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hezuart · 6 months

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New helluva boss episode is out, any thoughts?

Season 1 Fizz: Robo Fizz was mean and called children ugly. Real Fizz called his guests “freaks”. Called Moxie an "ugly little bitch". Bragged about his fame and the money made off his robots and was even really pissed off his robot was destroyed at that theme park and wanted to sue

Season 2 Fizz: Extremely insecure, extremely nervous, hates the robots produced in his image, never bad mouths anyone and is really kind and nice to his competition, knows ASL and gives inspiration to children

Who on earth is this guy???? You’re not Fizz??? By god, she’s done it again! Another male main character has been uwuified!! 😰When will it end???

~~~

Mammon: “You’ll be like the son I never had!” Fizz is elated at this, but Blitz’s dad already treated Fizz like the son he never had? Literally gave him a card saying he wished Fizz was his son. He was treated super well and was the most beloved within his circus. I mean, he did lose that, and him explaining everything he has is because of Mammon, and so I get it, he has an attachment to all this. I like that we are expanding on his character, but I feel like its overdone. The insecurity is a little too much. The panic attacks are a little too much. (Dude lost his arms and legs in a freak fire accident and its a creepy fan that he probably has to deal with on a daily basis that sets him off? I feel like he would be a tad bit mentally and physically stronger to deal with. I mean, he fricken talked back to STRIKER, a serial killer holding him for ransom locked in a cage last episode??? But he freezes up when an annoying fan criticizes him? Just feels inconsistent.)

Mammon saying “If you’re a chick, give up on your dreams, because woman ain’t funny” and then Vivziepop’s name appearing in the corner… there’s so much to unpack there. I think Viv meant it as like “I’m a woman, so I can write that joke!” or “I’m a woman, who wrote this show and is therefore funny so Mammon is wrong and it's ironic!” But it's been established that Viv neglects and mistreats her female characters. They’re either all bitches or cardboard cut outs whose entire existences revolve around a male character. It’s low-key sexist. On top of the fact that, Viv may not actually be funny because most of the actually funny jokes in the show were written by Adam and Brandon, who are both men. So its VERY ironic, but not in the way she believes it to be.

The irony of Mammon hiring an Imp who idolizes him only to exploit him and treat him like garbage… weren’t their exworkers of spindle horse that felt that way?

Some people think that Fizz’s creepy fan is like.. Viv’s poke at her critics but I don’t see a comparison at all. This guy is a super super big fan that wants to work with Fizz, which isn’t what the Viv critics want. I’m pretty sure that’s the whole point- is that they want nothing to do with her? So I’m pretty sure this guy just represents a creepy fan, which everyone gets. Like a Syndrome character.

Also in season 1, Blitz killed imps left and right for Stolas, but when that fan is actually getting close to Fizz and threatening his life, Blitz doesn’t kill him on site. He just hits him with a gun. Thank goodness he kills him later but Blitz has never really been discreet. It was just weird forced timing I guess. Season 1 Blitz would have never hesitated. He would have killed that guy on site.

I will never get over Asmodeus’s weird coat, his anatomy changes with whatever he’s wearing lkdsgjldkfj

Mammon and Fizz are pretty much just Valentino and Angel Dust , but no physical exploitation (other than his robo replicas)

The Glam and Glitz sisters are really cool I’m obsessed with their performance, but we go right back to Viv’s 2 types of women: bitches. They’re bitches to each other too. They’re sisters who have like amazing choreography and on stage chemistry, and yet they constantly fight, like… how do they even function

ALSO THEY GOT TOM HARDY TO SING HE’S NARRATING THE COMPETITION YOU GOT THE INTERNET’S FAMOUS MUSICAL COMEDIAN TO SING A SONG FOR YOUR “COMEDY” SHOW WHERE THE SONG ISN’T EVEN FUNNY It looks like he wrote it himself but… if even Tom can’t make it funny then who can???? I’m mad on his behalf

Also… the ASL imp

…. “I want to be a clown just like you! : D “ Fizz: Exploited for money as a clown ever since he was young, gained a boatload of insecurity because his boss was so pushy, forced to deal with sexual encounters, sold his likeness into a popular sex doll without actually wanting to, lost his arms and legs in a freak fire accident because the circus tents aren’t safe- Also Fizz: “You can do whatever you want to : ) “ This would have been a sweet moment if this wasn’t Helluva Boss!!!!!! This is Hell!!! what on earth are you doing Viv!!!! Kid pls do literally anything else with your life Also how and why does Fiz know ASL

Ozzie and Fizzie getting a love song is cheesy you know, but…. Stolas X Blitz fans wish man… they WISH Oz x FIz is literally just the better Stolas x Blitz. Like this what the Stolitz fans want but its given to the side characters for some reason. Fizz’s end song was nice but All our main characters are just so flat Sad uwu special sweeties that have done nothing wrong... I'm just so sad to see them become former shadows of their badass selves. Our main characters were greedy, selfish, mean, sometimes creepy assholes. Now they're not. It was either an accident, they're hypocrites, or they were abused- and im like... this is Hell, can't we still have our main demon characters be assholes? I'm so curious what the explanation is gonna be for Blitz x Verosika. Is she gonna be framed as the bitch who ruined the relationship? Did Blitz "accidentally" steal her car and credit card because he was drunk? Like what else are we gonna strip away so he's "relatable"?

Nice to see Wally Wackford back I missed him

I like how fiery Ozz’s design gets Ozzie confessing he loves Fizz to an entire crowd so all of Hell knows and everyone is like “OMG I KNEW IT! GOOD FOR THEM!” Being with a low class demon was something to be ashamed of. A power imbalance. Something seen as taboo in Hell. Now we have 3 top sin embodiments dating the lowest of low class in Hell and not only do people not care negatively, they’re happy for them. There’s no stakes. Our main characters can do whatever they want “You’re gonna regret revealing that Ozz!” how who are you gonna tell? the romance police? fricken Now we have Mammon! Add him to the reoccurring villains I guess!!!! yeesh

(Clowns are apparently also like… influencers in this world for some reason???? I still don't understand Vivziepop's clown obsession I think this is just not my jurisdiction )

All things considered, not a bad episode for season 2, but im kinda at the point where I don't think helluva boss is gonna deliver anything outside of abused main characters with cute relationships I don't think they're gonna do anything else

#helluva boss critical #vivziepop critical #text post #ask

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symbioticfic · 5 months

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Producing Pleasure: Prologue

(Main story of Idol Alternate Universe)

Tags: Original Characters, no smut, just a teaser, an intro to the world

This is an alternate universe. Some events may differ from real life.

Thanks to @twice-inamillion The Company series for making me revive this idea from the drafts. Check out their awesome work on their blog.

-------------

“What?!”

“I said, I want you to produce our new girl group.” Mrs. Kwon repeats herself. You rub your face in disbelief, hoping your CEO is joking.

“With all due respect Ma’am, I’m already a leader of a group and you put me in charge to become our group creative director. That’s quite a lot. Why not choose Eunji or Keenan for the job?” you plead your case. All your focus is for your co-ed group, Twelve Six, along with Eunji and Keenan. With being creative director for your group and sometimes groups under your label, you don't want more stuff in your hand.

“Well, Eunji is also helping out as a composer for Phoenix. And Keenan is broadening our A&R connections. We may be an up and coming label in this industry, but we are still short staffed.” Slumping back to your chair, gears in your brain are working hard to find a way out of this.

“Then why don’t you hire someone who has experience doing this kind of stuff? I know you have the money to find one. If the three of us are spread thin like this, when are we going to make music?”

Mrs. Kwon always says that the three of you were geniuses and is the reason why OTB is the rising star of companies in Kpop. Take Shamrock for example. A thirteen member boy group and the first idol group under OTB. You recommended a talented Japanese street dancer that you used to battle and Keenan found a genius kid producer online. Both of them become important members of Shamrock. As for Eunji, she trained OTB’s first GG, Phoenix in vocals. With her and her sister, they composed and produced music for the five member group, resulting in them competing in the Red Sea of girl groups right now. Also not to mention, your group Twelve Six. Your group’s music is able to breakthrough the public listeners. Decades after the last big co-ed group, finally Twelve Six changed that. Now, Korea sees Twelve Six as “Music for the people” because of your group penmanship and music move and touch many people's souls, not just in Korea but also the world.

“Because I trust you and I see potential in you to be a great producer.” there she goes again, putting huge faith in you. Ever since joining your label, Out of The Box (OTB) Studios, you have been one of her favourites. As an experience street dancer and performer, also having a brain being a portal to fantasy world says Mrs. Kwon, she has pushed you to the limits. She even goes as far as creating you a co-ed group with her youngest daughter Kwon Eunji and a Korean American rapper named Keenan Shin. The three of you were born on the same day and year, the twelfth of June, hence the name Twelve Six comes from.

With all the money in the world and full trust on you, Mrs. Kwon will do anything to help you to become one of the greatest artists in K-pop. But you doubt your ability if you are given another responsibility.

“Listen, Choi Sesang.” you sit up straight as your CEO calls you by full government, “Just please look into this file and consider it.” a brown file is presented in front of you. Reluctantly, you take it and open it. The first name on the paper almost made you jump out of your seat. You flip through the pages and surprisingly most of the names are familiar to you.

“Ma’am, there are-”

“Yes, they were idols. Some had troubles with their past companies and ended their contracts, and some I bought them out of their contracts.” bloody hell this rich woman. Her way of using money to get what she thinks is the best for the company still baffles you even after years knowing her, “They deserve a second chance and I know you’re up for the job. And rumour has it, you have your ways with girls.” she gives you a teasing look.

“Your daughter really has a nasty mouth, you know that?” Mrs. Kwon laughs at you cursing her youngest daughter.

“I don’t care if what Eunji implied was the truth or not. But I do have my own eyes.” she says after calming herself, “Your relationship with the Phoenix girls is admirable. They see you as a brotherly figure and a safe space to talk to. Those girls are strong minded and some are hard to get through, but you easily befriend the girls. That is enough for me to know you’re the right person for this project.” you look down to the file in your hand, taking in all what Mrs. Kwon says. A heavy sigh escapes your lips.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Splendid!” she claps her hand in joy, “Also, there is one thing I need to tell you.”

Here you go, the catch in all of this, “Doing this job means you have got out of your way to get the job done. I know you are a good kid and have been staying clean until now. But sorry to say son, you have to get your hands dirty with this one. It's part of the industry, the system. No matter how long you try to avoid it, your time will come.”

Saying those words with a beaming smile so easily creeps you off. Well, a CEO of a K-pop company is not exactly the most morally right person in the world. Mrs. Kwon has always been brutal when it comes to business and you are led into one of her traps. Situations like this remind you where Eunji gets her nasty personality from.

Defeated, you know there’s no way out of this. Your fate has been sealed by the devil. Already, you try to drown your mind to come to terms with this twisted system. With heavy heart, you look straight at Mrs. Kwon. You can see insanity behind her eyes.

“So… do the job by any means necessary?”

“Correct! There you go, already getting a hang of it.” it’s supposed to be a laugh of joy for Mrs. Kwon, but it feels like she’s laughing at you. Soon enough, you will be playing with people's lives just like her.

“The girls will be coming in next week. Prepare yourself, mind and body. I have a feeling you will like them.” with a smirk, she leaves the room. You groan as you throw yourself back into the chair. The dreaded day is near. By next week you will become one of those industry scumbags. You love performing and singing, but you despise the industry. Being in it long enough to know stuff. The girl that you will be working with surely also knows a thing or two.

Thinking about your doomed future only makes you mad at yourself. Feeling suffocated, you pack your stuff and go home, not before leaving a text in the group chat.

Chat Room

Three silly peas in a pot

You

@Enzy your mother is a fucking witch

Enzy

WHAT THE FUCK?!

I mean you’re not wrong

But still…

WHAT THE FUCK?!

THAT’S MY MUM YOU PRICK!

K.S.

LOL 😂

Dorms now

I need this juicy story 👹

_ _ _ _ _

Three days since you operate as the main producer for OTB’s new girl group. You’ve met with the company staff and instructors over the week to discuss the training program. These three days have been orientation and waiting for the rest of the girls to join the company. Today is the day where they all finally present and training will begin to ramp up.

You arrive at the company at eight. Not wanting any problem, you do a morning check up every day just to make sure. After doing that, you take a sip of your black coffee while looking through the girl's profile again. You seriously can not wrap your head around the names on the list. Mrs. Kwon really is a crazy businesswoman for getting these girls to become trainees again in your company.

“Damn they’re hot.” startled, you almost spilled your hot coffee onto the papers. You look back to see Keenan peeking over your shoulder. His curly dark brown hair really needs a cut. It almost pokes your eye.

“Could you not sneak up on me like that?”

“You’re the one who’s busy staring at these profiles.”

“Hey!” he takes a seat next to you and slides the file over to him. You let him be, as you need a break from reading those papers over and over again.

“Still can’t believe they are trainees here.” Keenan says.

“Me too.”

“Mrs. Kwon is one damn good negotiator.”

“You can say that again. It’s like a person playing DnD and always rolls Nat 20 on persuasion.” Keenan laughs at your cheeky joke.

“Yeah… so, which one you gonna fuck first?”

“I- what?! Bro, shut up.” you punch his arm only for him to laugh even more.

“Come on, seriously bro. There are some hot chicks right here. If I were you, I would try every single one of them.”

“But I’m not you dumbass. I’m not some guy who will fuck every girl he sees.”

“Not yet.”

“Fuck off.” Keenan's laugh now turns hysterical. He’s always been like this. Being from Brooklyn makes him more frontal than your average Korean. He’s been teasing you since both of you met. With your ability in speaking English, you bonded easily with him. You also help him get accustomed with his homeland culture. But it seems you can’t take Brooklyn out of Keenan.

You take back your file from Keenan and walk off, “Ay! Where are you going?”

“Training is almost starting! I’m needed in the dance room!” you shout back at him.

“Okay then! Tell me if you score on one of them!” you don’t look back and flip him off. You can hear Keenan laugh fading as you walk further away from him.

The dance room for trainees is in the basement. Everything related to the trainees are in the basement. Only the ones who debut are the only ones who can experience the freedom of the city view from the artist dance room upstairs. For the trainees, the dark and damp basement is their prison. Some even will never see the day of light from the dungeon. Sound of blaring music can be heard at the end of the hallway. The girls may be stretching right now.

Other than being the main producer for the group, Mrs. Kwon also personally assigned you to be one of the dance instructors. Talk about a burden. It’s not the first time you are teaching a class. During trainee days, you already helped to train the fellow members of Shamrock and Phoenix. It’s just for a few sessions because Shamrock have a capable and experienced dance line and for Phoenix they are natural performers. Not the same can be said for this group. Maybe one or two names stood out, but they are nowhere near the talent as your fellow labelmates when they first join the company. And your part is to train them to be on par to standards.

Standing before the dance room door, you take a deep breath before twisting the door handle. The sound of your arrival alerts the girls. Quickly, they line up in a line with one of them scrambling to turn off the music before joining the line.

“Good morning PD-nim.” they greet you in unison.

“Good morning. At ease.” you say that, but they are clearly tense. Fifteen girls standing in front of you. You recognize their faces with a few unfamiliar ones. Some of these girls had a respectable career as idols. They are without a group due to them being in a project group making their contract length shorter than normal or suing their way out of their contract because of how stupid their company was. Some were in a group that disbanded. Others are trainees from different companies. Now, here they are starting from zero once more.

Knowing you have to keep professionalism, you close your eyes and take a deep breath. Starting today, you will have these girls' fate on strings. Toying with their dreams, giving them false hope. Just like Mrs. Kwon you thought. You open your eyes and give them a big smile.

This is when you notice Mrs. Kwon foul tricks, attacking your weakness: boobs. Most of these girls have sizeable to huge tits. You felt your cock twitch at the sight of the girls wearing tight sports bras, pushing their boobs together. One of them has a big enough bust, it outlines her baggy shirt.

“My name is Choi Sesang. For those who don’t know, I will be the main producer for this debut project as well as your dance instructor. Pleasure to finally meet you all.”

--------------------------

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. Like I said on the top, this was an idea that was collecting dust in my google docs. @twice-inamillion The Company series really got me thinking about this idea again.

I already have a few names for the girls: Chaehyun, Natty, Hyeju, and Xiaoting so far, with the first three already having a rough idea for it.

Recommendations for idol names are gladly accepted with the general prompt of the story would be helpful also.

I know I said a Pokémon story is on its way but that's on hold for now. I have struggles for the smut scene of that story. Wait a little more.

See you next time 😄

#kpop smut #smut #original character #kpop au #kpop girls #hyejoo smut #chaehyun smut #xiaoting smut #natty smut

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wonuumelody · 10 months

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“ By who the seventeen members were written ” ;

Seungcheol

Seungcheol was written by a boy who had big dreams. This boy wanted to have a big family, and responsibilities. Seungcheol is a very nice man and this little boy, who wrote him, wanted to be able to handle people. I think this little boy wanted to put his dreams into a person, a person who inspires others, who brings them comfort in times of need, support.

Jeonghan

I think Jeonghan was written by a mother who lost her daughter. Everything she loved about her daughter, she passed on to her character, Jeonghan. Beauty, sweetness, character, everything. I think this woman loved the sometimes angry but funny character of her daughter, and to pay tribute to her, her whole character has her features. She wanted to find comfort and love in her character.

Joshua

He was written by a young woman in love, in love with another woman. To invent a "perfect" life in the eyes of society she had drawn the portrait of her darling and put it in a male character, Joshua.

He is loving, sweet, very handsome and extremely kind.

Jun

I think that Jun was written by someone in the royalty. A young prince who always wanted to have a normal life, with his friends and family. The prince created a character , even with his princely appearance the character was an ordinary young man who did not have to worry about any princely duties.

Hoshi

Soonyoung was written by a young woman who always dreamed of being in love. Having never found her soul mate, she had invented a man who made her dream. He was very funny, kind, cute. This man is what she wanted the most in her life.

Wonwoo

Wonwoo was written by an elderly woman who lost her military husband. To remember him she had invented a man who described her husband when she met him. A charming young man, although very short-sighted, very discreet, of infinite kindness and very handsome. She shared many commonalities such as her love of reading or cats.

Woozi

Woozi was written by a retired musician. This musician would have liked to have an offspring to teach music to and share all his stories with. Never having been able to have a child, he had written a character in which all his love for music had been transmitted. This made-up man, nicknamed Woozi, was a successful producer, everything the old man had dreamed of.

Dokyeom

Seokmin was written for me by a young girl who always wanted to have a big brother with whom to laugh, cry, shake and do nonsense. She wanted a source of happiness to help her do well in everyday life, and her imaginary older brother was always smiling for her.

Mingyu

Mingyu was written for me by a young person who dreamed of being a man. He felt that he had been born into the wrong body and did not have enough money to perform operations to change his body, so he had invented a man, the man he dreamed of being. A tall and handsome man, and above all very kind.

Mingaho

In my opinion, Mingaho was written by a dreamy little boy. He dreamed of being a talented and brilliant man. The little boy was very afraid to stand out from his friends with his creativity and calm temperament and had created this character with the idea of finding a refuge, a person in whom he could pass on his emotions.

Seungkwan

I think Seungkwan was invented by a young girl who wanted a bestfriend. She wanted to be able to reflect herself in a person she could consider her half. She wanted a person close to her, always there to tell her what was wrong, to help her in case of need. She also wanted a gossip companion.

Vernon

Hansol a été écrit par un militaire à la retraite. Il voulait s'imaginer un univers ou il n'avait pas passé sa vie entière à servir le pays. Il voulait s'imaginer un monde où il avait eu une adolescence amusante avec des amis qui l'entoure. Même si il était parfois difficile pour lui de mettre des émotions à son personnage, lorsqu'il le faisait, c'était d'une douceur et d'une chaleur infinie

Dino

Dino was written by a little orphan boy. This little boy who had always wanted to have a big family, that's why when he created his character, he surrounded him with 12 very loving friends. Even if Dino, the character loved by the orphan, gets annoyed, he knows he's loved.

#seventeen scenarios #seventeen imagines #svt scenarios #svt fluff #svt reactions #seventeen reactions #seventeen #seventeen x reader #wonuumelody #Melody's write

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jordanrosenburg · 2 years

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Abbott Elementary - The Savior of Sitcoms

When Abbott Elementary aired midseason in December of 2021, I don’t think any of us were ready. I had first heard about the show from Quinta Brunson’s TikTok. I’ve been following her since she worked for Buzzfeed, having made very funny and true digital shorts about what it’s like to be a woman, specifically a short woman. So, from time to time I liked to check in on her and see what she was up to. She was announcing her book, She Memes Well, and she briefly mentioned she was working on a pilot.

Quinta is a triple threat to the world of Abbott - she’s the head writer, executive producer, and lead actress. Her being a woman and doing all of these things is already incredible, but seeing a woman of color shine like this is truly inspirational, and quite honestly...it’s about damn time. Quinta was awarded the very well deserved Emmy for OUTSTANDING COMEDY WRITER. A young (she’s 32, that’s young) woman of color won an award for comedy writing. I cried tears of joy during her acceptance speech. As a woman, we’re basically told our whole lives that female comedians aren’t funny, so this was major for a multitude of reasons.

The cast of Abbott is comprised with some familiar face: Lisa Ann Walter, who many folks of my generation know as Chessy from The Parent Trap, Tyler James Williams of Everybody Hates Chris fame, Sheryl Lee Ralph, who many of us remember as Dee Mitchell from Moesha, and William Sanford Davis who is no stranger to the sitcom world. We also have Janelle James, a comedian who I had honestly never heard of, but is truly hilarious, and Chris Perfetti, another new face to me, but has quickly stolen my heart as his character Jacob.

The first season starts off during the spring semester of the school year. Janine, played by Quinta, is a semi-new teacher who wants to be the absolute best for her students. She’s young, ambitious, high-spirited, and is often annoying her colleagues.

Seasoned professional Barbara Howard, who happened to be Janine’s teacher back in the day, is probably the person annoyed by Janine the most. But only because Janine’s high energy and new teaching styles don’t jive with what Barbara’s used to. Throughout the season, Barbara ends up leaning on Janine a bit more, and starts to see her value as a teacher. Especially when it comes to using new technology that Barbara isn’t exactly savvy with.

Jacob is a corny, happy-go-lucky social studies teacher. He’s the closest with Janine. Jacob is the quintessential cis-white guy who is often a little too “woke” for his own good. But he means well, and even though his students refer to him as “Mr. C.” because he’s so corny, they love him as their teacher. He also has a very loving relationship with his boyfriend, which I enjoyed seeing represented.

Melissa is a fast fan favorite. Having grown up in Jersey, she brings a very real character to the table. She’s a math teacher, and a damn good one at that. Another seasoned professional, who is close with Barbara, but also plays by a lot of her own rules. If something needs to get done, she knows someone who knows someone who knows someone, but you didn’t hear it from her.

Gregory is new to the elementary school. He starts off as a substitute teacher. He was originally supposed to be the principal of Abbott, he was offered the job after going to school for it! But alas, the job was given to someone else - Ava Coleman. Ava has literally no teaching background of any kind. So how did she get the job?

Ava is often flirting with Gregory, making some very crude remarks. She uses the budget inappropriately for her own vanity, and only sometimes actually does her job. She and Janine tend to have many disagreements, but Janine is a passive person, so she’s usually coming up with some over the top idea to make a change instead of just simply discussing the issue with Ava. Not that Ava ever really listens, so it almost forces Janine to do something crazy.

And Mr. Johnson, our beloved custodian, is always there with a smart remark, often that extra comic relief we need to break the tension during some of the more serious scenes.

The show is a mockumentary style sitcom, similar to The Office, or Parks and Rec. The interviews the characters give aren’t as formal as they were on The Office. Most of the time when they’re talking directly to the camera, they’re in the hallway between classes. This style can be hard to pull off, especially when so many other sitcoms have done it, like Modern Family, for example. But Abbott does it flawlessly.

Like many of my favorite shows, we have a slow burn occurring between two main characters: Gregory and Janine. Gregory makes it pretty obvious, to the cameras, that he likes Janine right away.

In fact, part of the reason he takes the open position to become a full-time teacher and not a substitute, by the end of the school year is so he can still be around Janine. Nothing can be too easy, though. We learn early on that Janine has a long-time boyfriend, Tariq. Tariq is basically a deadbeat, going from one dead-end job to the next, leaving Janine to constantly pick up the slack. But they’ve been together for well over ten years, so she’s not exactly looking to start anew.

However, by the end of the first season, Janine does end things with Tariq. And it’s not because she’s in love with Gregory. As much as we want them to be Jim and Pam, they’re not. Janine breaks up with Tariq because she realizes she’s simply outgrown him, and it’s not healthy for either of them to stay in their relationship. It’s not easy for her to come to terms with this, we see that at the beginning of season two as she pretends to be fine with the breakup. Throughout the first season, Janine evolves quite a bit. She’s much more confident as a teacher going into the fall semester. She’s more sure of herself and her capabilities.

The show is heartwarming at its core. Yes, it’s extremely laugh out loud funny. (Which is a big deal because a show rarely makes me audibly laugh, so the fact that I’ve laughed so hard I’ve nearly cried?? Yeah, this is a well written show.) All of the main characters go through a sort of “after school special” moment that helps them grow and become better. I think my favorite person’s journey is Gregory’s. He was obviously bitter about not getting the principal position. He’s also just a very odd duck. He likes order and rigidity. He only eats plain, boiled chicken between two slices of white bread. (He doesn’t like when different foods mix together. When he admitted he didn’t like pizza, it was a whole thing. Jacob was the most offended, especially when Gregory also told them he didn’t pie.)

Gregory doesn’t get goofy or silly with his students, he prefers order. But he slowly starts to realize that if he’s going to actually have a good command over his classroom, then he’ll need to let loose a little.

We’re three episodes in to the second season, and it’s already holding up to the groundbreaking first. This isn’t always easy to do. Sometimes when a show has such an incredibly good first season, the second season can feel lackluster. But not Abbott Elementary. Less than a minute into the first episode, I was already laughing hysterically. Janine was discussing her breakup, so we cut to a scene showing Tariq packing up his friend’s car, and them both driving away. Tariq had a shining smile on his face as he danced in the passenger seat while ‘Snap Yo Fingers” by Lil Jon blasted through the speakers.

The main cast are back to their old antics: finding ways to keep the students interested, doing their best to keep the school from crumbling, and just getting through each day one step at a time. The teachers lean on one another for so many things, and I don’t think that’s something we’ve seen in a show with a school setting before. Most sitcoms that take place in school are usually about the students, not the teachers. And if it is about the teachers, it’s usually very serious. We’re getting a real and unique perspective about what teachers have to deal with at a semi-underprivileged school. Second and third grade classes get lumped together, the textbooks are nowhere near new, and the grant money Janine won for new supplies had to go towards getting rid of a rat infestation in the cafeteria.

Not that it’s all about Janine and Gregory and their slow burn, but if we’ve learned anything from watching Jim and Pam (The Office), or Jake and Amy (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), or Ben and Lesley (Parks and Rec), or even Jonah and Amy (Superstore), these two will not be confessing feelings any time soon. And if they do, they won’t be getting together as an official couple until at least the end of the third season, as many of the couples listed previously did. I’m really excited to see how it all plays out. I know it’s going to be good.

In my opinion, we haven’t had a truly good sitcom in quite some time. Many of our favorites have long since ended. Sometimes when I see the current ones, the ones that are on cable networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC, I find myself asking, “How is this still on the air?”. One of the last good ones standing, again in my opinion, was Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which ended in 2021 after eight seasons. Modern Family ended in 2020, but despite the few really funny clips I’ve seen from that show, I never got into it to watch regularly. Just because a family is blended and a little unconventional, doesn’t mean it’s modern. Who was it modern to? The upper-middle class? The same goes for Black-ish, which ended last spring. That was another show I tried to get into, but just couldn’t. To me, it was just another show about an upper-class family. Yes, the cast was diverse and had good representation, but not everyone lives like that family did. Other honorable mentions are: The Good Place (2016-2020), Schitt’s Creek (2015-2020), and Superstore (2015-2021). Many of these beloved shows have all ended within the last three years. And what are we left with? The Goldbergs? Young Sheldon? Grown-ish? Hard pass. If you like those shows, no shade, they’re just not my cup of tea.

And even though we have shows on paid streaming services like Ted Lasso (a must watch if you’re able), that’s not a program that’s easily accessible to everyone. I’m hoping Abbott sparks inspiration for more warm-hearted comedies. It’s a show that’s fun for adults, but it’s something you can still watch as a family if you so choose. Having someone like Quinta as a writer is truly the key to its success. The show is funny, relatable, sometimes gut-wrenching, and something I look forward to watching every week.

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anteroom-of-death · 2 months

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Teacher's Pet part 12

Synopsis: Reader meets Missy. It's a mixed bag.

A/n: sorry for another delay. Hope you enjoy. More doctor fuckery and allusions to the doctors current devolution. Yay I hope you enjoy yayyy.

What were these truths the Doctor was talking about? At least he was being honest! A damn shame to your overloaded brain, but you appreciated it nonetheless. Maybe you would bring yourself to honestly about your profession after. Maybe. You’d have to test the waters and go off what tonight’s surprise was.

Your heart slammed itself into it's cage.

The next few hours were hell on Earth. What was this secret he was going to reveal?

You always dealt with waiting so poorly…

You got through your final tutoring via the university without nary a hiccup, but your brain combed through all the possibilities you could scrounge from sci-fi shows. What was that one nearly-sixty years old program that the BBC had?

Too late now…

You did sneak home to change into something that didn’t scream ‘lazy’.

Soon it was nearly nine. As you walked to his office, you felt like you were at a wall, breathing your last free breaths before the firing squad came upon you. You worked on your breathing exercises as you went to knock the door.

He was there, illuminated softy. Grey hair fluffed, in a burgundy shirt and hoodie. He looked utterly (and unfairly!) Breath-taking. You felt both underdressed and overdressed.

“Good evening!” He smiled, it was one of those easy, unnerving, comfortable smiles that framed his eyes so well.

“Hey.” Was the best you could muster. Your vocabulary stolen from your tongue as easily as the breath from your lungs over him…

How could someone who was quite literally older than the rededication of the Second Temple look so good?

Alien magic, must be.

“You remember that Missy character?”

“Yeah, her? Them?” You struggled.

“Her.”

“Ah.”

“She’s been on her best behavior. Stunning, really.”

“And?”

“I think you two need to meet. I’ve cleared the idea with her other…Guardian.”

“Oh?”

“Nardole…he’s an egg. I sent him to Norwich for a packet of crisps.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” It didn’t.

You rubbed your lip together in a partial move to rip the skin off, but also to provide some sort of outlet for the nervousness that was still coming up from the pit of your stomach.

What was Missy?

He offered the crook of his arm, “Shall we go?”

You took it.

The walk was nice, silent. The weather was warming up nicely. Mild night.

Soon you went to a place obscured in some hardly-looked after corner in the university’s basement. He pressed some hidden point and the wall snapped in two, revealing some contraption. He unhooked himself from you and started entering codes, some little monitor popped up and scanned his eye.

It asked for a verbal confirmation.

He spoke in some language that made your blood run cold and you feel small. Something about it was haunting. Like singing.

It unveiled another wall with a turn-lock, from which he produced a key and unlocked it.

Finally, it seemed safe to part through.

“What did she do?” You asked, voice husky with fear.

“Enough.” He let a little snort escape.

You nodded and went in.

It was a grand room, a couple of old, antique chairs and some meager side tables faced what was a mighty cage! It looked like glass, on the platform. Inside this guided cage was a woman, in simple Victorian clothes.

She played piano very gently.

“Missy.” The Doctor seemingly pleaded.

The woman inside slammed the lid shut and turned around.

She had the most insane, yet oddly lovely smile. Cat-like.

She was thin.

“Oh…you’ve brought me a plaything?” She grinned.

Her accent sounded Scottish. Like the Doctor.

“Do all aliens sound like Scotsmen?” You blurted out before you could monitor your thoughts.

“I’m sorry!” You amended.

She laughed, it sounded like bells.

“One would certainly hope so!” She responded.

“I’m Missy! Short for Mistress!”

“Oh, I’m (y/n).”

She shot the Doctor some look. He shot her another look. It seemed they were having an entire conversation without you. You felt alienated. You looked between them.

“I’ve heard nothing but good. Typical!” She approached you at the edge of her enclosure. You felt caged. Missy stalked you as if she were a lioness and you were some disabled, freshly birthed gazelle. You started sweating, it dewed down your back.

“Oh!”

“My best enemy.” He elaborated.

You nodded more, at a total loss for words. Your breathing became manual.

“So what did you do?”

“Oh, this girlie is rude! I love it!” She shot the Doctor another look.

“Don’t talk behind my back?” You assumed.

Missy nearly fell over! She started laughing, “Rude and clever! He’s certainly taught you well.”

Your eyes could have shot out of their sockets.

“You’re like Jedi, yeah? Can communicate with your brains?” You explained.

“Sure enough? Jedi are the Lego ones?” the Doctor asked.

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy her.” Missy predated you more. Nose pressed against her enclosure.

You got the briefest of synopsis of their entire relationship. You felt yourself blinking from your brain overloading. It felt like someone dumped out your mind and shook the contents up before tossing it all back in, haphazardly.

You swallowed heavily.

“So Time Lords. Do you all have such…intense names? Mistress, Doctor? So is there a Bachelor?” You felt your arms move as if to elaborate this point.

“Different generations have different naming convention. My brother is Irving Braxiatel.”

“Of course. Makes sense. My name’s (y/n) but now all the kids are McKinsleigh or Harley or whatever.”

“Exactly.”

“Oh, my dear Doctor, you have a smart one on your hands. Now how do you like the stars, kiddo?”

You shook your head quickly. “Nope, no stars for me. I’m not going up there. Nope. I know what happens! I’m genre aware. I know what goes down in space. And if you’ve had a lot of dead companions previously…not me. I am not that suicidal!” You felt like a horizontal bobble head of sorts.

“See!” She slapped her thigh. “This one’s got common sense! She’s not going to swan off and get herself killed by a giant bird!”

It seemingly touched a tender point.

“Oh, here you go, bringing up Clara! What’s with you?” He seemed on the verge of spitting. “We’re having such a normal time!”

“Oh, she was my manic pixie dream bitch too!” Missy countered, looking like the cat that swallowed the canary.

You made several notes to bring up later when you were going to bring up some new ground rules for this relationship, if this Missy didn’t tear you to shreds and eat your entrails like a tin of tuna.

The cat metaphors kept coming…

Were Time Lords cats?

No! Cats have barbed penises and that Time Lord you were fond of didn’t…

“May I get a tuba now?” Missy pleaded.

“We’ll see.”

You found yourself fiddling with your necklaces in a very rapid way with one hand. The other twisting the massive gold hoop in your one ear. Nervous habits coming in strong to help you self-soothe in this inopportune moment…

Somewhere the Doctor produced a flask of tea and poured some out, it was herbal. At the moment you couldn’t discern much more than that.

He gave it to all, including Missy, who’s barrier seemed penetrable to him, but not her. As she touched it and it repelled her.

Where did he pull out all these things?

What was the barrier made of? Did it work on genes?

Your mind roared for an explanation.

You reminded yourself to take it in strive. You weren’t working with logic and sanity anymore. You were in some contrived sci-fi story now.

It was the only way that you’d survive this!

Missy asked you something pleasantries involving your studies, and you divulged your grand plans.

“Oh, not overly ambitious. No martyr complex. Doctor this one may survive you.” Her focus splintered.

You felt out of your depth even more. You were taking it in stride, but that felt like it was lacking. Although…an opportunity did arise.

Did you have the guts to take it?

You pondered on. If it did turn nasty, you were outnumbered. Two of these so called ’Time Lords’. One you. One very mortal and squishy you.

Missy seemed to know far more than she probably should. You craved a bit more knowledge.

Shouldn’t you be privy to details about the man you’ve been not only fucking, but falling madly under his spell? And dare you utter it- loved?

“So what’s the deal with you Time Lords?” You asked Missy.

“An ancient race. We’re the pinnacle of evolution. Very few races will or ever will get close. Some have tried, they fail to become as optimized.”

“A bit eugenics-y.” You responded, your brows knitted together.

“Funny collars.” The Doctor chimed in. “That’s the opposite of optimized.”

“Oh, Mister President! How salacious!” She cooed in his general direction.

“President?” Your eyes boggled from their sockets.

“Technically. I’m also the De Facto President of Earth in an emergency. Neither here nor there…”

“And he’s ever so humble! My dear, Doctor. If this were two bodies ago you’d be preening!”

You looked down and blinked hard, as you started to chew on the inside of your cheek.

“Oh, him? Yeah, I was a but more vain. I mean, how could I not? All youth and fire and forged from Rose’s love.”

“And who the hell is Rose?” Your jealousy creeping back in.

“Oh, Doctor! You dog! She was very blonde! Broke many universes trying to find him again!” Missy gaped, as if she had personally sprung this trap.

“She helped me. I was raw from the War. She saw my hearts and that’s all.” The explanation was clearly him trying to not irk any jealousy in you.

“She got a wee clone! They’re in a parallel universe!” Missy simmered up, swinging around on her ankles.

“You are annoying.”

“You could have let Torvic kill me!” She put her hands on her hips and pulled a sour face.

“I’m sorry, who’s Torvic?” You were being bombarded with more information than you could handle.

“I was a soft lad. This kid kept bullying me. He was going to kill me, but here does come ikkle little Doctor with a rock! Bye bye Torvic!” She announced it like she was a wrestling presenter.

“How old were…you all?”

“Ten!” Missy clapped her hands together.

“Death’s champion!” She elaborated with a sick glee, pointing at the Doctor.

“I’m assuming you can…change sexes.” You kept piecing it together. “Were you ever a woman?”

“Maybe next go!” The Doctor said.

You leaned down and rested your fingers on your jaw as if to keep it from falling off onto the ground.

“So…how does that all work?”

“Two hearts, they prevent death and kick in our ancient rights!” Missy flourished.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that.” The Doctor stepped in. “We get a new face, new body. New chances. We keep our core. But everything from our personality to our kidneys.”

You inhaled.

“Anything else I need to know…assuming that you do that in front of me.” You curbed your attention to the Doctor. You wanted answers and you didn’t want him to give up this particular body. You didn’t want to play this particular game of Russian Roulette. His body right now was perfect…from his hair to his toes. Like it was personally designed to drive you mad. A sexy, silver fox with dynamic light eyes and a smile that robbed you of the ability to breathe, plus that voice like was a good motorcycle engine. And, a perfect package that hit right in the right spots…

You were objectifying an immortal alien.

What had your life become?

“That shit’s…crazy.” You gave an exceedingly reductive statement.

“No promises, but I’ll try.” He gave you a small, reassuring smile…

“Before precious Rose, there was his wife, that Scottish lad, that journalist Sarah Jane Smith, me, that ginger twink who’s name escapes me and probably a few I’m forgetting! And after there was-” Missy smiled a positively evil grin.

You put your hand up and stopped her from going into any more detail.

“Sarah Jane Smith? The mega-journo who always had the hottest stories? The one who was always leaking the top bylines?” You instinctively tore off your thumb nail.

You kept putting your hands up and down. Going to point a finger. You felt like a malfunctioning kettle.

“W-w-what? Do you…see in me?” You raised both of your hands up as you shrugged and struggled. “Universe traveling blondes? Award-winning journalists? A ginger twink? This jailbird?” You voice scaling up octaves to those only dogs could hear as you slapped your hands over your thighs and grasped them tightly…

You started those dratted breathing exercises and placed your right hand on your only heart.

The Doctor seemed to be sorting through some sort of dilemma in his mind.

“Yeah, tell her!” Missy cheered.

You shot her a murderous glare.

She scrunched her nose and stuck out her tongue.

“I see you as warmth. You are yourself. I see you as someone who’s good. Despite it all. A good student and a great partner. Someone to enjoy while I can. Nothing to complicate or drag into danger.”

Something about these words and his gaze into you had you fighting these words, but becoming placated by them. They were like a cozy quilt on your worries…

“I’ve put others I loved in danger. Learned those lessons. Never again.”

You felt your mind slowing down from the anger and self-doubt.

It felt like truthfulness. You’d take truthfulness.

The looks that Missy and the Doctor passed between each other has you shiver in fear.

You felt like you needed to vomit.

“Can I go home now?” You squeaked out once you felt a but more emotionally regulated.

“Of course.” He helped you up and turned to Missy, “No tuba.” He told her.

She raged on a bit as you felt yourself being tucked into his side and escorted out.

You leaned against a wall as he locked the Vault up.

He folded you under his arm.

“So what do you think of my best enemy?”

You felt yourself feeling suddenly very sleepy and like you had been dreaming. You were very conflicted and of many minds. You would have to work through all this later. There was just so much information and new thoughts that needed evaluated. Though you felt something holding you back from it. The emotional toll of the past few days, inevitably catching up to you.

What was that something was holding you back?

Probably your love of the Doctor.

You felt yourself crying.

“Why don’t I walk you to your flat? What’s the address?” He wiped your face with some old-fashioned looking hankie.

You gave him your address. It was a longer walk, but maybe it would do you good.

You started to walk. It was going somewhat smoothly.

After a silent walk, you stated as you got closer to the safety of your home. “I think she’s insane. Probably it’s for the best she’s in that…situation. Like sectioning, but worse? She could be fun, if she tried. I feel…yeah. I mean, if you’re a package deal. A bit weird she’s your ex. But yeah.” You answered his previous question.

“Is she a threat? To me?” You asked, jealously.

“No, we’re finished. Ancient news far older than your civilization…”

“Ah, okay.” You felt more satisfied.

“She is quite…pretty.” You remarked.

“Hadn’t noticed.”

You nodded, as you arrived to the front door.

“This is me.” You pointed. “You…want to come up? Get a night cap. I know I’m going to need it.” You joked, as you used your pinky nail to scratch the bridge of your nose.

“Not tonight. How about after you finish exams? I still have to some things done in that regards.”

“Valid.”

He leaned down and pressed hip lips to your forehead.

“Good-night, (y/n).” He smiled as he closed his hand over yours and gave it a squeeze.

“Good-night, Doctor.” It still felt strange to not call him ‘Professor’. You didn’t know how to feel. Calling him ‘Professor’ felt better coming off your tongue.

So much to over-analyze.

You opened the door and went up to your flat. After pouring yourself a large shot of vodka to take, you laid on your favorite chair and zoned out.

So much for a normal, nice time at university!

#personal #doctor who #peter capaldi #12th doctor #12th doctor x reader #12th doctor x you #you x 12th doctor #reader x 12th doctor #teacher student #long chapter #lol #so im losing my mind #lmao #self insert #doctor who fanfiction #please please please #enjpy

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merlot-and-chardonnay · 3 months

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The Targ from Horsing Around: A Character Comparison of Aegon and Bojack

For anyone whose read my post about the Blacks vs Greens discourse, I once brought up that I was someone who 1) have watched the entirety of Bojack Horseman and 2) made a comparison of the horse's life to that of Aegon from HotD.

Now you're probably wondering, how is so? Well if you stick around, I'll be more than happy to explain why. So sit back, relax, and read my...unnecessarily long take of our favorite brooding blonde dragon prince and...the Horse from Horsing Around.

Also quick spoiler warning for both shows as well as content warning for subjects such as addiction, depression, and abuse of power as well as dysfunctional family dynamics.

So, first off we have to do a little brief background for both characters.

So first we have Aegon:

Aegon Targaryen (second of his name), or also known in the history books as Aegon the Usurper, is the firstborn son of King Viserys I and Alicent Hightower, and in the patriarchal world of Westeros the heir to the Iron Throne...or he would've been had his father not named his older half-sister Rhaenyra heir, changing the line of succession.

Having not experienced much affection from either of his parents, Aegon strives to fill the void in his life by means of sex and alcohol, which doesn't do much as deep down he craves for someone to love him as he is and not because of what he can accomplish as the future king.

And then we have Bojack Horseman. An actor most noted for his role from the 90s sitcom Horsin' Around, and someone who comes from a very dysfunctional family, Bojack struggles with addiction and depression and self-loathing as well. He too has a void in his life that he tries to fill with drugs and booze and sex, but that doesn't do much.

So with the character synopses out of the way, now we'll dive into their similarities.

1. Family Background

While Aegon's family may not be arguably as dysfunctional as Bojack's (the casual eye mutilation and kin-slaying not withstanding), the dysfunction is still there. Aegon is the firstborn son of Viserys and Alicent. As I mentioned before in my Black and Green take, Alicent was basically forced into the marriage, never having a say in the matter, but did as she was bid because she felt it was her duty. She does not love Viserys, and frankly it was mutual for Viserys, as the two only lay with one another for the sake of fulfilling their material duties and to produce heirs.

I've already established Viserys was practically an absentee parent with his children, sans Rhaenyra, but we also see the way Alicent treats her children. She dotes on Aemond (more so after he lost his eye), and...she tries to dote on Helaena, bond with her, but she doesn't quite understand her (something I can kinda relate to in regards to my own relationship with my mother). And there's the way she treats Aegon.

Partly driven by paranoia by her own father, Alicent pushes Aegon in more ways than one in trying to prepare him to become king. She...uses some rather controversial tactics, most which include her slapping him out of the blue when he steps out of line, or for things that happened that were beyond his control as we saw on Driftmark, or covering for him when does something really bad, to which she proceeds to scold him in private and then slap him again before disowning him.

Alicent's relationship with Aegon is dysfunctional and complicated to say the least, and again to reiterate it was very telling that Aegon had asked her on the day of his coronation if she loved him.

I find it interesting how much of driving force between Alicent's parenting towards Aegon actually comes from her father pushing her, which led to some rather trauma inducing consequences to Aegon's psyche.

Sounds familiar Bojack Fans?

In contrast to Alicent Hightower, noble woman turned queen, Bojack's mother, Beatrice Horseman was a sugar heiress, i.e. someone who definitely comes from old money. Her father, Joseph Surgarman, also had an impact on Beatrice from an early age (especially after what he did to Beatrice's mother), and it haunted Beatrice for the rest of her life, to the point where she refused to love anyone the same way her mother loved her brother Crackerjack.

While Joseph didn't force Beatrice to marry (though he tried), Beatrice nonetheless found herself in a loveless marriage to Butterscotch Horseman, after she fell pregnant as the result of a one night stand with Butterscotch on the night of her debutante ball (keeping in mind it was the 60s and despite the sexual revolution having kicked off around this time, a woman pregnant out of wedlock was still considered scandalous).

Butterscotch was also an absentee parent to Bojack (when he wasn't busy smacking him around), spending his days at the office (*cough cough* having affairs with his secretary) and then shutting himself in his study at home to work on his inevitably failure of a great American novel (I could compare Butterscotch's obsession with being a writer of working class origins to how Viserys obsessed over his model of Old Valyria and its history).

Beatrice, meanwhile, was left with the burden of raising a child, and she often took that frustration out on Bojack, if not physically, than emotionally and psychologically. Beatrice also instilled into Bojack a very toxic need to perform in order to please the people and give them what they want, whether he wants to or not. (this was also a mindset Bojack would sadly pass onto Sarah Lynn and we know how that ended).

To summarize, Aegon and Bojack had some pretty shitty upbringings and it affected them greatly into adulthood.

2. Unhealthy coping mechanisms

As I mentioned before Aegon and Bojack use unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with their lives, in the form of sex and booze.

Aegon drinks copious amounts of wine and cheats on his sister-wife with any woman who will (or won't) have him. He has also fathered an unknown number of bastards (something Bojack likely would've also done if he didn't use condoms or send money to his one night stands to get abortions).

Bojack took the unhealthy coping a step further in season 5 when an accident on set of tv show Philbert resulted in him getting addicted to prescription pain killers.

And of course people got hurt from these addictions. We saw what Aegon did to the servant Dyana, which resulted in Alicent putting out fires and giving the poor girl silence money as well as moon tea (and as I've mentioned before it's heavily implied this was NOT the first time something like that has happened). We also got a glimpse of the damage he caused Aemond, when the guy recalled to Criston his first and only time Aegon dragged him to the Street of Silk...when he was THIRTEEN FREAKING YEARS OLD!

With Bojack, we saw the damage his drug and booze benders have done, as we saw with Sarah Lynn in season 3, and with Gina in season 5 (and though he was not really on a bender in season 2, we saw what he almost did to Penny). And while Bojack's mother would never be willing to step up and pick up his pieces, that burden was constantly left to his agent Princess Carolyn (my favorite character of the show).

3. Toxic Personalities

It's no secret Bojack is a pretty toxic individual especially to his friends and loved ones. We see how he often takes Princess Carolyn for granted, especially when she goes out of her way to find him acting gigs and he flat out turns them down all the damn time. Not to mention he practically dropped her in season 3 when she screwed up ONE TIME for the first time in the many years those two had worked together. We also saw the way he treated Todd, never having given the guy the guest room, despite allowing Todd to crash on his couch for five years, and when Todd did have the opportunity to make it big and get his own place with the debut of his Rock Opera in season 1, Bojack goes out of his way to sabotage the whole thing cause he was scared of being left alone.

Bojack is a toxic person, something he is actually very self-aware of, but he doesn't do anything to change it, not until the very last season when he actually puts in the effort to go sober and reflect on why he is the way he is. But before that, his toxicity had real consequences and left lasting impact on the people around him.

Aegon is a toxic person too. He is something of a shit stirrer, as showcased in episode 8 during the family dinner when he tried to goad Jace and then made unwanted advances towards Baela. He's not the best person to his siblings either, particularly towards Aemond, such is in episode 5 when he convinced Jace and Luke to prank Aemond by giving him a pig with wings when he knew the boy wanted a dragon, and of course I already brought up the Street of Silk incident and what he did to Dyana.

Both Bojack and Aegon's toxicity are also compounded by their status as celebrity actor and royal family member respectively, which means there is little chance of being held to true accountability by others (though in Bojack's case, the closest we get to that was the second interview in the final season when Biscuits Braxby confronted him about the circumstances surrounding Sarah Lynn's death).

4. Need to feel affection from others

THIS....

This is actually the one thing that prompted me to make the character comparison in the first place. In HotD episode 9, after Aegon was crowned king, he pulled out his sword, and he saw the way the people cheered for him, practically cutting the image of his namesake Aegon the Conqueror.

Note the small smile Aegon made in this gif when he saw the way the people reacted to him in this state:

Aegon made not have had any desire to rule up until this point, and he probably still doesn't have that desire... but dammit, if being king is all it takes to win the love and affection of complete strangers, if that is what it takes to receive even an ounce of validation, then he will role with it.

This was the scene that made me think about Bojack. The reason Bojack got into acting, why he embraced celebrity status during his time on Horsin' Around was because that was when he had an audience to perform before. There were people out there that gave him love and validation for it even if they didn't know who he really was. And Bojack accepted it, because he certainly wasn't going to get it from his mother or anyone else whom he felt would eventually leave him for one reason or another. People in his life may come and go, but his audience would always be there for him...supposedly.

Spoiler alert, they weren't there for him as we saw as various moments in the show, ESPECIALLY the third and second to last episodes of the final season.

Bojack and Aegon gave the people what they wanted in performing their assigned roles, and it gave them the rush of validation and temporarily soothed their craving and need for the love and affection that was basically denied them since childhood (not true affection as much of this would be akin to a para-social relationship).

While there are similarities, there is also a key differences between the two (and NO it is not that Aegon is a human being in a medieval fantasy epic and Bojack is a anthropomorphic horse in a series set in modern day Hollywood).

It's fair to say Bojack had a stronger support system than Aegon, granted one he often took for granted. He had friends that actually cared for him and had stood by his side for most of the series, even when he kept screwing them over and throwing them under the bus. I already mentioned Todd and Princess Carolyn, but there was also Diane and Mr. Peanut Butter. And before that, before Horsin Around, there was Charlotte and Herb (though Bojack was quick to burn those bridges with those two when he failed them on two separate occasions).

Diane was the one who was there for Bojack during his low points in the show; she was the one who comforted Bojack when he was reeling over the death of Sarah Lynn, and she was the one who took Bojack to rehab in season 5 when he decided things needed to change if he was to become a better person. She was also the last person Bojack talked to in the final episode.

I already know how the events of HotD are ultimately going to end...I'm not optimistic Aegon will have that kind of support system, save for enablers and sycophants and just about any nobles and Green supporter who want nothing more than to win his favor by kissing his ass.

...that was kind of a grim note to end on, but that is what I got.

Hope you enjoyed this take. Now have a nice day.

#hotd #aegon ii targaryen #alicent hightower #bojack horseman #bojack #todd chavez #diane nguyen #princess carolyn #aemond targaryen

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420technoblazeit · 1 year

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list of submitted queer characters in homophobic media that were so incredibly badly written that they're automatically in the bracket

Castiel (this one's self explanatory. goes to superhell because he confessed to dean, is resurrected by the time of the series finale but doesn't appear onscreen or resolve the confession)

Chihiro Fujisaki (literally murdered because she came out as trans, handling of her case is so bad she is misgendered constantly during the trial and the fandom still argues on her pronouns)

Will Byers (canonically in love with his best friend, who is in a committed relationship with another main character)

Shiro from Voltron (his relationship with Adam was teased at constantly in promos and Adam was revealed to have died in a flashback)

Remus Lupin (werewolves are stated by jkr to be a metaphor for AIDS)

Tallstar (after they part ways Tallstar never takes a mate because 'his heart belongs to Jake')

Dean Winchester (homophobic writers accidentally making the most bisexual man to ever exist by making his arc revolve around dealing with his toxic masculinity + constant jokes over multiple seasons about Dean being attracted to guys)

Judas from da Bible (i just thought this one was funny)

Magne (from BNHA, her reason for joining the league of villains is because she feels marginalized as a trans woman. she gets brutally murdered in the show)

Danny Phantom (we've all seen the tumblr posts i think)

Oswald Cobblepot (specifically from Gotham, is in love with his best friend and tries to kill his girlfriend because of it. changes made on-set by producers to make his relationship with Ed less queer)

Irene Adler (stated to be a lesbian but falls in love with Sherlock anyway as a major plot point)

#the pig squeals

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the-hawkeyes · 1 month

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The Hawkeyes Blog Character Primer

Hello! Welcome to the blog!

My name is Sandra, and I've been running this blog for a while.

I'm a transwoman in my early thirties, and my big things that I'm into are FFXIV, rp and everything else, sci fi, gundam, big robots, Mecha, Lancer...and Ladies. Lots and lots of Ladies.

So to start, here's a short primer to introduce and give you an idea of what sort of characters you'll see here!

Kiera Hawkeye

The Main Mom. The one that started it all. Kiera Hawkeye.

A woman nearing her 50's, and has experienced a lot in her life. From partying as a youth, to marrying in her late twenties, to having a son. Losing that husband, discovering parts of her she didn't know, and settling down with a newfound wife.

She's settled in her personality, but she's still flirty. Still full of love and life. She loves a nice, stiff drink, a good book, the feeling of fresh dirt under her hands, and holding her wife, Iyrnswys.

Ala Mhigan, and proud of it. Keeps up her figure by being a miner nowadays. Most notably known as the organizer of the Annual Melon Crushing Contest on Balmung !

Tags: kiera tag

Katie Willow

My Warrior of Light. The main character of Final Fantasy XIV!

A woman who started an adventure with a heart full of young naivety and excitement, and got wrapped up in something that she never, ever could have expected.

Still working her out, so stay tuned for more!

Tags: katie tag

Zophia Wheeler

The Best Ass in Thanalan, the Cumtank herself! All self-declared titles~.

A sex worker in her mid 30's, now working at a brothel in Thavnair with help from a friend to provide stability after an unfortunate falling out from her previous one.

Loud, brash, flirty, and always speaks her mind, Zophia is quite the woman! Recently she learned of her families history as powerful Red Mages due to a chance encounter with a long lost aunt. She's been dealing with the fact that she's had a family she never knew.

Luckily her wife (Qahli, another's PC), is there to help her out!

Stephanine Rainteau

Stephanine Rainteau of House Rainteau is one of the prominent Summoner's produced by the Arcanists Guild. Originally from Ishgard, sent to Limsa Lominsa to study arcanima to help with the Dragonsong War.

But through her studies, she changed. Taken under the wing of another powerful summoner, Stephanine was introduced, gradually, to a world that she never thought she would be a part of, but ended up thriving in it.

A selfish woman, a woman of multiple lovers, capable of acts of profound compassion and near heartless cruelty. One may never suspect considering the rather polite and haughty attitude of a noble she wears.

Tags: stephanine tag

And more! Keep an eye out for updates!

#kiera tag #katie tag #zophia tag #stephanie tag

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therealvinelle · 8 months

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Apparently Lionsgate is making a new Twilight TV series. Remain to be seen what's it about, whether it'll be a remake of the movies or something new. Say they went with something new, and they somehow choose an idea that you've already done in a fic. Which fic idea do you: a) just really want to see adapted on screen? And b) thinks that they will do justice the most?

(Muffin can also answer this if they want and if their answer's different than yours)

Well, the trouble is I don't really have any particular fics I want to see on screen. More importantly, I don't imagine they would appeal much to any studios. You want something you can sell to producers, but "The romantic male lead commits cold blooded murder because his quasi-brother was too weak. His quasi-brother killed his wife back in the day, the romantic lead is fine with that and the quasi-brother recruits the murdered man's parents into his harem. Then half the cast goes to Egypt without really accomplishing anything. Please give me millions of dollars so I can make this." would not fly.

(The above, for the record, is The Less Than Immaculate Conception by myself and @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin.

Painting Red Madonnas by Muffin wouldn't fare much better, "No the male and female lead don't get together. The loveable goof is really homophobic, and the closest thing we have to a love interest murders a toddler and his own son in front of his horrified wife. Help me get in touch with investors.")

The Bleach in the Brain (by me) miniseries and its sequel miniseries, Leech in the Rain (by @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin and me) would require somebody saying, not only "I want to focus on child abuse and grooming where the white girl protagonist is attacked by a Native American man and disabled at the end", but "I want to depict a bisexual male character whose male former lover, a gay man, is falsely accused of rape, and then he gets sexually assaulted by his son" as well. Also the really hot chick protagonist who looks twenty-five is actually six years old so she can't be marketed as a sexy female character. And then getting funding for all of this.

(They might decide to make a show inspired by Jessica Stanley in those fics, but... god they'd change everything.)

And Then There Were None, same problem. "Please give us money to produce Bella Swan murdering her family for no reason."

Dark Fantasies/Writhing Coils, maybe if I got Guillermo del Toro extremely drunk and called him a coward. Except it would still need funding, so no.

The Invitation, only if the ending is completely changed. Too much of a downer otherwise.

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream would have the producers nodding along until I get to the part where the big battle happens entirely off screen, instead the audience gets to see a gay sex scene. "Full penetration," I say, tapping my powerpoint slide with a stick for emphasis.

"Let's limit her involvement," they whisper to one another, and then I don't sell them the rights so Nebuchadnezzar's Dream is condemned to development hell.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to London is too out there, and How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bacchanals even more so.

The Man Who Would Be King bonus, since Muffin and I got talking about it: might fly, if briefly. It's more viable than the Twilight ideas (we've got an attractive, young, and sympathetic protagonist, an enemies-to-lovers slow burn, and our male romantic lead hasn't actually murdered anybody on screen so viewers can pull a Damon Salvatore and insist he's alright), trouble is it's not going to stay that way. For now, it's shockingly viable and gets my nomination.

My vote for Twilight fic to be televised, however, assuming I win a billion dollar and nobody can stop me...

For the Love of a Woman.

Everybody loses.

#my fic #the carnivorous muffin #the carnivorous muffin fic #fic meta #lumaxmayclair

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cursedvibes · 1 year

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It's honestly kind of hilarious in a macabre way how pearl-clutching the Kamo Clan (and by extension the higher-ups) are about the whole Death Painting incident and Kamo Noritoshi in general. I don't mean that in the way that they are blowing things out of proportion or being unreasonable, but simply that they use Kamo Noritoshi/Kenjaku as a smoke screen.

Kamo Noritoshi is called the most evil sorcerer to ever exist. A stain on the Kamo Clans prestigious history. There was no one like him before and will never be since. In actuality, they are just using this incident to camouflage or play off their other heinous acts. It's not like the concept of locking women up and using them to create powerful offspring is something solely unique to Kamojaku or even the Kamo Clan.

Noritoshi Jr's father, the 24th clan head, is not much different if we come down to it. He has a wife but when she doesn't produce adequate children, he picks another woman and forces her to bear his kid. Noritoshi's mother at least had the benefit of being let go afterwards and being able to start a family on her own terms, but her interactions with the Kamo Clan were clearly anything but consensual. Still, they kept Noritoshi for themselves solely because of his blood and force him to conform to their conservative ideology and live up to impossible standards, worsened by the burden of his name.

The original Kamo Noritoshi was probably not much better, just another conservative clan head obsessed with power and bloodlines. After all, we haven't heard anyone say "Omg those experiments were so out of character for him! Never would have thought dear old Noritoshi would be capable of that!" So this behaviour isn't uncommon for the higher members of the clan. Similar to how the Zenin operate I assume. Shino seemed to look up to Noritoshi Sr. quite a lot, so until things came out he must have not been that unpopular, maybe even had quite a number of supporters on the inside. Someone must have organized and hidden the curses, I find it hard to belief that Kenjaku did all this alone.

Now the problem with the Death Painting experiment is how public it was. Kenjaku just left those aborted fetuses there for everyone to stare at and collect. Undeniable evidence. Who knows what happened to the mother, but her body might not have been that well hidden either. There is probably also a "racist" aspect to it, where the mere idea of humans and curses mingling is seen as a freak of nature and I wouldn't be surprised if that was initially much more of an issue than the violation of the mother's body and autonomy. While there might not be much of Noritoshi in the Death Paintings, it would still be a quite literal cursed stain in the bloodline the Kamo place so much value on.

The Zenin have thrown at least 3 children into a pit of curses (the fact that it exists at all suggests they do this more often) and treat their women as subhuman. It's not that Kamojaku forced the mother to go through 9 pregnancies and abortions that's so abhorrent to the Kamo/higher-ups, it's that it became public and involved non-humans. A Bad Look. Dampens the respectability of the clan. So now they have to make Noritoshi out to be this outlier. He shouldn't be counted in the statistics. Unreasonably more evil than anyone else, of course no one would ever get any similar ideas. And still they do nothing to treat their women and children any better. Why would they? It's not as bad as what Kamo Noritoshi did, so it's fine right? It's just tradition. They have to somehow cleanse their bloodline again after all, what else are they supposed to do?! And so nothing ever changes unless it gets completely burned to the ground.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk spoilers #kenjaku #kamo noritoshi

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limnsaber · 7 months

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Mandalorian Slash Fic Rec List - Volume IV: ArmorKatan, DinCobb, BobaDin, Others

What it says in the title! 💜 means a personal favorite of mine. Volumes I, II, and III can be found at the associated links, as well as Mando Gen Volumes I, II and III. Give your love to our beloved authors, and please enjoy! -Limn <3

Bo-Katan/The Armorer

your hands in the heat by noraelle (Bo-Katan Kryze/The Armorer, Missing Scene, Gen, 2.5k)

Bo let her gaze drift across the surreal mix of Mandalorians sprawled out in front of her on deck before letting it linger on the Armorer, who was still tending to the wounded, changing medpads. The movement of her hands was quick and skilled, similar to the few times she had seen the other woman forge beskar, telling her this most likely wasn’t the first time she’d been in charge of patching up a group of injured. or: bo has a lot of thoughts, gets teased by koska and the pirates ship turns out to be the perfect backdrop for a heart-to-heart

💜 accidents let the evening in the back door by @swampcowboy (Bo-Katan Kryze/The Armorer, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Teen, 7k)

They might as well put it in the papers: Former Up-and-Coming Political Spitfire Turned Alleged Domestic Terrorist Found Absolutely Fucking Pathetic, Might As Well Be Dead, Aged 36. Because nobody who found themselves plastered at a fringe Mando bar for the third Friday night in a row had anything left to contribute to the world, obviously. (Or, Bo-Katan Kryze finds herself in the depths of a personal crisis at a birthday party for some asshole she doesn't even know. She makes the best of a bad situation. The Armorer helps.)

why don't you close your eyes and reinvent me by @novasforce (Bo-Katan Kryze/The Armorer, Missing Scene, Mature, 1k)

But she keeps her helmet grasped between steady hands, keeps her eyes focused and unblinking, and her head held high. She is Bo-Katan Kryze, and she is none of the weaknesses that had once gotten her sister killed; she is forged from beskar in both body and mind, unshakable and impenetrable. Or: a meeting in the Forge beneath Nevarro

DinCobb

how it feels when we fall, when we fold by @ckerouac (Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Missing Scene, Gen, 11k)

“Well… shit, Mando,” Cobb breathed, resetting the safety on his blaster and holstering it. “This isn’t exactly what I meant when I said I hoped our paths crossed again.” Din gave a humorless chuckle and let his head fall back against the wall. “This isn’t how I saw it going either.” Cobb takes in a grieving Mandalorian, who isn't quite ready to accept he's grieving yet.

They got me and I’ll never give up (But I need you to save me now) by @emmeddt (Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth, Mistaken Identity, POV Cobb Vanth, Fluff and Angst, Explicit, 33k)

“You planning of making a mess in my town?” The answer is immediate, right to the point. “You planning on shooting me?” Cobb decides to play it safe: he doesn’t remove his hand from the blaster. “Not if it can be avoided.” The stranger’s lips break apart in more than one place when he produces another little grin, a sarcastic twitch, but somehow Cobb knows that the smile is not for him: it’s meant for the stranger himself. “Maybe it can’t,” the guy says after a beat. “Maybe it would be better that way.” -- Or: my take on what really happens after Din is forced to say goodbye to Grogu.

BobaDin

think not, the eleventh commandment by qigiined (Din Djarin/Boba Fett, Ensemble Cast, Family Dynamics, Disabled Character, Moby Dick AU, Mature, 18k)

Boba leaves Djarin to his tracking while he takes deep breaths and tries to convince himself that running screaming into the wastes is not how he is going to deal with all this. He needs to think smarter, not harder. The sarlacc is an enormous motherfucking terror dome. It cannot move far, and it cannot possibly move fast. If it moved, it has to be around here somewhere. Someone has to have felt it or seen it. Someone has to know something about sarlaccs. Someone living. Someone dead. (Boba sets out to hunt his white whale.)

💜 still got it by qigiined (Rex/The Armorer, Din Djarin/Boba Fett, Ensemble Cast, Romance, Drama, Teen, 14k)

Bly points out that it’s a good thing that Boba has found a connection with someone who is so orderly and collected. Opposites attract, he says. “Mando only remembers he exists twice a day,” Fives deadpans. “When he speaks,” Cody corrects. “Guys, you don’t know that,” Bly says. “He could be just as smitten. Rex, you dated a Mandalorian once. Tell them.” All eyes land on Rex. He begins to sink into his chair. (Rex dated the Armorer back in the day and finds her again when he meets the guy who Boba is trying to court.)

Rarepair/Multi

oh you little night by qigiined (Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth, Din Djarin/Boba Fett, Ensemble Cast, Misunderstandings, Drama, Romance, Mature, 18k)

Cobb can’t help smiling wryly and wondering if the Mandalorian has been looking for someone to take home who his mama would approve of. He wonders if the Mandalorian’s knees went weak in the face of Boba Fett’s endless list of successful bounties. He wonders if he stammers when he tries to talk to him. It would be cute if so. Cobb’s jaw has been aching for the last two days. (Cobb Vanth is called down to Anchorhead to investigate a case on behalf of a Tatooine historical society. He leaves having just learned that the Mandalorian he's been opening his heart to has been opening his heart to someone else.)

Everything Else by skywalkers (Han Solo/Paz Vizsla, Background Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Ensemble Cast, Mandalorian Religion, Force-Sensitive Paz Vizsla, Teen, 39k)

The Armorer raises her hand. “The Manda appeared before you, for which you are destined. You have toiled under this dishonor, and now the Gods have shown their favor. But these portents show more.” She takes a moment to gather herself; Paz hears it in the air like a hammer. “You will have your glory and name, Paz Vizsla. And you will betray Din Djarin.” - Paz receives a vision from the Gods promising his redemption—and Din's doom. While struggling with his new connection to the Gods, he and Han Solo, a general of the New Republic, are sent to the planet of Corellia to investigate a covert that's gone missing.

#armorkatan #nitearmor #dincobb #bobadin #star wars #star wars fanfiction #fanfiction recommendations #the mandalorian #lim's fic recs #star wars fanfiction recommendations #fic recs

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goetzjpvis · 2 months

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3/18/24 "Tanpopo" JPT 3391

I watched "Tanpopo" two and a half times because of how initially absurd it appeared to me. I was hellbent on figuring out what it was trying to say, because I saw a connection but I didn't know what it was.

Tanpopo on Ego and Defiance:

I left this movie with the impression of a commentary on hard work, ego, and a discourse on professionalism. Tanpopo really screams at the watcher that anybody can be a 'professional' at something, while simultaneously begging the question of what a 'professional' even is. "Tanpopo" pokes fun at those who think they know how to make/eat the perfect ramen, while simultaneously praising and building up the main character, who initially didn't even know how to cook well, into a ramen connoisseur! Our main character is called Tanpopo, meaning dandelion (perhaps related to her being a symbol of courage, strength, and perseverance, as it's a weed). She starts as an ambitious but inexperienced cook, who instead of becoming upset or discouraged by critique, runs with it, ending the movie with a transformed look, a transformed shop, and a new ramen recipe ("Tanpopo ramen"), signifying her transition into a professional. The film critiques the ego of the professional ramen cooks who don't accept criticism and refuse to share knowledge, showing that there is not necessarily a 'proper' way to do things (such as eat ramen or slurp), but instead several good options that one needs to explore themselves. So then, what is a professional? What I took from this movie is that it is somebody who is skilled at their craft, willing to take critique, and willing to share their knowledge with others.

But if that's it, then what were all those strange cutaway scenes about? I initially evaluated Tanpopo as an absurdist comedy- and in a sense, I still feel like it's absurdist! But, to me, the nuance comes from the way in how it conveys it's themes- using several unrelated and comical scenes that share one unified message of defiance! The old woman poking holes in produce, the homeless man who broke into a kitchen just to cook a tasty omurice, the group of girls slurping noodles WAYY too loudly, the employee that stuns his superiors by ordering a high quality dish, and the couple that... has sex using a shrimp? (gross). All of these scenes involve breaking a mold some way or another, with food as their medium. Rebellion, whether ethical or not, revealed itself as a reflection of Goro's character, who watches Tanpopo defy social norms as a solo female ramen chef and was passionate to help her surpass her 'professional' rival cooks.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to loop all of these scenes together as one. The man who ate the oyster sexually from the girl's hand, the man that forced his wife to cook dinner until she died, and the man who died from a gunshot wound speaking of roast pig (ironically, while leaning on a pig), were all unknowns to me.

Food used as a storytelling device:

This movie took something as "simple" as ramen (and other foods) and turned them into an art form, a story, and thus a movie. While it may have not been the director's intention, I left Tanpopo with an appreciation for the mundane, whether it be ramen, cereal, or a walk in the park, and I appreciated what I felt was people using one small object in order to tell a complicated story about growth and change.

Character Shenanigans:

I was a fan of Goro, the most prominent side character of the film. There was a very obvious cowboyish western feel to his character, including the cow horns on his truck (steed?), him almost always keeping that damn cowboy hat on, his penchant for a tussle, and him disappearing without a word at the end, despite saving the town from peril.

Did anybody else get a Seven Samurai feel? I know there were only 5 'helpers', but if you could Tanpopo and her son, then that makes seven! Anyways, not sure if that was just me or done on purpose, but each man helped Tanpopo in her own way.

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dweemeister · 11 months

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Suzume (2022, Japan)

How dramatic Makoto Shinkai’s rise has been. The Japanese animator and filmmaker, with his background in video game animation, is far away from the narrative and editing incoherence that plagued his early works, such as The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004) and 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007). At first, neither film made viewers outside Japan take much notice. A decade later, Your Name (2016) commercially rocketed past all Shinkai films before it and, before one knew it, would go on to surpass Spirited Away (2001) as the highest-grossing anime of all time. The body-switching romantic comedy remains Shinkai’s best film, although Suzume comes much closer than I expected.

In my write-up to Your Name after its North American release, I speculated that the film’s success in Japan might be due to its allusions to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the coast of northern Honshu, the Tôhoku region – potentially some sort of cinematic catharsis. Though the imagery that Shinkai employed in Your Name would be unmistakable to any Japanese person who witnessed the destruction of that day, he invoked those images seemingly for the sake of aesthetic appeal. So too was this the case for Weathering with You (2019) – a film that drowned Tokyo in constant rain in service of an epochally selfish decision in pursuit of teenage romance. As such, Shinkai’s insistence to this day that Weathering with You is a film about climate change collapses entirely in the film’s finale. Suzume doubles down on Shinkai’s shtick for teen romance and obsession for how light reflects off water, but now he has made a film where the repercussions of the Tôhoku earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster are front and center. This is his most honest film.

17-year-old Suzume Iwato (Nanoka Hara; Akari Miura as a young girl) lives with her aunt (Eri Fukatsu) on Kyūshū, the southernmost of the major Japanese islands. On the way to school one day, she passes by an attractive, long-haired fellow named Sôta Munataka (Hokuto Matsumura) who asks about local ruins. She points the way to an abandoned onsen, and – following her romantic longings rather than common sense – follows him. At the onsen, she finds a door, standing alone without supports. After she removes a totem that transforms into a cat (Ann Yamane) that scurries away, the door leads to a grassy field, with picturesque blues and reds streaking across a starlit sky. Arriving at school later, she later notices that something resembling a gigantic red worm is emanating from the door’s location. She rushes back, noticing Sôta struggling to close the door, and lends a hand to shut and lock the door – but not without the worm (which no one except these two can see) crashing to the ground and causing a sizable earthquake. Sôta explains he is a “closer” – part of a line of individuals who search for these doors and ensures that they remain shut. Failure to do so results in cataclysmic earthquakes. Against her aunt’s wishes, Suzume will follow Sôta northwards, towards Honshu. The cat, Daijin, must revert to a keystone in order to prevent further disaster.

A few decades into his film career, Shinkai’s undisciplined writing of his character’s emotions remains. Complicating everything is the fact that Daijin turns Sôta into something that should be inanimate. In interviews, Shinkai has defended this decision as the only way to have any sort of comic relief amid the film’s themes – a curious statement to make, as half of Suzume’s comedy has little to do with Sôta’s transformation, instead centering on our characters’ habits and flaws. The original plan was for Suzume to fall for another young woman, but producers nixed the idea, believing such a development too controversial for Japanese audiences*. Shinkai’s decision to make Sôta non-human puts Suzume on the brink of slapstick absurdity. Even though it remarkably allows some of the best character animation from a filmmaker not regarded for that (yes, character animation for an otherwise inanimate object), this absurdity can occasionally deprive Suzume of some much-needed pathos. Only in the Suzume’s final third does that pathos become apparent, and it arrives less powerfully than it should because of Shinkai’s decision to transform Sôta.

Combined with Suzume’s tendency to make hormone-influenced decisions during both the quieter and most perilous moments of her journey with Sôta – I am all for female characters having romantic agency, but there are times and places for when expressing or acting upon romantic feelings is appropriate – Shinkai’s teenage romantic writing can feel tactless at worst, tacky at best. Yet, because Shinkai is upfront about Suzume’s desires from the beginning (unlike the does-he-love-her-or-doesn’t-he-love-her waffling in Your Name and Weathering with You), it makes Suzume’s finale less baffling than his previous two works. Concerningly, in Your Name and Weathering with You, a natural disaster is an inconvenience to two teenagers barely realizing their love for each other. Not this time, thankfully, because of Suzume’s forwardness.

Suzume’s success comes from the tradition of live-action Japanese cinema to reflect – whether directly or otherwise – on national tragedy. When the United States ended its postwar occupation of Japan in April 1952, it also halted the censorship of topics such as the occupation itself, World War II, and other topics that the censors might object to. One could read the previous sentence and draw rash conclusions: namely, that American censorship shackled Japanese artistry. Perhaps it did, but plenty of exceptions exist, such as Yasujirô Ozu’s entire post-War filmography (even during the occupation). In Ozu’s post-War films, the families in those works quietly observe or accept the gradual Westernization of their culture, most evident in changes in nuptial and familial norms, and articulated with subtle, but great artistry. Censors have a way in sometimes making art’s politics less didactic – no less powerful, much more palatable. Now without American censors, films like Gojira (or Godzilla; 1954), Twenty-Four Eyes (1954), and The Burmese Harp (1956) wrestled with the morality of WWII, the apocalyptic consequences of nuclear weapons, and Japan’s war crimes inflicted upon its Asian neighbors (over the last few decades, Japanese filmmakers have become increasingly hesitant to engage in the last topic).

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 or 9.1 earthquake struck off the east coast of Tôhoku. The resulting tsunami killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands, as well as triggering a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. On 3/11 and the days after, images of the ocean swallowing buildings whole, boats now perched atop half-ruined rooftops, and clocks frozen at 3:25 PM made their way around a now-interconnected world. No sense can ever be made of nature’s randomness, and the loss of life in its wake. Suzume is a film that understands this, long before Shinkai truly shows what his film is about (accepting past tragedy and trauma) and what it champions (living life completely). Before we fully learn about Suzume’s loss on 3/11, Shinkai is content to introduce us to partake in some narrative detours. Those detours introduce the audience to side characters living their lives humbly, with little fanfare, and a joie de vivre. Notice the joy of the motorcycle-riding produce seller, content with the verdant beauty of her home and the rural simple living. The laid-back and unfussy Tomoya Serizawa (Ryūnosuke Kamiki; whose character is Sôta’s best friend) takes each day as is as he attempts to earn a teaching credential. Until then (and I suspect even after he becomes a teacher), he enjoys cruising along in his convertible, blasting a Spotify playlist with playful oldies such as Yumi Arai’s “Rūju no Dengon” (a familiar tune to fans of 1989’s Kiki’s Delivery Service), Yuki Saito’s “Sotsugyô”, among others.

These detours contrast with a device (that Shinkai also uses) more characteristic of Japanese cinema, or at least most Japanese cinema that has been exported to the West. That device is mono no aware (“the impermanence of things”) – with practitioners including some of the greatest Japanese filmmakers of all time such as Ozu and Isao Takahata (1988’s Grave of the Fireflies, 2014’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya). This refers to character behaviors or individual shots that emphasize how life is fleeting and precious. In that contrast of Suzume’s loss and the joyfulness of her companions, there is an implicit understanding that Japanese culture, as our characters know it, is disappearing (one might say “transforming”). It is there in the beautifully-drawn abandoned buildings – the onsens, the schoolhouses – alluding to Japan’s demographic changes, as well as the implication that there are fewer “closers” in Japan than there used to be. For an economy once pegged to lead the future in Asia, Japan’s stagnant financial reality is reflected in the supporting cast, all of whom are hardscrabble folks neither struggling nor prospering. Sometimes that change happens suddenly, as what happened to Suzume on 3/11, leaving behind a towering sea wall and imprints of former homes as nature reclaims these once-devastated places.

The trick, Shinkai says, is to acknowledge the tragedies of the past, for all its effects on the present. At the same time, one must press forward, to live as completely as possible in the days we have afforded to us. As simple as that may be to articulate verbally or cinematically, it is a much different proposition in practice, on both counts. If Suzume presented this message inelegantly, the film would be a maudlin exercise. Touch too lightly on these themes, and the film drowns in its heavily expository dialogue. Shinkai may too fervently focus on the romantic and the comedic in spurts, but Suzume eventually upholds the film’s ultimate thesis, so that Suzume can find true happiness today and in the future while in full acceptance of her past.

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With any Makoto Shinkai film post-Your Name, one expects the band RADWIMPS to score the film and provide a wealth of original songs. This time, the lone notable song is the title number, “Suzume”, and it only appears in full during the end credits, rather than the characteristic Shinkai-esque montage. Performed by RADWIMPS and featuring the TikTok singer Toaka on vocals, the sixteen-note motif in “Suzume” (even when Toaka is on vocals and not vocalizing the motif, the motif is played as the harmonic line) is a hypnotically memorable idea that serves as Suzume’s motif for the film’s entirety. Together, RADWIMPS and co-composer Kazuma Jinnouchi (Halo 5: Guardians and “The Ninth Jedi” from Star Wars: Visions; like Shinkai, Jinnouchi got his start in the video game industry) craft a gorgeous score unafraid to mix styles and instrumentations.

The action scoring as heard in “Abandoned Resort” makes full use of Japanese instruments and an ominous choir on top of orchestra – lending the scene that it accompanies an immediate tension that bolsters the sense of danger in closing the door. Similar orchestrations in the other door-closing scenes are likewise as effective as this. In other moments, a wildly jazzy “Cat Chase” sets the pace for a chaotic pursuit early in the film, all while adding to the scene’s hilarity. A simple conversation between piano and strings such as in “Time for Two” introduces secondary romantic motifs for those moments when the action slows down and Suzume has Sôta on her mind. But perhaps the most effective musical moment occurs while our two leads are in Tokyo, and Suzume makes the decision to return home in “Suzume’s Departure”. It might not be the most musically interesting cue, but RADWIMPS and Jinnouchi’s restraint to delay Suzume’s motif until absolutely necessary pays off in emotional dividends that only film music can accomplish. By some distance, this is the most beautifully scored and fascinatingly orchestrated film in Shinkai’s filmography, and a stunning achievement for RADWIMPS and Jinnouchi.

There is no doubting that Makoto Shinkai is one of the most important filmmakers in Japan at this moment. He is the figurehead for a generation of directors for whom anime has always been their foremost cultural influence – with all the strengths and substantial limitations that entails. And like those he succeeds but does not quite emulate (Ozu and his contemporaries, but more closely the likes of Hayao Miyazaki and the late Takahata), Shinkai has made a film grounded upon the aftermath of a national disaster. For the first time, those intentions and allusions are clear. The directness of feeling in Suzume is a refreshing change for him, granting the film an emotive sincerity that none of his previous works can match. Indeed, some of his expository, romantic, and comedic writing threatens to render his work as tasteless. Yet with utter conviction in his writing and filmmaking, Shinkai presents that the goodwill and kindness of others is essential following tragedy. I might take issue with Shinkai’s approach, but I have no arguments there. Following the footsteps of great directors and their films in the years after another national calamity, Suzume, though imperfect, is Shinkai at his most humanistic.

My rating: 7.5/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL). Half-points are always rounded down.

* Broadly, Japanese society is not hostile towards LGBTQ+ persons. However, the nation’s politics – which have long been defined by remarkably low participation rates for an industrialized democracy, especially from younger generations – is conservative on queer rights. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in power almost continuously since its founding in 1955, and the party has always been against same-sex marriage.

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

#Suzume #Suzume no Tojimari #Makoto Shinkai #Koichiro Ito #Genki Kawamura #Nanoka Hara #Akari Miura #Hokuto Matsumara #Eri Fukatsu #Shota Sometani #Sairi Ito #Kotone Hanase #Kana Hanazawa #Matsumoto Hakuo II #Ann Yamane #RADWIMPS #Kazuma Jinnouchi #Toaka #My Movie Odyssey

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filmista · 1 year

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Film History: Pre-code films

The pre-code era represented a radical change in the role of women in cinema. Undoubtedly, the new female protagonism was not attributable to a sudden interest in the figure of women in society, nor by the search for equality, not even by a current of socio-cultural thought that sought renewal, in this regard , of the American arts.

The studios simply used women to find enough sensationalism, morbidity and scandal to bring more audiences to theaters. It is evident that, despite the fact that economic gain was sought more than artistic quality, the end result was that many actresses became real movie stars, gaining a prominence, in many cases, greater than that given to male roles , and even, as we will see later, an actress even saved a major studio from bankruptcy.

There were many films that directly or indirectly addressed issues related to adultery, although perhaps it was the Metro Goldwyn Mayer film "The Divorcee" from 1930, the first to address the issue directly, creating a stir among the most popular conservative sector of American society.

The protagonist (Norma Shearer), deceived by her husband, decides to take revenge by sleeping with her best friend. Her performance earned her an Oscar. Curiously, this film was produced by Irving Thalberg, promoter of the first code and one of the most interesting characters in Hollywood of those years.

Returning to what the film's premiere meant at that time, there were two details that triggered the outrage of the "conservative sector"; firstly, that it was precisely one of the authors of the code who produced a film that openly violated it and, secondly, that the attitude adopted by the character of Shearer was certainly shameless and seemed to convey the following message: "if a man can be unfaithful why shouldn’t a woman flirt with whoever she wants.” Of course, after being divorced and conquering man after man, she regretted that behavior and returned to her husband, whom she had never stopped loving.

Norma Shearer herself, again produced by her husband, would soon release "A free soul", 1931. This film tells how the daughter of an important lawyer begins an intense sexual relationship with a gangster played by Clark Gable (in which what would be his first major role). Another twist on what, according to the code, should not be shown in the movies.

Also in 1931 would be released "Night Nurse", a classic film of the pre-code era, with gangsters, and a sexuality that floods the entire film with numerous scenes in which nurses appear in underwear.

But the most relevant thing about "Night Nurse", apart from serving as an example of a pre-code film, is that it was one of the first leading roles of the great Barbara Stanwick. Actress full of strength, talent and charisma, she was undoubtedly the most important Hollywood star of those early 30's. Before “Night Nurse” she had already shot “Illicit” 1931 (Illicit) and “Ladies of Leisure” 1930 (Light Women ) her first film with Frank Capra, with whom she would be very prolific during the 1930s and 1940s. Her enormous versatility led her to appear in genres as diverse as comedy, western, melodrama or film noir.

Apart from Capra, she worked for the best directors of the time; Howard Hawks, Cecil B. de Mille or Fritz Lang were lucky to have her in some of their casts. In 1933 she would participate in "Baby face" (Angel's Face) undoubtedly one of the most extravagant and lascivious films of the pre-code era. In it we are introduced to a licentious, sordid Barbara Stanwyck full of strength and determination.

The film shows us how a woman uses her sexuality to achieve a higher social status by cajoling increasingly important men. The message she conveyed left no room for doubt: women can manipulate men with sex and be successful in life. Although it is also true that the ending serves as redemption for the character, she has to choose between money and love and she already knows what truly makes her happy ...

One of the actresses who stood out especially in the pre-code era for her sensuality and daringness was Mae West, considered the first sex symbol and fatal woman in the history of cinema. In 1932, she appeared in the film "Night after Night", by Archie L. Mayo. After this film Mae West became a comedian with a very characteristic humor that gave her the rank of star thanks to an adaptation of her theatrical hit "Diamond Lil" entitled "Lady Lou" (1933).

She enjoyed enormous decision-making power in the films in which she participated; She was a set designer, a screenwriter, and she also chose her co-stars. Provocative, confident of herself and her showmanship, she was surely the most influential actress in Hollywood in a long time. It was she who avoided the bankruptcy of Paramount, discovered a very young Cary Grant and also, charging for all this more than any of the actresses of that time, was the highest paid actress. In 1933 she premiered "I'm no Angel (I'm not an angel), along with Cary Grant and directed by Wesley Ruggles. Endowed with an undeniable gift for comedy and, especially, for double entendres she was the author of phrases that are already part of the history of cinema such as:

"Do you have a gun in your pocket or are you glad to see me?" "I believe in censorship, after all, I have made a fortune at its expense." "When I have to choose between two temptations I always choose the one that I have never tried." "When I am good, I am very good, but when I am bad, I am better."

#film history #precode films #hollywoody #hollywood history #american film #mae west #barbra stanwick #sexuality in film #censorship #film censorship #film and censorship #film #movies #filmista

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chipped-chimera · 19 days

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If there was one thing you could change about Tumblr, what would it be?

(taken from my answer to the Tumblr use survey)

I know it'd be impossible to do, but reinstating NSFW content availability. Before the ban, Tumblr had something that hasn't been seen again since. It's been written about in multiple media outlets. It's probably already known but Tumblr's user base skews largely female, neurodivergent and/or queer. Since it started it's been a bit of a shelter for minorities. Back when NSFW was allowed, this fostered a safe environment for sexual expression away from the mainstream, male dominated/male gaze version we're blasted with every day.

This produced something I've never seen since and have been searching for, unable to find it. It's hard to put into words. As someone female and a lesbian, most often I am used to seeing women and my sexuality objectified for the pleasure of men. Every time I try to find a representation of myself in sexual expression - which I should not feel shamed for as it is another facet of the healthy human experience - I am hit with these images of highly sexually objectified women, staring into the barrels of cameras as if appealing to the viewer. It is all for show and I'm not the target audience. I see lesbian characters from media I love being fucked by men. I see female characters being fucked by men, staring blankly at the viewer with a dead expression. They are not enjoying the experience and that is being shoved right in my face. And it was done with INTENT. It's saying to me: look at this character. You may like her. You may admire her. But we've reduced her to a sexual object for men, and she is not even happy about it - and we enjoy that as men. I am a woman, and I am not sexually celebrated. I am a sexual object. Even though I don't want anything to do with men. This is constantly shoved in my face.

I refer to Tumblr pre-nsfw ban as the 'golden age' Tumblr when I talk about it. Due to the demographics being largely outside men, it meant the content was being made FOR us BY us. This resulted in sexual expressions I've not seen anywhere since - proud expressions of all different kinds of bodies outside the very narrow 'norm' or male target audience. Hairy women. Butch women. Women proudly showing off cellulite and stretch marks, looking to the viewer with JOY! Queer made artwork showing off these diverse, natural! bodies, characters gazing at each other with intimacy, not at the viewer. It was about love. It was always about love for us I think. Love and joy. It oozed out of everything we made, finally able to have somewhere to express it. It was different, it didn't have mass appeal but it was gentle and passionate. It was a celebration of what we were. Not objectification for mass appeal.

When the NSFW ban happened, we lost a lot of those creators, who migrated to Twitter which diluted them in a sea of more mainstream content. But now with its evolution to X it is unlikely these queer creators are there either. We have no home. No outlet for expression in all our human facets. We're limited to what is 'palatable' for the masses and advertising agencies. Yet every day it's more acceptable to see women being highly objectified in film and mainstream media. In any of the NSFW content that is available. Queer relationships outside the mass appeal to men are completely invisible.

We had something special back then, and we didn't realise the importance and value of it until it was gone. And whether Tumblr is able to bring that back or not, it's likely I'll be searching for that home online, where I feel I can express myself in all of my human facets, without censorship or shame, with complete joy of being until the day I die.

#kerytalk #tumblr meta #my commentary #tumblr #i have had these thoughts forever and i wanted to share them here #aka - a love letter to Tumblr's golden age

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