyrics and musical motifs here and there.

but it also changes things from the original opera -- namely, it adds things -- and i think this is the first place where rent runs into trouble. now i am by no means such a purist that i think no work should ever be adapted unchanged (more on this later...what’s the point of adaptation if not to change things to make the work resonate with a new audience anyway?). however, any and every change made to an existing work in adaptation should be thoughtfully made and motivated, because every single change has an effect on the whole product in some way, and many small changes can add up to create a rather different final product than a creator might realize.

(and this goes both ways, i think -- both in a work where a more flawed source material is adapted into something new and better, and when a superior original work is adapted into a worse new creation.)

definitely some of the changes made in rent while adapting la boheme are due to the change in medium. opera and musicals are both theater, sure, and more similar in many ways to each other than either is to straight play or film perhaps, but it’s still like a spanish speaker and an italian speaker trying to have a conversation with one another. the languages are similar and there might even be a bit of crossover in mutual intelligibility but they are still ultimately two different languages with different grammars and vocabulary. opera in general tends to have slower pacing than book musicals, fewer plot threads of equal importance. that rent is specifically a musical adaptation of la boheme, rather than a true rock opera, demonstrates this well. the mimi/rodolfo relationship is still front and center (americanized of course as mimi and roger), with marcello and musetta close behind (though expanded in rent as more of a love triangle among mark, maureen, and joanne, the latter being an invented character for the musical who i think embodies the original marcello as much as mark does). but rent adds a lot of stage time and focus to a new couple, collins and angel, who are directly lifted from colline and schaunard, who are essentially secondary comic relief characters, whereas collins/angel are arguably as important plot wise to mimi/roger and mark/maureen/joanne.

(and i’m not gonna get into the level of #problematic there is to the depiction of maureen as an overly promiscuous bisexual or discuss why colline and schaunard can’t have been a gay couple the whole time or whatever because. wow i do not care. there are more important things to complain about here c’mon)

first big addition to rent that wasn’t original to boheme is that increased stage presence/focus for collins and angel. it's not inherently a bad addition, and for its time the open depiction of multiple queer romances onstage was still kind of groundbreaking. and yes, rent having a longer runtime than boheme should give it the opportunity to flesh this relationship out more as well as the other two to make sure they all have an equal chance to develop and end in a satisfying way. hell, they don’t even all have to be equal in stage presence/focus/importance to be a positive addition to the show (and how can it be when angel dies halfway through act ii? then again, the character dying doesn’t exactly mean the relationship loses its importance in the plot…) but despite the extra runtime and faster storytelling pace, rent doesn’t actually develop angel and collins all that much, especially not before angel dies. this isn’t an issue with colline and schaunard, of course, cause it’s obvious they’re not important characters in boheme. but collins and angel are arguably more important in rent than even mark/maureen/joanne. and angel dies halfway through act ii…meanwhile, mimi survives the end of rent, when she very pointedly does not in boheme.

and…oh, mimi. she is probably the biggest and most problematic adaptational change in rent as compared to la boheme. on the surface she (and roger/rodolfo) seems the least changed of all the opera’s characters, her name not even undergoing the same americanization treatment as the others. but there are just so many small details that add up and up until she’s a fundamentally different character in rent. i don’t even begrudge the change in occupation: her becoming a stripper/exotic dancer/possible sex worker(?) rather than a seamstress does bring with it some cultural baggage, but i am not personally interested in reading any morality into her choice of occupation, and i choose not to read her line of work as having any implications for her “innocence” or moral value as a character. nor will i read her addiction or disease as being moral qualities either. however: there is a big difference between tuberculosis in the 1840s and both AIDS and drug addiction in the 1980s. neither boheme’s mimi nor rent’s are morally responsible for their illnesses. but there is absolutely nothing mimi could do about her tuberculosis in boheme except die, because it was france in the 1840s and nobody knew what an antibiotic was. in new york in 1989, there were rehab clinics and there were medications for HIV. these things were expensive and hard to access, yes, but rent really goes out of its way to show us that mimi had the resources to access these things -- she is able to afford AZT in act i on her own (and the fact that she’s on AZT is used as shorthand for her HIV+ status, as opposed to other characters about whom we are told outright)...

… and her relationship with benny (the much-expanded counterpart to boheme’s benoit the landlord character) in act ii, who verbally offers to pay for her admittance to a rehab program.

yet the next time we see or hear anything of her, her loving mother is calling to ask where she is as she’s presumably gone missing…

…and then discover she has been living on the street, dying from exposure/disease/addiction.

did she do this willingly? did benny refuse to continue supporting her? we don’t really get an answer to any of this; rent isn’t really concerned with why mimi is in the position she’s in, but is rather entirely preoccupied with staying true to boheme -- up until mimi’s death, anyway. because mimi doesn’t die in rent, she is saved, and says that angel told her to keep on living (as though it were a choice). why? we can only speculate. really, if any character embodies the same “dying tragically in a world too cruel for them to survive” theme as mimi in boheme does, it’s angel. and her death is honestly used as a tool throughout the rest of the show: a purpose for kindness, community, life.

is this a bad “bury your gays” kind of thing? i don’t really know, i’m inclined to believe not. but i do think angel’s death is more thematically akin to mimi’s death in boheme than the actual (near-)death of mimi in rent.

and this is the biggest difference between rent and boheme: boheme is not about hope. boheme is a tragic romance about how important relationships are among people in disadvantaged communities/situations, but it does not say that love will transcend or materially improve those conditions. rent, by contrast, does. rent suggests that the love of partners and community (even if filled with complications and tensions) is lifesaving.

(and i know rent’s stated thesis is “no day but today,” i.e. live and enjoy every day as though it could be your last, but i think thematically all the characters and their interactions overall suggest a theme of community just as if not more strongly, whereas “no day but today” is more limited to the HIV+ characters and has little to do with the mark/maureen/joanne subplot. mimi's outlook on "no day but today" changes when she chooses to stay alive on the urging of angel from the other side.)

now i don’t think this is altogether a bad moral to have in your theater piece. especially in one of the first major pieces of theater centered on marginalized queer characters. i will not deny how important and cathartic it can be, both now and especially thirty years ago when rent premiered, to end on a hopeful note rather than a tragic one. but i have a couple of issues with how rent goes about making this its central theme. for one thing, mimi has frankly too many Things affecting her health in the end for her survival to be realistic, and absolutely nothing up to this point in the show has suggested a setting of magical realism or pseudofantasy; everything has been as grounded in real life as possible, until finale b, when mimi suddenly and near-inexplicably survives. it feels like it comes out of nowhere tonally and thus isn’t very satisfying an ending when put to scrutiny. for another, angel has already died, and angel is, compared to mimi, a much more beloved and uncomplicatedly positive force in their community and relationships. angel’s entire stage presence (while she’s alive and when her character is invoked or referenced after her death) is a positive one: caring for collins when he’s injured, providing food and funds to the group, placating arguments, etc.

and the fact that angel has no concerned parents leaving her voicemails, unlike mark, roger, and mimi, underscores that she has no one else to lean on for support except her community of bohemians. and we’re not given a reason to believe one way or the other about her home life or financial stability outside of today 4 u when she got a sudden windfall for killing a dog (whatever; schaunard did the same thing to the parrot in boheme). in contrast to mimi, roger, and especially mark, who are clearly shown to have family who care about them and want to support them, yet they choose to live in romanticized poverty anyway. mark even gets a good job in filming and still finds a way to complain about it.

really, except for angel (and arguably collins, too), it’s difficult to totally sympathize with the characters in rent and care fully about their plight because they’re just…not depicted as particularly likable people. maureen is an unfaithful and kind of manipulative partner, and her approach to “protest” is really just bad self-absorbed performance art. roger just kind of sucks at songwriting (how is your eyes the song that he’s spent the whole show writing? it’s the worst number in the musical lol), and he’s quick to anger…his decision to leave mimi makes even less sense here than rodolfo’s decision to leave her in boheme, where at least he did so out of genuine concern for her health (also why does he leave mark? rodolfo embraces marcello as a friend still after mimi leaves in boheme...act iii of boheme is the least closely adapted in rent by far.). wheras in rent roger seems to be both genuinely jealous of mimi interacting with other men and upset by her continued drug use. although this last one i don’t begrudge him for, since it’s made clear he’s a recovering addict himself…although it does make mimi’s relationship with him all the worse, considering that mimi’s take on the whole “no day but today” theme is to throw caution to the wind with her actions and not worry about the future at all, and her interacting with roger is directly tempting him back into addiction which he clearly does not want. (and roger’s rejection of her in another day is framed as him being in the wrong with mimi being backed up by the life support chorus…)

while mimi as we’ve seen is reckless and throws her life away even when people try to help her (very very different from boheme’s mimi, who makes no particularly reckless choices, and accepts help when it's offered). and mark is entitled and uses his film as an excuse to disengage with the real world, even exploit it (see: the way he films the life support meeting without permission, or the homeless woman, which is never really confronted elsewhere in the show…)

the inclusion of a homelessness subplot in rent is particularly strange to me. it shows up a lot, especially in act i: the threat of homelessness for the main characters should they not pay their rent or come to some kind of agreement with their landlord; the vague future threat of benny’s “cyberarts studio” getting built which is implied would evict those living in tents on the lot; mimi being found living on the street in the finale; and the chorus/ensemble who show up periodically, as above. homelessness is an ever present element of set dressing/conflict in rent but it’s never really addressed, no points are ever made about it, which is in my opinion kind of wild and very unsatisfying. the above scene especially, considering how direct of a callout it is towards the show’s own characters and writing, yet it is never addressed afterwards, and this conflict is never really resolved.

one could take similar issue with the choice to swap tuberculosis in boheme with AIDS in rent. though in my opinion i think addiction is as much as if not more rent’s analogue to boheme’s TB, since that is a much more acutely seen disease for mimi and only mimi while there are multiple characters (main and chorus) living with HIV…then again, angel is the character who gets the real tragic death analogous to mimi’s in boheme, and angel dies of complications from AIDS, so i suppose it’s open to debate. regardless, there’s a significant contextual difference between TB in the 1840s and HIV and addiction in the 1980s: there was no system, political, social, or medical, that could truly heal someone of tuberculosis in boheme’s setting. but there very much was a medical and social system in place to help people with HIV and addiction in the 1980s; systems which were aggressively denied to those who were suffering by the political system. and for as much as the characters in rent like to sing about revolution, protest, and activism, not a single one actually challenges the powers that be or call out by name those responsible for the systematic denial of healthcare to the marginalized. activism and artistic revolution is hollow and meaningless in rent, they never name a real enemy, just a vague sense of “the man.” but it’s a story set in a real and still recent historical time period, the effects of which we still deal with today (and i’m sure even more acutely so back in 1996); it just feels disrespectful to me to use those crises as such important set dressing for your musical which positions itself as a “fuck the man” revolutionary kind of piece of theater and yet do or say absolutely nothing about the real world issues it is appropriating. for more information i highly recommend checking out lindsay ellis’ video on the topic.

so is all this to say i think rent is an irredeemable, fundamentally broken work? actually, no; i think it has a decent foundation and some solid music. i understand the reasoning behind and appeal of updating an old work to a new time period/setting for a new audience, and i think trading 1840s paris for 1980s nyc is an interesting and workable substitution. but when i look at rent as it is now, i just do not see a finished product.

and i think this is the most frustrating and disappointing thing about rent to me: rent is, quite literally, an unfinished show. its composer and librettist, jonathan larson, died suddenly the day of its first preview performance. and for so many developing (off-)broadway shows, previews are when the actual finished product is crafted, as the show is revised based on audience reactions. of course audience and critical reception to rent from the very beginning was positive, but i can’t help but speculate how much of that is influenced by the mere fact of its creator’s untimely death. and i wonder what changes larson would have made to his show if he had lived, and been able to hear the audience’s reactions, and revise the show accordingly. i wonder if he would have thought it worked. i wonder if he would have seen the same cracks that i see in it. i don’t think rent is inherently unsalvageable, but it is so far unsalvaged.

and frankly i don’t know that it ever will be salvaged; not for many years, at least. not until copyright and licensing in musical theater changes, and not until broadway audiences get more comfortable with the idea of altering beloved and familiar classics (the 2019 revival of oklahoma! was, in my opinion, a work of genius, but i’m well aware my opinion is not universal, and especially during its national tour the show’s entire concept has been extremely controversial). do to rent what bartlett sher and aaron sorkin are doing to camelot right now: keep the heart and soul of the piece intact, but rewrite what doesn’t work. or do something even more drastic, cut subplots and change character traits, i don’t know. maybe mimi should die; maybe it really is important that she survive! maybe rent shouldn’t have been based on boheme at all; hell, what would rent look like if it was based on la traviata instead? (well the answer to this one is “a different show entirely,” most likely, but if you want to write a poignant and tragic love story based on a romantic opera and set in 1980s nyc featuring queer and/or HIV+ characters, well…it could work and i’ll leave it there.) maybe that’s going too far, i don’t know, but the point is, i want to see directors and writers have the freedom to try that stuff out. because i don’t think rent is unsalvageable; i think it’s unfinished.

but rent is far too popular and beloved for anyone to dare touch its libretto with new ink. the memory of jonathan larson is held far too preciously for anyone to allow such debasement of his work. when searching online for libretti to reference when writing this essay, i found one transcribed script with this at its heading:

and i think that about sums it up for me. “may he be friggen worshiped!” him and all his creations, holy and untouchable. it’d be tantamount to theater sacrilege at this point to try and change it. how dare you sully larson’s good name by thinking you could “fix” his masterpiece…the masterpiece no one wants to admit he never got to actually finish. well, i don’t know, maybe it’s me being jewish and sentimental here, but if i have enough respect for a piece of work i want to be able to engage with it and question it and interpret it as i think it best ought to be. (jonathan larson was also jewish. would he agree with me? i don’t know. but i think he’d want to see the best of his work, just like i do.) live theater is inherently participatory and dialectical. and it ought to be alive, not carved into stone. neither immovable nor under threat of utter annihilation should someone come too close with a chisel. rent has potential. la boheme is still as affecting today as it was a hundred thirty years ago (did you know rent premiered almost exactly a hundred years after la boheme?). rent could be the same. and it does have emotionality behind it as it is now, credit where credit’s due. but it could be more than just that. if we could just let someone finish the thing already, even if larson himself couldn’t.

#sasha reviews #rent #<- afraid of putting this in the tag. rent fans please be cool. just scroll past this if you don't wanna see me being critical ;;#la boheme #this took so long to write. please enjoy #tldr; rent isn't irredeemable or unworkable but it is unfinished #i think it ought to either just let itself be closer to boheme (the 'keep it simple stupid' approach)#or let itself stray from that source material more and give each of its subplots the full attention it deserves (and needs)#(and maybe cut one or two of them...)#and be more of its own thing already #i don't know. who knows what would work best? no one does. cause no one's tried it yet. that's the bottom line i guess

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cosmictapestry · 2 months

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“hob as a raven au” what if i told you. that you don’t need to go to these lengths. dismantling every single character’s narrative and motives. to get exactly the dynamic you’re looking for

#do these people even like the story. do you even enjoy sandman. is it even fun for you #i’m barely ever even talking about morphienne i’m literally just talking about the actual canonical story the source material #and that requires acknowledging lucienne’s existence and importance so. impossible i guess #hob gadling

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sporkberries · 3 months

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is DC one of those things that was good at first but gradually turned bad? Or just got really far from the source material? ive never been interested in the comics bc they just look gritty and edgy but the older ones seem fun

this is a tough question to answer because comics don't really work that way, Dc has ALWAYS been bad but is has equally always been good. DC publishes dozens of books at once and it really just boils down to if i like whatever writer is currently writing the book im interested in. despite my current issues with DC I'd actually say things are pretty good right now especially compared to say, a decade ago.

lets look at two ongoing runs right now, Green Arrow and Detective Comics(which i will call 'tec for short). despite the fact i like green arrow as a character more i dont really like his current writer. and then moving over to the current 'tec run though i havent liked past writers i really like the current one, comics are just really fluid like that.

as for dc being more grim dark its both true and untrue, with the release of The Killing Joke in the 80's DC did spearhead a whole dark and edgy era in comics but things arent always that way, i wouldnt even say theyre that way the majority of the time. different writers have different styles and though things definitely happen for shock value sometimes i think frank miller esque grittiness is decidedly out of fashion. there has also always been silly funny comics Justice Leauge International in the 80's Young Justice in the late 90's and many more(id say most runs are dramas with some comedy action and suspense really. good mix)

#if you like any work of fiction there is probably comics out there you'd enjoy its all very uh... broad lol #as for source material ik i didnt answer that well comics are constantly evolving and changing so #delving away isnt always bad #i guess i could explain the n52 which WAS bad but its such a can of worms especially for a non comic fan #basically #all comic fans are destined to love and hate comics

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ratgirlcopia · 2 months

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#there is no common ground connecting them. but i want to see who wins.#since a couple have like. source material recognition but maybe not name recognition.#well. i guess this was the result of me trying to think of women i enjoy who have no musical inclinations.#so technically they Do have common ground.

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dappy-dappernette · 1 year

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Sometimes I wonder if people in the fandom have actually "changed" or if we've just gotten better at hiding our shit behaviour because of what some of y'all say ngl

Sure yeah the canon has it's qualities and while I do have a deep love for it acting as if POC and especially (South)East Asian folks not being too keen on all aspects of it does reek of privilege.

#Hetalia #I get enjoying some parts of canon but there are somethings you shouldn't blissfully ignore or accept #dats just me tho #But what do I know I'm just a stupid brown person who doesn't know how to respect the source material I guess lol

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drop-the-curtain-123 · 1 year

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No but to be honest, one thing that I'm very happy the daddy long legs musical had the courage to do is just owning how petty Jervis is.

You just see these kind of things all over the script of the musical. Magnificent, delightful characterization.

#daddy long legs musical #daddy long legs the musical #jervis pendleton #jerusha Abbott #judy abbott #Meghan McGinnis #paul alexander nolan #john caird #Broadway musical theatre #Paul Gordon #daddy-long-legs #jean Webster #I'm trying to find the most efficient tags 😭#I'm surely going to rb with more if i find other examples. stay tuned there's probably more to jervis flop era.#but to be serious. im really glad they didn't idealize Jervis but also #from what i can see have done their best to make it the lead toxic possible while lining up with the source material. it's not perfect but #it's here i guess. anyway i hope y'all enjoy my attempt at reviving the DLL fandom #im just being a silly person on the internet though i dont take credit of much

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just-spacetrash · 4 months

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😰

#accidentally stumbled upon a GORGEOUS fic for a fandom im not even a part of #i had to google all of their faces fsgdhdh #but its so well written..... and sooooo long.......#but im almost at the end.... im already sad cause like what am i gonna do afterwards......#its so good its so captivating but idk whats captivating me #is it the characters? its an au so idk if id enjoy the source material or other fics of them #maybe other writing by the op? idk idk #mannnn sometimes u just find the gems i guess #my post #the writing style is so perfect for me

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mango-dolphin · 2 years

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wait Ren physically cant hold items past a certain quality??? based on what i read on the wiki i thought that if he holds anything high quality it just gets worse and worse until its value very low or its crumbling in his hands

IIIIIIT'S INCREDIBLY POSSIBLE THAT I MISREAD THE WIKI. what i was thinking of was Ren's bullet under Legendary Heroes in the Curse Series article:

The downsides to these swords are that he can't gather EXP nor would he be able to hold anything worth cash in the wake of utilizing the Curse Series arms Guillotine and Strong Decline.

either way. that also sounds really cool tbh?? part of me likes him not being able to hold certain things because it harkens back to naofumi realizing he couldn't hold weapons outside of the shield, but also him degrading things of a higher quality just by holding it is also pretty cool and feels like you could get more creative with it.

i view ren as someone who cares deeply about image, but particularly his self-image: he seems like someone who wants to be proud of his actions, so he's more capable of self reflection than most of the other heroes. but also, he's a teenager (the youngest out of the legendary heroes, in fact), so coming to terms with more egregious flaws is probably something scary or painful for him.

putting on a cool facade and being a bit of a loner type probably helps him twofold: convince himself of his better character, and keep people away from seeing him as anything but. getting help scary: doing things on your own more efficient, you don't have to worry about getting people hurt and being a bad person by extension. of course i don't think this is like, the Primary Root of his whole deal, but you could definitely interpret it as that. i'll need to rewatch the anime/read the series to see if this particular interpretation holds up to scrutiny.

but i think something like him causing things he holds to rot and crumble does just as good a job at conveying this vulnerability of his—of trusting others with his true self (never having to share himself)—as him being unable to hold things of value at all might demonstrate how his behavior denies him solace and companionship (keep taking, never giving). i could also see both of these curse after-effects working in tandem:

rotting could be from his gluttony series;

and losing access to valuables could be from his greed series.

frankly, it's kind of refreshing to see how Shield Hero applies the Seven Deadly Sins conceptually. the sins tend to be represented in a straightforward way, but the way the Heroes not only encounter these sins but grapple with them has been making me think for a good while on how precisely the Sins are meant to fit into this series.

The Curse Series is described by Naofumi (and/or as the wikia states lmao) as a defense mechanism unlocked by the weapons after undergoing psychological hardship. which implies that it's meant to protect the users... but honestly, with the way the curses have been shown to work (Naofumi's our best example as w/the anime it's the only one we've seen so far & also he unlocks it first), it's less actual protection and more perceived protection by the hero that unlocked it. (naofumi might feel safer never trusting anyone, but he wasn't able to progress in the world—and, more importantly, feel fulfilled and connected to the world—without making connections with the people inside of it.) so it's likely whatever curses they unlock are influenced by the user and their outlook on the world.

which would imply that ren feels obligated to pilfer and hoard in order to protect himself. (please note that i do not mean to use these words interchangeably between the sins. not to oversimplify, but for the sake of my ramblings: greed is taking (thus emphasis on value), gluttony is wasting (thus, rotting.)) so the question keeping me Up At Night is not just what he's taking/collecting, but why he's taking/collecting it.

and the wiki does answer pretty neatly on the face of it: to exact revenge. to have the ability to exact revenge. items. levels. strength, XP, dignity. but, honestly? i think while looking for empowerment when you're wronged is not only understandable but justified, going the extra length to try and prove that the people who wronged you are the weak ones (rather than maybe letting that fact stand for itself ig? or doing self-evaluation first?) can get pretty immature.

ren can't let his insecurities get the better of him: otherwise, his facade will crumble, and he will be forced to look at the mirror and see how weak he is. so he has to cover up that mirror with whatever he can find, and if he amasses enough stuff he will be able to hide it. he will never have to give himself away (something he may be afraid of) nor will he have to give up his facade (something he holds onto).

so uh. not being able to hold things up to obscure this figurative mirror, be it through sheer inability or the means of decay, are pretty fitting.

...i will Also say that honestly i think the best source for any canon info in general would be straight up canon, i am just 1.) poor 2.) too lazy to look it up on free sites rn fkjsfnsejkfNESJ. the wikia in particular won't necessarily give concise, accurate, or truthful information, especially as it's an english wiki for a japanese series. (which reminds me i should probably try looking things up in japanese. and also continue practicing japanese)

all of this is to say: i only watched the anime so i am the least reliable when it comes to canon information OOPS. it is a little curious that i'm trying to make an AU so soon tbh? but honestly making fanwork helps me digest the canon more, as trying to write for the characters/write alterations of the characters forces me to hone in on all the little nuances that make those characters (and their world) tick.

#mango japery #answer #small-spark-of-light #shield hero #theory #analysis #uhhHHHHH I DIDN'T MEAN. TO RAMBLE SO MUCH ABOUT #ren amaki #THIS JUST HAPPENED BY ACCIDENT. PLEASE EXCUSE ME #anyways enjoy my impromptu ren tangent i guess #you were just trying to ask about information and then i was like #''ok GREAT time to talk about why i think greed & gluttony fit ren's sins''#long post #love how i admitted at the end that i barely know stuff about the source material but i spoke w/my whole heart and ass #the fandom life ig.#sorry i keep editing this i just need to add more

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jane-friend · 1 year

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I think that post was a perfect way to word what I always get frustrated with when it comes to a good number of fan interpretations with characters in particular. Complete disregard for canon in favor of whatever identities or troupes the fan wants to see in a character. And for the record, there’s nothing wrong with that! But at a certain point that’s not you liking the character anymore, rather you like the aesthetic or style of that character or find them attractive in some way. And, again, nothing wrong with that, but the second you start insisting that the borrowed aesthetics paired with your interpretations is ACTUALLY how the character is and should be is where it becomes abrasive.

#I dunno this stuff just bothers me a lot for absolutely no rational reason #I guess it’s because it like… is a disservice to the original characterization?#if I enjoy a character but all the content I see is perpetuated worn-out troupes heralded as THE difinitive characterization #and in a way with only the most shallow or threadbare connections to the source material if at all #then yeah its kinda irritating

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theresa-of-liechtenstein · 2 years

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im not kidding though whoever said they liked rivalfic even though they hadn't listened to cabin pressure...... insert the ¿quieres? meme except instead of a blunt im handing you a gdrive file/masterpost link

#like i dont know who u are but im guessing u came from the f1 side of things and are also acquainted with my main bc i link my fics in bio #i tried to adapt stuff from cp into the rivalfic in that its an au #and some of the characters will follow somewhat similar trajectories from the canon #but genuinely even if u are enjoying rivalfic i guarantee u will enjoy the source material so much more #also like i love talking abt cp... it means so much to me like genuinely #ok ok im done now ill transcribe ch 13 🤧#em writes

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theres-whump-in-that-nebula · 11 days

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The numerically-related spell I recited and wrote down incessantly in high school is kicking my ass and also may literally break my bones at some point in the near future.

#So I have this spell… I made it with so much feeling and vibes behind it but couldn’t specify exactly why I felt that way #or what the purpose of the spell was despite knowing every reference and mostly every facet of the symbolism #All I knew was “yes this feels right and I know it will work so I’m going to say it over and over again to make it do whatever I want”#It is related to certain numbers which have followed me everywhere since — You guessed it! — FOUR years ago #when it was TWENTY-TWENTY and I was SIXTEEN #Now it’s APRIL and I am TWENTY and soon it will be APRIL TWENTY-FOURTH TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR #And I woke up really fucking sick on APRIL FOURTH of this year #And I took Japanese for enough years to know “shi” (four) also means “death” and is a very unlucky number over there #but the spell itself is supposed to be good (but in a really really weird way that only I could possibly enjoy)#and the source material on which I based the spell has lots of Japanese elements to it #I think I know how to interpret it here but idk #Oh and also I included this spell and it’s imagery EVERYWHERE (including in all the diaries and sketchbooks my parents destroyed)#Hell I even made my own knot magic on it… also destroyed #You know what happens when you destroy spell-related materials right? They get released. Into the universe.#So idk if this is going to be very good or very bad #But I haven’t said the spell aloud or at all in four years except for one time in my mind #because I’m kind of afraid of it now

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alittlewomble · 4 months

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question what is a womble. is this reference to the band. the show. a joke about those fake australian animals. or just a fun word

please i must know 🙏

It's a reference to the 1969 hit book 'The Wombles', by Elizabeth Beresford; A novel about a group of animals that reside in Wimbledon Common (although they have burrows all over the world) and live by the motto "Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish, which later prompted multiple follow-up books and even a tv show.

I read a lot of The Wombles as a child, having an English father (although I didn't even know there was a tv show until much later) so they were an important part of my development. I also used the word 'womble' as part of my first ever email address so I think it's stuck with me through sentimentality.

They also get their names by flicking through an atlas:

Truly the most creatures ever.

#if you're close to any kids I'd highly recommend checking them out!#it's been a few years since I've gone over the source material so it might be a bit dated #but from what I can remember the books were usually really good at sharing morals that older kids and adults could enjoy as well #sort of like bluey I guess #The Wombles

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abowlofpetuniasandawhale · 2 years

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honestly the worst thing about adhd for me is that a new hobby or hyperfixation is one of the greatest sources of joy, but its always haunted by the knowledge that it won’t last and i don’t get to decide or even know how long. I can’t count on being interested in anything long term.

it feels like theres a clock ticking above my head and i cant see how much longer i get to enjoy something. i can’t start big projects for fear of never finishing them. i have to hold myself back from anything that requires long-term commitments or consistency because i can’t rely on future-me to follow through.*

when i pace myself and try to casually keep up with something after the hyperfixation ends it just isn’t the same, the joy is gone. when i say fuck it and just let myself run, i end up trying to cram years of a hobby into weeks or months. i bite off way more than i can chew, burn out spectacularly, and spend the next month feeling guilty every time i look at the pile of expensive, unused materials that i sat down one day and never picked back up.

Theres a toll that years of it takes on your self-trust, it compromises your ability to make decisions without second guessing the most basic things. “What will I want?” and “what will I like?” aren’t any less opaque at six months from now than six years. I can’t count on what I want. In a way, I can’t count on myself and there’s a grief that comes along with that.

i see so much about dealing with adhd shame, but i dont think i’ve heard more than one person express the grief that comes with losing something you really love, not because it leaves you, but because your body simply decides without your permission to stop loving it.

#*theres a larger digression i want to make about the gulf between the me and future me with adhd and how much it feels like planning a life #for someone else and really hoping the things you love won’t make them miserable #adhd #actually adhd #hyperfixations

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anthurak · 5 months

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Something I absolutely love about the alternate-timeline aspect of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is that it really feels like a logical extrapolation and ‘next-step’ to the genre/trope-subversion and exploration of the original comic.

Remember how the whole idea of Scott Pilgrim the comic is taking a very basic, generic and ‘tropey’ premise; ‘Boy likes girl, boy must defeat girl’s seven evil exes in order to date her’, and uses it as the backdrop and framework to explore, deconstruct and develop its characters.

Like how the biggest conflict at any given point of the comic is never the actual battles with any of the Seven Evil Exes, but rather Scott being forced to confront some major problem with himself or his relationship with Ramona (usually the former). How the true ultimate ‘antagonist’ for both Scott and Ramona isn’t any of the Evil Exes, but rather themselves. Their own long-festering hang-ups and insecurities that they’ve been refusing to confront or acknowledge that have in turn led to them being pretty shitty people over the course of their lives. For as bad as Gideon is, he’s still only a mirror showing all the bad that SCOTT could become.

So with that in mind, it really feels like the anime simply took this idea a step further: What if we took the basic, generic and tropey premise that nonetheless served as the framework for the story and held it together… and broke it.

When the narrative guide and scaffolding that held the original story on a certain course is shattered when the story is just getting started, where does the story go?

It’s actually one of the ways I think Scott Pilgrim Takes Off can be appreciated even if you haven’t read the comic or watched the movie. Even if you aren’t familiar with the story, the first episode makes it pretty easy to guess how this story should play out: Scott meets Ramona, they have their first date, they really hit it off and seem set to become a couple. We’re introduced to what clearly seems to be our ‘Big Bad’ in Gideon and our ‘Starter Villain’ in Matthew. Again, even if you don’t know one thing about Scott Pilgrim, by the time Matthew Patel crashes the party you probably have a pretty good idea how this whole story SHOULD go.

And then Matthew (seemingly) KILLS SCOTT in their first fight!

THEN the second episode ratchets things up even further when all signs point to Scott, our title character, being ACTUALLY DEAD for real. And then Matthew, again the guy who should be the starter villain, goes and beats Gideon Graves, the guy who clearly SHOULD have been the FINAL BOSS of this story!

And then the third episode sees Ramona, the girl previously set-up as the designated love-interest, firmly established as the new PROTAGONIST of the story. With Ramona given both an overarching goal in finding what really happened to Scott, and an ongoing character-arc of meeting and reconciling with each of her ‘evil exes’.

Basically, even if you aren’t familiar with the full specifics of the source material, I feel like Scott Pilgrim Takes Off can still be enjoyed as essentially a show that at first sets up what seems to be a fairly wrote and predictable story before flying COMPLETELY off the rails at the end of its first episode into something quite a bit more unique.

#scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim takes off #spto #scott pilgrim ramblings #ramona flowers #matthew patel #gideon graves #rambling about genre subversion

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daveth-isnt-dead · 3 months

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Tentatively

Summary:

Contains: Fem Reader, Death Mention (but only as much as you would expect given the source material) Word Count: 2,235 Read on AO3

You still feel strange a few hours after leaving the chatroom. Grim, who despite all evidence to the contrary, is actually the Grim Reaper, left pretty abruptly after telling you there is something incredibly wrong with your soul and you are unsure if you should be concerned or offended about the whole thing.

After a disappointing meal of microwaved leftovers and an attempt at enjoying a relaxing bath despite your apartment’s abysmal water temperature, you find yourself laying back on your bed and staring up at the all too uninteresting ceiling as you wait for your hair to dry. The window above your desk is open and the cool breeze is pleasant, but you’re already getting the sense that you will have trouble getting to sleep tonight, despite Grim’s uncharacteristic insistence that you get some rest after today.

There’s something so lonely about these summer nights, lonely enough that you find yourself scrolling through your contacts list, looking for someone ( anyone ) to talk to. Calling your parents this late will only make them worry, and all of your friends from uni have much better sleep schedules than you do and will already be out cold. You toss your phone onto the vacant pillow beside you and let out a sigh, that really only leaves one option.

Hoisting yourself from the bed, you walk over to the desk and grab your laptop. Quickly tapping open the chatroom app and turning off your camera before hitting the call button. You push your lamp and pot-plant out of the way to leave room for the laptop on your bedside table and lay back down as you wait for an answer.

You spend the first seven rings worrying that he won't pick up, by the eighth you are proven wrong.

“I thought I already told you to go to sleep.” He says in lieu of a greeting.

All the lethargic energy in the room suddenly dissipates, and your mouth tugs up in a smile, “Hello to you too”

“I was being serious.”

“Yeah, but you aren’t my boss.” He huffs, “I am your reaper.” “Oh?” You reply, smirking to yourself, “ My reaper, are you? Just mine?” “No! I- I’m just assigned to you. That does not mean-”

You laugh, “Sorry, sorry. I’m just teasing, thank you for picking up, I mean it.” It’s quiet, but you swear that you hear a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the call, “I- well, I just wanted to be certain that you were not suffering any side effects from the soul connection.” He clears his throat, “You…aren’t…are you?”

“I’m having trouble sleeping, but I don’t think I can blame that on you. I suppose I feel a little jittery? But that makes sense given my emotional state right now.” “What is it?” “What’s what?” “Your uh- your emotional state.”

“Oh.” You say, feeling your heart beating a rapid tattoo behind your ribs, “Well, I dunno. I’m a little overwhelmed, I suppose. I really just thought you were an edgy cosplayer, and I mean, you still are but you are also literally the Grim Reaper, so I’m still just dealing with that I guess.”

“That is perfectly normal, then. Though you should have been feeling frightened the moment I contacted you, your reaction was quite delayed.” “Hey! I never said ‘frightened’ I said overwhelmed! That’s a completely different emotion.”

He chuckles, “Unable to stop thinking about me, then?” “That also isn't what I said.” Though, he isn’t entirely wrong, “I’m just worried about how I'm going to focus at work tomorrow when I’ll be spending the whole day looking over my shoulder to make sure some white-haired twink isn't about to commit murder upon me.”

“White-haired what? ” “Twinnnnk~” You reply, “Look it up, I’m sure that will keep you busy for a few hours.” “I hardly need to be kept busy , I have important work to do.” “Like stealing my soul.” “Yours and others, I do not just follow you around all day.” He says dryly, “You are not that important. Also, I will not be murdering you. I am pushing you in the correct direction, one you have stubbornly been avoiding for far too long.” You hum quietly to yourself, reaching out to pat your cat where he sits next to you on the bed, “How was I meant to die anyway? Just out of curiosity, since you seem to know everything about it.” He doesn't answer for some time, and the deafening silence makes you regret even posing the question.

“Do you really want to know?” He finally asks, “Most people never find out, because unlike you they die when they are supposed to.” “Hit me with it, Grimmy.” He groans, “Do not call me that.” then you hear him sigh, deeply, contemplatively, “You were supposed to die of food poisoning.” “Oh.” You reply, feeling your heart sink a little, “Damn, that sucks. That’s so…boring”

“Death often is.” “I guess, well, I guess I was hoping that the way I die might be interesting at least. What food would have poisoned me anyway?” “Ham sandwich.” “Yikes. Was the ham poisoned or something?” “No, just expired. On a related note, you do need to clean out your fridge more often.” He’s right. Your fridge is pretty nasty, and it kind of always has been. It’s a very low priority on your list of tasks.

“Grim?”

“Yes?”

You swallow, unsure how to phrase the real question hiding in the recesses of your mind, “could you…I dunno, kill me gently, if it comes to it? I mean, I just-“ you roll over onto your side, making eye contact with the black screen of your laptop, “If I have to die, I don’t want it to hurt.”

There’s silence for a moment, and then he replies, “I don’t want it to hurt you either.”

“That’s…sweet, Thank you.” “Lacking desire to see you suffer does not make me sweet , it makes me considerate .” He sighs irritably, “More importantly, does this mean you’re finally willing to hand over your soul?” You laugh, “ No! I just- I dunno, I had a weird day and I'm feeling kinda existential now.” You look through your window, staring up at the night sky, “Do you feel that way sometimes, or is it just a human thing?”

“I do not see how that’s any of your business.” “C’mon, Grim. Just play along for once, get silly with it.” You hear him huff on the other end of the line, you can picture the exact pouty face he must be making right now, “I have been a reaper as long as I can remember, and will continue to be one for the rest of my life, there is little for me to be existential about.”

“Hm.”

“What?” He says brusquely, “What are you ‘hm-ing’ about?”

“The thought of having one job for the rest of my life is exactly the sort of thing that makes me existential, that’s all.” “Well you don’t have to work at the same job for the rest of your life, so what exactly are you complaining about?” “I mean, the rest of my life might only be a few more days.” You say, “Provided you win our bet of course, which you will not be doing.” “Do not doubt me, Sunshine. You may come to regret it.” You giggle, “Doubtful.” There’s a rustling sound on the other end of the call, you can only assume that he is also lying in bed right now, “I am quite literally death, and I even gave you concrete proof of this fact this evening.” his voice turns quiet, dare you think it, wistful, “Why aren’t you afraid of me?” You shrug, even though he can’t see you, “You aren’t very scary.”

“I am going to take your soul .” “You are going to try and take my soul.” a smile tugs at the corners of your mouth, “And even if you do, you’ve already promised to do it gently .” “I promised not to hurt you, I never said anything about being gentle .”

“I’m sorry, I just don’t see the difference between those two statements.” He groans, and when he speaks again his voice is muffled. You suspect he has his face buried in a pillow, “You are infuriating. When I leave the chatroom for the evening I assume that I am done with you, I was not prepared for you to insist on continuing our conversation well into the night.”

“What, are you tired?” All goes quiet for a moment, and then, “No. Are you?” “Nope.” “Hmph, you should be at this hour, especially after a day of work.”

“I- well, I dunno…”

You don’t want to tell him the truth, that most of your friends have grown up and don’t talk to you anymore, that while you love your family it’s too difficult to find time to travel and see them, that you are incredibly lonely. You are tired, you have to be up at 5:00 to get ready for work tomorrow morning, but the idea of saying goodbye, of hanging up, makes something ache deep inside you. Something inside the very soul he wants to steal.

“You don’t know, what?”

“Huh?” Grim huffs again, “You said, ‘i dunno’ and then stopped talking, which is very out of character for you, by the way.” “Oh? Did you miss me? Were even those brief seconds of silence enough to make you realize how much you love hearing my voice?” “I will hang up.”

“Don’t.” You say before you have time to think better of it, “Please.”

“I-“ he clears his throat, “Only if you can act normally for the rest of our conversation.”

“I’m plenty normal, you’re the weird one.”

“What’s weird, how am I weird?”

You roll onto your back, staring up at the celing, “Oh i dunno, just the whole ‘I am death incarnate! I have come for your soul! I will connect my soul to yours! ’ schtik”

“You know fully well that it is not a…what did you call it? A schtik?” He pronounces the word completely wrong, “Whatever that is, it is not one of those. I am death incarnate, I am here for you soul, and you were literally an active part in the soul connection.”

“Oh, about that soul connection thing, by the way.” He scoffs, “Your ability to change the subject at a whim is still strong as ever i see.”

“I know, I’m very talented- anyway! I wanted to ask if you can do anything cool now that we have a soul link or whatever.” “I have already told you, I cannot control your body. As entertaining as it would be to embarrass you publicly, even my exceptional abilities could not do that”

“Oh kay , how about something easier, then?” You feel the warmth of your cat as he snuggles up against your side and instinctively reach out to pat him, “Read my mind, go on!” “I cannot do that.” “C’mon, Grimmy, give it a go!” You squeeze your eyes shut, “I’m thinking about something real hard right now.” He sighs, “Are you thinking about your cat?” “ Whaaaat? How did you know?!”

“I didn’t know , i guessed. I can’t read your mind, but i am still attuned with your soul.” His voice has turned uncharacteristically soft, he’s almost whispering, “It… flutters …when you are happy, and your cat makes you happy. So I guessed…”

“So you’re a soul reader, then?” You ask, trying to ignore the fact that your stomach also feels oddly fluttery right now.

“That is not a thing. You’re just making things up now.”

“Try again.” You say, your mind unwittingly flooded with thoughts of soft white hair and judgemental red eyes. Of hands you wish were bare, of sharp toothed smiles. Your heart slows to a languid rhythm, and something you aren’t ready to put a name to curls warmly in your belly. You close your eyes, softly this time, and breathe, “What am i thinking about now?”

He goes silent for a long time, you can hear the slow, even draw of his breath. You can picture him laying back on his bed, hair splayed over the pillow, brow creased in concentration and you wonder if he is thinking about you too. After what feels like an age, he finally answers, “your…plant?”

You burst into laughter and any tension in the air shatters, “My plant?! What about my soul was screaming plant just then?”

“Well, I don’t know! It was just happy again, happier, even and I assumed that you were smart enough not to just think about your cat again.”

“Yeah, you got me.” You lie, “it was my cat again.”

“Hells, every single day you find a new way to get under my skin.” He sighs, and despite his earlier statement, his next words come out almost fondly , “You need sleep, mortal.”

“Yeah.” You reply, feeling that ache tug at you again, “I probably do.”

“I will talk to you tomorrow, that is, if you survive until then.”

That gets a laugh out of you, and you can’t tell if that was his intention or if he was being completely serious, “I look forward to it. Remember to murder me nicely, Grim.”

“As nicely as I can, I swear.” You can hear his smile, “Goodnight, Sunshine.”

#a date with death #two and a half studios #casper x reader #a date with death casper #grim reaper x reader

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