#make a version of tri that is more enjoyable to more people lol) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zvezdacito · 1 year

Text

// TWST Book 7 spoilers, thoughts of Malleus's writing as a character

So I was reading some other people's opinions on why some people consider Malleus overrated/annoying, and tbh this makes me really sad. The general consensus is that a lot of people fixate on certain sides and can only see him as one extreme or the other and it results in many ppl thinking a watered down version of his character is how he is in canon.

I feel that its such a shame because he's the most interesting, compelling and well-rounded take on his character archetype I've seen.

From my observation, usually they kinda make this archetype (the broody misunderstood 'everyone fears him like a monster except for one special person') someone you can't take that seriously, because of how his struggle usually kind of written in a way where everyone involved feel less like actual fully fledged original characters and really just one note tropes interacting with other one note tropes.

To elaborate: What i mean when i say this is usually ppl who hate him kind of just do because of plot requires them to and to show how all their haters are "normies" who can't get him because 'he's not like everyone else'. The misunderstood guy still usually has toxic personality issues but the story really tends to make it feel like they don't fear him for that but because they're shallow and have prejudice to ppl like him, so his personality issues are not framed as wrong or character flaws.

I don't think there's anything inherenrly wrong or mediocre with the "one special person who gives him a chance before anyone else" trope like I'm literally a Malleyuu enjoyer lol but like i said its all in the execution cause otherwise it fails to be compelling and believable. Usually in the poorly written version of this trope the guy doesn't undergo any character development other than showing more emotion and kindess to his partner because they melted his ice I guess so it really makes his whole character feel like its revolves around the sake of romance and fanservice.

Malleus doesn't fall into this trap in my opinion because his situation despite how fantastical it is, the way he was written makes it believable as to why everything is the way it is with him, and it also challenges the viewer if they would be able to say they wouldn't fear him too in that situation.

"We're gonna give you this character who everyone sees as a monster and show you deep down he just wants the same love as everyone else, making you contemplate changing judgement on him. He wants to prove this, but his way of going about it always inadvertently harms others."

"You know where hes coming from and if he had that social connection to give him a better understanding of others this wouldn't be happening, but its also equally understandable that the people hes trying to connect with don't deserve this and fear him even more after this, trapping him in a cycle of isolation."

"Given his track record, do you go about giving him a chance or just considering the repeatedly proven danger he brings. With the valid reasons of both parties, can you really say he isn't a monster and demand that 'if only people be near him'?"

There's just such a tragic and thought-provoking dilemma to his character that adds so many layers that makes him so good.

As omniscient viewers we have the benefit of seeing what he's going through form his POV so we can sympathize with him and understand that he thinks what he's doing is the best course of action and he's just trying to create a "win for everyone" situation.

But also everything he does ironically reaffirms everyone's fear and distrust of someone like him. No one can deny he has a tendency to cause further destruction when he tries to do something "good", examples including: past Briar Valley lantern lighting fire, the Halloween 2 ghost world party, and now his Sleeping Curse stunt in Book 7 Part 2 (they really emphasize this by making the spoken name of his UM basically mean "Malicious Fairy" but have its written name used to convey what its meant to mean be "Blessing").

↑ Given this, it honestly makes sense others, especially those who don't know him all that well, would just expect the worst when he's around already, and you wouldn't be able to blame them for that given the track record. It doesn't help that this impression is worsened since he tends to cause misunderstandings due to his lack of familiarity with human social cues.

Alongside the bias and preconceived notions from his status and reputation, they also make a point on how his personality flaws are still also a huge factor in pushing people away, such as not being able to see things through the perspective of others.

He also holds a subconcious belief due to what has been ingrained in him since childhood as a Draconia and the next in line that because he's superior to others at certain things, he has the right and responsibility to decide on what will protect and help them, disregarding the individual values/priorities of human beings and leading him to take reckless and destructive action with good intentions.

His upbringing, character strengths and character flaws are all realistically connected to each other and the way they are subtly shown to be ever-present in defining his decisions, goals and thoughts throughout the whole story. So we don't really need to have a character go out of their way to exposition this to us this word for word just so we can understand and believe it.

Moving onto something slightly more lighthearted, I really also like how dorky Malleus surprisingly was. Other similar characters in the archetype I usually see don't really have any hobbies, interests, or quirks outside of being a broody authority figure, which might've been appealing to some at first but it really just gets stale and boring after a while.

This should be the bare minimum in making a fleshed out and interesting character so maybe i sound like im giving them too much credit for pointing it out😭 But yeah compared to the other examples it's good that Malleus has his Tamagotchi and Gargoyle interests it makes him feel like a believable person who has his own life going on too (with the bonus that these interests are also metaphors for aspects of his character). The gap moe adds an endearing side to him, and makes the gap between his intent and impact of his actions even more tragic. It wouldn't hit the same without this side.

(^ Forgot how the exact quote goes, but it basically said dark stories are more effective when there are moments of genuine happiness and good in them, compared to if it was always just grim and edgy. The former increases the stakes and tragedy because you have something you to care about losing, while for the latter there is nothing for you to care about so nothing the story does really matters. Same logic applies to Malleus)

Overall, it's just like an unfortunate incompatibility of goals and circumstances, which is what TWST is all about. Another thing I want to say is out of all the characters, I feel like Malleus is the one who is the ultimate embodiment of TWST's main themes:

-> How it's not about "hero" vs "villain" just differing circumstances crossing paths and clashing because of how people on either side have their own complex perspective and dreams they want to realize

-> And how connection and finding community is important to find people who will help you make up for what you lack in reaching your goals and to better understand all the factors that caused the situation in the first place.

As if seeing yourself reflected in a mirror, the more you get to know the people around you, you realize in many ways you are actually quite alike, and through understanding others you could also possibly better understand certain aspects of yourself. It's sort of encouraging you to do the opposite of dehumanizing others and yourself, which is something Malleus has most evidently internalized.

So yeah this was so long😭 I had a lot I wanted to say since Malleus is my favorite TWST character. Idk if I missed anything or if i managed to express my thoughts in a cohesive way but yeah. I kinda go into a rage whenever I see the worst takes ever be put out about his character but tbh sometimes I can't completely blame others since fandom trends and the convenience of simplifying things into tropes can warp your perception of a character and what you associate with them.

Also sometimes twst doesn't do a good job with utilizing his character like Book 5 where he got turned into a deus ex machina and Halloween 2 where they killed any hype and intrigue for the plot we had at the beginning through the ending reveal and gave the worst justification ever for Malleus and Lilia's actions ever.

Regardless, I hope more people manage to move past this and appreciate his character for what it really is soon though. He's an amazingly tragic character; a lot of thought was put into how his experiences, strengths and weaknesses would convincingly connect, and he represents something relevant in the story's plot and themes.

The fact that I've seen some people unironically believe that Malleus may just be faking his cluelessness of social cues to hide his "true evil" is evidence to how convincing his character's situation is, that even some in the audience who know more about him than the characters would still end up in the same place of doubt and distrust of Malleus because of what he's capable of.

Aight thank you for reading👍

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst book 7 spoilers #malleus draconia #twst writing analysis ?#diasomnia #i am his number 1 defender #ignore me just putting random photos in between text i tried separating chunks of text to make it more readable lol #twst character analysis ?

508 notes · View notes

accio-victuuri · 7 months

Text

OCTOBER READS 📚

Another productive reading month for me! Manhua/Manhwa binge again and for those who are interested in what titles I tried, then this is the post for you. I don’t know what the next months will bring but I wanna get back to reading novels… we will see how that goes. for now, I just feel thankful that these works are out in the world for people to enjoy ^^

• The Tyrant Prince’s Last Promise ( Chapter 74 ; Ongoing )

Adapted from the novel, “the wife is first” so I see why there are alot of people following the manhua. Jing Shao ( MC ) is a prince who is good at battles and was made to marry a male concubine Han ( ML ). He didn’t treat him well for years but Han stayed by his side even if he was sentenced to death and was accused of so many things. Right before they died, he promised to treat Han better.

So his wish gets granted and he goes back to their wedding night. Then the whole story focuses on their relationship and how Jing Shao pays his dues and tries to be the best husband for Han. He also tries to make different decisions to prevent him from falling from grace like before. This story is just so fluffy and sweet <3 and i love their chibi versions! ☺️☺️☺️ I might read the novel to see where it goes but i have to say it’s a standard trope — and i will never get tired of it.

Guilty Affection ( Chapter 47 ; Ongoing )

Esper/Guide trope but this one is more problematic. LOL. The MC, Han Yoonjae is an undocumented Esper and living his life as a normal person. There is some mystery from his past because you can tell that he is strong but decided to leave his life as an Esper. Then here comes the ML, Cha Minhyung. A popular & strong guide who comes to his life and offers to be his guide and make his life better. These two have a shared past and the story tries to uncover that. Also what will happen to Yoonjae and his power. I really like his power, and I understand why he will be someone that everyone will want to control. The relationship between them is not really the “romance” type but more co-dependence and lots of smut.

Crushing Jade & Catching Pearls Chapter 51 ; Ongoing

This one is very unique, I have never read something with this plot. It is modern era, but the MC/ML both work as apprentices for an old art of sculpting. Tho the ML ( Ding Hanbai ) is much older and is more accomplished in the field. It’s really more of the relationship between the MC & ML and less “romance” so far. I feel like some people will find it boring, but there is something about it that draws me to it. and it doesn’t hurt that the art is pretty. Ding Hanbai starts off as an asshole who bullies the MC Ji Zhenzhu — but then they slowly become closer. The MC who is the goodest boy with puppy energy melts Ding Hanbai’s heart 💕

No arguing with Mr.Mo Chapter 71 ; Ongoing

The trope of Mr. Cold hearted CEO who is actually a simp for the MC is not new and I usually like it — I often root for the MC and hope they get together. But in this one, I find myself liking the ML ( Mr.Mo ) waaaay more than the MC. To the point that I don’t think the MC deserves Mr.Mo at all. I get that Xiao Nuo have some trauma and baggage of his own but his drama over nothing just irritates me. Mr.Mo is straightforward and clear with his intentions, but MC takes advantage of him, willingly or not, is not my cup of tea.

I won’t be continuing on, or if i do, maybe it’s to see Mr. Mo’s panels.

Hard Boiled Love Chapter 93 ; Ongoing

I only finished up until Chapter 40 cause I felt like there is nothing else for me as a reader to see, plot-wise. I could be wrong but maybe I will pick it up again when i’m in the mood. This is popular, and i understand why, the trope is catchy : Rich kid and his Bodyguard, then add BDSM into the mix. Boom! There is just no way that people will not click and read. It is a good read and enjoyable but I wasn’t in the headspace for that type of smut, the interaction of the MC/ML tho are sweet!!!! 💕

What captured me tho is the ML. Hwayoung Yoon. He is a lovable psychopath. He gave off so much Hisoka vibes ( from the anime hunterxhunter if you didn’t know ) and this type of character would do so well if done in live action. How he seems to be this sweet boy that his family dotes on but is secretly a sadistic bastard. I mean, look at him as a kid:

A master manipulator.

The MC too, Gyuwon, is well written. He is an ex mercenary who really wants to be someone’s sub ( in a sense ) but he doesn’t think that will happen because of how he looks. People have expectations of how he should be but lo and behold, he meets the fucked up Hwayoung. 😂😂😂 it’s more light and funny considering the subject — they could make the plot really dark, so i’m glad they didn’t.

Campus Trap Chapter 24; Ongoing

AHHHHHHHHHH! My new favorite. The omegaverse hoe in me is screaming! 🤍 too bad there are only a few chapters out. I honestly want to read the novel which is already completed but i’m still trying to figure out how to navigate korean sites. The plot of the story may seem dramatic to some, because it’s all about the MC (Chaewoo) who is an Omega and trying to make ends meet. He was once this kid who lived a pampered life but things changed and now he is a struggling student. One day, his Uncle, told him about the concept of a reset partner, which is kinda like a surrogate. So a dominant omega like him will be a surrogate to a rich dominant Alpha. He agrees and finds out that the Alpha is someone he goes to school with — Mister popular, Euigeon. It doesn’t help he doesn’t like the guy and Chaewoo is even jealous of his “success” cause he feels like he will be the same way if unfortunate events didn’t happen to him.

I LOVE IT. I LOVE THEM. The campus setting and the two being music students is also a bonus, it’s only beginning to be explored and I wanna see more. They have great chemistry and the way I squealed during the car scene. 😱😱😱 it’s also the type of story where I can’t wait for the ML to fall for the MC. I’m reading about Euigeon being this arrogant bitch to Chaewoo and i’m like— can’t wait to see you fall head over heels and regret your actions. It’s nothing abusive, if anything, I feel like his actions are reasonable cause he doesn’t want to make their relationship complicated. It’s supposed to be a business transaction. I wanna know more about ML too cause i’m sure he has so many issues that caused him to be this way. I have spoiled myself a by reading comments on the novel but i will surely keep an eye out on this till it’s completion.

Miss you, Lucifer 15 chapters ; Completed

A short Manhwa that is full of uwu and love! 🥹🥹🥹

If you want something to lift your mood up then this is the best pick. Honestly! It had everything: romance, comedy, angst and some plot in there even if it’s only 15 chapters. The premise is an “idol” from a boy group that’s not popular x A-list actor pairing. I don’t wanna spoil too much cause it’s better to just dive into it, and like i said, it’s not that long.

Business as Unusual 15 Chapters ; Completed

Another short one that I enjoyed. 💕

Tho i’m not a believer of getting back together with your ex. Lol. That’s the story here. MC/ML were a thing back in college and because of a misunderstanding they “broke up”. Years later, they meet again as office mates and rekindle their romance. I’m happy for the characters because they had a second chance at love and are now at a better place to stay together.

Considering the length of this, there was one scene that really stuck with me. The two are walking on the street late at night and ML is chasing the MC, he wants to talk but the MC won’t listen so he shouts:

“HEY! MY FIRST LOVE KIM MINJUN!” 🗣️🗣️🗣️

It’s so funny considering why it was said, to get someone’s attention — but also so romantic. It is like a scene in a k-drama.

Tied To You 64 Chapters ; Completed

I feel so lucky that I found this title in it’s completion cause i would absolutely go nuts if I had to wait, to find out what’s gonna happen next. As soon as I started, I couldn’t stop and took me 5 hours to finish the whole thing. So worth it. This kind of Manhwa is the reason why I keep reading, hoping that I will find something like this. It’s really something special. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

the synopsis is as follows:

It’s only sleeping together while holding hands, nothing else. That’s what Shin Wooseo tells himself when a red ring that ties a person to their soulmate appears on his finger one day. Once two people get tied by the ring, they cannot fall asleep unless they’re physically together. However, his destined partner isn’t his long-term friend and secret crush, Kang Jiseok, but rather his older brother, Kang Jigeon! And so starts the tragedy of loving one brother but having to share beds with the other. Although, it might not entirely be a tragedy, as Kang Jigeon doesn’t seem so disappointed about being tied to his younger brother’s best friend…

I don’t usually go for love triangle tropes, but this one is not really that kind of love triangle. The strength of this Manhwa is the storytelling. Every panel & interactions served a purpose. As a reader, you are pulled in and can’t help but want to know more. I also appreciated that we can see the perspectives of 3 different people, but moreso on the MC/ML. I liked the concept of “love” that was portrayed too — it’s something that you have to work and fight for. It’s a conscious choice and not all sweet gestures.

Now i wanna spotlight the ML, KANG JIGEON 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 If I was to rank my fave MLs from all the stuff I read, he would easily be in the Top 10. He is manipulative but in the best way because all he does is for Wooseo to pay more attention to him. I have to say that he ultimately sets up the “scene” but most of the time the choice is still with Wooseo. His devotion is very real and his approach to fighting for his love is ( to me personally ) admirable! GO GET YOUR BOY! I’m not even mad at him.

I’ve been wanting to read a character like him, a chaotic good if you will, and that’s probably why this made such an impact on me. It was hilarious seeing the comments of readers in the early chapters being sus about Jigeon and thinking he is gonna be an asshole ML. In the middle, they were confused whether to love or hate him and the schemes. Towards the end, everyone was cheering for Jigeon and applauding him. Lol. I guess he was successful in making the readers fall in love too. ❤️

The King and Me Chapter 36; Ongoing

The story is very unique, atleast to me, cause I haven’t read anything set in Ancient Egypt + Time travel. There is also some heavy plot aside from the romance and every character here is just beautiful and badass!!!! The first few chapters broke my heart. I swear. It was effective in setting up the MC’s quest and why he is so stubborn when he goes back in time. What he is after is so important. 💪🏼

I adore the MC (Zhang Li)!!! He is so smart and determined to find out the truth about his “Rocky” and the tyrant king. His circumstances are not the best, but he tries to adapt and is not some love sick fool. Even if the main reason that he is there is because of love. This story is still in it’s early stages and I feel like it could easily go up to 150++ chapters because of the plot and well, the progression of MC/ML relationship. It’s also a slowburn so if that’s your thing, you would enjoy this.

Manhattan Romance Chapter 40; Ongoing

This reads like the kind of novel set in a specific city, in this case, NY, and two people meet each other and fall in love. Of course there are challenges and issues between the characters and their environment but the central story is their relationship. I think people who will read this would want to be the MC (Hyeon), in a way, all because of how much the ML (Luwan) dotes on him. Hyeon has his own issues and he is a precious bean that is too good for this world! I’m so happy that Luwan is the person who “caught” him and not some toxic shit. Let them live in their penthouse and be happy, Let Hyeon paint more masterpieces and the two of them to travel the world. ❤️

Ordinary life of a Universal Guide Chapter 61; Completed

Because i’m a sucker for esper/guide universe I had to pick it up. There is really nothing “special” with the plot, it’s the usual for the trope. My comments sounds like i hated it or something lol but the truth is — it’s alright. I picked this up after reading really good ones ( tied to you & the king and me ) so this was an in between read. I can’t always be that lucky.

The Third Ending Chapter 67; Completed

OMG how do I even begin to describe this perfection. I’ve been seeing this on other people’s list but for some reason I kept putting it off. Funny how I always manage to “start” reading something really good just before bedtime — which delays the “sleeping” I should be doing 😂😂😂

First of all, I love the art. It reminds me of Omega Complex that was so pretty so that helped a lot. 🫶🏼

Synopsis:

Suh Yoonseul has had life easy—everyone likes him, he’s good at his job, basically everything has always worked out as smooth as butter. However, there’s something that brings all of his good luck down, and it’s the infrequent dreams he has of Kang Joon. Who knew that rejecting a guy once would hang so heavy on your life? To make things worse, after he runs into Joon the dreams keep on coming daily. At his wit’s end, Yoonseul takes some advice from a friend so that he can free himself from this jinx. It’s simple. Make Kang Joon think that he’s a nice person. That can’t be hard, right?

Yoonseul is one of my favorite MCs. He’s a chronic people pleaser and has this perfect facade that he presents to everyone. So when he remembers being mean ( showing his true self ) back in high school to someone who confessed to him — he can’t let it go. It was so fun to see him suffer when it comes to winning Joonie over ( AHHHHHH Joonie is the most precious and can do no wrong!!! ) because tbh his intentions weren’t good. He is selfish. The entire season 1 was such a treat. Seeing their relationship progress and I— I don’t wanna spoil anymore but this could easily be a kdrama. There was that scene in the snow. AHHHHH! I was screaming while reading it! Lol. Season 2 is sweeter and more on fluff, by that time, you’re already so invested on them that you don’t care about any plot. Personally, what I loved about this is their mutual obsession towards each other. I’m a fan of that. I like tropes that are about “fated pairs” or something similar.

Between the Lines Chapter 20 ; ongoing

Not gonna say too much about this and I encourage people to wait for more chapters but it has a solid start. The MC/ML are both likable. Especially the MC. The premise is also hilarious, cause MC is a bl writer who is having a writer’s block and needs an inspiration for his protagonist. Here comes ML, who acts like Mr.Perfect ( but he isn’t ) and inspires him. There is so much more going on here that I feel like will be explored more as the story progresses so i’ll definitely come back to it.

Necromancer Survival 79 chapters ; 2 seasons completed and s3 is TBA

I had no idea what was in store for me when I decided to pick this up. I have a thing for necromancers and this one has the whole “dungeons” concept to it so I was down. But like — this probably ruined every other story for me. In a good way. Now I want a plot-heavy type of story with the romance as a bonus only. All I’ve been reading so are heavy on the romance & relationship, this has that element too but you get really invested with the plot.

Synopsis:

When the weak and unconfident Choi Yikyung first found out that he was a user, he thought he had finally hit the jackpot. In Yikyung’s mind, Necromancy seemed like the ultimate mix of cool and interesting. Back then, he had no idea that the Necromancer class was the weakest of them all! But as Yikyung enters the newly reopened Tower of Spirits in search of enhancement materials, he is sucked into a mysterious area of the dungeon where he encounters a frightening corpse. “Ding!” A quest window pops up, and it says… “You have made a pact with Seo Dawon, a vengeful spirit.” When tackling quests, it doesn’t hurt to have a companion or two, especially if one of them is the spirit of an ultra powerful and handsome young man. After all, “it’s dangerous to go alone”!

Don’t let the art fool you. It’s not some bright and shiny story. I made the mistake of thinking it’s gonna be some g rated adventure story lol It’s literally a necromancer whose goal is to make a master/slave pact with all the members of a dead team. He has to fulfill their wishes and help them get their revenge— which means killing a lot of people. It comes with a price, because every summoning is making him weaker in some aspects. Also no one knows what the true power of a necromancer is so whatever it is he’s doing — they don’t know what will happen to him in the long run. I freakin love the concept and how it’s mixed in with the romance. Is Seo Dawon only attracted to Yikyung because he is his master or are these real feelings? How will this relationship even work when one of them is Dead? A huge bonus too are how likable the other characters are. Especially Jung Garam!!! 🫶🏼

I hope the Manhwa continues cause I wanna see them get that revenge! 💪🏼 I wanna know too if Yikyung’s power will allow him to resurrect people and if so, what’s the payment?

I see lots of comments that say this adaptation does not live up to the novel & source material. Which i get it — a Manhwa will have restrictions, especially on the themes. The novels seems more gruesome and explicit ( not the sexual kind ) which usually has to be toned down for a Manhwa to get a license. Plus from what I can tell, the Novel is like 500 chapters ++ with a concept so niche and is for a specific type of reader. So yeah… I’m not sure if I will pick up the novel. I don’t have that urge yet, tho I am very interested in the censored scenes and if it’s really as dark as people are saying it is. I have a feeling it’s right up my alley. && I read some comments that Yikyung gets more dangerous as the story progresses ( getting corrupted by the summoning and the practice of necromancy ). I’m very curious! 👀

If anyones decided to read this, lemme know what you think. 💕

Black Mirror Chapter 64 ; Completed

This is the perfect spooky + sexy read for the season we’re in right now. From the first page down to the end, I can’t stop reading and wanting to know what happens next. It perfectly captures that eerie feeling, even if there are a lot of explicit scenes, it’s still there. The author really planned this well and the artist perfectly executed it. I don’t explain more because it’s best to go into this blind and experience the story for yourself. Highly recommend ✨✨

====================

See you all next month ^^ & feel free to recommend me some titles! 💕

65 notes · View notes

birdmitosis · 6 months

Note

Keep seeing your analysis-ish posts in the tags and man. I wish I could make coherent posts about this game like that but whenever I try it just comes out like this

misery

also I see you are a voices enjoyer so I am obligated to ask what you think about voice of the contrarian bc he is my fav (he just like me fr we are best friends we are going to go get waffles together)

Aaahhhh, ironically my brain has been MUSH and so I didn't respond to this right away, but it's been giving me fuzzy feelings for days ;-; It is so kind of you to say... My analysis stuff is mostly me rambling and trying to sort out my own thoughts, LOL, so I'm glad it's at all coherent! I constantly feel like I'm in a state of

over this game, at least, so I get it. As for Voice of the Contrarian, I absolutely adore that voice! He's not my top fave but he's easily in my Top 3. I love him so much in The Stranger chapter and especially if you get her first and get any variation of the "Strange Beginnings" endings; I love his development and the quietly positive relationship he develops with Voice of the Hero, with the Stranger, and even in some ways with the Narrator. I love the way he tries to defend the Long Quiet in the "A new and unending dawn, and everyone hates you" endings! I love him in The Razor and The Moment of Clarity paths, I adore him in The Fury chapter... The only chapter he even mildly annoys me in is The Wild, and I think that's just because my first experience with that was the one with Opportunist and Paranoid and there was something so... emotional in that experience, and Contrarian really doesn't want to let you just sit with that emotion. That's not really a bad thing, though, not inherently, and it also says a lot about his character at that point in the game! (Honestly, my one quibble with the game is that since he says in the "Strange Beginnings" version of the endings that he's been at the cabin since you left him there, I honestly wish it became impossible to get any route he appears in if you get the Stranger first. That might be annoying and even a little unfair; I'm sure that in practice I wouldn't like being entirely locked out of The Razor and The Moment of Clarity if I went with The Stranger for my first vessel. But it'd make that part make a bit more sense, right? Then again, if you say to Hero "I thought you died whenever I looked in the mirror," he says:

"I don't think that's wrong, but I'm not sure it's right either. ... There's still a piece of me nestled close to where it all began. I can take you there... I can take you to her heart." Which I... think might imply that while the voices are all broken-off shards of you, they're also in pieces across each chapter you do? Which has some fascinating implications and does make Contrarian's thing work better. He is also still "where it all began," where Hero takes you.) ANYWAY that was some rambling about non-Contrarian things, or at least not strictly Contrarian things. Suffice to say that I really, really love that character; I think that in a situation where the other voices are learning to be individual people especially he could be really supportive and helpful there, because he has possibly the biggest personal arc of any character in the entire game. And I love that for him. (I also ship him hard with Voice of the Hero, and have a bunch of other more minor ships with him, including Contrarian/Hero/Narrator a little? SO YEAH THAT TOO.)

#slay the princess #slay the princess spoilers #voice of the contrarian #voice of the hero

34 notes · View notes

ciel-bell · 1 year

Text

My thoughts on Shinjiro and the changes made in P3P

I wrote this analysis to post on reddit, where I feel like the sentiment towards the changes made to Shinjiro's arc in Persona 3 Portable are more negative. But I thought it was worth posting here as well.

Long post under the cut:

(Major spoilers for Persona 3 up to October 4th.)

The changes that Persona 3 Portable made to Shinjiro and Akihiko’s arcs by allowing you to save Shinjiro from death are understandably controversial. I completely get why people don’t like that change, and think it cheapens the game’s messages of death or ruins Akihiko’s arc. However, I’d like to explain why I think it makes the story work better in other ways.

Persona 3 deals with the acceptance of our inevitable deaths, of course, but the enjoyment of the lives we have is a key part of this. The game tries to depict the dangers of not just accepting, but almost worshipping death through the Nyx cultists that show up later through the game.

Shinjiro’s outlook on life is not as extreme as these characters, but can still be compared to them. I think that he can be best compared to Chidori: both live their lives with the overwhelming knowledge of their imminent deaths, avoiding connection with others because of it. They’ve basically both resigned themselves to living as if they are already dead, with Chidori following Takaya’s orders and not ever considering another way of living; and Shinji not acting or helping SEES until his past regrets are staring him directly in the face, making him feel like there’s absolutely no other choice.

But while Chidori connects with Junpei and manages to feel the joy she’d pushed away, even if it’s only in the last few moments of her life, Shinjiro just… dies. He doesn’t have a moment where his views are questioned or challenged. He doesn’t grow past his passivly-suicidal mindset. His way of “living” is never questioned. He dies as he planned, even saying “this is how it should be” as his last words.

This is probably entirely intentional.

Shinjiro’s death serves as a cautionary tale for Ken on how his life could turn out if he keeps devoting himself single mindedly to hate and revenge, without letting himself live and love others. The resolution Shinji never got in life is transferred onto Ken.

However, I don’t think that this works as well as Shinji reaching that conclusion himself. Ken’s character arc is kinda... abandoned after this point? He comes to the conclusion that he wants to keep living in a way that Shinjiro didn’t get to, and then… that’s it. He’s pushed to the side for the rest of the game. (I feel like the movies fix this, but I want to focus on the games for now.) Ken’s social link in P3P tries to address this by focusing on him deciding what kind of life he wants to live as the next step of deciding that he wants to live. But, uh, the SL takes a turn at rank seven or so, messing with the development it was trying to set up, and cementing it one of the most uncomfortable social links ever lol.

In P3P’s main story Ken gets most of the same development that he gets in the other versions, but Shinjiro gets more character alongside him.

This character, whose every aspect is so intertwined with death and his coming end, from his Persona’s design to his relationships to others to his every line of dialogue, is forced to live. His social link is basically him getting his last will and testament in order. He tries to get the members of SEES to take care of themselves, because he knows no one else will do it when he’s not there. His second to last rank is just him asking Kotone to talk with him as long as possible, so that he can be content with that last happy moment with her before he dies. In his last rank, he asks Kotone to take care of Akihiko in his stead. And at that point, in his eyes, everything is done. He’s done all he can for SEES, for Ken and Aki specifically, and he trusts that Kotone will be fine and will still be happy after he’s gone. He’s even gotten back the watch that he was sure he’d never see again. The game makes this conclusion clear as well: you’re at Rank 10, so there should be nothing more to do. From a pure gameplay perspective, and from Shinji’s perspective, any other time you try to spend with him is a waste. If you try to talk to him after Rank 10, (only possible on 10/2 or 10/3, right before he dies) you get a message saying “It doesn’t seem that your relationship can get any closer than it is… Would you still like to spend time with him?”

His impending death and his acceptance of it are so baked into the narrative that the game itself seems confused that you’d try to keep spending time with him. Shinjiro, of course, repeats this sentiment.

But he spends time with you anyway, whether you do his romance route or not, defying the path that he’s set up for himself. He’s tried to exist in the world without really living in it, basically living through the most elaborate suicide plot in history, but strays for that for a moment because he’s grown to care for Kotone.

But it isn’t enough to change his outlook completely. During the romance scene, he says that “this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.” If you try to hang out with him the next day he basically refuses to talk to you, says that it would be a waste and that you should spend time with the others.

He is still resigned to his death, and acts in much the same way he does in Male MC’s route on 10/4. He still protects Ken, still gets shot, still says “this is how it should be,” a direct contrast to the line from the romance scene, and he… doesn’t die.

The one event in his arc that it seemed so sure everything was moving towards, and it doesn’t happen. He doesn’t die. Kotone’s actions flip everything on its head. The bullet is even blocked by the watch you have to give him before seeing Rank 10, an obvious physical representation of their relationship and how it's beginning to change his outlook.

Is this kind of cheesy? Maybe?

But I think that it’s also meaningful.

After that he basically vanishes from the story other than a couple mentions of him being in a coma for the rest of the story and a missable NPC on 3/3 saying that he got out of the hospital lol. This is kinda underwhelming.

BUT in new game plus there’s a conclusion to all of this! He shows up in the last moments of the game and finally gets to talk to Kotone again. He talks about how he saw Kotone in his dreams the whole time and it gave him the strength to keep going, a reversal of his line in the romance scene lamenting that she’s “all he can think about, day and night.” Then the game ends with him saying this:

“I’m glad I met you.”

This single line encapsulated so much of the game’s themes for me. He’s saying that he’s glad he didn’t die in that moment, that he’s gained a life worth living, that even if having known her brings pain in the future that it was worth it for what little time they got together. He’s learned once and for all that life is worth living.

We get none of that if he dies. Instead, we get a Shinjiro who, while compelling, acts as more of a plot device and a springboard for Akihiko and Ken’s stories than his own character. His original arc captures the inevitability of death, yes, but I feel like it missed the imperative component of the importance of life. So the existence of P3P as an alternate scenario where he is more fleshed out is valuable to me.

I don’t think these themes would have worked as well if the route we saw portrayed in P3P was the only version of the game. The fact that we see the flip side makes this version of Shinji’s arc stand out more. The fact that we’ve seen him die before highlights how fated it was to happen, and the wonderful anomaly that his second chance at life is.

However, while I think that Shinji’s survival improves his own arc, it does lessen the impact of Akihiko’s arc. Akihiko’s resolution was still undeniably meaningful to me as someone who started with FeMC’s route, but the original version of it probably works better. But I think it’s fine that the game trades Aki’s arc for Shinji’s in this way, as the original version of Aki’s arc still exists untouched in the male route. FeMC’s route is a complement, not a replacement. It does some things worse, and other things better in their place.

#persona 3 #persona #shinjiro aragaki #persona 3 portable #kotone shiomi #shinjiham

83 notes · View notes

jojo-schmo · 6 months

Note

Hey, can I see what your other Kirby ships look like?

Hahaha I'm going to be totally real, there really aren't a lot of other Kirby ships I actively think about other than metadede-!! -u-'

I don't know what it is, but that particular ship just happened to scratch an itch in my brain I didn't know I had lol. And I only really started shipping it around a year and a half ago! A King and a knight who have worked together through the ages and both have really interesting and different personalities and likes and dislikes... I have a lot of fun with them! I never thought I'd ever gain the confidence to regularly produce and share ship content on any platform. So I was happily surprised and grateful to find a little corner on the internet here to share my thoughts on them with willing readers haha.

Other than that.... I don't have a strict list of ships I stick to! I feel like I keep saying this kind of thing, but in most cases I get more enjoyment seeing other people's interpretations of ships more than producing them myself! The Kirby universe is rich with characters and a wonderful space to explore character interactions and relationships with each other (platonic or romantic or otherwise!)

I mean, I know everyone interprets Kirby character ages differently which is also cool and all! I just have my own set of established headcanons that I've been slowly cultivating since I got introduced to the series 15 or so years ago.

I personally see characters like Kirby, Bandee, the other Waddle Dees, Ribbon, Adeleine, Gooey, Prince Fluff, Elfilin, etc. as children. They're powerful and brave and very unique from each other, but still kids in my eyes.

And then there's the characters like Dedede, Meta Knight, Queen Ripple, Daroach, Hyness, etc. that are characterized definitively as adults. And other characters like Magolor, Taranza, Susie, the Mage Sisters, etc. that might be interpreted differently by different people, at least from what I have personally seen! (But I see them as adults, personally)

Again this is all my personal opinion haha. I quietly stay away from ships that mix characters from my personal child and adult categories above- (which are not exhaustive lists because this post would be ten million words if I tried to list every single Kirby character, and are my personal characterizations and not me trying to impose my views as the one, canon interpretation!).

OC x Canon is also enjoyable in my book as long as the ages and dynamics are appropriate and consensual for both parties :)

And I don't need or want to make a list of everything I stay away from or anything. I don't feel that strongly about it. I guess my biggest personal example is that if someone ships Metakirby or Dedekirby (or their respective mirror versions), I'm not going to enjoy or support that no matter what their creator's justifications/reasonings for shipping those are. I'm just going to stay away from that ardently.

Anyway, I'm not trying to be controversial or say my opinion is fact either! These are just my personal thoughts and feelings and I curate my internet experience accordingly. My interests change all the time, I just enjoy seeing character interactions and stories written with love and passion!

....If I had to pick another ship that I like thinking about, I guess I'd pick Magoranza. It's fun to think about how they'd interact with each other, and sometimes I like to think of Magolor and Taranza as Garak and Bashir from Star Trek hehehe.

TL;DR: At the time of writing this post I only like creating metadede content for Kirby ships but I quietly enjoy a variety of other people's ships.

#I'm a little nervous to express these opinions tbh #shipping is a really controversial thing sometimes #I just figured I'd answer this since I do produce ship related content #but my opinion doesn't have to matter to you if you don't want it to!!#I'm just leaving this here and moving on #ask #metadede related content #magoranza related content #ships

29 notes · View notes

1moremilgram-enjoyer · 7 months

Note

I'm really glad to ask some (a lot, lol) question~ 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12 for Es 2, 5, 11, 12, 14 for Amane and 3, 5, 6, 19, 20, 21 for Kazui ❤

Yay questions!

CW Cults and indoctrination, child abuse, internalized homophobia

1- Favorite song lyrics?

They don't have a lot to pick from, huh? But from Undercover, it's probably:

The fine line between "Hate" and "OK" Shouldn't you look beyond your EGO, before it all ends?

The first line, to me, really encapsulates how black and white the judgement system in Milgram is, and thus how horrendously inefficient it is. There's very little we can actually do to convey nuance in our voting, it really is a choice of just "you're perfectly okay and have done nothing wrong" or "we hate you and think there is no way you could ever be Forgiven", with only the 50% voting line separating the extremes. Sure, we can try to communicate with the voices in their head, but that's highly unreliable and unpredictable, so in practice "hate or ok" are really our only options. And Es' by extension.

Then the other line, asking to look beyond our own experiences to understand people with lives extremely different from our own, and how we have to do it fast because we don't exactly get unlimited time to come to our conclusions.

Though of course, this isn't just about us. Es is the one singing to themself in a way, and seeing how these things are phrased, it really helps show that despite how Es always act in control and on top of things, they still have their doubts and worry about how their judgement can affect the prisoners.

There's also Hibana, and for Es (and in general) my favorite lyric there is:

I don’t want to love a weak-minded love Come on, make it hurt more properly Going so far it’s no longer funny, is surely much more enjoyable come on, melt me more properly

Going by my personal interpretation of what the hell is going on in this cover, this line really ties together the meaning of Es wanting to make decisions with confidence, when it actually gives them extreme anxiety. Which, I do realize makes no sense when you look at the line by itself but I swear it works in the context of the wider interpretation.

2- Favorite MV moment/frame?

They have like three scenes what am I even supposed to say. Anyways it's probably this one.

It's definitely the most intriguing thing related to Es themselves in my opinion, only really challenged by the time they show up after all the smiles. The reason I'm not using that one is that it's difficult to tell whether or not it actually is Es even though contextually it's the only thing that makes sense.

Anyways about this spotlight scene. I like that Es isn't wearing all their uniform; they're missing the cape, the hat, the 'reciffO nosirP' (Prison Officer) and 'tse mudnatibud subinmo eD' ("Everything must be doubted" in Latin) band things... The point is to show that there is a person under all that, Es is not just the Warden. It's still a heavy part of their person, as they're still wearing most of the outfit, the gloves, and the keychain thing, but it's not all they are. Plus the spotlight and their expression, because again, as much as Es tries to confidently judge others, they themselves can get nervous when confronted, when there's a 'spotlight' placed on them.

Anyways I like it :D

3- Favorite non-MV official illustration?

This question made me realize I really don't know how many non-MV illustrations there are lol. Anyways here's the Tumblr compressed version of the third anniversary artwork.

I just love how this looks, and there's two Es'! That's double the fun! Plus them literally trying to grab at the prisoners' minds like grabbing at sand; it always falls off, Es literally cannot grasp what's going on in all their lives. Love it.

5- Favorite voice drama line/moment?

You'd think it would be difficult to pick considering the guy shows up in literally all the VDs.

It isn't.

[Of Blessedness and Punishment] Amane: You're a child, too! Es: Wrong. I'm fifteen, so I'm an adult in Puerto Rico and Haiti. You're twelve, so you're a child no matter the country. Amane: ...!! Es: Hehe. You look angry. Amane: I don't. Es: You do. Amane: I don't!!

The siblings ever. The fact Es completely made up the fact is even funnier.

For something more serious:

[TASK] Es: What is this shit about being a companion? I exist to judge your sins - as a guard! I don't have the need to shake hands with you! Kotoko: Es? You don't see yourself as the executioner, right? Es: ...!? Kotoko: I've said it before, there are a lot of sinners which the law cannot punish. On the reverse, it is the same, there are also innocent people who are wrongly accused due to unsound laws. You also have the duty to forgive these people, no? Es: Haaah… Kotoko: You are not the executioner who convicts people for their sin. The person who offers to save the murderers who deserve to be forgiven.. It's also you. Es: Aaah.. Mm.. *shallow gasping* Kotoko: Come, Es… then, listen to my sin… Es: *gasp* Prisoner number 10.. Kotoko.. Come..! Sing… your… sins… *sob*

Es angst inject that shit in my soul-

[Imposter Boulevard] Es: It’s a personal dislike of mine. People who act based on their sexual urges like that, that is. Kazui: It’s personal? Es: Yeah. That’s right. Kazui: That’s strange. I did think that, despite being neutral as a Warden, you had some things you dislike, but… Es: … Kazui: Isn’t it unusual to openly reveal a personal dislike as a personal dislike? Es: You’re splitting hairs.

In case it's not obvious, I love when the mask slips a bit and we can tell Es as a person is more than just an extension of the audience. Look! They have personal dislikes! And of course it's Kazui who gets to see a bit of the "real" Es surfacing, because who the hell else would it be?

There's way more of course, but I have to limit myself a bit.

6- Favorite relationships with another character in the prison?

Amane. Again, the siblings ever.

More seriously, it's not just that I love their interactions when they're fucking around, I also love all the parallels and the ideological clashes. The undying devotion to an extremely harmful system. The view of themselves as an extension of a group rather than as an individual ("we? what's we?"). The way they both hate being seen as children, forced to grow up too fast. The way they both try to convince themselves they're happy with their life and condition, to the point it's almost convincing, until you look closer and see the cracks. How Amane hates Es because of what they've done to her, because they're the same as her abusers in her eyes. How Es goes dead silent when Amane brings up their similarities, when usually they'd lash out at the mere idea of the Warden being like a prisoner, because they understand to an extent. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

I also love Es' dynamics with most of the prisoners, but Amane is something else.

7- Favorite relationships with another character if they weren't in Milgram, the way you'd imagine or would like them to be?

Honestly, this one's kinda hard because so much of Es' character is directly linked to Milgram. Imagining them outside the Panopticon in general is sorta difficult.

I think they and Amane could still be besties, but other than that, maybe Yuno? I think she wouldn't feel the need to put up a front next to the "I hate everyone anyways" vibe Es gives off, so they'd be judgmental buddies! Just imagine them doing each other's makeup while shit-talking everyone they can think of. Maybe throw Muu in for extra shit and giggles.

12- What do you wish would be discussed more often about them in the fandom?

I mean, literally anything? Es isn't discussed very often, which I guess makes sense, but it's unfortunate. More specifically, I wish people discussed the more concrete things we know about their personality a bit more. There's plenty of posts speculating on what is going on with them; where they came from, whether or not they're related to the prisoners in some way, what is their connection with the eleventh cell, that kind of stuff. And that's all very fun, I love those posts! But I have never seen an Es character analysis the same way I've seen analyses for practically all other characters (<- also hasn't written a proper analysis of them beyond the Hibana cover post). Still, I do understand why people don't, there's a lot of interesting characters in Milgram!

Amane

2- Favorite MV moment/frame?

This is like asking me to pick a favorite child what do you mean. I love her MVs too much why would you do this to me.

Anyways here's my favorite child moment.

Look at her!!! She's going to fucking destroy her mother let's go girlie fucking kill!

I just love how happy she looks here. Plus the eyes, the eyes. This entire part of the MV is great, it just makes me happy to see Amane happy you know what I mean? Plus the whole rainbow and rain and umbrella symbolism, and the fiction bleeding into reality (the eyes!), it's all awesome. I love her so much, she should smile like this when she stabs Shidou in the stomach I think he'd understand.

5- Favorite voice drama line/moment?

I could be cheap and tell you it's the same as Es', but it's really not.

[Apostle and Death] Amane: Okay! I’m kind, so I shall forgive you. That’s nice, isn’t it? If my parents were in my place, you would have been lectured for another hour. [...] Amane: ...isn’t it condescending of you to assume that just because I happen to be a child, I am incapable of hating someone enough to kill them?

Amane Freudian slipping into admitting she fucking despised her mother will never not be extremely entertaining to me. Yes, talk about how much you fucking hate her, kill girl kill!

[Of Blessedness and Punishment] Amane: You fool. Isn't MILGRAM trying to enforce a new standard of judgment precisely because laws cannot guide this world onto the right path? Are you still being weighed down by the law? [...] Amane: "We"? What's "we"? Are you not just "I"? Es: ... I...? Amane: Aren't we the same? Me and Guard-san.

PARALLELS

Also when she attacked Es with scissors. I think Milgram should have allowed it, it would have been funny if the Warden just fucking died before Trial 2 ended.

11- What are your favorite points about their story and the narrative surrounding them?

What aren't my favorite points of her narrative? Again asking me to pick a favorite child here.

If I had to pick one, probably the way the line between her cult's beliefs, Amane's interpretation of her cult's beliefs, and Amane's own desires blurs to a point it's really hard to figure out what she's actually thinking at any given time. Especially because of how Amane views all these things. Her cult is unquestionable but also she subconciously hates a lot of its aspects and twists its beliefs to justify her actions to herself. Her desires are sinful and animalistic (Animal cover and cat parallels go brrrrrr), but she still wants to follow them so so badly. Ugh, internal conflict my beloved.

And also I love how desperate she is to endure everything that's happened to her. Her unrelenting will to survive and go against the people who hurt her, the way she's still glad to have been born, the way she still tries so hard to be happy and make others around her happy. Holy shit this kid is the strongest (in terms of willpower) character in Milgram and no one can tell me otherwise, it's so unfair she has to be that way it makes me immensely sad augh-

And also I love how angry she gets occasionally. How spiteful and rage filled she can be. I will never get tired of seeing Amane in pure, unfiltered fury. Yes, girl, stab Es with scissors, kill your mom, stab Shidou, do it!

And also (could keep going for several thousand words)

12- What do you wish would be discussed more often about them in the fandom?

I think Amane is discussed pretty well here on Tumblr, much as I've heard horror stories about what the Discourse looks like in other sites. But if there's one thing I wish more people brought up is how despite everything, Amane is motivated by the desire to make everyone happy. Positive Parade cover go brr.

Especially in things like the Fuuta situation. I feel like some people see it as just her trying to recruit for her cult or something, when really she's just trying to help him. Same with warning Mahiru against medicine to "save her soul" in a way. Healing the cat. Becoming the "perfect girl", the March Leader with the cloud ribbon, to make her abusers happy. Trying to make the best of the situation by attempting to turn Milgram into an ideal world. Trying to stay happy because that's the one thing she's worked towards her entire life.

In fact, I personally believe this is why Yuuri is depicted in Magic as maybe "kinder" than the others (might make a post about that at some point). Its ordainment is "Thou shall deliver unto those thou believest in", as in, "help those you believe deserve it." This is the one ordainment which is actually kinda in line with Amane's desires, so she imagines Yuuri as less angry at her and more compassionate than the others.

My point is that a lot of the time I feel her actions are talked about as either just motivated by her cult or just motivated by Amane's """sinful""" desires, be it her anger at her abusers or her cravings like wanting to eat cake, when really I think the happiness thing is the main motivator behind those things and it's not quite talked about as much. Does that make sense?

14- Any headcanons on their appearance?

Huh, I usually don't have many headcanons on appearance, but I can try.

I think my favorite is Amane having really sharp fangs. Like, talking anime style unrealistically sharp fangs that make her a terrifying hisser. Cat Amane my beloved.

...

Also she has small (say, 0,5 cm diameter), red circular scars all over her back. Stun gun injuries (no picture on the link) basically. Listen things with Amane can't stay very wholesome for very long-

Kazui

3- Favorite non-mv official illustration?

Uh... Maybe his door?

(That's kinda small lol)

It looks nice as it is, plus it has some nice symbolism as does every door image. I just think it's neat.

5- Favorite voice drama line/moment?

[Imposter Boulevard] Kazui: I despise myself for lying, too. Being a liar, you see – it’s painful. Es: Heh. Then just– Kazui: So I’ve tried to change! I’ve tried to change. I have tried to stop lying to myself and others! Es: … Kazui: I’ve confided in others. I’ve tried to be myself! I’ve tried to just be the way I was born! Es: …Hey, Kazui– Kazui: It’s not my lies that killed her. She’s dead because I stopped lying to her! If I had just kept lying- She wouldn’t have died…! Es: Kazui… Kazui: I can’t live unless I lie. That’s how I was born… I’m pathetic, aren’t I?

I mean, come on. It's the basis of his character and crime, and the voice acting is fucking insane in this section. Apart from how emotional it is, I also like that it still ends in the same somewhat performative self-loathing Es calls him out for in the first VD.

[Gouging in the Night] Es: Showing a hint of weakness and trying to get on my good side like that… Is that another one of your "adult techniques"? [...] Is there anyone who lets themselves get fooled by a specifically prepared "weak" side of yourself? I see, I see… So these are the kinds of skills that you gain when you've lived for a long time.

Gotta love it when a character regrets something bad enough not to be able to forgive himself for it, but he's so afraid of facing consequences and social reprimand because he's built his entire worth around others' opinions that he still heavily plays up the self-loathing to be pitied.

Timelines [23/9/2] Yuno: Haha, we both lie, don't we? The difference is the reason for lying. Kazui-san, you lie to protect yourself, because you're important to yourself. For me, no one is particularly important. That includes myself as well.

Unlike Yuno, who explicitly doesn't want to be pitied. Love these two.

I don't know if I'm explaining it right, but that's what I get from the whole mess.

6- Favorite relationships with another character in the prison?

I love his interactions with Yuno, of course, the Liar Duo. Yuno is such a little bitch to him all the time, I adore it. However, I also love his dynamic with Es, if they count for this question. Kazui's VDs are great.

But honestly Kazui has a lot of good options here. The smoking group with Shidou and Mikoto is fun, his interactions with Mahiru and Amane are also always nice, etc.

19- What do you think their childhood/teenage years were like?

Extremely closeted homosexual, of course. Probably tried to """compensate""" in some way by acting as traditionally masculine as possible, I imagine he was quite the dudebro. With how much emphasis his parents seem to have put on his strength and tradition, I get the feeling he may have been a somewhat stereotypical jock.

That's why I think he may have done a lot of really stupid shit as a teenager and tries to distance himself from them now, which is why he puts so much emphasis on his age despite being less than forty years old. He feels like a completely different person than who he was as a teen, and while he was always self-concious about a lot of shit, he's maybe especially self-concious of the shit he did when he was younger.

Don't take any of that very seriously, though. All of that is practically headcanon vaguely guided by the text!

20- What do you think their social life was like before milgram?

Going off the previous idea, I imagine he only kept a few connections from his teenage years, which is why the one childhood friend he brings up is so notable to him. It's the only one who Kazui really wanted to stick around.

There's obviously Hinako and Kazui's other coworkers, fellow policepeople. The way I interpret the bar scenes in half is Kazui meeting with friends, the bartender being the childhood friend and the woman being someone he met as an adult.

Other than that, I imagine he was pretty closed off and didn't talk to many other people. He seems like the type to enjoy a mostly closed off friend group, but I don't really have anything to support that claim other than vibes alone so.

21- Do you have any similarities with them/relate to something in them?

Uh... I guess personality-wise we're not too different. In real life, I'm quiet and reserved, don't express much emotion, mostly have a "well this is happening now I guess. We vibe though" attitude to most of what goes down in my life, and don't like talking about myself much which yes is making this question sorta difficult.

Thanks for all the questions! This took a while lol.

#milgram #amane momose #kazui mukuhara #es milgram #000 #ask game

21 notes · View notes

kursed-arcana · 7 months

Text

Digimon adventure 02 The Beginning Review: All Filler, No Killer

I wanted to love this movie. I was well aware of people’s complaints going into this, but I still expected the best. I was wrong. I went in expecting a coherent and compelling narrative, instead it was all filler, no killer.

This movie is sadly a waste of the 02 cast. While marketed as their revival film, their presence was little more then window dressing to another chosen child’s story. Not a single 02 cast member made a contribution to the plot that could only be made by them. Not a single 02 cast member received a character arc in the film. The most focus and effort put into showing their lives as adults was the opening montages of the film. While a beautiful opening it was, it was not enough to make this film worth watching for any digimon adventure fans.

Not only did this film not focus on any of the 02 digidestined, it did not address or mention the plot of last adventure kizuna and its major reveal (unless a certain single line of dialogue in the closing narration was meant to imply kizuna’s reveal is now meaningless, despite never even being mentioned in the film prior). Instead we were treated to another story about a new oc crammed into the franchise, cough male Meiko cough. For every complaint people had about Meiko’s focus in tri, this movie did it worse. She had 6 movies, so at least the focus on her was spread out and the 8 characters the audience is invested in had character arcs, that is not the case here. Instead , we were treated to a story about another digidestined. Another claiming to be the first, which we were previously lead to believe we saw in tri, which was a weird retcon to begin with, then we met the first child to lose her partner in kizuna, and now we meet a new special snowflake, with his new special digimon that apparently is responsible for the partnership between all digidestined and digimon, and maybe even the death of his parents (lol). Not only is this insulting to adventure cast, but fans as well. When will they realize, we don’t need shocking reveals that contradict previously established lore, but meaningful character arcs for our chosen children and to see their partner digimon reach new digivolution heights.

The director of this film possibly thought he could recapture the magic of the first 02 film, but what makes that film more enjoyable is the fact that it came out during 02’s original release and not decades later. And while Willis was a primary character, the main cast still had plenty of chances to shine. Like gatomon and palmon suddenly reaching mega with no build up whatsoever lol.

This film contributed nothing new for our 02 cast. No new mega forms, or even their ultimates, new new levels for DNA digivolved Silphymon and Shakkoumon, not even the chance to see the digiegg of kindness in the anime for the first time. Hell, armor digivolution never even got mentioned, but at least we revisited the computer lab.

Not to mention that after all these years, there are still plotlines left unresolved. The dark ocean still hasn’t been explained, despite being brought up in tri and claiming Maki Himekawa, nor has its ruler Dragomon, or what happened to Daemon once he was stranded there and the fact his presence alluded to a plotline with the 7 demon lords. These dangling plotlines would have been perfect to address in a 02 movie or series, instead we got something less meaningful then a shounen filler movie (like the original 02 movie). At least those typically allow for their cast to shine despite focusing on original characters.

The 02 cast deserve their tri movie series, or even their version of kizuna. They needed to regain the future they achieved at the end of 02 that got retconned away, despite the epilogue still apparently being canon. They deserved character arcs, and some damn confirmation on takari after all these years. I wanted to see them overcome obstacles, to achieve their dreams. Instead I endured a meandering story for a new more chosen then all the rest of the “chosen children”. Can the people behind the digimon movies please stop trying to one up each other now?

I encourage all digimon fans to still watch the movie. If we want to see the adventure and 02 cast again, we need to support the series, but we also have to let our complaints be known, in order to encourage a better outcome in the future. While this film is a waste of the 02 cast, it is still nice to see them again, even if their presence felt more significant in their brief subplot in kizuna. At least we have confirmation that they’re still making progress towards their dreams, still hanging out and still hoping for a brighter future with their digimon. What little we got of them interacting was still nice, funny and even heartwarming at times. And if you’re a dub fan, at least we got Brian Donovan back as Davis one more time. Weird they let him reclaim the role but not Lara Jill miller for Kari, even though Tara Sands is still great.

Until next time digimon fam, stay Prodigious

(If you like my review and have my anime list, please follow the link and like it there. Id like to gain alittle traction as a reviewer and its always nics to be able to see if my writing is appreciated)

P.S. And To Lui, the saddest chosen child in all the land

22 notes · View notes

visualtaehyun · 8 months

Text

BL/QL Ask game : The Ugly, the Bad and the Worst

Thank you for tagging me @twig-tea 🙏 I read your post and the questions while going Ohhh interesting but when I actually tried to answer them myself, I realized that I'm usually pretty positive about the shows I watch or else I just move on from them. Most of the time, I don't fault characters or a whole show for being bad anyway, it's more the writing/script, directing choices, or editing that I tend to have gripes with.

So! Of the entire 22 original questions (by @clara-maybe-ontheroad), I'll only be answering a handful. This will also only be about Thai BLs because they make up the vast majority of QLs I've seen.

1 Worst soundtrack / weirdest song choice in a BL

My knee-jerk reaction was "Never Let Me Go country song NC" lmao but then I went to rewatch said scene and it barely stood out to me. So after re-thinking I'll have to nominate two shows: Dangerous Romance and Until We Meet Again, for basically the same reason.

Chimon's OST สายลม (Wind), which I actually fell in love with when it dropped because Chimon's voice was such a pleasant surprise, is being entirely overused in DR, to the point that I'm starting to tire of a song that I actually like. Honorable mention: The completely random and unnecessary stage performance of Perth and Chimon's ซบกันไปนานๆ (Sunset) in ep. 5. Was it not enough to have them sing and vibe to it in the car earlier in the same episode??

Similarly, UWMA's OST is either entirely by one guy or entirely one song but it sure was grating on me, my patience and my enjoyment of the show. P'New series are already hit or miss for me but that singer/song/OST had me so fed up.

5 Worst plot line

The first show I ever dropped was Star In My Mind which is ridiculous considering how short it is. But the entire premise of Kluen being unable to open his goddamn mouth frustrated me to no end. I did pick it back up again at a later point though, so I could watch Sky In Your Heart and indulge in the JoongDunk cuteness from there on out.

7 A show people love but you find bad

I'm sorry to say but- it's Vice Versa. It was one of the first Thai QLs I watched along with as it aired but ultimately I gotta say Oof. It has a fun premise, the cinematography is super nice, and it's genuinely sweet. But the amount of product placements was staggering! I also just didn't vibe with JimmySea's chemistry, they just gave too much Friend energy for me to find them believable as a couple. They're not the only ones or the only series where I didn't really find the spark but that's not a Them problem. That's a me 'Needing my fictional couples to be head over heels for each other for my acespec ass to see/experience the attraction and connection' problem lol

8 A show people find bad but you will defend

Cutie Pie! And I will die on this hill, @twig-tea 😂 It has everything I love: good production quality, good acting, tangible chemistry between the couples (see last question lol), complicated emotions, push-and-pull between the romantic leads, a dedicated cast and crew, a great OST, I'm certain I'm forgetting a lot of stuff but there's just so much I love about this show.

At its core, it's about two people who turned themselves into the versions they think they should be for each other, based on their upbringing, expectations placed upon them, status differences etc. and how they learn to be honest with themselves and each other.

I've re-watched this show a number of times, each with different levels of Thai proficiency, which made me consider that this show might've been such a hit in Thailand but not as much internationally because there's maybe a language and trope/culture barrier here? On my first-time watch, I knew no Thai and was largely unfamiliar with what tropes are common in Thai romances and such. At the time, the show didn't hit me very much, I struggled to make sense of that pivotal fight in episode 1, I enjoyed the singing, it was mostly just a nice romance. On my most recent re-watch a few months back, I had reached the point where I could follow a spoken conversation in Thai as long as there were translated subs to guide me along. And suddenly the full weight of episode 1 but especially the fight at the end, setting up the central conflict, hit me and I realized: Oh wow! This is good writing! Introduce your characters, their backgrounds, their goals, and the show's core conflict and that's how you hook viewers.

This has already gotten long enough but I wanna mention how much it means to me to have this show not just call for marriage equality repeatedly but also to have them shout it out to the world by having their mlm couple fully make out in what is arguably one of the busiest corners of Bangkok - Siam Square! More specifically it is the area with the fountains between Siam Paragon on one side and Siam Center on the other, and the skywalk (that connects the various malls in the area) as well as the central BTS station Siam both overlooking that space. It's also called Parc Paragon, there's frequently events there, and it is busy as all hell!! And they not only cleared it for filming a lengthy queer kiss scene but, in the show, the huge LED/ad screens are used to project pride colors, a call for equal rights, and a queer marriage proposal in plain view of the entire square!

If you've never been to Bangkok, I beg you to look up photos, via Google Street View or the IG location tag for Parc Paragon so you get an idea of what I'm talking about. 🙏 (this isn't the only busy prominent location they used btw but djdjhdjsdj let's not write a whole damn essay here)

10 A bad show that you kept watching because you were intrigued/fascinated

Dinosaur Love - I watched the first episode, excited for Tonnam and Pepper, and found it charming with its low budget, pink-filtered tropey-ness. Except I quickly realized that this show was Actually Bad. The framing and blocking were often a big question mark to me. The pink filter and the background music got annoying quickly. The acting was subpar. At some point in episode 2 I started questioning if they ever even did more than one take per scene. There was a panning shot involving a mirror where the crew is just fully visible in the reflection?? Suffice it to say that I dropped this show like a hot potato when episode 3 very suddenly and very graphically had a side character self-harm. Squicked me out like nothing before, moving on!

11 A bad show that you kept watching because you were horny

I mentioned this already but I'm on the aro/ace-spectrum (...somewhere, don't ask me specifics lol) so I don't really watch shows for horny or eyecandy reasons. If I don't vibe with the characters or dynamics then I won't even perceive them as sexy, to be honest.

12 A bad show that you kept watching because of that one character

Why R U (the og Thai one), I guess? Everyone who's seen it probably knows that the production and filming suffered because of Covid so I wouldn't hesitate to call this show bad on that basis. I set out to watch it because I wanted to see more of Zee Pruk's acting, in another role, after having seen Cutie Pie. And Fighter ended up being most of the reason I stuck around till the end. The nuanced struggle with his own sexuality was so well-portrayed. Tutor is a very memorable character as well! And I'm entirely 🥰 about Hwa, she just perfectly fits this character archetype that I will always, without fail, completely adore.

21 The show that disappointed you the most

Most of the time, I either don't have big expectations or I let go of them quickly enough once I get a vibe for where a given show is going. The closest thing to 'disappointment' would then probably be all the shows that I kept seeing being recommended and hyped but that didn't leave a lasting impression on me after watching, like KinnPorsche, Love Mechanics, Manner of Death. None of these are bad OR disappointing and there's things I genuinely enjoyed and liked in them but ultimately I just didn't Get why they're so popular. I'm sure part of it is to do with me not having been around to follow along on a week-to-week basis but watching them long after they were done airing, basically in a vacuum. But alas!

I don't know how you managed to do all 22 questions, Twig Tea, when this fraction has already taken me like five hours 💀 Passing this time-eating curse on then to @airenyah @cangse-sanren/@zeesqueere @sadwetcatray @sorry-bonebag @telomeke @thegalwhorants @pharawee I'm sure this tag is making the rounds so some (if not all) of y'all have probably done this already. If anyone I didn't tag reads this and wants to play, feel free to tag me in it, I do enjoy reading hot takes and impassioned essays lol

#tag game #thai bl #bella and the blorbos #ql musings #don't judge me for my silly housekeeping tags lol #worst bl shows the ask game

18 notes · View notes

demonsfate · 2 months

Note

¥ = How the character handles money or spends it / ↔ = The character’s ability to read directions / (*^◇^)_旦 = What the character likes to eat and drink

list of headcanons // accepting . . .

¥ = How the character handles money or spends it

The thing about Jin is that he's actually pretty good at handling and budgeting. If he goes grocery shopping, he only buys foods he absolutely needs, along with a snack or two. Jin does have a couple of weaknesses though; video games and anime figurines. If he sees a video game he really wants, or a figurine of a favorite character (or a character from a favorite series) - he has a harder time resisting it! Oh... and if he spots a really cool hoodie lol!

Unlike Jin, Devil has very few interests. Although he's starting to get into games, he still sees them as an activity to do with someone else (e.g. Jin) rather than by himself. Devil also doesn't do the shopping ever. The only time he really had money to spend on his own was when he owned the Zaibatsu. And like any rich asshole, he would often spend it on expensive vehicles or clothing lol. Especially bikes. He owned like 4 versions of the same bike - this is actually canon. Nowadays, Devil doesn't buy much of anything. Especially because he knows they don't really have the wealth for all those expensive suits he likes. Though ... if he sees a particular article of clothing he likes, he may try to beg Jin for it!

↔ = The character’s ability to read directions

I don't know why but Jin strikes me as the guy who insists he doesn't need directions... but then ends up getting lost anyway lol. I feel like Jin's ability to read them are decent when he DOES bother to read them? I just feel it might depend on the context of the situation.

Like Jin, Devil also doesn't read directions. He just flies wherever the fuck and takes him to whatever feels or smells right. I mean, when he was attending the fifth tournament, that's just what he did! He just went wherever was right. Needed to find Hwoarang to beat him to near death? Just find him with the ol' sniffer! Need to find where Jinpachi was? Easy to find with all that dark energy swirling within. The only time Devil "used" directions was in the Zaibatsu. And even then, HE technically DIDN'T. It was his employees who read them. So, I feel because of that - Devil sucks at it. But like, also just doesn't care.

(*^◇^)_旦 = What the character likes to eat and drink

Canonically, Jin's favorite food is Takoyaki! But really, Jin likes to eat all kinds of meats and veggies. He occasionally likes fruit, but in the end... he is a freak that prefers vegetables LOL! Jin tries his best to eat "healthy," - to avoid processed foods, junk foods, or sweets. Especially sweets high in sugars. As for drinks, Jin's usually fine with water. Sometimes when he's sparring, he likes to have a sports drink with him. Oftentimes something like Gatorade. People may think he drinks tea a lot because of his Japanese heritage, but he doesn't actually consume it as much as people would suspect!

Technically, Devil doesn't need to eat. But he does solely because it's an enjoyable sensation. Devil usually just likes an assortment of meats. Before he only liked eating humans. But... post purification, he restrains from doing that. Now he eats other animals (pork, beef, poultry, etc) to make up for that loss. However, he is willing to branch out for more tastes. As for drinking? Plain water is fine. But uh... Devil also doesn't really need to drink, either. The only reason he'd bother with drinking is to properly wash down whatever he was eating.

#rockstarsoldier #🔥 - ɪᴛ's ᴀ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪғᴜʟ ᴛʀᴀɢᴇᴅʏ // (study)#👿 - ᴀ ʜᴏʟʏ ᴡᴀʀ ᴡɪᴛʜɪɴ // (study)#✏️ - ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ? // (inbox)

4 notes · View notes

badlydrawnarsenelupin · 1 year

Note

what kind of hanfu would you envision lupin wearing :3c

// Hello anon, first of all: thanks for sending something so catered specifically towards me (designing useless alternative outfits for my blorbos). Second, I just want you to know that this was one of the most redraw-heavy, hair-pulling, triple-digit-layers experiences you've sent me on. Also lots of reading and research, which I am now going to make you read.

There's a lot of different styles of hanfu depending on the eras, the three main, popular styles these days are from the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties. There's more but you don't need to know about them here lol.

The ones I've drawn here aren't like.... super historically accurate but more of a mix of modern hanfu + Lupin-vibes for the✨aesthetics.✨

This is called Feiyu-fu/飞鱼服 from the Ming dynasty, which translates to 'flying-fish uniform' for its depiction of the Feiyu/飞鱼 in the embroidery. It's not actually a fish but a dragon-like creature, with wings and a fish-shaped tail (guess why it's called flying-fish lol). It's one of the more popular types you see in modern hanfu because it's just really elaborate and cool looking.

Speaking of elaborate, here's a closer look at my suffering!

Historically, Feiyu-fu was one of the type of clothing to be bestowed upon people by the emperor. There's like different tiers depending on the embroidery, the dragon or the Long/龙 is like exclusively for the emperor and then following that in order of tier are: Mang/蟒, Feiyu/飞鱼, Douniu/斗牛, Qilin/麒麟 etc. Those guys, unlike the Long has 4 or less claws instead of 5. If it's confusing, don't worry about it, they're basically different types of mythical "dragon-like" creatures.

There's a whole culture of gifting these specially embroidered clothes (from the imperial court to court officials, nobles, foreign royalty etc.) and it's pretty prestigious to get one. I found it fitting for Lupin since:

it's very lavish and opulent, also high-status

seems very much like the type of thing Lupin would somehow get his little thief hands on✨

unrelated but the two white stripes down the front on aren't a thing, I made it up for style + to add the lupine flowers on it (although they kind of look like wheat??? I tried my best ok)

Okok so fun fact, later in the Ming period, the Feiyu started to not be depicted with wings for some reason, and it became really really hard to differentiate it from the Mang, so some people just started wearing their Feiyu as a Mang... because it's a higher tier and second only to the emperor's Long-clothings. I just think that's funny and it reminds me of Lupin lmao.

Here's a more casual style with the Feiyu-yesa/曳撒 robes + a zhaojia/罩甲 on top!

So the flower here on the zhaojia is the plum blossom, or meihua. It's known as one of the four "gentleman-ly" flowers along with, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum (梅兰竹菊).

I thought the gentleman-ly theme was fitting for Lupin... although the four flowers' symbolism is more for strictly pure, noble and righteous characters.... That's ok, it's how Lupin thinks of himself anyways psh

Close-ups for the long-hair enjoyers. The little thing he's wearing is called fa-guan/发冠, it's basically a little crown-like thing that's used to hold up hair, sometimes coupled with a cloth/ribbon. The version on the right is a style very commonly seen in cdramas these days but it's historically-inaccurate... it looks cool though lol.

More details! These are called hebao/荷包 and they're basically little pouches to store things in, like money or handkerchiefs. They can also be used to carry fragrant herbs/perfume. They can also gifted from young women to men they like :^))))

For alternative hanfu styles, I think something like the modern Tang dynasty-inspired hanfu would fit Lupin as well... they're more flowy and with larger sleeves that you can hide stuff in... They look best in motion! An example from those videos of skateboarding hanfu guys.

Alright that's finally done! I'm going to go and pass out for the next 10 hours _(┐ 「ε:)_

#arsène lupin #ooc; en coulisse.#m: griffonages.#anonymous #long post

27 notes · View notes

junicult · 10 months

Note

if you don't mind me asking, who are you favorite bachelors to write? lol obviously you love Harvey (as do i) but i"m just wondering if theres any bachelors that you don't like/aren't willing to do singular posts for? btw i'm in love with your blog <3 <3

hm, i’m actually kinda glad u asked this anon.

so as for bachelors i don’t like / aren’t willing to write for—i wouldn’t say i feel that way about any of them. i’ll write for all of them, my hc posts being proof of that.

if i had to go in order of which bachelor i liked the most…i mean…harvey. duh. (no one’s surprised.)

in my very first post, i just kinda started writing with whoever came to mind first, i didn’t really put it into an order of who i like most / least. that order has always stuck with me (harvey, sam, shane, sebastian, alex, elliot) just cus i think the organization looks nice. although i feel like i accidentally conditioned myself into making that the actual order of who i like most to least😭😭😭

writing for harvey just gets my creative juices flowing, u know. i just love writing for him cus he’s the literal embodiment of my type LMFAO.

i love sam because he and i are veerryyyy similar. at least in the way that i hc him. plus he’s the bachelor that i’m most close with in age, so i just love him a lot.

tbh, shane isn’t my type in the slightest. i’ve never once married him in game, but for some reason i think he’s really fun to write sometimes. i mostly dickride the fanon version of him tho, i feel like if i stuck with canon i’d get bored (i sound like a horrible person😭😭) he’s got a very interesting storyline and he actually has character, so i like that a lot.

i definitely like sebastian more then shane as a bachelor tbh. i’ve always been more drawn to people that are shy and reserved and he’s exactly like that. i think he has a really interesting storyline that makes it enjoyable to write with.

as for alex, i actually love him believe it or not😭😭 i like how he’s a lowkey asshole, super self centered and stuff but he’s genuinely oblivious to it. like some of his dialogue where he’s just outright a dick & he doesn’t even realize it makes me laugh so hard. the one where he talks abt how he doesn’t want to donate his shoes bc he doesn’t like the idea of someone else WEARING HIS SHOES & then he just says “…what?” afterwards like…i can appreciate the humor. i think his backstory might be my favorite just because i can relate to it. he’s a genuine guy who tries to hide behind his masculinity, and by definition i don’t really gravitate towards those kinds of people, but i like him a lot.

and elliot…lol ok. it’s not that i don’t like him, that’s not it at all. i think he’s sweet, and i always enjoy getting my hearts up with him—but he’s definitely my least favorite to write. that’s only because he’s just kinda…there. lol. he doesn’t have a backstory, or much backbone to write with. i mean, we both have similar interests obviously, i love to write too, but that’s just about it that i have in common with him LMFAO. i can understand why people like him tho, so i won’t stop writing for him. i’m also open to getting to know him more, don’t get me wrong. i just haven’t.

so to answer ur question anon (cus i got WAY too carried away lol) i’ll write for any of them. but i guess, if i got an ask only to write for elliot…i might not AND IM SO SORRY ABOUT THAT!!!!!!!

i usually write whenever i feel entertained by the prompt, or when i feel extra creative, so who’s to say that i’ll never write for elliot stand-alone.

if someone wanted me to write for harvey and i just wasn’t very interested by the idea, then i probably wouldn’t do that either. i wish i had the drive to write like other people can, but i really only write if i’m enjoying what i’m writing.

i hope this helps, and thank you sm for liking my blog 🩷🩷

#˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ mail 💌#this turned into me rambling on & on cus idk when to shut up #i like when u guys want to learn more abt me #and when you guys wanna make me feel comfortable <33 it’s so sweet

15 notes · View notes

afaramir · 3 months

Note

I love your posts about Denethor and Faramir. I'm always glad to see someone who loves both him and Faramir and gets that Denethor being this hugely impressive tragic figure makes Faramir so much better and more interesting. The relationship between them is so complex and I love it so much. The film versions make me angry as well.

oh man thank you so much...i find it kinda crazy that you're saying this to me bc im pretty sure i have a bunch of posts from your denethor tag sitting around in my drafts so i can look back at them later. many days i feel very much like an Amateur Denethor Enjoyer but i am thrilled that me just kind of being unhinged on the dash has brought you joy. and get ready bc here i go again LOL

yeah exactly what you said...denethor's tragedy informs and is informed by faramir so so so much and it's just kind of wild to me that on the tragedy enjoyers website so many people refuse to see it. on the second-best enjoyers website...the guilt-and-despair enjoyers website...the "the unimaginable has happened and i AM going to kill people and then myself" enjoyers website...i could go on! he is literally doomed by the narrative and just goes well ok fuck you i WILL die at the end but it will NOT be in the way the narrative wants me to.

it is truly the relationship of all time. faramir does love his father and yet because of the strength of his principles he is genuinely incapable of showing it in a way that denethor can understand. and denethor loves him too but after a certain point just cannot show it anymore because duty has to take precedence. he's not allowed to give faramir any quarter even in private. and YES that includes anything that would resemble a normal emotion. ngl i wouldn't be surprised if that's the only way faramir is like. LETTING him communicate with him. like i feel like the final assault on osgiliath is not the first time faramir's taken the "if you want to get me to do something you ARE going to have to order me to do it" stance. and yet denethor tries. at the end he takes trying to an unhinged level. idk it often feels like even in the general fandom insistance on one-dimensionally dickish denethor there's somehow also a lack of understanding that it IS a toxic expression of love but that doesn't make it not love. like He's Not Winning Dad Of The Year that is not what we're saying at all. we're saying is "it was born of love. it was a terrible thing yet born of love." thats all! that's why it's so tragic because it's all about love!!! augh...

ok i don't typically put quotations from my own writing in like real posts but also ive been thinking about the faramir goes to rivendell au 24/7 and i just. HAVE to pull this line bc it kind of captures exactly how i feel about the denethor-and-faramir mutual Character Honing.

Yet he [Faramir] cannot deny that each of them sharpens himself upon the whetstone of the other, and it is a debt he loathes to owe and yet cannot hope to repay.

i mean.......like are you picking up what im putting down! like! AAA! both in-narrative and out of it they are always ALWAYS making each other better (or worse. but worse in a More Interesting Way) but AT WHAT COST!!! he loves his father he would not be the man he is today without his father both in a good and bad way he HATES that these two things are true. faramir and denethor are not foils they're parallels they build each other's characters up when you put them next to each other!! faramir is who denethor wouldve couldve been without the war!! hey hang on a second is denethor who faramir would've become if he were the lord steward during the war of the ring? (this is a little reductive i think faramir's susceptibility to despair is quite different to his father's. and i wonder how long his gentleness would've prevailed / worked side by side with his duty instead of being diametrically opposed to it. but anyway. well i'll be thinking about THAT for the rest of the night. i cannot start another au i cannot i cannot i cannot). anyway you can't get one of them without getting the other and that is all...

man i always say like oh don't get me started on movie faramir and denethor and then the don't think of an elephant effect GETS me and it gets me started. last night i genuinely said like "well i won't get into it" and then three hours later it was 2am and it was so very clear that i had Gotten Into It. i had to tell our other roommate like "tell me when ur going to bed i am talking about denethor and i will be yelling." my roommate just came home and i told her about this post and then i had to explain a detail and she SET ME A THREE MINUTE TIMER bc she was like i have to go study. and that's fair

anyway i hope you are having a good night/day/whatever time it is for you. thank you for this ask it is always fun to see you pop up in my notifs whenever im denethorposting lol

#from the inbox #bretwalda-lamnguin #i always get so bitchy when im talking about the popular interpretation LOL #i had to like take some deep breaths and remove The Tone from this post. if its still there thats on me #i feel like you get it #Another 800+ Word Denethor Post From Yours Truly. when u become a denethor girl (gnc) there is truly no going back...#denethorposting

4 notes · View notes

fratboykate · 1 year

Note

What is a writers room like? Whenever I see one depicted on TV, it's a conference room looking place and people look like they're on their 50th cup of coffee and 4 lines of coke (iCarly did an episode on TV writers stealing the web show).

IF it's not on zoom which is a thing that happens since the pandemic then yeah it's along those veins. typically you rent out a space that has a slew of offices (each writer normally gets their own office for when they're off on outline/script/need to do independent work) and then there's the big conference room where everyone comes together and you spend most of your time. there's huge white boards (typically more than one). the last room i was on had three on the walls of the big room but as you really get into the weeds of the season you need more space so we brought in some of the white boards on wheels.

it's a lot of talking, pitching, and debating. sometimes its like a big therapy season because it's a bunch of people just sharing their trauma and life stories to pull plot/characters from. if you're in a good room it's fun as hell. you become family with these people. if it's bad (and ive been in a HORRIBLE room) then its not that enjoyable. but typically the showrunner/upper levels are the ones who set the tone for what the room is going to be like so good or bad, it will fall on them.

every showrunner works differently but the most common way is that you basically work in stages. when the room starts everyone tries to break the big picture of the season: starting points/end points for characters, big cliffhangers, big moments, what we're trying to say with the season. you then put that into a document and you send it off to the studio, network, and producers. they'll either like it or hate it but regardless of where they fall, they'll always have notes. so you'll have to keep making adjustments until they all agree that this big picture is good. when they give you the thumbs up then you start getting progressively granular. you start breaking what each episode of the season looks like and how the progress with each other. then you pitch those to the people above you again. they have notes. you keep tweaking until they give you the greenlight to start actually getting into the nitty gritty of each episode. what scenes happen, what order they happen in, which characters are needed. etc. same thing. you go back to them and pitch them all the episodes. they'll have SO MANY NOTES. once you lock those then you assign a writer to actually go off and write the episode. then they'll have to do a bunch of individual steps where they'll also get notes on (treatment, outline, first draft, etc). and then after months of all this shit...you have a season of tv.

like i mentioned, you get notes on shit ALL THE TIME. the last room i was on we rebroke the season and each individual episode at least five times because the network and the studio kept blowing everything we were doing up. they hated everything. and the season that made it to air was the absolute worst version of the show we pitched along the way because...SURPRISE...execs have horrible taste and tend to be horrible at their jobs too lol. if an actor on that show had just shown up to set and changed the dialogue or ANYTHING after we went through months of nightmare getting the studio and the network to even jump on board anything halfway decent i probably would've lost my shit.

#rants #hollywood #answers #anonymous

7 notes · View notes

magicalbats · 7 months

Note

hi it's doesn't-play-genshin-but-loves-your-genshin-fics anon i just wanted to report back: i've completed so many 'genshin lore for beginners' and 'genshin storyline so far' videos, and i'm eyeballs deep in fanart and random fics (especially childe dear LORD him especially god i love him oh my goddd) and i'm so blown away by how deep the story is for the game ???

i knew people praised the game for the characters and story but i didn't think it'd be THIS good, and i'm so grateful you encouraged me to go read up on it.............. the fact that some of the characters are just like regular people and others are straight up literal gods among men is hilarious and also sososo cool to me. zhongli's story was so cool and i love the fact that he's so deeply and intricately intertwined with liyue harbor and its people ;-; ♡

anway thank you it's all thanks to you ily thank you for broadening my horizons

Omggg anon 🥹 I’m so glad you’re enjoying everything so far! And just to tell you a little bit about my own experience, so you know it’s not just you who was a bit blind sided by the depth of the world building xmdmxmdm

I’ve tried a handful of other gacha’s in the past and I just could not get into them for anything. There was one I do actually really like on a theoretical level xmsmxks but I hated the game mechanics. I only played it for a few months before dropping it completely so I was very wary about getting into Genshin at first because I honestly thought I’d be wasting my time and it would just be something else I got no enjoyment out of. Im sure you can imagine my great surprise when I quickly realized this wasn’t just another cheap gacha with bare minimum effort put into it. It’s a whole ass world with extensive history and real, honest to god lore. The characters not only have their own individual backstories that span across various fields and interests and cultural inspirations, but Mihoyo at least puts in some work to further flesh them out beyond that too. Even the ones we’re still waiting to get any real spotlight shown on them have a fountain of potential just waiting to be untapped! It’s super exciting imo, to see how everything slowly fits into place to create the bigger picture of a fully functioning fictional universe, how each character is leading their own individual lives, but then you also add onto that how there are plenty of mysterious unknowns and future developments ahead of us too …

Frankly Genshin’s lore has done nothing but impress me. It gets confusing at times, yes, and occasionally theories that don’t make a lick of sense will gain traction to blur the lines even more, but overall this world feels very alive to me and our role as the traveler can be a very immersive one. I have been nothing if not impressed by the world building but it’s the characters that truly pulled me in and never let me go. lol I started playing specifically for Zhongli … and by the time I actually met him I was already hooked. 🤣 I’ve been obsessed with this damn game basically since day one and I’m still in a chokehold over a year later.

But ooooh, a Childe fan are we? 👀 I am in no way surprised, he is QUITE a man. Idk how up to date you are with the current storyline but uh, I am eagerly awaiting version 4.2 so we can see him again! (Potential spoiler??) The way he gave us his vision in 4.0 actually had me

Please feel free to come back and share all your thoughts with me! What other characters do you like? Favorite region? Which bit of lore do you find the most interesting?? I need the deets, anon! Please!

4 notes · View notes

jennycalendar · 2 years

Note

ok so like it's been a hot minute since i watched season 2 but i've always felt like… jenny did nothing wrong? not even in a Fave Defending way? like this isn't about anyone's in-universe reaction but i feel like a lot of people, even jenny enjoyers, say she still did a Fuckup and should be sorry, even while acknowledging it wasn't her fault and buffy/giles' anger was unjustified. but what did she even fuck up really?? her only crime is a lie of omission! what good would it have done anyone for her to tell them the truth? it's not as if she was really double-crossing them. she was actually on BUFFY'S side by not doing anything about their relationship, like she was actively going against her family for their benefit and most importantly she didn't know about the trigger. and you can hardly blame her family for wanting to keep tabs on the curse when everyone is fully aware how brutal angelus was. and she immediately tried to undo the damage that SHE DIDNT EVEN CAUSE (i know they didn't know that at the time on the show but for the broader context? and i think it's clear she even cared more about having hurt buffy rather than about maintaining the curse simply for curse reasons) idk i know i'm an overly forgiving person but hello?

as much as i would love an alternate version of the show where jenny lives, it could've also been a Really Good death if they had allowed it to resonate. give me buffy desperately trying to make peace with a dead woman in season 3.

and on that note, sorry to say so many things but this just popped into my head lol- idk if you've talked about this before but if jenny had lived, how do you think she would react to angel coming back/buffy seeing him in secret? because everyone else was so angry. (true giles was mostly angry because angel had killed jenny, but maybe say angel had tortured her/severely wounded her or something? to get a similar degree of Giles Mad for arguments sake?) do you think she'd be pissed off about it or overcompensate with supporting buffy out of guilt or what? 😃

hglshkhlshlsgdk this is such an unpopular opinion that i have to water it down when i suggest it, but i actually completely agree with absolutely everything you're saying. there is this constant perpetual narrative that jenny did something wrong and should have told them, but sheeeeee really didn't there! she had absolutely no relevant information that would have stopped angel from turning. there has been the half-suggested supposition that the scoobies finding out jenny was there would have prompted them to ask questions as to Why she needed to be there, or that it was jenny's responsibility to ask more about the purpose of her mission, but, uh, giles also has a mission with some questionable ethics going on and we don't see him questioning the higher-ups until season three! she has an ingrained sense of loyalty to the people that raised her, and from her perspective, she's just watching some guy and reporting back to her uncle. definitely some foresight would've been USEFUL but her lack of investigation/independence, while dumb as hell, isn't the catalyst for the angelus stuff & it's doubtful that that could have stopped it anyway. like. even if they knew about the happiness clause, there was always the possibility that buffy and angel wouldn't have realized that sex with buffy would make angel truly happy! and MY POINT IN ALL OF THIS is that just trying to frame jenny as At Fault requires the same kinda supposition that i'm throwing around now. the same kinda ifs-buts-maybes. there really wasn't anything she could have done to change what happened.

and like you said, she was straight-up team buffy from the get-go! the very first scene we see is her going "sure yes i'll take buffy away from angel" and then she makes one halfhearted really bad attempt and completely gives up? and can that even be called an attempt? like she was making a VALID POINT, literally who else was going to be able to take the judge's arm safely to nepal or tibet or wherever? but the show treats everything she does as if she's some disney villain when what she's doing is actually just kinda...trying to figure out a way to make this work for the people she loves. (and the framing is deliberate! the sinister music that shows up whenever jenny's doing Sinister Things that actually are literally never sinister. looking at u, surprise party invitation.)

so yes i completely agree. the only crime jenny committed was being a smart confident lady, which she obviously had to be killed for, because no adult woman on btvs can be smart AND confident AND morally upstanding AND alive all at the same time. you get two. jenny just barely gets two and a half so she comes out ahead.

also -- hm! hate to say it, but the thought that immediately comes to mind is jenny kinda considering herself too low on the totem pole to actually have the right to say she's not comfortable being around angel, especially after everything that happened in the previous season & how things were left between her and buffy. i think that giles would pick up on this really fast and be cosmically fucking horrified by this. like maybe during the intervention the scoobies poke jenny to try and get her to say she's not comfortable and she just totally demurs and draws into herself and that very likely makes buffy feel Even Worse About Everything. (maybe jenny's critically low self esteem post passion in an au where she lives is something i'm seriously thinking about as this watch continues, because i really don't think you can go through a whole month of the people you love--both blood family and chosen family--just cutting you off and treating you like dirt without feeling like you're not honestly a part of the team. blowing a little kiss to @hal-1500 because something good TOTALLY GETS THAT imo.)

#asks #meta #headcanon #jenny calendar #i agree re: the death point as well! i think jenny's death is kinda inevitable actually #there's no way for her to survive. there isn't a place for her in this show #and her place is so limited in season two! she doesn't add anything to the narrative because they just do not let her #i don't think that trend would have changed if they kept her around #but i do think that there could have and should have been more narrative resonance re: her death. more of what we had in late s2.

22 notes · View notes