#and the people who understand all this and understand the context of making TV in the early 2000s (to present tbh!) aren't 'delusional'
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I need people to understand how S&P (standards and practices) works in television and how much influence they have over what gets to stay IN an episode of a show and how the big time network execs are the ones holding the purse strings and making final decisions on a show's content, not the writers / showrunners / creatives involved.
So many creators have shared S&P notes over the years of the wild and nonsensical things networks wanted them to omit / change / forbid. Most famously on tumblr, I've seen it so many times, is the notes from Gravity Falls. But here's a post compiling a bunch of particularly bad ones from various networks too. Do you see the things they're asking to be changed / cut ?
Now imagine, anything you want to get into your show and actually air has to get through S&P and the network execs. A lot of creators have had to resort to underhanded methods. A lot of creators have had to relegate things to subtext and innuendo and scenes that are "open to interpretation" instead of explicit in meaning. Things have had to be coded and symbolized. And they're relying on their audience to be good readers, good at media literacy, to notice and get it. This stuff isn't the ramblings of conspiracy theorists, it's the true practices creatives have had to use to be able to tell diverse stories for ages. The Hays Code is pretty well known, it exists because of censorship. It was a way to symbolize certain things and get past censors.
Queercoding, in particular, has been used for ages in both visual media and literature do signal to queer audiences that yes, this character is one of us, but no, we can't be explicit about it because TPTB won't allow it. It's a wink-wink, nudge-nudge to those in the know. It's the deliberate use of certain queer imagery / clothing / mannerisms / phrases / references to other queer media / subtle glances and lingering touches. Things that offer plausible deniability and can be explained away or go unnoticed by straight audiences to get past those network censors. But that queer viewers WILL (hopefully) pick up on.
Because, unfortunately, still to this day, a lot of antiquated network execs don't think queer narratives are profitable. They don't think they'll appeal to general audiences, because that's what matters, whatever appeals to most of the audience demographic so they can keep watching and keep making the network more money. The networks don't care about telling good stories! Most of them are old white cishet business men, not creatives. They don't care about character arcs and what will make fans happy. They don't care about storytelling. What they care about is profit and they're basing their ideas of what's profitable on what they believe is the predominate target demographic, usually white cis heterosexual audiences.
So, imagine a show that started airing in the early 2000s. Imagine a show where the two main characters are based on two characters from a famous Beat Generation novel, where one of the characters is queer! based on a real like bisexual man! The creator is aware of this, most definitely. And sure, it's 2005, there's no way they were thinking of making that explicit about Dean in the text because it just wouldn't fly back then to have a main character be queer. But! it's made subtext. And there are nods to that queerness placed in the text. Things that are open to interpretation. Things that are drenched in metaphor (looking at you 1x06 Skin "I know I'm a freak" "maybe this thing was born human but was different...hated. Until he learned to become someone else.") Things that are blink-and-you-miss-it and left to plausible deniability (things like seemingly spending an hour in the men's bathroom, or always reacting a little vulnerable and awkward when you're clocked instead of laughing it off and making a homophobic joke abt it)
And then, years later there's a ship! It's popular and at first the writers aren't really seriously thinking about it but they'll throw the fans a bone here and there. Then, some writers do get on the destiel train and start actively writing scenes for them that are suggestive. And only a fraction of what they write actually makes it into the text. So many lines left on the cutting room floor: i love past you. i forgive you i love you. i lost cas and it damn near broke me. spread cas's ashes alone. of course i wanted you to stay. if cas were here. -- etc. Everything cut was not cut by the writers! Why would a writer write something to then sabotage their own story and cut it? No, these are things that didn't make it past the network. Somewhere a note was made maybe "too gay" or "don't feed the shippers" or simply "no destiel."
So, "no destiel." That's pretty clearly the message we got from the CW for years. "No destiel. Destiel will alienate our general audience. Two of our main characters being queer? And in a relationship? No way." So what can the pro-destiel creatives involved do, if the network is saying no? What can the writers do if most of their explicit destiel (or queer dean) lines / moments are getting cut? Relegate things to subtext. Make jokes that straight people can wave off but queer people can read into. Make costuming and set design choices that the hardcore fans who are already looking will notice while the general audience and the out-of-touch network execs won't blink and eye at (I'm looking at you Jerry and your lamps and disappearing second nightstands and your gay flamingo bar!)
And then, when the audience asks, "is destiel real? is this proof of destiel?" what can the creatives do but deny? Yes, it hurts, to be told "No no I don't know what you're talking about. There's no destiel in supernatural" a la "there is no war in Ba Sing Se" but! if the network said "no destiel!" and you and your creative team have been working to keep putting destiel in the subtext of the narrative in a way that will get past censors, you can't just go "Yes, actually, all that subtext and symbolism you're picking up, yea it's because destiel is actually in the narrative."
But, there's a BIG difference between actively putting queer themes and subtext into the narrative and then saying it's not there (but it is! and the audience sees it!) versus NOT putting any queer content into the text but SAYING it is there to entice queer fans to continue watching. The latter, is textbook queerbaiting. The former? Is not. The former is the tactics so many creatives have had to use for years, decades, centuries, to get past censorship and signal to those in the know that yea, characters like you are here, they exist in this story.
Were the spn writers perfect? No, absolutely not. And I don't think every instance of queer content was a secret signal. Some stuff, depending on the writer, might've been a period-typical gay joke. These writers are flawed. But it's no secret that there were pro-destiel writers in the writing room throughout the years, and that efforts were made to make it explicitly canon (the market research!)
So no, the writers weren't ever perfect or a homogeneous entity. But they definitely were fighting an uphill battle constantly for 15 yrs against S&P and network execs with antiquated ideas of what's profitable / appealing.
Spn even called out the networks before, on the show, using a silly example of complaints abt the lighting of the show and how dark the early seasons were. Brightening the later seasons wasn't a creative choice, but a network choice. And if the networks can complain abt and change something as trivial as the lighting of a show, they definitely are having a hand in influencing the content of the show, especially queer content.
Even in s15, (seasons fifteen!!!) Misha has said he worried Castiel's confession would not air. In 2020!!! And Jensen recorded that scene on his personal phone! Why? Sure, for the memories. But also, I do not doubt for a second that part of it was for insurance, should the scene mysteriously disappear completely. We've seen the finale script. We've seen the omitted omitted omitted scenes. We all saw how they hacked the confession scene to bits. The weird cuts and close-ups. That's not the writers doing. That's likely not even the editors (willingly). That's orders from on high. All of the fuckery we saw in s15 reeks of network interference. Writers are not trying to sabotage their own stories, believe me.
Anyways, TLDR: Networks have a lot more power than many think and they get final say in what makes it to air. And for years creative teams have had to find ways to get past network censorship if they want "banned" or "unapproved" "unprofitable" "unwanted" content to make it into the show. That means relying on techniques like symbolism, subtext, and queercoding, and then shutting up about it. Denying its there, saying it's all "open to interpretation" all while they continue to put that open to interpretation content into the show. And that's not queerbaiting, as frustrating as it might be for queer audiences to be told that what they're seeing isn't there, it's still not queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is a marketing technique to draw in queer fans by baiting them with the promise of queer content and then having no queer content in said media. But if you are picking up on queer themes / subtext / symbolism / coding that is in front of your face IN the text, that's not queerbaiting. It's there, covertly, for you, because someone higher up didn't want it to be there explicitly or at all.
#long post#LONG-ass post#but it needed to be said!#i'm sorry if you think every creative involved with spn was a braindead asshole but the thing is.#even the most mediocre of writers understands a thing or two abt symbolism and writers working in TV are plagued by S&P#countless writers have talked abt the S&P bullshit and having to tweak and edit down their work to get past censors#it's a reality of writing for television#and the people who understand all this and understand the context of making TV in the early 2000s (to present tbh!) aren't 'delusional'#i'm sorry but it's naive to think that queer stories and queer characters are free to be told even nowadays. it's still a constant battle#times have changed but unfortunately not as much as you'd think#the confession !!!!! the confession still struggled to air and what we got was so obviously hacked down to bits!!!!!!#how can anyone think getting destiel content into the show was ever easy?#how can anyone think the pro-destiel writers weren't constantly having to be careful and underhanded in their writing?#there's a reason queercoding and subtext exist and it's this!!! it's censorship from TPTB#anyways. people much older than me have been talking abt this for ages. younger fans who are used to more open queer rep need to understand#it hasn't always been that easy and even nowadays SO many networks are still not willing to take a risk on queer stories#so creators do what they can#vic.txt
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Still in hunger games analysis mode, do you guys ever think about what Seneca did Wrong. About where he failed at the job he was given.
Because I think what his true fatal flaw was, was he believed it. He believed in the game and all of the propoganda surrounding it.
And this was something that was bound to happen in Snow's kingdom eventually! He made citizens that were clueless and lost in his little cloud nine. You can't make killers out of your arrogant, privileged sheep population!
Seneca Crane believed that the games were about the great show, about making stars and entertaining the masses.
The cold truth that you and I and Snow are aware of, is that the games are one part of the great oppression machine. They're a good political tool to be in control of, they can be used as a punishment to target whoever you need to, you can manipulate the big show on screen in a crude mockery of what's going on in real life! You can crush the spirit of certain districts, you can keep other ones loyal to you. And the victors are an extremely valuable Product that you are endlessly creating, idols and mouthpieces for your horrible propaganda machine.
So that's what the games do! A good tool for a dictator to have, and if you're aware of all the context, then being in charge of them gives you a lot of power.
But Seneca?? Seemed to genuinely believe he was there to put on a big fancy show😭 He was so excited about it, he chatted to sponsors, he did the interviews, he picked themes😭
Like of course he gave Katniss a 12 after her stunt, he wasn't worried about the fire outfits or her popularity at All. Because he thought it'd be good ratings, and it was! That's what he thought the goal was: Get the best, most entertaining story possible.
All those talks in the Rose garden?
This was not Seneca checkin in with the boss, that was the boss saying Hey what the Fuck are You Doing.
Because Seneca truly did not understand at all! How dangerous it would look for someone from district 12 to rise up that fast! (And Snow most definitely understood Very Quickly because he has been dunked on before by a black haired girl from district 12😭)
But even after that Very explicitly clear talk, Seneca kept allowing Katniss chances to tell the Mockingjay story. Because he is a fool, who thought he was there to make tv😭 And did not realise that the silly story they tell in the games, has very real effects on the districts.
Like the metaphor for it could be you hire someone to make you maybe pro-military, pro-war, propaganda films, and that goes great for years until they get a few generations in and the new guys are like "oh we're just making popular films here right?" And let your direct rebel enemy, star in a touching depiction of how great rebellion is😭 And then your movie guy goes "how was that boss? Lots of people watched!" ☠️
#then movie guy head go bye bye#text post#seneca crane#Katniss Everdeen#peeta mellark#hunger games#president snow#ballad of songbirds and snakes#catching fire
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OLD FOLKS HOME ↪ age gap hcs
the people you love & the shit they do that reminds you of the dreaded Gap (tm).
characters included: leon kennedy, chris redfield, jill valentine, claire redfield, rebecca chambers
no warnings to speak of. remember kids, if you're gonna date people in their 30s and 40s, you're gonna have different cultural contexts and, most likely, different senses of humor.
Leon is eight levels of irony deep. He started doing Old Guy Shit just to mess with you, and now it's all come full circle.
It turns out he actually likes watching the weather channel. He’s monitoring storms that are miles and miles away from you, pointing out the feeder bands like it’s some kind of sporting event.
He's genuinely invested in Ice Road Truckers. He asks you to TiVo it for him when he's gone. You do not have TiVo. In fact, you're pretty sure no one still has TiVo.
Or you were, until Leon once again committed to the bit and got TiVo.
Really, genuinely annoying about old movies, actors, and directors.
”What do you mean you don’t know who Robert Redford is? The Candidate? Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? C’mon. He was even in an episode of The Twilight Zone. You’ll know him when you see him.”
At least you get movie dates out of it.
Movie dates that he will pepper with trivia about the film, by the way. You don't need the commentary track. He is the commentary.
I'm so, so sorry about this. 🤪 is his favorite emoji. I know. I'm sorry.
Chris cannot fucking hear. To be honest, I think most of them have some degree of hearing loss - but Chris in particular seems to have very subjective hearing loss.
Yes, you were just having a full-fledged conversation. No, he didn’t hear you ask him to take out the trash. He didn’t forget, he just didn’t hear you. Sorry, you were standing on his right - come on, you know that’s his bad side.
Explains basic technology to you because he’s not sure if you know what it is. Then, in the same breath, crams in so many military acronyms he may as well be reciting the alphabet. Does not explain the acronyms.
Like, yeah, Chris. I know what a landline is. Dial-up internet, too. Now, what the fuck is an ORE?
Have you ever gotten ‘ok’ in response to a nude? You’re about to. Completely demoralizing, by the way.
He didn't know you wanted him to compose a poem dedicated to your beauty, okay? He tries to get better, but winds up sending shit like 'wow 👍'
Does the dad thing where he insists he's not interested in watching what's on TV and then stands with his hands on his hips in the middle of the living room, enthralled by the show.
Jill does not understand your music. She will not make an attempt to understand your music. If you see her tapping her foot to the beat, no you do not. She is not interested in expanding her musical horizons.
She only bought you tickets to that concert because she knew you would love it. She only went with you because you’re cute when you’re so into this stuff. She only bought that t-shirt because it would be a good souvenir, and eventually, a good grease rag.
Generalized distrust of social media. Do not show her a tiktok. She will ignore the video and lecture you about data safety. Jill, please. Just watch the fucking cat video.
And then she turns around and opts in to literally everything on the McDonald's app.
If there’s a rewards program, she’s in. Already sold. Didn’t even read the fine print. All that shit she was telling you about how you need to be more careful is right out the window for some free fries.
Anything for the thrill of a good deal. If she had more time on her hands, she would be couponing.
Buys in bulk. No, it doesn't matter if the two of you could not physically eat that much rice. It's cheaper to buy it like this. It's fine. It's good for you.
Gotta stock up on non-perishables, too. You gotta be prepared in case something happens. "Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."
Claire cannot stop shopping from QVC. She's in the kitchen with David. It Takes Two with Mary and Sandra? Wrong. It actually takes three. Mary, Sandra, and Claire.
Infomercials have got her by the throat. You have so many gadgets and gizmos around your home that are just collecting dust.
Gets wine drunk and goes online shopping. Legitimately does not remember what she’s bought.
Absolutely will not let you open the packages. (“Some of this stuff could be for you, you know.” “Claire, last time it was a 10,000 count package of googly eyes.” “And I used all 10,000. You still haven’t found them all.”)
Uses every piece of technology until it’s about to fall apart. Absolutely not interested in having the latest and greatest. She’s one of those people who insists that as long as her phone can make calls and send texts, she doesn’t need a new one.
Speaking of texts. Somehow, she got it into her head that a read receipt is equivalent to a reply. She doesn't get what the problem is. You know she saw your text. Why does she have to reply?
Genuinely doesn't mean anything malicious by it - but also, if you did that to her, you would never hear the end of it.
Rebecca legitimately has facebook humor. They all have some degree of facebook humor, but she's got it the worst.
Will blow up your notifications tagging you in shit that is just straight up not funny. I’m talking full on tagging you with “😂😂😂”
Unironically sent you a minion meme once.
It's not that she's disconnected. She teaches undergrads. She knows what’s in, even if it’s only from the periphery. It’s just that she doesn’t care. She has no interest in keeping up with trends just for the sake of it. She’s so used to being the youngest person in the room and having to keep up expectations that she just absolutely does not care anymore. She's glad she's not one of the kids anymore.
If it made her laugh it made her laugh, her enjoyment isn’t shackled by feelings of shame!!
If you have a group chat on any platform with your friends please invite her. She's just happy to be included. She'll make a discord if she has to, and she'll brag about it to her students.
Yeah, she says pupper and doggo. She does. Look at her.
#resident evil headcanons#resident evil x reader#leon kennedy x reader#chris redfield x reader#jill valentine x reader#claire redfield x reader#rebecca chambers x reader#resident evil fanfic#resident evil#leon kennedy
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Lev in touch! Hikka’s out, I possessed her))) she’s eating chips with her brain turned off while I’m explaining the lore to you >:D
So.*loud long surp*. in Anarchists there is a LUZ. she ended up on the Islands after falling into a lake, which turned out to be a portal to the world of demons. the King and Jester quickly picked up her there. she seemed fun to them. Philip mistook her for a kitten, and she, in fact, now walks under this nickname. she lives in their castle above titan’s head. and when she wants to get out of there, she asks Collie (specifically Collie because if Phil lets her down, firstly, it will be unsafe, and secondly, Luz cannot be picked up, she has daddy issues). sometimes they forget to feed her, but she copes with it herself. fortunately, anarchists have a fridge and, in principle, all the best things from the human realm. they even have a TV on which they watch anime. once they organized a “One Piece Month”))) then they flew around the islands, found more or less suitable candidates for the roles of characters, turned them into these characters and forced them to act out the roles (precisely they forced them, because making them obedient puppets was boring, not Interesting, Phil said)
Luz watched these idiots having fun for a while and was like, “Well, I see that they have no intention of harming people. They’re just idiots who don’t understand what they’re doing.” at least she hopes so. at some point Luz thought, “I can fix them.” and she had a moralizing conversation with the boys, trying to somehow reach out to them. but, as you understand, moralizing conversations affect people only when they are rubbed into them by someone with authority and force. and Luz has neither one nor the other, she's just a kitten.
Luz realized that she didn’t belong here, that her attempts to affect on K ‘n J were pointless, and decided to go her own way. She said goodbye to the boys. they got upset and after she left they started fighting because of what had happened, saying, “It’s your fault that Kitten left us!”. word for word, Philip went to let off steam, and Collie stayed at home. aaaaaand then the plot of the comic that we’re working on now happened. We're already half done! heading towards the 30 page mark......
Hikka in touch! finished eating my chips and is ready to briefly explain the rest of the pictures while you are already stuffed Lore about Luz phpphphphp
The second picture is what the pocket found just after getting out of the lakes. K ‘n J were racing through the forest on “beepbeepkas” (they maneuvered right through the air between the trees), but belatedly they stopped to check out what kind of person that was, standing there sticking it in, not understanding anything. Collie's first line was "you look interesting" and then Phillip were like "we're taking her with us"
Third picture: we will have Hollow Mind. Not saying any more context yet because there are spoilers :))
Fourth: Phill can do gypsy tricks, which are valued among them precisely because without magic they rely on sleight of hand and cunning. Luz was not impressed
Well, the last one is an unused frame for a comic that we turned into a meme. Don't thank us :3
#the owl house#toh anarchist au#phillip wittebane#belos#emperor belos#luz noceda#hunter#hunter clawthorne#toh collector#jester collector#phill the demon king
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How to write good horror.
1- DON'T EXPLAIN WHAT THE HORROR IS. DON'T EXPLAIN ANYTHING.
no context = more scary.
"oh but it is just a ghost- "
YES. you know that, I know that, but things are way more scary if you don't explain it. let your audience scare themselves trying to figure it out!
the first FNAF game didn't explain anything it was just "ok these machines are kind aggro". that is part of what made it popular! (And truthfully this reason is why i dislike the other games in the series)
i can't name how many horror movies i immediately lost interest in because it was explained.
"oh no! there is blood dripping from the walls! "
its demons or ghosts or whatever. you explained it. it isn't scary now that you explained the joke.
if you have to explain what it is, explain it at the END of the story or near the climax at best. (or better yet, don't explain at all)
2- restraint is key
i know it is tempting to show organs and blood dripping from the walls and someone eating out a corpse or whatever
but don't outright show that kind of stuff ALL THE TIME or else your audience becomes desensitized to it, and if horror fans are reading/watching your work, chances are they are going to think this is weaksauce.
you need to be SUBTLE when building up suspense in your story. don't show the real scary bits until the end of the buildup/
3- normalicy and familiarity is key
i am going to use bugsnax as an example. bugsnax has no gore and can be considered child friendly, but what made bugsnax scare people is that it has the facaude of a cutesy little game.
doki doki lit club has a simmular principle where its like a normal dating sim but you are caught off guard and things feel off.
this is a valuable tool.
4- be original and understand why the more popular ones are popular in the first place
everyone has done analogue horror. why ? because we are all so used to modern technology that older televisions and tech seem kinda creepy.
Blue_channel by gooseworks is one of my favorites. It gets right to the point, and while it DOES explain what the product is, it doesn't go "oooh death and scary!!! oooooooh!" it lets the audience make up their own horrifying reason as to what is happening here.
saying "oooooooh look murder your parents ooooh!" isn't scary, and putting a glitchy tv filter over it isn't going to make it more scary.
and finally
5- describe the unfamiliar
i know i just said familiarity is key
but that is only 1/2 of the equation.
Everywhere at the end of time depicts the sounds of memory degrading in an alzheimers patients.
this is an experience that no one could relate to except for those who are experiencing it (and sadly, those people are either dead or mentally comatose)
this is also why lovecraft horror is loved, because we can only imagine so much before the lack of understanding drives you insane.
hope this helps, for the love of all that is good, please stop writing bad horror.
#writing#writing advice#horror#horror movies#horror films#horror fans#classic horror#analogue horror#doki doki#ddlc#fnaf#lovecraft#gooseworx#bad horror movies#eateot#everywhere at the end of time#caretaker#horror books#horror writing#creative writing#fanfic#fanfiction
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Hanamusa, Explained
There is a nonzero chance if you follow me on tumblr, you’ve seen the term ‘Hanamusa’ attached to something I shared. It’s probably also some super cute art of Delia Ketchum and Jessie Teamrocket, and you may wonder what is going on and also, why is there so much good art of this.
Hanamusa as a term derives from the Japanese names of the characters – Hanako and Musashi. If you’re into shipping name structures, Hana-Musa implies that Hanako is the seme and Musashi the uke, but I don’t think that holds for all use cases of the type of terminology. It’s a ship. It’s an AU ship, as in an ‘alternate universe’ ship, where the two characters are presented in a context outside of the normal context of the anime presentation of them.
The Hanamusa ship as I understand it is set at some point after Jessie and James stop chasing Ash around, and Jessie settles down into a relationship with Delia. There’s tension about her history with Ash and the confusion about finding Your Personal Villain dating your mom, but mostly it’s about showing a sweet domestic life between two characters you know very well in a format I kind of see as like, Comedy-Sabot Romantic 4koma. Like, Hanamusa content is funny (and it is VERY funny) but it doesn’t need to be funny, because the main thing it’s about is showing these two characters and their relationship as they do cute things together.
It’s why people watch shows like K-On basically.
As for where this idea comes from, (EDIT: Slightly wonky wording here, I should have phrased 'this current fandom push' - I don't have any reason to believe Mai INVENTED the ship, just that when you go looking you'll wind up at her work) it seems to have its genesis with the work of one Kiana Mai, who developed this ship some time ago. Kiana Mai is also an extremely skilled artist, and one of those skills seems to be focus, creating these extremely clean-line excellently structured scene vignettes with no unnecessary content in them but also no need to rocket along. It’s amazing, engaging work that uses every part of the small format amazingly well. Which makes sense because one of the things Kiana Mai does is storyboarding work for Disney animated TV shows, a task at which I am sure she no doubt excels.
What I think is the most interesting aspect of Hanamusa, to me specifically, is that it manages to combine three things I don’t actually care about, in a way that doesn’t interfere with something I have unexpectedly strong opinions on. I do not watch Pokemon, and I have not shed a tear for Team Rocket and Ash Ketchum wandering into the sunset. That is a show that is not for or about my interests and that is okay. Indeed, imagining that it should be about what interests me is baffling. I think if I stopped watching a show twenty years ago, I have lost all right to act like I’m entitled to expect it remain the way it was all the way back then.
But I do have opinions on Jessie and James’ character voice. Not their voice acting – I mean, I know for a fact they’ve had to change over time and no voice actor should be obligated to kick it in the same role for what could be their entire career. I mean the way they talk about things and the words they use and kind of emphasis they put on words when they talk. About the way they voice their ideas, or the way they express who they are in the way they talk to one another, that stuff. It’s about affordances and persona, about the kind of people you project being by what words you choose to use and the affect when using them.
It’s why when, if a picture of a character is underneath it, you can read some dril posts as being ‘appropriately’ voiced by a character, even if it’s describing a candle situation that Francis Crozier did not have opinions on.
Jessie has a voice.
Jessie, in my head, is someone capable of moments of tenderness and friendship that is normally overwhelmed by an incredible confidence in ability she does not have and mere reality will never be given permission to infringe on it. Jessie is unassailably unstoppably sure of herself, thoughtlessly stupid in a way that doesn’t mean she is stupid, but which exists in a context of someone who has relentlessly pursued excellence in her job which is also the equivalent of being a late night 7/11 manager. She is the Girlboss that is Gaslighting herself into thinking she has something to Gatekeep.
Delia Ketchum by comparison is a very nice piece of wallpaper. Every appearance of her in my mind is someone Very Nice who is Very Patient and Very Supportive and has managed to keep literally all emotionally challenging conversations from happening around Ash, which can be perhaps easier when you remember that he, too, is an idiot. I don’t know how Delia Ketchum talks, but I do know that there are ways that Delia Ketchum does not talk.
This is interesting! It’s interesting because it presents a character where I am very sure I know what she does do when she does it, and a character about whom I can only be sure wouldn’t do some things. It creates a character space, and it creates expectations of affect and performance within that space. Ash and other characters show up as well, but because they get to interact with this already-defined space, you get treated to this really lovely kind of resonance. Would Ash call Jessie ‘dad’? Maybe, to bug her. He was good at being a twerp. Wasn’t he? I mean I remember it that way, he seems to work out that way, but… how would I know?
I know more of this AU where Jessie is studying to be a Pokemon Doctor and Ash wears glasses than I do of the source material any more. And if you’re wondering ‘hey, do Jessie and Delia ever meet in the source material?’ Like, yeah, for a few seconds. What, the point is creating something new.
If you want to check out Hanamusa stuff and read the comics, I recommend going and clicking on the hashtag on tumblr.
Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!
#Anime #Media
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Salty i wanna get into Baki which one do you recommend,the manga or the anime?
Oh you just woke up the fucking beast (I'm so sorry).
I LOVE this question, and as a recent Baki fan myself, I can tell you that getting into the series as a Western consumer can be rough if you don’t have a basic guide to know what you’re getting into…. so that’s what I’m gonna make this post (TEEHEE).
This series has gotta be one of the most insane shonen- actually no- one of the most INSANE PIECES OF FICTION I've ever experienced, and I NEED more people to check it out. Like, LOOK AT THIS SHIT DUDE.
Baki out of context somehow even puts Jojo's Bizarre Adventure to shame. The way I usually pitch it to people is that Baki is as insane as people THINK Jojo is before they read it. Shit is just... MAN LMAO. OBAMA IS FUCKING IN THIS.
Unlike more popular stuff like Dragon Ball and Hunter x Hunter, a lot of this series has just never been officially localized, so knowing where to start, and even how to support the series, is a hard task if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Thankfully THAT’S WHAT YOU HAVE ME FOR. This Tumblr post is gonna be your one stop shop for how to get into Baki as an English speaker (and it’ll give me some space to ramble about one of my latest favorite series).
But uh before we get into the nitty gritty, wanna put some trigger warnings for the series for those who may want to know. Listen, I know how some of these are gonna look to the average person, but this series just be like that sometimes, if you can’t take stuff like this trust me it’s insanely valid. You’ll understand if you choose to take the plunge.
SERIES TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Animated Blood/Violence, some animated gory imagery, Incest (???), Nudity, Urine stuff, Bigfoot/Animal Violence, Death, Uncomfortable looking muscles, and one instance of sexual violence (offscreen)
If you are comfortable with all that (and again, valid as fuck if you aren’t) then let’s talk BAKI!
First off, Manga or Anime?
You would think that either would be fine, but my personal recommendation for Baki as a beginner, is to watch the anime over reading the manga. Simply put: The anime is a lot more widely available and accessible in English speaking territories, and is fairly easy to support officially with its current iteration.
For whatever reason, the manga just never really took off in the West when compared to other series, so it was only ever officially released in English a handful of times, and they only ended up publishing the first few volumes. Theoretically, you can read the first few books to start, but the entire series all together is legit longer than One Piece at a whopping 1,203 chapters, so you are gonna run out of material real quick. The fraction of officially available manga barely scratches the surface of the series.
Even if you’re stubborn about reading the manga and want to try reading fan translations, they come with their own separate batch of issues. Plenty of fan scans you can find online range from wildly outdated, to generally being poor quality at best. There’s even some fan translations that just straight up make shit up and don’t even properly translate the original script. Adding in extra dialogue and slurs randomly to make the text seem way edgier than it actually is.
Full disclosure, I wanna cut through my bias here and say that there are indeed some great scans available on the internet if you look hard enough, especially for the more recent content! But they aren’t super easy to track down with how the series is formatted, and you may accidentally find yourself reading the story out of its proper order.
The watch/read order of Baki is a bit of a toughie for new people, but is actually pretty simple once it’s explained. The story of Baki is split up into multiple different series, kind of similar in format to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Though instead of “Parts”, Baki is split up into completely different manga and TV series. This is why many fans get confused initially, especially with the watch order, because it isn’t laid out in an easy to understand way at first glance.
The most well known series are currently streaming on Netflix, but those aren’t the ones you wanna start with. Nope, the story of the Baki anime actually starts way back in 2001, in a TV show that isn’t streaming officially online. Now if you want to watch out of order, I’m not gonna stop you. You can do whatever you want, by all means, but you’re gonna be missing some VERY important story context, and some characters just won’t hold the same weight.
So if you DO want to watch in order, come with me my friend. Let me show you-
BAKI’S SUPER COOL AND NOT AT ALL CONFUSING WATCH ORDER:
Baki the Grappler (2001) (24 episodes)
This is the original 2001 anime adaptation, the very start of serialized Baki anime. You’re gonna wanna start here trust me.
This series isn’t streaming anywhere officially online, but you can find it… places. Seek it out, trust me, because otherwise you’re gonna pay way too much for out of print DVDs on Ebay. Thankfully though you have options! The series is both subbed and dubbed (as well as every series I discuss from this point forward.
This show is the very start of serialized Baki anime, the very beginning of Baki Hanma’s story. Although it’s not in the way you may think. Despite this being the earliest point in the Baki timeline, it’s actually an adaptation of a later story arc from the manga.
Now I know what you’re thinking, “Didn’t you just say this is where I should start? Why is it adapting something from later in the story?”, and yeah it’s valid to be confused. While yes this is the first ever Baki anime, for some reason the staff behind it made the decision to move this later arc up a bit from the original manga. In my honest opinion, I feel like this is actually a great decision.
As you will see as you watch, this honestly FEELS like this should be where the story begins. The escalation of power and storytelling from this point onward feels very natural, and you won’t miss out on anything or spoil yourself whatsoever on later events.
This is the de facto best starting point.
Grappler Baki Maximum Tournament (2001) (24 episodes)
This is effectively the second season of Baki the Grappler. For whatever reason they decided to title it something else, and while this is the norm for the series later on, this name change is weird because it adapts an arc from the original manga just like the first season of anime I just talked about.
Whatever lol.
Anyway this series, much like the previous, isn’t officially available as of now. So your best option is to SEARCH for it. SEARCH on the INTERNET. Or y’know. The good ol’ expensive out of print DVD on Ebay route.
In my opinion, compared to the first season, this one feels a bit slower paced and a bit of a slog at points but HOLD STRONG TRUE BELIEVER. This season is the introduction to a lot of mainstay characters in the series. Many of which you will come to love, even if you don’t know it yet.
BAKI (2018) (39 episodes) (NETFLIX)
This is the modern adaptation of Baki. After the last series ended in 2001, the anime went on hiatus for 17 years before it was announced that it would be coming back with a modern coat of paint.
Contrary to what you may think, this isn’t a ground up reboot. It’s a continuation of the exact point they left off years ago, right after the Maximum tournament. The only thing that kind of sucks about this is that, at least for the English dub, they replaced most of the voice cast. Most of the new VAs do a great job, however you may need to get used to Yujiro Hanma having Shadow the Hedgehog’s modern VA from the games haha.
Thankfully, you can officially support this series easily via Netflix. Normally I’m pretty eh on Netflix as of late, but this being the only way you can support the show officially in the west, I personally recommend it.
Baki Hanma (2023) (39 episodes) (NETFLIX)
This is the most recent anime! It’s also on Netflix.
Me and my friends just got to this on our watchthrough together.
Anyway, this is my list! If after you catch up you wanna hop into the manga and read the fan scans, I’ve heard that you can start on Baki Hanma/Baki Son of Ogre (chapter 183).
Hope you enjoy the funny man punching show! Feel free to report back and tell me how you feel about it (positive OR negative)!
Like I said, I've been watching the series with friends on Discord every night or so when we're free and MAN. Baki is fucking AMAZING WITH FRIENDS. It just never slows down after a certain point, and it just gets stranger and crazier.
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Congrats to the fans of the wee woo show. I don’t go here but it makes me happy to witness how this arc for Evan Buckley got to bloom and I’m happy because I hope this reflects another shift in the TV industry.
For some media commentary context for you: ABC network is owned by Disney. Fox network was owned by Rupert Murdoch. So I can see how the network change for 911 can easily be a factor on how this got greenlit, after years of creator Tim Minear’s intention to work in hints, on the off chance he could take it there. (I don’t go here, but I did my reading). Oliver Stark who plays Buck also revealed he's been for it and couldn't say anything, until he was sure they could do it, until it aired and was out there. (*steeples fingers*)
For further context, Bob Iger—with George Lucas’ vocal support—just fended off a right wing coup on the Disney board from the kinds of people (like Peltz) who complain “why do we need so many female leads” “why do we need movies with all Black leads.” While it doesn’t mean Disney is no longer an evil megacorp, I’m pointing out that its CEO defended inclusive Disney brand content to the shareholders and the board, as well as dismantling the idea that it can’t be entertainment while being diverse.
The ripple of this goes outside of the wee woo show fandom. I’m seeing the joy on my dash from people who don’t watch the show or don’t watch it regularly, as well as from people who have been watching a long time and noticed things and realized there was a progression and it was there all along, and I know how much this must mean to a lot of people. With the world being how it is, with what people are facing inside the US from the far right, in their real lives.
It’s very hopeful in general for inclusion levels on a major network TV show, owned by a big evil megacorp. Representation matters.
Also I'm aware the wee woo show already had a queer couple, plus it's already an intersectional inclusive series, that’s great.
There shouldn't be limits placed on inclusion though. “But you already have X” shouldn't be weaponized to tell people to shut up. There is no “enough” or “too much” when it comes to inclusion. While I'm not for undermining the inclusion that's there, I've seen that weaponization used with a series that hasn't been great on inclusion, and I've seen that weaponization used for 911, which is. It's a sus argument.
Indirect and unintentional as it is, also bi Buck shut down every concern troll, every gaslight, every denial, every rationale I've ever seen people deploy against bi Dean. Everything from people who don’t understand what bi actual means—“but he likes girls so he can’t be bi”—to “but he wasn’t declared bi from the start of the show so he can’t”—yes he can and the wee woo show just did. On one of the original big three networks. Or people who say it would "ruin the character." Really? “But he’s an action hero”—so what? Evan Buckley is a hero, Dean is a hero, both badass action heroes. “People who see this as canon are delusional”—Evan Buckley went O RLY? Not so delusional now, is it.
Evan Buckley avenged bi Dean.
It’s self-evident. It’s right there. Different show, different network, but the concepts are familiar, the situation has a certain familiarity. This turn of events on an ABC show didn't just make bi Dean fans valid. bi Dean fans were always valid, the bi Dean reading was always valid. But I appreciate how much what happened on the wee woo show bonked people with a truth stick, about self discovery, character arcing, queer readings, queer coding, and the validity of merely noticing things.
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Kat watches Moon Knight
Okay, so with the encouragement of several people on here and the emotional support of my roommate, I have finally (in February 2024) started watching Moon Knight, a show whose basic concept scares the shit out of me.
Context: I had an adopted older brother with DID. Note that I said "had". That's past tense because life treated him so appallingly poorly that he died (horribly, in prison) when I was 19. Part of that abuse was enabled by pop-culture depictions of DID in the 1980s and 90s that convinced everyone who knew about his condition (including the court system) that he was a walking time bomb.
One of my earliest memories is of my brother as a young adult, playing Super Mario Bros with my toddler self. Another is of him patiently teaching me how to make friends with a large dog. I never met any of his alters, afaik; I was small and cute and safe for him to be himself with, so he probably didn't need them around me. He was a profoundly gentle man when he was allowed, and it hurt like hell to see him turned into a monster in movies and on TV. I've turned off a lot of "psychological thrillers" in sorrow and disgust.
Ironically, I loved Moon Knight comics as a kid in the 90s, BEFORE he was retconned to have DID circa the mid-2000s. Because those comics came out right after my brother died in 2002 and leaned HARD into making people with DID seem like violently unstable monsters (for reference, see the cover of Moon Knight: God and Country), I stopped reading them around 2008, when I couldn't take being poked in the trauma by a comfort character anymore.
But I do love Werewolf By Night, and there's been a lot of good fic mashing Jack up with Moon Knight without dehumanizing anyone, and several people have encouraged me to try the show. So this post will be a place for my thoughts as I try to work my way through with my Essential Editions in one hand and my memories of my brother in the other. I'll add to it as I watch.
If this entertains the Moon Knight fandom or provides useful fic reference, so be it. Just don't be jerks on my post.
Also, anyone who chooses to be shitty about my brother will be eaten by bears. I don't make the rules.
Episode 1
Okay, we open with Steven as our POV character, and he's...convinced he's a sleepwalker. All right, not terrible. Steven is now a bumbling nerd, which is probably an improvement; good luck making a billionaire playboy sympathetic in the 2020s. Jake would be the logical everyman POV from the comics, but I understand from fic that he's got a different role now. I'm confused about the accent, but it's only episode 1, and Steven clearly doesn't yet know who Khonshu is, or that Marc exists, so obviously there's a ways to go here. (Is Marc ... undercover inside Steven? Ugh, this is a trope I have seen and do not like.)
Did Marc kill Steven's fish? Did Khonshu kill Steven's fish? I'm baffled by the fish. Which is a nice break from the larger anxiety. I'm gonna try to worry more about the fish.
The bits with Steven losing time and finding himself in odd situations were distressingly close to the old tropes, but both of those happened to my brother, so I'm not going to bitch about them quite yet. I want to be as fair as I can.
Oh, hey, I recognize Harrow from the comics. What up, dude. How's the cult biz treating you?
The end of the episode, with the jackal thing chasing Steven into the bathroom, came RIGHT up to the line for me. I realized that what I was most afraid of was that the story would assign "good" and "bad" labels to the alters--make Steven the sweet, innocent one and Marc (or maybe Jake, I guess) the monstrous killer. The early flashes of Steven covered in blood didn't really help allay that anxiety. And now Marc is demanding that Steven let him have control in a pretty threatening manner. But so far, it seems like the contrast between Marc and Steven is one of competence--Marc is better at fighting and Steven is better at ... panicking? Unclear. At least Oscar Isaac is playing the protagonist, so his character(s) might remain sympathetic. Nobody has been monsterized quite yet.
I finished the episode with every muscle in my body locked up, waiting for the emotional punch in the face. But I did finish it, and I think I'm gonna try episode two.
#kat watches moon knight#moon knight#marc spector#steven grant#i guess I'm processing trauma again#hello trauma my old friend
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I wanted to briefly come back online and discuss the WGA and, in turn, the current writer's strike.
I know my opinion matters very little, and I don’t consider myself an expert or a valuable voice in this matter. However, since I talk about Star Wars a lot, I wanted to discuss the strike because these things go hand in hand. I think it’s unfair to ignore the real-world circumstances that shape the media you enjoy. Knowing the context of something is important. And beyond that, this situation has just been on my mind, and I wanted to express my thoughts somewhere.
Firstly, all workers should be paid living wages. All workers deserve to be treated fairly and compensated fairly. All workers deserve safe, productive, and fair working environments—end of story.
I’ve been seeing a lot of jokes along the lines of “I didn’t even know media had writers these days,” and while I understand the joke and the potential humor in it, I feel like it’s important to realize that this is entirely why the WGA is striking in the first place.
The writer’s rooms are shrinking. Writers are being overworked. Writers are being underpaid. Writers are being dismissed and undercut. These factors lead to poorly written and poorly managed shows because the individuals who write the bones of the shows are exhausted and burdened by corporate interference, unreasonable deadlines (especially in animation), unfair wages, and stale corporate agendas.
Additionally, these writers often aren’t given the opportunity to oversee or manage their writing while it’s being filmed. Instead, companies are acting as if the writing process ends before the filming process so that they can shorten the writer's contracts and pay them less. However, in actuality, the writing process is often most valuable during the filming process.
Some things work on paper but don’t work on the day. Maybe the joke doesn’t land, or an actor can’t deliver the line as intended. Writers are needed on set to rework and revise these lines, so the process can run smoother without sacrificing story and believability. Now some actors are incredible at improvising and can make these things work. However, overall, without writers on set, you usually end up with awkward/stiff dialogue or scenes that make no sense. Writing doesn’t stop in the writers' room.
Another massive force driving this strike is the evolution of streaming services.
With “traditional” tv reruns, the network airing the media has to purchase the viewing rights of the episode or the show. This money is then extended to the people who worked on the show in the form of residuals. It makes sense. Something you worked on makes money, so in turn, you get money.
However, streaming services have broken this mold by allowing consumers to watch whatever media whenever they want. Streaming services claim that it is no longer possible to pay residuals for these shows since they don’t know how often or when the shows are being watched. This is a lie.
Companies will brag privately in shareholder's meetings and publicly in articles about streaming shows that have done well. We’ll read headlines like “Stranger Things’ Was Most-Streamed TV Show in 2022” or “‘Star Wars’ vs. Marvel: Which Disney+ Shows Are Most-Viewed.” These articles and the data within them prove it is possible to know how frequently shows/movies are being watched on streaming services. Still, companies are only willing to shell out this information for bragging rights and not for fair payments.
In 2021, Disney CEO Bob Chapk earned $32 million. In contrast, the WGA website states, “Median weekly writer-producer pay has declined 4% over the last decade. Adjusting for inflation, the decline is 23%.” These writers are merely asking for 3%, while CEOs are given the moon.
This is unacceptable.
If you’re reading this post, if you’re on Tumblr and engaging with fandoms enough to have this post written by me, a Star Wars blog, circulate on your feed, media writing has affected your life. Writers have impacted you and your daily routine and hobbies.
You should care about this strike. You should be supporting this strike.
We all want our favorite shows to come back, we all want to reunite with our favorite characters, and we all want to see their stories, their triumphs, and their struggles.
But the real people behind these stories and behind these characters are far more important than any fictional narrative.
These writers have crafted the worlds and stories we love, and by supporting them, we can return the favor and craft a better world for them too.
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Happy Tom at the Osaka Comic-Con.
Quick recap of the panel: He got there from NY the previous night, dove headfirst into Japanese food first thing (had taco wasabi- literally raw octpus- and chicken neck). His fav ice cream flavor is vanilla ('keep it pure')- without any topping on a cone. One of his fav Sandman dialogues is 'I am hope', his fav Dream-Hob era is Elizabethan (we knew this). To build the Sandman figure, 'you eat nothing and work out like you're about to play Thor'. He would never choose between theatre and TV, and if he were a DJ like Carl was in The Boat That Rocked, he would leave the music to people who understood it better than him and air conversations with people he cares about on why they make the things they make. His birthday is Dec 5, 1985. Why is it different on different websites? No clue, no one ever asked him.
I want to say something. This was a 25 minute panel. On the stage, there were three men on his right, one woman on his left. The men read out fan questions in Japanese, the woman translated them to English. Tom answered. The woman translated it back. The men would then exchange a few words among themselves, and/or have something to say to Tom based on his answer which the woman again translated for Tom.
In all this, Tom was extraordinarily attentive and engaged. Of course he gave fun and/or thoughtful answeres to the questions like he always does. But beyond that- whenever Japanese was being spoken, he looked at the speaker and listened, even though he didn't understand a single word. Tom's most common listening expression is the pinched-lipped pout, and in lots other interviews/cons you can see him listening but not loooking at the person speaking. Here, he made a point of looking at them. He nodded and smiled based on their gestures and expressions. He rarely took his eyes off them or lost focus. I posted a clip of him looking confused earlier- that was one of the one/two times that happened. And once he got the idea of how it was working, if his answers were long, he started pausing in the middle to give the translator a chance to take it by pieces. He made sure she understood what he was saying. He didn't stare into space or look impatient when other people on the stage were having a small convo within themselves.
I actually never spent time looking at celeb things like comic-cons before. So maybe this is the norm, and most of the men and women we see on screen are amazing at these events and just great people in general. I have no context. But I just know as someone who frequently gets lost into her own head even in engaging environments, being this dedicated to a space and situation that can't be made completely inclusive probably wouldn't be possible. My attention would get loose, and/or I would decide it's less awkward if I don't engage when they aren't speaking a language I know. But Tom made it seem easy and smooth for himself.
I love Tom, yeah, we all do, but this sort of stuff just gives me so much respect and appreciation for him as an individual. I know fans like to yassify him based on things like his smol-bean/cinnamon roll energy, and while that's cute, it sometimes has the risk of making a person's image into that of a man-child. He isn't that, though. Shy and (sometimes) awkward as he is, this is a very intelligent man, emotionally and intellectually, and I love to see it come through.
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Caramelldansen, the Disney Channel theme, & obfuscated authorship
Kevin Perjurer's Disney Channel's Theme: A History Mystery and jan Misali's who wrote Caramelldansen? feel like complimentary opposites.
Both are videos about the authorship of music that lots of people have heard but few people think about. But the similarities end there. (Aside from some fairly petty stuff like "both have iconic associated choreography, if the wand thing counts as choreography".)
Perjurer expresses frustration that, for all the artistry he puts into this and his other documentaries, he will be remembered as a YouTuber or a content creator, not a documentarian or a filmmaker. For all the work jan Misali puts into his craft, he embraces the fact that he makes YouTube videos. It's not easy to remix "Die Young" and "Hare Hare Yukai," but Misali did it...and what kind of documentary would have a 13-second title card in the middle with a mashup of a J-pop song and an A-pop song playing over it?
(Are American pop songs called A-pop? They should be.)
On a related note: Perjurer's documentary seems to have that tension as its primary theme. The tension between the effort and artistry that goes into something like the Disney Channel theme, and the disrespect it receives for not even qualifying as "low art". The primary theme of Misali's video seems to be more along the line of "It's worth remembering random facts about the world," expressed through his frustration at Remix Records, his frustration at how much Caramelldansen ("I would absolutely love to play the garbage Caramelldansen rhythm game!"), and the random facts he dug up while researching and chose to share for no other reason.
(There's a decent argument that who wrote Caramelldansen?'s primary theme is more along the lines of "'Caramelldansen''s original authorship is irrelevant, because the meme is what makes it 'Caramelldansen'," but that theme doesn't really appear outside the video's conclusion.)
Another stream-of-thought association: Perjurer has nothing but respect for the work of Alex Lasarenko, both his contributions to the Disney Channel theme and his broader work. Misali has nothing but shade to throw on the work of Giovanni Sconfienza, both his "contributions" to Caramelldansen and his broader work, and especially his attempts to take the Caramell out of Caramelldansen. I feel both of these are 100% justified, given context, but it's another interesting contrast!
Perjurer assumes that the audience will accept that the Disney Channel theme's importance is obvious to the viewer, and understand what made it so prominent. It was played on one of the biggest kid's TV networks of the 21st century! Misali focuses most of the video on why and how Caramelldansen rose to prominence, because for a lot of people it's just "that song that plays for ANIME LOL".
The obfuscation of the Disney Channel theme's authorship comes down to Disney being Disney and not saying anything about non-Disney people who make Disney Disney. (And, to be fair, broader industry trends.) The obfuscation of "Caramelldansen"'s authorship comes down to some rebranding done years after the fact.
Misali is (I feel, rightfully) critical of [name]. Perjurer is (I feel, rightfully) respectful towards Alex Lasarenko and the music he directed/composed.
Most obviously: It takes months of research, correspondence, interviews, and so forth before Perjurer can figure out who wrote the Disney Channel Theme. Misali identifies Caramell as the creators of "Caramelldansen" in the opening seconds of the video. (Also, it's in the song's title.)
Now, you might reasonably wonder why I wrote this post, comparing two random YouTube video essays on similar topics. I'd like to provide some grand thesis statement that ties my conclusions and process into some statement about the nature of art. However, at the end of the day, this is more of a jan Misali post than a Kevin Perjurer one. But I think both would agree that this kind of little thing has merit. (Nowhere near enough to ask for their opinion or assume they'd have one, of course.)
#jan misali#defunctland#youtube#caramelldansen#disney channel theme#random thoughts#unusually random this time#video essays
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Forbidden (Part 7): That Was A First
+18 Smut
Pairing: Doctor!Strange x Fem!Reader
Synopsis: The night with Stephen at the Sanctum Sanctorum takes a somewhat interesting turn
Word Count: 5,6k
Warnings: Dry humping, cuming in pants (and panties)
A/N: This was such a fun to write and I really hope you guys like it. It isn't much but be patient with our reader, she is learning ;)
SERIES MASTERLIST
Ultraviolet played softly through the TV speakers as you and Stephen were sprawled out on the couch in the living room of the Sanctum Sanctorum.
The night that seemed to be a real failure, took a completely different turn when he rescued you from one of the terrible parties at Mike's house and now you were lost between kisses, confessions and giggles.
"So..." He pressed when he noticed that you were too quiet while listening to the song.
You smile broadly. "It's hard to be impartial in my analysis when you said you think of me when you listen to this song."
He chuckled, placing a small kiss on your cheek and moving his lips down your chin and then back up, practically nuzzling his face onto yours. The touch of the goatee making your body tingle. He bit your earlobe and whispered to the lyrics of the song to tease you.
"Baby, baby, baby, light my way."
His baritone was so sexy in that context that it made your entire body shake.
"Okay, I think I like it... very much." You responded, cupping his face and pulling him back to your lips. Again and again. You just knew that you would never be tired of kissing those lips.
He hummed with satisfaction, his arms that were around your waist pulled you closer and you fit your leg between his, easily getting used to that new proximity.
When you broke the kiss you found yourself tracing the small bruises on his face. You didn't like that, it was inconceivable for you that someone or something would want to hurt such a pretty face.
"Are you going to tell me how you got hurt?"
He sighed. "I had a meeting with two former Kamar Tag students who ended up taking the wrong path and they didn’t make things easy for me. My mission was to bring them back or..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but you understood. You weren't naive, Stephen's job was to protect the world, but not all people could be saved, especially not when they became a danger to other people. Tony had already explained that to you.
"Maybe it's better if I don't talk about my work..." Stephen started to say, but you interrupted him.
"No, please. You can tell me anything. I'm not a child, Stephen. I understand how the world works.
He smiled and closed his eyes when he felt your fingers on his face again.
"I just hate seeing you hurt. Especially those cheekbones." You placed a small kiss on his wound and watched as he moved his fingers in a complicated gesture and a golden light emanated from them. He brought the light to his face and like magic the bruises closed and then disappeared as if they had never been there.
"Better now?" He smiled widely, probably noticing your surprised and delighted expression.
"This was so incredible!" You gasped.
"You haven't seen anything yet, sweetheart." He giggled holding your face in both hands and kissing your lips softly.
"Then show me. I want to see you do magic."
"I prefer the term spells." He corrected you and you rolled your eyes.
"It's the same thing."
"We'll have plenty of time for that. I promise. And eventually I can use a spell or two on you." He teased, pulling you back to his lips and you surrendered with a hum, letting him control the kiss.
You couldn’t tell if he was serious or not, but a part of you liked the idea. Dating a sorcerer was pretty sexy, actually.
Stephen pushed his hips against you so you could feel his hard on and although it was all new, you didn't flinch this time, on the contrary, you let out a little moan in his lips that made him tangle his fingers in your hair and deepen the kiss, turning it into a clash of angry tongues and teeth.
He was the one who pulled away gently and then admitted it, "Fuck, sweetheart, look what you do to me." Then he grabbed your hand and brought it to his hip. You palmed his erection, slightly surprised at how massively large he seemed even confined within those tight jeans.
He sighed satisfied with the touch, staring at you as if he wanted to analyze your reaction.
You opened your mouth and closed it again, biting the inside of your cheek instead of saying what was on your mind.
"What is it?" He asked and you hid your face in the crook of his neck inhaling deeply, delighting in his scent.
"No no, sweetheart, let's make a deal. From now on you're going to tell me whatever's on your mind. Okay? You can trust me."
"I don't know..."
"Y/n...please."
You groaned in surrender. "I was just going to say that you just feel so..."
"Big?" He teased with a cocky smile.
You nodded, hiding your face in him again. "I mean, how is this supposed to fit..."
"It won't be a problem, love, you were made to take me inside you. You'll see."
Stephen couldn't believe you were there in his arms after he spent so long pining over you believing he could never have you. It was even more unbelievable when he realized that he would be your first. There were so many things he wanted to show you, so many ways to achieve pleasure. He was dying to finally have you, but he was mature enough to understand that he would have to have a little patience. He would have to take it slow, testing the water and seeing how far you would let him go.
Stephen had been without sex for almost six months and it was making it harder for him to hold himself together, being there alone with you in his arms and although he was mature enough to control himself, a part of him was willing to tease you a little and that was precisely what he did when he grabbed the fabric of your dress and lifted it up a little revealing your thighs to him.
"You know, America bought a certain magazine and I ended up seeing some pretty compromising photos of you."
You smiled proudly, but didn't say anything.
"Imagine my surprise when I discovered that you have a tattoo here." He said, finally laying eyes on the intricate bouquet of flowers that you had tattooed on your right thigh and that outlined it getting dangerously close to your crotch. He traced the outlines of the design with his trembling fingers, moving up your dress enough to get a peek at your panties. They were pink and lacy, and his cock pulsed inside his pants.
"Did you like it?" You asked innocently and Stephen swallowed thickly.
"Oh, I loved it." He responded mischievously and then turned his attention back to the actual drawing. "But I'm curious, why tattoo here?"
"Looks good in a bikini." You responded with a playful smile on your lips.
"Hum, I guess I need to see that."
"You'll have to take me to the beach."
"Oh, it's definitely in my plans now."
You smiled broadly already contemplating the idea of seeing Stephen in trunks.
"So, you liked the photos?"
"I loved them, sweetheart, but I don't like the idea of other men looking at you.
"Hum, jealous?"
He smirked. "Perhaps a bit, but I definitely loved the photos."
You hummed happily watching him trace the flower petals gently with his fingers.
"Does it hurt?" He asked, genuinely curious. Stephen never thought about getting tattooed. Not because of the pain, he was used to feeling pain, but because he didn't think it suited him. It was totally the opposite with you. He loved each one of your tattoos.
"Tattooing?"
"Yeah."
You thought for a second as if you were choosing the best way to explain.
"It hurts a little, not a lot. But it depends on the place too. This one was pretty painful. But I have a good resistance to tattoo pain. It's quite different with piercings, though."
"I heard that some people even like the pain." He pointed out and you grimaced.
"Definitely not me. I am a crybaby when it comes to pain."
He smirked, pulling down your dress again and covering the tattoo completely. "I'll be very gentle, then."
You felt your cheeks getting hot again. He was so cocky and sweet and dirty all at the same time. He was passionate and you couldn't resist him, you could feel yourself literally melting for him, totally aware of the wetness in your panties and you had never felt that way for any man.
Suddenly you felt a little bold.
"There's one you haven't seen yet." You told him knowing it would make him interested and at the same time trying to hide how much his comment messed with you. "No one has seen it yet."
He smirked kissing you "I'm afraid to ask where it is, sweetheart."
You chuckled, turning onto your stomach and crossing your feet, swaying your legs cutely in the air.
"Why don't you search for it, then?" You suggested giving him a sweet wink.
He chuckled in disbelief but gave in to curiosity and sat down.
"Is not here." He said tickling your feet and making you giggle. His hands ran down your legs and you closed your eyes feeling the heat and gentle tremor of his hands running up your thighs.
"It's not on your legs, nor on your thighs. Perhaps..."
You bit your bottom lip when his hands went under your dress. That was without a doubt the most erotic thing you had ever done. - Forget the shitty handjob.
"Can I?" Stephen asked, a little unsure of what he was doing, but when you hummed positively, he felt impelled to continue. He lifted the delicate fabric of your dress and was treated to the sight of your cute little round ass adorned by the lace of your pink panties. Your skin was so delicate that all Stephen could think about was how beautiful it would look with his red handprint on it. But instead, he caressed your cheeks, feeling his cock throbbing again in his pants.
"Definitely not here."
He continued lifting the dress until he finally found it, in your lower back, above the waistband of your panties. Just one word written in delicate cursive: sweetheart.
Stephen couldn't contain the little groan that escaped his lips. He was speechless, one part of his brain went into short circuit and the other was trying to understand if that was on purpose or not, but you answered his silent question almost immediately.
"I made it after the night you called me like this for the first time. I didn't tell anyone and I know it was a bad idea, but I like it. I like it even more now."
Stephen traced the letters with his fingers and without holding back he leaned to kiss the tattoo lingeringly, watching your skin prickle with the touch and to his surprise you pressed your thighs together and moaned. An unmistakable sweet little moan.
Stephen was determined to play nice, but you had just made everything very difficult for him. He could barely think straight. All his blood seemed to immediately descend into his dick.
"You always wanted to be my sweetheart, didn't you?" His voice sounded almost shaky coming from behind you and you couldn't deny the truth in his words.
"Yes."
Stephen moved his lips up your back, biting your skin over the thin fabric of your dress. He was practically on top of you and even though he was holding most of his weight in his arms, you could feel it and it felt so good.
When he brushed aside your hair and ran his lips down the back of your neck, your entire body trembled and you gasped, delighting in the feeling of his beard on your skin.
"Feels good, uh?" He teased and you responded with a shaky uhum.
He chuckled, pleased to see your reaction to his touch, and brought his lips to your ear. He licked and nibbled it and then spoke in his baritone voice. "I'm not going to take your virginity tonight, but that doesn't mean we can't play a little."
You barely realized you were holding your breath until it escaped your mouth in slow puffs.
He pressed his hard on against you, grinding himself in your ass and it felt so good. For the first time in your life, you craved the intrusion. You wanted him inside you.
"That is if you want it, of course." He whispered in your other ear, nibbling on your earlobe. "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to, Y/n. Never. But you'll have to tell me."
You hummed trying to find your voice. "I want to."
"Good girl." He cooed letting out a satisfied hum and got off of you and laid down by your side again.
"Then lay down here on top of me." He instructed cupping your cheek and kissing you softly.
Your cheeks were hot, but your entire body was hot now. The arousal between your legs so obvious that even you could smell it.
You moved to do as he asked, but he corrected you. “Hike up your dress.”
You overcame your shyness and knelt down next to him and did as he asked, but before you could straddle him, he flicked his fingers and his jeans and shirt were replaced by a pair of sweatpants and a tee.
"How did you do that?" You gasped.
"Lots of practice." He responded grabbing your hand and pulling you on top of him.
"I like your panties. Does the bra match them?"
You just nodded, unable to say anything.
"Hum, would you let me see it?" He asked, lifting his hips up to make you feel his erection on your core. The sensation made his entire body shake.
"I don't know, Stephen. What if someone shows up and sees us?"
He shook his head confidently, "Wong and America will be spending the night at the Kamar Taj. They're most likely sleeping right now."
You thought for a moment and then confirmed with him "We are not having sex tonight."
Stephen shook his head and smirked watching you take off your dress and throw it on the floor and then he devoured you with his eyes. All matching in pink lace, all for him. Your breasts were small, but they were beautiful. His cock pulsed beneath you.
"There are many ways to have sex, sweetheart and not all of them involve penetration. I'll show you."
He held your waist with one hand and the other he took between you and grabbed his cock through the fabric of his pants positioning it the way he wanted and then he opened his arms for you. "Come here."
You surrendered to his request and let yourself be enveloped by his strong arms. Your legs on either side of his waist, straddling him and when you dropped the weight of your body on top of him, the contact of his erection on your covered core made you both gasp at the sensation.
You could feel how hard he was and he could feel the moisture seeping through the fabric of your panties and making him wet.
Stephen was so proud to be responsible for making you wet like that. All the surprise and sudden fear of discovering that you were a virgin was replaced by satisfaction and uncontrollable desire. Knowing you were so innocent sparked something in him and only his conscience was holding him back. However, he felt his control slipping away with each passing second.
He cupped your cheeks with both hands and kissed you hard and then moved his lips down your chin, nibbling lightly until he reached your neck. He kissed, bit and sucked the skin pulling a hum from your throat and without you realizing you started to grind yourself in his erection and Stephen felt as if an electric current had passed through his body.
"Feels good, doesn't it?" Stephen teased moving his hands to your ass cheeks and forcing you back and forth and without any shame he moaned.
"Shit, it definitely feels good for me."
You couldn't believe what you were doing. Your cheeks were so hot they felt like they were on fire, your entire body was shaking and you couldn't respond because you seemed to have lost the ability to speak.
Still, your body seemed to have a mind of its own and before you knew it you were moving alone on top of him, completely surrendered to the desire that took over you.
"Oh my god, Stephen... what are we doing?"
He smirked and bit your chin "We are having fun, sweetheart. Tell me, does it feel good?"
You moaned, increasing the pace of your hips on top of him, his hard cock providing you with delicious friction on your covered clit.
You cupped his face between your hands and pulled him for a desperate kiss, your tongue entered his mouth and clashed with his in a battle of pure lust. Stephen hummed in your mouth, positively surprised by your change in behavior resulting from your arousal state.
"Feels so good... Oh Stephen..." You whimpered, letting yourself be carried away by the moment and he wrapped his arms around your waist, keeping you impossibly close to him.
"You can hide your face in me if it helps you feel more comfortable." He said. "Just keep moving, sweetheart. Don't stop."
You did exactly as he suggested, hiding your face in the crook of his neck, letting your body guide you through all the sensations, inhaling Stephen's scent into your lungs and feeling the familiar knot tightening in your stomach. It was embarrassing, but your walls clenched around nothing.
"Stephen..."
His name. Stephen lost count of how many times he found himself fantasizing about you moaning his name like that. It was so beautiful. The sweet noises you made were so beautiful.
He hummed thrusting up to increase the sensation and you could feel his dick throbbing beneath you and somehow you knew he was as close as you were.
"It's okay, sweetheart, don't hold back, let go for me. Pretend you're alone in your room doing whatever you do when you think of me." He whispered in your ear.
Stephen knew you were holding back, shyness getting in your way, preventing you from reaching your sweet release, but when you followed his advice, he felt your movements getting faster, your sweet pussy rubbing against his dick faster and harder and so quickly he understood that you had finished, he also felt himself cumming.
Your heart was pounding in your ears. Your eyes were closed, but you could see flashes of light in the darkness as your entire body seemed to convulse on top of Stephen's. You moaned loudly and your moan was followed by Stephen's groan and you felt his body trembling beneath yours and then a strange wetness wetted between your legs. It took you a few seconds to understand what it was and when you did you felt your entire face burning. You thought it was ridiculous that you were still capable of blushing after what you had done, but Stephen thought it was adorable.
He stroked your hair and you finally found the courage to look at him and when you did there was a wide smile on his lips and his eyes had a sparkle that you had never seen before. He caressed your cheeks and before saying anything, he gently pulled you to his lips and kissed you softly. When he broke the kiss you opened your mouth, but closed it again not knowing what to say and ended up nuzzling your face in his. Like a cat. You just wanted to be so fucking close to him. Never ever to be apart again.
"You okay?" He asked, sounding just as unsure as you were. Your entire body was shaking, but you nodded and he held you in his arms.
"Sweetheart, you can talk to me."
You cleared your throat. "I don't know what to say. I've never done this before. I don't know what people talk about after they do it."
Stephen smiled. "We can talk about anything. You can start by telling me what's on your mind right now." He suggested.
"I love you." You ran to say before you lost your courage and Stephen smiled again. A smile you hadn't seen before. A little surprised, a little incredulous, but extremely satisfied.
"It's what's on my mind right now, but at the same time it feels like it's all over my body. I've never felt like this before."
"It's your hormones. Oxytocin to be precise. I’m feeling it too. It's always special when you do it with someone you love. And we barely did anything, sweetheart."
You cupped his face "Do you? Love me?"
He sighed, holding your chin between his index finger and thumb. "Yes I do. I've fought my feelings for so long, Y/n. You have no idea how good it feels to finally be able to feel them."
You nodded. "Actually I do. I loved you from the first moment I saw you and I waited five years for Tony to bring you back to me. Still, I never thought I could have you. I thought I would always have to love you from afar."
Stephen held your face between his shaking hands. "I'm here now. We're together, sweetheart."
You felt your eyes getting wet with tears, so many feelings building up in your chest, your stomach was feeling weird, but you fought against it, afraid that Stephen might find it childish to see you crying.
"I still can't believe what we just did." You said hiding your face in him.
"Hey, none of that! No more shyness. I want you to tell me, did you like it? Because, I think it was pretty obvious that I liked it."
You gave a small giggle. You were well aware of the mess between your legs. "I liked it. It was really good. I've never... well, you know."
"What?" He insisted.
"I've never cum with someone before. It's always been a solo experience."
He smirked, "I don't know if we can classify it as solo if I was on your mind the whole time." He teased.
He was so cocky, even at that moment. But you liked it.
"I never thought it could be done like this." You confessed and Stephen chuckled, stroking your back absently.
"Men can be creative when they want to have sex. And there are many ways to do it. I'll show you. To be honest, I'm pretty excited about the idea of being your first. Being the one who will show you all the good stuff."
You smiled to yourself, feeling your body slowly relax. Your heartbeat returning to normal.
"I thought if you knew I was a virgin, you would get scared and run away."
He shook his head. "I was scared, really, but I didn't think about running away from you. Quite the opposite."
You smiled and pulled him back to your lips and Stephen sighed contently, feeling all his worries melt away as he realized that you were okay with what you’ve done.
He knew he hadn't planned it, but in his defense, seeing that tattoo on you did things to him.
Either way he was more than pleased with the way the night turned out. There were definitely a few months of pent-up sexual frustration inside him and his hands helped to a certain extent, but he needed something more. And as much as dry humping seemed like a teenager thing to him, he couldn't deny that he loved the experience. However, the resulting mess left him feeling wet and sticky and definitely in need of a shower.
He caressed your face gently.
"I need to clean up now, sweetheart. I made quite a mess in my pants."
You agreed, dismounting and sat down next to him, looking a little unsure of what to do next.
Stephen stood up and allowed himself to actually look at you dressed only in a set of pink lingerie, your panties wet with your fluids and his. Your hair was all messed up, your lips were swollen from all the kisses and the skin around your mouth was burned by his beard. You looked beautiful and most importantly, you were his. He was still trying to get used to the idea.
He reached out to you. "Come on. I'll give you a change of clean clothes. You can't keep those dirty panties."
You looked at him a little shyly, but you let yourself be pulled. Stephen grabbed your dress and the two of you slowly walked up the stairs.
Stephen's room was bigger than the room you slept in the night he saved you at the night club. His bed was huge, a four poster bed.
You barely noticed that you had stopped in the middle of the room to stare at the bed or that he had left you to your thoughts and walked away when he returned with a tee and a boxer brief and handed them to you.
"You can use the bathroom. Make yourself at home. I'm going to take a shower in the next room. I'll be back in a minute."
You nodded, watching him grab a change of clothes and leave the room.
Stephen didn't know what to expect from the rest of the night, but it was already after 3 am when he went down to the Sanctum lounge to turn off the TV, which was now playing some random music that he didn't recognize. He picked up the bottle of wine and the glasses and took them to the kitchen and then picked up your jacket and boots and went back to his room.
You were sitting in one of the armchairs next to the fireplace. His tee was big enough to cover your thighs and you had braided your hair now. The little makeup you were wearing seemed to disappear. He had never seen you so natural, so simple and yet so beautiful. Stephen was still reluctant to understand how you could bewitch him like that. He never felt that way about any woman.
"I used your toothbrush. I hope you don't mind." You informed with a shy smile.
"Not at all." He responded closing the bedroom door and placing your boots on the floor next to the bed and hanging your jacket on the free armchair next to you.
"I don't know what I should do now. Should I leave?" You said being one hundred percent sincere. You had never had that level of intimacy with anyone, you didn't know how things worked and looking at Stephen dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt was giving you an air of domesticity that was achingly passionate and inviting.
Stephen shook his head, "No. I mean, I can take you home if you want. In fact, I can open a portal to your room right now, but... I don't want you to leave."
You smiled shaking your head "I don't want to go either. I don't want to be away from you."
He reached out to you, "Then stay with me. Tomorrow morning I'll take you to your room, if you want."
You pretended to think for a moment, but the truth was that you agreed to the idea immediately.
"Don't think too much. We did nothing wrong." Stephen reaffirmed. "It was actually really good and you are still a virgin as I promised." He smirked. "Spend the night with me. I won't try anything else, I promise."
You sighed, holding his hand and letting yourself be dragged to the bed.
"Smart girls would say it's not smart to go to bed with the guy you like on the first date." You teased as you crawled under the comforter and made yourself comfortable on the pillows. Stephen's scent was permeating them and that was definitely your favorite scent now.
"Practically speaking, we can't even say this was a date. At least not a traditional one." He responded and to your surprise he took off his shirt before lying down next to you and you had to swallow your saliva when you saw him half naked for the first time.
"We… drank wine and danced... It's...very traditional for me." You struggled to finish the thought. Of course you knew that Stephen had a well-defined physique. Just by looking at him you could already deduce that, and you could also feel his muscles under his shirt, but actually seeing them was something else entirely. You were practically drooling and you doubted he didn't notice the way you were devouring him with your eyes, but he didn't say anything, just crawled under the comforter with you. You felt your body becoming tense at the new situation, but Stephen had a way of making everything better just by smiling at you.
"Remember I mentioned before about using a spell or two on you?" He said touching your neck. "I guess I'll have to do it now if we don't want Pepper to see this."
You touched the spot where he was touching and your skin felt slightly sore.
"Did you leave a hickey on me?" You asked incredulously. You had just brushed your teeth in front of the mirror. How did you not see that?
He smirked, "In my defense, you didn't make things easy for me when you made me feel so good."
You chuckled, "So now it's my fault?"
"For being cute and delicious? Yes."
Before you could think of how to respond to that, he moved his fingers and orange light emanated from his hand.
You flinched a little. "Will it hurt?" You asked and he shook his head.
"No, but you will feel a strange sensation. May I?"
You nodded and he brought his hand closer, letting his magic touch you. It was warm and ticklish, but it wasn't a bad feeling. In fact, you even liked it.
"And it's done." He reported and just as it came, the orange light disappeared.
"This is super cool." You said "Can you show me more?"
He smiled. Sometimes you reminded him of America. So young and excited about everything. But Stephen shook his head, dismissing the thought and berating himself. He definitely needed to stop comparing you to America now.
"I will, but not tonight. I think you've had too many new experiences for one night."
You sighed in frustration, rolling your eyes. "Now you're talking like you're my dad."
"Well, I'm old enough to be, aren't I?"
"Okay. Whatever."
You lifted your head and adjusted the pillows trying to get comfortable. Stephen adjusted himself, turning to his side and took your hand in his, your fingers intertwining.
"We need to talk about something important." He said, blue eyes fixed on you.
"What?"
"Birth control. I assume you're not on anything."
"I didn't need to be...until now."
Stephen nodded, reaching his other hand to touch your cheek. "It's okay. You're right. You had no reason to use anything if you weren't sexually active, but now we need to think about it and I don't want you to think for even a second that you need to figure it all out on your own."
You nodded. "You're a doctor. You can prescribe something for me."
He smirked. "For your head, certainly. Or if you're having some trouble with your nerves. I'm a neurosurgeon, sweetheart. But what I can actually do is refer an old co-worker to you. She works in a hospital not too far from here. You can talk to her and choose the best method for you."
You nodded and Stephen leaned to kiss your lips softly and then sighed. "And I'm going to get tested for STDs. Even though it's been almost six months since I've had sex, I want to be sure."
You looked at him, looking surprised.
"What is it?"
But you just shook your head and bit your bottom lip.
"Tell me."
"It's just... being who you are and because of your appearance... I didn't think you'd go this long without..."
He nodded. "All my sexual relations over the last few years have been one-night stands, sweetheart. And to be quite honest, being in love with you, no woman has seemed like a good enough substitute."
"That's sweet." You smiled realizing you were tracing his goatee with your index finger and giving a long yawn.
"I like your goatee. I think I have a thing for men with nice facial hair"
Stephen kissed your hand sweetly and caressed your cheek.
"And I love you." He completed. "But I'll let you sleep now, sweetheart. We can talk more in the morning."
"Hum, okay. Good night." You answered with your eyes already closed.
"Good night."
Reblog please! Leave a comment if you liked it. Interact! I will love to read all of your comments and opinions. It inspires me to keep writing ;)
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Andor analysis posts!
i’ve been writing a lot about Andor recently, and figured i should collate all my reviews & analysis in one place.
most of these focus on the show’s political themes (colonialism, policing, radicalization), along with analysis of characters and story arcs:
Review of eps 1-3
Andor is the antidote to copaganda TV - A look at the well-observed array of Bad Cops we meet in the first three episodes.
Andor comes to Scotland - A brief intro to the way Aldhani draws inspiration from the Scottish Highland Clearances in ep 4.
Visiting Imperial Coruscant, Andor illustrates the banality of evil - Some thoughts on the show’s fascination with middle-management, along with how Andor bridges the gap between the Prequels and Original Trilogy. Rather than portraying the Emperor’s takeover as an ~evil switch~ being flipped between two distinct eras, the show makes it clear that life has barely changed for the aristocracy on Coruscant.
Episode 5: Of course the Rebellion includes a Theory Guy - 1) obvs we all love Karis Nemik. 2) this episode is an observational dramedy about an activist group??
Space lesbians!
Episode 6: No one is safe - A recap for that thrilling heist episode, constrasted with the sluggish pacing of Rings of Power. (i promise this makes sense in context lol.)
Andor, the Empire, and cultural erasure - The show is full of situations where indigenous cultures are erased or commodified by colonial forces, whether that’s the Imperial garrison on Aldhani or the Republic-era deforestation on Cassian’s home planet. I’m also particularly interested in the related role of Luthen Rael’s antique shop, where Coruscant aristocrats pay through the nose for rare items that were clearly looted from planets conquered by the Empire.
Episode 7: A chillingly realistic depiction of life under fascism - I’m constantly impressed by the show’s multilayered view of big political events. In this case, the fallout from the Aldhani attack has very different consequences for Cassian, Mon Mothma, the people of Ferrix, and the ISB.
Episode 8: Narkina 5 - The worldbuilding behind the Imperial prison (slave labor, divide-and-conquer gamefication, constant physical vulnerability) is some of the neatest political worldbuilding in the show, but this ep also illustrates why Andor is so divisive. Some viewers literally don’t understand what’s happening because they’re used to watching shows where everything is explained directly to the audience in simple terms.
Ruescott Melshi! - Ep 8 brought back a very minor character from Rogue One, and unlike most Star Wars Easter egg cameos, his role serves a meaningful purpose.
Episode 9: Syril Karn is the Empire’s only true believer - Obsessed with this Reddit Inspector Javert freak. Unlike most of the other Imperial characters (who are corrupt, sadistic, self-serving or “just doing their jobs”), Syril seems to genuinely buy into Imperial propaganda, to the point where his wild-eyed zealotry is actively alarming to other people on the same side.
Breaking down the best line in Andor episode 9 - Kino Loy (Andy Serkis) gets such an unexpectedly interesting arc!
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To the person who sent me an ask worrying about this article from Consequence TV maybe being the start of OFMD being cancelled, I accidentally deleted it so I'm responding here!
Tl;dr: absent any other information, I'm not worried about it. When I first saw it, it was paired with a headline that said somehting along the the lines of "Taika Waititi hints he won't be returning for OFMD season 3," which seems to have changed and just isn't actually said anywhere in the article itself.
The first part of the article is immediately a bit scary:
When Consequence asks writer/director/actor Taika Waititi if he’s feeling optimistic about a third season of Our Flag Means Death, his initial response is this: “Have you seen the end?”
While this looks scary, I encourage you to stop, breathe for a moment, read that again: crucially, that's not really an answer to the fucking question, and it's presented without context or even any indication that was TW's full answer. It's such a vague opener and without any follow-up it's practically meaningless.
The next parts of the article that a lot of people are concerned about are these paragraphs:
Max has yet to announce plans for a third season but Our Flag Means Death has become a fan favorite for its loving portrayal of its core relationship between Ed and Stede. For Waititi, though, the Season 2 finale “feels like a natural end to their story. Just because I feel like, you know, they’ve been through so much and then wind up in that nice place at a happy ending.”
Waititi calls Our Flag Means Death “a really special show,” adding that “I love the show so much and maybe it can survive without Rhys and I. Maybe, I don’t know. I do I think the character of Blackbeard is something I’m really proud of.”
Waititi says, though, that “I don’t want it to feel like Rambo III suddenly, you know, when you’re like, ‘Oh man, they have to leave their idyllic life again.'”
When I first read that headline, I was obviously like what the fuck, but when I clicked the link I immediately dismissed this whole article. I'm a person naturally given to anxiety and over-thinking - I'm not saying that to dismiss anyone who is worried about that, I'm saying that to emphasize just how contextless and clickbait-y this article is.
It's important to remember two things: OFMD is a mainstream property that is still generating a lot of traffic due to speculation on whether it's going to be renewed, and Taika Waititi, as a person, attracts a lot of divisive media attention that is often very clickbait-y in nature. He's also the biggest name attached to OFMD.
If we look at this article, all of TW's lines are presented to us out of context. We are not given the questions he was asked or told anything about when this interview took place (other than after the finale, obviously).
A breakdown of what TW says with possible, more likely context:
"The s2 finale felt like a natural, happy ending for Stede and Ed." This is true, and we also know this was intentional in case the show doesn't get renewed. This is not new information.
"Maybe the show can survive without Rhys and I." This is what people are (understandably) worried about, but this is both not a firm statement of "I don't want to come back for s3" and completely devoid of context. A possible explanation is that DJenks has mentioned possible spin-offs; TW could be here referring to spin-offs that don't involve him or Rhys Darby. As an executive producer, there is literally no way TW doesn't know at lesat the broad outline of DJenks' plan for s3.
"I don't want it to feel like they're leaving their idyllic life again." TW doesn't want Ed and Stede's story to be beaten to death, he wants it to have a satisfying, happy ending. Again, this should not be surprising information, it's just presented in a way that makes it seem like he definitely thinks s2 should be the end of Ed and Stede when that is not what he says.
This article is completely devoid of context, and because of that I consider all TW's statements in here to be essentially meaningless because we don't know any of the questions he was asked. I believe the most logical context for these quotations were him talking about the finale and how it was satisfying in case they didn't get s3, speculating about possible spin-offs, and then talking about how he doesn't want the story to be one of those TV shows that go on too long.
A bit of additional context: Consequence is, primarily, a music review and news site. They have a TV segment, where this article is housed, but music is their main focus and they are not a website where you expect to find actual breaking TV news, let alone from big names like TW. Larger film and TV publications we've seen covering the recent release of Next Goal Wins, in comparison, universely refer to the OFMD s2 as "successful" and refer to a "likely" third season - for publications actually focused on TV, the predominant view seems to be that OFMD is successful and a 3rd season seems very likely.
This article is very clickbait-y and tells us absolutely nothing. It absolutely does not say that TW is uninterested in returning for s3 (in fact, it says the opposite, he repeats again how much he loves the show) or that OFMD will be cancelled.
We're okay. Even if we do get news that OFMD hasn't been greenlit for s3, I promise it's not going to break on Consequence TV of all places.
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I watched the Scott Pilgrim anime! I was deeply ambivalent, which I am sure is a shock to no one who knows me and saw it lol. I think I have a sequence of thoughts, so I will tackle the obvious one first to get it out of the way:
Marketing, Adaptation, & Genre Drift in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
Starting from top, if you don’t know, the Scott Pilgrim anime is not an adaptation of the original source material, but an alternate history version of the events where the titular Scott isn’t present for the majority of the episodes and Ramona Flowers is the main character. Which has been controversial! Not…amazingly controversial or anything, this is an extremely low stakes scenario and from my analysis the majority of people liked it. But controversial enough to get insufferable Kotaku articles “explaining the backlash” which don’t explain the backlash well. Let me see if I can do a better job - its fun to set low bars for yourself to clear after all.
The backlash starts with the marketing; really just the professional drama-trolls would have objected beyond an initial reaction to Netflix announcing Ramona Flowers vs the World; as a concept it makes a ton of sense, and it is essentially what they actually did (well, we will get into that). But that is not how it was sold:
“Join Scott in his fight for love, life, and rock!” I’d love to, still waiting for the invite! This is the first teaser for the show, and if you do a quick “frame count” it pretty equally privileges Scott & Ramona both, but Scott is still on top and it deliberately hides any sense that it is an alternate timeline. It even has this screenshot as one of its final moments:
Which I am pretty sure does not appear in the actual anime! If it does its in some flashback alt-timeline scene in a later episode, not its implied context (in the actual episode Scott ‘loses’ this fight). I can show more evidence - casting the original cast of the movie to make it seem like a ‘recreation’, statements by O’Malley where he plays deliberately coy with the idea of how similar it's going to be, and so on - but I think I don’t have to, because it was intentional, you don’t have to read the tea leaves on this. The bait-and-switch is part of the marketing, not an accident from it.
That is the step 1: people are thrown about being deceived. The step 2 is simple - this is a deception about an adaptation. I am someone who constantly complains about shows sacrificing cohesion & storytelling for “the twist”, but its too common these days to be that mad over it in a mass way. My designated punching bag over at Kotaku points this out:
This is a recurring theme for metatextual work like Final Fantasy VII Remake and the Rebuild of Evangelion films: initially they’re presented as retellings of beloved stories, only for it to become clear at some later point that they’re going to take more than a few liberties and tell a different story entirely.
The difference here is that FFVII and Evangelion are remakes, not adaptations. FFVII is a video game being made into a video game again; Evangelion is a tv show + movie being made into a movie series. The FFVII decision was controversial, but fundamentally you can just go back and play the original game; fucking everyone hated the idea of the Evangelion rebuilds being remakes because that is pointless, the originals have aged amazingly, and they had to deviate to justify their existence (they failed at that, but a story for another time). Meanwhile, Scott Pilgrim is a comic, that has never been a TV series, or an anime. There is the movie, but did you know a bunch of comic fans hate the movie? You see a lot of comments like these all the time (from a discourse reddit thread debating the new show):
Personally, I thought it was fun. I agree with a lot of your complaints honestly, but I don’t understand how you liked the movie? I can’t stand the movie because I feel like the characters are all flat, especially Ramona who has absolutely no personality at all.
I disagree btw, the movie is great, but it is a loose adaptation - hell it was released before the final volume of the graphic novels was finished, it has a different ending! A short, cohesive movie could never adapt a long-form, episodic graphic novel. And its live action, stylistically very different. So this TV show was both branded as, and was expected to fulfill a demand for, a first “real” adaptation of the comic, that people wanted. The fact that Evangelion deviated in its remake is a poor comparison. Questioning that people want full adaptations of works they enjoy isn’t really worth our time.
Now I personally don’t care about the above two - I am explaining the debate, but they aren’t problems for me. Step 3 is where I start caring - I think Ramona Flowers vs the World is a great idea. They thought they made that, and I wish they had. But in the process of telling the bait-and-switch of the story, they also bait-and-switched the genre. There is this great quote from O’Malley about the original graphic novel’s story from an interview (whose headline we will revisit in another post, don’t you worry):
Yeah, I mean, when I was writing Scott Pilgrim the first time, I just wanted to come up with a very simple story engine: fight, fight, fight, get to the end. That gave me something to hang all this other stuff on, all this slice of life hanging out in Toronto.
Its such a nice summation of what Scott Pilgrim is - the fighting against the evil exes? Its all sizzle and jokes, none of it matters. Its a plot device to structure the real story, which is a slice-of-life romance drama, coming-of-age narrative, and extremely intimate portrait of Toronto’s scene of indie music venues and hipster coffee shops. The joke is that Scott is dealing with all this crazy video game/anime shenanigans on top of actually having to navigate very grounded past emotional damage and present challenges of adulthood. The heart of the comic is not the fight scenes, some of which literally happen in the background while other characters are talking, but scenes of a group of friends hanging out at 11:00 PM at a dive Korean restaurant:
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off meanwhile is not built around this cast. Its built around a mystery plot and Ramona Flower’s evil exes, who she is investigating, and Scott Pilgrim, uh, checks notes travelling to the future and fighting his …aged enraged alternate self from the original timeline…? Anyway, Ramona’s evil exes are mainly joke characters, comic reliefs who engage in crazy shenanigans. Half of the episodes are structured around them, and their episodes are filled with extended comedy bits and very-long fight scenes. Episode two has a 13 minutes long fight scene between two of them, including build-up, over control of the League of Evil Exes. Hell, they don’t even live in Toronto - a ton of the new anime takes place in New York City and a bit in California. The comic meanwhile has panels just…explaining locations in Toronto sometimes:
Listing the hours of operation, its so cute! The anime has no time for this in between its sci-fi plots and fight scenes, and its far cheaper for it.
The decision to focus on shallow characters like Ramona’s exes is downstream of the decision to focus on Ramona without Scott -besides the exes the rest of the characters are Scott’s friends, who Ramona gets to know through him. Which is the final point here - who are the characters people love from Scott Pilgrim?
All of Scott’s friends ofc. Characters like Lucas Lee are memes, not people. Obviously Kim Pine, Young Neil, Knives Chau and so on appear in the anime. Sometimes they have great scenes - like the adorable scene of Knives & Kim playing music together, Knives’s first time really trying to jam:
Which goes absolutely nowhere from a character perspective - Knives & Kim barely interact after this. It sets up Knives doing a comedy-meta musical for the plot, sure…but that’s boring in comparison to real emotional connections, Knives doesn't have an arc. But they can’t have more, because our main character Ramona Flowers doesn’t know these people; she wouldn’t just hang out with them, and she is busy with her mystery investigation. She sees them when she needs them for plot reasons. Kim and Knives and Stephen Stills are much flatter this time around (Julie, to her credit, kicks ass in this one).
Obviously I could point out that Scott & Ramona’s relationship in the anime, given that they have literally one date before Scott vanishes, has no depth to it, but that is easy. The funniest way to summarize this character issue is if you check the tags on Tumblr right now, you are going to be awash in Scott/Wallace shipping posts. Like I swear, at times its straight(?)-up 50% of the posts going on, its a rabid gay horde out there lusting for this sugar daddy/baby dynamic. Which makes sense, they have so much sexual tension & emotional depth as friends…in the comic. In the anime they barely know each other! Wallace hates Scott and interacts with him maybe a half dozen times, primarily to tell him to move out, then does his own shit. This is all people projecting comic!Scott/Wallace onto the current show.
There are more downstream consequences of these decisions & other issues (like the overdone meta elements, or abandoning most of the indie-music aesthetic) but this has gone on long enough. The point is that telling a different version of the story would actually be fine. It would disappoint some fans, sure, but if done well you would likely win them around. Hell, the original comic’s ending kind of sucks, good time to polish some things. But if you change the main character and the genre and the cast focus and all the character dynamics…at a certain point its just its own new story now. A story irrevocably tied to the old one, but not about any of the things the old one cared about. I think you can see why that would be a harder sell than Ramona Flowers vs the World, even if it was a good zany action comedy anime in its own right. You will get backlash from this level of drift - and you will deserve it.
Also fuck Lisa am I right? Jeez, 0 out of 2 for moving picture adaptations. What you get for being blonde I guess.
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