#but also i think i just want something very specific from comedies in general so it’s more likely to be hit or miss for me regardless
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There’s something very ironic about the opening shot of (almost) every DHMIS TV Episode being the front door opening. Considering that in general, this show is about the claustrophobia and helplessness of these characters being trapped in their house unless let out by the capricious whims of their teacher - and specifically because of that, from our protagonists’ POV, that front door probably doesn’t exist.
Okay, so, judging from the layout of the house in both the opening and the show itself, the front door should be right here -
behind the kitchen, right next to the mirror and the coat rack (which, you know, it makes sense to have the front door right next to the coat rack).
But the characters themselves never directly explicitly interact with this location (and they only implicitly interact with it once, which I will get to a bit later). Instead, every time the characters are actually shown going in and out of the house - they use the door on the side of the Dining Room.
And this door might lead outside of the house -
Or it might just lead to the living room.
DHMIS loves to use the conventions of television to create a surrealist and oppressive atmosphere and that is just another example of this. Nonsensical house/apartment layouts are not unheard of in TV Production. You know, filming inside a real house is often a lot less convenient than building disconnected sets and cutting between them when the characters walk through a door - and sometimes flubs or inconsistencies happen or the production just straight-up doesn’t care about it as much as nerds online and whoops now the characters live in a canonical non-Euclidean pocket dimension. But in DHMIS this is not a flub, but an intentional element of unease and horror (and sometimes comedy).
Cause, you know, it’s not just that the trio live in a space that does not make any sense (where is the bedroom anyways? Is it also behind that same dining room door?) - it’s also that their own house is a space they cannot actually fully control or navigate.
They can’t determine whenever this is the living room door or front door. They can’t leave of their own volition, but any random stranger can come inside or force them out.
Just another reminder that is not really their house, as much as they are of the house. And meanwhile the space that should logically be the front door goes totally ignored by the characters - basically on the same logic none of them can see either the staircase or the empty chalkboard space lingering just past the fourth wall of their dining room.
If it is off-screen, it basically doesn’t exist for the characters. Again, this idea of turning a convention of TV Fiction into another part of the Puppets’ Actual Nightmare is a recurring theme in DHMIS.
And on that same note, I want to point out the moment that comes closest to acknowledging the front door, or whatever else lies behind that little nook.
In Episode 2, ‘Death’, during the Memories musical montage, Yellow goes to the coat rack area -
And then he goes outside.
Basically the only time in DHMIS’ TV Series that one of the Puppets has left the house on their own. Not accompanied by a Teacher or following a ‘lesson plan’ (quite the opposite, really). Considering that he was by the coat rack a moment ago - that’s the closest we’ve got to one of the Main Three Guys Around using the front door where it’s supposed to be.
It’s still all very… ambiguous. You know, and Duck was basically buried in their backyard, it’s not like Yellow was pulling a Transport and actually trying to leave. But I still think there’s something there. Cutting from the little coat-rack-hallway to the outside is suggestive of a certain kind of movement the same way heading towards the kitchen door and then cutting to the outside is.
And the fact this is Yellow Guy, the Puppet who is at the same time most oblivious but also the closest to being aware of what’s going on -
Is certainly very intriguing...
#don't hug me i'm scared#don't hug me#i'm scared#dhmis#dhmis analysis#dhmis theory#dhmis tv series#dhmis tv show#yellow guy dhmis#dhmis yellow guy#yellow guy don't hug me i'm scared#yellow guy#dont hug me im scared
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hello peoples i’m about to sound real crazy right now but hear me out cus i’ve been thinking this for awhile now while binge watching TBGO and Trollstopia and i need to know your thoughts!! and buckle up folks cus this is gonna be a LONG post
so okay basically, i think that in the shows Guy Diamond has some sort of generational trauma/ daddy issues/ faced parental neglect or however else it can be phrased.
this theory is only show specific and i don’t know if i sound crazy for thinking this AND i know i’ve made a post similarly about this except with Dareth from Ninjago but i actually have some real evidence this time to back up this theory/headcanon
look, this theory started off as kind of a joke at first after watching TBGO episode: “Trolly Tales 3” where Guy is seen telling a bunch of children a story based off of the nursery rhyme about jumping over a candlestick.
the story is seen with Guy as the main character, wanting to pursue a life of entertainment involving jumping over candlesticks. Sky Toronto, whom is Guy’s dad in this story, doesn’t agree with this lifestyle and insists he starts thinking more seriously and be part of the company. Guy rebels and pursues his dream anyway, but in the end it fails after the candlestick drops Guy and becomes a solo act. Guy, now at his lowest, goes back to his dad’s and tells him he’s ready to be serious. Sky responds to the statement that he has seen Guy’s shows and that he doesn’t want Guy calling him dad anymore, but to instead call him his #1 fan. it was a small but sweet twist there at the end where the dad accepts the son in the end.
now i didn’t really give much thought to the story until i saw the way Guy reacted when the kids didn’t like it. now i’ll make it very aware that i very much know Guy is just super dramatic (they even acknowledged that in the scene i’m mentioning rn), BUT as someone who loves to overanalyze cartoon characters and expressions, he kind of looked genuinely hurt. he was also fairly offended when poppy said his story was too dramatic.
mentioning again that i know Guy is just a drama queen but i like to overanalyze stuff like this
now after i noticed these details, i jokingly remarked that it seemed like Guy took the dislike of his story personally, as if that was a semi-true story. like as if something like that did happen to Guy when he was younger and he twisted the story to fit the nursery rhyme. i don’t think that Sky Toronto is his actual dad, there’s too much proof that shows they don’t have any personal connection like that. but i do think that whoever his dad really was did push him the same way Sky did in the story. and that maybe Guy twisted the ending to be happy when in reality it probably didn’t have his dad accepting him and loving him for who he was.
now everything i have been talking about is all just speculation. there’s no real proof that this story isn’t anything more than just a story. BUT!!! by overanalyzing it is what made me realize that Guy being neglected in some way by his dad (or mom if he has one) would make some sense considering his personality.
Guy is very reliant on being the center of attention, he doesn’t like the idea of anyone being better than him and just has some confidence issues in general (at least in TBGO). there are many episodes centering around this. this is even stated in Guy Damond’s wiki.
now, attention seeking is a very common occurrence in people that were neglected as a child. his attention seeking and huge ego are both things that show signs of trauma or neglect as seen below
this is just a slice of what i have in store though because i think that this ties into the way he parents Tiny Diamond in Trollstopia.
Guy and Tiny have a few episodes centered around their relationship, they’re all pretty heartwarming and a little sad (while also being funny because the show’s a comedy). these episodes have a pretty similar moral which is “i’ll love you no matter what” and i feel like there’s a reason they all pretty much have this moral and it’s to show how Guy is growing as a character and parent.
let me just summarize these episodes i am thinking of realll quick for ya
Extra Tootering (s1 ep 12a): Tiny wants to learn how to glitter fart like his dad to impress his friends, Guy tries to teach him how but it doesn’t work. time comes where Tiny is meant to show his friends his trick and ended up faking it so no one could know he couldn’t do it. feeling guilty for his lie, he runs away and Guy finds him and tells him that whether he can glitter or not he and his friends will still love him the way he is.
Dad-urday (s2 ep 1b): Tiny thinks of his dad as his hero and Guy doesn’t wanna do ANYTHING that could ever break that image, so Guy participates in Dad-urday events that he hates just to make Tiny happy, only in the end to find out that Tiny will always view Guy as his hero even if he can’t do all the typical dad things that others can do.
Funder Construction (s7 ep 5a): Guy tells Tiny about how their family has a legacy of building extraordinaryly cool blanket forts and unintentionally pressured Tiny into feeling that he needs to make his own super impressive fort or else he won’t be considered a Diamond, Guy immediately comforted and reassured Tiny that no matter what he accomplishes in life he’ll always be a Diamond because he’s his son and that he’ll love him no matter what.
now let me break down these episodes a bit more to show you how i think it could prove Guy has parental trauma and how it plays into how he parents now.
for Extra Tootering, there’s this specific scene that spoke to me. when Tiny tells his dad that he wants to learn how to glitter like him, Guy tells him that he was also a late tooter and that Tiny should be patient, as it comes with time. but then Tiny starts saying that he’ll just hide his true self away until then. when Guy heard his son say those things, he was tearing up and even freaked out a little literally shouting a dramatic “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” and he immediately decided that he was going to help his son learn to glitter fart despite his earlier statement that Tiny should be patient.
now i know the topic being about farting glitter makes this feel so unserious but that isn’t gonna stop me from overanalyzing it LOL
the main thing i noticed was how upset that Guy was when Tiny started talking about hiding himself from the world. Tiny was wanting to hide himself because he couldn’t glitter like Guy could. Guy didn’t wanna be the cause of his son hiding himself!! any parent would be upset in this situation. but if i consider my past point of that story Guy told back in TBGO, where the dad didn’t want his son to be himself, being a real thing that Guy could’ve gone through, Tiny wanting to hide himself could very much upset Guy!! not just for the basic reasons of wanting your child to be happy but also because he doesn’t want Tiny to go through what he went through.
later on when Guy finally finds his runaway son, this interaction plays out:
(direct quotes from the ep)
Guy: “don’t you see? i love you just the way you are! we all do!”
Tiny: “but you’re my daddy, daddy! you have to say that.”
Guy: “…you’re right, Tiny. i guess because i’m your father, in a way, i do have to say it.”
and the way Guy said that last sentence just felt interesting to me. the pause before he said it, and using the words “i guess” made it feel like he never really got that treatment from his own father ? ofc i could just be grasping at straws there a lil bit but it’s what i’m thinking.
now by the end of the episode Tiny has learned how to glitter and used it to save himself, his dad, and friends from falling to death lol— but what Guy says to Tiny afterwards was very sweet.
(direct quote from ep)
Guy: “TINYYYYY! HAHA! you did it! YOOOOU did it!!! for the record, i’d still love you if you couldn’t, but i’m glad to not be dead.”
i just like how Guy specified that he still would’ve loved Tiny either way. this doesn’t directly lead any points to my theory other than maybe Guy feels the need to make sure Tiny absolutely knows that he’ll love him no matter what. but any parent should feel that way about their child. i just really thought the moment was sweet and worth a mention.
now onto the next episode, Dad-urday, and let me tell you this episode probably spoke to me the MOST when it came to defending my theory.
for the entire episode Guy was stressing over disappointing his son. Tiny thinks of Guy as his hero, and Guy doesn’t want to do anything that could ever shatter that thought and make Tiny think less of him. so he and Tiny participate in a thing called Dad-urday, where all the dads in Trollstopia do a bunch of stereotypical dad things (like grill, play catch, fish, stuff like that). but Guy isn’t good at those things, so he goes to his friends for help and this interaction pursues.
(direct quotes from ep)
Synth: “Tiny’s gonna love dad-urday! he thinks the world of you and what-not!”
Guy: “exactly! Tiny thinks i can do anything! but tomorrow he’ll realize i can’t, and i just don’t want my little boy to lose his hero…”
Guy is seen here putting so much pressure on himself for no reason! he should know that Tiny would love him despite his lack of ‘dad’ skills, but he’s convinced himself that if he isn’t perfect and amazing at everything then his son will think less of him. this is totally rooted in Guy’s confidence issues and probable parental neglect i think.
so Guy forces himself to do typical Dad-urday things (with the help of his friends) to make sure not to disappoint his son. but things go wrong when Guy has to participate in a boating event to which he gets into a dangerous position. at this point Guy’s friends finally told Tiny the truth and Tiny immediately just wants his dad to get out of the danger he’s in leading to this interaction
(direct quotes from the ep)
Tiny: “daddy! your daddy friends already told me everything! you gotta get out of there!”
Guy: “b-but— this isn’t how i wanted this to go, Tiny! you’re my little boy! and i want you to keep on believing i can do anything! so you don’t lose your hero!”
the way that Guy sounded so panicked and upset in this scene really hurt. to me it feels like Guy is desperate to not end up being a bad dad, he wants to be someone his son can look up to and to be the first person he goes to if there’s a problem. i really think this shows that Guy never had a good role model himself, as he doesn’t understand that he doesn’t need to do all the things he’s making himself do in order to achieve this goal.
this mindset even had Guy forget that Tiny already knew he’s not perfect, as Tiny pointed out he already knew he’s not capable of everything and specified about when Guy tried to build his bike and failed, which made Guy finally remember. Tiny then proceeded to list a bunch of other things about his dad that aren’t the most charming, like his bald spot, or his fake calves lmao
anyways the next bit of dialogue here seems pretty meaningful
(direct quotes)
Tiny: “there’s only one reason you’re my hero, daddy…. *BECAUSE* you’re my daddy!”
Guy (tearfully): “…really?”
the fact Guy was crying in this scene just showed how touched he felt that he didn’t actually have to be perfect to be a good dad. and that he already was one. the mere fact that being his dad made Tiny think of him as his hero definitely made him realize he was doing a good job. he needed to hear that after all the pressure he put on himself earlier.
now onto Funder Construction, which is a pretty big one too cus they actually talk about their family in this episode!
this could potentially put a little dent into my theory since Guy is the one who talks about them and he didn’t seem like someone who didn’t like his family. but i might just put it as he didn’t wanna have his child worry about it. i mean Guy is an actor in the show, it wouldn’t be too crazy for him to ignore his feelings for a minute and talk a little kindly about their family’s legacy to inspire Tiny, because Guy did play a fair part in it after all.
now to put it simply this episode hurt my heart so bad 😭 Guy’s parenting in this episode is so good it hurt. Tiny found an interest in making blanket forts, so Guy tells Tiny about how making blanket forts runs in the family and that they’ve all made huge creations out of them. and now Tiny wants to do the same.
Guy supports Tiny throughout the entire thing until Tiny starts rushing it and the fort becomes unstable. by then Guy is begging Tiny to stop but Tiny is consistent on getting it done. then the tower starts wobbling over with them on it and they fall off the side! luckily they were able to hold onto some loose blankets but they still were in a very unsafe position. and even then, still Tiny is consistent about finishing this fort and thus, this interaction pursues:
(direct quotes)
Tiny: “i have to build something the world has never seen before!”
Guy: “BUT WHY?!”
Tiny: “because if i don’t…i’m not a Diamond.”
Guy: “…not a Diamond..?”
and dude. Guy’s face after Tiny said that. that brief moment of just an emotion change felt like Guy was realizing that he unintentionally pressured Tiny into thinking that if he didn’t build this fort he wouldn’t be considered part of the family. this is the exact thing Guy wanted to prevent Tiny from feeling.
so now continuing the scene, tiny is crying at this point:
(direct quotes)
Tiny: “it’s like you said, ‘every Diamond built structures that would stand until the end of time.’ so, if i don’t do that… how can i be one of them?”
Guy: “…Tiny Diamond. young man, you listen to me, and you listen good, because i have something that you need to hear. first of all, the things the Diamonds of the past did took them their entire lifetimes. if they caught one glimpse of what you’ve accomplished as a child..? it would blow the hair right off their heads!”
Tiny: [smiles and sniffs]
Guy: “and second of all, and way way more importantly, none of that matters! i don’t care if you build a thousand skyscrapers, or if you never touch another blanket again, you are always a Diamond. because you.. are my son.”
this scene is so important not just for Tiny but for Guy too. Tiny is learning once again that his dad will truly love him no matter what. and unlike last time with the glitter fart, (which Tiny was able to achieve in the end), in this episode, Tiny’s plan doesn’t work, but now he’s okay with it. because his dad made him feel less pressured and more loved. Guy Diamond truly said some powerful things to his son. this will most likely be a memory that Tiny will remember forever and that’s such a good thing.
coming back to the theory though, Guy had accidentally made his son feel how his family probably made him feel in the past. maybe not about specifically the blanket tower stuff but possibly something similar or just anything in general. pressure to live up to family values can be traumatic if your family makes you feel outcasted for not living up to it the way they want. and considering i think Guy either got disowned or ran away himself, (solely based on the story he told those children in TBGO), it obviously didn’t end very well.
the fact he made Tiny feel that pressure was probably heart breaking to Guy. and he made sure to immediately make sure Tiny knew he had no reason to feel like that. he became so serious so fast to make SURE tiny didn’t feel out of place in their family.
and that just shows Guy’s development not just from the trauma im theorizing but just in general in the show. Guy was never really the most serious character in this show. i mean, he’s a naked sparkly troll who’s main character trait half the time is farting glitter or being super dramatic in comedic ways. but seeing how serious Guy gets when it’s about his son just goes to show how seriously he cares about him. and that’s how you break generational trauma yall, Guy Diamond mastered it.
so um yeah this is pretty much all i have to say about this theory. i just wanted to show how i thought that Guy didn’t have a good childhood but made sure his son had a great one. really sweet stuff for this mostly unserious show. i know this is probably super dumb but i don’t care i just love dumb things. and if you actually read all of this thanks and here’s a cookie 🍪
#guy diamond#tiny diamond#trolls fandom#trolls world tour#trolls band together#trollstopia#trolls the beat goes on#trolls theory#trolls poppy#queen poppy#trolls synth#i am so serious#make fun of me if you have to#i love guy diamond#he’s the best dad#peppy needs to take notes
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idk if this is confirmed or if im insane but i feel like dan in his why i quit youtube video was talking about how he felt like there was Dan content and Dan And Phil content and how he felt like he was split between them....i wonder if hes trying both to see what he still likes to do. he had his internet show and now danandphilgamws is back like. i have a feeling he's trying to figure things out rn
i think dan ultimately wants to do his own thing and has a lot of ideas and aspirations, specifically he wants to be a stage comedian like his passion is clearly for live performances and while the comedy bit is still being fine tuned (i'm not saying he's bad, in fact he's kinda good ngl, but he definitely has a way to go if he wants to be Great) the performance part he's got DOWN like say what you want about that man but he ooowwwnnnsss a stage. also he's weirdly great at audience interaction lmao? that was my main takeaway from we're all doomed, both the pre show and the show itself, he deals with heckling like.. AMAZINGLY well. he's genuinely hilarious responding to an audience like i never thought i'd say this a few years ago but i think he might actually have a future in live comedy lmao????
but i also think he.. needs money LOL like he's said many a time he doesn't really love being a full time youtuber, but also he does enjoy making youtube videos! just, you know.. not full time. but while on his own channel making Daniel Howell(tm) videos he puts a lot of pressure on himself, and then if he does a slightly less high pressure series or whatever (dystopia daily) it's relatively well received and the videos are good enough but like.. it's not the traction he wants, nor the traction he needs
ultimately dan knows that if he wants to keep and potentially build an audience online that lies in Dan And Phil. it always has and it always will. and i think for a long time he struggled with that, and as much as people gave him shit for it i completely get it. like, lmao, of COURSE he wants to be recognised for his own abilities and not just the dynamic and chemistry he's got going with... his literal partner. honestly it would be one thing if dnp were just comedy partners because there are a lot of comedy duos on the world who've made it big, but i think there's something about it being him and his full time actual real life boyfriend/life partner that kinda makes it weird. and as much as i love the dnp dynamic i still do get that feeling so much like honestly who can blame him ?? if your entire professional life is just.. your personal life but on camera ? that's weird. it's gotta feel weird and it's definitely unfulfilling for someone as aspirational as dan and i can't blame him at all for it
that being said, dan clearly does really enjoy making videos with phil. which yeah of course he does, he gets to just turn on a camera and talk shit with the guy he talks shit with all day long anyway. and i think what he's now realised is 1. if he wants to keep/build an audience, the dan and phil branding is where it's at and 2. he needs an income while he works on whatever solo projects he's got going on, and dnp makes a loooot of money
basically my point is - dan seems to really enjoy making videos with phil but he knows that's not really a life long career choice. as much as i'd love them to, it's not really an option for them to be playing sims when they're like, sixty. and while phil is relatively chill and seems to just take things as they come, which tbh is probably the healthiest way of doing things, dan is very overthinking and wants to get ahead of everything and also in general just like.. he wants to build a career! he wants to build something on his own and i can't fault him for that at all. dan knows that one day he's gonna need something more than just Dan And Phil if he wants to keep working, and he's laying the groundwork right now to be able to do that
again, though, i don't want anyone to take this as like 'dan is only doing dapg to make money and rebuild a fanbase' because as much as that is definitely a big part of it... just look at the man. in these videos. he's having a great time. and also, as annoying as we are, he does kinda love us. sometimes. maybe. <3
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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.
#abbott elementary#abbott#abbott elementary season 1#abbott elementary season 2#ABC#janine x gregory#gregory x janine#quinta brunson#tyler james williams#janelle james#lisa ann walter#sheryl lee ralph#chris perfetti#janine teagues#gregory eddie#ava coleman#barbara howard#jacob hill#melissa schemmenti#tv show#review#abbott elementary abc#mr johnson
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Tell us more abt your hyacinthus winter soldier au 👀👀
HELLO thank you for giving me an excuse to talk your ear off about it, you will probably regret it <3
To be completely honest I still haven't planned anything that's worth of an actual fic (who do you take me for? An organized person? HA) but I would lie if I said that I didn't think about it a lot, so
As you know, somehow in this AU Hyacinthus came back to life and started working for the emperors
The dynamics of how, exactly, it all happened are pretty undefined as of now, but that's secondary information and it's not really important. (Maybe.)
What you need to know though is that Commodus is the one who takes him in, because of course he does. Hyacinthus is the perfect revenge against Apollo, after all, both because he's known to be his greatest love, and seeing him side against him would hurt Apollo a lot, and because, whatever happened, Commodus would always have leverage against Apollo, in a "You don't want to do what I tell you? Well look what I can do to your precious little flower" sort of way
He also uses this as an excuse to get back at Hyacinthus himself, too—something that is a direct result his festering inferiority complex and the can of worms that are, again, his feelings upon seeing the one man Apollo's name is always associated with
Hyacinthus is a better man and fighter than him even when he's brainwashed and he just CAN'T stand it
It all worsens once he sees how much Lester is still attached to Hyacinthus, and how hard he tries to get him to snap back. He never cared that much for him after all, did he?
On Hyacinthus' end this all borders less on the side of drama and more on the side of comedy LMAO
While not being able to discern right from wrong atm, as he's been coerced into absolute obedience through very shady means, he has this unexplainable feeling inside him that he really, really doesn't like Commodus (which intensifies every time Commodus starts another one of his long rants about how bad and evil and selfish Apollo is and about how he'll absolutely get his revenge) and he expresses that through little jabs he makes in his direction that Commodus can't really do anything about because they are worded in a way that makes them seem innocuous
On the other hand, he's on civil terms with the rest of the "staff", so to speak, and some even respect him because of how skilled he is (specifically Lityerses) so he does have some allies there
They don't actually know who he is though since, while he works for the emperors, Hyacinthus is never referred to by his own name, but always by some sort of epithet
(This is why Meg never made the connection either, despite knowing the myth well enough to inform Grover that Hyacinthus was Apollo's boyfriend)
It's mostly a measure they take so Hyacinthus doesn't remember his past before they're actually done using him
As for Apollo and Hyacinthus' relationship in this, it's a bit complicated, because Apollo changes his stance and tries to get him on his side the moment Hyacinthus' disguise drops, while Hyacinthus doesn't remember him. At all. So his efforts don't really work
Which results in a lot of frustration and hurt feelings
Despite this, Hyacinthus' unexplainable feelings persist. And he's very confused :)
I'm still not sure when this would be set—I wanted to either limit this to The Dark Prophecy or make it a "he appears occasionally as a spy or something until they find out who he is" thing that spans over the five books (without actually retelling the whole story though because holy shit that would be exhausting) but that's something that can be figured out later oof
Anyway, keep in mind that this is all just a result of my daydreaming, so if I actually write something concrete about this, some plot points might change!! And also the dynamics!! And the vibes in general!!! My brain is just a dumpster fire tbh so expect a lot of mental U-turns here
#trials of apollo#toa#pjo#apollo#lester papadopoulos#hyacinthus#au#lonely thoughts#ask#i hope i managed not to tom holland myself#and reveal too much#i just can't shut up sometimes you know#sigh#sometimes i also say too little though#so lmk if there's anything specific you wanted to know!!
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Buddy Daddies Interviews with Ayase and DURDN:
This will just be the quick notes version, with bits of information that I personally found to be the most interesting, I’ll link to the full interviews below in the comments.
Ayase wasn’t given any specific orders about the song, but since it was an OP, he wanted to do a song that had some speed to it, instead of a quiet feeling.
Since Ayase knew that the plot would be about the main characters raising a child, he wanted to use the idea of them confronting their ideas of “love” and how, internally, they were constantly changing, as themes for the song. But, Ayase notes that he also wrote a bit about his own life and his own feelings towards the responsibility of loving others as additional themes that link to the work.
The title of the song, SHOCK, comes from the expressing the impact of the story in Buddy Daddies. The idea that, when you are so emotionally distraught and desolate that you turn away from personal feelings like love, and then you meet someone that has a huge impact on your way of thinking and feeling. That’s the SHOCK. And that’s how it links backs to both the story of the anime and the impression of said story.
Ayase also noted that the series is a bit of a dark comedy, and he found that to be interesting/amusing, and that the series has a bit of a foreign feel to it, and there were interesting points that he had not seen before.
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DURDN is a group made up three people: Baku, SHINTA, and yacco. When asked what their first impression of Buddy Daddies was, SHINTA answered “familial love.” the love for one’s family. Because of that, they wanted to write a soft, enveloping song.
Their past songs have been “not so bright” and usually have a “shadowy” side to them, but they didn’t want those aspects to appear in My Plan. Since it was about an anime, they want a cheerful sound to it.
yacco was the one in charge of writing the lyrics, and they admit to being confused and worried at some points, because they wanted to write a song that was positive and filled with happiness, but they had never written something like that before. It seems they also didn’t have a very happy family life (they didn’t experience that “family love” found in Buddy Daddies), so they wrote the song more from the POV of “this is the kind of family that would make me happy.”
SHINTA was in charge of the tracks and arrangements, so they wanted to give Buddy Daddies a 90s feel. So the song is arranged with an eye towards Japanese City Pop and pop songs based in that era.
They were able to see the full-version of the show, that was not yet completed, so they feel that they were able to get a general idea of the story from that, and write a song that captured the worldview of Buddy Daddies. They also apparently entered the song as the OP too, they really wanted their song to get picked, lol.
They’ve noticed an increase in overseas fans and English comments, leading Baku to realize that anime really is quite popular overseas.
#Buddy Daddies#BD#KazuRei#Kazuki Kurusu#Rei Suwa#Miri Unasaka#DURDN#Ayase#interview#official stuff#translation#English translation#yeah#the OP definitely seems to be more about Kazuki and Rei themselves#while the ED is about Kazuki Rei and Miri as a family unit#I also had a feeling#that the title SHOCK#was meant to express that sentiment#so I'm glad Ayase confirmed that#lol
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I got into anime because of ohshc, go insane
you have no idea the floodgate you've just opened. i am crazy <3 <3 <3
ouran is fascinating to me. genuinely. because for a lot of western fans (including myself) it was a starter anime. something we watched when we had very little knowledge of the industry or the genres which populated it. and like. with almost any other show that would be fine, but ouran is fundamentally a satire of shoujo romance, a specific anime genre which notably has very little presence in the western market currently, and had almost NO PRESENCE WHATSOEVER when ouran was in its peak popularity. I believe its popularity as a starter anime is mostly due to the fact that it simply happened to be one of the more easily accessible shows for western fans back in the day (it was part of the first wave of anime to be added to netflix iirc and was also almost immediately ripped and uploaded to youtube.) But like, looking back on it, the fact that many people watched ouran with little to no knowledge of anime in general AND the fact that the market was largely oversaturated with shounen while shoujo was relatively inaccessible at the time made it so that many western watchers were essentially missing 90% of the context with which it was meant to be viewed, and i think that DEFINITELY contributed to the way it has sort of fallen out of favor in recent years.
there was a shift around maybe. 2015-16ish or so. when those of us whose introduction to anime was that first wave of netflix translations got old enough to find our old interests cringe. and we started looking for ways to critique them so we could hate them for real reasons instead of just because we hated our middle school selves. and this did lead to a lot of valid and well-deserved critique of the anime that was popular at the time, which i don't necessarily want to diminish, but i think it led to criticism of ouran specifically which stemmed from lack of context and ignored critical portions of the show, which ultimately shifted the widespread perception of it among western fans from "funny comedy romance anime" to "homophobic twincest anime." (yes i am talking about the twincest. sorry but i am going to make you think about this because i never stop thinking about it)
before anyone goes insane i am in no way saying that twincest is not Bad. but what i AM saying is that OURAN WAS ALSO NOT SAYING THAT. this is where the lack of cultural context comes into play I think, because, as mentioned, ouran is satire of a specific genre of romance manga that is very well-known among japanese readers but took much longer to make its way west than shounen did, so a lot of the tropes and jokes that ouran is making fun of read to the untrained western eye as just sort of weird and off-beat. hikaru and kaoru's relationship is one of those things. there is a very real trend among female shoujo fans of fetishizing "forbidden" relationships, whether that be mlm or familial or whatever. because of this, you'd get series that were written about those kinds of relationships catering specifically to people who fetishized them. it's fucking weird. the point that ouran is trying to make with hikaru and kaoru is that IT IS FUCKING WEIRD. hikaru and kaoru are written deliberately as a critique of this trend of fetishization. They canonically play into their peers' fantasies because they enjoy the attention, while underneath it all they have almost no sense of self due to their peers' inability to view them as anything but two parts of a whole. the hitachiins as characters are a deliberate commentary on the way in which fetishization and shipping culture dehumanizes and strips these characters of their identities, reducing them down to entertainment for the girls they cater to. (as a note, i think it's interesting that a lot of the western 'yaoi fangirls' of the first-wave netflix anime era were obsessed with these two. like. girl maybe look at your source material a little bit longer LMAO.) I think suggesting that ouran's handling of hikaru and kaoru is an endorsement of twincest is an insane misunderstanding of the Entire Point Of The Show and it's really unfortunate because i KNOW it puts a lot of people off from watching it in the first place. People fr make it sound like the twincest is fucking pervasive when it literally is not and the whole point is that it sucks and they shouldn't be doing it.
to a lesser extent this weird inability to distinguish satire and endorsement is present in western fans' reactions to other aspects of the show as well. the most notable example i can think of off the top of my head is the way lobelia academy was handled. I vividly remember 2020 tiktok discourse about tamaki's "adam and eve" line as if that wasn't soooo obviously a JOKE AT HIS EXPENSE. lobelia is, again, satire of a specific shojou trope: the evil lesbian. again, a relatively common shojou trope in which a vindictive, man-hating girl tries to get in the way of the main m/f couple because she is in love with the female lead, often by physically harming or incapacitating the male lead. in the context of ohshc, ouran is the high school for the male and female leads and lobelia is the high school for the evil lesbians. there are definitely still some valid critiques of the way that the lobelia girls are written, but the amount of people who are just like. absolutely convinced that bisco hatori must be a huge lesbophobe for writing a blatantly obvious satirical critique of a lesbophobic trope is insane to me. also tamaki's adam and eve line was funny as fuck sorry i <3 homophobes
#im insane i am crazy. what i wouldn't give to latch obsessively onto any characters other than HIKARU AND KAORU HITACHIIN#and yes i know it's not that deep but the thing is it IS that deep. TO ME.#asks#GOD. help me#incest mention#homophobia mention
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May I perhaps have a few reasons a character would fake their death? It's for a Creepypasta I'm writing.
It did not occur to me that there were people still writing actual Creepypastas and not just fanfiction. But it looks like you're doing both, so more power to you! I hope you have fun!
Thinking most generally to more specifically, the first reason that comes to mind is: new beginnings.
A character may want to start over in such a way that their old self can never be recovered. The death could be used as a symbolic death of who they used to be. They may not want to be the person they were anymore for some reason or another, potentially even because they saw an aspect of themself they may want to "kill."
In another case, a character may be running from something or someone. The character's previous identity would be known to this entity, which could be a problem for them for a variety of reasons including:
Safety
Consequences of previous actions
A new sense of self that does not match with the entity's preconceived notions of your character's existence (this can be a trans allegory, an "I'm not like you, Dad!" story, or a being hunted down by a scary science facility of ill repute and unknown origin story)
Very low bullshit tolerance (“You are NOT getting me into that shit again if you can't find me!”)
Faking one's death just to get away from someone scheming can be played for comedy depending on what aspects you lean into. Is this some idiot with ten thousand get rich quick schemes up their sleeves or someone more than willing to throw someone else under the bus for their own safety/gains?
Third option is they need to be dead. Your character should be dead for some reason but they aren't done living yet. This also has a variety of flavors that can be mixed and matched with previous examples!
There is something they cannot do while "alive"
Something will be stopped with their "death"
Someone very badly wanted them dead, but can be temporarily sated with this "death" so long as your character is careful
And there is also the copout answer of: they never meant to fake their death, they almost died/were nearly killed but got better and now must deal with living as legally dead.
Good luck on your Creepypasta!
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Ranulf is by far one of the characters with the most potential that I wish they went more in depth with. He's such an important and prominent character, but the fact that you don't even hear he's been having these nightmares for the past three or so years now unless you get this specific dialogue is such a shame.
I think he's a perfect comedy relief/plot serious balanced character, but the amount of personal information we have about him/his feelings/his life are minimal. We see a completely different side of him when they went to Gritnea Tower in PoR, but it's something we only see again one more time, and that's in this chapter.
It's basically like, he has a lot of depth and personality, but they only sprinkle it very sparingly. I just find that to be so odd considering his importance in both games, and the fact that he's one of the central characters in RD in general (that is, he's even more prominent in RD than he was in PoR, and he was still relatively important in PoR). He's no less filled with characterization than other main characters like Ike and Soren, but we're given it so infrequently that it's much easier to gloss over and not think much about again.
I wish they did more with the other facets of his character, outside of him being one of the most kind, intelligent and empathetic characters (especially among the beast laguz, since the general impression we're given is that the bird tribe uses logic over emotion in comparison to the usually emotional and erratic beast laguz, and those are the two most prominent laguz species in the story).
Like, it's great that he has those qualities, but people get angry. They get aggressive. They get enraged. No person is just a solid funny and nice person, and Ranulf has all of those kind and angry qualities, but they skimp so much on this amazing writing of him. You learn so much about him and what he's been going through from these few brief instances of him becoming angry, but they just don't touch on it enough. They had a chance to continue his first base conversation with Ike and bring it up to him. It would've been the perfect time, because we have this dialogue in their first conversation:
Ike: You can come talk to me anytime you want. Don’t think you’re alone in all this.
Ranulf: Heh… What are you, an inquisitor?
Ike: A guy’s got to do something between battles. Talk to you later.
Ranulf: …
At first Ranulf was talking about feeling bad for bringing beorc into a laguz affair, and then they discuss that Skrimir is giving Ranulf a headache with his behavior. That could've been their first conversation, but then they could've had a follow up based around the end of their conversation (the above). It would've been the perfect opportunity to give us another base conversation where Ranulf does go to talk to him because of these nightmares and all the stress he's been having. Imo the way they end the conversation with "...", makes it sound like there's more on Ranulf's mind than just what he was open about.
If you consider that he's been having nightmares about what he saw at Gritnea Tower for the past few years, then you consider that the laguz all just found out from Rafiel that the Begnion senators started the rumor about the herons to get them all killed, it's reasonable imo to consider that Ranulf is intelligent enough that he may have been starting to put the pieces together.
We learn late into part 3 that Izuka was working with the senators, and I feel like Ranulf's suspicions should've been raised. I don't think it's necessarily bad writing that he didn't catch on, but more of a missed opportunity. The whole situation affected him very deeply and they were very expressive about that in both games, but it's just that we don't see enough of that side of him, as in, we don't see it enough times.
In a way I feel like it also hits harder when you have the fun/funny, friendly, kind person experience something that tragic - witnessing the result of his race having been used for experiments and seeing their rotted corpses. Knowing people see his race as expendable and on top of that, left their carcasses to rot after pure torture. He saw innocent lives that had been taken and after all that horror, not even given any sort of burial, let alone a proper one.
There's also the fact that he's a cat - he has a very good sense of smell, and that's how he realized who the Black Knight was before anyone else. The smell of rotting corpses alone would be a lot to handle, but to be able to smell it better than anyone else in the room would have been absolutely traumatizing.
Again - the fun and funny, friendly, kind person experienced something horrible enough that he had a breakdown over it (and (presumably extreme based on context) subsequent emotional distress for years following). Tibarn and Reyson had their own ways of dealing with it that we were also shown (Tibarn was more much collected about it, and he put his rage into his strength, which Reyson similarly did, versus Ranulf's very outward emotional response), but Ranulf has never been subjected to anything that horrendous through the events of the game prior.
To have it be a one off situation in both games (as detailed as they were at the times they happened) is a huge shame imo and deserved to be expanded upon. It's clearly not something he got over over the years, and may never have gotten over post RD (even if he did feel better about it after killing Izuka or, if you didn't have him kill Izuka, if he felt better about it knowing Izuka had been killed for his crimes by the army Ranulf was part of).
I just wish they went more into detail about his feelings, because they were very powerful and emotional and felt like they should've been a stronger part of his character as a whole. Considering his role in RD is about as important if not more important than Elincia's PoR presence, it's something he really deserved as a central character. I love this battle dialogue because it shows you his raw feelings outside of that good ol' sweetheart guy. We can see something he's been struggling with, and we can see him express that so well in the scene they did give him that it would've been amazing to have more of that.
#DCB RD Run#Ranulf#Radiant Dawn#I have him kill Valtome in all my runs for the funsies but like. Izuka. Izuka tho.#I have him kill Izuka for the seriousies and for his own peace of mind#sorry Pelleas but like. Ranulf.
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what do you like about rotmhs? like what draws you in?
GAHH IM SO GLAD YOU ASKEDDD at the top of my head thhe top three things i felt really drew me into and made me fall in love w rotmhs is the found family/bonds before blood narrative, the action/fight scenes, and the comedy..
rotmhs is not a romance and i feel like that really pushes people away from reading it, especially folks who were first introduced to east asian novels through bl (specifically mxtxs novels like mdzs tgcf etc etc) which i feel is incredibly disappointing because yallre missing out on a certain depth of writing and nuance you otherwise wouldnt get in a romance focused novel. (orv is another extremely popular knovel with no romance.. if you like orv PLEASE give rotmhs a shot)
rotmhs is about a dead man resurrected a hundred years into the future having to come to terms w the fact that everyone he loved is dead and that the only home he ever had was destroyed, its inhabitants and centuries worth of teachings burned to the ground, and that it was partially his fault these things happened, so in order to prevent a future catastrophe he knows is on the horizon, he trains the youth of this new generation and finds a new home surrounded by ghosts in the wreckage of his home of his past
⬆️…very dramatic but somewhat accurate barebones synopsis of rotmhs which is fairly faithful enough methinks.. rotmhs doesnt make a point of going ‘heyy these guys are family nowww theyre brothers and sisters and love each other like familyyy’ LOL the growth is very subtle and before u can really blink ur like ‘oh man.. chung myung would kill for these kids. obliviously though. i dont think he knows he even likes them’ all the while hes still aching w the loss of his loved ones before.. if we’re being really really honest chung myung, the mc, truly is the star of the show and a character i got attached to incredibly quickly.. hes so stupid but so smart he has so many issues i want to hit him with my car then nurse him back to health just to hit him again
chung myung himself is a whole other thing i could get into but he has so many layers.. so much depth.. on the surface ud look at him and think what a punk but look a little closer and then ud think oh this punk has depression ptsd survivors guilt hallucinations etc etc LIKE DAMN.. I THIUGHT HE WAS JUST A FUNNY LITTLE GUY WHYD I GET SUCKER PUNCHED
what was i even talking about. OH right romance. please please dont let the lack of romance dissuade you, imo it is soooo refreshing to read something that isnt focused on romance like i love yaoi like the next bl reading bitch but damn.. ive always been into found family and while the bl novels i have read did always have a little hint of it, i always wanted more and rotmhs fills that void
(that being said i cant stop yall from shipping if yall want LOL im guilty of shipping charas too despite everythiing i just said… if yall want yalls yaoiyuri fix may i direct yalls attention to the ‘doomed by the narrative, tragic best-friends-to-almost-lovers tangchung’ & ‘love at first sight sweethearts iseolsoso’ ….. :SMILES: I LOVE TANGCHUNG..!!!!!!)
NEXT, the action and fight scenes in rotmhs, even in written text form, are sublime to say the least.. my fail cis dudebro trait is that i love crazy insane adrenaline rushing heart pumping shounen-esque battles so much that i could typically care less for the rest of that specific piece of media as long as the fights are good.. FORTUNATELY FOR ME rotmhs is crazy good at balancing its comedy, action, and otherwise more ‘mundane’ scenes together so harmoniously that its such fun read even when theres no swords crossing or heads being beaten in
also important to note, despite being a knovel w korean naming of characters/places, rotmhs actually takes place in ancient china in a wuxia setting so jumping head first into it wont be all that confusing for first time readers/cmedia fans and u can use ur knowledge of cnovels to fill in the gaps.
theres not really much more i have to say on the topic of fighting, im just personally a huge fan of the crazy spectacles rotmhs brings to the table.
saved this for last but THE COMEDY…!!!!!!!! after being soo dramatic w all my previous points and comments ur probably thnkng rotmhs is heavy and somber w no breathing room.. WELL YOURE WRONG. ROTMHS IS FUNNY AS HELL quips and jokes and simple funny actions and scenes litter nearly every page. i mentioned this novel balances its action and comedy well and im NOT LYING youd think maybe the heavy action and light comedy would awkwardly clash but u cldnt be more further from the truth.. rotmhs wears action and comedy like a pair of twin gloves
rotmhs handles its action and comedy in equal doses and it all fits together like matching puzzle pieces, like i really cant stress enough how fun it is to read. not every fight scene is somber, most of the time its chung myung oneshotting someone by hitting them across the head so hard they pass out..
unfortunately im not really the best at listing instances so its be better for u to go read it for urself but this scene from one of the later chapters is soo funny every time i read it i start giggling
(LIGHT/MINOR SPOILERS FOR THE NOVEL it probably doesnt even matter u wont even remember this when u start reading)
right so i think thats most of it.. too lazy to read through everything i just wrote so if nothing makes sense… well. …well!
rotmhs deserves to have the same amount of fame as ORV and MDZS and TGCF have and it is my civil duty as one of the oldest mxtx novel outlets on tumblr to put yall on it..
my thumbs hurt from typing so im done now but if u have anymore questions PLEASE ASK IM SO DESPERATE TO TALK ABOUT ROTMHS ok byyyeeeeeeee
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can i just defend myself and explain why i am obsessed with mission impossible????? please? i know Cruise is a cultist and that is genuinely bad and makes this my ultimate Problematic Fave but also please god i need to ramble about this
ghost protocol, right?
this is a Leverage movie okay? there's a lot of pretty people with interesting motivations and they do ridiculous heists for the greater good.
the physical comedy element is off the chain from the start with the prison break sequence where Ethan Hunt has a nonverbal argument over surveillance camera with Benji Dunn to affectionately bully him into going off-script for the mission, and then blows him a little kiss of thanks.
the Burj Khalifa stunt, which is entirely practical and is not CGI and happened on the actual location, is so fucking bugfuck crazy that it makes my heart race every time, and on top of that it's a GORGEOUS sequence and its funny and it's character-driven and the greatest moment in the movie is Ethan's running leap to propel himself into the window at the end, only to bonk his fucking head and nearly die at the last moment. it's a miraculous sequence.
i love Carter so fucking much, and I am OBSESSED with Mission Impossible and gender. the number of times the expectation I would expect gets inverted is so crunchy.
Jane Carter has the most motivation of everyone, with her boyfriend getting fridged in the intro and propelling her to be more ruthless and reckless than the others. she gets the very dude-coded backstory and role, and it plays beautifully off Ethan because there is never a single moment of the movie setting her up as his love interest, not ONCE and so they have this wonderful equitable relationship where they've both gone through similar trauma and he tries to advise her on how to handle it, and it's SO NEAT
also speaking of gender stuff, the way Carter has to seduce the rich guy at the end but at every turn is being coached by Ethan on how best to seduce the guy, and everyone just accepts that Yep, Ethan Is The Guy To Help You Seduce A Man, mwah, love it, amazing.
also as someone who is Hugely Ambivalent to Jeremy Renner
(MOSTLY BECAUSE I literally know he can act, the first thing I saw him in was the fucking Hurt Locker okay but it feels like his agent is an idiot and keeps netting him Incredibly Generic Roles, but at least in Mission Impossible he's working with the material as much as he can)
ANYWAY I actually like Jeremy Renner in these movies instead of forgetting he exists which I think says something. and it was a small thing in 2011 but the blaise "Next time, I get to seduce the rich guy," moment really does work.
Rogue Nation
Fallout is the best MI movie but Rogue Nation is my favorite MI movie, because it is just a fucking comedy and it's the real start of Ethan's deepening emotional arc and I'm OBSESSED with it
also Ilsa fucking Faust, my god
Ilsa is one of my favorite ladies in these action movies? she feels like a boot to the face of Bond movies, she's beautiful but she's not a young woman, she has genuinely complex shit going on, she's the true fulcrum the movie pivots around, she has a very specific fighting style that stands out, and she's another Not Love Interest?
like, Ethan likes her and there's that moment when she asks him to run away with her, but the way the camera treats her makes me so happy? like if i were in a movie, i would want the camera to look at me like it does Ilsa, does that make sense?
also benji runs this entire movie. i love his growth and his comfort in his work. in Ghost Protocol, Benji was green, but in Rogue Nation he knows what he's doing, he resents being protected, he is reliable and thinks on his feet, and he yells at Ethan when Ethan is being a dick.
in another moment of Huh Gender Stuff, Benji is the one who is positioned as Ethan's Love Interest structurally. he is with Ethan the most, he grounds him but also sparks off him well, he is Ethan's connection to the world and the avenue thru which he shows the most emotion, and when Benji's kidnapped in the third act Ethan completely loses his shit and kidnaps the Prime Minister and basically does whatever it fucking takes to get him back, the degree to with Benji is Ethan's motivation in RN is kind of staggering.
also i love ethan hunt and RN is really where that starts.
Ethan can swing around the Burj Khalifa and do a 100mph motorcycle chase and well i guess the free swim didn't work out Great for him, but when he's not doing superhuman ridiculous bullshit
i'm obsessed with the growing emotional core of Ethan. his fatal flaw begins to emerge in RN, that his job is to save the entire world from certain doom, but his judgement is Fucked.
that goddamn glass box he's locked in. he sees a young IMF agent killed, and it sticks in him like a lodged dagger. he risks himself over and over to try and get Ilsa out of her own fate. he does Batshit Things to save Benji.
I know that James Bond has kind of become a reflection of itself, on how terrible James Bond, about how reprehensible a person he is. the Craig movies I've seen have been pretty upfront about that baggage.
but... he's still a misogynistic bastard who will kill people to finish his mission. and the movie acknowledges all that but it's still the driving force of the movies.
Mission Impossible doesn't just nod at "hey Ethan's kinda fucked up huh" and then keeps doing that. Ethan's flaws are getting worse and causing more and more problems for him and everyone around him.
Fallout
there are a lot of moments i love in Fallout but there is one I cannot dislodge from my brain
wait first: August Walker is amazing and i love him
i love that the movie makes no attempt to hide he's the bad guy. i love how he keeps trying to introduce himself to the IMF team and everyone no sells him, because everyone hates the fucking CIA. i love his arm reload and how brutal his combat style is compared to Ethan's.
he's so fucking FUN.
but anyway, the thing that Fallout does that I cannot for the life of me stop thinking about is Ethan and the traffic cop in Paris.
this mission has been on the knife's edge of disaster from the word go, Ethan has been mocked and pushed around and disregarded, Ilsa is after him, he's just pulled off an extremely treacherous betrayal and an even more dangerous escape, everyone is getting into the car with Lane, and they open the doors and there's someone RIght There. the wrong place, the worst possible time.
everyone freezes. Walker is ready to shoot her, just another piece of collateral damage. but Ethan spends an extended period just stopping and pleading in French for this lady to leave. Please, just go, please walk away, please do not get involved in this.
He could shoot her, or get in the car and drive, hoping she'll get out of the way, or let Walker take her out, or attack her and nonfatally injure her to get her out of the way. They really really don't have time for this shit.
But something in him is fucked because there is a nuclear apocalypse on the line, but Ethan stops to try and keep one bystander out of it.
POINTS
I'M OBSESSED WITH THIS CHARACTER. WITH THE GUY WHO IS LITERALLY GETTING MORE AND MORE COMPROMISED BY HIS EMOTIONS AS THE FRANCHISE GOES ON. THE GUY WHO KEEPS FUCKING UP BECAUSE HE'S NOT WILLING TO MAKE A HARD CHOICE AND LET SOMEONE DIE TO SAVE MILLIONS. THIS IS A PROBLEM, AND IT'S GETTING WORSE.
i love John Wick. I love the beautiful choreography of death. I love the showmanship.
But there's something about how Mission Impossible takes death seriously and the way Ethan tries to minimize harm even when he really shouldn't that captivates me.
also the cinematography is amazing.
THAT'S ALL. I love the Chris McQuarrie Mission Impossibles. It's SUCH a problem.
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Bakugo needs to die for there to be any stakes left in mha
Do you personally think Bakugou is just that important to all the characters in the manga or to all the audience for his death to be the only stake possible ?
Also why Bakugou ? Why not Deku ? Why not SHouto. You know what ? Shark Girl is actually one of the only characters I haven't seen anybody give any hate to so logically, her would her death impact more people ?
More seriously though which definition of stakes are you going with ?
In a narrative setting "Stakes are the risks, impacts, and rewards of a character's choices, which make audiences care about the story."
According to the Cambringe dictionary, the general definition of stakes is this: "If you have a stake in something, it is important to you because you have a personal interest or involvement in it".
Because I wasn't joking that much.
Now I'm not gonna disagree that Bakugou is important. As someone who has loved his character for 8 going on 9 years now and who has shipped BakuDeku both in a queerplatonic way and in a romantic way because of how he was written as this important piece of Deku's character, I completely agree that Bakugou definitely has this high of an importance in the story.
In order to work though, Stakes in storytelling are heavily linked to the themes and goals of the story.
Now would losing the boy he can only call "Kacchan" impact Izuku in deep and horrible ways ? Most definitely. Would he still consider he and the others became great heroes if said boy died and Izuku could not save him ?
No.
And this isn't a small detail, this is an important piece of narration that's repeated at least twice in the story (and even widened to people other than Izuku).
This stake you're talking about does not work in the story because it would be the dumbest writing mistake Horikoshi would have made in it. It would be the most basic yet important inconsistancy he would have made in the story.
Is that stake more important than the actual story he's telling ? I thought GoT s8 had finally taught people it's a very dumb thing to want. And in comparison it would make GoT s8 seem well written.
Because all this is not even counting the themes as well as Bakugou's role as a deuteragonist. What are the themes, ideas and goals of the story ?
Showing people coming together. People helping people. People inspiring people. People impacting, both directly and indirectly, people's lives. Individualism and collectivism in their extremes hurt literally everybody. You need to find a middle ground. Society needs to change because individulas aren't enough to change a system, People are worth more than what they can give to others, ect... All these represented by two boys who needed to learn how to communicate and who will complete their journey by holding hands.
That's why a duo of protagonists works better than a single protagonist. Bakugou represents individualism while Deku represents collectivism. Then they reverse it. Now that they've both experienced each extreme, they need to join each other in the middle and finally fucking hold hands.
Now Horikoshi isn't a genius storyteller, he is far from perfect and in the symbolism vs concrete storytelling theory, he definitely works better with the symbolism part but he is still generally pretty good at storytelling in general. He is in the genre of Shonen, specifically an Action and Comedy. While he is inspired by superhero comics and uses a lot of their tropes, he also criticizes many of them. And that includes the very type of narrative device you suggest.
Because the truth is that unless it fits the themes, killing a character is about as useful as letting them go on vacation.
Which is why I suggest "knowing whether Hawks' goal of creating a society where heroes aren't needed and can go on vacation will allow Izuku and Bakugou to get one to visit Mahoro and Kazuma for their honeymoon" as a more interesting stake for me personally ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
#BnHA#Bakugou Katsuki#MHA#BkDk#BakuDeku#Midoriya Izuku#Writing#Writing Reference#me toeing the line between trolling and answering honestly : °˖✧◝(⁰���⁰)◜✧˖��#Answer#Also this is a quick answer 'cause there's so much more to the themes which is why the BakugouDekuAllMight Trio is soooo interesting among#so many other things
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OKAY, SO WE FINALLY BEAT PERSONA 5 TACTICA AND THE REPAINT YOUR HEART DLC, FULL SPOILER REVIEW AHEAD
- First of all, I think the game is very good. I rate it 9/10, because although there are some stuff I don’t like, the good stuff is SO good that it makes up for it perfectly. It is a great game, and I don’t regret at all buying the Deluxe Edition on release.
- The gameplay is VERY good, no doubt one of the greatest points in the game. As a fan of tactical RPG fan, it’s a system that is very different than the usual “your character’s turn, move these squares, do your action, proceed”. The fact that you freely move the characters makes for a very peculiar experience, and it makes for a very fun gameplay, with cool puzzles that, although I recognized may be annoying for some people, were very fun to me. Very cool!
- However, I think the gameplay lacked more Persona/SMT elements. For example, the lack of a system based on elemental weaknesses was something I didn’t like. Because of that, I spent 90% of the game’s battle with a party composed of Joker, Panther and Queen, without feeling any need to alternate between different characters. Sure, there’s this mechanic that the characters have better status if you let them rest, só it’s valid to alternate the party, but that was literally the only reason, the aspect of changing characters because of their strong or weak points was kinda lost. Also, no Social Links aside from the Quests and the Talk menu, that provide some fun scenes, but doesn’t replace the social aspect of the Persona games.
- That said, the Quests and Talk scenes were REALLY cool, it provided us with some awesome interactions between characters and did a wonderful job at including the newcomers Erina and Toshiro. Things like Yusuke wanting to see Legionnaires fall from the sky, Haru blowing up everything to let off steam, Erina trying to summon a Persona and being a worthy rival of Ryuji in the aspect of yelling at inappropriate times… it was all very cool. Also, the Quests were amazing in gameplay if you like puzzles. I don’t like it, but I had lots of fun with it.
- The game is kinda short, and it felt like a waste to have only two Kingdoms with a strong historical theme (the French Revolution and the Meiji Revolution), the other two Kingdoms felt kinda bland. I think it would have been nice to insert at least one or two other Kingdoms with strong revolution sceneries.
- The story itself is very cool. Erina is amazing since the start, but Toshiro is a character that really grows on you. He starts off being very annoying, but since the main story is all about his development, you end up liking him more, and the transition from “adult pain in the ass” to “honest man trying to do the right thing” is very nice, and his background is amazing.
- There’s a specific scene where you, as Joker, can pick someone on the Phantom Thieves you’d want to marry, and that includes Ryuji and Yusuke as well. I really loved that scene because, although Ryuji and Yusuke scenes are more inclined to comedy, in no moment it goes like “whaaaaat, you want to marry Ryuji, that’s weird man, no homo”, quite the opposite, in both Ryuji and Yusuke options the act of them marrying Joker is seen as totally normal, without making fun of it, and well, it’s not just the boys’ options that tend to comedy, if you pick Makoto the scene is also hilarious. Sure, it could have been better, but we’re talking about Atlus, every baby step is a reason to rejoice in that way. Who knows, maybe in Persona 6 we’ll FINALLY have a MLM romance option.
- LAVENZA IS BETTER THAN EVER, it’s her best version of all times, she radiates 1000000% of that Elizabeth and Margaret chaotic energy and I FUCKING SCREAMED WHEN VELVET ROOM TURNED INTO A FUCKING TRAIN OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO FUCKING AWESOME HELL YEAH
- Salmael is the generic god final boss, normal to every Persona game. But one thing I didn’t like is how it’s not directly based on any entity like Nyx, Izanami or Yaldabaoth. Sure, you can argue that it’s based on Samael, but it doesn’t make any sense, since it’s only in the name, nothing in Salmael’s motivations have anything to do with Samael. Aside from that, well, can’t say much about it, just the regular “god-that-looks-for-excuses-to-fuck-up-humanity-while-trying-to-justify-saying-they’re-actually-saving-it” that we have on every Persona game.
- I think the game is kinda easy. Sure, it’s a good thing for those who want to enjoy the story, but I beat the game on Medium and had literally no difficult whatsoever aside from some Quests (and in those cases, the difficulty is more related to solving a puzzle than facing actually difficult enemies). The damage input is mostly small, the AI is not really smart and you have access to very strong skills early on. Dunno how that would go if I tried on Hard, but Medium felt more like Easy to me. And I don’t mean that as “I’m too good for this game, it’s so easy for my standards”, but I really think the game difficulty is not that high, which can be good for some and disappointing for others.
Now about Repaint Your Heart, the DLC:
- CAN’T BELIEVE THEY ADDED SPLATOON TO THE PERSONA + FIRE EMBLEM MIX, THAT’S SO CREATIVE, SOUNDS REALLY DUMB AT FIRST BUT WORKED SO WELL
- The story itself is not that bad, but not that good either. Guernica is cool, Luca is cute, but their story wasn’t that touching for me, I couldn’t empathize with them properly.
- Still, the DLC was cool not only because of the Splatoon mechanics, but also because of Akechi and Kasumi interactions. If you play it knowing what is happening at that time (it’s before Sae’s calling card, so Akechi is already part of the Phantom Thieves, is in the middle of the plot to betray them and assassinate Joker, and Joker is fully aware of that), it’s awesome because you can clearly see the moments when Akechi’s figurative mask fells off, and you have many dialogue options made to provoke him.
- Don’t have much to say about Kasumi, she’s cute and nice as always. Also, THAT SCENE OF HER LEGIT WILLING TO PICK UP TRASH WITH LUCA, HOLY SHIT
- I want to turn Jerri into fried chicken, but her motivations seem kinda dumb, I mean, she’s a servant of Salmael, who wants to “save” mankind erasing all will of conflicts, then she brainwashes Guernica to kill all of manking using conflict? Makes no sense at all unless she was rebelling against him, and that’s clearly not the case.
Well… it was quite an experience. I loved it.
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SQQ(SY)'s character arc
Last time I talked about Shen Jiu's character arc, so this time, let's talk about Shen Yuan's character arc. Here's the theory of character arcs I'm working on for reference. If Shen Jiu's arc in SVSSS is an (abstract) redemption arc, then Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan) is an (abstract) enlightenment arc.
I say 'abstract' because I'm not talking about the spiritual enlightenment that 'enlightenment' often refers to, but the more general meaning of the word 'enlightened' aka. to have a better understanding or wisdom of something. Character arcs are often framed as 'goal-misbelief-truth' (good video on misbeliefs here) - the character works towards a 'goal' (which is not necessarily the 'truth'), is hindered by a 'misbelief', which is related to the 'truth'. Take Shen Qingqiu. His 'goal' is to get away from Luo Binghe. His 'misbelief' is that Luo Binghe wants to harm him. The 'truth' is that they love each other. When I say 'enlightenment arc', I'm referring to the specific way that Shen Qingqiu discovers this 'truth', not as a slow process of learning (a growth arc), but as a sudden moment of revelation. There are two points that this occurs - first in the dreamscape where Shen Qingqiu realises Luo Binghe's intentions, and second on Maigu Ridge, where Shen Qingqiu realises he's been hurting Luo Binghe all along.
Let's talk about enlightenment arcs
I made this up. Someone might have already done this (it feels like a natural thing to think about). If you've come across this/thought about this, please let me know >.<
To be clear, enlightenment arcs are not constrained to certain cultures, and are not that uncommon either. Here's a Western example: in the 2021 film Don't Look Up, Randall discovers a 'truth'. All along, what he cared about wasn't arguing with people online or hooking up with sexy news presenters; it was the time spent with his friends and family. The 'moment of revelation' is very sudden, probably less than 15mins in the film. Enlightenment arcs underpin a lot of romantic comedy, where the revelation is in the form 'A likes B'. Secondly, enlightenment arcs aren't just 'super fast growth'. They're structured in a way that is fundamentally different from a growth arc. Whilst growth arcs may have 'moments of revelation' where the truth fully hits the character (those 'power of friendship' moments), they're still building on things that the character has been discovering up to that point. Meanwhile, an enlightenment arc contains a fundamental turning point. An 'it was all a lie' moment.
But also, enlightenment arcs are arcs, not just moments. You can't just 180 in the middle of an arc and go 'so they discovered the truth and were forever changed'. That will probably leave readers severely dissatisfied. The 'moment of revelation' requires serious set up, some parts of which I want to demonstrate with Shen Qingqiu's arc in SVSSS.
1. The audience/reader should know your 'truth' well before the revelation
A twist without foreshadowing is... kind of just annoying. If in the middle of a sports story, the MC suddenly decides actually the industry is screwed and sports competitions are unethical, then rides off into the sunset with the love of their life having decided happiness and comfort is more important... well good for them, but it would be awful to read. By the time the revelation comes around, the reader should at least be able to acknowledge why the 'truth' is what it is.
For SVSSS, it is abundantly clear right from the start that Luo Binghe is madly in love with Shen Qingqiu. Luo Binghe might as well be holding a sign in red flashing lights which says 'I love you' at all times. The second revelation is... more subtle. From Luo Binghe's return from the abyss to the start of the holy mausoleum, we're led to believe that Luo Binghe is this yandere character who killed resident cinnamon roll Gongyi Xiao out of jealousy. But almost as soon as the first revelation (Shen Qingqiu discovers Luo Binghe is in love with him) is done and dusted, we're led straight into uncovering the second revelation.
In succession we learn that 1) when Shen Qingqiu tells Luo Binghe to leave him alone, he does, to Shen Qingqiu's surprise 2) Luo Binghe wasn't responsible for the sowers (start of Mausoleum) 3) Luo Binghe goes to great lengths to protect Shen Qingqiu (Mausoleum) 4) Luo Binghe wasn't murder boy actually. That was Zhuzhi-Lang all along (demon realm scene) 5) Luo Binghe is a sad wet puppy who needs a hug (tea scene in flash back) 6) Bingmei isn't like Bingge at all (end of flashback) 7) Bingmei has separation anxiety
All along the way, Shen Qingqiu's care for Luo Binghe is also reiterated. We learn that Shen Qingqiu is willing to go through great pain to protect Luo Binghe, and that he would rather face down the entire cultivation world than leave him. By the time Maigu Ridge comes around (chapter 21 in Seven Seas translation), the revelation is natural.
Note: the 'truth' can be ambiguous. In Everything Everywhere All At Once (great film!) 'truth'=googly eye. Interpret that as you will. (As in, of course all of this is alluding to something like 'human connection good' or 'meaninglessness and absurdity is fine actually', but it's felt rather than told.)
2. The character is completely missing the mark most of the time
In an enlightenment arc, before the revelation, the character is completely oblivious to the 'truth' and is often actively working against it for the majority of the time. This is what separates an enlightenment arc from a growth arc - the dissonance between the message the reader is getting from step 1, and the actions of the main character. You probably recognise the vibe: characters that are 'oblivious', 'frustrating', 'why are they so dumb?!!!! (affectionate)'. Or characters who are pitifully drowning in their faults/traumas and are pushing away the people trying to warn them.
Pulling this off is a technical skill. A Silent Voice does this in a really cool way, with dissonance between Ishida and Nishimiya's actions, combined with the eerie quality of the music, portraying Ishida's complete obliviousness to a really important thing that will soon hit him like truck. A lot of people have written cool posts about Shen Qingqiu's obliviousness to both Luo Binghe's feelings and his own feelings. I wrote a short post here on Liu Qingge's role in this for SVSSS. In summary, how to create romantic tension without telling your MC:
Have your MC obsessed with the love interest, but in an 'appreciating objective beauty' way
Have your love interest be obsessed with MC, but make MC allergic to sensible logical deductions
Wife plot your MC
Liu Qingge (with help from Gongyi Xiao)
3. But just before the moment of revelation, the character should be in a position to understand the 'truth'
Everything in an enlightenment arc is building towards a moment of revelation, but this moment is extremely fast. There is basically no time for character development, so you need your character to be ready for the 'truth' before the moment happens, e.g. maturity or life experiences or wtv. If you told Shen Qingqiu at the beginning of SVSSS that Luo Binghe will fall in love with him and he needs to look after him or cause pain, he would probably laugh in your face. Some maturing has to happen before he is capable of realising this. This kind of character development is the same as in any arc and there's lots out there on some of the ways to do it, so I won't go into this. However, in an enlightenment arc, this is uniquely difficult to pull off. Because for a long part of the arc, the MC is increasingly ready for the 'truth', but makes no progress towards finding it. (If they did, it would be a growth arc.)
Here's two techniques to make this work.
The first technique is to withdraw information from the MC. They might be ready for the truth, but they don't know it because.... they just don't know. For Shen Qingqiu's first revelation (Luo Binghe is in love with him) he finds out because Luo Binghe kisses him. This is information he didn't have before (that Luo Binghe wants to kiss him), so when he gets it, that forces a change in his world view.
But one has to be extremely careful with this - since you need the readers to be aware of the 'truth' and the MC to not be, this can rapidly devolve into the hated (badly done) misunderstandings trope (misunderstandings can be done well. This is an easy way to do them badly).
The second technique is to distract your MC. They are too stressed/traumatised to think straight. ('aaah he wants to kill me' -> 'he's in love with me' is obviously a big leap and the 'aaaah' feeling is hard to get out of) They are too focused on their goal and the rewards that this is giving them to stop and think. (For Shen Qingqiu Operation run away from Luo Binghe/stop Tianlang-Jun takes too much precessing power while they're in action) Or maybe their misbeliefs cause them to shrug off evidence of the 'truth' and diverts their thoughts to other things ('he doesn't like women' + 'protagonist can't be gay' -> 'he must be asexual' ...??? I love the SQQ logic)
This is used for both of Shen Qingqiu's revelations, but relies on it more heavily in the second half (in part because of practicalities. The second revelation is also largely about Shen Qingqiu's internal feelings, which is not something an external event can give you information about). Note that as Shen Qingqiu gets closer to the final revelation, the 'distractions' get stronger. Regret of Chunshan causing Shen Qingqiu to feel humiliation and embarrassment. Tianlang-Jun threatening to destroy the world. Luo Binghe's declining reputation and increasingly unpredictable behaviour. All of these are work to prevent Shen Qingqiu from self-reflecting on his relationship with Luo Binghe.
This kind of escalation is important for an enlightenment arc, because that's how tension is built. Think of it like a spring. The more energy you store in it, the more dramatic the release is.
4. Making your 'moment of revelation' hit home
In an enlightenment arc, absolutely everything rests on a single moment. Get this wrong, and the whole arc falls flat.
I say moment of revelation, but the 'moment of revelation' might be an entire episode or chapter, or even longer. A moment of revelation is a transformation, and here it is 'very fast growth'. Actually discontinuous character arcs aren't usually advisable, so there should be a natural sequence of things happening that get you from A to B. Often, there is a external driving force (or 'small scenario pusher') which forces the MC to confront the 'truth'. Alongside this, there may be a series of thoughts the MC has, dispelling the misbelief and arriving at the 'truth'. In visual media, moments of revelation can be given impact by having a definitive moment where an actual thing happens e.g. Music changes, symbolic cues, use of colour palettes and lighting etc.
Some popular forms of 'revelation' include
- a conversation, where the MC is told the 'truth'. ('I love you!' proclaims the love interest. 'Oh wow who could have guessed,' says the main character.)
- a conversation, where the MC is told the 'misbelief', but dramatically counters it with the 'truth'. ('you're just like me,' says the villain. 'No, I'm not!' says the hero.)
- an event, which forces the MC to question and disregard their 'misbelief'. ('I'm all alone' thinks the MC, but when they wake up in hospital, they are surrounded by friends.)
- exposition (often used in writing, for first person, or third person limited) where the MC's thought process is explained
MXTX leans very heavily into exposition, and the second Shen Qingqiu revelation is all of chapter 21 (Seven Seas), which includes like 10 paragraphs of straight text (in the original serialisation, this was chapters 78-81). This long 'moment of revelation' is a good opportunity to dissect one way a 'moment of revelation' can unfold.
1. The doubt. The closure of Tianlang-Jun's story (a story of hatred and betrayal turned to one of love and sacrifice) works as a final bit of foreshadowing, while Luo Binghe's descent into madness shakes Shen Qingqiu terribly.
Upon hearing him admit to his lunacy, Shen Qingqiu's heart spasmed with a dull pain. "Binghe, get away from that sword first," he said quietly. "The farther the better."
2. The realisation. Next we have Yue Qingyuan's reveal (a story of loyalty and sacrifice gone wrong because of miscommunication). Shen Qingqiu has an 'oh fuck' moment in the middle of this, then immediately after starts to throw off his misbeliefs and starts making his deductions towards the 'truth'.
Everyone said Luo Binghe had gone mad. Even he himself had smiled and admitted it. Xin Mo, which Luo Binghe had finally managed to suppress after a million words of struggle in the original work, had gained the upper hand in this struggle and invaded Luo Binghe's mind.
This wasn't a result of one or two events, but a slow accumulation over time, until finally it had completely erupted. Numerous signs had long since made themselves apparent, but Shen Qingqiu had never noticed.
Or perhaps he should say that he'd never realized that Luo Binghe was actually so insecure, to the point of having an inferiority complex.
3. The reflection. With this realisation in hand, Shen Qingqiu continues to think about all the things that he's done that has hurt Luo Binghe and seeks to fix the wrongs, ending with the (in)famous Maigu ridge papapa.
Why hadn't he told him earlier?
It was just like Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe.
Why hadn't he told him earlier?
If he hadn't been so cavalier, so full of conjecture, Luo Binghe might never have darkened. He could have remained the sweet and bashful disciple he'd been on Qing Jing Peak.
4. The big truth reveal. And finally Shen Qingqiu's 'truth' is made clear. He loves Luo Binghe, has always loved Luo Binghe, and wants nothing more than for him to lead a happy life. And in turn, Luo Binghe loves him, not in dark yandere demon lord way, but a child who wants security, having been thrown away so many times.
Shen Qingqiu made sure to emphasize every word. "If I were her, no matter how venomous that drug was, I would have drunk it down without hesitation, then escaped the Water Prison. Afterward, I would draw all its effects into my own body. No matter how agonizing the process, no matter if the price would be complete destruction of my marital aspect, no matter if it meant a horrible death: I absolutely would not allow my child to suffer even an ounce of harm."
He'd only ever been a child. Walking the world alone, tripping and stumbling countless times. Wanting only those few things, yet never able to grasp them. If only Shen Qingqiu had realized this earlier, he thought, he'd have definitely... definitely...
5. The acceptance. With the truth out, Shen Qingqiu's mental crisis is over. He accepts the change, and is happy to die with Luo Binghe.
"Dying together" also included a "together".
It didn't seem that bad.
((Completely for fun, and if you're HxH fan, let's see how this template works in a different story. In HxH (big spoiler alert!). Meruem in the Chimera Ant Arc has an enlightenment arc. (You can tell because there's 6 panels where everything goes white.) The 'moment of revelation' starts quite slowly, and ends with a 12 page climax (in the manga). 1. Meruem doubts Pouf and suspects he is missing something important in his memories. 2. He is suddenly reminded of Komugi 3. Meruem recalls his time with Komugi and has Big Feelings. 4. Meruem's feelings are acknowledged. 5. Meruem walks off, having not killed a traitor, indicating he has no more desire to lead the Ants.))
Summary
I hope I have convinced you that Shen Qingqiu's character arc in SVSSS is an enlightenment arc, in that the discovery of his 'truth' is a sudden, dramatic reveal, and that this was interesting run down of some of the ways MXTX makes this work :3 As ever, comments/complaints/suggestions are greatly welcomed.
Acknowledgement
All this theory on character arcs was heavily inspired off these video essays on character arcs:
Hello Future Me's video on redemption arcs
Schnee's video on madness arcs
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Introductions
Hello! You may call me Samuel :] (or Sam, Samael, Oroniusn, Oro, I’m not picky!) I decided to redo my introduction post so it was more accurate and elaborate.
I’m a trans man, I’m oriented aroace (romance and sex repulsed/indifferent but it fluctuates at times, when not repulsed I consider myself gay/MLM)
I call myself Transexual, Tranny and a fag, that bothers you feel free to leave your complaints at the door I do not care. All other “old” queer terms fit as well!
My two big special interests are WW1/WW2 history, and survivalist/apocalypse prepping. I’m always down to talk about both. (Especially if you’re also from the United States, the land here is beautiful and I’d love to run off into the woods)
a warning for cannibalism/murder talk on here (both of which I bring up regularly), to get the F&Q out of the way, yes I would eat a person if given the chance, Now moving on!
Currently learning German (A-1? Bordering on A-2? It’s a slow process) and will probably be posting on here in German as a practice when I get better.
American English is my native language (C2)
I’m a practicing Norse Pagan (with Christopagan/Enochian elements mixed in) as well as a Therian/Otherkin (spiritual and mental, depends on the kintype, feel free to ask questions!) I’m generally a very open person when it comes to the paranormal, ghosts, cryptids, curses, demons, I follow a sort of “It’s real until proven otherwise” path. It keeps life interesting.
-DNI-
Supporters of the IDF/Israel or anyone who thinks you can have a neutral stance on the liberation of Palestine
Actually anyone who thinks ANY form of colonization is correct, I don’t want you here
Far right wingers (I’m a socialist, why are you here)
TERFs/SWERFs/TRUSCUM, any of those fuckers, I’ll just block you anyways but might as well add it
“Kill all men” people (I’m a trans dude, once again why are you here?)
Evangelicals, I have no problems with other branches, Y’all are welcome here
Anti-recovery (It’s fine if YOU don’t want to recover, just not if you don’t believe people should recover)
Anyone who is Anti-reclaiming, please do some research on 80’s-90’s queer culture.
-BYF-
I pretty much never check the accounts I interact with before hand, if I broke your DNI it wasn’t intentional (although I tend to find “this fandom dni” type lists stupid as hell)
I can seem very unhinged at times, that’s pretty much my normal (by unhinged I don’t mean “silly” I mean I have little to no moral compass and empathy for others, I also struggle to differentiate right from wrong sometimes)
I also experience paranoia, hallucinations and delusions that can cause me to be irrational. Typically around things like being watched (either by something or by cameras Truman show style) being hunted or an impending sense of doom/feeling that something bad is about to happen.
I struggle with self harm/suicidal thoughts and will occasionally vent on this blog, if you’d like to avoid seeing that block the tags (#tw self harm) and (#tw sui ideation)
A detailed list of fandoms/my interests can be found below!
-Movies/Shows-
Hannibal (the show and all movies, manhunter included)
Saw
Sweeny Todd (2007)
The Crow (1994)
The Thing (1982)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Land of the Lost (1974)
Tremors (1990)
Coraline
Star Trek (specifically from 1966)
M*A*S*H (1972)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Truman Show
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
JoJo Rabbit
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930, the new one is also good however I prefer the original)
Dunkirk
Band of Brothers (2001)
Downfall/Der Untergang
Inglorious Bastards
Full metal jacket (1987)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Look who’s back/Er Ist Wieder Da (political commentary portrayed as comedy my beloved, the book is even better)
(I’m a massive old/war movie fan and I always take suggestions for new ones!! )
-Books-
Maus
Look who’s back
Paradise Lost
Paradise Regained
The Divine Comedy
All Quiet on the Western Front
1984
Animal Farm
Catch-22
Crime and Punishment
Jurassic park
The Lost World
The Book Thief
Hannibal (all four books)
The Hunger Games
(And more)
-Music-
The Crane Wives
Swear and Shake
The Oh Hellos
Hozier
Modest Mouse
Gregory Alan Isakov
Kimya Dawson
Noah Kahan
Iron & Wine
The Mountain Goats
Johnny Cash
Saintseneca
Radical Face
Alex G
Rammstein
Ghost (bc)
Mitski
Mumford & Sons
Fiona Apple
Big Thief
Florence + The Machine
The Hunts
Radiohead
Little Chief
Roar
(And more but this list is already long)
-Games-
FNAF (Been a fan since 2014 baby!)
LOZ (BOTW, TOTK, Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess mainly)
Night in the woods
Fran bow
What remains of Edith Finch
Stardew Valley
MW2
Red Dead Redemption
FAITH: The Unholy Trinity
Fears to Fathom
Red Dead Redemption
(Just the main ones I’ll talk about)
-Misc (Mostly YouTube based stuff)-
Hazbin Hotel (since pre pilot days)
Angel Hare
Local 58
Gemini Home Entertainment
Mandela catalog
Mystery Flesh Pit
Graylock
Vita Carnis
Happy Meat Farms
Welcome To Nightvale
The Magnus Archives
Creep Cast
The Red Thread
-YouTubers-
Wendigoon
ESOTERICA
Jacksepticeye
Markiplier
Sam O’nella
GTLive
Game theory (and all attached channels)
Watcher
HasanAbi
Penguinz0
-Hobbies-
Crochet
Knitting (although I’m not very good yet I do still enjoy it!)
Quilting
Hiking (I love, LOVE being out in nature, I’d die in the city)
Witchcraft
Writing (both my own stories and fan fiction)
Bushcraft
Archery/making bows (I’m not great at it yet but practice makes perfect!)
Art (painting and digital)
Foraging (both for food and medicine purposes)
Folk medicine/medicinal herbs (just small stuff for myself right now, I’m not confident enough in my skills yet)
Herping (I keep a notebook full of native species I’ve found out on my walks, especially snakes)
Collecting bones, pelts, and other animal parts
Bird watching
Hunting/Trapping (I put this in hobbies because I do enjoy doing it, however I only hunt for food and use every part of the animal)
#langblr#aroace#loveless aroace#introducing myself#therianthropy#therian#otherkin#alterhumanity#alterhuman#norse pagan witch#practicing witchcraft#I’m a sucker for military movies#angelkin#actually angelic#i’ll add more tags later
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boyfriends but awesome (and instead of a webtoon its an independent webcomic)
design notes and 3ds flipnote concept art below the cut
general notes abt their designs and what the comic would be like in my head:
>they dont have names in this version cause i think that was one of the good things they did originally. i imagine they refer to eachother as "that one" "the other guy" etc like the dhmis guys when talking about eachother.
>they are not in a defined romantic relationship with eachother because i think thats more interesting, the polyamory aspect would be kept (im not polyamorous btw so im not gonna try to write an established polycule) but its more vague in that they all kind of have a thing for eachother but also hate eachother and want to rip eachothers guts out. and theyre all roommates and bffs. if you asked them what they were the answer you would get would be "friends who are boys". they are the height of male friendship, hate, love, etc.
>instead of focusing on sexualizing them in strange ways and doing boring moe shit it would lean into the comedy aspect BUT NO MEMES OR LATE 2010S SLANG !! this was something i could not fucking stand when reading the original (if you couldnt tell by now i did used to read boyfriends. it was a regrettable time and in redesigning and overhauling them i hope to make something good out of this wasted period of my life) like even when it was current boyfriends always made memes feel.. out of place. like as soon as they said it it wasnt cool anymore. it was the unfunniest shit ever
>i wanted the characters to look less WHITE and also more distinct from eachother and also less young cause in the original its like the same twink 3 times in different haircolors and their Chad. said chad is the best character only by way of not being annoying. so yeah i'll be more specific later but none of them are white and i gave them all different eye and nose shapes and distinct physical traits and bodies etc.
>mostly i just did this cause the "nerd" and "goth" ones piss me off so bad like thats not real. thats not a nerd thats just a nondescript waify femboy with glasses. thats not a goth, thats a tiktok eboy. and i felt bad for jock being trapped in this comic. and the prep one i feel nothing towards hes the most accurate to gay preps irl because they really are that annoying. but i tried to make him a little interesting atleast. anyways
nerd - black, brony, always aggressively corrects the others when they state an incorrect fact, really into playstation eyetoy and obscure playstation games. insanely autistic. usually pissed off if hes not indulging himself in something he likes (yaoi, games, ponies, figures, etc). i just wanted to overhaul him completely to make him almost nothing like refrainbow's nerd because nerd type characters are always the ones i tend to see myself in and are my favorites but reading the webtoon that guy just pissed me off fr.
jock - 2nd gen chinese american, one of the things i liked in the original actually was when they sexualized the jock (probably cause hes the only one who doesnt look 14 in that comic) and his big tits. hes a very genuinely kind guy, not the brightest, has a voracious appetite, he also still bakes cause thats cute i think.
prep - he looks different here because i was originally going to make him white but i decided to make him a light/medium skintone black guy (he just wears a blonde wig and contacts). when companies make their pride month merchandise and advertisements this is the exact person they imagine in their head who is going to buy these products. hes a million percent one of those swifties who thinks taylor swift is secretly a lesbian. trust fund kid btw obviously. his only redeeming quality is that hes good at makeup. jokes in the comic are usually made at his expense.
goth - 1st gen latino american, specifically peruvian because i am a self serving motherfucker. hes a really big numetal fan and listens to like 2000s evil wolf amv music in addition to legitimate gothic. his face changed a little too between this and the final design. his outfit completely changed but its only because i realized everyone else was dressed for relatively warm weather so it wouldnt make sense for him to be wearing multiple layers of black. if i do cold weather outfits for them id def reuse this look for him. hes still trans but i think all of them are in my version. also they dont use labels for their sexual/rom orientation. except prep hes homosexual gay.
congratulations for reaching the end of this incomprehensible bullshit 👍 hope someone enjoys this but idrc if its just for me either
#images that are horrid to see and look at#mspaint#boyfriends#boyfriends webtoon#boyfriends redesign#redesign#character design#boy-friendz#nerd guy#jock guy#prep guy#goth guy#boyfriends slander
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