#I shouldn't be allowed to character speculate anymore
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i don't think i really understand pr and what actors should and shouldn't say. why is what oliver's saying so wild?
Hi, it's okay. I'll walk you through it. The tl;dr version is written in bold.
So. PR, or, Public Relations, is the dynamic between the general public (us) and any entity that has interests to protect (in this case, that would be the network + 911). PR teams are designed to ensure the relationship between the public and [their entity] is as harmonious as possible. Happy relationship, happy consumer, happy company.
Because keeping the peace is the intention of good pr, pleasant ambiguity is the name of the game. People can speculate, and people can guess, but no one should ever be able to look back at your words and claim that you've given a definitive answer on anything—good or bad—because definitive statements can harm the entity's bottom line, whatever that may be.
Oliver is very good at keeping the peace between the network and the public. We know this because we have seen evidence supporting this fact for years. He always says a little bit of what everyone wants to hear—he'll keep things vague (plausible deniability) for the sake of the network, while also giving nods of support and encouragement to the fandom without promising anything. You know how he's talked about being cautious and aware of what he's saying in interviews because he knows the impact it could have? Okay, well, aside from wanting to avoid "queerbaiting" allegations, this is part of the reason. PR is a very delicate game and he plays it very well.
Or at least he did.
Right now, Oliver is using binoculars to identify the line, making sure the line is exactly where he left it, and then taking a giant wrecking ball to it. Because now, Oliver is saying things that should absolutely not be said in interviews, or to anyone in the general public, at all. Now, he's elevating the conversation from pure speculation, to actively confirming and placing the blame at people's feet for things that have gone on behind the scenes.
Saying that Buck's Queer storyline was floated years ago? Huge no-no. Why? You were on tumblr yesterday. You can see why. People were angry, and people were hurt, but most importantly, people started to ask questions. We started to look at past arcs, past moments in Buck and in Buck and Eddie's relationship (because, whether you like it or not, Buck's queerness is and always has been tangentially linked to the existence of Buddie) to try and pinpoint when/how his queer arc could have launched. Now. Most of us have been here for years, so we can easily look back at the show and see where it's pretty damn obvious how Buck's Queer arc could have launched, depending on the arc(s), the characters at the time, things that were going on outside of the show (re: Oliver liking Buddie edits before/after the shooting), etc.
But we're not the only ones who are reading these interviews. Other people—casual fans, new fans, people who don't give a damn at all and are just clicking around on the internet—are going to look at these interviews, they're going to look at the things Oliver is saying, and they're going to have the same questions that we had. When could this have happened? And, more importantly, why didn't it? To keep it simple: everyone is going to start looking a little closer at the man behind the curtain, and the network does not want that.
Now, sure, it could be argued that, "hey, 911 isn't with FOX anymore, so maybe Oliver is allowed to say these things." But that's not really how it works. Sure, he might have a bit more leeway (as in, a microscopic, so-small-it-might-as-well-be-insignificant amount of leeway) to say whatever it is he wants, but this isn't the first time a major transfer/acquisition has occurred, and there are safeguards in place (such as NDA's—Non-Disclosure Agreements—which often do not expire for years post-acquisition, depending on the entity they're protecting) to prevent him from harming FOX's bottom line. So, that reasoning rings hollow. Especially because, now, it's not just FOX he's pulling into the fray either.
In the article that dropped today, he openly acknowledges this thing between Buck and Eddie in Season 7. And at this point, we're well into ABC's era. So the fact that he's saying, "I went to Tim and asked if there's something I can play with when Eddie says he's going on a date"—that's odd behavior from him. Not necessarily bad, just odd. And after years of toeing the line, the question that has to be asked now is why? And, more importantly, why now?
Does this mean that Buddie is going canon? Not necessarily (and, before anyone freaks out, I'm not saying it's not going canon either; I'm just saying this isn't an indication). But The Buddie Problem, at least, in the way Oliver is addressing it, is something the Higher Ups would want to keep quiet for as long as possible, for whatever reason. Maybe because they intend to go forward with it. Maybe because they don't. But the fact that he's cracking the shades open and letting light through is deeply fascinating.
But, despite all this, it's important, also, to realize that, even with demolishing the good PR line he's always walked so carefully, Oliver still isn't promising us anything. He's still treading carefully regarding how we, Buddie shippers, will interpret his words. He's not claiming Buddie canon is a go and it'd be remiss to think that's the implication here when it's not. He's not that stupid, and he's not that cruel. But all of it is very curious.
So that's why a lot of us are looking at each other, and then looking at Oliver, wondering what the hell he's doing. Because he knows better, and we know he knows better. We know he's very good at playing this delicate game but right now, he's making moves that are... intriguing... to say the least. And it's not just him, even though he's the main culprit. 9-1-1's move to ABC—and this entire press junket since 7x4—has been rife with sensitive information being released to the public, starting with Lou's untrained self revealing that it was supposed to be Eddie and Tommy that were going to get together, and circling back around to... literally every single word Oliver has uttered in the past three weeks.
So. It's odd! As you can see. So I'm sitting back, and I'm waiting and seeing because something is happening behind the scenes, and I don't know what it is (and I don't even think it's bad!) but it is still very much happening. So.
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Galactik Football season 3 rewatch, eps 1 - 3
Ok I'm finally rewatching s3, thought I'd put up some thoughts like I did for the previous seasons
Episode 1:
Oh boy here we go
Ok right off the bat you can tell the animation isn't motion captured anymore which... yeah it's not as good. But the drop in quality is more noticeable in the 2D animation which was already a bit rough in the earlier seasons
New Micro-Ice voice actor :( No wonder the VA's walked out, the budget for this season was 2 pennies, a shoelace and some gum.
Well since that robo cat was disguised as a real one, I'm guessing there actually are real ones running around?
Corso: This doesn't look good!
Sonny: NOT. AT. AAAALL!!
What in the 2000's comedy dialogue
They look so goofy 😭
So like, why are the Snow Kids apparently so much more out of shape and uncoordinated than other teams? Everyone else would have had a break too? You don't HAVE to nerf them just to make them the underdogs again, you know
Why is Mice doing the door to door marketing of his drink himself, he's a rich football superstar now? Also very surprised Mark didn't just say that it sucks
Aaaand season 3 tries to tell us there's suddenly distance between Mei and D'jok with no buildup whatsoever. Mei's already chilling with Sinedd what is this pacing 😭😭😭
Mei joining the Shadows is one thing but skipping the training to chill with Sinedd on a beach... she would never. She cares about the team, not just D'jok. She wouldn't do it like this!
tbf D'jok kind of has a point here – disappearing with no good reason and arriving late to the match is irresponsible at that level of play, but it's played as if he's being controlling over her? And no one else is wondering where she went, they just compliment her fit??
Yeah it's not just the animation, the direction is lacking too in the matches but I don't know enough about cinematography and pacing to describe how exactly
Why are they watching this broadcast about Paradisia during half time, hellooo? Did he hijack their satellites or something??
Ngl the worldbuilding around Paradisia is pretty cool
Mei immediately just switches to the Smog skfsfdks BUT THE PACING IS SO BAD THAT IT'S HILARIOUS
Is that allowed? Wouldn't there be penalties for someone using another flux in the match?? I guess it's a friendly
Aarch: It's possible to experience the Smog, if a player is overwhelmed with extreme anger
OK so this kind of messes with the lore of the Smog... I just don't think it should be so easy to start using another flux where the key is just... the emotion you're feeling? I mean sure, it was implied the Smog feeds off negative emotions and/or strengthens them but... ach there just needed to be more buildup to this!
And you're telling me NO ONE accidentally used the Smog before? Not even Rocket, when he was about to punch Luur after Tia got injured, but Mei does over some love drama we don't even know the cause of???
The Shadows stadium is so cool btw, the crystal like shapes on the ceiling, the emo colours... chef's kiss
Yeah it's annoying that D'jok is just acting the same way he used to because the writers don't know what to do with him, but again we don't know how long Mei has been acting like this and I would get annoyed too, although blaming her for the loss of the game was too much. Then again she's probably distancing herself from the team because of how he's behaving with her but again, I'm left here trying to speculate how their relationship broke apart because it was all in a timeskip! I shouldn't have to do that!!
I'm not against them breaking up, I can see how their characters can clash but... give me some more buildup god damn it!
And Mei joins the Shadows... ngl she slays in the outfit but... OUGHGHHG ALL THIS JUST IN EPISODE ONE
Also ngl I think the new writers just skimmed the past episodes and thought that 'pretty girl would go for the bad boy' was enough justification for Mei and Sinedd to get together which like, ugh. They've had like one interaction! And it wasn't a nice one!! Hoooow did they start getting closer let alone start dating AAARGGGHH
Episode 2:
I just... don't think Mei would leave the team like that! As I said she cares about all of the Snow Kids, she'd at least tell Tia or something before running off like that and leaving them to find out from a freaking TV broadcast!
Aarch: If I had a nickel for every time one of my players ran off without telling me, I'd have- ah forget it it happened again
Hearing Sinedd sounding so pleasant is hilarious, it sounds so forced
Oh wait nevermind Mei did try to send them a message beforehand. It's actually really sweet how she addressed each and every one of them individually... Mei calling Ahito little brother and him burying his face in the pillow 😭😭😭
BUT IT'S STILL TOO SUDDEN AAAAGHHFG
TIME TO GET THE OLD MAN YAOI GOGGLES OUT
Okay I love the new dynamic between Aarch and Artegor now that Artegor's gone to rehab been cured from the Smog. Now Aarch is the one who needs a bit of guidance
Harvey and Sydney!! Robo buddies
Artegor just straight up taking up the practice sessions, who's running the Shadows then?
Also he slayed in this outfit
This drill is a little callback to Micro-Ice's test at the very start of the series, except more badly animated lol
Ahito: You're going to need an instruction manual D'jok!
D'jok: Oh really? I know you by heart!
Hmm... foreshadowing for D'jok's "betrayal" later?
Love Artie and Bennett, hilarious how excited they are to “go on vacation”
Aw these kids are so excited to go to a beach, it's so rare for them
This soundtrack on Paradisia is quite pleasant actually, I wish they released the OSTs after season 1. There's this one Netherball soundtrack I love
Sinedd is still an ass so I wonder why Mei is even hanging out with him
Episode 3:
Yay the Wambas!
Mark's favourite hobby is cock-blocking Micro-Ice
The Mice delight joke is getting very old very quickly
Ain't the barman that robot announcer from Netherball??
Yuki's convo with the Elektras... something lgbt is happening here
God this is so funny, I love these goths
Enter Lun-Zia! She confuses me because we've never seen her on the Wambas team and there is like, zero mention of her ever having played with them, plus if she was Aarch would surely know of her already and she's wearing civvies from what I can see so... is she just some rando who happens to be good at football or not?? It seems kind of dumb to get someone like that when you could get a player who's actually used to playing in the big league. Why not just introduce her earlier as a new up-and-coming player in the Wambas team?
Every villain needs a creepy witch lady
Kind of funny that Micro-Ice didn't catch on that Yuki is going to the Elektras when they meet them at the bar, come on he's not dumb. Also why is he acting like Yuki is leaving the SK forever, it's just one tournament (at that point, anyway). Actually I'd say it's a good thing if some of their players get some experience on other teams!
But yeah I feel like they could have built this up more – had her talk to Mark or something beforehand discussing why she feels she should do this, idk just something so it doesn't feel like plot point B needs to happen sooo it's happening now.
Aarch: We're expecting you back after this tournament is over!
Yuki: You can count on me!
I feel like this whole team member reshuffling should have been done beforehand with negotiations between teams so none of them get stiffed but whatever
Tia: I'm not so sure I want her in the team either!
Rocket: Why?
Tia: I have my reasons!
SHE WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT. Why is she already salty that Lun-Zia is joining the team?
D'jok: Nice try, feet girl
IS THAT RACIST??? D'JOK!!
D'jok is mean to new person because they're replacing a former team member, we've already done this plot
Kind of wish we'd seen him develop into actually being a good captain as he only started to get to grips with it at the end of season 2, but here we go
Ok it's veeeery interesting to see Artegor's reaction to Aarch being harsh with D'jok and reminding him that he's going through a rough spot. Wonder how much of that comes from the experience of dealing with Sinedd... Artegor might have a soft spot for D'jok considering that “you'll always be a kid from Akillian” conversation in season 2, oouuughh the parallels between those two angry boys that Artegor probably sees himself in!
I also really wish we got to see more interactions between Artegor and Sinedd after Artegor got his mind cleared, would have been weird for Sinedd to have someone looking out for him all of a sudden
Aww Mice trying to make D'jok feel better, crashing a jet ski with your homie always raises the spirits
Aaaaand mood ruined. Mei moved on fast huh 😭 Damn vulture journalists. I actually kinda feel for him
DON'T GO INTO TINTED WINDOWS VEHICLES WITH WEIRD VILLAIN LOOKING DUDES D'JOK!! D'JOK HE HAS AN EVIL WITCH LADY!!!! D'JOK!!!
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Hey Blazar, any thoughts on the new chapter leaks?😭😭
So, on one hand I have a lot of thoughts, but on the other hand most of my thoughts can probably be summed up with a jumble of incoherent screaming that wouldn’t let me sleep last night. If I try to put my thoughts in order though…
The happy thoughts
First thing I should get out of the way is that, from a narrative standpoint, I love this twist. It was subtle enough to not be painfully obvious, while at the same time, there were enough hints for this not to feel like it came out of nowhere. That’s a hard balance to achieve. There’s no room for me to accuse Tabata of taking a perfectly good dork like Julius and doing a 180 on him for shock value. This was planned for Julius’s character from the start.
The twist also makes the Elf Saga even better in retrospect. After all, you can’t kill off the final boss in the first major arc. Plus, the final boss certainly couldn’t let one of his most important tools (William) go anywhere, so keep him exactly where he is under the guise of having him repent and make him feel guilty about even considering leaving.
His new grimoire cover is also very cool. The presence of the Spade, which symbolizes death, and the upside-down Spade, which symbolizes rebirth? Perfection. The fact that overlapping two spades somehow creates a heart, a clover, and diamond on his grimoire too? Double perfection. Though, the way it is right now, saying there’s a diamond hidden in there feels like a bit of stretch, and I feel like for the sake of balance one spade shouldn't overlap the other, so personally I would have designed his grimoire so that both outlines are present like so:
Also, this opens the door for cool, edgy Julius fanart, and the fact Yami and (presumably) William were corrupted by the Qlipoth ritual means they can all be cool, edgy devils together. A part of me wants to photoshop my icon's hair to be black to celebrate the advent of edgy Julius but I'd be spoiling so many people...
Speaking of fanart, I guess the comic I drew about Julius secretly being an alien wasn’t completely off the mark? 🤔 He certainly isn’t completely human. Some of my other fanart featuring him doesn’t feel right anymore though ^^;
The not so happy thoughts
Like you’ve mentioned in some of your posts on the topic, I feel that Julius was not aware of his identity as a devil-host or as a Zogratis. There is no reason for him to put on an act while he’s alone, so his shock about his identity is likely legitimate. Maybe Lucius has magic that allows him to manipulate minds or memories, and he wiped his own memories Light Yagami-style so that he could live as an innocent citizen of Clover? Or maybe Julius is a result of Lucius being “reborn”?
Assuming Julius was unaware of the truth, he was probably subconsciously drawn to William and Yami, much in the same way William was subconsciously drawn to the elves. Like how William felt like he was being guided by mana as he recruited people for his squad, Julius may have felt like he was simply following a random whim when he recruited them. The excitement he felt when he met them both was real
While this would mean the kind Julius we all met was real, and that he genuinely loved William, Yami, Asta, Marx, and everyone else, this also probably means the Julius we all met will never come back
While the above is all speculation based on one chapter’s worth of info, there is one thing I know for certain: everyone is going to be devastated when they return home
#Black Clover#BC spoilers#Y'all I haven't been this excited about Black Clover since the start of the Elf Reincarnation arc#I am living right now
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I think up to acofas SJM truly put all her efforts in making Feysand into the 'perfect' couple that can do no wrong in the eyes of the 'good & acceptable' characters. Every questionable and violent action (and war crime) they did was justified by the narrative and could be brushed off because 'if this character is fine with having been abused, then you should be, too'. And the ones that weren't didn't seem to bother their stans. BUT, despite the fact that I think SJM has a lot of issues (especially in regard on how she portrays lgbt+ and poc characters) and is blind to her own faults, I am unable to believe that she's dumb enough to not see that making Rhys withhold critical information from Feyre about her own body is anything but damaging to their image. Like I'm pretty sure she knew that this would make Feysand look bad-she also allowed another character to criticize their suicide-pact. I personally think she just isn't as obsessed with them anymore or the acotar-series - she's practically moved on to her new series. However, I do think they're still her favorite couple in acotar-otherwise, she would've put the same effort into Nessian.
You know idk. There's a lot of aspects of acosf that is hard to concretely analyze because of how noticeable the editing issues are and I don't particularly want to speculate on what SJM intended to do, but I admit that it's very hard to understand what is going on if there's a lack of consistency or rationalization whether you're an anti or a pro.
I personally also think that it would be very difficult to not see that Rhysand's actions are not "king feminist" but also just not something you do as a decent person or as a decent partner who loves someone. But the intention of that, in a perfect world, should mean something to the narrative.
If Rhys is meant to be shown like that than we can trace behavior all the way back to acotar, whether it's rationalized by trauma or not. We know that he has not been great to Feyre 100% of the time. He was primary villain at one point and now we see it again here in acosf, where he's starting to have that villain arc again, where it's about the high king and ruling Prythrian, and you know offering choices that are already heavily manipulated. So he could be going back to old ways, or even linking it to a trauma response which could be great for characterization, or highlighting pride and hypocrisy or even having it to emphasize Nesta's role in the plot and her conflict with him, or even Feyre asserting her own autonomy and her rule/role in this book, which again is good for characterization and character development. It would've been potentially great to flush that out, but since we have no explanation are hands are up in the air with that one.
However, if Rhys is not meant to be shown like that which... you know is hard to say if he is because of how much the book wants to brainwash us into believing he has no faults by the words of other primary characters, even when we read them on the page with our own two eyes, then the narrative suffers because of her writing and we, the readers, are left in a state of confusion as if we, ourselves, are being manipulated, and we get this split of I hate this character with a passion, I like this character to a fault, and the other which is I have no idea what's going on and maybe SJM doesn't either. I always say reading shouldn't be rocket science and though readers should be connecting dots and we should be reaching our own conclusions, we shouldn't have to be making up facts or ignoring details to make up a conclusion because that's the most consistent information we can find.
We don't know until the next book really if that means anything. I know people love to say it's a favoritism issue, but you can favor a ship and still write a relatively coherent, fulfilling novel. Plenty of authors do it. I mean she did with TOG, so it should not be so difficult. So I personally will always say that it's writing/editing problem, and that her lack of consistency, fact checking, and planning is the reason for all of this mess and I hope it gets better but I have no faith that it will. Because in all honest, she could have just stayed with Feyre/Rhys’s pov or had multiple povs, or just not do other character sideplots, if she only wanted to write Feyre/Rhys so I think it just doesn’t make her look like flexible writer.
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I've been thinking a lot about a lot of Machi recently, especially her relationship with her parents and most notably her younger brother. Being abandoned and ostracized by her parents, getting kicked out of her home, and never being able to see her baby brother anymore, was such a prominent part of machi's life, and shaped her to the person she is today (pre-canon), and it's so weird to me how takaya completely forgot about that and didn't expand on it to its fullest potential (but being that's pretty much machi's entire character in a nutshell, just forgotten and half baked)
So today I'm going to give justice to Machi and Unamed Kuragi!
For starters, I know that fruits basket having a large ensemble of cast, it's nearly impossible that every character will get the same amount of time and development throughout the series, especially for such a minor character like Unamed Kuragi. But he serves a bigger role in Machi's story, and Machi is the literal love interest of one of the main characters, so her backstory should have been more flushed out and well developed.
Before Unamed Kuragi came into the picture, she had a family (albeit not a very good one), fortune (that she didn't want), and a purpose to fulfill (once again a purpose that she didn't even want). Clearly Machi never cared for a life of fortune and inheritance, but growing up her entire childhood was based on being the potential successor of an inheritance, that's all she knew. So now that Unamed Kuragi came into the picture, everything that she previously had was taken away from her in one quick second. Her title, her possible inheritance, her family, her home, and now she's left with nothing and nobody to rely on.
She went from riches to rags in a span of two months, and mind you this all went down when machi was still in middle school, and the entire we never saw how machi thought of all theses changes happening, how she adjusted to being monitored and watched on constantly to living by herself and isolated from everyone else. We know that Machi doesn't hold any ill will or resentment toward Unnamed Kuragi, seeing as she was literally trying to put a blanket on him to keep him from getting cold, so she clearly she cares about him, and now is placed in an environment where she isn't allowed to see him or be near him.
Her relationship with Unamed Kuragi is no different than her relationship with Kakeru, prior to canon. In fact, I think her relationship with Unamed Kuragi would be worse than Kakeru, because while Kakeru and Machi were kept separated due to their mothers, they were both aware of each other's existence because they were literally pit against each other, so while it was still awkward to now all of sudden mend their relationship, it wasn't completely unexpected or out of the blue either.
Unamed Kuragi and Machi don't have that luxury, because machi was kicked out the house when he was still an infant, he has no recollection of Machi, she's a stranger to him, and I won't be surprised that the only reason he knows he even has a sister, is because their parents only bring her name up as an example of what he SHOULDN'T become.
This is again all speculation and hc's, but I wouldn't be surprised if Machi's parents spread lies about her to Unamed Kuragi, and paint her as "a selfish traitor who left her family behind".
Not to mention given the big age gap between them, I don't think Machi would try to reach out to him till she reached later into adulthood, when he's probably a teenager. And by that point, he has heard all of the horrid and awful lies that's he been fed since childhood, that he wants nothing to do with her.
I also have this whole headcanon that I've been festering on my mind for a few weeks, how Unamed Kuragi never had the chance to break free like Kakeru and Machi did, and how he could potentially been a foil of what COULD have happened to Machi and Yuki, if they never had someone there to pull them out of the darkness and kept in isolation, but that's a whole other can of worms.
Don't know where I was going with this or how to end this, just some thoughts that have been lingering in my mind for a while, and decided to share sjsjsj
#machi kuragi#kakeru manabe#yuki sohma#fruits basket#cant believe i wrote a whole essay about on a two minute scene and a nameless charcater i need to get a hobby fr-#meta#unamed kuragi#bloo.txt
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My Thoughts and Feelings About Sephiroth (Part 3)
Well I did say I would make a third part if I had more in mind about Sephiroth. And much to my surprise, there is more! So here it is! Parts 1 and 2 can be found here so you can keep up just in case I mention anything from those posts:
My Thoughts and Feelings About Sephiroth (Part 1)
My Thoughts and Feelings About Sephiroth (Part 2)
Now this one will be a little different because I will include more about the portrayals I've seen throughout the Internet, my own opinions about them, and my own portrayal. Plus I will include the essay I wrote about him for one of my college courses and I might say random things about Sephiroth that I will discuss.
First will be the portrayals of Sephiroth I have noticed throughout the Internet. I will not attack any of these or offend anyone who has these headcanons. I respect everybody's headcanons, and it's a good thing too because being a jerk to anyone who has portrayals that are different from yours is stupid and a waste of time. I have friends whose portrayals are varied, and we don't fight over how Sephiroth should act. Love them, hate them, be neutral to them, just as long as you handle this in a mature manner.
Now I have mentioned the portrayal of Sephiroth where he's unnaturally hypersexual in part 1, so I will not go into detail about it anymore. It's already been done. Another one I will not discuss again is the mindless killing machine portrayal (mentioned in part 2). To those who do or like these portrayals, I dislike them but I will respect your choice.
Now for the portrayals. The ones I really enjoy are the ones for his Crisis Core self (or pre-Nibelheim if you want to put it that way). As I have stated before, I can relate to his past personality, so I really like a lot of the headcanons. Picturing him, say, struggling to socialize, not knowing much of certain things (i.e. video games), spending time with friends, basically being human is heartwarming for me. I take it a lot of people like CC Sephiroth, and who wouldn't? There was this one story where Sephiroth took a liking to lemon drops, which is one thing I added to my own headcanon page on my blog. I found it rather sweet and cute. That's like me but with chocolate. I love chocolate. And then there's one where he has no idea what a sitcom is due to his sheltered upbringing, and it was pretty amusing to picture Genesis and Angeal trying to explain it to him as they watched TV. There are many others that I don't think I can list since there are so many of them, and for a lot of them, I like them. There's some that I don't, but that's just my personal opinion.
Now for the Sephiroth we all know after the Nibelheim Incident. Man, I'm beginning to remember what I've read. It's hard for me to find some portrayals that I like because the ones I've seen so far were unsettling. Sephiroth being a sadistic rapist is one of the worst ones I've seen so far. Not as in the stories are poorly written or something like that but for me, it's one of my least favorite portrayals. I get that he lost his mind, but I believe he wouldn't go that far. I wouldn't go that far with my own portrayal because it just makes me feel uncomfortable. Just thinking about it makes me uneasy.
I confess that I don't know my limits when it comes to portraying Sephiroth. For a long time, I've been trying to grasp his evil demeanor and I still hesitate to go further and struggle to get inside his head sometimes. So I don't know how far I can go with dark, twisted, cruel scenarios, but rape is one of my limits. I won't reveal the user, but I was recently asked if I could do necrophilia. When I got the question, I was speechless. That's another one of my limits. I really can't imagine Sephiroth being...intimate with a corpse. Much to my relief, they respected my opinion. And I like that. People should respect others because everyone has limits and if I have to force myself to write Sephiroth doing rape, acting all creepily intimate around Jenova, asphyxiation (as in the kink), or something that I don't see him doing, I won't enjoy the roleplays at all. I used to wish I could please everybody, but that's an impossible goal and I should keep in mind about what I want and don't want to do. Again, I don't know my limits too well, so if anyone wants to RP with me on my Sephiroth blog and it involves something that you're not sure if I accept or not, please message me. I'll try to get out of my comfort zone, but please respect my limits. If I don't do certain things, there are other Sephiroth blogs out there. It's simple and it will prevent pointless drama.
My portrayal for Sephiroth is close to his canon self but mixed with his CC side and my own headcanons. I try to stay close to canon as I write, and I silently read what I wrote and then read it out loud while picturing Sephiroth saying it. If what I wrote doesn't work, I revise them until they sound like Sephiroth. It's still not easy because I'm still struggling with his dark, insane, cruel self, the villain everyone knows and loves. One thing is certain is I do try my best to make him more human but still maintaining his character. I can't make him too human or else that ruins his cold and distant qualities, like making him fall madly in love with someone or bawling his eyes out. Now I haven't seen these examples anywhere, so I'm just throwing in random hypothetical headcanons here. The point is I do try my best not to make him too kind, soft, patient, you know, real nice or else that's not really Sephiroth. Lol But I also don't make him relentlessly cruel to the max 24/7. Both extremes aren't portrayals I like, so I am tackling middle ground. It's possible, and if others don't like my portrayal, that's fine, but they shouldn't judge me for it.
Since I'm discussing my own portrayal, I might as well explain other things about it. Let's see, he has interests outside of trying to destroy/conquer the world and messing with Cloud. My character is a loyal follower. Her profile isn't on my blog but her name is Maybelle Rose, and she's Sephiroth's love interest. Speaking of this, I make Sephiroth a bit of a Tsundere towards others, not necessarily involving romance like with Maybelle. He doesn't act like a stereotypical Tsundere, but he's a very, very subtle version.
Romance. Now this is something that might piss off so many, but I can picture him in a relationship. No, I'm not talking about Crisis Core Sephiroth. I mean post-CC. Say what you want, but I can see it. If done well, it can work. I don't like following the stereotype that villains are incapable of love. Some villains can truly be incapable of love, but not ALL villains. It's not mandatory. A friend of mine claims that Sephiroth is bland. Now I completely disagree with his opinion, but it did give me confidence in pursing romance regarding Sephiroth. Heroes are written as human beings, why not do the same for villains? That's what makes characters compelling, it makes them real. That's what I'm basically trying to do with Sephiroth, and as challenging as it may be at times and despite people probably going against this idea as they read this, I'll do it. My blog now allows shippings. Yes, I now accept shippings. I used to not accept them, but I changed my mind. My reasons are shown in my rant here:
Sephiroth Fandom Rant
Okay I know I said I wouldn't mention the hypersexual Sephiroth portrayal, but I might as well. If he were in a romantic relationship, he wouldn't be like that. Sephiroth doesn't get horny around everyone. Seriously, he's not a sex-obsessed maniac. Sephiroth is a private man with dignity and he would never act extremely sexual, let alone sexual in general. He would be intimate with his significant other, but it would be in a normal level and he would be intimate in private. And I must add that my portrayal does involve Sephiroth having kinks, but he's not sex-obsessed like I said. He has self-control and he keeps things private.
Now for the next thing. I wrote this essay over two years ago, and apparently I kept it after all this time. Lol Yes I wrote an essay about Sephiroth, back when I was still somewhat of a new fan. The assignment was to do a paper on a criminal, real or fictional, and diagnose them with specific personality disorders. However, it didn't mean that they HAD to have any of these disorders. We just had to show the instructor that we understood the material we have learned during class. Take a look at my essay here:
Essay on Sephiroth
Fun fact: My other choice for this assignment was Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. XD But Sephiroth was a better candidate and I was able to write more about him than I could have ever done about Gaston. Schizoid Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder were two of the ten types of personality disorders that came close to Sephiroth's behavior. I don't consider either of these disorders as my personal headcanons for him. I honestly never did despite Schizoid PD being pretty close. And much to my shock, my instructor liked my paper and I wound up getting an A! I never got an A on any papers, so it felt amazing to finally get a grade that was higher than a C.
Speaking of psychology, one headcanon that's somewhere online is that Sephiroth has autism. Well, it is possible because I have a friend who is autistic, but during my research on this condition, I don't see Sephiroth as autistic. Sure some of his traits do seem to resemble signs and symptoms, but speculation isn't considered a confirmation that he has autism. He might have it but I would rather have Square Enix confirm it if he really is autistic. On another note, I do understand why they headcanon him as autistic. They relate to Sephiroth because some of his traits remind them of themselves. I get that and if they think he's autistic, that's okay with me. This headcanon is also given to Papyrus from Undertale and Pearl and Peridot from Steven Universe, so I'm familiar with this. Even L from Death Note is believed to be autistic. To be honest, I kind of believe it regarding L. That's just my opinion, though.
Tangent aside, courtesy of a friend, I am more intrigued by Sephiroth in a new level. Aside from his appearance and personality, his intelligence, the way he thinks has me curious. Yes I have been trying to get into his head to improve my portrayal, and I think I found a strategy. If I want to portray and act like Sephiroth, I have to think like him...in less destructive ways, might I add. Lol I may not be an expert as Sephiroth yet, but I'll get there. I've come this far on my blog, and I'm not throwing it all away.
Speaking of my Sephiroth blog, besides that it would be fun and such, I created my own blog because I wanted to express my passion for him. He's one of my role models that made me stronger and I just really admire him. And like I said, I knew I could connect with other fans. Sure, there's a toxic side of the fandom, but that won't stop me. I did feel offended several days ago, as mentioned in my rant, but I'm fine now. In addition to my reasons, I didn't start the blog for fame. Popularity isn't really a big deal for me, I just want to show everyone how much of a Sephiroth fan I am in creative ways. Besides, I found the thought of portraying Sephiroth a fun challenge considering he's my opposite, and he pretty much started my fascination for villains. I also made friends thanks to the blog, one of them being my best friend here on Tumblr. :)
Now to finish this post with one more thing. When I was still a new Sephiroth fan, I confess that I tried to redeem him. Of course it was a difficult task to do for a story, and I admit I was determined to do it. However, as I kept going, I slowly realized doing this implied I didn't like him the way he is, the villain he is widely known as instead of what he used to be before discovering his origins. So I drifted away from redemption and focused on Sephiroth on who he is without changing him. Today, I love Sephiroth for who he is, cruel, cold, calculating, everything. Why change a character you're supposed to love? You wouldn't do that to a real-life partner, or anyone in general. Sephiroth wouldn't have liked me for trying to make him turn a new leaf. Lol So I never pursued redemption for him again. It was too hard anyway. It's like trying to redeem the Joker! That's how hard it was for me. So screw that mind-numbing task, Sephiroth should remain as the badass villain I have grown to love.
Well, this is it. For real this time! Lol This is my final part of the "My Thoughts and Feelings About Sephiroth" posts. I said everything I had to say about Sephiroth as I included all my thoughts, feelings, etcetera. I'm out of things to say about him, so no fourth post! XD If I ever have more Sephiroth-related comments that comes to mind, I'll just make small posts. Will I make more long posts like these? Perhaps. I had fun writing these posts. Maybe I can tackle other topics, or maybe talk about another character in detail. Well, see ya!
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