#vibes and also i dont think ultimately it will have much of an effect

[youssefguedira]

so. y'all might remember the post i made a while back asking y'all your favourite tog cast movies because i love arbitrary data collection. this was in the long ago era before polls were a thing, and now with experience of running one silly bracket under my belt, i have decided to do the same thing, but in tournament form this time. and we're starting with the one i feel most qualified to chime in on, but i DO plan to run the others once this is done depending on how it goes. so with all that said, allow me to introduce:

tog fandom's top luca marinelli movie bracket

because there's a really awkward number involved here, a lot of movies (with higher seeds) won't come in until next round. we will run five in total, with polls running for a week. propaganda is encouraged, you can either add on to the post, send it to me in ask form, or put it in the tags. whichever you choose. judge the movies on whatever metric you choose but try to keep it consistent.

if you HAVEN'T SEEN both or either, i'll be including summaries so you get a general idea of the movie (taken from letterboxd, or in the case of one, written by me) and can vote based on which looks most interesting. or whatever

ROUND ONE HAS CONCLUDED!!

see below for our full list of winners:

L'ULTIMO TERRESTRE / THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (2011) vs MARIA DI NAZARET / MARY OF NAZARETH (2012) - L'ULTIMO TERRESTRE WINS!

LA SOLITUDINE DEI NUMERI PRIMI / THE SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS (2010) vs NINA (2012) - NUMERI PRIMI WINS!

UNA QUESTIONE PRIVATA / RAINBOW: A PRIVATE AFFAIR (2017) vs A DANGEROUS FORTUNE (2016) - UNA QUESTIONE PRIVATA WINS!

LASCIATI ANDARE / LET YOURSELF GO (2017) vs WAVES (2012) - WAVES WINS!

IL MONDO FINO IN FONDO / UP TO THE WORLD (2014) vs THE OLD GUARD (2020) - THE OLD GUARD WINS!

DIABOLIK (2021) vs SLAM: TUTTO PER UNA RAGAZZA (2016) - DIABOLIK WINS!

polls will be posted over the course of the next couple days (possibly starting tomorrow) and links added here. go forth and enjoy

and if you're curious:

overall seeding is based on average letterboxd rating for a couple reasons! partially because it gave me a numerical ranking and also because i couldn't find my og survey post. there are places where it definitely doesnt line up with what id consider tumblr's general opinion on these so itll be interesting to see the ranking at the end of this tournament (i will make one and compare the two because i love arbitrary data collection)

that's all for now!

#data collection is my passion #lm movie showdown #<- tag for me #ive just realised the bracket will be putting le otto montagne against tog next round. rip in advance to my beloved #but i already did screw around with the order of the lowest 3 movies (not popular enough to have a letterboxd rating so that was based on #vibes and also i dont think ultimately it will have much of an effect #unrated ones are: waves / nina / a dangerous fortune / il mondo / maria di nazaret

[cider-est]

An Idea for a Talent Swap Au (Spoilers!!)

Thinking about how similar Min and Xander both are + the paralels between the two, I realised that maybe, if they had different circumstances, they could've had each others talents.

And thus this AU was born!!!

I'll just ramble about some of the ideas I had (feat. some doodles i made). Btw if you dont understand my handwriting, I put a description on each image for accessibility purposes :] (let me know if I fucked them up pls!!) (also Im not a native english speaker so if I fuck up the grammar let me know aswell!!!)

Backstory changes!

I was mainly focused on making this as close in character and canon as I could? Like imagine if they had made one different choice and their lives would have changed completely, butterfly effect and shit.

This means that I had to come up with how they even got the talents in the first place and who they were before the killing game. This is what I ended up with!

In this Au, the Chariton incident did not happen, so Xander's family is alive and well. This means he did not have his realisation that school sucks and that Gpa doesn't matter.

As for Min, for some reason or another, (I've been toying around with the idea that she got burnt out) was not able to achieve the Ultimate Student title. We've seen that she can get quite angry about the school system, so I'd imagine she could take her frustration out on similar unjust systems.

Dynamic between both of them

I also think they'd have a very interesting dynamic! First impressions, probably not great! Min would definitely have a lot of pity and compassion for Xander, having been in his situation before. I don't think Xander would be a big fan of that though, after all, in his eyes, Hope's Peak is a great institution which has given him the opportunity to be an Ultimate. I think his position would take Min by surprise, but she could later on understand where he comes from.

Maybe it's just my "Ex Religious Vibes (tm)" but I like to imagine that Xander would eventually disilusion himself with Hope's Peak. Although since they are on a killing game, the odds are low as fuck. The only way for that to happen during the killing game would have to be for Min to talk about her backstory.

However for that he'd have to 1. be willing to listen 2. Min would have to be willing to share her past (which, she doesn't really seem like the type to ""trauma dump"") so yeah;; not gonna happen.

A shame because they'd have a really cute dynamic. Personally I think they would behave kind of like siblings, bickering and fighting, but still caring for each other quite a bit. Feel free to interpret them as you wish though :3c.

Personality, Talent, and misc. changes

In this Au, I wanted them to mostly keep their personality but have them impact the way they tackle their new talents + have some changes due to their new backstory.

Min, since in this au she's very familiar with pushing yourself beyound your limits and its consequences, I'd like to think she would have a more gentle side to her, and remind her fellow students when to take a break (much to their surprise). She wouldn't want people to be as hard on themselves as she once was.

As for her talent, I think she'd definitely be more thorough with her research, and more careful as to who she'd expose and how she'd expose them. She'd read a lot of sociology, psychology and law books; essentially mastering the theory side of her talent. However, due to her intimidating and unrelatable personality, she'd have to work extra hard to rally people and have them join her side.

Because Xander having survivor's guilt is so essential to his character, I wanted to sort of pay homage to that. However, since his family is alive, I replaced it with other forms of guilt. Moreso with the guilt of not being constantly productive that comes from toxic work habits, plus the guilt and cognitive dissonance that comes with participating in Hope's peak's shady pratices and yet feeling like you should be grateful for their generosity.

He still has a very fiery and passionate personality, which he keeps under wraps to maintain his "Very Responsible Ultimate Student" persona. Being so determined, I figured he wouldn't have such a big problem with motivation and procastination like Min, although he, kind of like Eden, would have a problem knowing when to stop and take breaks.

Story changes?

I've not yet given too much thought on how this would change the story and I'll need to do a little but of guessing work. So, if I were to guess, Min would have to be the one to recieve the "kill teruko tawaki" letter and attempt to murder her, while Xander would be the one to stop her.

Her murder plan would probably be much more elaborate than Xander's, but she'd be easily overpowered by an enraged Xander. I don't know what would happen after that? My ideal scenario would be Min giving up on murdering Teruko and they all stay alive but...yeah no. Someone's gotta die and narrative-wise it makes sense for these two to die.

I don't think Xander would try very hard to hide his crime. The solving would probably be mostly figuring out Min's murder plan. He wouldn't straight up admit it, but he wouldn't fight the accusations very much. I think David would be the one to defend him, he'd get really depressed, but hey! Atleast he gets closure in this au :').

Dynamics with the others?

I've not yet thought about how their relantionship with the others would change aside from Xander would probs try not to get into fights (and fail) while Min could be more confrontational but still plenty antisocial. Anyway!!,here's an extra doodle on their thoughts on David.

Anyways that's all I have for now!! If you liked this au, feel free to add on to it or borrow ideas, that'd be hella sick!!! Just give me some credit and it's fine.

Also as a reminder: [[Do not repost my art anywhere else]]

Thank you for reading!!

#danganronpa despair time #min jeung #xander matthews #drdt #drdt au #talentswap #they both mean the world to me #forgot to add but if canon Xander and talent swap Xander met #Canon Xander would beat the shit out of him #He's basically a mirror of who he once was #long post #if this flops i will cry #i spent so long on this

[andromeddog]

pls talk more about your scottish highlander regiment ocs…… they are so enchanting.. i love the officers

anon i hope you are prepared for a lot of rambling under the cut

hello and welcome to my twisted mind.... i'll try to condense the 10k google doc of lore into something passable here. BASICALLY all of these ww1 guys are part of a web of interconnecting stories that intersect and span before/during/after the war. the main group are the four rugby boys who live in Stirling, Scotland and are drawn into the war in 1916 following the military service act...

from left to right we've got connor, james, peter, and johnny! excuse my bad handwriting but here's the jist of their dynamics. they play rugby together before everything goes to shit (peter is captain, james is the star player, johnny is stupidly reckless, and connor keeps getting into fights) a group of good guys, if a bit rowdy. they join up with the 14th Service Battalion of the Argyll & Sutherlands and spend most of the war fighting on the western front!

two old sketches of johnny and peter..... i think these r from like spring 2022? anyway i could go into more detail about their interpersonal issues but it's a lot and i feel like that could b its own post... ultimately connor gets killed taking out a stormtrooper (another oc) and peter loses a leg about a week later. james contracts influenza and gets sent home but eventually recovers, leaving johnny to finish out the war by himself. their group is definitely not the same after the war, and peter & james in particular really struggle with ptsd in the following years.

AND THE OFFICERS. WOO. aka toxic old man yaoi aka Lt Kincaide and Lt Irvine. these two spend like three full decades being catty and hating each other before they end up getting together LOL it goes something like this: kincaide is from a wealthy family, irvine is not, they meet at school and end up going to the same military academy prewar. they rly hate each other from the beginning and would probably just be petty rivals HOWEVER. irvine is sneaking around somewhere he 1000% should not be and catches kincaide in a very compromising position w another man. irvine intends to tattle but kincaide blackmails irvine into keeping quiet- irvine is there solely on scholarship and kincaide has enough social clout to ruin his military career. basically if kincaide goes down he's taking irvine with him.

that sets the stage for a decades long contentious relationship- partially bc they just keep bumping into each other. irvine obessively tries to find ways to end kincaide's career and kincaide loooooves fucking with him. individually they're very competent people- kincaide is an especially beloved officer even if he is a bit of a romantic snob, and irvine is insanely effective if a bit rigid and cold. these guys got issues on top of issues but proximity eventually leads to a healthy rivalry that becomes something like friendship that becomes basically being married. by the end of the war they are staples in each others lives but they dont get together until a decade or so after it's all over... they each take some damage during the war and spend their later years taking care of each other :')

my beloved old men. they are so fucked up. mutsache4mustache <3

there is so much i could say about them individually and the deep lore but im such a horrendous writer. also this is like a quarter of all of their stuff minus about four characters. the ideal format for this story would be a 300 chapter webcomic/graphic novel but i have neither time nor skill nor attention span for such a sprawling story so it'll just be random illustrations and blurbs in the tags. and my google docs. if any of this has interested ppl i've made a rugby boy playlist and an officers playlist bc im insane. you can get the vibes of their stories a lot better.

and uh i think thats a super rough version of these guys. anon i hope you know that i love you and this ask was so delightful to get <3

#oc stuff #anon #asks #historical ocs my beloveds #peter murray #johnny drummond #connor somerville #james logan #lt irvine #lt kincaide

[kuroshirosb]

Sorry to hear you're feeling bad, I hope you feel better soon. :( I'd like to ask more about Piper in a YGO setting if it's alright! What are his favorite cards of each category (Normal, Effect, Spell, Trap, etc.)

HII I'm home and I'm tired but I am feeling better. Thank u ^^

His favorite YGO cards hmmmm

Normal - this one is just vibes i think. he likes this one a lot. i can see it being like a first card given to him as like a good luck charm for him to achieve his dreams. he has a fondness for it when he reads the card text.

Effect - IGNORING THE OBVIOUS. I'd say Nibiru the Primal Being for this one. I think he's very fond of hand traps in general but Nibiru SPECIFICALLY is satisfying for him to play. Getting to tribute your entire opponents field away in favor of a giant rock. Making them waste resources. It's entertaining

Spell - AS SOMEONE WHOS GONE ON SAYING HE WOULD TAKE DELIGHT IN GISHKI FTK. I think Piper would be pretty fond of Mystic Mine when its legal. Like its the ultimate "don't play" card. Combine that with stategies like Mine Burn and I think he'd be living for it. Super poly is another card that comes to mind. but i think mystic mine just sticks out to me a lot.

Trap - This is another. Piper really likes being annoying at the game. And also another hand trap. I think he finds it especially funny when he goes straight to battle phase IMMEDIATELY and he sees his opponent openly displeased at what he's pulled.

Fusion - I think Piper in general goes for decks of all playstyles in general (jack of all trades. master of none.) and i think the type of win con chimeratech overdragon enables is very much something up his alley. Combine it with powerbond+limiter removal and piper is gonna blast u

Synchro - this one i dont really have much of a reason for imma be honest. i just think he'd really like adamancipators.

XYZ - i think outside of NC piper would find this card insanely fucking funny. if only because i remember when this win strat was all over master duel and was botted. and i think yeah piper would use a strat like that at some point. if not this i can see him being pretty fond of either zeus or galaxy eyes after glow dragon.

Link - this card is like evenly and nibiru where its like. everywhere. and is so good u cant really play the game without it. but idk i just look at the monster design and think "awe yeah this is pipercore". plus its like a lot of his other favs. tried and true.

#cheren piper #this was kind of difficult because i think more about archetypes rather than cards #cards are like an afterthought for me and i mostly just. netdeck. lol #but i hope this answers ur question :)

[urlsaremeaningless]

things said in my discord servers 

I enjoy,,,, explosions and fire, it's one of the few chaotic traits I have

rats are the ultimate wingmen

you gotta use a knife emoji for the maximum effect

would u all like to play ✨ sex or dog toy ✨

let everyone else burn in their little corners and have their Wars

Not pretty but I do love murder

can't believe this is how you christen the channel...actually i totally can and i love it for you

my boyfriend friendzoned me and now he’s eye emoji-ing my choice of emoji

sometimes i just gotta Go Off about ducks, but i dont wanna yeet out Essays

240 lbs of human = 144 lbs of edible meat // W...what? /// don’t ask any questions

We haven’t had Olaf show up on game night in a while it’s been Lorax memes lately

from my limited knowledge, i'm guessing it's about space... and- robots.....

I’m just sitting here… thinking people need to chill and eat a snickers

Baby (my dog) is out to Murder™️

isnt she like. mormon or something

eat bugs and die

I WANT TO JOIN I DO BUT I AM BEING SHOT RN...Like. On film. If that wasn’t obvious

ladies, gentlemen, and those of us with taste, we have our first spinner and our first dabi

I am living for Outlaw Grape tho hells yeah

nobody writes santa baby without wanting to be his ho ho ho

snooping skills 100

Just elope it's fine

the game really said ❤️ u killed too many people

I gib him… lil kiss

i'm very much By Design a not anime person, and yet.

All of u are wrong. No toilet paper. Only leaf

you forgot the giant dildos in the middle

Yeah stick to Quality otomes

Why is this funny but also exactly helpful

old people are just human raisins

PERISHING. WITHERING. SOBBING INTO MY HANDS.

That is definitely like some sort of creature

and by aesthetic I mean the most intentionally hideous horrible and terrible looking thing on the face of the planet

i dont think any of us truly took in the uh ‘exclusively eats apples with a fork stabbed in it’

I mean, do you even love him if you don’t occasionally threaten his life

Yes, but only because I think the knowledge of death would be a burden you couldn’t handle

listen, you make a lot of sense but also-

,,,it is not for the type of kitty that says meow ❤️

It pegged me as a ben folds stan and musical theatre nerd and played the ben folds version of dear theodosia. unfortunately i cannot stand hamilton but like. good try

cool! middle school crush material!

hi this description of a doll review is me @ every girl i've ever met: " I'm not in love or anything okay guys, I just kinda like her."

ALL THE MYTHBUSTERS THAT I WATCHED AS A KID LEFT AN IMPRESSION ON ME

I keep being murdery and I don't mean to be I promise

(nods sagely) understandable

I’ll be a gaymer bitch who doesn’t moisturize vibing with blood, violence, and murder who is Doing Her Best™️ rip

congrats, u are now c h i l d

Is it gay to talk about keeping your zombified partner in a shed and feeding them people ?

#sentence starters #sentence starters meme

[quidfree]

for the r&j discourse... actually the main topic was about chatgpt is currently available in my country and someone made a post to discuss whether ai would rule the world (and concluded its not gonna be that dramatic like people imagine after he teaching chatgpt chess and asking it questions about moral dilemma). the most possible scenario is that ai will be people's mental counselor (or even the one can give advice on/effect our life choices, our morality), and specifically it will replace book/film reviewers cause chatgpt is excellent at these. and that said person made a joke about if those reviewers dont want to be replaced, they should write something that ai would 'despise' writing about; and then he gave an screenshot that he sent chatgpt a message like:

b

so i was just being nosy or whatever about that line "Shakespeare wrote r&j just to criticize love because he thought it's stupid" and thought i could ask you (admittedly i have never read r&j even it got stranlated into my mother tongue 'cause i think it wouldn't be the same when i can read it in its language and still need some motivation for shakespere's works is ...hard lol)

in the discourse, he even noted that current world with ai will be likelier a dystopia in 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley than the one in '1984' by 'George Owell' (which i must also admit i don't have a clue, but asking you once again to give thoughts lol)

it was so random and a lot, i know, and you always have been so kind and generous, no need to burdern yourself with this, just delete this without any qualms if this is too much

thank you ^^

interesting..... i was not expecting this to be the direction that query went in lol.

i find the whole chatgpt/ai = future moral arbiter argument so odd. it's an appeal to objective morality that i don't understand bc i don't believe that exists. humans shape morals and humans make ai. like at the end of the day when we see 'ai generated art' it's art ripped from art real people made, and likewise whatever output we get from an ai stems from some person somewhere. it ultimately is just borrowing the voice of real people and their real opinions.

shakespeare is absolutely hard because the english is old and full of references that even the english no longer understand without guidance! i think if you're interested in romeo + juliet you should absolutely watch the 1996 movie, because it's really beautifully true to the feel and emotion of the play while translating it into a modern setting which makes the text a lot more easily understood. and it's sick. mercutio is so cool. the visuals are outstanding.

i don't know that i can give a good verdict on 1984 vs brave new world as our likely future. my thoughts on those 2 books in particular were like... i remember brave new world gave me the vibe that huxley had a lot of weird sexual hangups, and like a lot of his type of author he had 50/50 valid criticisms of liberal/libertarian capitalism and moral panic over irrelevant issues. 1984 on the other hand is a very particular/time-specific critique and a lot grimmer, and as such easier to read because it's less believable a permanent future.

anw in terms of 'accuracy', a lot of elements from those books exist in our current society, but that's because most dystopia is based on the horrors of present day rather than any genius visions of the future. i will squarely admit i don't enjoy the genre, maybe because i don't like to induce existential anxiety in myself when i read or maybe because i prefer my fictitious social critiques to be less... idk, exaggerated. i feel the same way abt candide.

also your message is very kind to me anon, no need to be so hard on yourself either! i'm always happy to weigh in on random subjects of interest.

#qui parle #qui repond #anon #discourse #dystopia

[defiantdreemurrs]

bussyween, part one: halloween (1978)

bussyween is simultaneously a terrible idea on my part as well as an excuse for me to post more to non-twitter social media sites. as the name hopefully suggests, im slogging my way thru the entire halloween film series, all thirteen films, and posting reviews for each one. for this first installment, we have none other than the obvious first film in the series: 1978s halloween, directed by john carpenter.

of the thirteen films in this series this is one of only two that i have actually already seen before. ive seen it a small handful of times over the last few years and its easily one of my favorite films of all time. because of that i may have some bias towards this one but if you go into reading a review of a piece of media *not* expecting some kind of bias from the reviewer then you're probably an idiot.

the film opens with arguably one of its most effective scenes. following the beautifully presented opening credits we have a roughly four minute unbroken shot of a 6 year old michael myers sneaking back into his house and murdering his sister judith. you can see the extent to which carpenter and crew took advantage of their scant (at the time) budget, most notably in the way the first person perspective carefully hides the various crew members moving things around as needed while the young michael makes his way thru the house. theres also the wonderfully hammy "dying" movements that judith makes as shes stabbed to death, or the way the camera looks away from her while michael continues to stab so the crew can presumably cover the actress in blood. its sort of a microcosm of the entire rest of the film, with many more such examples occurring throughout the runtime.

the hamminess and somewhat cheap looking murders in this film dont particularly ruin the experience though. a notable aspect of this film that its many, many sequels and imitators dont really seem to get is that its ultimately not a particularly violent film. instead if anything its more of a thriller than the typical slasher film. so much of the film is focused on creating a tense, suspenseful atmosphere instead of shocking the viewer with endless gore and violence. its one of the many things about this movie that i feel help it continue to hold up nearly 45 years later.

another one of those aspects is how little explanation we get for michael. the sequels go out of their way to explain as many things about him and his motivation as they possibly can, but this movie keeps him a mystery. at most hes a random guy killing teenagers in his hometown. something like this could happen to just about anyone. thats why it feels so effective, so unsettling, even so many years later. granted part of that is i am a scared little bitch who has a hard time with horror movies, but still.

something else i appreciate about this film is just how *good* it looks. its shot so beautifully, and even though it really doesnt look remotely like the illinois suburb it claims to take place in, it still manages to give off the *vibes* of a chill little suburb. it feels believable. it feels like my little neighborhood. the shots are framed beautifully too. carpenter and cinematographer dean cundey make such incredibly effective use out of the wide frame they were working with, especially when it comes to michael himself. so many of the scenes he appears in thru the film, he occupies such a small amount of the frame as to almost be unnoticeable, and it makes him even more terrifying as a result.

im gonna end this here because i honestly cant think of anything else that hasnt already been said. this movie is almost 45 years old and almost every aspect of it has been covered to death. theres so many things id like to say about the music or the finale or other aspects but there doesnt feel like much else *to* be said. plus i wanna keep these fairly short, i dont feel like spending 8 years writing an entire novel. i still have 12 more movies to get thru, i dont have time to write too extensively.

tune in next time where we cover the very first in a long line of sequels, the aptly-named halloween ii.

#halloween #bussyween #john carpenter #michael myers #movie reviews

[myxinidaes]

sage and ivy?

sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

oh MAN i go inSAAAAAAAAANE over everything always but i think..... absolutely nothing can beat a perfectly illustrated comic. it's got it all. art. fiction. imagery and shit. and then you have to make it all WORK TOGETHER???? wild. i genuinely think that sequential illustrations are like. peak art. and yeah obviously when its done bad it sucks but i would argue you have a lottt more to think about than illustrating or writing alone. bc its a combination of the two!!!!!! and your writing has to compliment your illustrating and vice versa. if one thing is out of balance it detracts from the entire effect. and since it's a visual art form even the font and font size and the word bubbles/ lack of word bubbles are integral to the experience!!! scott mccloud wrote this book on comics that i think about CONSTANTLY like its so so so complex there are so many things that go into even two panels. and since it's illustrating you can make each individual snapshot of time as complicated with as much symbolism as you want...!

.... my ultimate goal for drawing in 2023 is to start dipping my toes into sequential illustrating. over time my daydreaming has slowly become little comic thumbnails which is kind of embarrassing but also i really really really want to do comics. sorry this isnt actually the question at all i just think comics are so fucking cool.

howEVER. good poetry????? life altering. mary oliver lives rent free in my mind. good writing? makes me feel shrimp emotions. good music? on the ground sobbing. there's this one statue of a woman holding her baby and i saw a picture of it and stared at it for like three minutes straight.....

i don't vibe so much with abstract art, but sometimes it's cool too! someone said that the point of really basic-seeming abstract art was to make people think about why they didnt do it either and i guess that's interesting in the hypothetical but then i go to a modern art gallery and likeeeeee man i dont really care.

ivy ⇢ what are your ‘tells’ for your emotions and moods? how can someone tell you’re happy, annoyed, upset or tired?

i'm pretty constantly tired due to *waves at sleep disorder* so i dont think i have any special tells for that other than yawning and being quiet haha. upset/annoyed is withdrawing or getting snappy

happy/content is for sure talking a lot or singing quietly i am soooooo annoying but also i dont really care! it's nice to be happy and if its not hurting other people. whatever! u know? nobody is being forced to interact with me

#ask game

[theartingace]

Hi! I (like many) LOVE your centaur art and worldbuilding. Everything is so interesting and thoughtful. I cant help but be struck by the bond between Riders and Runners. I get very Pacifc Rim drift compatible style vibes from it, which is so cool and basically a new love language. I hope this is an okay question to ask - I dont want to overstep or be insensitive. I read that the bond is very much platonic and like a soul bond (and those kinds of bonds are SO important and underrated). I am also curious if it ever happens that a rider and runner may develop romantic feelings? Or I guess if pairs between humanoid and centaur individuals exist, even if they aren't a runner and rider pair? It's so valid if not! I just couldn't help but wonder. Thank you!

First of all, THANK YOU! Glad you’re enjoying them, they’re very much drift-compatible like relationship, that’s an -excellent- comparison! But I’ll preface my answer by saying I’ve gotten a couple questions to this effect- Do Rider relationships stray into romantic and how do they handle it? And honestly I’ve struggled to answer it purely from the point that I am very much Aromantic! I don’t personally experience romantic attraction and have trouble understanding romance on the whole if I’m totally honest! So it’s really hard for me to see the lines between a QPR and a romantic relationship outside of considering individual pairs on a case by case basis. But I think it definitely happens and it’s not necessarily frowned upon as the line between a QPR (which is pretty standard state for Rider pairs) and a romantic relationship can be pretty fuzzy from outside the relationship.

I think these two are a good example, as they are more codependent than most pairs due to the Runner’s anxious-berserker nature and their relationship could definitely be considered borderline romantic involvement given they are even closer than most due to the emotional dependency and they tend to be very touchy-feely since hugs/contact helps keep the runner grounded. They love and trust each other deeply and are physically affectionate towards each other but personally I would still consider theirs a QPR, as their love is ultimately philial.

It really is a bit of a blind spot for me honestly, but the drift-compatible comparison is VERY apt, and for most pairs it’s basically a given that they are basically life partners so I guess the romantic aspect doesn’t really matter? As long as there’s not too much PDA and you fulfill all your duties to your party and your family, noone really cares about the specifics of your feelings regarding your relationship.

#asked and answered #centaurs #worldbuilding #Rider Culture #centaur Riders #aromantic #sorry this is a bit rambly #it really is hard for me to parse #it's like trying to guess what animal is in the dark based on sounds #i only have so much of the picture #Anonymous

[snakeboistan]

3-E + KARASUNO + 1-A FRIENDSHIP GROUPS

Just a heads up that I don't really know that much about BNHA. Most of my knowledge comes from fanfics, tumblr posts and my bestie so some of these headcanons might be a bit OOC

Nagisa + Hinata + Midoriya

So I’ve already made posts about Nagisa, Hinata and Mido being the ultimate cinnamon roll trio who are the loves of my life, my sons and if anything happens to them I will kill everyone and then myself

Let me adopt them, please let me adopt them 

I mean it is canon that Mama Midoriya is single right?...jk jk ... unless 👀

These precious babies are literally the sweetest guys ever and everyone’s ultimate hype men

They have their own protection squads and at least five people who have a crush on them (these bois be making people question their sexuality like it’s a past time)

They can also turn feral at any given moment and revert back to normal in a second

They act like its no big deal but they have legit traumatised people before

I know that Nagisa and Midoriya are ✨ notebook buddies ✨ but I like to think that Hinata keeps a volleyball journal like Kageyama (like the adorable boyfriend he is) and shows it off proudly to them and Nagisa and Mido are so proud of their tangerine bestie and they teach him how to make notes and analyse like they do and are just so pure (ILOVETHEMSOMUCHYOUHAVENOIDEA)

It’s a legit hazard to have them in the same place because the intensity of the combined smiles of a baby sunshine crow, baby sunshine snake and baby sunshine bunny can wipe out anyone in a 10 km radius

But what a way to go, am I right?

Also, I’m adding Yamaguchi here because he’s a sweetie who can and will end someone if they try to mess with Tsukki the people he cares about 

Do not under any circumstances try to mess with the trio that is Nagi, Yama and Mido because they know all of your secrets and are not afraid to use that to their benefit 

 Isogai + Daichi + Iida 

Did you mean: Dad Friends

Someone help them

It aint easy being a teen parent but they make it work

Also I’m a total simp for all three of them like Iida is everything I want IDKY I’m not saying its the glasses but its totally the glasses

Can and will do the disappointed dad stare. It is effective.

These three meet up to despair about their schoolmates and within five minutes one (or all) of them is getting a phone call because someone needs to be bailed out of jail

Isogai and Iida are class rep goals just saying

They love their classmates but why are they like this

Daichi: *watching Noya and Tanaka egg on the Terasaka gang to let them connect sleds on Yoshida’s motorbikes and go speed racing down the mountain* I ask myself that everyday

Just...someone give them a vacation and some aspirin because they need it

But not for too long because they are the few responsible ones 

Midoriya: *mumbling* That’s funny considering that Iida tried to murder someone in cold blood 

1-A members not aware of the Hosu Incident (so basically everyone except for Mido, Todo and Glasses Sonic): WHAT?!

Karma: Really? That’s weird. Nagisa tried to do that as well

3-E members that didn’t confront Takaoka: WAIT WHAT?!

Karasuno: *paling* who the f*ck are these people…

 Fuwa + Nakamura + Kiyoko + Ashido + Aoyama

The ultimate shippers

Listen, look me in the eyes and tell me that Shimizu Kiyoko doesn’t ship her team and that she does not have a group chat with all of the other managers where they gossip about who’s dating who. Look me right in the eyes and tell me that does not happen.

These people know all of the gossip 

Well actually Nagisa knows all of the tea in 3-E but Fuwa is a close second

Ultimate wingpeople 

 Kataoka + Ennoshita + Momo

I don’t want to say mum friend but they are the most responsible ones if Isogai, Daichi and Iida aren’t around

They are beings to be feared, you dont wanna cross them

There was once a time when all three of them are angered and everyone still has emotional scars to this day

The only ones who can control the chaos

Can also smack talk people like a pro

Have soft spots for the cinnamon rolls

Just imagine the three of them sitting around one of those circular umbrella tables outside of a cafe wearing matching sunglasses and drinking smoothies out of a straw as they judge everyone

 Kimura + Hinata + Kageyama + Kirishima

GYM BUDDIES

Listen, there are athletes and there are athletes™

These boys are the latter 

They race all of the time

I’m not kidding

Everything is a race

Arm wrestles galore

 Hazama + Tsukishima + Tokoyami

Masters of snark

Looks like they can kill you, can actually kill you

Hang out with each other to get away from the stupidity of everyone around them

Hazama and Tokoyami are just chillin’ talking about demonic sacrifice and Tsukki’s like ‘you guys are more tolerable than the feral children I’ll stay here’

Literally have no cares at all

If you approach them they will make you cry

 Chiba + Hayami + Kageyama + Todoroki 

The chill kids

All they do is vibe in the background

They’re entire friendship is just *blank stare* *eye contact* *small nod*

And you know what? That’s valid

Are also totally willing to hide a body 24/7

Todo convinces the other three that his theories are legit

 Terasaka Squad + Nishinoya + Tanaka + Bakusquad

CHAOS

That is it

Do I need to go on?

 Kurahashi + Kouda 

Soft bbys

Would die for them

Go on bug hunting expeditions

Hang out at petting zoos

Kurahashi has fallen in love with Kouda's bunnies as she should 

Are proud parents of every single furry and crawlie critter on the E-Class mountain

Dont worry Nagisa gets to keep his snakes

Go to pet stores and animal shelters

pure cinnamon rolls

 Maehara + Tanaka + Nishinoya + Kaminari

Best hype men

Praise each other like no other

Maehara and Calamari keep on getting annoyed because everyone keeps on pretending to not be able to tell the two apart

They can it's just that it's fun to mess with them

 Karasuma + Ukai + Aizawa

The ‘I came here determined not to get attached and now I’ve adopted a gang of teenagers’

Are literally one second away from becoming alcoholics

Are constantly ready to ‘subtly’ brag about how their students are improving in training 

Karasuma and Aizawa go over sparring procedures and Ukai is just like ‘your students have WEAPONS?!?’

Tsundere but parents

Best Dads

They love their kids 

But dont tell anyone that

It’s okay they know anyway

Will deck anyone that hurts their chaos children in any way

 Koro-Sensei + Takeda + Yagi 

PROUD PAPAS

THEY LOVE THEIR KIDS SO MUCH

THEY CAN SPEND 1284720 HOURS BRAGGING ABOUT HOW AWESOME THEIR KIDS STUDENTS ARE

HAVE WALLETS WITH THEIR PHOTOS IN THEM Yagi’s is just 20+ pictures of Midoriya but shhhh

*Todoroki’s conspiracy theory senses tingle*

They could be at the groceries but they’ll still find a way to brag about their kids

#assassination classroom #haikyuu!! #boku no hero academia

[dyketubbo]

my ask didnt send i am going to murder. anyway BEEP CLASSPECTING... now im thinking abt that and aimsey. from the top of my head/only briefly thinking, beep as rage or void vibes with me? (obvs not the typical rage player you see, more like the nuance we were discussing). and aimsey as a life player?

oooo void beep would be suuper cool :oc rage too, he is very fucking stubborn and does have outbursts rather often (also rage players in canon usually have connections to magic, and then the homestuck rage players all had religious themes so, god stuff). meanwhile void fits beeps heavy "this is all irrelevant and you could never understand any of this", and his own belief that even what he does just doesnt matter. personality under a veil (not necessarily a facade), fundamental inability to understand and truly perceive it all.

id say he doesnt fit rage enough, if only because rage players are fundamentally about survival instinct, and, well. beeps already dead, and he seems to be perfectly fine with the fact that one day he just wont exist at all. hes not scared, though he is easily pissed off, but in the end he just sort of likes messing with shit and being in control. lil dickhead (affectionate)

honestly, since he almost fits rage but not quite, he.. almost acts like a prince of hope (unfortunate eridan kinnie). destroying beliefs and asserting his reality as the Absolute Truth, dragging others like aimsey into his delusions and being in a situation where aimseys putting her faith into him even though hes not a good person because she feels the need to believe in him and connect with him, because she genuinely feels like hes the only friend they have left, and because aimsey wants desperately to believe in what beep is trying to show her, desperately wants to understand. he shuts down things he believes to be false, to the point where he can make them false by simply destroying the problem.

hes a force of outward destruction, destroying what he believes to be flaws in others. theyre heavily defensive, putting everyone beneath them, believing hes the one thats doing it Right, and ultimately, he believes its his right to control things. he doesnt trust anyone, he reacts to any fear he may have with anger, lashes out, and the "TELL. NO ONE" scene almost showcases beep shattering and hurting aimsey before he steps back and give a quick "sorry!". his arc seems to be leading up to him realizing he can care about aimsey, that he can trust her to believe him and in him, and he seems to be dealing with the concept of trusting aimsey with his beliefs

hes definitely not a general hope player, but specifically prince of hope could fit. onto possible void class combos, with, first, the notable fact that we dont know what kind of person beep may have been in the past, other than that he was destructive. we know about some events in his past, and how he feels about them (kinda), but generally, this means hes very versatile and has many class possibilities, depending on how we want to interpret what we do know.

for example, he could be a maid whose now in the apeshit stage, stubborn and repressive. its entirely possible he got so tired of listening to the other spirits that he got to the unhealthy stage, exploded, and now without anything stopping him, hes doing whatever the fuck he wants, because hes decided none of it matters, that its all irrelevant and he doesnt have to care because its his fucking universe and no one can stop him from playing god. he spends his time doing menial things, because to him, its all equally unimportant, so why not waste time? he cuts down unnecessary tasks, weeds out what he finds useless, etc etc. basically, he should still be independent, but he needs to be brought back down to earth (metaphorically), because hes kind of burnt himself out and is now fucking with things because he feels none of it matters anyways

sylph of void sort of works too, mainly his meddling and tendency to shut down anything that could reveal something he doesnt want revealed, as well as shutting down others viewpoints and he covers up shit whenever he wants. his motivations are, really, mostly unknown to us, other than that he seems to think this is fun. otherwise, he also has a tendency to try and fix things he thinks needs fixing (like getting rid of fairies and space creatures), and will often try to fix mistakes he sees in mortals. however, slyphs are ultimately healers, and beep just. is not a healer, and he doesnt necessarily invite creation of void in any way, since void isnt really destruction of anything, and what he does invite is destruction of things. hes also just too active to be a slyph

so, with the previous prince assession, theres also the possibility of him being a prince of light, which would mean he would act more like a void player. hed destroy light with light, destroy the importance of information with information. they strip away the importance of things, uses plain fact to force the perception that nothings really important. he dismisses the importance of things, purposefully acts ignorant to draw away from what he knows, destroys knowledge itself from a power standpoint (wiping aimseys memory), and in extreme cases, can physically destroy anything in his way, or assert over and over that what he said/did isnt real, that nothings true or important other than what hes saying. again, little shit. if i had to make up my mind, i think prince of light fits the most

as for aimsey, i think life does fit him really well, shes definitely got the similar "girl next door" kind of vibes, while still being really interesting in her own right. she definitely starts out as a typical fictional life player, enthusiastic, energetic, genuine, wanting to effect the world. shes a normal girl (and this isnt an insult, rather, her being so normal ties the magical themes of the bear smp together really well, and its a perfect way to use a life player, make them be a catalyst for both the normal life player and eccentric others to shine). however, as she struggles with losing trust in bear and not being treated well, not having anyone that cares about them specifically, the energy starts to falter, but comes back when they feel the need to be rebellious. notably, while aspects arent super literal, she contrasts beep so much in just how alive she is, which fits her being a life player rather well. except, as i said, aspects arent literal, which means aimsey being a life player translates to her showing what life means in a metaphorical sense.

life is about agency. its about what you do, your ability to do so, its about asserting your will. not what drives you, but simply you doing at all. interesting enough, life players can be hard to pin down because life is about desire and agency, while the players class defines their ideology. life players can become obsessed with an idea that they need to do something, that they need to change how systems work, and often can cloak their want to fulfill their individual desires as altruistic want to fulfill others needs and desires (i.e., aimsey wants a friend and someone who pays attention to her and is genuine towards her, she feels like shes found that in beep, and as such starts to cloak her want to be his friend as aimsey wanting to help beep rather than aimsey themself).

as for said class.. this was, hard. because of how heavily influenced life is by the class its paired with, and because aimseys arc right now is trying to deal with feeling like shes too much and unneeded, it means that i have to really consider how that connects with which classes struggles. so, i ended up with sylph. aimsey is a creator, and she tries to heal as well. "allowing creation/healing of life or inviting creation/healing through life". from a literal standpoint, she tries to help bear heal by trying to get him to open up, to live, to make friends and interact with people. this could almost seem like a blood player move, but while a lot of aimseys arc is about bonds and relationships, shes not really a strong connecter or leader, shes just good at inspiring others to be, to her own detriment.

also notably, unhealthy sylphs crave, whether craving more of their own aspect, or craving another aspect when they feel theirs is not enough. aimsey talks a lot about how she grew up doing things by her lonesome, and now that she feels like people are moving on without her, she may be craving blood (that sounds so awful out of context). she wants attachments, wants to be the person that brings everyone together, but.. she isnt, not in a way thats appreciated. and due to her insecurities, she sees this as a flaw within himself, and as something to fix. so, she latches onto beep, and desperately tries to have as much of an effect on their life as they do on hers. like life players in general, sylphs try to solve their problems under the guise of helping someone else with theirs. currently, aimsey seems to be trying to find what she needs to do, because when she tried to do what she thought she needed to do, she (from her perspective) failed, so now shes trying to make up for her perceived failure within herself by trying to help herself through helping beep. i would think into it even more but i think its probably best to just leave it here KEKW

#angel answers #long post #im afraid to count the paragraphs on this one tbh #i dont think its That Much but it felt like it #beep bsmp #aimsey #bear smp #bsmp classpecting #hs

[the-nysh]

ngl i rlly dont like that the redraw got rid of gremlin!tats. murata finds every single opportunity to oversexualise the female characters even at the cost of character and comedy

While I love me some gremlin Tatsu, who shows when she’s self-assured without getting serious yet, much like Saitama’s gag-egg faces, it’s also oddly true Murata scrapped all those panels (I’m gonna miss em!) in favor of completely redrawing her to look more ~impressive~ I suppose, after he’s long since drawn all her ultimate attacks against the base... Perhaps looking back in hindsight, he felt unsatisfied that her chibi forms were inadequate showcases of her power and...other assets besides. Now, I’m not here for purity wank, but I did have several thoughts/reactions upon seeing the new panels.

Old (left) vs newly revised (right)

So it’s been nearly two years since Murata first drew this ch (which appears to have been moved up from ch106 to ch113 as well) so not only have several events + characters been rearranged that we see a different group reacting to Saitama’s Rover punch, but Murata’s tastes have evolved since then too. Most notably, we’ve witnessed him gradually become an ass man over time (following Zombieman’s and Flash’s of course, heck even the girl merc this ch got another ass shot), so seeing this new panel of floating Tatsu’s rear honestly made me lol.

Because *sighs* it’s unsurprisingly classic Murata. :P It seems we lost Atomic Samurai here and....(!!) wait a sec...Bang lost the definition on his pecs?! Oh no. D: His traded for Darkshine’s on this page I guess, but also there you go - how current Murata’s tastes exchange a pair of tits for an ass. :P

This next one honestly made me go ooooh in awe, since she’s now glowing with the similar display of power as shown in her recent moon shot. It now has that comparable vibe in aura, even though yes we sadly lost her classic unassuming gremlin form. 

The panel’s exchange in favor of showing Tatsu prepared to get right down to exterminating business as usual, visibly as the most powerful esper without question now, it seems.

So this one I honestly felt was an improvement over the old panel:

Since I always felt the old one (on the left) was an unnaturally serpentine way for her to stand (warped kinda awkwardly), but now she’s standing firm with no nonsense. Her hand on hip pose was changed to the previous page (above) as she made her entrance before Gyoro started talking. Now she silently crosses her arms in opposition as Gyoro monologues. I’m fine with this change.

This next one is a minor change, but it differs slightly in body language:

Before, Tatsu was more coldly detached and unimpressed at Gyoro’s words, but now after making their formal introductions, she’s more annoyed, scoffing and dismissive instead. Like ‘let’s get this over with as my full powers aren’t necessary here anymore,’ it feels. Whichever panel you prefer is subjective, but her reactions and the way she holds herself in front of the enemy more naturally follow the flow of their conversation here, I think. 

So if we take the first revised page (while mourning the loss of Bang’s tits) as a side effect of current Murata’s whims (which I can honestly laugh off), looking at the other 3 pages as a whole, old gremlin Tatsu was characteristically fun to see yes, but she wasn’t serious about confronting the boss from the start. Now she enters posturing/displaying her power while interrogating, then lets up (literally turns off the aura) after their transaction of words leaves her unimpressed. And if Murata doesn’t change their upcoming ‘fight’ after this ch, then Tatsu goes full gag chibi form to even greater unimpressed gremlin effect later. So while Murata’s perfectionism decisions can be fickle (not knowing which ones he’ll redraw or find unsatisfactory) with some obvious trade offs according to his tastes, it’s also not so clear cut it’s an overall cost to character & comedy either. Since I felt the third page was a definite improvement. So for now I guess the reception depends on reader to reader, but we won’t see how it all flows together (how much the changes are worth it) until the next volume’s out.    

#opm #tatsumaki #manga spoilers #commentary #long post #Anonymous #replies #murata's edits to the first page made me lol #cause if you wanna see something REALLY upsetting then check out this week's chapter of dr stone :P #where boichi's full gratuitous page of a woman convulsing from a venomous spider bite grossly took me out like wtf.... #murata's not nearly as offensive as THAT trust me #anyway we've all witnessed his evolution towards an 'ass man' (even with the dudes) #so if all of this doesn't culminate towards garou's god-level ass too then WHAT'S THE POINT 8'D hahaha

[msawesomegeek]

Alita battle angel – Movie review

A/N: look at me, watching a movie. Yay. However it might be me thats hungover and procrastinating doing an exam. Anyways. I have a lot of thoughts on this movie.

SERIOUSLY SPOILERS AHEAD, skip the whole first section if you wanna avoid.

Okay, so, Alita battle angel, is a two hour movie that came out last year. It is about Doctor Ido, who in the scrapyard finds a core that's still alive and gives her a body. Alita wakes up and doesn't remember who she is. She learns the ways of this world in Iron city and about the floating city Zalem, and we meet (I'll be honest here, I liked him but I cannot for the life of me remember his name right now so let's call him whatshisface for now.) whatshisface, he is the love interest and he really wants to go to Zalem. We are also introduced to Vektor a rich guy who runs motorball, a popular sport. He is working with Ido's ex wife and she also has a hard on for going back to Zalem. A bunch of stuff happens, Alita finds out she's a marsian warrior, gets in a fight with a bounty hunter after becoming one herself. Enters the motorball tournament to get money to give to whatshisface so he can go to Zalem, action happens. She finds out no one goes there intact only in the creepiest way possible, talks to the person whose been the puppet master all along. Enters the big tournament to become an ultimate champion to go to Zalem. The end.

Mostly spoilerfree zone now.

So. Normally I do not go into that much detail about a movie's plot, but I wanted to do it here to show just how much this movie is just far too complicated. It suffers, sadly like a lot of action movies these days, from sequel syndrome. In which you can tell they wanted to cram a lot of info into this movie but also have a lot of exposition for the sequel, which ends up needlessly complicating and confusing the plot of the movie that you're already watching – think Suicide Squad or Justice League. The worst part of this is you're watching a movie hoping for an ending and then you're not getting it. A movie should be a story told from beginning to end, not beginning and then we reveal that there is a final boss and you just killed the small boss.

Besides that, I also wanted to write out the storypoints to show how weird and confusing it gets. I get wanting to build tensions and conflict, but I honestly felt like it tried to do everything, meaning we didnt really have time to get interested in any of the plot points in depth. (oh my god I just remembered whatshisface's name!). And that way it also feels like you're not watching a cohesive plot but like a sequence of events that are sometimes related. That lack of focus even extends to the characters. Alita spends the first half of the movie really wanting to kill this dude, and then just forgets about it until the end of the movie. Like, what?

And that also brings me to another problem with this plot, *sighs* it suffers from Spiderman 3 disorder – and by that I mean, this movie, has a villain problem. The villains are far too many, and also almost constantly has weird motivations, like there are logical motivations that would make sense for them to become antagonistic, but the movie just opts for the weirdest ones. Like the bounty hunter, wants to kill Hugo (whatshisface), and they spend like 10 minutes on it, and it seems like it is because he wants revenge on Alita from earlier, but then he just does not try to kill her or anything when she shows up! I had to rewatch those scenes, and I still have no god damn clue why he wants to kill Hugo! And that is a problem! AND then, you have Vektor sending all these other bounty hunters to kill, which is, fine. But again, I have no f*cking clue why HE wants to kill her? Why does the evil overlord that controls everyone want to kill her? Like, the fact that there are this many villains is a problem on its own, but then I at least need to know WHY all these villains are there (okay I am gonna do something that is normally illegal on the internet); I mean at least in Spiderman 3 we all knew WHY they wanted to kill Toby Maguire! How, just, how, do you mess up something so fundamental?!

Sadly the next problem is kind of related. Most characters. Look I get that there are some conflicts that are needed. But like, especially Hugo, what?! Like I get his crime thing being wrong and why it would create some conflict, but it seems so forced somehow. And like, when his girlfriend wants to do something really dangerous to make his dream happen, he tells the others he quits. But then why from there not just come clean to Alita, and be like, sorry babe I used to do this because I was in a desperate situation, but now I have learned something. It would have been compelling for his character. Because honestly he has some sweet moments, but otherwise I feel like he is just selfish. And that is fine, but make it compelling selfishness! Also except for the last 10 minutes of the movie, why does the Ido's wife have to be there? It seemed weird. The only antagonist I actually enjoyed was bounty hunter guy because he had just a pinch of a personality sprinkled in there. Alita is fine, maybe a little op, like let her train or something. Ido was good and honestly probably the best character in this movie, but his motivations are so weird sometimes.

So, uhm, what was good? Well, the fight sequences weren't bad, I liked them. The special effects were pretty cool. I loved what they did with those extreme zoom ins on her eyes. The acting was good. Cinematography was pretty good, not noticeable, but also weren't any scenes where I didn't know what was going on. The soundtrack has a very James Cameron vibe to it, which was okay.

Overall, did this movie suck? Yes. For multiple reasons, the story is weirdly paced and put together in a way where it feels like they wanted to cram like three books into one movie (or as I like to call the "opposite Hobbit effect", I'm sorry, I dont know why I have started making weird names for things to amuse myself during this review but here we are I guess.). And a lot of the plot points seemed forced, there are too many villains and all characters need to be tweaked so we actually understand their motivations for things. But visually it was pretty. But I'll be honest, I dont even recommend watching this as a its so bad its good. It is just weird, confusing and bad.

1 out of 10 stars (and that one star is for the actors and the visual teams only.)

So those were my thoughts, tell me what you thought? If you disagree with me and I completely misunderstood your favourite movie! Or if there is any other movie you wanna talk about or want me to watch and review – send me an ask. :)

- Em

#alita battle angel #battle angel alita #alitabattleangel #alitaarmy #James cameron #Movie #movie recommendation #movie reaction #movie releases #movie review #movie reviews #movie recc #movie recs

[im-the-punk-who]

Hi, I dont know if you read or know anything about Macchiavelli's "Il principe", but I am studying it in school and I cant help but compare it's fundamentals to how Flint leads. I'm just curious about what you think

Eekekekekekekekekekekkek okay so first off Anon, you are absolutely, 100% right to be getting those vibes. If it’s not actually textual it is at the least meta-textual that Flint ascribes to a very Machiavellian type of leadership. His whole ‘never was there a Caesar who couldn't sing the tune’ speech is...licherally a direct reference to Machiavelli's philosophy that leaders cannot retain their leadership without sacrificing some level of ethical behavior in order to manipulate and deceive their subjects into following them.

And, Flint owns at least two books from thinkers who drew directly on Machiavellian thinking in their texts: De Jure Belli Ac Pacis by Hugo Grotus and The Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes are both visible in Flint’s cabin, and both drew heavily on the type of leadership principles established in books like Il Principe. 

(Also, my eternal quest for the book that sits *under* The Leviathan in that scene remains. Y’all I will literally pay someone for this knowledge. My best guess is Plato’s De Republica.)

In fact, the whole system that Flint’s world was operating under at this time was very machiavellian in influence. 

Henry VIII, who converted to Protestantism and who would eventually lead England in the conversion from Catholicism to Protestantism that would then in turn eventually lead the country into the War of Spanish Succession(the war being fought during the London 1705 flashbacks), was a student of Machiavellian thinking. He took the teachings of Il Principe to heart and used them to transform his country. Over the next hundred and fifty years, England would change from an entirely Catholic country to a Protestant one. Of note, Catholic scholars generally disagreed with Machiavelli’s principles on the grounds that it did not support the Divine Right of Kings.

As well, the Enlightenment thinkers that influenced Thomas Hamilton(and Flint himself) were starting to argue more for personal liberty and choice of the governed, both concepts presented in Machiavelli’s writings. (For those following along, this approach was also being used to justify slavery, as what was ‘good for the state is good for the man’ was used as justification for everything from impressment to colonization and slavery. Men were willing to set aside their morals for what they justified as good for the state. Shrug emoji.)

As James says of England when he and Thomas view the hanging in London:

“You think Whitehall wants piracy to flourish in the Bahamas?”

“No I don’t think they want it but I think they’re aware of the cost associated with trying to fight it. And I think that that sound travels.”

Here we see that Flint knows what Thomas doesn’t or does not want to accept: that England is willing to sacrifice some morality and some amount of lives(both of pirate-prisoners and the ships they take) in order to save themselves the financial burden of rooting out the causes of piracy. The justification for piracy was that it is too costly to fight, and that the nation ultimately benefits from a bit of strife as it drives prices up and allows England to place within the sights of its citizenry an identifiable enemy. (Note that Blackbeard also argues the same of Nassau, that prosperity ‘made it soft’.)

Even as he is changed by Thomas’ line of thinking, this lesson will stick with Flint and we’ll see it over and over again as he deals with the men’s hatred of himself by redirecting them towards other avenues(Vane, Hornigold, England, etc.)

And in actuality, this is what sets Thomas very much apart from his political brethren - he was *not* willing to sacrifice his morals in order to achieve a ‘more effective’ victory. Once he realizes that moral deficit shown by England, he creates the pardon plan to argue directly for a more moral and just way of governance. His whole premise for the pardons was to show England that an approach that considered the needs and wants of the governed was ultimately more effective, both in cost and in gaining the genuine good will of the people. And again, this is another likely reason why Thomas was then targeted by Peter Ashe and his father. Railing against the entire system of government was dangerous. Particularly if one was railing against the government in a way that could be seen as support of an opposing system of religion and political rule(remember how I said before that Catholics were generally against the Machiavellian systems?) Put plainly, Thomas’ rejection of Machiavelli’s leadership tactics would have been yet another argument for his treason against the crown.

Interestingly also, Marcus Aurelius - Thomas Hamilton’s homeboy - is said to be one of Machiavelli’s five “good” emperors, of whom Machiavelli wrote,

“[they] had no need of praetorian cohorts, or of countless legions to guard them, but were defended by their own good lives, the good-will of their subjects, and the attachment of the Senate.”

How we tryna be.

And so we see that Flint has - not so much fallen back into England’s line of thinking but perhaps that he never really fell out of it. And that this is actually a rift in his potential ability to conform to Thomas’ line of thinking, assuming we see that line as more morally correct. We do see Flint, gradually, throughout the course of the show, move more away from this Machiavellian line of thinking, especially once he meets Madi and the Maroons.  And to me at least it’s one of the most important character shifts we see - in contrast to the trajectory of John Silver becoming Long John Silver  - throughout the series. Just as Flint is finally starting to really value the lives of those around him, Silver has learned how effective those tactics can be in achieving his goals. As Hands says - ‘I wonder if he knows how much you learned from him.’

And in fact, Silver almost directly quotes Machiavelli at one point when he talks to Flint about their different leadership styles.

“I once thought that to lead men in this world, to be liked was just as good as being feared, and that may very well be true. But to be both liked and feared all at once, is an entirely different state of being in which, I believe, at this moment, I exist alone.” 

Whereas Machiavelli in his chapters addressing cruelty and mercy writes

"Here a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved." 

This is clearly the approach Flint has taken - he is the most feared captain on the seas. Certainly in the colonial world and on Nassau, too, his name brings a certain amount of fear with it. Because of this he has been safe from rebellion for quite a long time - however he is also not unaware that his power comes from the people. In the very first episode he talks of his plan with Gates to “position people in all the right places so the crew would never turn.” He has, for an unknown amount of time but I would suspect from the very beginning, been manipulating the crew’s opinion of him to keep them happy. Gates himself, and Silver later, are prime examples. 

Both of them; Gates for the first ten years or so and Silver in seasons 2+3 act as a go between - being the ‘liked’ to Flint’s ‘feared’. They convince the crew - the ‘people’ in this case - that Flint’s plans are in their best interest and not truly the act of a tyrant. It is only when Flint forgets - or neglects to respect - that the will of his crew is how he keeps his power, that he really starts to fail. And, later also, that now he has a rival - Silver. 

Now, I do want to point out that personally I don’t think Flint is a needlessly cruel ‘ruler’ in the sense the crew sometimes thinks he is, nor is he trying to be as a king is to english subjects. He has power, of course, and he does manipulate, lie, and kill if necessary to maintain his power in accordance with Machiavelli’s principles, but he does not do so ruthlessly or to a degree that is unnecessarily violent, nor with only his own advancement in mind. His goals genuinely are in service of the people he leads, even if the tactics he uses sometimes put them in danger for it. Moreso, I would argue that Flint is a prince who created his own princedom. He took an existing power structure(the pirate council in Blackbeard, Hornigold etc) and took most of the power for himself, either through luck, violence, or political maneuvering. And then he kept it through skill and tactical advantage.

Silver, in contrast to Flint’s new princedom, is truly a ‘prince of the people’. He comes to power through convincing the other pirates that he has their interests at heart - even when he doesn’t. But Silver soon learns that being a well-loved leader is difficult. It isn’t until Silver kills Dufresne and Billy uses that fear to build a legend that ‘Long John Silver’ the pirate king comes into being. Silver learns, just as Flint knew, that in a world or corruption, often leaders need to make sacrifices of things they would have once deemed important. 

(I think it’s also important to note for Silver that his main goal is actually one Machiavelli writes of as being ‘a will of the people’. Silver’s main wish is not to rule, not really. His biggest motivator is ‘to be free’. To not have to make choices based on the will or subjugations of others. And so, he attempts to make the leadership forced upon him into something that frees him - unfortunately for him, Madi is right when she says that the ‘Crown is always a burden’ and it would be truly impossible for him to find the kind of freedom he wishes for while wearing it. Which, honestly, is part of why he ultimately fails in that regard as leader of the revolution.)

In the later seasons we see Flint go through this change in philosophy after he meets Madi and the Maroons. He begins to actually value the lives of the people he leads. When put to the choice of going through with the raid on the Underhill estate despite the risk it poses to the slaves on other plantations, Flint resists the idea. As he tells Madi - it would have cost them far more to ignore the ‘will’ of those people he hoped to lead - the slaves - than it would gain them to go through with the plan. And later, even though he can’t be blind to Max’s sway with Eleanor and the others, unlike Billy (and oh how the mighty have fallen, Mr. Bones!) he doesn’t even seem to consider keeping her rather than trading her for the lives of his other men. He no longer wants to trade a potential political victory for the suffering of those he leads. So, too, when he attempts to trade the cache for the fort, he is doing so with the goal being to not have to put those under his power in danger if there is another option. It is, at least to me, an incredibly moving character arc and one that is so very understated. 

And honestly, I think it’s what *needed* to happen before he could move on from his rage-hate bender and begin to find the sort of peace that one might argue those ‘good’ rulers had. Machiavelli’s principles tend to get in the way of your ability to connect with other people: when you see them just as pawns in a game, friends and foes lose their intrinsic value of just being important on an emotional level. It is only through learning to truly value his partners that Flint can learn how to be a better and more just leader.

Also, this passage in chapter 15 absolutely KILLS me in regards to both Flint, and Thomas Hamilton:

“Men have imagined republics and principalities that never really existed at all. Yet the way men live is so far removed from the way they ought to live that anyone who abandons what is for what should be pursues his downfall rather than his preservation; for a man who strives after goodness in all his acts is sure to come to ruin, since there are so many men who are not good.”

Like bitch!! We get it!! Too much sanity!!! Shut up!!!!!

Anyway, all this to say that you’re absolutely right in seeing parallels between Flint’s style of leadership and a Machiavellian prince - he is absolutely written as a prince-like leader. As are Silver, Rogers, even the Maroon Queen(and Scott and Madi as extensions of her) can be compared to certain rulers in Machiavelli’s archetypes. Even Thomas, who models himself after one of those ‘good emperors’ engenders a type of political leader Machiavelli writes about.

(Also lastly, i want to very quickly point out this guy, Cesare Borgia:

Who was a prince of ‘fortune’ who lost his princedom to trusting the wrong person. What a beard, amirite? What a face. He’s even got the rings! I’m sure this means nothing.)

So basically yeah, Flint is absolutely a Machiavelli bitch. 

#anyway talk dirty morally grey philosophy to me!!! #black sails #james mcgraw #captain flint #machiavelli #black sails meta #milos black sails meta #long post #Anonymous

[maniacalmagician]

EVERHOOD: Pinocchio in Psychedelic Purgatory: the Rock Opera Adventure. OR: I walked backwards into hell, and felt euphoria as I became privvy to the Divine Truths

Hello tumblr people. I’ve been Away. I played a game recently and I wanted to talk about it.   damnit i really wanted to put pictures into this mini essay. ive been away from this garbage site for too long, i dont know how to do it lol.  ok anyway    First, I want to say to the developers and anyone else that this has quickly become one of my all time favorite games. Currently writing I have personally never felt a greater emotional attachment to an experience with a piece of software. Perhaps it is the extreme idiosyncratic nature of it, perhaps it is the deeply intriguing storyline, mostly however it is a combination of those in addition to some of the most outstanding psychedelic visuals I have ever seen, particularly in the finale sequence, and a killer soundtrack that combines many genres but focuses mostly to being as bangers as possible. I will be upfront and say this game comes with a boatload of trigger warnings, and thus the aforementioned idiosyncratic nature of it may not appeal to everyone, however I feel it necessary to indicate potential content warnings here as I would hate for people to be triggered: epilepsy is the big one, I myself have mild stutter based epilepsy and it didn't cause health problems or anything but my case is not universal. Anyway. That is a hard warning on epilepsy. I do it because The Incredibles 2 did not, lmao (that's an example of the kind of visuals that trigger me personally. An aside ) Other things include (spoilers): arachnophobia, misophonia (screeches, unsettling sounds), themes of death, immortality, suicide. Some game mechanics are not immediately intuitive and puzzles require some pretty clever but sometimes obtuse solutions. Direction is not always super clear either. People have complained of performance issues but I am leaving this review after playing the switch port, which played smoothly other than some awkwardly long loading times here and there. What I have played of PC so far runs smooth but as of writing, performance for me was fine (my pc is a lowend budget build). There is a difficulty to it. Even playing on easier modes, it can be quite unforgiving. If you're a fan of hard games (I am but I suck at them) and rhythm games (this is, uh, Not? That? Almost functions as half walking sim, half rhythm Game, dodgy shoot em up kinda feels. Truly unique gameplay I think. Constantly switches things up, too. But yes I also adore rhythm games, and yes i also do suck at those too.), half of it is that. The devs troll you with puzzles. It's truly a wild experience as it advertises, one of a kind. And yet, however.... This game wears, much like its heart,, its references, on its sleeve. If you are not into that kind of thing, you will probably be annoyed by this game. It also loves to delv into meta, as many puzzles and interactions are references to the UI of the game itself. Personally, I'm not wild about meta but I appreciate the ernestness here, so I'm willing to roll with whatever this game throws at me because every turn feels unexpected, fresh, funky, somber, and wildly intelligent, with boldly sincere ludonarrative choices, script and art direction. If you like Geno from super Mario Brothers, which, guess what, narrator here LOVES Geno from Super Mario Brothers, this is functionally the game you've always wanted that Nintendo could never make because Square has held Geno hostage in some kind of underground torture facility since 1995. Turns out they were rather right to do so, because when that puppet is out serving a higher authroity, he can be quite dangerous. Narrarively it borrows much from its sources but I would argue there's proof the writers have spent time thinking about the implications of their source materials worlds, and that reflection casts itself back to create this, experience that is wholly unique even if we know Red is Geno and "Gaster" (who was based on Uboa from Yume Nikki or princess mononokes forest spirits), and some kind of disco Marceline character who changes their identity frequently, skeleton brothers- well undead brothers, really - We have to remember in the creation and consumption of media sometimes, influences and archetypes are ever present and Everhood almost itself is a realm that would indulge in the idea of self referential material. It makes for this very Jungian experience of friendly archetypes we're familiar with, which works well with this setting of an immortal realm. Thats not to say the personalities we do meet aren't expounded upon - they are, heavily, and become uniquely their own. (Spoiler) if my theory is to be believed this world is a purgatory where people have made their own artificial vessels and as time has made them bored (though some seem to be having a good time) while typical strains of the Pinocchio myth are thrown in about questions of identity and death - and probably even more so towards Timothy Learys concept of the Ego Death, or the return to the collective soup of unconcious being. Undertale will probably always be a reccomendation even by its own reference to it so comparisons to it will be littered through here. It feels like the developers were emboldened by Toby Foxs spirit in game development (his creative energy is rather infectious) and shared many similar ideas, but this feels far more aimed towards a maturer audience (references to the things I mentioned in the trigger warning list) and focused on achieving this feeling that its predecesors have as well. Yume nikki. Lisa. Earthbound. Toby's games. super Mario rpg in its humor, Cat Soup in its psychedellic depressive vibes, all this cool indie cult classicy kinda mash up soup.  bizarre antics and then these characters who have surprising depth the further you go. It has been 6 years since Undertale came out, and the developers for Everhood have called a lot of the "what ifs" that fans of that game ask, an answer in their own game. (What if No Mercy was forced, for example? What if going against destiny is the wrong thing to do? Why is Death such a Bad Thing? etc!) And the further along you progress, the smarter the story gets, the more complex the narrative threads and characters. This game knows how to write compelling literature and that wasn't an element I expecting but god am I so glad for it. Literally my pea brain saw Red's design flipping around some frets on a streamers videocapture (shoutout to based fellow tampa native Charles White, thank you for being witty and having good taste and your Floridian comisery.) one night and went "oh i like." But the experience I got in exchange was, so, so much more than that (but the tetris effect won't let that image disappear from my eyelids quite yet haha.) I hear there are multiple endings and one requires a 3 hour long trek. I'm not done with the game at the time of reviewing. You bet your sweet ass I am going to find out the Ultimate Truth. I found a way to deal with some of the bullshit in other games, I may not be great at games but I want to see whatever imagery these guys put on screen so it compels me to seek out all the alternative routes. I am going to be following these developers projects very closely. If this is their debut, their next project will be ... ... I would hate to force expectations, like if you just made a magnum opus like this it'd be perfectly alright to retire, but I just once again want to say thank you to the developers for putting your heart on display for the world to see. I see it. I have dealt with struggles similar to the ones in the stories this game articulates about anxiety and depression, existentialism and dread, dissociation and all the heavy themes that were risky to include narratively - I'm certaintly glad you took the risks you did. May update this review as I get further along the story but yeah. Tl;dr: haha pinocchio myth done well make brain go brrr. 9.99999999999998/10. I am taking an infitisimal fraction of a point off because of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ spider in the monster maze. that thing was abhorrent, but I won't let it deter anyone else who wants to play.

#everhood #audnalysis