#we don't want to think abt the tragedy?

[horreurscopes]

So, I could be out-of-bounds here since I think you meant it as dark humor, but what did you mean in the tags of that 'israel-hamas war' post? I suspect you(and op) are criticizing that framing because Israel is obviously demolishing much more than 'Hamas'(and probably doing a terrible job of actually targeting terrorists- they seem content to reduce Gaza to rubble even if the brass of Hamas escapes). I'm guessing that by saying "joining the Israel-Hamas war on the side of Hamas" you mean, if they're going to conflate Palestinians with Hamas unilaterally, then you're saying, whatever the media wants to call Palestinian civilians- you still support them. I am asking anyways though bc, given reports of increasing antisemitic activity in the US and Europe, I am worried about the potential for blurring lines between the cause of Palestinian civilians and the alt-right individuals who are likely masking their antisemitism in the context of being anti-Zionist. Although Israel's government has been the source of Palestinian loss for decades, (it seems to me that) even joking about supporting terrorism is enough to reinforce the persuasion that Israeli/Palestinian Jews and Palestinian Arabs must be mutually-exclusive peoples. I don't think it's fully rational per se(tho I'm not claiming to have all the relevant information myself, and I'm white US American goyim so like- grain of salt-), but I think that existential fear is the incredible hurdle facing Zionist Jews. (Idc too much about the opinions of non-Jewish Zionists bc I don't grant that they are dealing with the same emotional complications at this time, although that doesn't stop me from arguing w my acquaintances abt their callous acceptance of US/Israeli propaganda.) I just think..... isn't it overall harmful to allow anti-semitic rhetoric, even used sarcastically, to enter the genuine humanist cause for Palestinian liberation? Or, have I misunderstood, and you actually are not in opposition to Hamas, or something else I didn't think of?

hi! thank you for approaching the question thoughtfully and with curiosity, i really appreciate it. i was being kind of flippant with that meme, but this is the only ask i'm going to reply to on the matter given that i am neither jewish nor arab, so i'm going to answer in earnest:

hamas is a political resistance movement with an armed wing, much like the black panthers party was, and like the bpp, a large part of the organization is dedicated to social welfare and civic restoration.

they have stated that they are not against judaism, but against the zionist project. they openly support political solutions.

labeling hamas a terrorist group is a propaganda tactic used by the united states and israel to justify the horrors of settler colonization.

hamas is palestine, a part of it, even if palestinians like any other demographic on earth, are not a unified, single-minded people. to declare hamas a separate entity falls prey to the imperialist lie that there is an enemy to fight "fairly" within the people they are displacing and exterminating.

am i rejoicing in the deaths of israelis? of course not. killing civilians and taking civilian hostages is a war crime, whether it is committed by the opresor or the oppressed. the israeli government is not its people, and many jews, within israel as well as in the US, are bravely risking their lives to publicly dissent the criminal acts of the israeli government. all loss of human life is a tragedy.

no one should ever be faced with the choice between annihilation and murderous violence after exhausting all other forms of peaceful protest and being massacred like animals.

but why is it that we consider a resistance group formed within a population with a median age of eighteen a terrorist group, and not the IDF, a US-backed military force with an annual budget of twenty billion dollars?

i am currently reading hamas and civil society in gaza by sara roy to learn more about hamas and the history of israel in palestine. i'll remember to post more excerpts which i am admittedly terrible at.

but all of the information above can be found by reading wikipedia. investigating with duckduckgo searches (not gonna pretend google isn't prioritizing propaganda, to be fair), and reading reliable news coverage like aljazeera and the many journalists who are at risk of, or have lost their lives, reporting on the ground.

i have also appreciated reading posts from @determinate-negation @opencommunion @fairuzfan @ibtisams and @bloglikeanegyptian amongst others

in conclusion:

#palestine

[makowo]

i feel like i can go on endlessly abt the hows and whys of makoto being so unpopular in the fandom when hes the protagonist of the first game and one of the most prominent characters in the entire series (as well as the treatment of dr1 vs later games), but i feel like. part of it must be the way dr1 is written in comparison to sdr2 and v3.

nagito's entire backstory is made clear to us in the storyline. we know what molded him into such a fucked up person and we know the greatest moments that exemplify his tragedy. this is all given to us in the plot, with free times being purely supplementals. we dont necessarily need those free times to understand why he is the way he is.

compare that to byakuya, who's reason for being the way he is starts and ends at being the Ultimate Heir in canon. hes fucked up bcs hes the heir to the biggest conglomerate in the world. we only really learn anything about him, that he had to fight his siblings for his current position and his cutthroat behavior comes from the need to fight for survival from the very start, when we do his free time events.

byakuya's backstory is notably not in our face. we have to seek it out and dwell on it to understand his character. everyone has to learn nagito's backstory, and i dont think that's bad. but i think it creates an issue where people's attention isn't immediately grabbed, so they ignore the character.

I don't necessarily think it applies to every character in sdr2 vs dr1, notably Kyoko's backstory is directly given to us while lots of characters in sdr2 dont have story-relevant backstories. but Man. is it because makoto's backstory is so cut and dry, no event to point to that is the ultimate source of why he is the way he is? is that part of why hajime is praised so much, with his desperation for talent so great he was willing to get lobotomized for it? or is it just the want for edgy characters over hopeful/cheery characters. is this even anything at all or am i rambling.

#makotalk #danganronpa #makoto naegi #byakuya togami #hajime hinata #nagito komaeda #contribute your thoughts to my post boy 👁️

[allamericanb-tch]

crimson rivers thoughts (12)

@tastetherainbow290

chapter 26

rip james potter’s leg he’s gone full peeta

sirius is visiting reg

reg ☹️

talking about throwing up is arguably the worst part of this fic so far

“It's fine. I didn't even like this shirt. (Sirius really liked this shirt.)”

i am legitimately shaking but i don’t know if this is important so i need to read it

please stop talking about throwing up

poor regulus i feel so bad

and hes throwing up again

i cant even think about this what if i just skim the rest

ok pov switch thank god

oh no i forgot remus has to go back… 

sirius is so considerate

nooo remu

sirius pov again im praying there isn’t any more throwing up

and there it is.

poor regulus ahhhhh i just feel so bad for him like. i want to give him a hug.

why doesn’t regulus want to see james ☹️

sirius is visiting james now

that was sweet. sad, but sweet.

remus pov again

remu ❤️‍🩹

can someone tell me why the rat is my 5th most used emoji

"You're so precious to me, did you know that?"

remus loves sirius (duh)

chapter 27

i’m sad for wolfstar what’s gonna happen

"You can trust that the only person I have an interest in seeing naked is your brother." 😭

this hallow drama is actually hilarious

reggie 💔

i’m scared that pandora is going to die in the future bc we have t seen any of her pov

this is so sad.

no thoughts just sadness.

“i’m collecting them all” i’m glad to see you making jokes reg

"Oh, this is just the bruise finally blooming from where I tripped and fell the moment I saw you,"

this was a lighter chapter but still sad

chapter 28

back to james pov

oh no a nightmare

CRAP I FORGOT ABT MY MATH HOMEWORK it was due yesterday but she hasn’t graded it yet so if i turn it in now she won’t take of points for it being late

math homework is finished! back to reading (suffering)

oh yeah. nightmare. ☹️

"I wasn't supposed to go through this," no james, you were not. i’m sad now (i have been sad)

james leave regulus aloneeee (don’t leave him alone)

shrodinger’s cat mention

“james”

i’m actually crying right now.

nooo why are the fighting

james is getting his glasses back soon!!! huzzah

"I don't want to be a great, big tragedy anymore,"

baby

“it’s a parting gift” i’m crying again

regulus and remus friendship <3

“we broke up” “you were together?” 😭

ugh this is so sad. already i’ve cried more times than reading atyd AND choices and ive barely made a dent in cr

oh no interview prep

evan mention 💔

every time i see the word hallow in this fic im like “i need to add this (hallow/hollow) to my list of homophones” and i never do bc im writing all my thoughts in my notes app and my homophones list is in a different folder than my marauders thoughts 

chapter 29

oh me oh my hanky panky happening in this chapter i wonder for who

every time i call sex hanky panky i give myself the ick

"We broke up? This is news to me” james 😭

“No one needs romantic love to be fulfilled as a person. Not everyone wants it, and then there are those who aren't ready, and all of it is okay. That doesn't mean there's an absence of love, or that you're getting it wrong. You're not, Regulus, I promise." 

they’re holding hands (but for sad reasons)

interview time i’m scared

evan ☹️☹️☹️

vanity ☹️☹️☹️

“We love your love, don't we?" 💔

this is so sad omg i genuinely don’t know how im going to survive this

GLASSES!!!!!!

so he’s just been wearing contacts this whole time?

ok i need to go do my duolingo. 

i am back from duolingo.

james telling sirius to go have sex with remus on their last night 😭 i mean fair. they should

"I'm absolutely thinking about your brother right now." oh, james

james telling sirius about him and reg 😭 poor sirius

sirius asking james for tips 💀

“i expect all the details” james fleamont potter 😭

sirius is such a good brother. i love him. 

remus pov !!

“i would not have known joy if i did not have the pleasure of knowing you”

ugh wolfstar. i love you. 

😯 hanky panky

spine has been realigned

ok but any time any of them ever talk about getting off it just makes me think about one time when i was at a district choir concert and when we were practicing one of our songs the director said “there won’t be a dry seat in the audience” (he meant dry eye, bc the song was beautiful, but it just came out like everyone in the audience would dream their pants 😭) but. unnecessary story and it isn’t really that funny unless you were there but. 

chapter 30 (?!)

evan 💔

god.

remus ‘reading’ sirius’ mind 😭

they have to say goodbye ☹️

barty mention!!!!

*singing* i just miss you and i just wish you were a better man

“i love you” eeeeeeeee

omg kissing

and it’s over.

“i don’t want to hurt you anymore” 💔

eeeee they’re kissing again

“it’ll take a while but later—much later—james will look back on this and wonder, sadly, if it was a parting gift, too.” WHAT

sirius kissing the mask so remus will always have a sirius kiss

i love pandora

wolfstar goodbye 💔

the fact that all of this happened in the span of two weeks

effie and monty!!!!!!!!!!

the next chapter is lily… should i read it or go to sleep 

#crimson rivers

[yellowocaballero]

definitely no pressure or anything and u can ignore this entirely but i would love to hear more abt any of ur ideas for atsv fic (ur multiversal mistake peter parker fic appealed to me greatly) ...... i loved how atsv tied so explicitly into metanarratives by just calling them 'canon events' instead of smth else and the whole movie felt like it was justifying miles as spiderman and that his story is just as much a spiderman story as the others. and i love how you engage with canon in similar ways ? like u engage with the text of canon on a level that i find really interesting frex like i loved ur stephanie fic extra just bc stephanie is a character done so dirty by canon in all these awful misogynist ways that ur fic felt like like such an amazing contradiction.... this ask has kind of gotten away from me, but i hope ur doing well on the whole !

Thank you! All of the Spidey crossover fic ideas I have are tepid, so none are good enough to share. Bad crossovers are easy, good crossovers are so hard. And there's nothing more obnoxious than a bad crossover. MK/Avengers fics, you were awful.

I typed out this whole dissection on how modern Spider-Man writers have completely lost the thread of Peter as an 'everyman', and how he wasn't an 'everyman' because he was relatable in terms of personality, identity, or actions, but because he was relatable in terms of problems, and how once Spider-Man stories started being about how difficult it is to be Spider-Man Masked Hero instead of being about how difficult it is to survive in this world and be a good person when you never know if you're doing the right thing or not, then they stopped being actually engaging as everyman stories. and when you simplify Spider-Man down to 'he's just like you except with a cooler life!' then you miss WHY it's important that Peter's life is marked by tragedy and defined by his sadness, which is the fact that if his life was easy then it would indicate that it was easy to be a good person, and what the story tries to say is that being a good person is the hardest thing in the fucking world But Baby We Do It Anyway, and THAT'S what Spider-Man is about, and -

Then I realized that was fucking dumb and also not what you asked and deleted it. ATSV is peak fanfiction because it engages in conversation with the text, and while it has a lot to say about Spidey stories itself it is not a Spidey story. I think end of the day 'what classic spidey is about' just can't be what Miles is about, because Miles is about his relationship to Peter & Spider-Man. They're mutually exclusive. Miles CAN'T have Peter's story at all, because ATSV is telling a story about telling a story. Superhero stories really can't exist unobserved anymore huh. This is so common - Spidey stories since the 2010 have honestly been about being Spidey stories - that at this rate it is also a Spidey story and so it is valid on the grounds of how ubiqutous this story is. I sound like a dipshit.

So I'm still trying to formulate a good story. Miguel vexes me, I've been trying to lock down a good story idea for him for ages and it just hasn't happened. What I liked about the SM2099 comic was the fact that it was about Miguel, who was dealing with a problem that a lot of adults deal with: having your sense of self and identity disrupted, having your understanding of the world disrupted, and trying to sort out how to build yourself into somebody you can live with. I don't think he ever truly figures that out. So it's hard to write a story asking that question, because man I'll let you know when I figure it out too.

And I'm glad you liked New Wave - that was also heavily in conversation with the text, because the text hated women. Steph is an everyman to me - not because she's remotely similar to any human being in real life, but because she wants what any human being would want. And does the weirdest possible thing to get it.

#yeah im rereading the 1970s stan lee jrsr newspaper comic #the platonic ideal and the distilled essence of classic spidey #why do you ask #my asks #god im pretentious #this is so hard to talk about because it's so fucking hard to just not rant lol #yeah i can be normal on main why do you ask

[mayalovestay13]

TTPD thoughts (spoilers!)

Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) - My New aesthetic??? - This is so depressing - I wanna kill her??? - I love you, it's ruining my life!!! - This song is absolutely STUNNING - Comment on my sweater??? - My husband is cheating??? - Love Post on the vocals - Move to Florida??? The Tortured Poets Department - Typewriter at my apartment - Omg... - I'm literally shaking - No-fucking-body??? - Golden retriever??? - Kill yourself??? - Nooooooo - The closest I've come.. - Who else decodes you??? My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys - The beat omg - Plastic smile??? - This is exactly the vibe I wanted! - litany? (what does that mean?) - Once I fix me, he's gonna miss me? TAYLOR - Kens!!! - but I'm not... Down Bad - Fuck it if I can't have him - Naked and alone!!! - TAYLOR IT WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!! - Say that it's- - Fuck you if I can't have us??? - Lost my twin, oh Taylor... So Long, London - I'm gonna cry - Lana vibe - Oh, the tragedy - CPR??? - The altar??? (false god...) - But I'm not the one, aww But Daddy I Love Him - Kinda upbeat lol - Country vibes!!! - I'm having his baby??? - Bitching & moaning?? Huh? - Me & my wild boy, lover vibes! - Lovers... - But fuck 'em it's over??? Fresh Out The Slammer - LOVE this sound! - Imaginary rings??? - Not many thoughts, just stunned! Florida!!! (feat. Florence & The Machine) - Weed or little babies? - Florida!!! - Never heard Florence & The Machine but they/she eats! - Gives me no body , no crime vibes - Fuck me up, Florida??? - I actually LOVE this song! Guilty as Sin? - Automatically 10/10 - Am I allowed to cry!!! - lowercase inside a vault??? - Oh, so sensual!!! - False God pt.2!!! - So far, prob my fav! Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me? - You don't get ot tell me about "sad"!!! - REP VIBES - YOU SHOULD BE??? Girl I am - I am GAGGED - Obsessed!!! - The low beats? - Is she talking abt the cornilia street house? - Narcotics in your songs??? - Oh dang, she wrote this alone... I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) - Not the jokes - The big booms are so cool! - Good boy??? - Whoa maybe I can't, lol loml - White Horse vibes - You took me to hell too?? - Wait, is this my fave? - Mr. Steal Your Girl? - I wish I could un-recall how we almost had it all! I Can Do It With A Broken Heart - I can handle with my shit - Lights, camera, bitch smile! - About the Eras Tour def - Not the depressing lyrics but happy beat lol, I love her - In stilettos for miles - As the crowd was chanting more! - Aww, I hope she doesn't think of us like this... - Cause I'm miserable and nobody even knows! - She said "try and come for my job" bitch!The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - Who the fuck was that guy? - Now you know what it feels like - The breath... :((( - The yelling into the mic!!! - Were you a spy??? - Sexy??? - You crashed my party??? - ATE HIM UP QUEEN! The Alchemy - Was she actually in a hospital??? I'm scared - Hey you - LOVE this too!!! - Gonna rank this right after btw! Clara Bow - (I'm scared) - Rock vibes [in the beginning] - You look like Clara Bow in this light - Crowd goes wild goes wild at her fingertips, half moonshine full eclipse - Girlish glow? - You look like Taylor Swift in this light, we're loving it - This is so sad... [Will post thoughts once the vinyl and cd are received] The Manuscript The Bolter {I'll try to find videos on YouTube...} The Albatross The Black Dog

#ttpd #ttpdcd #taylor swift ttpd #ttpd prep #ts ttpd #ttpd era #the tortured poets department #the tortured poets #tortured poets department #tortured poets #april 19 #april 18 #taylor swift #red taylor's version #1989 taylor's version #fearless taylor's version #taytay #the music industry #evermore #speak now taylor’s version #folklore #lover era #debut #reputation #rep #midnights

[poorlittleyaoyao]

#this play isn't even really about the incest! it's about the nature of fate and the cost of truth!!#<- prev YEAH. and now im thinking about that one bit of uhhhhhh violence and the sacred#'If we eliminate the testimony brought against Oedipus in the second half of the tragedy then the conclusion of the myth#far from seeming a sudden lightning flash of the truth striking down the guilty party and illuminating all the mortal participants#seems nothing more than the camouflaged victory of one version of the story over the other#the polemical version over its rival—the community’s formal acceptance of Tiresias’s and Creon’s version of the story#thereafter held to be the true and universal version the verity behind the myth itself'#rip i realise i am a) pasting literally a paragraph in the tags and b) thinking abt jgy as oedipus instead#(he Did have a patricide moment though. like that is notably a thing that did also happen if under very different circumstances)#but mostly i am thinking about how the revelations of jgy's crimes are consistently Focalised Through Other Stuff#like are you seeing the actual thing or like. someone else talking about a letter written about someone else knowing about etc etc etc#and there is a limit to how much of that is just because the protagonist isn't able to see it Directly#but the result is like. im not going to paste another girard paragraph but there IS one about how all the accusations against oedipus Are#Just An Argument with tiresias (and creon?) and it's only the injection via prophecy etc of what an audience Knows is in the myth that#breaks the stalemate of This Is Just An Argument by Revealing the crimes the audience already knows were fated#i think the way the narrative (can it count as a narrative if it's a play) of oedipus rex relies on an audience knowing and trusting a myth#is v similar to how the narrative of mdzs/cql uses focalisation to allow The Victory Of One Version Of The Story Over The Other etc

@catilinas I am reading this tag analysis on the Oedipus post like 👀👀👀 and wANT TO HEAR MORE because

1.) The discrepancies between the version of events in CQL that we see unfold as viewers in real time and the version we get from NMJ during the Empathy sequence are a constant subject of rumination for me, and they're yet another example of seeing JGY through not one but two sets of filters, and NMJ's version of events is the last we see, and thus forms our lasting impression, but it's so far removed from the originals you don't even realize how much they've omitted unless you watch them back-to-back. Meanwhile, Tiresias's account is one of the first things we hear, but it colors everything that comes after it because We All Know The Story, the characters themselves fixate on it, and everything unfolds more or less in real time so we the viewers don't have time to forget anything and never got to see Oedipus or Jocasta or Laius outside of this moment.

2.) something something JGY claims that someone tried/ is trying to harm him every time he's confronted, and Oedipus accuses Creon of plotting to overthrow him

3.) what if "JGY lives" AU in the style of Oedipus at Colonus

#I know Oedipus through acting it but haven't STUDIED it (high school doesn't count!) so give me the theory give it to meeeee #Jin Guangyao truly is Every Greek Tragedy Blorbo all at once #the most character there could be

[guideaus]

anyways, besides gege akutami poorly killing off every other character in unfulfilling ways (and imo this being a fine time to subvert expectations on who we think is covered in death flags thru a flashback), it does feel kind of lame that our guy whose whole arc was abt being against punishing others and empathizing with others despite the system he operated in heavily discouraging those things essentially carrying his suicidal mentality in the panel through, but framed positively bc he became a tool to help further yuji's goal against sukuna doesnt feel good.

i understand what gege akutami was trying to do, but i dont like it and i think it sucks. i dont think its good for his character arc, and frankly with gege akutami's record of having main characters seemingly deal an important blow, only to be casually swept aside or fall flat in the literal next chapter, regardless of the characters, this doesnt feel very hopeful? (not to mention i don't think he should've repeated nanami's death lol) akutami also has a habit of just not really mentioning killed characters again in a meaningful way and this could absolutely happen after the chapter. it just feels bad to me, i dont think most of the character deaths are done well, even if you want to insist jjk is a tragedy or whatever, i dont think things get across well.

#personal #jjk spoilers #jjk leaks #um. not to make a wolfwood death reaction part 2 but yeah FJHDSJHSF #u dont need to die to redeem urself! our guys extending sympathy to others despite being told not to and being twice as hard on themselves #ending up killed but thru a ~good~ sacrificial way doesnt really feel good. idk not to be greedy but yeah! #fucking call in Misaki Takamatsu. i'll reread ch 31 #and everything ive said doesnt even get into how higuruma had no reason to be related to these people lol #he was isolating in a bathtub and killing challengers for a week or smth and then cut himself off from that after yuuji. #i dont think he'd be team jujutsu now ready to fight our big bad #and having yuuji say he's a sorcerer as if all this fixes his 'im a cog' mentality before meeting higuruma... sir that is not development #i think if he saw higuruma be a tool for him that'd probably be more trauma on the trauma cake #anyways. attempting to censor jjk in my mind again

[pumpkinrootbeer]

This could differ from person to person but I do believe that at the start, Evan genuinely just wanted to help the Murphys and wasn’t sure how to do that other than to lie and he felt trapped by his situation (for lack of a better word) and that was sort of influenced by what Jared said to him (“you’re seriously gonna tell them all they have left of their dead son is a weird sex letter you wrote?”), though of course I’m not trying to say Jared like, did that maliciously. As time went on, particularly in Act 2, Evan did start to act out selfishly and trying to use his lie with the Murphys as a means to get what he wants rather than actually helping them. I really like your posts analyzing them, honestly Evan and Jared’s dynamic is so interesting, and at the end of the day they’re both just like. Awful teenagers. They need couple’s counseling or something

i absolutely get you, and like you said they're just awful teenagers!! they're kids who are going through so much and have no support, they're going to do stupid shitty things. and of course you're absolutely free to your interpretations!! no shame in interpreting media differently then me :) that's the joy of fandom! And thank you!!! i have really enjoyed rambling abt these losers I love them so much <3

Also you've activated my autism beam and now i get to talk Abt my interpretations even more hahaha my perfect victory.

So first thing, yes! I 100% agree that Evan did want to help the Murphys and try and alleviate some of their pain at the start. But there's a shift at some point throughout the play where it's less about helping them and more about helping Evan, which I think most people agree on that at some point Evan's interests shift to being more self centered— it's just a matter of when that change occurs that people disagree on.

I'm of the opinion that the change happens, or at the very least starts to happen, very early on. I would say the moment Evan's motivations start to shift is when he says the line "They didn't want me to stop." while talking with Jared (and I am going to talk about my interpretation of Jared because I have so much to say about that freak 😭). This is the moment, for me, Evan realizes he's getting positive attention for lying. And that maybe he kind of likes it.

And I've said this in my other posts, but Evan isn't admitting to himself that that's why he's doing this! I don't think he's even aware of why he's really doing this. When he says he's doing it for the Murphys, he genuinely believes that.

The moment where I think he's 100% doing it for himself, even though he doesn't realize it, is Disappear. Because Connor's memory is already forgotten and they are parading this fake version of him around, a fake version of Connor that makes Evan look better and one that is actively causing real Connor to get forgotten faster. And Evan admits in the song that it's also because he doesn't want to be forgotten, which is not this horrible awful thing to feel! Evan isn't a bad person because he doesn't want to be invisible. I don't think Evan is a bad person at all!! What he does that's bad is hijack this tragedy for himself, a thing that again, he doesn't even realize he's doing.

i would definitely agree with you that by act 2, everything is mostly for himself. Cue the "It's not my fault other people can" line. Which I would argue is probably the cruelest thing Evan says in that entire show 😭, and then we get Good for You where Evan realizes things are starting to fall apart and that Alana isn't completely unaware and Evan's hurt her and his mom cares so much and has been so hurt by what Evan has done and that Jared isn't going to always be at his beck and call to write more emails whenever Evan needs him to, and that he's also been hurt by Evan's actions. Probably the most important song in the whole musical tbh. And THEN we get Words Fail where Evan just finally has to come to terms with why he's been doing everything, and it's also such a crucial moment for Evan's character Words Fail baby I love youuuuu.

So yeah! I agree that Evan started out with pure intentions, felt trapped, and then ended up finally feeling seen. He's a complicated character that I think gets watered down to a one dimensional poor anxious bean too much, it does a HUGE disservice to his character. I love canon Evan my perfect asshole son WAAAYYY more than fanon Evan did nothing wrong ever he's too anxious to hurt anyone.

With Jared, I actually think one of the most interesting things about him is that line!! Why does he tell Evan to not come clean? He has nothing to gain from it, he isn't even using the lie to get closer to Evan yet because the lie doesn't really exist! And you can't even argue that he's trying to sabotage Evan in this moment because there's nothing to suggest Jared ever actively tries to ruin Evan's life.

Sure, he says he would if he had that letter but nothing in the show suggests that's something Jared would do. He keeps Evan's lie for him the entire show, even when he has no reason too. Jared had cause and means to ruin Evan's life, but chooses not to again and again. So I'd definitely agree that he's not acting with malintent.

How I read that line, and obviously people are free to disagree, is concern. He is genuinely worried about Evan here and what Evan telling the Murphys will do to Evan. It's not even self preservation because he has nothing to do with this yet!

And because Jared is... well Jared, him looking out for Evan is telling him not to come clean! Nod and confirm, boys. Nod and confirm. Like it's this really imperfect, messy answers right? Because he's a teenager whose go to answer is not telling people shit about what's going on with him. Like, so many of Jared's problems would be solved if he knew how to talk to people, like "Hey Ev you're my only friend and you inventing a fake friend who is your best friend kinda sucks and hurts my feelings. Also this thing you're doing is weird and selfish xoxo love Jared." But he can't say that, because he's well. he's Jared.

And then he just offers to write these emails for Evan, and then continuously tries to do shit for Evan in the second act when Evan wants fuck all to do with him it's literally insane how Jared acts. "I can't do any more emails this weekend I have to hang out with my REAL friends 🙄🙄" to immediately "wait I can help with the project please please involve me in your life" like the lie isn't really holding up there Jared 🤨🤨 and then the invite for Evan to come over and drink and just shoot the shit with him he's clearly so desperate for his friend but he's also such an asshole he had to constantly push Evan away at the same time 😭😭😭😭 OHHHH I love them.

#:v #ask #anon #jared kleinman #evan hansen #dear evan hansen #kleinsen #THANK YOU FOR THE EXCUSE TO RAMBLE ABOUT MY BLORBOS..... #any chance to talk abt Jared and Evans fucked friendship is one I will take in a heartbeat #I never want people to feel like they have to agree with what I'm saying #i am not the arbiter for deh lore of course and people can read Evan as perfectly innocent and Jared the devil on his shoulder #I think they're WRONG but they're free to do so of course #not saying that that's what you think btw anon!! #I honestly agree with basically everythin u said <3

[actualbird]

God I agree so hard with you on the afterstories. I get what they were trying to do with them as a sweet ending to take the sting off the main story but it just cheapens the story so much!! I don't feel relief when reading about how they miraculously survived, I just kind of feel frustrated because the afterstory just really doesn't earn that relief at all.

I'd have preferred if they turned the afterstory into an actual additional part of the main story detailing how the boys survived because at least then it'd have a better chance of landing since it's more developed than just "oh yeah don't worry about it I got out fine :)". Or if they really wanted to keep it an afterstory...I don't know, maybe a reunite in the afterlife thing? It's also cliche but at least it doesn't cheapen the story as much by magically undoing the tragedy of the story.

Of course, ideally they'd stick to their guns and just end the story where it's supposed to end without any afterstory. Maybe I could understand the need for a fluffier epilogue for the other AU cards which could catch players not expecting angst off guard since the art doesn't give anything away but for Enduring Light's set of cards? Every single card has the boys looking badly beat up or in a bad situation for Luke, I'd be surprised if anyone pulled for the cards not expecting heavy angst.

I think in the end I just act as if the afterstories are non-canon, and considering during the secret chats some of the boys talk about their card counterparts as if they did die I think that might be what the devs intended too. I do still think the stories told in the AU cards are generally good from what little I've read, I just wish they'd commit that tiny bit more to telling a tragedy when they want to.

🌌

irt my thoughts on marius and luke's enduring light cards

wahhh hi hi milkyway anon!! glad im not the only one hehe cuz I AGREE WITH ALL THIS

the thing i most most agree with is if they took the "actual additional part of the main story detailing how the boys survived" approach to the afterstory, i wouldve Loved that. for luke's in particular his recovery seems like suCH AN INTERESTING STORY IN ITSELF HELLO??? he was fished outta the ocean and injured so badly that his recovery took a whole year???? i wanna read that!! i wanna read about him coming to terms with his injuries (and maybe even disability because you dont get out of an Exploding Airplane Crash unscathed. in my mind he had to get a limb amputated (hi chika if youre out there reading this ask you have infected me with the "amputate luke" hc) or at the very least cannot walk for a solid period of time after the accident. oh, and ptsd of course) and how he copes with all this

all in all, my dissatisfaction with the inclusion of the afterstories in this set of cards seems to show a pattern for my dissatisfaction with other tot cards i didnt vibe with: they were all (even partly) caused by tot's dedication to the format of their cards rather than the story within it

why didnt i like ssr looming nightmare? 6 acts were not enough to flesh out mc's side of the story, given that it was her nightmare. alas, 6 acts are all we get for regular ssr cards

why didnt i like ssr orange scent? 3 acts were NOWHERE near enough space for luke to be able to get over his fears and propose to mc. alas, 3 acts is all we get for anniv ssr cards

why didnt i like this bit of ssr sky ashes? because the existence of the afterstory undermines the tragedy's tragedy-ing. alas, afterstories are a staple of big event ssr cards

like.....i get that tot has to be consistent in their format for types of cards but it makes me sad to see when that consistency actively does the card story a disservice. these stories could be homeruns! if they were treated as the priority and not something to shove into a template that must be followed

anyhoo, it's nice to see im not the only one w iffy feelings abt the afterstories. i still liked sky ashes and im going your route about it by mentally editing the afterstory to be a recovery story instead of a fluff fix-all

thanks for the ask!!

#why dont i like the post anniv personal stories as much as pre-anniv? beCAUSE THE FORMAT DOESNT ALLOW SPACE FOR THE STORY TO #BECOME OVER-ARCHING!!!! TOT UR FORMATS R KILLING ME #asks #milkyway!anon

[fduck0]

As someone who never stops thinking abt Wendy and Abigail, I've always seen Wendy's rework animation as less of a hallucination and more as a simple but effective rundown over Wendy's struggle with her grief through how she remembers Abigail's death. Most notably, I believe the last bit with the bush is either a slightly older memory stitched in or deliberate misremembering as a defense mechanism of sorts. My main reason for thinking this is partially cause yeah no that just didn't happen, but also because to me it makes the previous moments hit so much harder because of the harsh contrast between Wendy's attitude towards Abigail in the two scenes. In the previous, she's dismissive, and has to be dragged away from her books, and is clearly much more reluctant about doing things than Abigail. And in the next scene, Wendy is smiling, laughing, and playing with Abigail. This actually fits quite well with Wendy's dialogue too, but that's besides the point. And with the ending bit, I see it as a basic snap to reality from a deep daydream. Also, one detail I love is how Jack does look concerned for Wendy and briefly tries to reach for her before giving up, which just is soooo good like a big part of Wendy's hashtag issues was not just losing Abby, but also seemingly having very little support after that loss. In general, a lot of Wendy's messy and sometimes contradictory statements and actions are incredibly easily explained by the fact that she's a traumatized and grieving child who in no way has the tools to healthily cope with her emotions and very little support even outside of that. This is why Wendy makes me want to start biting things and why that's my favorite don't start animation 👍

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS THIS PERSON GETS IT.

Tbh while ive never thought ab Wendys animation like that, that is SUCH a good fucking take on it and tbh PRETTY GOD DAMN FITTING to wendys rapid change of emotions in the animation. and with this i have to say, YESSSS SOMEONE IS FINALLY POINTING OUT THE JACK THING.

I feel like a lot of Wendys fear of letting go of Abigail comes from this. Its like a god damn tragedy cycle. feel alone without Abigail- get no support from family- feel more alone and abandoned- cling to the fact Abigail WOULD have been the support and form an unhealthy coping mechanism around it- grow MORE dependent on her and restart. It is essentially what makes her SO god damn afraid and i feel like this quote from her forge vignette puts it best "Wendy clings fiercely to the grief over her sister's death, for fear that moving on would cause Abigail's memory to fade."

With the lack of support from her family and being "left behind", Wendy most probably feels to some extent she is the ONLY one trying to keep Abigail's memory alive. Abigail is the ONLY one she has ever had.

And with this last thing, another YES. A lot of Wendys contradictions can be boiled down to her conflicted and jumbled emotions as a child trying to cope and her fears getting the best of her. Wendy doesnt HATE colours, Wendy hates what memories those colours bring back and the cheerfulness she doesnt feel anymore. it is all a mockery to her grief, but there is STILL a part of her that longs for that part of her childhood back, which leads to a lot of the conflicted quotes as a kid who doesnt know what she wants anymore.

But yeah, we going off again bc WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH Wendy lore is both so cool and complicated and idk how to write down my opinions so they just come out in rambles but like YEAH Keese you are so fucking right

#dst #dst wendy #duck rambles #i need to like legit ramble ab Wendy more often on here because i haVE BEEN THINKING AB HER LORE FOR LIKE 6 YEARS ITS INSANEEEEEEE #i need to like reread hamlet but like i have some fucking words about how Wendy brings up Ophelia in multiple quotes and how her tragedy #mimics that of Abigails death in a way and how Wendy can be seen as Laertes

[rollercoasterwords]

Any tips for writing great angst?

had 2 think abt this for a bit bc as i've said before my writing process is largely intuitive but!! here's what i've come up with:

1 - read angst <3

this might seem like basic advice but! i would be remiss if i did not mention that part of the way i learned how to come up with angsty situations was simply by reading a lot of angsty stories. now when i write if i'm trying to come up with angst i'll often find myself thinking about what stories have stuck with me in the past and what made them so heart-wrenching.

2 - muddy the waters

i find that when i'm trying to write a heartbreaking story, including a clear Wrong and Right character often diminishes the angst. for example--if two characters are fighting, but one is clearly framed as The Bad Guy and the other is clearly framed as The Victim, the story can of course be sad, but it sort of falls into an easy emotional logic to follow of sympathy for the victim and anger at the bad guy. the stories that i find stick with me much more are ones that include conflict with no clear right and wrong side, where you can understand where both characters are coming from and sympathize with both while also understanding that they are hurting each other. i also prefer these types of stories because i think they tend to be in conversation with the reader more, whereas stories with a clear Good versus Bad setup are kind of just feeding you a script of what you're supposed to feel much of the time. so even if you do have a clear antagonist in your story, i find it more compelling if there is more to the antagonization than just some Inherent Evil.

3 - make it unfair

when something bad happens, most people's first instinct is to look for a clear reason or for someone to blame. additionally, i think a lot of people will instinctively try to find ways to sort of "lessen the blow"--to make the Bad Thing that happened hold some greater meaning, or to say things like "they're in a better place now," etc. that is all perfectly understandable when seeking comfort in the wake of a tragedy--but if you're trying to write angst, take that comfort away! if you want to kill a character, make it abundantly clear to the reader that that character does not want to die, that they have so much to live for, etc etc. make bad things happen randomly, for no reason. make bad things happen to people who don't deserve it. make bad things happen that don't lead to any greater good, that perhaps even make things worse. make bad things happen that were so easily avoidable, but for whatever reason just could not be avoided in this instance. if you really want to twist the knife, a good way to do it is by leaving the reader going, "it's just so unfair!"

4 - leave problems unresolved

this ties into the last point, because again, what is goes back to is taking away the comfort that we seek when something bad happens. if your goal is to write really intense angst, then one of the best ways to do that is to leave whatever problem is causing strife unresolved, or at least to avoid giving a clear resolution/happily-ever-after.

anyway! hope that's helpful :) i'm happy to give like. more concrete examples of any of these points if anything wasn't clear or to try and elaborate more, but...yeah. i feel like these are just some overarching things to consider when you're trying to decide how angsty you wanna make something!

#ask #writing tips

[floatybug]

I keep bumping into people online claiming that Nimona comic was like soo terrible compared to the movie, that it was "poorly plotted" and "ugly" art-wise, and what the fuck is up with that. These people sound like they hadn't read the comic at all, and even if they did and didn't like it, that's Alright but nobody gives you the right to harass the novel fans who say they liked the comic book ending more or that the "happily ever aftering" disappointed them. The movie is Very different and I myself like the book ending because there's so few good tragedies that give me this feeling of "sometimes you just have to accept the good and the bad and move on". I really wish people understood the importance of these stories instead of claiming that everyone who didn't enjoy the happily ever after is "homophobic" (ahem I'm queer and trans and this movie made me feel seen, and I still will come back to the book more often than the movie, unless I'm in a very specific mood for a happily ever after that I Wish these characters could have in the book, but they COULDN'T. That's the fucking point.)

It's not just about the way the movie ends, it's about the way it differs from the original book and the message that book had. That's what some people didn't like. I myself think it's great to have two messages with these characters. We can appreciate the tragedy of the novel (TRAGEDIES ARE IMPORTANT AND CATHARTIC AND NOT JUST EMOTIONAL SADISM) and we can smile at the movie's ending which is what we all Want but realistically right now we Can't have. Both have their meaning to different people. Both are important. I love both in different ways. I'm happy the movie came out. I just wish some movie fans would stop ruining the fun for the book fans by calling the novel really unjustified words. It means so much to us and it found a lot of us in very dark times, and to be impolite for a second, if I had some wee punk tell me that the book sucks and is pointlessly sad and the art is bad while they were in one room with me and not online, I would start a physical fight and not regret it at all. The book was my suppressed anger relief and my quiet subtly queer childhood when I was 14. Many people will have the movie as their openly queer childhood. But if any of you think it's okay to disrespect what others hold dear because you don't enjoy it or dislike the art, You Suck As A Person. Grow The Fuck Up.

Another thing, ND started making Nimona as a webcomic, in art school, as a way to share feelings he didn't know how to deal with. He was a regular artist telling his story. I repeat. HE WAS A REGULAR ARTIST. Like many people on this goddamn website. It's okay to dislike things, but calling Nimona the comic poorly plotted or ugly is how you kill the young indie artists' desire to share their personal stories. Styles are subjective, feelings are messy, and if you don't like either of those things and want to be super mean abt it, first of all you're really limiting yourself and will miss so many wonderful and thoughtful works, and secondly IT'S OKAY TO JUST QUIETLY WALK AWAY. And also, excuse you, this book is what gave us the movie. Maybe don't show this level of disrespect, if you can't show respect?

Edit: i got very into the respect for imperfect endings thing But i think it's important to say that the book ending actually doesn't fit the description of tragedy, it's just how I view it in my relation to Nimona's anger, but it's actually very hopeful and the characters Do find love and things are looking up for them in the book! It's not a typical happily ever after but that doesn't mean it's just pure suffering. We have the word bittersweet for that

#i said i say #nimona spoilers #nimona #nimona the graphic novel #nimona movie #obligatory disclaimer i will not engage in discourse and will in fact block anyone who may attempt to troll me #or imply i hate seeing queer happiness #i love it actually that's why i love the movie

[caitie-likes-talking]

Part 4 Critique: Everything I'd Change

I love DIU..however, I consider it one of the post flawed of the JJBA Parts. Honestly, I feel like Araki didn't fully know where he was going with it til halfway, which is why the plot can be so janky. No matter what, let's dive into it. First, characters.

(also quick disclaimer: this is all my opinion and i am biased for MANY things.)

if u diagree w me dont tell me i think it would crush me

Characters [Josuke, Jotaro, Okuyasu, Kira]

Josuke Higashikata

I LOVE Josuke. I think he's a lovely character concept and his design is really cool. My main problem with him is literally his LACK of screen time!! He is the Jojo of this part, yet his spotlight is constantly stolen by other side characters like Koichi, Rohan, and even Jotaro. This also happened a lot in Part 3, with it basically being the Polnareff show (idk why Araki did this sm in pts3-5...either let the mc have screen time or don't have them be the mc!!)

I think Josuke had some of the most missed opportunities in DIU. Especially with his relationships with other characters. I think this part could've been way more interesting if it chose a solid theme, and one that I think would've made sense is commentating on death & tragedy and how that can impact personal relationships. The reason I believe this is because there's already easy set ups for this in the story. Ryohei's death, The Nijimura Brother's family, Reimi, Shigechi, and Jotaro all have that theme in place, but not enough connecting points or real arcs related to this. What was the point of killing off Ryohei (who was the only father figure Josuke had growing up) if you're not going to show how this impacted Josuke, Tomoko, and how he acts with others besides one single page? Sure, it taught him that his powers have limits and that he can't save everyone, but that was a stupid thing to teach him because Okuyasu doesn't fucking die when he should've!! Like why did we make an arc saying 'hey stands aren't magic they can't bring ppl back to life' just for EXACTLY THAT to happen??

Moving on, I also have problems with his stand. I LOVE Crazy Diamond, I think it has a super cool design and power concept, but personally I wish it's powers were more grounded and had clear limits. I feel like a lot of stands suffer from this treatment of vague power limits (ex: Golden Wind..) but my problem with CD is that there were MANY opportunities to add one! For example: we know Josuke couldn't bring back Ryohei even after using his stand on him. So that bears the question: what can CD not fix? What is the real reason it can't bring a dead person back to life? Jotaro says "No stand has the power to bring back the dead" WHY?? am i missing something? Have I forgotten when it was officially established that stands cant do that? I mean, literally in part 3 there was a stand that could reanimate corpses. So does it have to do with the soul? No matter what, I would've used this moment to establish that CD can't bring back ANY living thing. I actually wrote a short fic abt this and included the fact that he also couldn't "fix" a dead leaf. I feel like overall his stand needed more grounding.

Also, I have beef with Josuke's backstory, but I'll get into that later.

Jotaro Kujo

Ok firstly, I have MAJOR beef with his design in part 4. Mainly the fact that he's drawn extremely pale in the anime. Like..obviously he COULD be pale as he is wasian (im not trying to say all wasian ppl look the same), but he is TAN in part 3. Why did they take that away?? Pisses me off to the extreme. At least they fixed it in p5+6. Anyways..

Character wise, I really enjoy Jotaro's personality in p4. I like how he's mellowed out in comparison to p3. However, I feel like he needed a more clear role in the story. He showed up to figure out grandpappy's shit, and then took the leader role when facing Kira. Why don't I like this? Because most of the time Jotaro was just..there. I think Araki wanted him and Josuke to have a mentor/student relationship (ex: rat episode) but just didn't focus enough on them or Josuke training with his stand for this to work.

Also, the fact that it took Jotaro so fucking long to figure out who Kira is WITH the help of all those other stand users is so goofy. Like him and the gang back in '89 found Dio's ass from a goddamn microscopic fly in a photo but couldn't find Kira's identity?? Like ugh he almost redeemed himself with the button thing but then he got blown up like gosh what happened king

When it comes to stands, I forever find it stupid that Jotaro didn't work with his stand to become more powerful. Araki just had to nerf him (which is something he does with most reoccurring characters, ex: Joseph). I don't like it and it pisses me off.

With the death of Ryohei, I feel like it would've made more sense for Jotaro to somewhat open up to Josuke and be a bit more sympathetic towards him about it (or maybe he stays closed off until Josuke explodes, causing Jotaro to reveal the truth about his past.) Either way, I think the two of them could've bonded over shared grief.

Okuyasu Nijimura

I absolutely ADORE Okuyasu. I think his dynamic with Josuke is really fun to watch and his personality is just overall super enjoyable.

Stand wise I do think Araki slightly nerfed him by making him dumb as fucking rocks, but I let this slide a little more just bc he's a side character..

I honestly think Okuyasu has the best character arc out of the whole part 4 cast. I think he definitely deserved more screen time, but what we got was really solid in my opinion. His relationship with his brother was well developed and it was really interesting to see how it still affected him even after his brother's death. The way he felt a need to get revenge for his brother and still felt like he wasn't enough really hit me in the gut. I love him.

When it comes to Okuyasu's "death" I have very mixed opinions. On the one hand, ofc the goat of part 4 survived. On the other hand, I feel like him surviving goes directly against the idea we've been given since the beginning. You can't save everyone. And on the one hand, I enjoy the subverting of expectations. On the other hand, I don't like how it's still just never fully explained. I guess in JJBA as long as your soul doesn't feel like dying yet, you won't. I wish we saw Okuyasu actually speaking to his brother when he "died" however. I find him and Keicho's relationship really gut-punching and that would've been a fire scene imo.

I have more to say on him, his dad, Keicho, and the arrow, but I'll save that for when I'm talking about the plot.

Yoshikage Kira

I find Kira to be a really interesting villain. I really enjoyed every moment we got going deeper into his psychology and it's something I really wish we got to see more of. I enjoy his sleek design and he's fine asf tbh.

Im not gonna give commentary on his stand rn bc honestly i dont fully remember how that shit worked by the time he was using the arrow

Character wise I just really wish he was established as the main villain sooner. The build up and hints dropped about him were so addictive, so it's disappointing that they're only there a little before his full introduction.

The psychology of Kira is something I really liked. The way he truly believes he's never really done anything wrong and only wanting to live a peaceful life is something I wish was even more looked into. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but from my memory, in the manga Kira's whole thing with his nails growing quicker when stressed/when his need to kill is getting too strong was only psychological. At least, I don't remember them growing the same way it's shown in the anime. I think this would've been something really interesting to deep dive into. The fact that he believes his nails grow when his need to kill is really high is really intriguing and the overall connection between hands and his killings are something I wanted to be fully developed more. I know it was kind of just a weird ass fetish but like..that's interesting!! this is interesting!!

I'll probably make an individual post to talk more abt him.

Plot

Where do I even begin. The plot of part 4 is all over the place. I loved many episodes, and I enjoyed when it leaned more into the slice of life style, but why the fuck where there like 3 seperate plots? Honestly, cut out Anjuro. His whole plot shit was annoying as hell. Didn't care for him.

Akira's entire plot pissed me off. I only like this arc because of Okuyasu. Overall I found there to be a lot of plot holes and just annoying parts. Everything til Kira was like this for me. Like get to the REAL plot please.

The arrow annoyed me. I've never wanted to rip my hair out more than when Kira's dad got a hold of it. He was SO GODDAMN ANNOYING. I like the concept of Kira using the arrow to get allies or ways to cover up his plot, but most of the stand users that came out of this were annoying and Kira's dad was insufferable in the worst way possible.

I think something I wish was more covered by the plot is the aftermath of Part 3 and Dio in general. This is something that CDDH (best jojo spinoff) covers really nicely, however. Go read it.

I also just in general think more should've been done w Okuyasu's dad, as he is a direct aftermath of Dio.

I feel like a lot of the women in Part 4 were set up to have strong, actually plot-influencing roles, but then were totally side-lined. I'm going to make a full post abt this tho.

Reimi being connected to Rohan never made sense to me. Just narratively speaking, why did you connect the main motivation for catching Kira to a side antagonist instead of the main character? This is slightly fueled by my hate for Rohan but like, c'mon! I think it would've made more sense to 1. just not include Rohan so fucking much and 2. connect Reimi to Josuke's past.

Speaking of Josuke's past, I feel like it just..needed more. Or at least, I think something needed to be done with the boy who saved him. I can appreciate the idea of it connecting to a theme of the general kindness of strangers, but you don't see that theme pop up as much in the rest of the plot. Also, I again would've connected Reimi to Josuke because WHY ISN’T SHE CONNECTED TO THE MAIN CHARACTER OH MY GOD

Overall tho I like the vibes of part 4, i really enjoyed different arcs and characters, and I just wish Araki got more time to flesh everything out and refocus on certain themes and characters.

#jjba #jojos bizarre adventure #diu #diamond is unbreakable #jjba part 4 #josuke higashitaka #jotaro kujo #okuyasu nijimura #yoshikage kira #plot review #critique #just my opinions #i love part 4 i swear #josuke is my fave jojo #review #commentary #manga #manga analysis

[abimee]

so tbh i was hard on nier:a while playing it cos i don't really like a lot of the anime tropes BUT i really like tragedies and i was promised some twists, and got some. but i wanted to ask you how you felt about the pacing. basically, did it feel like there was a solid line connecting plot points, or do you feel like certain things happened at random? barring the fact that yoko taro said he literally wrote the story out of order, is that how it felt to you? imo it felt really rushed through super cool parts and like things that were annoying or setpieces ran on for too long. ig i'm still fked up over how much it fell short of my expectations bc even after playing nier:a completely thru and h8ing how absurdly film-student its tone and ideology are, i was hyperfixated enough to read some of the side literature and learn drakengard lore. tl;dr, nier:a is cool and has some fun parts but i wish the android were more mature (or artificial) in physicalilty to avoid weird anime loli baiting in the fans and also they'd asked a writer to help revise and implement the og author's ideas okay bye thx for reading my rant ♡ i'm glad u had fun and ur fanart abt a2 and the indoor grill made me cough

ill gladly listen to people bitch about yoko taro ive had PROBLEMS with this man since a young age ☝️☝️☝️☝️

I was actually thinking about the pacing and insertion of certain scenes/plot points today because admittedly like. okay this might be all over the place but

The start of the game (Route A + B) was like pretty solid pacing I think due to being low risk, and I thought it was cool that the game let you see 9S' side of things --- but it really started to fumble when it got into it's moe complex storylines in C-D-E and went on to deposit a lot of information on it to the point where it felt like we were forgetting entire plots and characters because something new and shiny showed up

Like okay first off. Adam and Eve and the aliens. We never once got any sort of explanation WHY adam + eve killed the aliens, or why the aliens made the machines, but within that general thought we did learn that humans died before going to the moon (and possibly even before the aliens came?), and that YoRHa's only goal was to fight the machines until a specified amount of data was gotten and then they were to explode. Never did we get more elaboration on the aliens or adam/eve, and while we got some YoRHA spotlight stuff it also entirely just decided that explaining the true mission behind making YoRHa and why the androids had to die is beyond it. Which frustrated me because it Brings Up Ideas but doesn't specify if thats the true reason, like we learned that the machines fight purely because that was there sole reason, and so they made an enemy for themselves purely to enact that goal that the aliens gave --- but then it even goes ''haha okay but hear me out'' and introduces Red Girl and this vague idea of the Machine Ego and wanting to defy their masters of the aliens, but then DOESN'T ELABORATE WHY. Like we don't know WHY adam and eve and the machine ego wanted to develop enough to defy their machine logic and purpose because it wraps back around to ''theyre human just like us because they want to defy their masters because.... they're human like us?"

Like it often felt like some concepts or plots brought up walked itself in a circle, dog-chasing-tail style, where it's entirely contained within itself and refuses to expand upon it's existence, which then causes it to get sort of left behind when the plot finds a new fancy idea to latch onto. Like how quickly the story introduced, focused on, then discarded Adam & Eve is almost criminal because of the things it could've done with them literally as the closest approximation to what the Machine Ego/Red Girls wanted, since they defied their creator's orders to be their own selves. Eve especially feels wasted in this regard --- like if the plot spent a little more time focusing on Eve & Adam in a B-plot scenario showing Eve and Adam learning more from humans and even leaning into Eve's wants that we saw in his mind when 9S hacked him (the human home built around him and his brother, and his brother wanting to go somewhere peaceful with him). Like they even could've tied that to when they get on the Ark and leave and Adam is holding Eve, that's literally Adam bringing Eve somewhere peaceful, but because those two instances are so seperated from each other and their own sort of throw-away concepts it becomes hard to Remember the tether between those two thoughts

This is also my biggest problem with A2's writing, I can only assume she's meant to be a Kaine-type character (and boy did my eyes momentarily widen seeing Emil say ''it must be fate that we've met!" to her) where her reserved nature and somewhat limited character blends in with her personality, but they really could've just given us like at least 2 more hours-game to learn about her past rather than just infodump us with her lore in some logs at the Resistance Camp. This is another problem Red Girl had where I feel like the fact you get unit data on them that basically explains away the confusing parts of their involvement in the lore felt cheap because this game has over 40+ hours under it's belt but couldn't be damned to give us information on our main antagonist directly in the game instead of in a post-credit LOG?

Like okay. I love my baby boy emil. He is the most special boy in the world to me and I am so happy seeing him get a pretty decent character arc for himself in the sequel to his original iteration. But why do we learn information about Emil more easily than the Red Girls? No unit data paragraph, no document information to read, no external book needing to be sourced. You learn whats up with him, why his big event out in the desert happens, and how it ends. You even get TWO special areas involving him. Red Girl gets to speak for a little bit and then vanish. It just astonishes me a bit

And it's not like the game doesn't try to expand characters last-minute either, that entire cutscene where Pascal reads Nietszche and then gets surrounded by the baby machines before the events of the Factory/suicide felt so forced in suddenly that it felt rather obvious something was going to happen. And I say this as someone who was in tears seeing Pascal get called ''uncle Pascal'' and see him defend the children in the factory --- it was super obvious that they possibly didn't originally plan that scene but needed something to really show that Village acted just like a human community with children and babysitters and family. Like not to be like ''this couldve been something beautiful'' but i think giving us a little time between A2 and the Village more could've done something beautiful. A2 getting the necessities to build the slide definitely made me drop to my knees but I noticed even the LPer was confused why A2 had a crying child inside of her as her enemy at the end of the hacking (like how 9S had 2B at the end of his destroying his memories), but the game didn't do anything with that besides lightly imply A2 lets down her mean bit for children sometimes (and again. why is this Kaine behavior). And then the fucking laughing children sound at the end of the route where she hacks 9S and she looks to the sky like ? This is all very interesting but it doesnt mean anything.

NOT TO MENTION 2B BEING AN EXECUTIONER TYPE. COOL CONCEPT BUT IT DOESNT MEAN ANYTHING IN THE END. It's just another thing to tack onto 9S's migraine of learning everything is a lie but nothing gets DONE with that incredibly interesting though afterwards because we never see 2B after that because she's been dead for a while now. We had a brief hint at it when we heard that transmission of 2B being her new name but the payoff just doesn't work if you just state it and then not do anything with it.

There's many cases of this and I notice it with how much questions I have that simply have no answer in this game despite the fact we have nearly 5 routes worth of time that could've gone into either sticking to like 3 ideas to the end or bridging the gaps, Which the story Does Do Sometimes! Red Girl talking about fucking up its own network to make pacifistic machines that want nothing to do with the war, the lie of YoRHA

OH MY GOD ALSO. SPEAKING OF RANDOMLY PUSHING STUFF IN. OPERATOR 210. The fact that they wanted to pull the whole ''she was curt and distant with 9S but secretly saw him as like a son because she wanted a family :(" could've gone INSANE if they didn't decide they wanted to bring that idea in at the last possible second and make 210 randomly baby 9S (and then make him point out how strange she's acting), and then ignore that until we get to the cutscene that they wanted to make for it. Like they could've had 210 start out as curt and distant, but as 9S operations with 2B got more dangerous she could've started laying on the doting mother thing, but it just came so abruptly in Route.....C? That it felt forced and rather last-minute, like they finished writing A and B and someone walked in and went ''wait I want 210 to see 9S as her son :(" and this is how they crammed it in

oh this post isnt even about the pacing i'm just talking about dead end plot concepts. But I can definitely see where you're coming from there because we spent an awfully long time with the Resistance only to know so little about them, but it defos felt more ''a lot of stuff is getting brought up but we dont have enough time to give it developing room because we want to bring in the next concept asap". A2, the forest king, Red Girl, hell even Pascal and Adam & Eve all suffer this. the only person who really got a steady character Was 2B and 9S but 2B felt like she got cut short and just became a puppet for 9S' plot which is so tiring how often we get dual man/woman protags and the woman's story just becomes part of the man's story and she becomes a nebulous concept. that yoko taro brand Misogyny

I SPENT AN HOUR TYPING THIS? I haven't even gotten to how I feel like 9S' plot feels like it was destined for something more but got bottlenecked for time and cut off at the like 80% mark

I can definitely feel that though of feeling like Nier:a didn't meet expectations, when I finished all the routes and the playlist i was watching just Ended I genuinely sat up and bed and just felt a deep sense of ''THAT'S IT? THATS ALL?"

it's crazy too because I really, REALLY loved what it had going and im going to be thinking about this game forever but it also just left me feeling like i'm missing something so badly that when I try to think about it sometimes my mind just draws blanks like im left speechless at it.

Like that was nier: automata? that was just 40 hours of being asked what it means to be alive

#im not even gonna talk about what it tries to say philosophically because i can see its trying to say some stuff #but it sometimes get drowned out with the incessant need to do what mr taro games do and just make shit feel bad #and i love tragedies. but it can be heavyhanded when done by his devs sometimes #AGAIN THIS ISNT ME SAYING THE GAMES BAD. I LOVED IT A LOT BUT MAN. WHAT THE HELL

[fivveweeks]

i am so crasy abt ur tweet abt verdante being a tragedy its like in my mind at all times. like ,,, im rotating it in my head, im so ruined, this idea consumes me u do not understand i am opening up google docs and writing a fic im morose im captivated i am making an ao3 account

like ur so right 4 that one banger

KYAAAA ON MY KNEES... i have so much feelings on it u have no idea. twitter doesn't let me go ham but since we are on tumblr let me write a goddamn essay on this

the thing is that yes i enjoy both verdante being a romcom comedy or a tragedy or anything in between. ofc we'd like them to be happy but part of me like to explore what would happen if we really stayed canon-compliant

and like. let's take a look at them both. Vergilius is canonly someone who's weighed down by his past sins (killing and assassinating and orphaning children), who fully well accepts that he deserves the karma that comes for him (like this man literally is expecting it and doesn't fight it), yet he chooses to drag himself forward bc if he doesn't he will sink into despair. he is full of guilt and shame. verg also seems reluctant to form new bonds which is understandable considering that he lost everything prior to limbus, and how he doesn't want to drag people down with his karma, at the same time it would be extremely hard for him to trust people due to the risks of betrayal and manipulation in the city. he KNOWS that kindness and empathy will be consumed by the city if they don't adapt (see leviathan and his thoughts on garnet) therefore anyone would be wary bc there's always a catch. vergilius is also extremely duty bound to restoring garnet and lapis and it weighs down on him a lot

now i dont see Vergilius as oblivious bc the man would obviously recognise signs of attraction from Dante. but vergilius, despite his harsh exterior, is also kind deep down or at least practical, so taking the above into account, in this scenario he would probably outright address it to dante that he has... personal goals. maybe dante will be sacrificed at the end for limbus company as a whole, maybe not, but Verg makes it clear that he WILL choose lapis and garnet over dante bc that is his responsibility. what he owes to them.

executive manager, he doesn't say, do not be a fool.

and to his surprise, dante just nods and writes him, "I'm aware. It's ok, I understand."

bc dante respects him. they respect his space and not push anything at all (alongside how they probably feel that they are not worthy yet, or that they don't want to burden Vergilius, bc c'mon they're stumbling through their responsibilities after losing their memory, work is more important than personal interest now), i also like to think dante isn't say, self-depreciating, but more like they've accepted that they have so much to live up to and Vergilius has something to achieve and they will not stand in his way, so they're content to just spend time with Vergilius as manager and guide.

and there's that. they don't talk about it after the day. nothing changes between them. they continue on as manager and guide.

the only exception is that now Vergilius is aware that Dante fully accepts that he will sacrifice them for his own goals. yet Dante is content to spend time around him and vice versa (he doesn't admit it)

and isn't that the tragedy?

vergilius, to be aware that something could have sparked between the both of you, yet you cannot afford to cross the line due to circumstances. occasionally imagining what it could had been if the both of you were actually allowed to. how should you feel when the other person still seeks you out and befriends you despite knowing that you will never pick them

and dante, getting the confirmation that you will never be picked and will be the third or fourth or whatever choice but that's okay. manager and guide is enough, you WILL enjoy whatever there is between the both of you without asking for more

personally, unrequited love as a tragedy is not effective to me bc it's not that hard to respect another person's feelings and not make yourself the victim.

the REAL tragedy here is being aware of the lost potential and what-could-had-beens, yet IN SPITE OF THAT theres the quiet acceptance and humble enjoyment of whatever there is between the both of them bc that's all they can afford. how fate and the city fucked them both up. yet they stay professional because they respect each other too much (to the point of suppressing their personal feelings for the other) to make this into a hassle

maybe dante dies at the end of limbus and verg would reminisce on what it could had been. maybe verg dies and dante occasionally recalls the little moments they get to spend together. maybe they both die. maybe they both live but they walk a too different path to ever converge again. maybe we slap canon in the face and let them survive or meet up again in the future.

whatever it is, i just really enjoy the sweet sweet pining between the both of them throughout limbus company. the horrors of Knowing. i'm going to bite something

#chatter #limbus company #verdante #yes i am insane i am aware #i don't know if i phrased it as well as i wanted to but i want this out of my brain rn #basically verg tells dante bc god forbid them if they allow personal feelings get in the way of work #then he gets stunned when dante is alr fully aware of it yet they don't let it affect them #so now they're both stuck w the curse of Knowing #verg wise i can see a scenario where he actually slowly gets charmed by dante after this #but does it even matter bc he cannot do anything about it #augh i'm going to lay down #if u write a fic on it just know i will explode myself

[elekinetic]

hey team. buckle up. this is gonna be a long one.

aka let's break down my byler playlist cause i put way too much fucking thought into it

here's the complete playlist. i highly highly recommend listening while you read, but it'll make sense regardless <3

let's dive in.

1. i can't be with you by the cranberries.

we open with the line "lying in my bed again, and i cry cause you're not here." you're in the upside down, you're possessed, you're spending all your time with el, you're in california. they're ALWAYS separated, there's always something pulling them apart. they can't be with each other. "put your hands inside my face and see that it's just you," cause their existence is so informed by each other. constantly on each other's minds. "thinking back on how things were and on how we loved so well." i mean. C'MON. "i wanted to be the mother of your child" ok that's not byler EXACTLY but listen listen listen, dreaming of a future together? playing nintendo and dnd in their basement for the rest of their lives? "put your hands in my hands and come with me, we'll find another end…my head on anyones shoulder cause i cant be with you": basically they are dreaming of a world where everything is easy, where they can be together, but they know that's not the real world. they'll seek other comforts (el, losing yourself in your art, etc) to try to fill the hole in their hearts (y'all know there's more nuance to the el situation but i don't feel like typing all that out lol) dolores o'riordan's wailing is a great expression of the despair of seemingly unrequited love, while the upbeat fast paced drums invoke that teenage-first-love genre feeling through the song, we have dolores assuring herself that she cannot be with this person. its almost like shes trying to convince herself that there's no point to feeling this way bc they're NEVER gonna be together. but she ends with "but i'm still in love with you." there's nothing she can do about it. she can try to deny it all she wants, but its a simple truth. she loves them. they love each other.

2. wicked game by chris isaak.

this is the most stranger things ship coded song ever imo. doomsday love? soulmatism? reluctance? disbelief? wanting something different? HELLO? byler?? lumax?? jopper?? jancy?? "i've never felt this way... i don't wanna fall in love...the world was on fire and no one could save me but you, its strange what desire will make foolish people do, id never dreamed id love somebody like you..." is this song about being upset that a relationship is over? yes. which works for byler! but i think its also about loving intensely. its about looking at the tragedy of existence and saying, your love saved me. i feel so much, and i feel so sad because you mean so much to me. it says, without an ounce of real resentment, how dare you make me care so much? thus we establish from the jump JUST how much they care about each other. how important they are to each other. the song end's with "this world is only gonna break your heart" over and over again, which sets up the tragedy we're abt to be feelin through the rest of this playlist. all aboard the angst train!

3. fade into you by mazzy star.

we're back on that hand holding imagery shit we say in i can't be with you. "i wanna hold the hand inside you." i miss how close we used to be. "i look to you when i see nothing, i look to you to see the truth." -> you have always been the grounding presence in my life. there's a double meaning here of looking to the other person to see the "truth", being that they're never gonna love you like you love them. "fade into you, strange you never knew." its strange you never knew i was in love with you. how much i cared for you. (and if we're talking mike pov, strange you never knew before i fucked it up so bad.) "a stranger's light comes on slowly, a strangers heart without a home" we're strangers now OWWW. i am a stranger to you now, and my heart doesn't have a home.

4. does anybody know by jade bird. do i even have to explain?

pre s4 separation. very sad. california sunshine + s4 heart to hearts in the sun + the colors in you can hurt someone? something something will's painting and the rain fight and their ability to hurt each other.

5. graduation day by chris isaak.

a reflection on what used to be, and an attempt to move on. an attempt that will fail (see: further sad pining songs later in the playlist) "driving slowly, watching the headlights in the rain" - rain fight, will biking away. "think of the good times, wishing you were still with me, the way it used to be.... a million dreams have all gone bad, think of all we had...thinking of a time with everything was right...with only you and i..." HELLO??? once again, the theme of "i miss the way we used to be" makes a reappearance. "i knew it all then, thought you loved me, i was wrong.... learned my lesson now there's nothing left to say." what if i committed mass murder. i knew it all? hello michael. we've also got the theme of growing up. graduation day. they're getting older. on one hand, this could mean them graduating to the big leagues, the final fight. the end of everything is coming. they're almost at the finish line. on the other hand, they could be reflecting on "graduating" out of their childhood feelings and comfort, making peace with the fact that they're older and they don't get to go back to when everything was right.

6. please, please, please, let me get what i want by the smiths.

this song is so simple, and so direct, and so. so. so. sad. its a reflection of how much they love each other. this....this is all i want. he is all i want. my life has been so hard. i could've become a bad person, and i didn't. and that doesn't mean im owed anything. i know that. but can i please get what i want. this is the only thing that i want.

7. there's no need to argue anymore by the cranberries. just....just read it.

highly recommend listening to this song because all it is is vocals and an organ. it is so reflective and soft and introspective. its simple. a simple truth. (i mean you should listen to the whole playlist but yk)

8. boys dont cry by the cure, but covered by I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME.

yall already know the drill lyric wise cause. you know. it's boys don't cry. so, im just gonna talk abt why i picked this particular cover. it feels younger, a little less professional, a little more intimate. i love the cure version, but this one just feels...i don't know. it feels like the emotions of a teenage boy.

9. i know its over by the smiths.

this one... oh god. the first verse is "oh mother i can feel the soil falling over my head // and as i climb into an empty bed // oh well, enough said // i know its over, still i cling // i dont know where else i can go." something abt will's relationship with joyce and mike's relationship with karen. something about knowing their relationship with each other is over, knowing that and still not being able to stop thinking about each other. we get a sweet little nod to mileven in verse 2 "sad veiled bride, please be happy, handsome groom, give her room." yeah. if we're talking will's pov and substitute "she" for "he", this line is fucking killer: "loud, loutish lover, treat her kindly. [talking to el now] though [he] needs you, more than [he] loves you" OW and then this whole part.... mike's self hatred is just so chefs kiss.

anyway. this song is mostly just there for vibes. its sad. most of the playlist is sad. yk. it doesnt fit perfectly but pls tell me yall understand the vision.

10. electric indigo by the paper kites.

[this section was previously posted on its own here. there are a few details i left off of that version bc they referenced the playlist, this is slightly different.]

this song is the most mike pov to ever pov ITS INSANE. i'm sorry i didn't see you before. i love you and i'm sorry i hurt you. how do i fix this? how do i get you to come back to me? you're getting line by line annotations, fuck you. "never meant to cause you trouble with my coloured lies" hey. hey remember back during does anybody know when we talked abt "the colors in you, they can hurt someone"? "but you holding me with something locked behind your eyes [real love], you're setting me right // cause you got something that i need [real love], something i can't find" "distance never made me stronger, it tore us apart [hello california], i'm calling, im calling to you [BYERS BUSY PHONE LINE THEORY RISE] // and i know i left you questions and a lonely heart [do you even care what i have to say mike? you called twice! etc etc.]" "but you've been waiting long enough to let it go [i've put you through so much for so long, i get that you are probably done with me at this point, i know i would be] // i'll do you right [im gonna make it up to you, i swear], cause time is just a remedy covered in disguise [i grew up, okay? im better, i know more know. im not like that anymore.]" "and all i know is that i want you so heavy on my mind [i think about you all the time. i want to think about you all the time]" "and the feeling grows, when youre dancing slow. i see your fire go electric indigo [i watch you in your element, i watch you paint and be around our friends and argue with your brother....i see you be unapologetically you, and i just... i love you. i love you.] "what's it gonna, what's it gonna take? what's it gonna, what's it gonna take? what's it gonna, what's it gonna take? (x4) [how do i fix this? how do i show you how much i love you? how do i show you how much i love you?]

11. iris by the goo goo dolls, but covered by chris lanzon.

it's iris. do i even need to explain? i chose this cover the same reason i chose IDKHOW's boys dont cry cover. "it feels younger, a little less professional, a little more intimate. i love the cure version, but this one just feels...i don't know. it feels like the emotions of a teenage boy."

12. lover, you should've come over by jeff buckley.

our penultimate track. its about letting go of expectations, thoughts of who you should be and what you should do, and realizing how much you love someone who you let yourself lose. realizing that you're young and you've really messed up, but realizing what you want and seeking forgiveness. it's mike's realization. its a healthy reflection on how he's hurt the people he loves, and what he really wants. who he wants to be. it's mike growing up. he's willing to give up the trivial shit, the judgement of others and himself, to be with will. not even to be with will, just to let himself love will. there's this line, "maybe i'm just too young to keep good love from going wrong //...you should've come over ... well i'll wait for you." he wants will to come back. he knows he's lost will, and he knows its his fault. but he's telling will, "listen. i know you don't owe me anything. but im here. im here, okay? if any part of you still wants me, or even if you don't, im here."

13. time after time by cyndi lauper, but covered by iron & wine.

like boys don't cry and iris, i chose this cover because it feels softer, subtler, and more masculine. its acoustic, youthful, lighter. stronger. do you guys remember the opening line of the playlist? the first time of i can't be with you? "lying in my bed again, and i cry cause you're not here?" our final track, time after time, opens with "lying in my bed, i hear the clock tick and think of you." full circle moment, but time after time is different. those final thoughts are resolute, sure. i know how i feel, and i am here for you. wherever you are, whatever you need, whoever you were and whoever you become. i'm here. i love you. i love you. i love you.

#jesus. fucking. CHRIST. #WOO ITS DONE #oh my god i worked so hard on this #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #mike wheeler i know what you are #music #stranger things (ella's version) #Spotify