#similarly :3 good to know I have someone in the world who sees them the way I do 😁 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

spectacular-supernova · 3 months

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRESIDENT OF TONARI CLUB!

I, uh, m-made something f-for you.

Know that I'm totally embarrassing my ass over here, so... Don't laugh loud enough that I can hear you from over here!

Aaaaaand now, per Lyndis tradition, I'm gonna overexplain shits and turn a simple Ask into a whole ass Ramble!

-----------------------------(why is there no "Read More" partition in an Ask? I'm so embarrassed right now goddamn it)-------------------------

If you're short-sighted, try removing your glasses or contact lenses and look at this picture. I just did and it's suddenly even prettier!

I actually planned to draw your Sonicsona at first. And then I realized I deadass couldn't even draw Base Sonic. Then I thought I should draw a mole. I realized I also couldn't draw a mole. I thought I should just go for the easiest shit and draw ToFu. I realized I could not draw either one of them, too.

Because I cannot draw, I cheat! I mean I turn things into shapes (chiefly triangles, though not all of them) and then color them and hope that something shows up. This is me using this scientific /+ philosophical concept called Emergence.

No, I didn't just say THAT to sound like I have a technique of any kind, trust. It's so totally a technique—my very productive ass told me.

I remember you saying your favorite color is something like pink, blue, and stuff? It was from that tag game from last year. Hence, I decided I should create a context so I could draw an obscene amount of pink and blue.

If I'm being honest, it took me less than a millisecond to come up with the exact context—Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom is abundantly blue.

And since I always wanted to sneak ToFu in, I thought I would make a purplish-pink dusk. And then I will sneak those stargazing two in.

Come on. Everyone knows those ToFu panels. Even someone like me, who had not seen that part of the manga yet, knows.

Bless Tonari for being so relaxing to color.

HOWEVER! Fushi's limited-ass color presented a big problem for my cheat-drawing. How many combinations of "white" can you even make before you zoom out and see... nothing?! So I basically sabotaged them. That's what you get for being difficult, you mopey, neck-crick-possessing, fragile-enough-to-be-blown-by-the-wind cutie doofus.

I made up the color of their pants. I didn't even refer to their Nameless Boy drip when I decided on the color. I assed that part.

Yes. I admit I put a shit ton of effort into coloring Zelda. This version of Zelda is my kin, you know. Anyway, I like the way her, uh, shirt turned out.

I also like how the Master Sword turned out, but there was so much blue I ended up requiring outlines to distinguish it from Link's shirt and the sky. Told ya I have no technique or skill. I cheat through and through

I was too lazy to draw those sky islands. Besides, the ToTK side is already saturated with details.

What the fuck issa "proportion?" Everyone's head is an orange. The difference, Nova, is whether it's a Mandarin Orange or an Orange.

I don't know if I overdid Dinraal's draconic mane. It looks like she's wearing a wig. At least she is different from how she initially looked—a red tapeworm outfitted with chicken legs.

I admit I put more effort than any Past Me would have into Dinraal because a certain mutual is very, ah, particular about dragons.

Drawing two of your favorite ships for their show of devotion was a completely deliberative choice on my end. Did you also realize that both Link and Fushi had a short, small, low ponytail and that both Zelda and Tonari had similar hair? I believe it's due to me hitting my drawing skill limitation.

There is actually an Easter Egg of some sort in this picture. It's not the ugly doodle thing, no. That thing is me. I'm not an Easter Egg; I'm a ghost.

I'm not telling you what that Easter Egg is. I'm fine with it never being discovered; it'd be like those secret levels in old video games.

But if you DID discover it, come tell me what you think it is!

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

I hope you like it enough! Instead of it giving you a migraine, that is. Surely my """art"""... doesn't require a trigger warning... right?

Have a good one, mai bruzha!

---Lyn

A RAMBLE FROM YOU LYN IS THE BEST POSSIBLE BRITHDAY PRESENT I COULD HAVE EVER RECEIVED!!!! COUPLED WITH ART BY YOU????? AND OF MY FAVORITE FELLAS????? What did I deserve to be so blessed ;A; 💕💕💕

I’ll spare us all a little extra scrolling on my part by adding that read more you were fretting about, I have my own ramble upcoming!

I KNOW YOURE ON YOURSELF ABOUT NOT BEING ARTISTIC OR WHATEVER BUT THIS IS ART!!! AND DAMN GOOD ART TOO!!!!!!! This is!!!!!!!!!!! I want this made into stained glass I want to make this the permanent window to me bed roOM LYN THIS IS AMAZING THIS IS ALMOST CERTAINLY GOING DOWN AS ONE OF MY FAVORITE ART STYLES!!!! There’s no such thing as cheating in art, it’s all art!!! “Cheating” is a style, no technique is a style!!! I should know I have none either, hehe -w-‘ your art may be some type of cubism? Hehe idk I’m not an art student :3 Either way this is absolutely gorgeous I’m in LOVE!!!

It’s so creative and well done and I LOVE your eye for detail, the lighting is inspired!!!! Like the way the sun hits the space behind Zelda is so pretty, AND ZELDA IS SO PRETTY!!!!!! EVERYRHING IS SO PRETTY, I CANT FOCUS ON ONE THING BECAUSE I KEEP JUMPING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN ALL THE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT IT (every thing, every last detail!!! Is that a little you in the middle? Is that the Easter egg???? I could just pick you up and pat your little head!!! 😭 I know you don’t love hugs but that’s how I’ll be standing if you’re ever ready for one!!!)

I should slow down maybe and pick a few things to focus on BUT I JUST CANT I LOVE IT ALL!!!! The two scenes just blend so well into one another that my eyes are just naturally being drawn back and forth between both of the scenery! Dinraal, who turned out AMAZIING BY THE WAY, ABSOLUTELY NOT OVERDONE, if anything I’m so glad you had fun working on her!!! She’s so gorgeous!!!! I bet your friend is so so proud of how well she looks!!! Oh but anyway, Dinraal naturally leads my eyes over to the sun/moon (and the 24, hehe, thank you!!! /)//(\ Your memory is astounding!!), which have their own beautiful rays of light leading down onto the adorable couples 😭 I love love LOVE the moonlight leading down onto Tonari and Fushi, and the fact that she’s pointing at it too like she can almost reach it? Beautiful! Gorgeous!!! And it just leads my eyes down to them too, there’s just such a natural circular flow here, no wonder I keep getting caught in a loop of admiration! 😁

The blues and the pinks, and the stars on the ToFu side!!! I just noticed them and they’re everything to me!!!! Hahaha I’m so glad Tonari was relaxing to color hehe, same for me, something about her is just so lovely and calming when she’s relaxed 🥰 As for Fushi’s colors, I didn’t notice! Even after you pointed it out it looks good to me! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ this is from someone who never references colors though, I’m so loosey goosey about everything -w- BUT YOUR SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEM WAS GREAT, THEIR SHAPE IS VERY VISIBLE AND EASY TO MAKE OUT hehe :3 I love their crossed little legs 🥰

Zelda being your kin is so good to know hehe, I’ve always been drawn to all versions of Link myself! I think we’ve been perfectly set up to “play dolls” with these characters in the future, so to speak! Aaaahh they can’t have been easy to draw, there’s a reason I almost never dabble in drawing those two and their intricate outfits, but you make it look effortless!!! Zelda’s shirt turned out amazing, and I’m stuck looking at her little triangle braids!!!! I don’t know why I’m so fixated on that it’s just adorable!!! 😭💕 What a lovely technique, man, I’m so enchanted! AND THE MASTER SWORD, I know you called it cheating BUT I LOVE THE LINE WORK, it makes the sword stand out, almost like you lined that specific part with some sort of melted gold??? Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

This is gorgeous and beautiful in every which way and thank you!!!! For everything!!! For this beautiful drawing and for giving me a chance to ramble and giving me something gorgeous to look at for the rest of my day, and for indulging in both of my silly little ships /)//(\ I’m so glad I don’t need glasses because I love every inch of your art, thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!!! Gosh it’s so so so lovely 😭💕 you’re so lovely!!!!

I don’t know how to say goodbye so I guess I’ll just say good night for now! Thank you for thinking of me… I’ll have a wonderful day, so long as you promise me you’ll have a wonderful night along side me 🥰

Goodnight, Mai Bruzha!

- Nova

#Lyn the Zelda Kin (I’ll come up with a better tag some day I PROMISE 💕 haha!!!)#Friend Rambles 💕💕💕#long post #IM SO STOKED YOU HAVE NO IDEA AAAHHHHHHHHHH KICKING MY FEET #I’m typing the tags before I actually type the main body heehee I’m gonna jump over the moon!!!!!#and thank you for the letter too I’ve been rereading it! I’ve been getting back into writing letters of my own and wow!!!#the quality of yours are amazing!! I may have to take a note or two on how to craft a good one that one was amazing!! and thank you :’)#ok editing: this nova back after her ramble in the body text #I’m sorry for how disjointed this all looks! I kind of tackled my response based on where I was looking at at any given time #and I wanted to get my reply back before you hit the sheets for the night!!! still it took me some time but I hope I made it!!!#ahhh Lyn I hope you rest well! I’m going to have an amazing birthday and you’re a contributing factor in that my friend.. Mai Bruzha!!!#I know for a fact I’m forgetting details too like just the fact that I love the idea of Tonari and Fushi chilling at night #chatting and looking at the stars and enjoying each other’s company. my favorite scenes of them are always them shrouded in darkness and #covered in some sort of fireside lighting I just!!!!!! they’re so good in the dark thank you for drawing them at night #they are a moon couple to me… and ZeLink is a sun couple to me like idk how you got all these details DOWN about me! maybe we see the world #similarly :3 good to know I have someone in the world who sees them the way I do 😁#aahhhh I’ll let you get off to sleep now dear friend!!! and thank you again! thank you thank you thank you!!!!#this is truly shaping up to be the best birthday ever!

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ukiyowi · 8 months

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Mini PAC III

Notes: Please check out the Masterlist for more! Reblogging and paid readings help a lot! Pls DM me if you want one!

Messages from your higher self (repost)

Pile 1

"Whenever you make a decision, you know how it will end don't you? You have all the conclusions already laid out about every situation you've ever been in, has that ever helped? Things come to an end but would you want things to go another way? I hope not, because otherwise you wouldn't be who you are today"

Pile 1, I feel like you're regretting something, the end of a chapter maybe one that was very important, maybe you're going to college next year or you're starting a new job, or maybe you're moving houses, either way your higher self-assures you that whatever you do, don't move forward with regret in your heart.

For some of you there may have been a romantic relationship that ended and the weight of that break-up is still heavy on your mind, manifesting itself physically, draining your energy, exhausting you. Your higher self is telling you to cherish the times andmemories you had with that person, people change and so do circumstances but thosememories won't.

Pile 2

"Playing the devil's advocate won't get you, his throne. You need to be more mindful of what you say. Have you been getting frequent headaches lately? Clear your surroundings and meditate it should help, also please drink water. You shine so bright then why do you fear the dark? It won't harm you if you accept it."

Have you been feeling simultaneously distressed yet exceedingly happy lately pile 2? It happens, your higher self is telling you that you're being pulled in two directions so choose the one that makes you exceedingly happy and unsuccess will follow. You already have everything you need, you *are* everything you need.

All the good things that you dream about and run after are right there all you need to do is open your eyes and look. Your higher self is encouraging you to be more comfortable in your own company, you don't need people around you constantly to validate you, you don't lneed external validation.

Pile 3

"The world isn't yours to hold nor is it yours to heal. Start asking for more and you shall receive it, especially when it comes to clarity. You can't be everyone's number 1 and that's okay, everyone has their own match, just because you're not first doesn't make you any less valuable as a person, don't let it affect your self-worth. Pretending to love someone won't make you love them, fake it till you make it doesn't apply here."

Oof pile 3 so many messages coming through here. I also got a song for you, "Beautiful Feeling" by Day6. I'm getting a lot of love messages for this pile, your higher self similarly to pile 2 encourages you to focus more on yourself, whilst focusing on platonic relationships around you. Nothing will ever satisfy you if you look through a lens of despair at everything. Even if 3 of your cups have fallen, you still have two left. Your higher self is telling you to completely feel your feelings, negative ones too but not to wallow because that won't have a positive impact.

Don't try to copy other people because everyone's unique, you're your own person and people appreciate and adore you for that. Your higher self also gives a message regarding blue butterflies and how if or when you see them, you should remember that they are right by your side. October may be an important month for you as well.

#pick a card reading #pac #pick a pile #tarot daily #intuition #pac reading #daily tarot #tarot readings #🩵 PAC 🩵

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comradekatara · 4 months

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if someone in the main cast besides aang were to be born the avatar, who would you want it to be? i think toph with access to all elements would be an unstoppable menace, but i’m curious to hear your thoughts

okay so obviously AUs that entertain an avatar during atla besides aang himself clearly have no interest in upholding the fundamental themes of the show, since aang is the only possible avatar/central figure of this show. it is explicitly structured in such a way that aang’s protagonism is no sheer coincidence or accident (ie, it’s good writing). so when entertaining who would make for a compelling avatar in an AU, we also must entertain how such a figure would necessarily shift the themes of the narrative, and whether such a transformation would be interesting.

1) katara wouldn’t be interesting, because her narrative role is too proximate to aang’s to change the themes of the show in any significant way, and even though seeing katara as the avatar would undoubtedly be cool as fuck, we already have korra, who is basically like if katara was the avatar (personality and skill-wise at least) and she is, indeed, cool as fuck. so not katara.

2) zuko is also proximate to aang, and his role as the avatar would be relatively similar to his role in the show already—unlearning the dogmas of his nation to align himself with justice and balance through learning the techniques of multiple elements. it is literally not different in any way.

3) toph would be extremely powerful of course, but she is already extremely powerful, so nothing much would change. her parents would attempt to restrict her, she would escape, travel the world, hone her craft, and defeat ozai. not very interesting.

4) suki would similarly not be interesting. she is an extremely diligent and talented warrior, so she would simply train and defeat ozai with no real obstacles in her way.

5) iroh as avatar also wouldn’t change much imo. azulon would see it as a blessing and wield him as a weapon in much the same way he does in the show. iroh’s failure and betrayal would maybe put a slightly bitter target on his back, but his emotional journey would be much the same.

that leaves 6) azula, 7) sokka, 8) mai and ty lee (yue and jet would also make for pretty interesting avatars, but you did say “main cast,” and we don’t have all day besides). they would make for interest avatar AUs specifically because this role reversal necessitates a reversal of the show’s core themes.

6) avatar azula. she finds out as a child (perhaps ursa is there with her, perhaps she dies with azula’s secret), and is urged (by her desperate, terrified mother) to secrecy. no one, especially not her father, can know of her burden. she hones her firebending in broad daylight, and trains her other elements under the cover of darkness. her waterbending is more powerful under a full moon. her earthbending is so precise she can use it to pick a single flower from the garden without disturbing the feng shui. but despite ostensibly being her secondary element, her airbending still needs work (here is where she and korra happen to converge). then, one day, her precarious existence experiences a seismic shift—her older brother has been banished, and his task is singular and seemingly impossible: capture the avatar and return them to the palace in chains.

for all of zuko’s flaws, he is relentlessly stubborn, and azula knows that he will not rest until his task is completed. of course if she remains in the palace, zuko will never be able to find her or return home, but she cannot take that chance because she knows that iroh can sense what—who—she is. so she runs away. elegantly, of course. she puts it in ozai’s head that he needs to send her away for a special mission only she can complete, that will take an indefinite amount of time to accomplish. and she leaves the palace under ozai’s authority, disguises her identity, seeks out as many masters as she can find to train her, and plans her coup. she is able to recognize how palpable her fear of ozai truly is, because she has been hiding from him her whole life. and she knows that the only way to stop hiding is to defeat him. as you can see, this version proves a very different story, with different themes, different characters, and a vastly different ending. and so it compels me.

7) avatar sokka. sokka finds out he is a bender after katara finds out that she can waterbend, and after she is nearly killed for it, their mother in her place, and so he keeps quiet. especially because he first finds out he is a bender by lighting a fire in his palm. once all the men leave for war, sokka goes to the farthest outskirts of their land, under the guise of hunting, and trains with his firebending every day (of course he does also hunt. his village needs food after all). one day, while attempting a new firebending move, he launches himself ten feet in the air. and that’s how he discovers that he is also an airbender. as if being a firebender wasn’t enough of a hideous curse, he’s also the avatar. what a cruel joke life is.

one day, a fire nation ship docks in their village, and a scarred young soldier demands to know the whereabouts of the avatar. sokka clumsily fights him with his spear, his club, his boomerang. but when zuko attempts to burn him to a crisp, nothing happens. the flames merely dissipate inches away from his skin. then, in a moment of sheer desperation, sokka airbends him and his retinue back, all the way into the freezing waters of the south pole. of course, freezing waters are not enough to kill a firebender, but he’s also somewhat concussed by sokka’s boomerang, so iroh insists that zuko recover in his chambers until morning. zuko insists that he just found the avatar and has no time for recovery, but iroh claims that without his health he will never capture the avatar, and promptly locks him in his room.

sokka says a hasty goodbye to katara and kanna and makes his escape on a boat with enough supplies to last him until kyoshi island. of course katara somehow manages to stow aboard, which doesn’t surprise sokka in the slightest. after her initial shock wears down, she’s just like “so were you ever going to tell me you were the avatar???” and sokka’s like “uhhhhhh eventually…” they make it to kyoshi island, seconds away from being fed to the unagi until sokka reveals his true identity. zuko tracks them down to kyoshi island and sokka and katara are given a stronger boat and more provisions with which to escape.

since katara wants to go to the north pole, and katara always gets her way, that’s where they head, except sokka insists that he should at least find an earthbender while they traverse the massive continent before reaching the north pole. katara’s like “noo it has to be in order of the cycle!!” but sokka’s like “fuck that i’ll take what i can get.” he finds jeong jeong, and even though jeong jeong calls him an oaf, he turns out to be a pretty good student. he fears fire and values discipline, which is all jeong jeong really asks for. by some pure happenstance (because sokka and toph will always find each other) they find the perfect teacher in gaoling. she escapes with them as they head to the north pole, but once they arrive her feet are freezing and she’s forced to wear boots, at which point sokka agrees to carry her everywhere. then he meets yue and accidentally drops her.

pakku agrees to train sokka but refuses to train katara. at first sokka’s like “well it’s fine because you can learn from master yagoda how to heal and i’ll learn how to fight and then we can swap notes,” but he quickly realizes that this is a bad plan because they refuse to listen to each other, so instead he just demands that pakku teach katara. pakku is obstinate, so katara fights him, at which point he realizes that she’s kanna’s granddaughter so problem solved i guess. sokka also learns healing from yagoda, because having the ability to heal and not exercising it is silly. during the siege of the north, sokka goes to the spirit oasis to attempt to ask the spirits for aid, but the only times he’s ever been to the spirit world have been when the spirits allowed it, and as it turns out, he’s really bad at meditating. which is for the best, because it means he’s prepared for zuko’s attack, and he and katara work together to stop him. they don’t kill him, but only because yue is looking at him with fear and it makes him hesitate. then before they can stop him, zhao kills tui and yue sacrifices herself, and sokka turns into a giant spirit koi and goes apeshit in his grief.

sokka, katara, and toph decide to trust a general who will help sokka harness the power of the avatar state to defeat the firelord. sokka is all for it. he’s like “yeah i’ll be used as a weapon and kill as many people as it takes to end the war.” he’s fine with this. it’s his duty as avatar after all. so the war ends quicker than in the show. he finds a map of the fire nation, toph helps him enter the palace through a secret tunnel (cue the song), and alone he enters ozai’s throne room and fights him. he doesn’t even need to enter the avatar state to kill him. he just uses the waterbending techniques he picked up from yagoda to reach into his chest and explode his heart. sokka uses his influence as avatar and firelord-killer to end the war and navigate all the complicated postwar politics.

the end.

see? it’s not as good.

but there are still some elements that make this version compelling. for one thing, sokka would have to interact with the spirit world. a lot. and he wouldn’t be happy about it. he doesn’t like that they pose questions that don’t have answers. and so he decides to wield his power as a tool for war, rather than against it. he wields his cultural influence to exert control over the world. a story where sokka is avatar (and with no aang to temper him and make him laugh) is necessarily a story as cynical as sokka is. but if that’s what you want, then there’s no better candidate. (also, he'd come up with some really creative bending techniques, and that would be pretty interesting.)

(however, if that is really what you want, just read the kyoshi and/or yangchen novels. they’re basically just worlds populated with sokkas.)

8) finally, mai and ty lee’s stories as the avatar would be much the same, so it doesn’t matter which. they are both enlisted to join azula’s small, elite team to return zuko home in dishonor, and to capture the avatar. so they must hide in the lion’s den, obscuring their identity from those they keep closest. their world is already one of dual loyalties and secrets; what’s one more? mai and/or ty lee only reveal their true powers at the boiling rock, to keep the other safe. together, they defeat all the guards holding them back, go into the avatar state to reach the cliffside before azula’s airship departs to the western air temple. azula is outraged, shocked, and hurt. ty lee somehow talks sokka into letting them hitch a ride back, and that’s how mai and ty lee join team avatar. of course, one of them is actually the avatar, so that’s not what their team is named in this scenario. although it gets named that after they join. and mai and/or ty lee defeats ozai. the end.

this version is a version that, like azula’s, specifically explores the costs of lying and keeping your identity hidden. it is similar of course to their actual narrative, while also exacerbating the impact of aang’s initial introduction, but the stakes necessarily become even higher, and the story becomes focalized on their internal struggles in a way the show never truly did. so to any mai and/or ty lee fans, it’s compelling on those grounds alone.

in conclusion, even the more compelling alternate characters—exploring deception, secret identities, ruthless violence, and spiritual conundrums—do not actually make for more interesting protagonists than aang. i would say that azula definitely comes closest to being the most compelling alternate avatar, with sokka, mai, and ty lee being compelling insofar as it presents opportunities for their internality and cynicism to be explored. jet would also be pretty interesting thematically, but you know i hate his vibes. and yue’s narrative would completely reshape the story, so that could be compelling as well. but ultimately, aang needs to be the avatar for the story to work, and even in azula’s case, as a fascinating replacement figure, her original role in aang’s story is fascinating enough. without aang in the central role, the show just isn’t as good.

#ecothroat #asks #the gaang and #AUs #azula #sokka #(mostly)#had to put most of it under the cut because i started rambling for way too long #even though the short answer here is simply: no. aang must be the avatar #that was a lot of words to dismiss the question entirely huh?

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 7 months

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Regarding the great seven, did they win in Twisted Wonderland? Like, for example, did Jafar became sultan and the current royal family of the Scalding Sands are his descendants? Did Aladdin die because of him?

No, that's (largely) not the case! Twisted Wonderland is simply a world in which the characters we know of irl as villains that did heinous stuff are just viewed in Twisted Wonderland as historical figures who contributed greatly to society. It's no different than how we may study our own historical figures and their accomplishments in social studies/history class.

While we do hear stories about the Great Seven and their powers, we rarely hear stories which would imply they somehow "won" in the end as opposed to the heroes. For example, Jasmine and Aladdin are implied to still very much be in love, as Jamil tells the tale of a street rat that married a princess. (If Jafar had "won", wouldn't he have been the one to marry the princess?) However, there ALSO exists a tale concurrent to that one in which we're told the Sorcerer of the Sands revealed that someone had lied about their social standing to trick a princess. There are no indications that these two stories are one and the same, so in the world of TWST it seems they're two separate instances that both draw inspiration from Aladdin. There are also no indications (ever) of the Disney heroes dying because of the Great Seven. In fact, it seems like many of them still got their original happy endings. (ADDENDUM: as a commenter pointed out, it’s also possible that multiple tales or versions of the tale came from the same initial story, something which happens irl as well.) Similarly, we know that the mermaid princess married a human prince, thus alleviating tensions between merfolk and humans with their union. This would not have been possible if Ursula had "won", as that would mean that Ariel would have reverted back to being a mermaid (or that little squishy thing Ursula has a garden of) and would "belong" to the Sea Witch forever. Ariel wouldn't have been able to stay on land and marry Eric in that state. Furthermore, Ursula may have gone on to become Queen of the Seas if Triton still intervened to save his daughter... but then why is Triton still honored as King of the Seas in the Atlantica Memorial Museum in book 3?

There are a few instances I can think of which would imply the villain "won", the main one being that Scar ruled the Pridelands as a wise and benevolent king (which is not true of The Lion King movie). I don't consider this Scar "winning", but more like... a twisted or exaggerated retelling of the actual event. For the villain to "win", that would also imply the heroes are gone or in a position to not stop them, right? Yet there are zero mentions of Mufasa or Simba being out of the picture, or even of Scar banishing family members that opposed his rule.

This all points to there being an alternate telling of history in TWST; it seems that the "evil" deeds of the Great Seven were censored and/or retold in such a way to paint them in a beneficial light, since the deeds of the traditional heroes also exist and are also considered true in Twisted Wonderland's history. (For example, Scar letting the hyenas into the Pridelands is reframed as a good thing, since he promoted the integration of a previously marginalized group into the country; Ursula is actually believed to have "mended all her ways" rather than it being a lie to deceive others.) Lilia even specifically mentions that it's possible to "change" history just by telling it a certain way.

On a related note, it seems that this year's birthday series (Platinum Jacket) will delve more into TWST's history and how the NRC boys feel or think about various classic Disney characters. I'm really looking forward to seeing how those expand the lore~

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absolutebl · 8 months

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Hi!

So apparently GMMTV will be announcing their 2024 line up in October!

Which actors do you think will be paired together this time? I feel like Mix and Pond have hinted they will be studying more so maybe not their pairings…. GeminiFourth said they will have a series so definitely them…

I would love to see ThorFluke plus Pawin with anyone and Drake with anyone!

What are your predictions?

Ooooo, GMMTV 2024 Pure Speculation

(remember if it's not data driven I'm historically pretty bad at this, but sure, let's shoot the shizz)

Most Likely

EarthMix - they're reading v burned out (in addition to Mix + school) but they are currently GMMTV's cash cow so I can't imagine GMMTV won't try to put them in something, no matter what Mix said... but it's possible they'll be let rest for most of 2024.

First & Khao - naturally, if GMMTV can find a script the boys like, these two are likely their the biggest pair earners (if EarthMix really are out).

GeminiFourth - of course, the new princes

ForceBook - honestly they are steady, reliable workhorses who visually suit many BL scripts, they seem easy to work with, fun, and game. Not the most charismatic pair and I'm shaky on their range and versatility, but GMMTV clearly doesn't feel that way. I think it's pretty likely they will get something... I just hope it is something interesting. Are they bankable enough for a historical? That's the real question.

Not Sure

JoongDunk - I really don't know, I think they are slightly more likely than not but they keep getting lackluster scripts. GMMTV is more likely to blame the pair than the show. And it is possible they are just a lackluster pair... too.

JimmySea - what happen to (or will happen with) Last Twilight?

I'd like to see Jimmy paired with someone else. He's too charismatic for Sea. To really break us they should pair him with Gun and just burn down the world. GMMTV would never do this, tho.

Least Likely

It's unlikely PondPhuwin will lead out a show. Pond def said something about going back to school. (Which is code for a long break, if nothing else). They're good but less $ than EarthMix so I think GMMTV will back off from them.

OffGun - I'm not saying it won't happen anymore, but...

TayNew - see above

Bright with... anyone but Win.

A queer can dream, tho.

Some noodling

I do think First & Khao were successful enough, and Only Friends will be enough of a sensation, for GMMTV to consider more First Khao style stuff. AKA instead of just dropping a whole pair, GMMTV will try rearranging pairs. Especially for couples that had previously been mostly just sides.

So we can expect Neo, Mark, Marc, Puwin, Aou, possibly even the twins or the Flukes show up paired "experimentally" with different other actors. Some that may genuinely surprise us.

That said, I'd like some more role swapping too.

For example, with Pond away, and him getting older and being SO established in the genre, I would love to see Phuwin play a seme roll. Not sure he has the personality for it in terms of how he's bonded with some of the newer GMMTV talent since I don't watch any of the variety/BTS anymore, but he has the screen presence.

Remember originally Neo & Phuwin had a pairing... I wonder if that would ever happen again.

I would love love LOVE to see Tay paired with someone else. I thought he was a revelation in 3 Will Be Free showing range I'd no idea he had and he's such a big puppy and friendly with everyone. I bet he could get many partners to trust and relax.

Similarly New needs to play a seme. I think he once said he'd rather not do BL with anyone but Tay, but I still think he'd be fun to see.

So New is less likely, but I think we can safely assume Tay would be game. With TayNew it's whether their shipper/stalker fans would "allow" this.

What GMMTV Wants/Needs

I said in the past they needed to onboard new talent and they went for free agents (Joong, Perth). I thought they'd go for whole pairs, and I still think they'd be wise to consider this.

Given they're likely shifting focus on expansion into darker, higher heat, and more gritty arenas (which I think they need to do given the paucity of scripts within their preferred BL style, the tenor of the market, and the aging of their existing stable) what they want is Zee++. Now they can't wrestle him/his pair free of Dormundi, so...

For solos they are looking for:

actors who have lost their pair, have range into dark territory, will do high heat, and can play harsher seme roles (tall a bonus.)

If they're smart they make a play for Bible, but I wouldn't rule out Lee Long Shi. Both actors have a style that fills a niche in the GMMTV stable and are pro enough to work well in a new pair that GMMTV sets for them.

You KNOW they want Bible. How could they not? Can you imagine?

If they go after a pair?

If they're smart as I think they are? They want NetJames. And they might be able to get them, depending on contracts. NetJames has been awful quiet recently, they either are actually finally filming Love Upon a Time or that's fallen through and they're in contract negotiations. YinWar and JaFirst are also tempting prospects, I would imagine. Especially Ja.

It's this "new pair to GMMTV" announcement I'm most interested in, come October.

I think I'm leaving a key high heat pair on the table, but GMMTV also has a specific appearance and acting style they tend to cast for, and not all of the current indy heat pairs have that. Plus their are high value pairs that clearly do not want to sign with or work with GMMTV (OhmFluke for example) so that's a factor.

Finally, you KNOW they want to recreate the magic of GeminiFourth with young talent so I would bet they are actively recruiting high school grade pink milk via auditions, so we can expect one set of totally fresh faces.

Also tumblr ate half this post so I might have missed a few pairs worth discussing, because I had them but it deleted them. Don't blame me, blame tumblr, and leave a comment.

FYI my predictions for 2023 were as follows:

10 GMMTV THAI BL 2023 Predictions (and how I did)

(these are the ones I made last year before their announcements)

EarthMix (yes, 2x)

something with Joong but not paired with Dunk (nope, they tried the same thing again)

dito Jimmy (not sure what's going on there)

what the hell: Lee does a BL (still no, last man standing)

probably a new attempt at ForceBook (yep)

2 set in high school and fewer set in uni (yep/nope)

at least 1 set in an office of some kind and at least 2 set in the countryside (yep/sorta but mostly nope)

one experimental paranormal/alt reality/time slip (yep)

something Friend Zone messy featuring several LBGTQ+ characters and couples and higher heat (yep)

an attempt to resurrect big guns like TayNew (yep - if cherry magic happens) or even BrightWin (nope, they went for OffGun instead, who I had thought were out)

So here's my...

10 GMMTV THAI BL 2024 Predictions

First & Khao lead out something non-school and complex (GMMTV BL grows up)

ForceBook & GeminiFourth get new shows

Phuwin paired with someone else

GMMTV starts experimenting more with busting up and rearranging pairs

What the hell, Tay does a BL with not New.

We see Joong and Perth star in something GMMTV but not BL

GMMTV pulls in at least one established outside talent who plays harsh seme roles and has a more aggressive tone

GMMTV recruits/onboards an established pair who can and is willing to do higher heat

They option something v complex: crime thriller, mystery, suspense, historical even, I wonder if they might be interested in adapting say... Trapped.

JoJo gets to helm another "off brand" show

What I want them to do?

Finally admit that they can take an established script and "make it gay" and just LEAN in. Descendants of the Sun, but gay. Business Proposal, but gay. Home Town Cha Cha Cha... but gay. Thailand has the latent pool and the screen time but they don't have the scripts/stories.

Time to look to Korea and just fill in the gap that Korea is already leaving on the table (by only doing short form BLs).

Korea has the romances. Hundreds of them. MANY of which are not gender dependent.

Can you fucking imagine if Boss & Babe had been that exact cast but GMMTV doing a gay Dali and the Cocky Prince instead? It would have been amazing.

(source)

#FYI that seriously awful bug: undo hotkey deletes half your post is still there #tumblr why you onboarding us to a new ux that is 3x as buggy as the old one?#pure speculation on GMMTV #ForceBook #EarthMix #Taynew #FirstKhao #geminifourth #pondphuwin #GMMTV 2024 #GMMTV predictions #how wrong can I be #GMMTV Jojo #bible wichapas #Lee Long Shi #NetJames #ABL gets wordy #I have THOUGHTS

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yuesya · 3 months

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I see you've taken after the Nasuverse quite well, making so many alternate versions of your main heroine :)

This latest one actually reminds me a bit of Zero from Drakengard 3. Both of them have similar backstories, being sold into slavery and suffering a cruel betrayal at the end of it. Both have a devil may care attitude towards murder and do it on a whim or as a reflexive response. Both also share similar appearances with their stark white hair and skin.

Moreover, since Shiki probably wasn't raised as a proper young lady like her canon counterpart and being more open about her visceral desires she'd likely have a more crass vocabulary. Once agian, quite similarly to her Drakengard counterpart.

Although I am a bit befuddled about Jujutsu society's response to Shiki since it seems kind of... muted. Yes, Shiki is a special grade curse user who definitely killed her fair share of sorcerers to earn that title. However, I don't think the sorcerers would let her go around committing whatever atrocities she wanted without offering some resistance, they certainly didn't with Geto.

On that topic, Geto and Satoru would also definitely take an interest in her for a variety of reasons. Geto would likely be thrilled to have another special grade helping achieve his genocidal ambitions, especially one as murderous as Shiki. Whereas Gojo would've likely encountered her one way or another since he is already on the look out for a homicidal special grade curse user.

Although given what little we know from the AU so far it's likely Shiki would reject them both. Shiki would probably want nothing to do with Geto's dream since she'd see no difference between sorcerers and "monkeys." She would also be uninterested in making the world a better place.

As for Satoru she would probably mix with him as well as oil does with water, meaning not at all given their tense interactions in a different AU. This would likely culminate in a battle between the two leading to the infamous [REDACTED] incident, which leads to both of them developing a mutual understanding to stay out of each other's way.

There are so many AUs haha. It feels like a new one crops up whenever I turn around...

Interesting parallels to Zero! And fitting, in some ways. Araya doesn't strike me as someone who would take an active parental role for Shiki; he'd probably decide to observe her 'natural behaviors' instead. Remember how in zenith of stars Shiki experiences some struggles with her desire to 'be good' versus her instinct to kill? How she initially tried to claw out her own eyes because she recognized that humans aren't supposed to visualize death?

In this 'verse, Shiki has no such restraints tempering her. She was never taught the difference between 'right' and 'wrong.' There's only Araya, who watches her silently no matter what she does.

I haven't sorted out timeline details, but Shiki would escape from Araya sometime while Geto is at large, which means that most of the jujutsu headquarters' attention is focused on Geto as the major threat. Shiki gets mistaken for one of Geto's compatriots multiple times. Geto attempts to recruit her and fails, but he doesn't particularly mind. Shiki has killed many non-sorcerers according to her whims, after all. He probably tries to direct her towards non-sorcerers as best as he can from the sidelines.

Shiki comes into prominence after Geto's death, and that's when people start realizing that this girl is a lot more dangerous than she seems at first glance. There are multiple sorcerers sent after her -all are killed. They need to cut their losses, and their last resort is Gojo Satoru-

But what if Gojo tries to recruit her to his side? The girl is like a wild beast that can't be controlled; worse than Tsukumo ever was. What kind of damage would she cause? What if Gojo succeeded in taming her? Which probably then leads into the attempt to bribe Shiki out of Japan with one of Sukuna's fingers.

I haven't made up my mind on how the meeting between Shiki and Satoru would go, but lots of collateral damage sounds like it would be on the right track haha.

#QA #zenith of stars au #villain shiki au

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chloe-caulfield94 · 8 months

Text

Chloe has been a "good good influence" on Max

In Episode 3, having heard Max utter her first "hella", Chloe joked that she was a "good bad influence" on Max. On the surface level, that remark referred to Max becoming more "cool" by hanging out with Chloe, but I think that Chloe's influence on Max went far beyond superficial (and ultimately unimportant) things like style and fashion.

When they were reunited, Chloe was at the lowest point in her life. She was barely functioning, or outright non-functioning in all her social roles. She was in danger both physically (of being murdered) and emotionally (of drowning in her own sorrow). So when Max rescued her from certain death, made her smile and laugh for the first time in years and made her feel like she had a reason to stay in Arcadia Bay, it was very easy to see the positive influence she had on Chloe's life.

But the way I see it, Chloe had a similarly profound (and positive) influence on Max's life.

Chloe saved Max in the parking lot, giving her a timely ride. In the boys' dorms in Episode 4, she shielded Max with her own body from an armed and enraged Nathan (on those two occasions Chloe worked in tandem with Warren, but I don't think it cheapens Chloe's - or Warren's - efforts. Helping others is not a zero-sum game, where only one person can get the full credit). In the version of events where Frank lunged to Max's throat, knife in hand, Chloe stopped him by shooting him in the leg. And on Friday, Chloe dragged unconscious Max all the way from the beach to the lighthouse, while the world was ending around them.

Even more importantly, Chloe helped Max on a deeper, emotional level. Max had her own demons to fight, even if their existence wasn't so obvious to the outside observer as it was with Chloe's. Sometimes people hurt under the surface.

Before being reunited with Chloe, Max struggled with self-doubt, lack of confidence and propensity to constantly second-guess herself. She was so unsure of her worth that she couldn't even submit a photograph for a silly school contest, choosing to rip it up instead of putting a part of herself up for others to see (and judge). That dreadful feeling of inadequacy impacted all facets of Max's life.

The reactions Max's classmates have when she chats them up in Episode 1 show that over a month into the school year, her self-doubt and lack of confidence prevented her from making any serious social headways. "You never talk. Just zone out with your camera" (Juliet). "Max, you're smart to be a loner here" (Dana). "Hey, I know you. You're the new quiet girl" (Stella, in response to "Hey there, Stella").

How is it even possible that the same girl, barely four days later, told a serial killer to "eat shit and die" while bound in his torture chamber, before driving a car through a hurricane? What happened to her in the meantime? Or rather WHO happened to her in the meantime?

Throughout the week, on multiple occasions Chloe gave Max exactly the sort of life advice she needed to hear. "It's time to start moving forward in time". "Stop being so goddamn humble. You're like the smartest, most talented person I've ever known". "Once you get over yourself, you're going to make the world bow". "Every great artist gets rejected before they get accepted. So you have to enter a photo". "Stop beating yourself up". "You're kind and caring. Nobody could have a better best friend". "You need to accept how awesome you are". "You're Maxine Caulfield... and you're amazing".

Chloe's advice was simple and straightforward, but that doesn't make it any less helpful, wise or heartfelt. And the constant affirmation and praise must've been like manna from the heavens for someone struggling with feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt.

Max's and Chloe's relationship has always been a two-way street. They both saved each other, in ways different and alike. Only standing side by side they had a chance at defeating their demons.

Chloe's demon was hopelessness. The fear that not a single person would choose to stand by her. That she would have no one to go through life with. This is why she grasped so hard at Rachel's idea to leave Arcadia Bay. Because before Max's return, the dream of skipping town with Rachel was the only piece of hope for a better tomorrow Chloe had left. So she held on to it, even after Rachel left her a letter describing how she had met someone new and exciting. And she kept searching for Rachel, even though you didn't have to be a pessimist to conclude that she was in all likelihood dead. But then someone unexpected, yet very much desired, reappeared and stayed at Chloe's side.

When the Storm hit, Max's and Chloe's demons, feeling the stranglehold they used to have over their victims loosen, launched a desperate, last-ditch attack.

Max's demon, self-doubt, sent her a nightmarish vision that was supposed to make her second-guess all her choices, efforts and sacrifices. Did I do the right thing? Was she worth all that? Does she really care about me? Or is she just using me? And finally, the demon wearing Max's face tried to tempt her into nipping in the bud something that would blossom into a good and beautiful flower. Just like it successfully had tempted her into tearing up a photograph that would've won the contest. Only this time the stakes were infinitely higher - love, life and the future.

Chloe's demon tried to claw from her that one last bit of hope for a better tomorrow she had left. How could she want to be with me, now that she has seen how broken I am, what the price is for being with me? And the demon was victorious. So Chloe gave up and opened a door for Max to leave. "I don't blame you for wanting me out of your life". "You proved that over and over again... even though I don't deserve it. I'm so selfish". "Maybe you've just been delaying my real destiny... [...] I know I've been selfish, but for once I think I should accept my fate... our fate".

Ultimately, the fate of the battle was decided by one final, dramatic blow, as is often the case when heroes face off against demons. Holding the butterfly photograph, Max had the power to slay both demons. Or to let them win. To prove them right. To admit that for Chloe there was no hope for better days. And that Max would never stop second-guessing her choices. Not for anyone. Not even for someone who was her number one priority, the only thing that mattered to her.

I choose to believe that Max Caulfield, the hero, standing amidst the howling winds, clad in her newly-found confidence like a suit of armour, slew two demons with one blow, dealt with the most powerful weapon in all of creation - love.

#Max Caulfield #Chloe Price #Pricefield #Life is Strange #LiS

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ahaura · 5 months

Text

(Dec. 8) by Mahmoud Alyazji

Article title:

Refaat Alareer taught life

Article text:

The inspiring writer and educator Refaat Alareer has been assassinated by Israel. (Via Instagram)

I remember how Dr. Refaat Alareer entered the classroom.

He immediately put a few books on the desk. They included Gaza Writes Back – a collection he had edited – and Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd.

Dr. Refaat always carried them around. They were a part of his identity, as a reader, writer and storyteller.

He introduced himself, said a few things and told a few jokes. He listened to what we had to say, then took Gaza Writes Back in his hands and started to read aloud.

His face lit up; his eyes opened wide.

He really captured the essence of “Omar X,” a story by Yousef Aljamal.

Dr. Refaat told us that he recently bought a car. The worst part about doing so was that he couldn’t listen to the stories of taxi drivers in Gaza any more.

“I could spend hours just looking at beautiful sentence structures or reading stories,” he said, smiling.

Another favorite hobby of his was making memes. He encouraged us to be similarly creative.

My first impression of Dr. Refaat was that he was different in a good way. His enthusiasm was real.

I had never been able to concentrate properly during a three-hour lecture until I attended one of his.

He taught me creative writing.

He taught me poetry.

He taught me Shakespeare.

He had a profound connection with modern plays and poems and taught them in a funny and interactive way.

Encouragement

When I remember Dr. Refaat Alareer, I don’t just remember him as someone who worked at the university. He was someone who taught life.

He was my friend. Someone I looked up to – like a father.

Even in the darkest of times, he would check on me and other students. He told us that if we needed anything, please let him know.

The last time he texted me via WhatsApp was on 27 November.

He reproached me for not publishing anything since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. And he encouraged me to write.

On 3 December, The Electronic Intifada published an article I wrote titled “World shrinks for Gaza’s children.” I sent Dr. Refaat a link to it but I wasn’t sure if he saw my message.

I have subsequently learned, though, that he reposted a link to the article on Twitter. When I saw that, I couldn’t help but cry.

You believed in me, Dr. Refaat.

You believed in the strength of words.

You told us, “If I must die, you must live to tell my story.”

You always gave me confidence and strength.

I was over the moon when you asked me to deliver a class when you were sick.

I remember when you edited my first story and said, “I see a writer in you.”

You always paid attention to the details.

You shared my first published story on a WhatsApp group before I had even told you it was published. “Good job, Mahmoud,” you said.

You made me a writer.

You were the best teacher I ever had.

I will always be proud to have been one of your students.

I miss your lectures.

I miss the comments you wrote on the right hand margins of our papers.

My eyes filled with tears while I was writing these words. But I wiped them away and continued writing.

You are not dead, Dr. Refaat.

I promise that I will always write.

I will fight with my pencil and my poems.

I will never forget how much you brought to my life.

You will always be my inspiration.

#refaat alareer #mahmoud alyazji #articles #palestine #📁.zip

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hwnglx · 1 year

Note

can you please do a reading on what enha thinks of jake? tysm. <3

what do enhypen members think about jake? based on tarot, take it with a grain of salt

heeseung

strength, 7ofw, 3ofc, kingofw lovers, 4ofp, queofsw, 4ofsw&10ofc+9ofc

+ wow. heeseung definitely sees jake as someone who has a very strong presence and effect on the people around him. he thinks he's a guy who's very resilient, opinionated and passionate, but also incredibly charming, warm and kind. the type of person you just can't help but like. someone very sociable and easy to get along with, who likes enjoying fun, lighthearted times with his friends, but can also have his moments of intensity. heeseung thinks that his bandmate is the type to feel every emotion very deeply, while still being able to keep a calm demeanor on the outside. someone who's mastered taming those feelings over time.

- well, he thinks that jake is just too flirty for his own good. heeseung thinks he's someone who likes starting these lovey dovey connections to people to fulfill his need for affection, but can also have attachment issues and struggle opening his heart up, as soon as it gets deeper emotionally. like, he'll be prince charming to anyone, but as soon as the topic of conversation gets deeper, he avoids it. he thinks jake is also someone idealistic who dreams a lot about the "perfect" life he wishes he had, but doesn't do much to put those wishes into practice. a very pisces moon thing.

jay

world, 2ofp, star&kingofw queofc&3ofc, 4ofc&3ofsw&8ofsw, empr+9ofw

+ honestly, i got such sweet energy here. jay seems to adore him a lot, like.. he is just really proud of jake. he sees him as a well rounded individual who has a certain kind of duality to him. on the one hand, he can be an incredibly inspiring, bright and radiant guy with an uniquely healing quality. someone who makes you feel comfortable. while on the other hand, he can carry himself in a very confident and charismatic manner and turn heads wherever he goes. he sees him as an attractive guy who really stands out and knows how to charm people.

- similarly to heeseung, jay thinks that jake is someone who enjoys female attention a lot and is too much of a ladies man, but is very avoidant when it comes to his more negative emotions. he recognizes that jake just feels very deeply and can easily feel crushed by the heaviness, which can result in him preferring to surpress those feelings. kinda like an escapist who's scared of his vulnerable and softer side. jay seems to view that sensitivity as something really special, which is why he thinks jake should learn to embrace it more. (also, i kept getting this feeling that jake is very attached to his mother? not sure but she kept popping into my mind during this reading.. hm. wonder why.)

sunghoon

aceofw, fool, 5ofc+5ofsw, devil&star aceofp, 9ofsw, 4ofc, 8ofc, 6ofp

+ sunghoon thinks that jake is someone full of enthusiasm and creativity, who has a childlike and care-free energy to him. he sees him as an agreeable and easygoing guy who's pleasant to be around. it also seems like he sees jake as someone who's pretty self-aware, in a way where he's good at recognizing when he's done a mistake or acted in a toxic manner. sunghoon sees that jake will probably feel quite guilty about it and make an effort to get rid of any bad habits that might stand in the way of him being a decent person.

- again, he also thinks that jake is too avoidant. someone who runs away from his emotions in order to escape the intensity of them. it really seems like sunghoon just thinks that jake can be too dramatic as well. i keep hearing "calm down" lmao. he believes that his bandmate can stand in his own way sometimes, not just personally but also career-wise. he might see him as the type to overthink a mistake he did hundreds of times and really get in his head about it. sunghoon also believes that jake can easily get too generous with the people around him. the kind of person who just doesn't know limits when it comes to giving, whether it's emotionally or materialistically. (to me, sunghoon seems to be one of the members who's good at separating his view of the members with his personal feelings towards them. i often get very clear and objective thoughts for him.)

sunoo

queofsw, kingofw, tower+sun 7ofc&10ofw, 9ofc&wheel, 4ofw+hieroph

+ sunoo thinks that jake is a smart and independent guy who, although being of pretty intense nature, can often prefer detaching himself from others. he also sees him as an attractive person who knows how to utilize his charm on people to get what he wants. in sunoo's eyes, jake also has the unique ability to always see the good in every situation, no matter how chaotic and messy it might seem. kinda like a ray of sunshine during winter season. someone who can make the best out of the worst and bring light to darkness.

- jake is someone whose imagination is too vast for his own good, in sunoo's eyes. he sees him as the type of person who can quickly get overwhelmed by all his dreams and struggle to act on them. "what do i do first? how do i even do it?" type of way. someone who's kinda lazy compared to the amount of things he wishes to achieve. tbh, he seems to think that jake just got lucky to get to the place he's at career-wise. sunoo thinks that he's someone who's too comfortable just sticking to the rules and doesn't like going against the grain a lot.

jungwon

pagofsw&highpr, 4ofw, 5ofc+2ofc 9ofw, 4ofp, aceofsw, 3ofp+sun, 8ofc

+ aw, jungwon also gives me nice energy here. he thinks of jake as someone very intelligent, intuitive and observant, who has a great eye for detail. the type of person to spot and remember the small things others probably wouldn't. he also sees him as someone he enjoys a stable friendship with, a fun loving member he feels very comfortable around. the leader thinks that jake is someone who's very emotionally connected to the people he's close to. a kind person who can easily feel guilty if he does his loved ones wrong, and leads his relationships with a lot of compassion and understanding.

- similarly to the rest, i'm spotting a common thread here, he sees jake as an escapist who's too scared of feeling too much and making himself vulnerable. he thinks he might have some trust issues and therefore can prefer to keep personal things to himself. jungwon also views him as someone who has so much going on in his head, that he can get easily get too confused and struggle to keep focused sometimes. he sees jake as someone who can be too avoidant of conflict when it comes to work as well. the type that'll constantly just see the good in everyone, just because he doesn't wanna deal with the negativity that'd come with anything else.

niki

knofc, aceofw, kingofp, char, 8ofw 2ofp, 10ofw, aceofsw, 5ofc, 8ofc

+ niki thinks that jake is a true romantic at heart. someone who's very charming, gentle, in tune with his emotions, but also very passionate and enthusiastic. he sees him as a driven and strong character who's not only good at his work, but also a great communicator. someone who's very smooth with words, the type of person you can have many pleasant conversations with. i really feel like these two must talk a lot off camera, like i'm getting pretty nice vibes from them. good friends who understand each other and click pretty well.

- again, eight of cups coming out.. like damn, jake must really struggle finding fulfillment in things sometimes. :( niki sees him as a person who's very emotional and more introverted than what meets the eye, and can have problems dealing with the more material and practical world because of that. he easily finds burden in too many things going on at once, since his head is already working full-time. so, niki is aware that external influences can be an added weight to carry for jake. he thinks that jake can quickly blame himself for habits like this, rather than staying objective.

the cards that came out the most were king of wands, eight of cups and five of cups.

so bottom line, most of enha view jake as someone who appears to be passionate, confident and strong to the outside, but is very emotional and introspective behind the scenes. the type of person that can easily get overwhelmed by that sensitive nature of his and therefore prefers hiding it behind a more self-assured mask.

#kpop tarot #enhypen tarot #jake tarot

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sixstepsaway · 1 year

Text

I've had a bee in my bonnet for a while now over the concept of representation.

Every now and again, I hear someone complain that x person on x show is "bad rep", maybe because they're a promiscuous bisexual or a flamboyant gay or whatever, and I find myself wrinkling my nose because I don't really...agree, and quite often those characters are simply good characters, so I don't... see why this sparkling concept of Representation™ matters in this context?

And, like, don't get me wrong - representation matters. Having representation on mass media matters so much, and having good rep matters too.

But I think I've narrowed down my issue with the concept being applied so broadly.

Before I get to that, let me dig into how I feel about 'bury your gays' in mass media. Many will not agree, which is fine, but my idea of 'bury your gays' is that if your show has one lesbian and you kill her, you fucking suck. If your movie has one gay man and you kill him, you fucking suck (and so on and so forth). If your show has a bunch of lesbians and one of them dies, that isn't bury your gays.

Similarly, in my opinion, if your show is something like Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, where characters die all the time, killing a (or even the) gay character isn't really bury your gays. It's a little iffy if you introduce a replacement gay character in the same episode you kill the current one, but generally speaking killing gay characters in a show full of death is just... it makes sense? I don't really want all gay characters to have magical plot armor for the rest of time because Bury Your Gays sucks as a trope.

Which brings us back to representation.

A few years ago, The 100 season 3 was filming, and the head writer Jason Rothenberg made a huge deal about Lexa, the lesbian Commander of the Grounder Coalition. He'd share bts shots of her actress, he'd talk about his pride in having her as representation, he'd get people to follow him on twitter to 'earn' more bts shots, outtakes, bloopers, whatever, and then he killed her off 7 episodes into a 13 episode season.

And it was shitty. It was shitty because he built this self-aggrandizing, masturbatory back-patting club around himself and then killed her off and thought it was funny. It was shitty because at that time she was the only lesbian character in the show (we had Clarke, who was bisexual, but bisexuality and lesbianism are not the same), and it was shitty because it made no sense (but that's an essay for a different post, frankly).

Lexa was representation because JRoth wanted her to be representation. He made a huge deal about her being representation and so she was.

Other shows, or books or movies or whatever else, do this too, talking about how their characters are representation in interviews or on Twitter, but often they don't. Their characters are just... their characters.

Sometimes, people write characters because they want to write that character, because the tropes and traits involved in that character are true to the character being written, not because they're Good Bisexual Representation or whatever.

I think when there isn't an explicit goal to create representation, it's rather unfair to get angry at writers for writing 'bad representation' or just sub-par representation when the goal is simply to write an authentic character, rather than a specific sexuality to be held up on a display and presented for the world to see.

Not to mention that every time I see someone say, "This character is bad rep because they're xyz trope!" I see someone else say, "Yeah... so am I... this character represented me so well..."

No group is a monolith! You will never represent an entire group in one character, not ever.

But I think the itch for me has always been, and continues to be, the idea of yelling at someone for poor representation without ever knowing if that's what they were trying to achieve.

I don't think Laenor in Fire & Blood was meant as Good Gay Representation, I think he was just right for the story, and the fact GRRM repeatedly includes queer people in his medieval fantasy as just a part of the world to me means so much more than him trying to shoehorn in a perfect example of representation. Similarly, I definitely don't think Aneela and Kendry in Killjoys were meant as Good Lesbian Representation (far from it considering they both spent many seasons as villains), they were just good characters and having those two be who hooked up instead of Aneela and Johnny (a somewhat obvious direction for the show to go, if you ask me, had the show been more traditional with its tropes) or Kendry and idk Pree for the sake of horrifying example.

Trying to write perfect representation always ends in shallow, two-dimensional characters who inevitably let someone down, and slandering people who write three-dimensional characters for those characters being imperfect is cruel and unjustified and I think that is what's been bothering me every time I see conversations about representation.

Not all characters are representation. Sometimes they're just characters.

#queer #representation

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sam-glade · 7 months

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My Editing Process

Part 1/3 - Big Picture Stuff

This is what I do to a novel or a novella before showing it to anyone (including beta readers). I’m posting it in hopes that it will help someone, and I’m not expecting it to work for everyone. Take any parts that help you!

Two things up front:

‘Imperfect’ doesn’t mean ‘bad’. Good writing can have imperfections.

The goal is to get the manuscript to a stage where the imperfections won’t be distracting to beta readers.

Baseline

This is my process for novella- or novel-length projects (so around 40-100k words). I don’t write short stories, so I don’t know how applicable it will be. I’m currently editing Gifts of Fate, trying to shave off a couple of thousand words, and I’ll be pulling examples from it.

I’m a pantser and an overwriter who loves checklists. I know that my early drafts include scenes that explore the characters and the setting, but don’t contribute enough to earn their keep – this isn’t applicable to everyone. I also write in 3rd person multi-POV, hence references to switching POV.

In this project, I also aim for a crisp, direct style, with minimally flowery descriptions.

I start this process when my draft is in the following state:

After I’ve replaced all [[foreshadow this]] and similar comments, added all the skipped segments, etc.

After I let the manuscript rest for a couple of months

When the overall plot is highly unlikely to change. I.e. the sequence of events/plot beats is set in stone. I may consider reframing them or rewriting from someone else’s POV, but I won’t change the direction of the story.

Big-picture stuff first

I can’t stress this enough, do this before you get into the nitty gritty line edits. You don’t want to pore over a chapter for hours, only to realise it has to be cut – and all the effort you put into editing will be thrown away.

The goal of this pass is to bring out the best parts of the story, make the focus crystal clear, and make sure everything gels together.

I make a copy of the manuscript and make sure you have the old one stored away. I often refer back to it, to see if I like how a chapter has changed.

The outline

I write a bare-bones outline, no more than a phrase per 2k words – the shorter the better.

The way I do it is to put that as the title of each chapter – chapters for me tend to average just over 2k words. E.g. in GoF, the first few chapter titles are: ‘The Rupture’, ‘The Sword’, ‘The Cutthroat’, ‘The Sergeant’, [redacted], ‘The Windmill’, ‘The Threat’, ‘The Investigation’, ‘The Plan’. Not catchy, but pinpointing the focus of each.

It’s important that each point corresponds to a similarly sized chunk of text, so that I can spot when there are long sections where not much or too much happens – this will highlight issues with pacing.

If I’m not sure what to put in the title, it’s an indication that it might be one of those meandering, unfocused chapters. I gather a list of those, to pay more attention to them.

It also helps me identify the goal of each chapter. This is the part where I’d consider reframing or even rewriting a chapter from someone else’s POV, if the current structure shifts the focus away from what it’s supposed to be about.

Two examples:

In one chapter, I had a regular POV character (Ianim) check in on the protag’s family, and the protag’s sister (Marta) filled him in on how her magical powers had manifested a few days earlier. The intended goal of the chapter: tell the reader about the powers. What it ended up being: by framing it as a conversation between them, the focus was on their dynamic. Solution: rewrite the chapter from Marta’s POV and present the events that led to her powers manifesting as they happened, rather than retrospectively talking about them.

Later on, the protag (Lissan) is on the run and struggling to survive, while feeling that he should be saving the world, not just himself. He gets a stern talking to from an old man. The intended goal of the chapter: Lissan gets over his dilemma, and makes a decision to save himself, then make the world a better place. What it ended up being: the old man’s backstory stole the spotlight Solution: spend more time on the dilemma, especially before the storytime, and less on the backstory – I want to keep it, because it serves a subplot, but I can shorten it by a few sentences.

Meandering Chapters

With that done, I read over the manuscript one more time, focusing especially on the chapters identified as meandering, and skipping the ones with clear plot beats. I know events like the big fights, first meetings, etc. definitely won’t be cut.

In my case, a lot of these are consecutive chapters composed of 2-3 vignettes, which come up when characters spend a period of time in one place, e.g. taking time to train or make preparations. They’ll be composed of scenes with low-stake actions, some exposition, and some exploration of characters and their dynamics. I want this project to be a fairly fast-paced fantasy adventure, but these slice-of-life scenes slowed down pacing too much. They are usually identified as meandering, since each scene/vignette has its own goal, but they aren’t strung together.

I Marie Kondo the hell out of them. I list what’s the purpose of each scene, and what I lose if I cut them out – this can be a mental exercise. Will cutting each one in turn leave the reader confused? Sometimes, all the reader is losing is an additional bit of characterisation. This is how I discovered I had two chapters showing the same two characters spar, each from one of their POVs, and the only purpose the first one fulfilled was to show that one of the characters didn’t like cold weather. Yep, that got cut.

Then, anything that's set up but doesn't have a pay off UNLESS it's a deliberate red herring. The length of the set up should be proportional to how crucial to the main plot is the pay off.

E.g. I had two conversations where in the first one the protag was told that demons react to the colour red, and in the next one he found a red ribbon to put on his Sword. And that was the last mention of it. The first mention stayed as flavour, the second conversation got cut.

And I know I need the red ribbon there in the second book of the trilogy, but it really can appear closer to when it's needed – i.e. in the second book. In general, I'm weeding out set up for later instalments which are easy to forget.

Repetitive Chapter Structure

I group chapters by structure, especially paying attention to the cases when:

Characters sit around discussing a plan, with the dialogue being a civil discussion all the way through. I know I have a tendency to do exposition through pages of dialogue. I don't want to have more than 2-3 of these across 50 chapters, and I want them spaced out.

A character fills others in on events they don’t know about. This can be either 'you weren't around when this happened to me' or 'this is a legend you (and especially the reader) needs to know, to understand the rest of the story'. I want to make sure there’s at most 1 of these in my novel.

How many of each you want in your manuscript, depends on its length and genre – I’m going for a fantasy adventure with a fair bit of action, so I cut down on the dialogue-heavy or research chapters, in favour of action scenes.

If in either of these categories I have more than what I want, I try to change the setting, or sprinkle in some action – for example, talking while doing shopping or renovating a house. Sometimes, a large chunk of the conversation can be skipped with a 3-5 sentence summary paragraph – and yes, in cases like this exposition might be the lesser of two evils. I also make sure the similar chapters are spaced out, with a change of pacing or setting between them.

This is where I stop tinkering with the story on my own – if I go on further, I don’t have the confidence that my changes are making it any better.

Part 2: Ctrl+F'ing the manuscript

Requested tag: @galactic-mystics-writes

#editing #writing #writing tips #writing advice #novel writing #creative writing #writeblr #writeblr community #writers of tumblr #writing resources

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see-arcane · 1 year

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This made me realise that Mina uses "my __" a lot (my Jonathan, my beloved husband, my dear one) compared to him doing so no wonder she'd be not pleased if someone tried to snatch him away

The thing about Jonathan and Mina is that they are both very much more than the standard 'in love' with each other that you'll see in a lot of Mandatory Love Interests in media. They're not just in love.

They're in crush.

They're in infatuation.

They're in 'my beloved is all that matters and dear God I don't know how I got lucky enough to win the romance lottery to convince them I was worthy, but I will spend every second of every day trying to earn that love.'

The main difference lays somewhere in--sigh along with me--the gender politics of it all. Because the thing is, even if we barely squint at the time period (and, sadly, even at our modern relationship pitfalls), Mina is very, very aware that, by partner standards, she is the one who got the 'luckier' pull. Specifically because Stoker wrote Jonathan as the rule-breaking, love worshipping, refusing-to-other or abandon champion of a Prince Charming out of the whole cast; and possibly out of most male romantic leads in the era's literature, Period.

Meanwhile, despite Mina being very much her own breakthrough of early feminism and interesting traits--again, sighing over the New Woman commentary, but still--when we look past the unique/strong/smart character facets, we really see a lot of the Classic Darling Female Love Interest formula at her core. She is sweet and caring and loving and loved.

As all good non-hag non-femme fatale characters were at the time. You can't throw a rock in Victorian and earlier lit without hitting a similarly winsome young lady. They pop up like charming weeds.

It's Jonathan Harker who stands apart. Jonathan Harker who loves unconditionally, who does not conform to classic masculine heroism, who would fight God and the Devil to hold his beloved above all harm, who would damn himself, who would kill and die to keep his beloved safe and happy. Who would--gasp!--rather be equal with his partner, even preferring to let her take the lead!

Which was un-fucking-heard of at the time. Even if she/Stoker weren't really caught up on what New Women actually stood for, I'd bet money that Mina knew exactly how rare a prize like Mr. Harker was in a sea of brutes and cheats and general misogynistic louts looking for a housemaid they could imprison with a wedding band and belittle on a daily basis before they go out to meet mistresses 1-3.

Mina is not an idiot. Jonathan is not either, but I think he is blessedly naïve enough to think there was anyone else in the world who would champion Mina as much as he does, as much as she deserves. She's Mina, for crying out loud! An angel! A goddess in and of herself! Who wouldn't adore her as he does? And to Van Helsing and the Suitor Squad's credit, they do come close, risking what they do...

But they do make that murder oath.

And for that, Mina is grateful. She did ask for it.

But though she never writes it, maybe only rarely dares to even think it--such a blasphemous, selfish thought!--she is doubly grateful that Jonathan never swore with them. Proof positive, that. Somewhere in her, a secret proud voice whispers:

Look, Mina Harker née Murray. Look at the paragon among lovers you have tricked into loving you and being your knight. You have wed Eros himself, lucky Psyche that you are. He does not even realize what a treasure he is. The one treasure that matters. The one which evil powers have tried so hard to steal away. Do not let them, Mina. Let them have gold and magic and your own blood if they must, but never, ever him.

So yes.

All this in mind, it is very little wonder that she enjoys referring to Jonathan as my husband, my love, my darling. My, my, my, mine, mine, mine. Hearing and saying it is a reassurance that she has not woken up from this sweet dream. Just as I'm sure Jonathan saying the same--or else repeating Mina's name like his own prayer--reassures him. They are real, they are in love, they are each other's.

And so when someone like Miss Helen Penelosa comes along and Mina catches wind of her plans for Jonathan, I can't not see her loading that revolver.

#Mina: Normally I quite oppose violence.#Mina; loudly undoing the safety: HOWEVER--#The Harkers: Do Not Separate (or Else)#mina harker #jonathan harker #holiest love #helen penelosa #dracula #the parasite #bram stoker #arthur conan doyle

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drowninginredink · 24 days

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How did it take me until April 3, 2024 to realize that Lemony Snicket is absolutely a trans woman and someone needs to get her some E, stat?

- Lemony is always, always, always hiding her face. Well... okay they cut it from Netflix, but in the books and movie, the most iconic thing about Lemony is that in every photograph, she's managed to hide her face. And yes, allegedly that's to hide her identity, but like... Is it? Or is that an excuse and really Lemony just does not like her face because it's too masculine? God knows most pre-transition folks hate being photographed

- Have you seen the way she talks about Beatrice? Have you read that letter from The Beatrice Letters? "Summer without you is as cold as winter. Winter without you is even colder," "I cherished, you perished, the world's been nightmarished," "When we first met, you were pretty and I was lonely. Now I am pretty lonely." Straight men do not write about women like that. Lesbians do. Especially that letter. Do you think that a straight man wrote "I will love you if I never see you again, and I will love you if I see you next Tuesday" or "I will love you until the chances of us running into one another slip from skim to zero, and until your face is fogged by distant memory" or "I will love you if you don’t marry me. I will love you if you marry someone else – your co-star, perhaps, or Y., or even O., or anyone Z. through A., even R. although sadly I believe it will be quite some time before two women can be allowed to marry?" Absolutely not. Those are obviously the words of a lesbian.

- Pretty much everyone important in Lemony's life is a woman. All of the people closest to him: Beatrice, Kit, R, Moxie, and Ellington. Sure, he does interact with other people, but those are the 5 closest relationships indicated by the text. Obviously you can be a man with all female friends, but how many times has a "man" always gotten along better with women and ended up not being a man.

- The audiobooks are (mostly) read by Tim Curry, and we all know he plays a pretty famous transsexual

- Lemony strikes me as very self-sabotaging. Now, this is my own opinion. One could believe that all of the mess that Lemony is in is purely VFD's fault. Maybe VFD forced her to take the blame for Olaf's crimes and generally end up buried so deep in accusations that she had to fake her own death and go on the lam. However, I can see an absolutely self-hating Lemony who volunteered to take on the role that she did. Who chose to be the fall guy. And why would she hate herself so much? Dysphoria. A deeply dysphoric and closeted woman who figures that since she isn't happy with herself, she might as well be the one to have her life ruined by the schism. That way all the actually happy and good people don't need to have their potential ruined.

- Similarly, Lemony never actually jumps in to save the Baudelaires, merely writing about them from afar. She is, to put it bluntly, a coward. She tells herself she's doing something to help them, but won't intervene in the way they really need. Why not? Because she's so deep in self-loathing! Again, that could just be because of her failures in life, but like... What if she also hates herself because of repressed dysphoria?

- Lemony is just generally really, really, really, really sad. And look, I know I'm aromantic as hell, but do we really think that's *just* because she lost the love of his life? Or do we think maybe something else is making her that gloomy?

- Look I just really want Lemony to have a way to be happy. And there's no bringing Beatrice back. But. HRT? Sure. I bet there's HRT in the snicketverse. Why not? I take the reading that Beatrice and Bertrand had Violet at like 20, which makes Lemony only like 35. He's 35, and yet she's completely given up on life. She is just a shelll of a person. She doesn't actually interact with anyone and spends all her time researching terrible things that happen. She's too young to be resigned to misery. I want Lemony to have a way to be reborn and find some form of happiness again. Thus, I would like to blame some of her misery on living as a man, and propose that transition could save her.

- Again. Lemony hates pictures and doesn't like to show her face. Give her some FFS! Stat!

- Come on. Beatrice and Lemony are an iconic couple. You cannot tell me that if given the choice, you want them to be M/F when they could be F/F

Okay. I rest my case. Now to submit to @couldtransitionsaveher

#lemony Snicket #a series of unfortunate events #asoue #snicketverse #trans headcanon #trans fem headcanon #trans femme headcanon

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dutchdread · 1 month

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Hello Dutch! Do you think the loss of mystery and less impact on certain scenes in the narrative was caused by long-term fanservice?

Yes and no. I certainly think it was a factor, but I don't think it was the biggest one. If I had to guess, and since I am not a mind reader a guess is the best I can do, I think the biggest reason is the necessary change of the pacing of the game. In remake the developers made the (in my opinion) mistake of constantly showing Sephiroth, almost from the start of the game even. The decision to do this was based on three main factors I think. 1: "In the OG the first time you see Sephiroth is in Kalm, however, that is only a few hours into the game. If we did the same with the Remake we wouldn't see Sephiroth until game 2 and we can't have an entire FFVII game without Sephiroth." 2: "People already know Sephiroth, so the mystery is gone anyway, so it doesn't make sense to treat his appearance as one when everyone already knows him". 3: "People love Sephiroth so lets give them a bunch of Sephiroth!!!".

I personally think all of these are flawed. For one people are capable of influencing their mind state to resemble someone who is watching something for the first time. It's not exactly the same, but close enough, there is a reason people can watch the same thing over and over again and get similar responses on repeat viewings. When people love a story they are willing to watch things as though it were the first time. They can feel mystery and suspense even though they know the answer. I also think that there is enough happening in FFVII that you can keep the player occupied while playing a long game when it comes to mystery. If anything I think that the extra time to let mystery build could be used to enhance the experience, rather than making it feel drawn out. Especially in remake I think Shinra was MORE than good enough to qualify as the main villain for the story segment, and I think Sephiroth being only "a shadow on the edge of memory" for 90% of the game would make his unseen appearance in shinra HQ all the more terrifying. And ofcourse the reason people love Sephiroth is how effective he is as a villain, and part of that is the mystique. If you give people more Sephiroth you are actually giving them LESS Sephiroth, because Sephiroth isn't just the man, it's the idea, the presentation, and that presentation requires restraint in implementation.

My suspicion is that the mystery surrounding Clouds condition was approached very similarly. They figured they had the new mystery surrounding the "parallel worlds" as an overarching mystery and since people already know whats going on with Cloud that mystery could essentially be spoken about more openly. But this suffers from the same problems I mentioned above. I can totally watch FFVII as though I do not know the mystery, and experiencing said mystery was what I was looking forward to most. To me it's the best part of FFVII, and without it I barely even consider it a remake. And yes, I think fan-service did play a part. One of the things you hear most often when discussing the LTD is the retort that FFVII is not a romance story and that we're too focused on something that FFVII just isn't about, and while I disagree with that assessment, since romance ABSOLUTELY is a massive and crucial element to the story, I do agree that the romance is, for the most part, something that is in the background, it is the underlying backdrop that is required to understand the characters and their actions. But the focus is still on the actions themselves, as well as feelings and events that the romantic backdrop have caused, namely Clouds alter ego and accompanying mental problems. However, in rebirth the romance is NOT the backdrop, it's the focus of a large part of the game. Hell, the main play loop of the game revolves around you getting the party members to like you. And while it is true that this also involves, for instance, Barret and Nanaki, I think it's pretty clear that this entire core aspect of the game was implemented mostly as a way to explore romance in the game and satisfy fan desires. The question is, did that impact the mystery? And yes, I think it did. For one, everything related to Aerith and Zack in chapter 14 is PURE fan-service bait. The entire "can we save Aerith" plotline was fan-service bait from the start. And both these things, on account of both not being well handled, and overshadowing the actual mystery of FFVII, have a negative impact on how well rebirth is able to tell the story of the OG. Not only that, but SE tried to avoid burning bridges by not being clear with their story in regards to Aerith. I've heard people say that SE was wishy washy when it comes to choosing between Tifa and Aerith, they weren't, this game is about as pro-Cloti as it could be, Cloud and Tifa are a thing, if that weren't already obvious it's even more obvious in rebirth. No, the thing SE is being wishy washy about, is between Aerith and Aerith. Between the interpretation of Aerith loving Zack and simply using Cloud as a stand in, or Aerith as having "genuine" feelings. And the problem is that by trying to keep that a mystery they've made themselves incapable of properly examining either idea. There could have been deep meaningful scenes and conversations about how Aerith is still searching for the guy she lost. But they can't be that explicit without alienating fans, so they instead are vague, which results in a whole host of issues. But the most important issue for this question is that this approach creates an unfocused story, one that lacks clear direction. And a story without clear focus and direction will never be able to tell its mysteries in the most engaging and enthralling way. They want to show Zack, they want to discuss Zack, so they can't have Zack be a twist, but they also can't properly discuss Zack since that would be too explicit and so they half-ass it. They want to imply that Aerith is looking for Zack in Cloud, but they don't want to burn bridges, so they also want to hold open the possibility that Aerith actually likes Cloud for Cloud, and by doing all this nonsense you're creating a teenage love drama where you could have had a meaningful story about two people helping each other where the scenes could be directed to maximize the effectiveness of the mystery of Zack, rather than playing into a "I love him, I love him not" soap opera that got boring 27 years ago.

#ffvii rebirth

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rruhlauthor · 2 months

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Book Review - First Blood by David Morrell

Long before I knew there was a book called First Blood, I knew “Rambo” meant someone who went into situations with guns blazing, like Die Hard or John Wick. After reading it, I see how film and pop culture have turned the character into something strikingly different. I have never seen the movies, so my review will speak only of the book First Blood. What made the book so special? Would it be as well-known without the film adaptations? Thrillers are naturally inclined to be popular, just like the romance genre, for titillating the audience’s emotions and allowing them to vicariously experience adrenaline. Despite the fact the thriller genre tends to be more plot than character driven, First Blood is unique in the action being completely motivated by the characters’ emotions. This made for a powerful story I could not put down, a modern revenge tragedy, whose popularity was certainly due to its relevance to contemporary issues.

I was excited to learn David Morrell was a Penn State alum, which is not my alma mater but is my state! My copy contained a foreword from the author, in which he explained the idea came from flipping through the news (just like how Suzanne Collins got the idea for The Hunger Games). He saw coverage of the Vietnam war, violence in inner city America, and a story in which police officers arrested ‘troublemaker’ hippies, shaved their hair, and dropped them off in the middle of the desert. He thought, “What if I wrote a book in which the Vietnam war literally came home to America?” (Morrell 3)

On the surface level, it’s a story about men shooting each other, like a Western. Exciting enough for that target audience, but First Blood isn’t any thriller. Deeper, it’s an anti-war reflection that caused division within the divided society it was written for. First Blood was highly relevant to the issues of the 1970s and contains complex, compelling characters in which you really can’t tell who was the protagonist and who was the antagonist.

Neither Rambo nor Teasle are the “good guy” and I felt like we weren’t supposed to be rooting for either of them. Both are larger than life characters, but especially Rambo. See: the connotation of the name in pop culture. No one should be able to keep running with that many injuries, dehydration, broken ribs, fevers, bat bites, and bullet wounds. I would think no one can kill over a dozen men in a quick ambush, during a flash flood, with aforementioned broken ribs. Teasle similarly keeps going despite witnessing the death of his father figure, nearly having a heart attack, and finally dragging himself along with a hole in his abdomen.

As a side note to break up this gritty review about a gritty book: we got a solid appearance description for Rambo, but I don’t remember one for Teasle, and towards the end of the book I realized I should have been imagining him with a notable moustache because it was the 1970s. I must also mention, the sexism was very 1970s. There's the part where Teasle is thinking about Orval's wife and wondering who she'll cook and clean for with her husband dead. Because all women are good for is housework, right? Terrible.

I’ll admit didn’t care for Teasle, coming from the perspective of someone who doesn’t like cops who harass and arrest people for non-crimes such as ‘loitering’ just because they want an ego trip. It happens too often in the real world. No matter what Teasle said about the law or wanting a distraction from his divorce, I read between the lines to know he was ruthless in his pursuit because Rambo had disrespected him. Similarly, Rambo snapped not only because of PTSD and seeing the prison cell; he was refusing to cooperate even before getting arrested because Teasle had disrespected him. I was almost rooting for Rambo to escape, though I knew he wouldn’t. I felt like the Green Beret, proud of how skilled he was. I knew Rambo was not thinking straight, that to him, he was in Vietnam and not Kentucky. It made him a little easier for me to sympathize with than the police officer, though he lost most of my sympathy once his priority stopped being escape and he started hunting for sport.

Even though I agreed with absolutely nothing the characters were doing, I understood every single choice they made and the pathos behind it. Their characterizations were crystal clear, which is something I admire as a fellow writer. Furthermore, I was delighted by the parallel structure of the story. It begins with Rambo and Teasle meeting at a gas station where they butt heads over who is allowed into the town, and it ends with gas stations exploding while Rambo and Teasle hunt each other through town. The ending was cathartic. Despite me not liking either character, I understood both of them, which had me choked up at the end. It could not have ended any other way. This feels bizarre to say, but I was happy the book had the finale it did. I would have been disappointed if it ended in any other way but them killing each other. Their stories were too connected at that point. The hunt becomes a type of love. Teasle was seeing through “the kid’s” eyes. They were both so far past the point of no return, their entire lives narrowed down to one purpose—to defeat the other—so that once their goal was done, they’d have nothing else to live for/no more purpose as a character.

What was the purpose of all of it? All those men died in the woods and the town was burned down, just because a cop harassed a man who was doing nothing but walking down the street? There was no point to the level of bloodshed, but this is a book about the Vietnam war, and it carries the theme that there was no purpose for the war. The scene resonated with me with the Green Beret training officer saying he hated the war, but did his job because he wanted to teach the kids the government sent into the slaughter to stay alive longer. Teasle and Rambo both grew up being taught how to kill and little else. They both brought the war to America.

It’s a tragedy, through and through. It’s Shakespearean. Act I: Rambo is arrested and starts to run. Act II, the rising action: Teasle begins pursuit. Act III, the climax: Rambo kills everyone but Teasle. Act IV, the falling action: Rambo continues to evade pursuit. Act V, the conclusion: the fight in the town and the death of the tragic heroes. Rambo and Teasle both occupy an honored position in society, holding medals, they both have a tragic flaw—the ego/hubris of the classics—which causes the tragedy to happen, and they meet an end they cannot be restored from—death.

#book review #first blood #thriller

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samseabxrn · 3 months

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7 snippets, 7 mutuals

thank you @rowanisawriter for the tag!! i'll tag @theluckywizard and anyone else who wants to share :) lots of dialogue this time around lol:

bodyguard au (cullen/f!trevelyan)

“You’re jealous,” she laughs again, because she’s feeling this insane urge to wind him up. Like maybe it’ll lead to something. Around them, a dozen Cullens purse their lips in disapproval. “They don’t know what you can really do,” he murmurs. “And does that frighten you?” He blinks, something heavy swirling in his eyes and in the air between them. When it becomes obvious he won’t say anything, the dozen versions of her stride away from the dozen versions of him. “We have an early morning, Enchanter,” he calls out behind her. She wonders what he’s trying to remind himself of with that.

2. a heart that laughter has made sweet (cullen/f!trevelyan)

It’s strange to see Cullen out of uniform. He wears light traveling armor, his wife similarly clad. It’s strange to see Cullen at all, really. He had not realized it had been that long. “You just missed Hawke,” he says. “Oh,” Cullen replies after a moment, slightly breathless. Rylen snorts at his visible relief. He nods at the woman next to him, offering a little salute. “Hello,” she says. She exhales and raises a hand to her brow. In a moment, Cullen moves to take the coat from her shoulders. Again, he notes with a hint of amusement, he had not realized it had been that long.

3. cut down at the garden's gate (hawke/sebastian)

“I wish I could have known you then,” There’s a sharp edge to it, a dangerous current. “It couldn’t have gone anywhere good. You’re better off knowing me now." “And you would have taken a bride.” She shifts the topic so suddenly, Hawke. True to her skills on the battlefield, her words aim to disorient and to dazzle. “I am a younger son. It would not have mattered who I took to wed, as long as they were of standing.” And the truth is, he could never have had someone like Hawke, never would have deserved them. “I don’t know much about being noble,” she says, slightly more subdued. “You are noble in the truest sense of the word.” And he leaves before he can act on anything he thought he left behind.

4. ordinary world (miranda & shepard, background shenko)

That’s not exactly accurate. She’s never stopped thinking of Kaidan, or of her crew. He hovers at the edges of her mind like a ghost. Like a specter, true to his name. But it’s the first time she lets herself dream beyond the snatches that kept her alive through the rubble, through all of the surgeries. The first rational thought: what would he think? Ashley should have lived. She immediately feels guilty for the thought. That Ashley should have lived instead of strong, sweet Kaidan, whom she’s killed a hundred times in her mind. Vaporized by a reaper beam slicing through the Normandy, skull crushed in the impact of a crash landing, shredded by the claws of a husk. She’s almost jealous. If there’s one thing she can’t seem to do right, it’s die.

5. negative space (pacific rim, mako/raleigh, i really want to finish this soon!)

It was the abruptness of it, really. The violence of his mind ripped from hers, an indescribable sense of loss. Like losing half of herself. No—the truth of it, as the doctor insists. She had been more than herself, and she suddenly had to return to normalcy. To singularity. To loneliness. She was shaking on that raft, shaking Raleigh, trying to work her way back into his mind, and past the relief of him opening his eyes, all that was left was bitter disappointment.

6. dead winter in the forgotten land (i call this my amell/alistair messy divorce fic)

The paper is the softest thing she’s felt in years. She wants to cry a little when she touches it, unused to comfort. The Inquisitor writes hesitantly, like perhaps she is awed. It makes Amell a little prideful and a little endeared towards her. She means to let it be, but there is something about this letter: how the envelope is covered in dirt from all corners of Thedas while the paper is untouched by any hands but the Inquisitor’s, how the handwriting slants to the right like any good Circle mage’s does, how the ink pools at the end of every stroke like the words were thought over and over. She begins to write back. I wish to see my king again, she writes, the truest thing on the page.

7. long distance (jab tak hai jaan, akira/samar)

He says he loves his country, but that’s not really why he’s here, taking apart bombs in the dead of night while their fingers go numb. The other day it was snowing, and something detonated, and he couldn’t tell between the insulation fluff and the flakes pouring down, and he was sliced through with something sharp, the sensation of having erred grievously. There’s a woman in London who loves him. Why the hell is he here? He ignores it. He tries his best to ignore it. He goes home, and his boss calls. More people are enlisting. He’s had an impact, and it begins to eat at him. It has been eating at him. He was supposed to be a singer. He was supposed to be too soft for this life. “You would be a horrible soldier,” he says to Akira on the phone the next morning. “When have I ever wanted that?” There’s a rustling that feels like it’s inside him. She must be adjusting her coat. That bright one with the fur. “You don’t listen. You’re very reckless. And your decision-making—“ “I didn’t ask for that, either,” she snaps, and the muffled rush that undercuts her words of traffic makes him frown. “Be careful,” he can’t help but say. A pause—and then she scoffs, but there’s a softness to it, something he would like to think of as fond.

#my writing #so many of these have stalled haha

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