please help me- i used to be pretty smart but i’m having so much trouble grasping the concept of diegetic vs non-diegetic bdsm!
gfkjldghfd okay first of all I'm sorry for the confusion, if you're not finding anything on the phrase it's because I made it up and absolutely nobody but me ever uses it, but I haven't found a better way to express what I'm trying to say so I keep using it. but now you've given me an excuse to ramble on about some shit that is only relevant to me and my deeply inefficient way of talking and by god I'm going to take it.
SO. the way diegetic and non-diegetic are normally used is to talk about music and sound design in movies/tv shows. in case you aren't familiar with that concept, here's a rundown:
diegetic sound is sound that happens within the world of the movie/show and can be acknowledged by the characters, like a song playing on the stereo during a driving scene, or sung on stage in Phantom of the Opera. it's also most other sounds that happen in a movie, like the sounds of traffic in a city scene, or a thunderclap, or a marching band passing by. or one of the three stock horse sounds they use in every movie with a horse in it even though horses don't really vocalize much in real life, but that's beside the point, the horse is supposed to be actually making that noise within the movie's world and the characters can hear it whinnying.
non-diegetic sound is any sound that doesn't exist in the world of the movie/show and can't be perceived by the characters. this includes things like laugh tracks and most soundtrack music. when Duel of Fates plays in Star Wars during the lightsaber fight for dramatic effect, that's non-diegetic. it exists to the audience, but the characters don't know their fight is being backed by sick ass music and, sadly, can't hear it.
the lines can get blurry between the two, you've probably seen the film trope where the clearly non-diegetic music in the title sequence fades out to the same music, now diegetic and playing from the character's car stereo. and then there are things like Phantom of the Opera as mentioned above, where the soundtrack is also part of the plot, but Phantom of the Opera does also have segments of non-diegetic music: the Phantom probably does not have an entire orchestra and some guy with an electric guitar hiding down in his sewer just waiting for someone to break into song, but both of those show up in the songs they sing down there.
now, on to how I apply this to bdsm in fiction.
if I'm referring to diegetic bdsm what I mean is that the bdsm is acknowledged for what it is in-world. the characters themselves are roleplaying whatever scenarios their scenes involve and are operating with knowledge of real life rules/safety practices. if there's cnc depicted, it will be apparent at some point, usually right away, that both characters actually are fully consenting and it's all just a planned scene, and you'll often see on-screen negotiation and aftercare, and elements of the story may involve the kink community wherever the characters are. Love and Leashes is a great example of this, 50 Shades and Bonding are terrible examples of this, but they all feature characters that know they're doing bdsm and are intentional about it.
if I'm talking about non-diegetic bdsm, I'm referring to a story that portrays certain kinks without the direct acknowledgement that the characters are doing bdsm. this would be something like Captive Prince, or Phantom of the Opera again, or the vast majority of bodice ripper type stories where an innocent woman is kidnapped by a pirate king or something and totally doesn't want to be ravished but then it turns out he's so cool and sexy and good at ravishing that she decides she's into it and becomes his pirate consort or whatever it is that happens at the end of those books. the characters don't know they're playing out a cnc or D/s fantasy, and in-universe it's often straight up noncon or dubcon rather than cnc at all. the thing about entirely non-diegetic bdsm is that it's almost always Problematic™ in some way if you're not willing to meet the story where it's at, but as long as you're not judging it by the standards of diegetic bdsm, it's just providing the reader the same thing that a partner in a scene would: the illusion of whatever risk or taboo floats your boat, sometimes to extremes that can't be replicated in real life due to safety, practicality, physics, the law, vampires not being real, etc. it's consensual by default because it's already pretend; the characters are vehicles for the story and not actually people who can be hurt, and the reader chose to pick up the book and is aware that nothing in it is real, so it's all good.
this difference is where people tend to get hung up in the discourse, from what I've observed. which is why I started using this phrasing, because I think it's very crucial to be able to differentiate which one you're talking about if you try to have a conversation with someone about the portrayal of bdsm in media. it would also, frankly, be useful for tagging, because sometimes when you're in the mood for non-diegetic bodice ripper shit you'd call the police over in real life, it can get really annoying to read paragraphs of negotiation and check-ins that break the illusion of the scene and so on, and the opposite can be jarring too.
it's very possible to blur these together the same way Phantom of the Opera blurs its diegetic and non-diegetic music as well. this leaves you even more open to being misunderstood by people reading in bad faith, but it can also be really fun to play with. @not-poignant writes fantastic fanfic, novels, and original serials on ao3 that pull this off really well, if you're okay with some dark shit in your fiction I would highly recommend their work. some of it does get really fucking dark in places though, just like. be advised. read the tags and all that.
but yeah, spontaneous writer plug aside, that's what I mean.
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Soldier Poet King - One Piece ver.
There will come a captain
whose smile is bright and free
with a hat that's made of straw
and stretch as vast as seas
for fun and adventure
he'll do as he please
and if you want a savior
give him something to eat
There will come a swordsman
who wields not one but three
the first mate of our captain dear
and made of loyalty
senses sharp
and a goal to reach
from a fight he never runs
to win he is ready
There will come a burglar
as pretty as can be
with her maps all drawn by hand
she'll navigate the seas
her eyes on the clouds
and royalties
she'll command the ship they sail
and guide them to safety
There will come a liar
who's always quick to flee
a marksman whose eyes are clear
and hands that are steady
a sniper, a warrior
and fights bravely
listen to his tales so tall
he'll stand for his friends' dreams
There will come a chef with
a deep love for the sea
a dreamer and a fighter but
flirtatious he can be
has flaming kicks
and a love for ladies
and if your paths they ever cross
you'll never leave hungry
There will come a reindeer
who might look cowardly
a doctor who has a heart
bigger than his body
a child named a monster
and slightly naive
but if you look one final time
he's more human than he seems
There will come a scholar
a flower-like beauty
has a love for reading
and archeology
with limbs that blossom
unnerving is she
for her nation she'll explore
and answers she will seek
There will come a cyborg
a proud shipwright is he
a little shameless and he wears
his feelings on his sleeves
works filled with passion
and creativity
he will build a ship for us
to sail on every sea
There will come a skeleton
who's gifted tunefully
a lonely life he has led
existence a mystery
a promise to fulfill
and a lifetime of memories
the musician will play a song
and sing with joy and glee
There will come a helmsman
the first son of the seas
like a calm before the storm
he fights powerfully
he's gentle, he's righteous
and pushes equality
the fishman steers with a smile
and laughs wholeheartedly
There will come a pirate crew
'The Strawhats' namely
the world will hear their laughter
as they go on this journey
with hopes and dreams
and desires to achieve
come and join as they travel
the Merry and Sunny
With hopes and dreams
and desires to achieve
watch and read the story of
how they find the~
One Piece.
breaking out of my manga posting for the sake of this idea I had. The world needed to see this.
READ TAGS BELOW (only if you want to tho)
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Chinese New Year
What's better than one new year's celebration?
TWO new year's celebrations!
While most of the Western world marked the beginning of the new year on January 1st, most of Asia celebrates the the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year, that can fall anywhere from January 21st to February 20th. The reason the new year falls on different days is because it uses the lunar calendar that marks holidays not by set days but by stages of the moon. This year the new year will fall on the 10th of February. An estimated quarter of the world's population celebrates this new year. Are you ready to celebrate too?
The first thing to know is that, if you're celebrating the new year traditionally, most businesses will be shut down, usually for at least a week, sometimes more. Not only does this give everyone plenty of time to prepare and celebrate the days of the new year, it also gives people time to go home to visit their relatives. The Lunar New Year is the cause of the largest annual migration of humanity each year. Family is a large part of the celebration and that includes the dead as well as the living. Graves are visited, offerings are made, memories are shared. On New Year's Eve a family reunion dinner is held, with family coming from far and wide to gather together to welcome in the new year. There's plenty to do for people who can't visit family as well because visiting friends is an important part of the holiday. And lets not forget the festivals themselves with delicious treats, fireworks, dragon and lion dances and floating lanterns. This is the biggest celebration of the year and there's no doing things by halves.
Let's talk about some of the traditions and folklore of the celebration.
First off, the legend is that the new year is celebrated the way it is because, long ago, there was a monster called the Nian that would come out every new year's eve to hunt and devour helpless villagers, creating destruction wherever it went. The Nian had a special fondness for the taste of children too. Finally, one year, everyone decided to hide from the beast. As they were gathering to leave, an old man approached them and said that he would stay behind while they hid and he would get their revenge on the monster when it came. While they were away, the old man hung up red papers in the windows of the village and set off firecrackers during the night. When the villagers returned, their village was unharmed but the old man had disappeared. Realizing that he was a deity that had come to help them and show them the way to defeat the Nian, the grateful villagers followed his example and hence the tradition of firecrackers and the brilliant color red became a tradition.
In some stories, its a brave boy that sets off firecrackers to drive away the Nian instead of an old man. In others, its an old beggar that a poor woman gives shelter to for the night.
No matter the story, firecrackers are still set off during the new year's festival, their loud sounds thought to drive off evil and to welcome in good luck. They're set off again during the Lantern Festival that ends the New Year festivities.
Red is still used everywhere too. It's the color of prosperity and energy, driving off the negative. Evenly paired couplets like:
Yīfānfēngshùn niánnián hǎo, wànshìrúyì bùbù gāo
"Smooth sailing with each year; success with each step."
are hung or painted on double doors or to either side of them in red as even numbers (the characters of the couplet that match length on both sides of the divide) are considered lucky as well as warding off evil spirits. Sometimes pictures of gods or heroes are hung in pairs on doors for the same reason. Red lanterns get hung up and much like some people cut snowflakes out of paper, symbols for luck, prosperity and health in the new year are cut out of red paper and hung on windows. There are even red diamond paper decorations with the Chinese character 福 (fú /foo) hung so the symbol is upside down. This is because 福 means luck and when it is upside down over a door the luck pours out over the entire household.
If you want to keep that luck in your house, make sure you do a full spring cleaning just before the new year. This will sweep all the bad fortune out and have your house ready for new blessings to come in. Once the new year arrives though, don't wash yourself the first day. You don't want to wash all that good luck down the drain. For the same reason, there's no cleaning, and especially no sweeping or throwing out trash, until after the fifth day of the celebration. You want to start the new year the way you want it to go on. As such, don't get into fights, say negative words, swear or try to rush people around. Don't use sharp objects like scissors because it will cut off your good luck; for the same reason, don't cut your hair either. Treat yourself to new clothes for the festival, red is best, avoid black and white which have unlucky connotations. Don't buy shoes as the word for shoes sounds a lot like 'evil' or 'bad luck'.
Don't forget the red pockets either! These are red envelopes with money in them. Elderly family give them to the younger generation as a way to symbolically pass on their wealth and blessing and the younger generation gives them to their elders to show appreciation and wish them prosperity and longevity. These are so standard that there are even phone apps these days so you can give them electronically. Remember, an even amount of money is lucky so don't give out an odd one.
And let's not forget the Chinese zodiac. The upcoming new year will be the Year of the Green Wood Dragon. The dragon represents power, success, honor and luck and will bring a creative and auspicious year of progress. People who were born in the year of the dragon however should be careful to wear red underwear every day of the year to keep bad luck from settling on them. And, if you can, be sure to watch the dragon (and lion!) dances as these too chase away the bad and bring in the good with them!
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have I mentioned lately how much "one single thread of gold" sends me because of the implications? 🙃
the thing about "invisible string" that everyone has pointed out is that it's not that they were actually fated to be together, it's that there are all these things in their past that made them who they are and where they are, and the love they share is so special to them that it feels like it could have been written in the stars. (But the whole thing is that, everything about them is so ordinary and a series of happenstance. But love makes everything feel magical even when it is the most normal thing.)
So throughout the song she's musing about the imaginary, invisible string that ties them together, a metaphor about all the decisions they've made along the way that led to them meeting, until the bridge which ends with, "one single thread of gold tied me to you," the only instance of something tangible between them binding them, representing their love (and commitment).
It's interesting that she's used gold a lot in her music to refer to love (and specifically with him), but the "one single thread of gold tying me to you" has always seemed so sweet to me, yet also had such... important implications. (I know I'm talking around it lol) It's just a lovely way to end the song, "look at all these random occurrences in our lives that made us the people we are and now we've built something permanent together."
anyway I will never shut up about this song even if it's now dead in a ditch and listening to folklore was a great idea today instead of working!
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Having the hots for sad vampires constantly on main is not on the same level of Bad Opinion Posting as like, outright homophobia and racism, but, by God, if I try hard enough maybe in 2024 I can make it the same level of Problem
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How Many Minutes To Midnight?
Summary: The answer? 22.
Each tick of the clock draws midnight near, it all leads to this. A countdown to a new beginning or does this spell the end of our love affair? 00:00 it’s time to make a choice. Midnight is here.
Aka the Midnights album fic I promised I would write.
We begin through the Lavender Haze
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How do you feel about Midnights winning AOTY and POPVOCAL?
I'm definitely not looking forward to the discourse that's gonna inevitably take place for the next 2 weeks
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I am surprised at taylor's lack of grammy campaigning this year, given that she has a shot at all 3 general field categories I would've expected her to be really pushing for anti-hero especially
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katherine arden you son of a bitch youve done it again
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the thing about me is when i get into something its never in the order expected and it just pops out of nowhere <3
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happy birthday to my two children: folklore (2020) and my actual child (2022)
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i should really watch white snake tho. the 3rd installment is coming out this year and the first movie has been on my ever growing list for years
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I feel like I can only point out references, hints, and clues that the Phantomhive's have Celtic ties in little bits at a time.
Lately my thoughts have been on the Celtic triskelion that was chosen to be on the clock key of Sebastian's Pocketwatch, in the official merchandise...
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