#I will elaborate on characterisation later

[catlady48]

So I have been playing a lot of Marvel Rivals this week and I would like to talk about the design choices for Asgard a bit and share some screenshots I took.

As you can see they styled most of the "Yggsgard" outdoor map after the MCU version of Asgard. Really cool to just be able to walk around there. Of course, the areas used for battle have a really different layout and the interior design is also completely different from both the comics and the MCU.

For example, this is what they did with the throne, which is more reminicent of what they did with Asgard in Ragnarok and after, which I personally dislike a bit. On that note, the infamous Loki statue also makes a return and there is a reward for destroying it. Fun fact: in the Jeff's Winter Splash Festival game mode, it is turned into an ice statue.

Character design wise they take inspiration from both the comics and the MCU and add their own flair. I'm sure you've seen Loki's redesign already, but I wanted to show a picture of both Loki and Thor as kids that you can find in one of the spawn areas.

Loki has the "Kid Loki" look from the comics (yes I know the show tried to retcon it, but I don't see OG!MCU!Loki wearing that outfit as a child, sorry comic fans). But that was definitely what young!MCU!Thor was wearing in one of the first scenes in Thor 1 and I think Frigga also looks more like she does in the movies. Odin visually seems a bit more like in the comics, though. So do with that information what you want.

Anyway, it's a ton of fun being able to just wander about Asgard. In the game it's been merged with Yggdrasil for some reason, which is why it's called Yggsgard. But still, I like how much inspiration they took from the MCU. Probably because it's design for Asgard is more iconic.

[thebiscuitlabryinth]

something something pure vanilla learning more about shadow milk, digging up his past and finding the remnants left behind, connecting the legends around the academy back to this Beast and slowly unearthing more and more fragments until he can put together a haphazard image

something something shadow milk acting less erratic around him in their mind encounters, engaging him in intelletual debate and philosophical questions, almost seeming to settle every once in while with the enrichment of conversation. pure vanilla slowly starting to gather hope that, maybe, the Beasts can be saved, even if he doesn't tell anyone

something something pure vanilla falling in love with a version of someone that is long dead, a heartache he knows too well but can't seem to prevent, and paying for it

(something something shadow milk loving pure vanilla, but not in a way that would ever be compatible with pure vanilla, the way he is now)

[blackwaxidol]

Something I've wanted to do for a while is draw both my beasts in their Human disguises and the OCs they were originally AUs of. As a fun comparison.

Would they get along at all..? I envision Ru'thûn and Donatella effectively sizing one another up over the façade of polite drinks, and then on the other side of the room La'zaar has Lazar in a headlock. Killing him strankling him facking beating him to death...

[atticmichaelangelo]

Nana Komatsu, the fear of loneliness, and the perfect tragedy of her story

Within the Nana fandom, it is a widely acknowledged fact that Nana Komatsu ( who I will be calling Hachi for convenience) is written and portrayed as a clingy and needy character. Naturally, the effect that such a personality has on the viewers varies, with some enjoying and even empathising with Hachi, while others feel less inclined to such character archetypes, or even real life people, for a plethora of different reasons.

However, I believe that while this aspect of her personality is often highlighted, it plays a much deeper narrative role than it is given credit for. What may initially have seemed like a benign and overused personality trait — Hachi’s need for connection — actually plays a much larger role in shaping the course of her life, and understanding her relationship with loneliness and attachment allows for a greater understanding of her decisions within the anime and manga ( understanding not justification)

To do this we must examine how Ai Yazawa chooses to present Hachi to us, the viewers, in the first few episodes / chapters, and why. Hachi from the get go is depicted to be boy crazy - a girl with her head in the clouds. Someone who is quick to endear herself to others, and even quicker to idolise them - she is a character that wholeheartedly indulges in and thrives off love and attention, even if it is at the expense of her own wishes and dignity (will elaborate). We follow Hachi through her intense attachments - from her art teacher, to the pizza delivery boy, to the guy in the shop, to Asano. Out of all these attachments, we think we can see a recurring theme - they are all of romantic nature, and showcase Hachis constant search and desire to be loved. And yet there is a character whose interactions with Hachi are even more telling of Hachi’s priorities, and which I think is often undermined in the fandom due to the focus of Hachi's romantic pursuits, yet crucial to the foreshadowing and understanding of Hachi’s character and story.

Junko. We see a bond established between them right at the beginning of the anime/manga, while we're still getting to know Hachi, which serves as a key foundation for her characterisation. Hachi follows Junko to art school simply because Junko went. We observe as Hachi interacts with Junko, seeking advice,comfort and security from her, while also allowing herself to be condescended and even embarrassed by Junko. An example of this is when Junko tells Shoji and kyosuke as soon as Hachi meets them that she is loud and has a long history with men. While these traits aren't inherently negative, in the context of the society and time the manga is set in, they were not viewed as favourable traits for women. Hachi's initial protests at having these aspects of her life exposed are telling. Junko can tend at times at the start of the story to be very brisk and sometimes even outright insensitive to Hachi. Yet, when Junko decides to go to Tokyo, Hachi tearfully begs her to stay, even diminishing Kyosuke's importance to his face in an effort to keep Junko close. Realising it would be unfair to hold Junko back from her dreams, Hachi impulsively decides to apply to schools in Tokyo as well. She had no money, no set career aspirations, and no solid plans, yet was adamant to join her friend.

And this brings us to the key aspect of Hachi’s character that Ai Yazawa informed us of from very early on: she will uproot her whole life in order to not be alone. And this trait is depicted throughout all her relationships, platonic and romantic. Hachi may be boy obsessed, but to diminish her later actions to just that is a disservice to Ai Yazawa’s writing skills, as in these pivotal few scenes, Hachi’s past and future link and meld together immaculately - Hachi’s decision to stay with Takumi was foreshadowed and hinted at phenomenally from the very start of the story through Hachi’s past, and how it shaped her interactions with other characters. Her actions were rooted more in a desperate need for companionship and fear for loneliness than, as some people believe, a habit of putting her romantic relationships on a pedestal - and Ai Yazawa has reminded us of this throughout the story.

Hachi grew up in a loud and rather indifferent household where she grew up ( as a middle child) thinking that her absence would just mean less noise in the household, a thought probably encouraged by her parents' passive and impartial approach to parenting and her growing up, giving her an excess of freedom instead of the attention Hachi desired growing up. Given such an environment, she developed an anxious attachment style, clinging onto whatever relationships she has in order to avoid feeling lonely and isolated, such as her friendship with Junko. She compares the feeling to be worse than Asano breaking up with her - the moment when she realised the extent of her unrequited love and the fragility of relationships, causing her to come to terms fully with the threat of loneliness and abandonment. This concept and revelation seems to haunt her visibly throughout the first few episodes, and more insipidly years later as she still seeks companionship and intimacy to avoid the depression and fear she feels when encountering the emotion that she has correlated with feeling unwanted and used.

So given this, it makes Hachis decision to stay with Takumi even more painstakingly in line with her character. Hachi is not written to be a perfect character for readers to project their own morals into - Hachi is young, still rather sheltered and unsure of her place in the world. She thrives off others' reassurance and the security they provide her - when she feels this is being threatened ( such as when she saw Nana interact with Tsuzuki) she spirals. So when she found out she was pregnant, Takumi very intentionally divulged the information without giving Hachi a chance to prepare, recognising Hachi’s intense aversion to being alone, and exploited it in the scenario to fit his interests in keeping her by his side. Hachi was at this part of the story in a very vulnerable and insecure position. She feared and expected rejection and disappointment from her friends, a reflection of her own and society's negative and sexist feelings on her situation, and saw herself as alone. Blast was excelling and becoming increasingly busy, Junko and Kyosuke were occupied in their own daily lives, and she saw herself with nobody to turn to for help or support, and was too ashamed to ask for it from people she held in such high regard. She believed she had nobody who could give her the stability and comfort she has sought for consistently throughout the manga/anime in her friends and romantic partners.

Nobody but Takumi. Hachi knew she would not be happy. She knew that she did not love him and was not loved the way she always idealised. She knew that by marrying Takumi and raising the child with him she would be sacrificing her friends’ trust and opinions of her, and putting herself in a situation that may seem like what she always wanted ( financial stability and a family) , but was less than ideal in reality. But she ended up marrying Takumi - because she believed Takumi at the time was the only one who would accept her, who would not be any more angry and disappointed at her than she was with herself. She saw him as the only option that guaranteed the security she yearned for and seeked in every one of her personal relationships, even at the expense of her own happiness and friendships - and this because we are shown time and time again that Hachi would rather uproot her life than be on her own. She would rather suffer a person and learn to love them than be without. And that is the painstaking tragedy of it all - it makes sense for her character.

Ai Yazawa does a beautiful job at showing the very human side of personalities and relationships. Personal growth is not a linear process, and while Hachi shows moments of self-awareness and even growth, with instances where she is shown slowly blossoming into a more independent woman and recognising her self-destructive tendencies, she ultimately gravitates towards what is most familiar to her. She acts seemingly as a survival instinct, where the pale mockery of a loving relationship seems more plausible and tolerable to her than the shaky and unpredictability of her future, and facing the shock and hurt of those who she holds so dear to her heart. Though this may frustrate viewers, it is also what makes Hachi such a compelling and relatable character — her choices, while flawed, feel deeply human. Hachi doesn’t always make the smart decision, nor the one best in the long run. She is a character that displays the more uncomfortable sides of human nature and actions, and is a character that can be simultaneously loved and sighed at and learnt from, which is infinitely more educational and enjoyable than a character who has things just happen to them. She is a culmination of her past experiences and how she operated through them and processed them is translated and depicted through her relationships and actions in a realistic, though heart wrenching fashion.

[diorkyeom]

‘✷’ : CHAPTER THREE “cotton fluffy smiles”

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chapter word count: 5.9k+ (idk why but they keep getting longer and longer...)

chapter warnings: swearing

summary: "lately, seokmin had come to a realisation. joshua hong, seokmin thought, was a little bit of an enigma." - in which seokmin has known joshua for years, but he's always been a bit of a mystery to him. and as the days go by, he finds himself falling further and further for the enigmatic man, wanting to find out who the real Joshua Hong is behind his polite smiles and warm eyes and sweet words.

notes: if i had a nickel for every time i've had characters have deep conversations late at night on benches surrounded by nature, i'd be able to make money out of this whole fanfic writing thing

It may be a Monday, but Seokmin swore that his head was still pounding with a phantom hangover from the Friday night two weeks ago. 

Or—no. Maybe it wasn’t the hangover. Maybe it was something else.

Someone else.

Because, oh boy. Ever since that Game Night, the surge of Joshua-ness in Seokmin’s life had seemed to increase. 

It was odd how, two months ago, Joshua had simply been Jeonghan’s Bestie™ as he had been for years, nothing more than the polite and sweet man who had seamlessly entered their group and labelled himself as the lovely gentleman. Seokmin had been rather content keeping it that way. He hadn’t known any different, after all. 

But now, everything had changed.

Even this early on a Monday morning, while at work, Seokmin was thinking about him.

Not only was Seokmin still seeing Joshua at every other turn, he also couldn’t get him out of his brain. Couldn’t stop thinking about Joshua’s soft and bright eyes and the curl of his lips and the way his voice could be so gentle and so mischievous at the same time. Couldn’t stop thinking of the ways that Joshua had looked at him, eyes flashing with something before dissolving sweetly, like cotton candy, always barely decipherable but still most definitely there.

Joshua was very cotton soft, Seokmin mused thoughtfully. Everything about him was gentle. It was like a cotton wrap, fluffy and soft but protecting something underneath. Something even prettier, and sometimes, sometimes, Seokmin thought he could see it, whenever Joshua’s eyes twinkled when he looked at him. Maybe. Underneath his cotton fluffy smile.

Seokmin blinked himself out of his haze of Joshua thinking, looking at his students bent over the worksheets he’d given them, and sighed. He took the pen he’d been nervously chewing out of his mouth. 

This was unacceptable. The next time he saw Joshua, he was going to scold him for somehow managing to invade his every waking thought. Definitely.

A beat. 

Seokmin went back to chewing his pen.

───────────── ‘✷,

Seokmin groaned, walking over to Soonyoung's bed and face planting into the mattress. 

The owner of said mattress didn't even look up from his phone, absentmindedly rubbing Seokmin's back in an attempt at being consoling. "What did you do now?" 

Seokmin mumbled something intelligible, and Soonyoung hummed in sympathy. 

"I see."

"No, you don't," Seokmin whined, moving his head to the side so he was no longer suffocating himself in Soonyoung's sheets. "He's constantly in my head! I can't get him out."

"Oho, boy troubles?" Soonyoung said, lips twitching upwards even as he stayed glued to his phone. "Just confess, Seokmin. It's time you stopped being a chicken."

Seokmin just groaned again. “You don’t even know who the guy is. And it’s not like that.”

“Well, I know you,” Soonyoung returned, “and you’re a chicken. Maybe today’s the day you finally man up and ask the guy out, you know?”

“I don’t like him! He’s just in my head and I want him out.”

“Do you really, though?” Soonyoung said teasingly, and chuckled when Seokmin whined even louder. “You gonna tell me who the guy is?”

There was a rustling sound, and Seokmin peeked his head up to look at Soonyoung, ears red. “It’s no one.”

Soonyoung finally looked away from his phone, looking down at Seokmin. And then he smiled, tilting his head. “Cool name. Well, I dunno what you want me to say, Seokmin. If you don’t like him, then what? Want me to ask Jihoon to kill the guy for you?”

“No!” Seokmin scrambled into a sitting position. “Don’t do that!” And then, more curiously, “Can Jihoon hyung actually kill people if you ask him to?”

Soonyoung laughed. “Maybe. You’ll have to ask him.”

Seokmin muttered something to that, and promptly keeled over to faceplant into the mattress again. Soonyoung simply took another look at him before going back to his phone.

The sun was setting, and the sky was a comfortable warm colour, not too blinding and not too dark, casting orangeish light into the room. Somewhere outside, a child screamed. It was the perfect sort of atmosphere for the two roommates, one of them peacefully scrolling on their phone and the other having a mild crisis into the mattress.

After a moment, Seokmin lifted his head. “Hyung.” 

“Wait.” Soonyoung snapped his head upwards suddenly, eyes wide. “Shit. I have a bunch of emails I need to respond to by tonight.”

“What’s your opinion of—wait, where are you going? Hyung! Hyung, I’m tryna ask you a question!” 

Soonyoung didn’t even look back as he leapt off the bed, scrambling to find his laptop. Seokmin pouted, watching his roommate shuffle through his stuff and then kept talking anyway. 

"Hey, what's your opinion of Joshua hyung?"

"Did you just 'hey' me?" Soonyoung said, but it was said in a tone that showed he wasn't really listening to Seokmin. "Where the hell has my goddamn laptop gone?"

Seokmin watched him, shifting on the bed so that he was sitting cross-legged, tilting his head. "Didn't Mingyu break your laptop a couple of days ago?"

Soonyoung paused, eyes wide. "Oh no." He scrambled to find his phone. "Has that little fucker managed to get it repaired yet? I swear, if he hasn't—"

"What's your opinion of Joshua hyung?" Seokmin repeated, but Soonyoung already had his phone to his ear and was not paying the slightest bit of attention to him. 

"Mingyu? Mingyu! Where the shit is my laptop? Huh? What do you mean you lost it? Please tell me you at least managed to get it repaired before losing it. Wh—why did you let Junhui touch my stuff?"

Seokmin rolled his eyes before sticking out his bottom lip, pouting over the fact that Soonyoung was apparently more preoccupied with looking for his laptop than answering his question. Granted, the laptop was a little bit more important, but Mingyu lost stuff all the time. Wonwoo had probably hidden it somewhere in their shared apartment for safekeeping until Soonyoung remembered he even needed it and called for them. 

"Wonwoo! You have my laptop?"

Soonyoung sounded relieved, and Seokmin shrugged internally. See. He was right. 

But it was evident that Soonyoung wasn't going to be listening to him, so he slid off the elder's bed and went to his own room, trying to consider what his own opinion of Joshua hyung was. 

───────────── ‘✷,

None of the people in their friend group worked in the same school as Seokmin. 

None of them were teachers, anyway, so it would have been weird, but his school was near the various coffee shops that their group frequented, so whenever Seokmin finished work and decided to grab a coffee and some pastries before going home, there was almost always going to be someone who walked into the cafe a few minutes after him. 

This time, that person happened to be Minghao.

Minghao spotted Seokmin sitting in a booth near the corner, and nodded and waved at him in greeting. Seokmin waved back, grinning, and sipped his coffee as Minghao ordered his own drink before sitting down opposite him.

“How are you?” Seokmin asked brightly, hands curled around his coffee cup like he was a little child. 

Minghao simply groaned in response, propping his elbow up on the table. “Exhausted. Hoshi hyung has been texting me constantly, asking for tips on how to ‘properly word an acceptance email’. Like I’ll know how to write one.”

Seokmin laughed. “That sounds like something he’d do, though. Hyung’s weird like that.”

“You’re telling me,” Minghao remarked drily, smiling politely and thanking the server who brought him his milk tea and plate of cookies. “He was blowing up my phone the entire morning.”

"Only the morning?" Seokmin asked. "What, did you finally give in to his spamming?"

"No, I blocked him."

Seokmin blinked, and then laughed, nodding understandingly. "Best choice. He's gonna pester me to get you to unblock him when I get home, though."

Minghao smiled, that small smile where his smile lines deepened and his eyes twinkled. "I regret nothing."

There was a brief respite in conversation as Minghao stirred his drink and took a careful sip. Seokmin hummed thoughtfully, staring into the distance before snapping his gaze back to Minghao, who was still drinking his tea.

“What’s your opinion of Joshua hyung?”

Minghao choked, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Wh—so suddenly?”

“I’m full of surprises,” Seokmin chirped, and waited until Minghao finished coughing to start speaking again. “So, what is your opinion of him?”

“Why are you asking me?” Minghao asked, and then looked behind him as if this was a prank. There was only one other person having coffee at five in the evening, an old lady who was staring at the teaspoon her coffee had come with as if it had somehow offended her. “And why do I feel like you were waiting to interrogate me?”

“I wasn’t waiting for you specifically,” Seokmin said, shrugging. “Anyone would have done.”

“Gee, thanks, Seokmin.”

Seokmin waved his hands. “You’re still not answering my question though! What do you think about Joshua hyung?”

“I don’t know,” Minghao said, mildly confused and mildly exasperated, like he was dealing with a child’s random changes of conversation topics. “He’s a good person? Nice, and good at listening.”

Seokmin frowned thoughtfully. “Hm.”

He stared off into the distance, and Minghao observed him curiously before shaking his head and turning back to his coffee. 

This was the thing, though. No one had much to say about Joshua, did they? Granted, Seokmin had only been able to ask Minghao (seeing as how Soonyoung had been incredibly rudely ignoring him in favour of finding his laptop) but he was sure that every response to his question was going to be much the same as Minghao's. 

But, just to make sure, Seokmin turned to him and asked another question. 

"What's your opinion on Mingyu?"

"An idiot," Minghao replied immediately. "Full of himself. Adorably annoying." He eyed Seokmin oddly. "Why are you asking? Again?"

Seokmin made his eyes as wide and as innocent as possible. "Nothing! I just wanna know how you feel about our dear friends."

Minghao pursed his lips, disbelieving, giving Seokmin his signature dirty look. The cookie crumbs around his mouth kind of dampened the effect, but Seokmin's smile turned sheepish anyway. 

"You're plotting something," Minghao said finally. "Aren't you?"

“What? I’m not! Nothing’s wrong,” Seokmin said. He grinned as brightly as possible. Minghao looked at him suspiciously for a few more moments, and so he dropped the grin and leaned forward. “Do you have anything else to say about Joshua hyung, though?” he asked curiously. “Like, is that it?”

Instead of answering, Minghao just continued to eye him, lips pursed. “Why would I have anything to say about him?” He narrowed his eyes. “Did you say something to him? Did he say something to you?”

Seokmin shook his head rapidly. “No! I was just curious, you know? I haven’t talked to him that much, that’s all.”

Minghao folded his hands on top of the table, and suddenly Seokmin felt like he was the one being interrogated. “And what made you think that I had?”

He shrugged. “Just asking.” He quirked a grin. “I told you, anyone would have done. I’m just wondering what everyone else thinks of him, ‘cause to me he’s only Jeonghan’s housemate.”

“Really?” Minghao looked like he was going to say more, before simply giving a smile. “Okay.”

And then he promptly changed the subject, so fast that Seokmin had whiplash and was left blinking dumbly before picking up Minghao’s new conversation thread a few seconds later. Minghao's eyes were gleaming, looking like he’d gleaned interesting new information out of him and, not wanting to find out what exactly Minghao had thought he’d extracted from him, Seokmin decided to go with it.

Minghao had given him an answer enough, anyway. Seokmin had half his brain focused on Minghao’s rant on how the failures of humanity were affecting his ability to buy eggs while the other half was still thinking about what he’d said. Contrary to popular belief, Seokmin could multitask, thank you very much. To an extent.

But it was interesting, the way Minghao had described him, because the answer was so… boring. Joshua felt more than just nice, more than just a good person, but even for Seokmin, that was all he was able to say about him. 

Surely, though, surely there was more to Joshua than just being a nice guy.

───────────── ‘✷,

"Good morning, Seokmin. To what do I owe the pleasure of a phone call from you on a Tuesday morning?" 

Instead of answering, Seokmin asked his own question the minute Mingyu picked up the phone. "What's your opinion of Joshua hyung?"

Seokmin was on the bus, on his way to work. After his conversation with Minghao last evening, he was determined to carry on his ‘experiment’ to see if anyone else had anything additional to say about Joshua. Soonyoung had been out for most of the night, having complications at work, so Seokmin had been left pondering who else he could ask in order to gather evidence for his experiment.

And so, he’d landed on Mingyu. Mingyu had weird opinions on everyone. He also had weird stories to tell about stuff he’d experienced with them, making him the perfect person to ask about the weirdly elusive nature of Joshua.

"Wait. What?"

“What’s your opinion of Joshua hyung?” Seokmin repeated. “Like, what do you think about him?”

“He’s… cool?” The confusion was radiating from Mingyu’s voice in waves. “Seokmin. I have to leave for work in fifteen minutes and you’re calling to ask what my opinion of Joshua is?”

“Okay, but what else?” Seokmin pressed, decidedly ignoring Mingyu’s rhetorical question. “Is that it? Joshua hyung is ‘cool’?”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a cool guy,” Mingyu said, somehow sounding even more confused than before. “Uh, he’s really bad at bowling too?”

Cool. Nice. They were essentially synonyms when it came to describing personality, weren’t they? Seokmin frowned, staring out of the window contemplatively while Mingyu continued rambling on. 

But there were nuances to the descriptions, something that made the two words ever so slightly different. Joshua was this ‘generally good’ person, enigmatic in the sense that he had this base niceness on which he altered certain parts of his personality to fit everyone else he was talking to.

“Would you say Joshua hyung is likeable?” Seokmin asked then, talking over the stream of Mingyu’s voice.

“What?”

Seokmin rolled his eyes. Mingyu was going deaf. “I said—”

“Look, I really gotta pee, but how about you talk to Wonwoo hyung for a bit? Ask him all the, uh, other stuffs about Joshua you wanna talk about.”

And then there was shuffling on the other end of the line, and another voice filled Seokmin’s ears.

“Seokmin?”

“Wonwoo hyung!” Seokmin immediately brightened. This could be another person to ask for his experiment. “Will you help me with an experiment?”

“Experiment?” Wonwoo asked. “What’s the hypothesis?”

Hypothesis? “Uh, none,” Seokmin said. “I’m just trying to gather… opinions?”

Wonwoo hummed. “Well, okay. What do you wanna ask?”

“What’s your opinion of Joshua hyung?”

There was a slight pause, and Seokmin looked up to realise that his stop was fast approaching. After a moment, Wonwoo let out a laugh, a rumbly exhale of air that showed he was mildly amused by Seokmin’s question.

“Why are you so interested in our Joshua hyung, Seokmin?” he asked. 

His voice was distinctly teasing, sounding like he was almost laughing at him, and it was the same sort of tone as the look in Minghao’s eyes last evening, where they both gave Seokmin the feeling like they had found out something about him, even though there was nothing to find out. It made Seokmin want to roll his eyes and vehemently deny whatever they were suggesting, but he didn’t even know what they were suggesting, and it would only prove to them that he actually was whatever they were saying, and he didn’t want that.

So, instead of answering, Seokmin chirped, “Oh! I gotta get off the bus now! What a shame. Good luck at work today, and send my virtual fist-shaking to Mingyu too!” before promptly hanging up.

Wonwoo’s laughter still rang in his ears as he stepped off the bus, looking confusedly down at his phone as he walked down the street. 

Everyone was acting like Seokmin was the weird one for his question. And okay, maybe it was weird to immediately start a conversation with “What’s your opinion on our friend?”, but it wasn’t overly weird. No weirder than how no one seemed to know that much about Joshua which, in Seokmin’s opinion, was the weirdest thing of all.

───────────── ‘✷,

“You’re the weirdest thing of all,” Seungkwan said, and Seokmin wondered yet again why they ever let this little gremlin into their apartment.

“Uh huh,” Seokmin glanced at Seungkwan as the younger followed him into the bathroom while he rummaged for a spare toothbrush. “Says you, Kwan.”

Seungkwan was staying over at their apartment again. Well, it was more of Seungkwan was invading their apartment because he couldn't be bothered to go back to his own after they'd gone out for brunch with Jihoon and Seokmin was too nice to say no and kick him out, but it was the same thing. 

“Seriously! I can't believe you refused his offer,” Seungkwan said, and Seokmin groaned.

“Can you please drop it?”

“Never,” Seungkwan declared, and stationed himself in front of the bathroom door, blocking his escape out of the room. “How many times have I said it? You have an ethereal voice, hyung! And how am I just finding out that Jihoon hyung himself offered to pull a few strings to get you signed to a label if you wanted to?”

Seokmin simply shrugged, and bodily shoved himself past Seungkwan. The younger wasn't nearly half as intimidating as he thought, especially when Seokmin knew he could probably throw Seungkwan over his shoulder without batting an eye. The guy was ridiculously light. 

“I don’t know why hyung brought it up at today’s brunch,” Seokmin said, walking out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. “Besides, that was ages ago. I like teaching.”

"But hyung, you could've been famous!" Seungkwan protested. "Like, really famous! I can imagine you already: heartthrob idol Seokmin whose face is plastered all over designer brand advertisements and lands male-lead acting roles in his spare time." He said the last part dramatically, hands in the air like he was creating an imaginary banner with those exact words. "What do you think?"

Seokmin laughed, opening up a cupboard and pulling out a packaged toothbrush. "I think I would have hated it," he said, turning back to Seungkwan. "Singing for my job, for all those people…" He shook his head. "I don't think I would have liked that."

Seungkwan whined. "Come on, hyung, you're as much of an attention seeker as me! You'd have loved it!"

"No," Seokmin replied simply, smiling. "It would give me anxiety more than anything, I think." He pushed the toothbrush into Seungkwan's hands, forcefully trying to change the subject. "Anyway, here! New toothbrush. Thank Soonyoung hyung for that one, because I'm pretty sure that it's from his pile of spare ones."

Instantly, Seungkwan's eyes lit up, lifting up the bright orange toothbrush. "Thanks, hyung! The other one you gave me was getting really, really damaged."

Seokmin hummed amusedly. "What were you doing with it? Scrubbing your teeth to death?"

Seungkwan continued chattering, the previous subject now forgotten, as they walked back out of the kitchen. 

It was something that the younger brought up, a lot, whenever he remembered it. The idea of Seokmin becoming a singer, or a musical theatre actor, or something along those lines was something that Seungkwan was weirdly passionate about, adamant that Seokmin had a voice that was being unjustly hidden from the world. 

But, well. Seokmin didn't want to. Singing was simply stress relief for him, saved for unhinged karaoke nights and when he walked around their empty apartment while Soonyoung was out. Professions involving music were for people like Soonyoung and Seungkwan and Jihoon, who healed people with their dance or their songs, who touched people’s hearts with the beauty of their music.

It wasn’t a Seokmin thing, he thought. No matter what Seungkwan said, Seokmin was pretty sure his voice left much to be desired.

Besides, he liked teaching. Liked helping others, giving away parts of himself, seeing his children grow and flourish into beautiful beings under his instruction. Every child was different, and Seokmin adored being able to nurture each and every one of them until they learned to grow on their own. 

He liked being a child’s inspiration, their support, being someone who could guide them in their lives. Helping others was, really, the thing he wanted to do the most.

“I’m not helping you memorise your lines,” he said, sitting down on the couch. “You have other friends, Seungkwan. And I’m busy! Do you know how many pieces of homework I still have to mark? Too many!”

Seungkwan groaned, flopping down next to Seokmin. “Come on, they’re all busy too! And no one is as fun. Can’t you help me practise? Please?”

There was the sound of the front door clicking open, and Seokmin lifted his head up. “Hey, ask Soonyoung hyung! I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to help you.”

“He won’t,” Seungkwan complained. “He never goes over my lines with me. See? Look at the way he walks into the room. He's practically radiating 'I-won't-help-Seungkwan' vibes." Seungkwan waved. "Hi, hyung."

Soonyoung, weirdly, didn't even bat an eye, and hummed in greeting at Seungkwan before dropping his duffel next to the couch. He looked bewildered. “Seokmin, why have you been going round asking our friends what their opinion of Joshua hyung is?”

Seokmin choked as Seungkwan turned to stare at him, wide-eyed. 

"You've been doing what?"

"Who—who told you?" Seokmin stammered, face heating up. 

Soonyoung just shook his head, still looking lost. "Jeonghan hyung said that Joshua hyung said that Junhui said that Minghao and Wonwoo and Mingyu said that you asked them."

Seungkwan blinked. "Wait, what?"

Seokmin just groaned, covering his reddening ears and keeling over to the side so he could bury his face into the cushions. "Why would they expose me like that?"

"I'm just so confused," Soonyoung said, scratching his head. "What were you doing? Jeonghan said that Joshua's really confused too."

Seokmin groaned louder at that, and attempted to become one with the sofa. 

Seungkwan looked between the two of them, wringing his hands in exasperation. "What has been going on?"

"Oh, Jeonghan hyung said that Joshua hyung said that—"

"No, I got that part," Seungkwan interrupted, waving his hands at Soonyoung. "Well. Kind of. But what happened?" He turned to Seokmin, slapping his back. "Why?"

Seokmin didn't answer, too busy wallowing into the upholstery. "Why does Jeonghan hyung always end up knowing?" he complained, rolling onto his back. "I asked Wonwoo hyung and Mingyu, like, last week. I stopped after that because hyung was suggesting something weird—"

"Jeonghan always ends up knowing everything—" Seungkwan pointed out. 

"—and I don't even know what he was trying to suggest!" Seokmin carried on, flailing his hands towards the ceiling. "But it was weird, and Minghao looked at me weirdly too, like it wasn't completely normal to wonder why no one actually knows anything about Joshua hyung at all. So I dropped it! But now Yoon Jeonghan is involved and Joshua knows I was talking about him and now everything is awkward!"

He flopped over onto his front again, whining, and Seungkwan and Soonyoung exchanged equally baffled looks. 

"Okay," Soonyoung said, "I don't know why you were doing that, but. Yeah. That's a bit weird."

"We know tons of stuff about Joshua hyung," Seungkwan added, waving the toothbrush around as he talked. "Like, he's bad at charades, leads the church choir, and he's someone with iron will to put up with Jeonghan hyung for so long!"

Seokmin mumbled something into the cushions again. 

"I think you're thinking about hyung way too much," Soonyoung said, ruffling Seokmin's hair. "Is he your crush? The guy you couldn't get out of your brain?"

Seungkwan's eyes widened. "You have a crush on Joshua hyung?"

"I don't!" Seokmin yelped, and sat up so fast that his head spun a little. "I was just telling you how we know nothing about him. How can you have a crush on a guy you don't know?"

"It happens all the time," Soonyoung said solemnly, and Seungkwan nodded in agreement. 

Seokmin looked at them, before pouting and crossing his arms, huffing. "Joshua hyung's just… really slippery, you know? I can't understand him, and I just kind of want to."

Soonyoung wiggled his eyebrows at that, with the exact same glint in his eyes as Minghao had had, and Seokmin groaned again, pushing him away and standing up from the sofa.

"You two are insufferable," he said, backing out of the living room. He pointed a finger accusingly at them. "Hyung, I'm kicking you out. Seungkwan, I changed my mind, you're not allowed to sleep over. Give back the toothbrush."

"What? No! You gave it to me, it's mine now!" Seungkwan protested, clutching the still-packaged orange and black toothbrush to his chest. Soonyoung narrowed his eyes. 

"Hey, wait, that looks a lot like the toothbrushes that I bought."

"Huh? Um, Seokmin brought it out for me—"

"Seokmin! Did you seriously give my spare tiger-coloured toothbrush to Seungkwan?"

───────────── ‘✷,

It had to be at least two in the morning by the time Seokmin managed to extricate himself from Seungkwan's grabby hands and tiptoe over Soonyoung's sprawled-out form to get to the front door and leave the apartment. 

Seungkwan was a clingy sleeper, latching onto whoever was next to him, and Soonyoung liked to take command of the entire space wherever he slept. That was why, whenever Seungkwan stayed the night, they didn't normally all sleep in the same space, because someone was bound to either get poked in the eye or squeezed to death. But that night, they'd done it, on the floor of the living room, Soonyoung snoring almost directly into Seokmin's feet before he'd stood up and exited the room. 

Seokmin didn't know where he was going, not really, but he'd felt an urge to leave the apartment and go somewhere on his own, and that was exactly what he was doing. 

It wasn’t exactly cold, but the wind certainly felt a little vindictive at having discovered that there was still a living, breathing, thing walking down the streets in the middle of the night, and Seokmin tucked his hands into the pockets of his flimsy black jacket and wished that he’d put on trainers or something rather than just wearing a pair of sliders.

But even with the wind whispering displeasedly down his neck, Seokmin still thought that this was nice. The world was so… quiet. Like not a single thought was being uttered into existence.

It felt like Seokmin could scream the loudest thoughts into his brain and the silence of the night would simply let them fade away. 

He hummed to himself as he walked down the street, walking across a road bridge before pausing, backtracking, and leaning against the railing to look down at the river below. 

It was dark, even with all the street lamps and flashing store signs, but Seokmin could just make out the silhouette of a person sitting on a bench by the river. They weren't moving, and the longer Seokmin stared, the more his eyes adjusted to the dark and he thought, hm. That person looked familiar. 

It was how he found himself going down a set of stairs beside the bridge, walking along the riverside until he drew closer to the person on the bench, their side profile becoming clearer, until he could make out a delicate, sloping nose and fluffy hair and he thought—well. The gods and their weird act of blessing his one specific wish had struck again. 

"Hello," Seokmin said brightly, before wincing at how loud his voice sounded in the silence of the night. "Rather late for you to be outside, don't you think?"

Joshua turned his head at Seokmin's voice, and for a brief moment there was a golden sheen to his eyes that Seokmin didn't think he'd ever seen before, all melting and open and vulnerable before he blinked and smiled that cotton-fluffy smile which he always seemed to be smiling at Seokmin with these days.

(How did Joshua used to smile at him? Seokmin wasn't sure he knew.) 

"Well," Joshua said, irises twinkling white-gold, "depends on how you think of it. Maybe it's too early."

Seokmin smiled, sitting down next to Joshua. "Fair enough."

Neither of them said anything more, the sound of the rushing water filling the air. The breeze was still ruffling Seokmin's hair, but it was less biting, as if it had softened, shy, at Joshua's presence. 

Or maybe that was just Seokmin's own thoughts. 

He glanced over at Joshua and had to blink rapidly, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of him because wow, Joshua was so pretty. There were few lamp posts along the river, and Joshua's face was lit up in a faint glow, his eyelashes creating gentle smudges against his cheeks every time he blinked. He didn't look at Seokmin, continuing to stare out at the dark river, and Seokmin wondered whether it was really fair that some people were able to look so beautiful while doing absolutely nothing. 

Seokmin's friends were by no means bad looking either, and it was practically like a hazing ritual for them to all have had a crush on Mingyu for like a week before he opened his mouth and the crush instantly melted away. 

But Joshua? Joshua was just… pretty. A mesmerising sort of pretty, where it looked like the tip of his nose was dusted with gold and his hair looked like a soft mess of clouds. 

Seokmin had no idea how he hadn't noticed it before. 

"—min? Seokmin?"

He blinked rapidly, muttering an eloquent "Huh?" while Joshua tilted his head amusedly. 

Joshua laughed, a small bell-like sound, like he found Seokmin incredibly endearing. "Are you okay? You were spacing out on me there."

“Oh. Yeah,” Seokmin said after a long moment, after he’d managed to remember how words worked again. “Sorry. I’m just really tired, I think.”

“Tired?” Joshua asked. “Why aren’t you sleeping then?”

Seokmin just shrugged. “Can't. I don’t know, it just feels like I need to be out here.” He nudged Joshua with his shoulder. “What about you, hyung? Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I don’t need sleep,” he said easily, leaning back against the bench. “Besides, it’s calming out here, don’t you think?”

It really was. There was an almost otherworldly beauty to things when one experienced them at night, and the tranquillity of the riverside would have probably had Minghao tearing up in awe, but Seokmin couldn't focus on all of that anymore. 

Joshua really was always in his head, and while it was still a little weird, Seokmin didn’t mind it. There were worse people to have stuck in your head, after all, and Joshua was just so interesting to Seokmin, with his kindness and the subtle changing of colours in his personality whenever he talked to someone new. He could never really anticipate what Joshua would do next, and yet at the same time, everything he did was also so in character for him.

“So, how was your day today?” Joshua asked softly, and as he turned to look at Seokmin, his eyes were so gentle that it had his brain melting for a moment.

“It was okay,” he said, having to look away briefly. “Seungkwan is staying over with us tonight.”

“You have a guest?” Joshua said. “And yet you abandoned him?”

“Hey, Seungkwan’s properly knocked out. Soonyoung hyung and I will probably have to yell into his ear with a megaphone tomorrow to get him to wake up,” Seokmin said, and Joshua laughed. 

“It sounds like you’ve done it before.”

Seokmin shrugged. “Seungkwan stays over a lot. He also oversleeps. A lot.”

“Well, he’s lucky that he has you to be more than willing to help him wake up,” Joshua said, chuckling. “It’s a wonder his eardrums are still intact.”

“From all the yelling he does, I’m surprised my eardrums are still intact,” Seokmin said, rubbing his ears. “At this rate, I’m gonna go deaf in like 5 years. But I guess I can’t really say anything,” he added thoughtfully, “because I’m too loud as well. It’s on my to-do list to try and be quieter, actually.”

Joshua hummed. “You want to be quieter?”

“Yeah.” Seokmin laughed a little. “Wow, I haven’t told anyone this before. But I guess… I’m just a really noisy person? I’m pretty sure it irritates people a lot. So I’m trying to be quieter these days. Like, not yelling all the time, you know? Unless I’m at school,” he said. “Because sometimes the children don’t quieten down unless you’re yelling your head off at them.”

He tried to play off the end as a joke, because Joshua was looking at him properly now, and the softness in his eyes hadn’t gone away but he looked more… serious.

“I don’t think you’re noisy,” Joshua said. “Maybe you talk a lot, but you’re saying things, things which are important.” He smiled a little. “Maybe what you say has varying degrees of importance, but it’s not gibberish. It’s not irrelevant.” 

Joshua lifted his hand and brushed a finger over Seokmin’s cheekbone, so lightly and so briefly that if he’d blinked he would have missed it.

“You’re not noise, Seokmin. You’re important.”

Seokmin blinked, surprised by the sincerity in Joshua’s voice, his cheek stained red from where Joshua’s fingers had brushed against it. He took a shaky breath, scrambling to gather his rapidly-melting thoughts and managed to grin. 

“Aw, hyung, I’m glad you think so," he said, brightly. "I still think I need to tone it down a little, though. Maybe it’ll encourage Soonyoung and Seungkwan to stop being so ear-splittingly loud as well.”

Joshua didn’t say anything for a short moment, before letting out a quiet sigh. “Alright. I bet those two get into screaming matches every other day, though, so it might take a while.”

Seokmin laughed at that, thinking about what had happened only a few hours ago with Soonyoung's toothbrush. “They do, they really do.”

He turned back to Joshua again, and found the elder to already be watching him, a slight smile on his face. “What’s the most ridiculous thing they fought over?” Joshua asked, and smiled wider when Seokmin immediately launched into the tale of ‘Soonyoung and Seungkwan and the Plate of Biscuits’.

The wind ruffled Joshua’s hair and nipped at Seokmin’s nose, but neither of them seemed to care as they sat by the river, a small smile permanently on Joshua’s face as he listened to Seokmin talk.

Seokmin left only when the sun had begun to rise in the sky, looking back at Joshua still on the bench, watching the way the dawn painted his face orange-gold and made him look like a bronze statue of some ancient, beautiful deity.

taglist (interact here/ send ask to be added): @fairyhaos @atinytinaa @my-moarmy-heart @weird-life-of-a-closet-fangirl @lilsafsafbooyah @stqrrgirle @bittersweet-folder @weird-bookworm @ultrara-re @tianakings @bangantokchy @tiinkerbell @ahuiahoe

[thistlerock]

Okay Fantasy High webtoon. I fuck w/ you. (I've read the three free eps so far so this is only about those.)

It made me laugh a few times and I generally found it pleasant, and even if there's some design choices I don't super agree with the art IS very charming. I also enjoyed the composition a lot it's just nice to look at. I can't super tell if I'd be as into this if I was a new fan coming in or of I'm just excited because I love Fantasy High (gonna have my girlfriend tell me /hj) but I personally really liked it :)

Minor lore differences I noticed is that Penny went missing quite recently? When originally she'd been missing for the longest iirc? Also Torek was already AT Agueford with the skater dwarves rather than being a middle schooler at this point. Ultimately neither of these should affect the plot much just noticed that.

Speaking of plot, I like that we follow Riz!! He's really fun and being focused on the character focused on the mystery is probably the most useful for a comic (though I'm assuming we'll eventually also follow the other Bad Kids more like with the Fabian and Adaine cutaways and I'm also looking forward to that). I was initially a little put off by the fact we skip everyone but Riz's introductions, but it would have been awkward in comic form to give everyone a turn like in actual play, and I think they handled it nicely and the characterisation in their respective first scenes is still clear and good. So far we haven't seen much of Adaine but I assume we're gonna get more about her (and Fig, and Kristen — though Kristen's whole deal is already pretty clear with just one scene, lmao) in later chapters.

My one gripe that I think is worth mentioning here so far is that I kind of hoped Penny and Sam would look closer to their The Seven designs! But I also understand that those are more complex than their original ones, and they shouldn't look like main characters or whatever. Just personally kinda awe-ed at it.

Other super minor changes include Kristen and Gorgug instant bestism?? Hello? Give me more. Also Gorgug and Fabian's fight was slightly more elaborate I think? Which was cool! (Reminds me that I'm curios to see how combat is portrayed, seems fun.) Though I will mourn the loss of "hey you seem pretty non-violent-" "I got into a rage."

A less minor change is that Gorgug made the tin flower himself? I think his mum just gave it to him originally. I'm gonna assume he doesn't start out multiclassing that'd be kinda insane (though I also find it interesting that in this format you don't technically have to tell us what level they are. And I'm curious to see how faithful to dnd mechanics this is gonna be. Personally I think it'd be fun to be very meta or not meta at all, but weird in-betweens tend to be awkward.), but it's cool he already tinkers. Maybe he becomes an artificer sooner in this? Or this is just setting up his eventual genius in building that cell tower or something similar? Idk. It's just nice to see him do the thing his parents also do. I also enjoy how Riz got detention in this version because it's delightfully cringe and gave me second hand embarrassment however I do find it interesting that this doesn't set up Ostentatia? Are we gonna meet her later or are we not gonna know her when she gets plot relevant? I could also see her and Fig having an interaction instead but idk, we'll see.

In general I'm curious as to how the plot is going to progress, because I think comic form makes it both easier to set up and follow and harder to make entertaining. Also there's a lot of dice motifs in the promotional art, do rolls ever get portrayed or is that for the aesthetic? If you read ahead already don't tell me I wanna find out myself lol.

So yeah my overall opinion is that I like it so far. Pleasantly surprised! It was really awesome to see all my favourite little guys repeatedly drawn, especially Ragh. If you know me you know I got so excited over Ragh aha. He's going through it right now but soon,,,soon he'll be perfect.

Anyway. Here's my favourite panels that I just HAD to screenshot and send to my friends on discord (or well some. Tumblr mobile has a ten image limit. I sent them about half the damn webtoon.)

Special shoutout to this one. How dare you do this to me. So sick and twisted.

ALSO WAS ZAYN ALWAYS SO. LIKE THIS??? WHO IS THIS TWINK. WHY IS HE STRUTTING. WHAT IS THAT BACK BEND INSTEAD OF TURNING AROUND LIKE A NORMAL PERSON. WHY IS HE WEARING LOW JEANS AND A BODYSUIT IN SCHOOL. CAN YOU HAVE SLUTTY HIP CUT OUTS IN SCHOOL I CANT?? (Obsessed w/ him)

I wrote this between four and five am after starting the webtoon at like. Three thirty. Any spelling mistakes are because I'm tired and not because I can't read Ragh style, I prommy. (Ragh is just dyslexic. Randomly placed headcanon, or whatever.)

[cpericardium]

What immediately makes Wormfics good, and what immediately makes them bad?

Good:

Difficult to say because most things I could list depend on their execution. I can really only speak to my particular preferences. For instance I need Cauldron workplace banter like I need air. Any fic that is good about Cauldron characterisation is immediately good to me! This doesn't mean making the Cauldron members "good" to be clear (I think El-Ahrairah is a bad fic sorry El-fans). They should still be kinda evil. They just need to be like, Terminus. I'm also a sucker for good prose, but my idea of what constitutes good prose doesn't align with a lot of wormfic readers'.

Gun to my head though, I would say wormfics that are tightly plotted shorter stories (or character studies!) with a planned beginning, middle, and end.

Oh, and I really like to see expansions on Brockton Bay worldbuilding. What's their tourism industry like.

Bad:

Obsessive focus on the three bullies and getting elaborate revenge on them. Grow up, man. Even Taylor stopped giving a shit.

When the premise is "Taylor has an altpower" but the author clearly didn't come up with a plot to go along with it, so it's just a vehicle for Taylor thinking about her power and getting into a contrived series of fights just so she can show off her power. The fic peters out after the author exhausts their enthusiasm for exploring the power. Just play Weaverdice or something. A companion to this is fics where the author just sorta lines up all the Brockton Bay gangs like dominoes for Taylor to take down. Taylor gets super cool power, destroys all the gangs (and maybe Cauldron too for some reason).

This is personal preference, but I drop a fic the instant it goes into "uwu lesbian" mode. Girls are blushing stammering fidgety messes around other girls, teehee cuddlepiles, girls somft, girls smell nice <3. People think it's adorable, but as a WLW, I think it's infantilising bullshit. I think it flattens out characters.

Sexualisation of minors. Like Taylor's trigger giving her bigger boobs. Ew.

The Nazi Stuff

Wormficdom has a significant Nazi sympathiser problem. Yesterday I opened this fic and was greeted by ten slurs in the opening paragraphs.

"Taylor joins the E88, learns they're not as bad as the ASIANS", "Purity may be a Nazi but she is a great mom", "Rune is redeemed by being a lesbian", that's the kind of stuff that proliferates in this fandom. One of the fics I was most disgusted by was a "comedy" on Spacebattles where Sophia is mastered (by Taylor) into having a white supremacy fetish and attempts to rape Theo for 10 chapters straight. There was at least one moderator happily commenting on it. I reported it 3 times and got a message telling me to stop because it was allowed. It's gone now (6 years later), but whether because the author deleted it or it was removed, I don't know. I do have some of the quotes from it. Don't read them though.

[nyarnamaitar]

Mistborn, or Watch Out for Robespierre, I Guess

I have a lot of fun reading Mistborn, but I can't help but notice that politically speaking, the books (especially the 2nd and 3rd one) are... rather conservative. While the first book is about the overthrowing of a tyrant, it almost feels as if the second and third books are... backpedaling a bit, insisting on the importance of slow reform and the maintenance of (at least a part of) the status quo, and warning the reader about the horrific consequences a true revolution might have. Sure, Elend Venture is a good man, but what does that mean, really? He's still part of the political class that spent the last millennium oppressing the skaa. Why does him being a good man make him worthy of the throne? Even more importantly, why do the skaa need a nobleman to rule them? And why are the frustrations of people like Dockson (who would've been a good ruler in his own right, btw) depicted so negatively?

In this sense, the Citizen's rule in Urteau and the way Sanderson chooses to portray it become even more flagrant. The Citizen serves as a warning à la the Terreur, a period of the French Revolution: Look what happens when the skaa follow Kelsier's teachings to its logical end; look what happens when the skaa eradicate the nobility; look what happens when you don't accept Elend Venture's rule. It's annoying and transparent and one of the weakest parts of the book.

And on top of all this, Sanderson also chooses to do a bit of Lord Ruler revisionism, which I don't enjoy at all. Sure, the man had the good sense to take up the power of the Well rather than release it, but dear God, he made an absolute mess of everything else. There's absolutely nothing redeemable about the way he chose to organise his country -- the enslaving of the skaa, the Hemalurgy, the indiscriminate executions, etc. -- so to see Sanderson, through characters like Elend, Vin, and Sazed, try to make sense of Rashek's actions, to even sympathize with them... Yeah, no. I'm midway through the third book and I already know that at one point, Sazed quite literally states that Rashek was "a good man", which is not something I look forward to seeing with my own eyes.

So yeah... Like I said, I love the books for what they are, I have a lot of fun reading them because I am a sucker for Sanderson's elaborate worldbuilding and his compelling characters, but I don't agree with him politically. He's made some strides in his later books, but the same issues still recur (his characterisation of Moash is a good example of this).

[kindred-spirit-93]

wouldve loved to see a warrior of the mind comeback honestly. make athena proud by using wits and kicking poseidons ass (throwback to their rivalry lol)

I have very complicated feelings for the Vengeance Saga (after the first listen)

Disclaimer: I will only criticize Epic the Vengeance Saga as a work on its own, not for its inaccuracy or deviation from mythology and The Odyssey. There are more knowledgable people who can point out and analyze the changes in Epic the Musical, but that is not what I'll be tackling here.

To put it bluntly, I'm not being angsty about it as I should. The whole saga just... didn't feel right with me.

Now, first off all, I'm a big fan of Epic and had been following it since the Cyclops saga (first version). I've been in love with many songs and hyperfixed it for months on end. But when the Vengeance saga came along, I didn't feel that same bubbling love rise in me.

Even as a fan, this isn't my first time having peeves with Epic. I didn't jam with the re-release sagas for a while, I'm underwhelmed with the Circe VS Odysseus fight and other issues, very unpopular opinion but "Monster" wasn't too impactful to me, and also the God Games (especially Zeus' attack).

The Vengeance Saga though? Well, they say we gotta do the Bun-Meat-Bun (or whatever the hell its name really is) technique when giving criticism, so I'll start with the good parts.

I love that Odysseus looked so done with Calypso in "Not Sorry For Loving You". They're basically this meme:

Like sorry you're a sad but you're still an abuser 😒

Then Odysseus starts singing the reprise for "Full Speed Ahead" but there's no one to back him up. That one hits me hard. To whoever on Tumblr said that after the Thunder Saga we will never hear the crew's back-up again and Odysseus' singing will be answered with silence, Apollo really blessed you with the red ball.

Hermes and the Winions' part was really cool too! I really like them being mischievous helper! The warning about the wind bag and the changing scene of Odysseus fighting off sea monsters while Hermes just vibing with the beats is 👌👌👌

But after that the hype started to sizzle out for me. You might want to skip this part if you're not comfortable with harsh criticism because I WON'T hold back.

It's really backward but I like the Odysseus VS Charybdis draft more than the final production. Charybdis' roars and music are somehow less intimidating, which is a shame because I thought this would be one of the biggest struggles Odysseus will face. Even with awesome illustrative animatics, the scene wasn't as thrilling as I've expected.

The other songs got massive improvement from its draft version (on top of my mind I can think of "Thunder Bringer", "There Are Other Ways", "Little Wolf"), but I don't get why "Charybdis" didn't get up-graded as much like them. It's like a cake that was throughly baked but half decorated and it just didn't taste as good as I've hoped.

Then we have the Odysseus VS Poseidon part in "Get In The Water" and "Six Hundred Strikes". The first thought I had for GITW is this song sounds like all the draft snippets were mashed together without a smooth transition/connection between them. Jorge and Steven's performance is great, but there's not enough tension for me to dread for Odysseus. When Poseidon first met Odysseus in "Ruthlessness", the whole opening was terrifyingly good! And we didn't even have any illustration animatic back then! (that's not to say the GITW animatics were bad, they just can't salvage much when the song itself was already weak)

I wasn't impressed with Poseidon's Shatter The Ocean move either. It's supposed to be the Strongest AttackTM but it's less scary than when he and the Laestrygonians destroyed Odysseus' eleven ships with probably 1% of their power. It didn't even help when Poseidon looked like he's having a seizure with lights pouring out of his eyes and mouth during the transformation.

Odysseus being literally on the brink of death with the souls of his loved ones pulling him into the abyss is a gem in the rough, but because we've seen Odysseus almost drowning before in the end of the Thunder Saga, it's not as shocking as it should be. Furthermore, Poseidon could have instant-killed Odysseus right then and there but didn't really annoyed me. But I guess he just wanted Odysseus to slowly suffer while dying.

Right when I thought the progress will get better, it... gets down. I can go with Odysseus using wind to escape the water, but him wearing it like a jetpack is so comical it ruined the drastic of the situation. And I'm officially let down when Odysseus FUCKING ATTACKED Poseidon in "Six Hundred Strike".

What? Just... why with that choice?

Look, I'm not gonna fault Epic for making creative liberties from the source material (as said in the disclaimer), but I will criticize if that change contradict itself in the transformative work. And this is one of them.

Poseidon and the gods have been proven time and time again in the musical just how powerful they are. Their ominous and grandiose entrances, them striking fear and inferiority in our hearts just by singing. Even Circe, a low-level goddess, poses a constant threat to the crew and Odysseus had to get help from Hermes just to get a chance to corner her (and Hermes even joked that he can still die!)

Poseidon easily destroyed almost all of Odysseus' fleet. Odysseus was very avoidant of him, opting to go to the literal Underworld to find instruction on how to dodge him and sailing through Scylla's lair + willing to sacrifice six men for safe passage. And when Poseidon said he can drown all of Ithaca, it's not just bluffing, he would and could have done that. Yeah, the King of the Sea is THAT BIG of a treat.

So no, Odysseus isn't cool to attack Poseidon, he's being stupid. I'm not even cheering for him the whole him he fight, just groaning at how ridiculous the whole thing is. If Epic is more believable and sticks to WHAT IT HAD ESTABLISHED BEFORE, having a sudden burst of anger and choosing ruthlessness won't save Odysseus from one swipe of Poseidon's trident. Odysseus stood no chance against a one of the most powerful deity, even if he's the protagonist and love his family.

Not only that, Poseidon didn't even defend himself and was wounded by a mere human! And he just sat there and took all the blows and insults from Odysseus??? And he actually begged Odysseus to stop and agree to quell the storm to let him get home??? I'm not buy that bullshit. I'm more upset that a literal Olympian god was nerfed down than Odysseus having a Gary Stu moment. Give me a break, that try-hard moment to be cool and edgy just show how badly written the scene is.

What's the fucking point of hyping up how dangerous the gods are if a human can take one down? Tell me this isn't some Wattpad-y Greek myth retelling fanfic where the teenage Y/N sass her way to defeat an entire pantheon. Epic really traded its opportunity to be better for some cheap and out-of-the-blue dramas in this saga, dare I say it's even worse than Zeus' OOC attack on Athena. I'm very disappointed with that decision.

On an end note, the saga did have one saving point with the "After everything you've done, how will you sleep at night?" - "Next to my wife" lines. Odysseus knew he could be the most horrendous man ever and Penelope would still choose his side, that just show how powerful their love and faith in each other are.

But not enough to excuse all the terrible cinematic choices.

[bunnyyhearts]

talk you through it breakdown + fav details

my dearest latest release on my ao3 is a fic I put myself to work on writing after seeing so many amazing best friend's brother's fics being discussed in minsungverse and thinking to myself wow. what if I yurified this. I also really wanted to write some rule 63 after a medium-sized break from writing and I juggled between this and pirate/siren and another canon compliant if skz were women before my heart finally decided that best friend's sister is the way to break thru writer's block

some really fun parts of writing the fic were a) returning my jeongsung besties agenda (this time they're sisters!) from a year ago. jeongin is my fav certified ootd poster and fashion oracle so I always have fun putting jisung's outfit through the jeongin-approval-meter. it's the most trustworthy indicator of a good outfit TO MEEEE

b) I loved using this fic to really truly force myself to play with space. it's so easy for me to position minhee and jisung on a couch or in a bedroom where all they have to deal with is themselves and their feelings, but past me thought the best way to fight her impending deadline for the fic was take minsung OUTSIDE!! okay but really though I think it made for a really nice minhee reveal for the Lee residence to have an elaborate, almost forest-like backyard that this beautiful 20 year old butch emerges from. I'm a sucker for delaying the tension, and only confirming that the 'person' is Minhee after Minhee directly addresses jisung makes it feel like minhee's addressing you, the reader, who knows something minhee doesn't (the fact that jisung is at the house to ask minhee for a KISS!!)

introducing the garden as a location also allowed me to characterise the beautiful girl who's been just the object of jisung's affections so far into something more.... side note I think u can tell how deeply I'm in love with the gentleness that comes with butchness through minhee but yes! the point of minhee growing strawberries was like...you know minhee's hot but Why in the World does jisung like her thaaaaat much. it doesn't matter how I write minho - that is a person who cares. gardening felt like the perfect way to externalise that care while also explaining jisung's affections without just recounting the past

c) THE KISS SCENE. I couldn't stop smiling writing this because I wanted to get across how nervous BOTH of them are about the prospect of kissing each other. there's also a sense of young-person--still-learning-how-to-take-up-space insecurity in minhee, who later in the fic grows into a very self-assured woman. like when she says "I don't want you to regret it" there's a touch of self-doubt in there, which is why I knew I needed jisung to stand her ground and pout her way into getting the kiss....they're perfectly matched <3

d) the jisung rescue. I think it's a little obvious in my fics how much I love the rain and this scene came out with that love front and centre. it's fully and completely inspired by love in the air season 1 episode 1, when payu rescues rain from the rain (hah) after his car breaks down (screenshot from the scene is below and also fun fact I included the rain as a motif in put this to bed also because of the s1e1 of lita). there are many questionable things about love in the air, sure, but I MAINTAIN that episode 1 of that show is an atmospheric masterpiece (and it might have everything to do with the fact that the show opens when it's raining)

e) mechanic minhee. i love writing minhee. she's charming she's charismatic she's the love of my life and it makes me so happy when people say they have a crush on her. minhee with her thriving garage was the ONLY image I had down on my outline before I started writing this fic. I went back and forth in between actually letting minhee fix jisung's car but in the end I decided that her chivalrousness would never let jisung just sit there shivering and cold while she fixes her car. and that instinct just came to me because I, me, the lesbian author, would never let a girl go cold in favour of fixing a car. the best thing about writing minhee is I can access my acts of service lesbian hive mind to consider the 'wait would she even say/do that' question. but also I think I keep Lee Minho as I know and characterise him central to how I write minhee, too. like I know in my heart lee minho would not make han jisung drive once their car broke down

also jisung's ramble-freakout after watching minhee take her button down off to reveal a tank top. this bit made mo my dearest beta giggle and so I am proud of it

f) had the put the screenshot FIRST because the mirror scene. the mirror scene was soooooo nice to write because I love slow simmering sexual tension and what's sexier than watching a hot woman in your room undress THROUGH THE MIRROR. also the back of minhee's chain dipping in between her shoulders. hot (I can't believe I didn't write the very same chain falling over jisung's face!!!! consider it canon now)

honourable mention to minhee's chest tape I love her and she is so sexy butch I think she should open a kissing booth . ALSO u may have noticed I described the notes of minhee's cologne somewhere in the middle of the fic. it's based on a real cologne recommended by hilarious fragrance tiktoker melissa nacional. she posted this one TikTok of her on a date with this girl who wouldn't stop telling her how good she smells and then she posted a follow up saying THIS is the perfume that got my date to book us a hotel room at the end of the night 😭 the perfume is white incense by precious liquid in case you were curious

also shoutout to han jisung's canonical phone brightness for finishing off this fic.

EDIT:

I can't believe I forgot the scene that made me giggle the most. 'before you came into my life, I missed you so bad' is one of the most romantic lyrics I've ever heard and I also loved building the comfy image of a sleepover with Felix where minhee gets a chance to peek into an intimate slice of best friendship. also there's a callback to the call me maybe lyric later in the fic when minhee comes to rescue jisung

I also thought, after setting up this call me maybe scene: jisung has been YEARNING this entire fic. I think it's only fair if minhee exhibits some yearning too. which is what led to the borderline domestic fantasy that minhee shares right after jisung recalls the call me maybe memory

okay NOW that's all

THANK U FOR READING if u did <3

[thewistlingbadger]

I'm annoyed that the many issues with canon Timebomb due to the rushed way the show handled the pairing have started to seep into the fanfic sphere too - namely, Jinx's mental illness being downplayed, Ekko having no personality, relationships or individual motivations outside of his relationship with Jinx and the Firelights being non-existent.

It's got to the point I actively seek out fics published between S1 and S2 over newer ones. They are more likely to nail Jinx and Ekko's characterisation and their dynamic where even the show's writers couldn't.

As someone who doesn't ship timebomb I completely understand your take and it is VALID. Timebomb as a concept is very interesting because theoretically you have these two childhood friends that lost each other only to be reunited later in life as enemies on opposing sides. That is some really compelling groundwork for a romantic relationship! However, the show doesn't really do anything to actually frame them like this. We rarely get to see Jinx and Ekko interact in the whole show, let alone exchange any dialogue with each other.

The timebomb "content" in season two feels misplaced and undeserved because it IS. The only time we've seen these two actually together in a meaningful way in s1 is their fight one the bridge. That fight made it clear that these two have a history that the audience isn't privy to and this one scene is the entire foundation for arcane! timebomb. Ekko has an entire episode in season two that is NOT dedicated to expanding his character, NOT dedicating to elaborating on his relationship with Jinx, but an episode that is dedicated to exploring an alternative reality where Jinx grew up to be a different person. We spend all this time with Ekko and Powder and then the show acts like their dynamic is somehow transferable to Ekko and Jinx by showing us that somehow when Ekko went back to Jinx he was able to reconcile with her and save her life and get her to fight one last time.

To me this makes no sense because episode 7 really didn't show us anything illuminating about Ekko or his relationship with Jinx. It didn't explain what happened between them, or why Ekko would have romantic feelings for Jinx. We go the whole show without ever actually getting any context as to what happened between them, so the nature of their relationship is truly a mystery. Ekko doesn't go through any major development in that episode, he stays consistent throughout the whole time. Ekko in general is unfortunately a character that goes unexplored throughout the whole show. We don't know much about who he is as a character and his goals, motivations, or reasonings. This same issue occurs with The Firelights. We know they're a group of rebels, but what do they ACTUALLY want and what are their plans to achieve their goals?

Ultimately it was decided that none of this mattered because instead of using the groundwork laid out in season one, season two only had one thing in mind: their end goal. And that end goal consisted largely of fan service, which is why we got a timebomb kiss. Not because it added to Jinx and Ekko's story (the kiss wasn't even between Jinx and Ekko lol) but because the ship is popular and they knew a kiss would make fans happy. A large part of the fandom is very happy with the fan service they received in this season and now they are, predictably, running wild with it. Timebomb has become even more popular than it already was and most of the content is very sweet in nature. I'm glad that shippers are fed and enjoying themselves. However, I cannot look past how the adoration for the ship has made people turn a blind eye to what was established prior to season two. The Firelights are important to Ekko, and Jinx killed many of them over the span of several years. Jinx was born with mental illness and her illness impacted her everyday life. Ekko and Jinx seemingly have a complex history that needs to be unpacked before they can even ATTEMPT to be on good terms again. The last time we saw Ekko and Jinx in s1 they LITERALLY tried to kill each other! This is a relationship that deserves and NEEDS time to be understood.

As for Jinx's mental illness being downplayed? 100% true. In season one Jinx's mental health was vital to the story the writers were trying to tell. They didn't want Jinx to seem like a manic, Joker-type character. They wanted her to be someone the audience would simultaneously pity and fear. But in season two, the end goal was to have Jinx reconcile with Vi and be a hero. To the people behind season two, this wasn't possible without stripping Jinx of everything that made her a fan favorite. Season one was all about rejecting the past and embracing who you truly are and what you've become. Jinx's final action in season one is sitting in the Jinx chair, proclaiming she has changed, and then nuking topside. But in season two, Jinx answers to the name Powder and says "Jinx is dead." In season two, Jinx becomes completely pacified and is no longer a murderous criminal who struggles with daily hallucinations. The erasure of her mental illness and identity has led fans to come to the conclusion that she was never really "that messed up" to begin with, all her problems were because of Silco and now that Silco's gone, she's better. This view is incorrect because we see Jinx have meltdown before she even meets Silco AND arguably Jinx reverting back to Powder isn't inherently a good thing. Powder isn't inherently the "better" version of Jinx. The fact that she even reverts at all goes completely against the message of season one and Silco's dying words, "Don't cry. You're perfect."

[anirritant]

You posted that you accept asks, and I'm curious: How would PMD2 Cresselia feel about Mainline Pokemon Cresselia?

Ahh I'm not sure I can answer for actual, canonical, mainline Cresselia. She has very little characterisation from what I can find..

But I will answer for how I'm writing Cresselia for this AU, which is somewhat based on fanon and headcanons, but mostly original traits thrown in just for this

Below is kinda a show of their dynamic lol

Ramblings under the cut

I haven't introduced the idea yet but eventually (like idk a year later??) the alternate lunar duo are confident they can keep PMD Darkrai under control and wanna try to help him and redeem him, despite the warnings of everyone else. PMD Cresselia, of course, thinks this is absolute lunacy lmao

PMD Cresselia has had to be vigilant and deal with her Darkrai's nonsense for a looong time, so she can't help but be a very skeptical and uncomfortable about this whole thing. Part of her still thinks this may be an elaborate scheme, and doesn't trust the alternate Darkrai. A benevolent Darkrai is almost incomprehensible to her lol, so seeing that and a second her that's attempting to befriend the very being that caused her so much trouble is... unnerving. She's trying to be polite but her instincts are screaming at her lol

PMD Cresselia thinks the alternate Cresselia isn't being cautious enough and is being taken advantage of, she thinks she's immature, so she gets quite concerned for her safety and keeps a close eye on her when she's with either Darkrai (which is unnecessary; the alternate Cresselia can defend herself just fine, but PMD Cresselia is paranoid anyway)

[windi04]

Fangs of Fortune: a review

This is my third time writing this whole damn review, so please excuse me if I sound like I’m absolutely done with this shit, cuz I kind of am, atp.

Anyways, I previously prepared long paragraphs describing everything I loved and hated about Fangs of Fortune, but I’m tired now, pls don’t be offended. I’m going to keep everything short and sweet. Maybe I will comment individually on each section later.

Music: Impeccable. 1000000000% satisfaction. Here’s a playlist I found on Spotify.

Costumes and styling: Top notch. Really intricate and elaborate, accentuating richness of culture and characterisations.

Setting: Humid. Surprisingly comforting. Probably first class leech habitat.

So many failed relationships. Note: different from doomed relationships. These couples are literally soulmates (?) who never got their happily-ever-after.

Exhibit A: Ran Yi and Miss Qi. Pure love untainted by stereotypes.

Exhibit B: Qing Geng and Fei. Literally yin and yang.

Exhibit C: Cheng Huang and Bai Ze (original goddess). I personally shipped them.

Exhibit D: Ao Yin and Li Lun. Unreciprocated love; take it with a grain of salt.

Exhibit E: Zhao Yuanzhou and Wen Xiao. The power couple. Almost made it, but fate had other plans.

Other non-romantic relationships: Bai Jiu and Ying Lei. Honourable mentions also include the Zhao Yuanzhou-Zhuo Yichen-Li Lun, Pei Sijing-Wen Xiao, Bai Jiu-Pei Sijing, Bai Jiu-Zhuo Yichen, and Pei siblings’ dynamics.

Ending: Not that satisfactory. Felt rushed, could have made it happier. Or at least let viewers deal with the tragedy and loss together with the survivors.

Bonus: Enjoyed confusing my family with out of context remarks about Fangs of Fortune. For example, (Bai Jiu shows up on screen) ME: HIS MOTHER’S A TREE!

Last words: Loved the cdrama to bits. Go watch it if you haven’t already!

[thequietesthing]

Bridgerton S3 Part 1 REVIEW!!!

Gentle readers, the time is finally upon us…

SPOILERS AHEAD - books and tv show 

Read at you your own risk

let’s go storyline by storyline

Polin: I LOVE THEM YOUR HONOR. they are great. the first episode you wanna smack CB up and down bc he behaves like an ass. Pen my darling i love you but some of your scenes give me second hand embarrassment and i had to watch them thru my fingers lol. I enjoyed the insertion of the character of Lord Debling; he was there, he did his part, which was basically making Colin more evidently jealous. In the books there is no need for that because we follow the thought process of the characters, but in a visual adaptation they have no way to do that so they used the old fashioned jealousy trope, that never disappoints. Confession time, I’m really not a big fan of friends to lovers because a lot of times there is the risk of falling into a series of banalities, BUT in the series, like in the books, it was really really well done. I like how they showed the progressive obsession that Colin has with Penelope, (and I feel like the best is yet to come), because of one thing you can be sure is that that man is OBSESSED with his (future) wife. Scene in the carriage: NAILED IT. Personally I’m also really fond of the scene in the book when he follows her and finds out that she’s LW, which from the promo for the second part I assume will happen (yey!). ALSO THE MIRROR SCENE. I’M WAITING.

Moving on

Francesca: my beloved. Not only do we share a name, but also a core deep awkwardness and the inability to be at the center of attention for more than two minutes straight; not to mention a deep appreciation for silence. I’M LOVING her storyline, I think it has great potential, and we’re finally discovering something more of the mysterious Bridgerton. The way I SCREAMED when John presented himself at Bridgerton House!!!! He is also a sweetheart and they are absolutely lovely together (this characterisation is needed as it will serve as a counterbalance for Michael later). Also Hannah Dodd is just the sweetest tootie-patootie and has such an angel face (which makes me really eager to see her in her season, IYKYK). Idk if you can tell that her book is my favourite lol.

Eloise: my girl, I cannot blame you. Like, let’s be honest, when a friend keeps something from you, especially of such magnitude, you can’t help of being a bit mad. I do think that she still has a great love for Penelope and it shows during these first four episodes. Also, only Eloise can make Cressida Cowper nice apparently. I think it’s going to be very interesting in the second part see her trying to protect her brother from Pen’s secret, but I do believe that in the promo that they showed us there are mostly scenes from episode 5 and 6. She has embraced the mentality if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em, which makes her less “contrary” to society but she still has her quirkiness and wit that distinguishes from the rest.

Kanthony: they are happy, they are in love and they are enjoying their marital bed, and honestly who can blame them?! I love that they are happy and that they are showing us them being happy. I feel that is something that lacked with Daphne and the Duke because of actors unavailability, but I’m happy that both Johnny and Simone decided to continue. Especially Johnny because I have to say I’m a sucker for Anthony as “father-figure” for the youngest siblings, so I’m hoping for a scene with Frannie/Eloise/Gregory/Hyacinth and Anthony, even in future seasons.

Benedict/Violet: I really think that the next season will be Benedict season, and I will elaborate later why, because my man here needs a change of scenery. 3 seasons, every single time the same freaking storyline for my beautiful Benny that is a precious soul and could do so much more than to shag the first person that comes across his path. Violet is really sweet. She worries for her children a lot, like it’s normal for any mother but she’s learning, with a trial-error approach, how to let a bit go. I’m not entirely convinced of this Marcus guy. I think that Lady Danbury needs to sit Violet down and come clean of why she and her brother are estranged because she (being me) needs to know. 

Mondrich family: they are so cute, but I feel (and hope) that we will be able to close their story this season because it’s starting to feel a bit dragged on.

All in all, the first part of S3 gets 4,5/5⭐️

Now, my predictions: like I said before I do think that the next season will be Benedict turn, and not Francesca or Eloise, for the following reasons

1.They don’t know what to do with the poor guy anymore, every season a different person but his story arc feels a bit incomplete. They did something last season with the whole art school debacle but we are mostly back to square one.

2.Eloise has not given any indication that she has started writing to Mr.Philip. I think she will start at the end of this season or beginning of the next one.

3.Since we don’t have anymore debutantes for a while, I think next season will begin with Francesca and John’s wedding, and as a secondary storyline they will start to show more of their relationship + they will introduce Michael and all their dynamics. 

4.If they continue, I believe Eloise will have the fifth season , with her running away after Benedict (her favourite brother) gets married. 

ALSO, and this is more a personal curiosity, I wonder what they will do with LW. Technically, in the books Penelope is discovered and LW dies out; in fact in E/F/H/G we don’t have any LW at the beginning of the chapters but extrapolates of letters from the main character to other characters. It’s interesting I think because, if they do decide to cut her out completely, it will change the format of the series quite a bit as it has become such a core part of how the show is perceived by the audience. Which leads me to a reflection on how they decided to promote/present the show. If Benedict is actually next, I think it will be a bit of a transitional season. Let me explain myself; I don’t think that the queen (and the court in general) will have a big role like she’s been having for the past seasons because the next Bridgerton debutante will be Hyacinth, which is quite a few seasons away. We won’t have anymore LW (technically) and also the stages set in the books, especially for E, but also for F partially, takes place far way from London. If they actually manage to get to H/G seasons (which I hope because I want to see Garrett and Lucy), they will bring back the entire London setting. OBVIOUSLY ASSUMING THAT THEY FOLLOW WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE BOOKs AND DON'T DECIDE TO SWITCH IT UP AND MAKE EVERYTHING HAPPEN IN LONDON (honestly, I hope not)

All this to say that I think that they split this season for two reasons: one of purely economical nature; being the fact that they have been absent from the screens for very long and in order to keep the people talking about the series more (and for longer) and to regain all the money spent, is very strategic to split it in half, keeping engagement high for all the time before/in between/after. The second reason I think is of narrative choices, if we assume that I’m right and Benedict is next, for the reasons I told you before. They want to show a bit of a detachment between the Bridgerton we have known until know and the one that will come later.

Ok I’m done. Gosh, how I ramble.

I have a sixth sense that I need to add this, just to be sure: these are my opinions, feel free not to share them just please be nice if you want to manifest your disagreement.

[littlesparklight]

I've been reading the thesis version of Meriel Jones' Playing the Man: Performing Masculinities in the Greek Novel, especially the last chapter, which gave me some more meat my bones, so I've elaborated on this post (... essay..?) about effeminacy and Paris.

I. Some general points when it comes to ancient Greek culture and certain attitudes relevant to the topic of effeminacy: Moderation, first of all, was a thing the Ancient Greeks considered paramount; moderation in sex, food, drink, pleasure, clothing - you name it. Self-control and nothing too much, of anything. I think this can be reflected in Menelaos' Book 13 speech: "There is satiety in all things, even sleep and even love, and in sweet song and blameless dance […] But the Trojans are insatiate of battle." He twice juxtaposes (before and at the end of this speech) the Trojans' supposed insatiability (lack of moderation) for war with that one can have "enough" of all things, even those much sweeter than war itself.

Both men and women were supposed to show self-restraint when it came to sex; it was a virtue, and furthermore, self-restraint and moderation was part of what made a man "manly", if you will. Part of Aeschines' speech Against Timarchus argues that he has shown a lack of moderation in his behaviour in all parts of life; seeking out men (whether "unsuitable" or not) to sleep with (as the presumed receptive partner), food, indulging in hiring far too many female prostitutes; all this made him unfit for what was otherwise a male citizen's rights and responsibilities both. Women being modest and chaste were similar for them, and an extra step further than a man's "moderation". At the same time, women were considered "naturally" more sexual, having less self-control (that was why it was extra important they exercise self-restraint and being chaste), and being focused on pleasure, which leads into the connected idea that a man who does not… becomes feminized.

Something illustrated by Lucian of Samosata's A True Story, in the very first parts of it, and talked about below:

And contrary to what one might think, in general the love of boys wasn't feminising (later, it would start to gain that association) - though as always, excessive sex no matter the partner "dooms" you, and being the one taking cock is of course effeminate (because being penetrated is what women do). Instead, a too intense interest in women, whether in sex or just spending time with them, becomes feminising. Like draws to like, and if you associate too much with it, it will "taint" you. Plutarch is of course much later than the Iliad, but this bit from the Amatorius (750f forward) might work as a general illustration:

"Now if this be the passion you talk of which is to be called Love, it is a spurious and effeminate love that sends us to the women's chambers, as it were to the Cynosarges at Athens. […] thus the true genuine love is that of boys, not flaming with concupiscence, as according to Anacreon the love of maids and virgins does, neither besmeared with odoriferous ointments, nor alluring with smiles and rolling glances; […] whereas that other love, nice and effeminate, and always nestling in the bosoms and beds of women, pursuing soft pleasures, and wasted with unmanly delights, that have no gust of friendship or heavenly ravishment of mind, is to be despised and rejected of all mankind."

In fact, a man being willing to break law and convention to be with a woman he desired to such a degree he'd try to sleep with a married woman would also feminise him. Or, throwing that around, being effeminate made a man suspect of being an adulterer. For example, apparently a Syracusan law (mentioned by Phylarcus) stated that any man who paid excessive attention to his appearance and personal grooming could be identified as an adulterer or a kinaidos. So the connection between decorative appearance on a man is tied both to immoderate sexual interest in women (as well as characterising him as attractive to said women), but general sexual deviance - a kinaidos was someone who liked to be penetrated.

There's also parts of Electra's speech to Aigisthos' corpse in Euripides' Electra that are pretty illuminating (930ff): "Among all the Argives you would hear this: "That woman's husband", not "that man's wife". Although this is a shameful thing, for the wife to rule the house and not the husband[…]You were insolent because you had a king's house and were endowed with good looks. May I never have a husband with a girl's face, but one with a man's ways. For the children of the latter cling to a life of arms, while the fair ones are only an ornament in the dance."

Male beauty coupled to a lack of manliness, dance (which can have erotic, if not outright sexual, connotations) contrasted with martial ability and virtue.

II. For the Iliad specifically, Christopher Ransom in his Aspects of Effeminacy and Masculinity in the Iliad (2011) summarises up a couple other points:

"In the Iliad, childishness and effeminacy are often referred to in order to define masculine identity. Women and children are naturally not operative in the adult male world of warfare, and so can be clearly classified as ‘other’ within the martial sphere of battlefield insults. Masculine identity cannot be formed in a vacuum, and so the feminine or the childish is posited as ‘other’ in order to define the masculine by contrast." and "Idle talk is characterised as childish or feminine, and is repeatedly juxtaposed with the masculine sphere of action." as well as "Effeminacy is linked to shame […]; if acting like a coward is a cause for shame, and prompts Menelaos to call the Achaians ‘women’, then effeminacy is seen as shameful in the context of the poem."

And while neither dancing nor sex are something that a man who engages in will become effeminate for, the former is explicitly posited as a peace-time pastime only, and sex is only to be had at the right time (and in the right amount). So, in the Iliad's (as well as the whole war) circumstances, neither of those two activities are proper to prioritise, and are at points set up in juxtaposition and contrast to war and martial effort. Additionally, physical beauty alone doesn't make a man in any way feminized - otherwise quite a few male characters would be effeminate! - and in fact, a well-born, "heroic" man will be beautiful because it befits his status. (Insert basically any big-name male character in Greek mythology here.) But, there's a limit and some caveats to this; physical beauty in a man (not a youth) must be balanced out against other "virtues", and if, in especially the context of war as in the Iliad, a man's martial ability is lacking, his handsomeness becomes a source of scorn instead, because he can't "back it up".

Here's our most notable "offenders": Nireus of Syme, who in the second book of the Iliad is called the most beautiful among the Achaeans after Achilles, but "he was weak, and few men followed him". Syme is a small island, but I don't think the "few men" here is supposed to be assumed because of a lack of numbers on the island. His beauty is all there is to him, and no one wants to follow him because he's not sufficiently (manly) able in war. Nastes and/or Amphimachus of Miletus, wearing gold in [his/their] hair "like a girl", which the narrator then calls [him/them] a fool for and that he will be stripped of those pieces of jewellery when Achilles kills him, and, again from Ransom's article; "Thus, the effeminised male, characterised by his feminine dress, is brought down by the ‘proper hero’, and the effeminate symbolically succumbs to the masculine." Euphorbus, the man who first injures Patroklos - this is an edge-case, because the text itself isn't obviously condescending or condemning Euphorbus compared to Nastes/Amphimachus. It simply describes him wearing his hair in a style of hair ornaments that pinches tresses in at the middle. But, the narrator still goes to the effort to make this extra description, not just the more general/usual mention of the hair being befouled in the dust as the man killed falls to the ground.

(In the intent of being somewhat exhaustive, two other potential edge-cases: Patroklos, who does perform some tasks at the embassy dinner in Book 9 that would usually be done by women. And it's not as if Achilles doesn't have women who could deal with the bread and similar. It's not remarked on, or marked in the text in any way, compared to the other characters previous. Menelaos, even more of an edge case when it comes to the Iliad, but like Patroklos he's described as gentle, and by Agamemnon and Nestor's indictment doesn't act when he should, being more prone and willing to let Agamemnon take point. Could say it ties into how Helen in the Odyssey is the more dominant partner in terms of social interaction, as well. In Euripides' Iphigenia in Aulis, this adjacent connection turns a little more clear, for some of the way Agamemnon describes how Menelaos is acting at some points have a rather feminising slant.)

And then there's our last "offender", who we see more of in terms of his lacking in living up to proper (Iliadic) masculinity; Paris. Before going into that, I want to touch on something else.

III. That being what the idea of the Trojans being "barbarians" does to the Trojans in later sources. In the Iliad itself, while the Iliad does have a pro-Achaean bias, the Trojans and their allies aren't really portrayed in the same way as happens later (but not consistently so), coming into shape during and after the Persian Wars. In summary, it's during this time the Trojans gain the negative stereotypes of the eastern "barbarian"; luxurious, slavish (but also tyrants! one basically ties into and enables the other), and effeminate.

Not all "barbarians" were considered the same, with the same stereotypes attached to them; northern (Scythians, etc.) barbarians were considered violent and warlike, "savage" if you will.

Edith Hall's book Inventing the Barbarian (1989), is all about this, but have a couple hopefully illuminating quotes about how these stereotypes were expressed, especially in drama/fiction:

So what happens is that all Trojans get tarred with this eastern barbarian brush, as illustrated by the Trojan Women, for example, where Hecuba's description of Paris' looks when he came to Sparta is steeped in the eastern barbarian luxury terms. Which comes attached with other connotations. Another example is in the Aeneid (by a character, not the narrative);

"And now that Paris, with his eunuch crew, beneath his chin and fragrant, oozy hair ties the soft Lydian bonnet, boasting well his stolen prize."

Notes here: 1. This is said by a character, not the narrative itself, and using this as an argument against Aeneas and his Trojans, but the stereotype itself isn't something new; 2. "That Paris" = Aeneas. While this might be more about Paris as a seducer and abductor of Helen, adultery is as we know effeminate, and given the emasculation of the rest of the Trojans and then the additional effeminate touches with Aeneas' supposed dress and hair, I'd say it's not just about that; 3. The word translated here as "eunuch" (semivir, "half-man"), by a quick look in Perseus' word tool, is also straight up used about effeminacy, though of course an actual eunuch wasn't a "full"/proper man and often viewed as effeminate, too, so they're tied together.

This is a development, of course, and we can't know how completely the later ideas of effeminacy would've been reflected in the times when the Iliad was crystallized. But on the other hand, those ideas about effeminacy wouldn't have sprung ready-made out of nothing in the Archaic/Classical era, either. Even in the Iliad, there are clear criteria for what makes a man properly manly/martial, which isn't really followed along the lines of later eastern barbarians/Greeks. So in the Iliad itself obviously not all Trojan characters would be equally easy to cast in an effeminate light.

But, again, we come back to the easiest target, the one who, by the way he's juxtaposed against another character who exemplifies the "war as (part of the) male gender performance" in the Iliad, stands outside of that. The one who basically, as he is portrayed in the Iliad, by the stereotype of the later eastern barbarian becomes the archetypal "eastern barbarian Trojan".

Paris.

IV. So, let's talk about Paris!

At the very basic level when it comes to Paris and his place in the Iliad, is that he is the foil and contrast to his brother Hektor in specific, as a warrior and as a man. But in that specific reflection he is also the contrast against almost every other male character, Achaean and Trojan, in the Iliad.

What does this mean?

-Cowardice; he's slack and unwilling as Hektor accuses him of. No way to know if this is specifically because he's always afraid of martial engagement, as in the moment we see before his duel against Menelaos, since being unwilling to fight in deadly combat could be for many different reasons. (He is not always slack and unwilling, however; he is out there on the battlefield with the rest at the beginning of Book 3, and after Book 6 he is, as far as we know, out there with the rest of the Trojans, from beginning to end. His unreliability in his martial efforts is another angle.) But the reason(s) why do not really matter; it would be cowardice either way. Not returning to the battlefield and instead sleeping with Helen, and then, again, not returning immediately after they're done be considered part of cowardice as well. Paris' not returning without being prompted (in one case, if he's being honest, by Helen herself) undoubtedly has several connotations and implications.

-He is one of, if not the worst, fighters among the commanders, on both sides. His martial prowess isn't up to snuff. As we see in Book 3 where Hektor calls him out on retreating, he notes that Paris' beauty would have the Achaeans believe Paris is one of the Trojans' foremost champions, for the idea is that this physical excellence would be paired with martial excellence. But it isn't, because of Paris' cowardice and his lack of martial ability, and tying into this, then, is;

-Paris' beauty. As noted earlier with Nireus, physical beauty not backed up by martial prowess makes you less than, and the epithet used most often for Paris to call him godlike is specifically about his physical looks. There are other epithets (also sometimes used of Paris) that mean "godlike" in a more general way, but the one most often used of Paris is specific. And, that particular word is what's used when Paris first leaps forward in Book 3; the narrative is using theoeides every single time Paris' name is used in Book 3. And so we get something like this, from J. Griffin in his Homer on Life and Death (1980): "…the poet makes it very clear that the beauty of Paris is what characterizes him, and is at variance with his lack of heroism…" as well as from Ransom in his article: "Again the suggestion is that Paris’ beauty is empty, and that he is lacking the courage or other manly characteristics that would render it honourable. […] Paris is set against Menelaos, a ‘real’ man by implication, and he is told that his skill with the lyre and his beauty would be no help to him then."

-Being an archer. The bow wasn't the manliest weapon around, and the Iliad disparages its use on the battlefield (selectively!). Paris is basically our archetypical archer, who gets insulted for being an archer and less manly because of that. Diomedes' insult in Book 11 lays this out very clearly; he straight up calls the bow not a real weapon, and by implication in his further speech implies Paris is no different than a woman or a child. Now, many people are insulted on the Iliadic battlefield by being compared to women or children. But none of these men are archers - or Paris, who Diomedes has just insisted has given him a(n insignificant) injury, by a "not real" weapon, that is the same as if a woman or child hit him. He's denying Paris' martial ability and masculinity several times over.

-The first part of Diomedes' litany of insults is worth looking at as well; "kera aglae = shining/glorious in horn", which is variously translated as either splendid in your crown of curls/glorying in your hair/bow. The translation varies because the Ancient Greeks also didn't know what was meant, exactly, and while I prefer the 'hair' option (because the bow is superfluous as it's mentioned right after), bow would emphasise again the uselessness of such a weapon; Paris' martial skill is useless and less manly. But what's more interesting in the case of if it might mean Paris' hair (as a way of dressing it, is meant); it puts an emphasis, again, on Paris' looks and the effort he makes in his presentation. Effort he shouldn't put there. And a third option that I don't know if translators ever use is that it might mean 'penis', which shakes out into "glorying in your penis". So, an insult about Paris' prowess being in the bedroom instead of on the battlefield, which is, of course, unmanly.

-His focus on dancing and music, as brought up by both Hektor and Aphrodite (and, though in a more general insulting context with other sons being mentioned as well, by Priam). The problem is, again, of course not his skill or interest in and with these things, but that he is better at these than combat and that he shows more interest in them and, by especially Hektor's implications, puts more effort and focus in these than martial endeavour.

As a point when it comes to his being a lyrist; that, too, was often edged in ideas of effeminacy. So while, of course, no man is effeminate just because they may take up the lyre at some point, as this was very much part of a genteel and elite culture, if one dedicates one's life to it, that starts to have an effect on how the person is viewed. As an illustration, this quote from The Culture of Kitharoidia (2010) by Timothy Power: "Juvenal is in fact activating, with the added zeal of the Roman moralizer […] a critical topos that Greek comic poets and cultural conservatives themselves had deployed as early as the fifth century BCE: the negative characterization of popular music and musicians, not least star citharodes, as prettified and unmanly, "soft" […], if still highly sexed." and also "[…]and as singers of aismata gunaikon. This latter phrase could be understood to mean "women's songs" or "songs sung for the enjoyment of women". Again, the conceit of the musician as effeminate seducer is operative." The way Hektor connects Paris' skill with his lyre together with his beauty as contra-martial in the Iliad seems to me like a nascent seed of this. And then we have the below quoted ode by Horace where Paris is playing for "his women", and thus their enjoyment, away from the battlefield and undoubtedly in private/the women's part of the house, and this, together with his sexuality and reputation for seducing (Helen), and we're probably right smack dab in the "woman-focused effeminate" of the musician spectrum. Aelian's Varia Historia has a similar point about Paris' lyre/singing; "what were sung but adulterous airs to take and seduce women?".

-His sexuality. As noted earlier, a man should show moderation and self-restraint. Paris, giving in to his desires and having sex in the middle of the day and during a tense moment, even if the forces aren't supposed to be fighting at that very point in time (neither he nor Helen would know Athena has induced Pandaros into breaking the truce), is certainly not showing any sort of moderation. He shows no hesitation in bringing up his desire to sleep with Helen, and has to be fetched from the innermost parts of his and Helen's home. The place where the women clearly are considered to be, which is not where a man should linger. There is a similar lack of moderation and self-control in how Paris doesn't just sleeping with, but runs off with, someone else's wife - he wants Helen so much he (through whatever means) removes her from her husband's house.

I can't emphasize enough how much especially his speech about how much he desires Helen and the subsequent sex isn't some epitome of macho male sexuality and prowess. Rather, this is the epitome of feminized weakness to sex and pleasure. Paris goes through several possible words to describe his ardour and the pleasure of sex to Helen, and Paris throws himself whole-heartedly into the weakness he is displaying. And again, in the versions of story where Helen and Paris sleep together in Sparta before they leave, Paris thus having part of adultery, would, as noted earlier, also be attached to effeminacy, through the same lack of control over one's sexual urges.

-Paris' physical presentation. There is a lot of focus on his dress and how it makes him look (Aphrodite practically objectifies him for Helen's pleasure when she describes him to her!), and that his clothes are gorgeous. Again, have a quote from Ransom about that Aphrodite-Helen scene: "This scene captures his essence perfectly. Once more Paris’ looks and dress are emphasised […] and, in Aphrodite’s speech, the poet explicitly disassociates him from his martial endeavour." Connected to this we have his first appearance earlier in this book, where he's described as not wearing full armour but a leopard pelt. Here's Griffin again: "[…] so he has to change into proper armour before he can fight - and we are to supply the reason: because he looked glamorous in it." Now, I don't think it's that simple, because other people wear animal pelts in the Iliad; Agamemnon and Menelaos both do so, as does Diomedes and Dolon. However, Agamemnon and Menelaos both wear theirs as part of a full martial dress and they're clearly meant as part of a display of authority and martial prowess. Diomedes, though he's not otherwise fully armoured as this is part of his dress during the meeting before the night raid, is clearly meant to be similarly glorified (Dolon is more of a question, considering how he's portrayed otherwise). Paris is specifically not wearing a full set of armour, even if he apparently has it at home, so in the end I'd agree with Griffin that, given the other instances of Paris' clothing being extravagant/beautiful, this is indeed an instance of "because he looked glamorous in it".

But as Ruby Blondell puts it: "The destructive power of "feminine" beauty is most ostentatiously displayed, among mortals, in the person not of Helen but of Paris. In contrast to the veiling of her looks, Paris's dangerous beauty is displayed, glorified, and also castigated. […] His appearance is unusually decorative, even in battle. His equipment is "most beautiful" (6.321), glorious, and elaborate (6.504), and his outfit includes such exotic details as a leopard skin (3.17) and a "richly decorated strap (polukestos himas) under his tender throat" (3.371)." (Helen of Troy (2013)) And aside from the Iliad, Euripides in describing Paris in the Trojan Women and Iphigenia in Aulis, makes much of his beautiful clothes.

Too much attention to one's looks would, again, be feminising. (Taking it as an aside because I don't remember where I read it or the source of the statement, but a note to an article I once read quoted a source as saying that a man paying too much attention to his hair was an indicator of either being an adulterer, or effeminate.) Men who were excessively interested in women were then stereotyped as decorating themselves further to attract them, with cosmetics, perfume, and even feminine clothes (because this sort of decorating oneself was thought to be attractive to women when a man did it). In the Heroicus (Philostratus), Paris is described as having white skin (suggesting he, like women, keep out of the sun), polishing his nails and painting his eyes, and in conjunction with the Iliad's focus on Paris' hair and his perfumed bedroom, this could be contrasted with a description of an effeminate character from Longus' novel Daphnis and Chloe: "His hair was glistening with perfumed locks, his eyes were shadowed; he wore a soft cloak and fine slippers, heavy rings sparkled on his fingers." (trans. Goold)

And Paris' pretty hair gets insulted at least once (by Hektor) and potentially twice, the second time by Diomedes in Book 11. (The phrase used is uncertain whether it's about Paris' hair or his bow; that it could be his hair, being worn in a particular style, has been an idea from ancient times.) And we know what sort of fuss the Iliad makes of pretty hair in men who do not otherwise live up to being properly masculine according to its ethos.

-His attitude towards the whole (Homeric) heroic ethos of the Iliad. Not just his unwillingness or lack of martial prowess, but rather the "personal motto" he expresses to Hektor in Book 6; "victory shifts from man to man". And, while I wouldn't say this is at all a typical mark of an effeminate man in terms of the Ancient Greek outlook on these matters, you do have to set it in connection to his other martial "failings". As Kirk in his The Iliad, a Commentary, vol. 1 (1985/2001) says: "He thus attributes success in battle to more or less random factors, discounting his personal responsibility and performance." and, another point of view from Muellner in The meaning of Homeric εὔχομαι through its formulas (1976) about this same "motto":

-A comment on Paris' epithet of "husband of lovely-haired Helen". While I heavily doubt there's any implication of unmanliness made in the Iliad itself by Paris being called this epithet, compared to the other elements to how Paris is portrayed, in Euripides' Electra Electra has a statement about Aigisthos that it's shameful for man to be known as being a woman's husband, instead of the other way around. My guess is that Iliad-wise (or within the epic tradition of the Trojan war), Paris' epithet is factual; he is the husband of Helen, nothing more or less. But by the point we get to Archaic/Classical Greece, the audiences would look at such an epithet - while still factual - differently. Especially in conjunction with everything else around Paris, I think.

So what you have, then, in sum is Paris being very much non-masculine. In the Iliad itself he is, at the very least, not conforming to the martial and cultural expectations and mores of the Iliad's/the Homeric masculine ethos. Even if you add in/change some of how the Trojans might view things, Paris would without a doubt still be non-conforming. Myth-wise, he certainly is so, both before and after the Persian Wars and the changes to the Trojans' general perception at the hands of the Athenian tragedians happened.

Here's Christopher Ransom again, to tie things up: "If gender is performance, Paris is simply not playing his part; if ‘being a man’ requires a concerted effort and a conscious choice, it seems as though Paris’ choices are in opposition to those of his more heroic brother."

V. And lastly, some scattered quotes from ancient sources about Paris, roughly ordered from earliest to latest:

"Accursed Paris, outstanding only in beauty, woman crazed, seducer-[…]The long-haired Achaeans howl in laughter thinking you our first champion, because your appearance is beautiful - but there is no strength in your heart, nor any courage.[…]Your lyre and the gifts of Aphrodite would be of no use to you, nor your hair and looks[…]" "[…]he is on his bed in his own room, radiant with beauty and dressed in gorgeous apparel. No one would think he had just come from fighting, but rather that he was going to a dance, or had done dancing and was sitting down. (The Iliad, Book 3) -I think these two Iliad quotes boil things down nicely. Hektor's lines are very much haranguing Paris for his lack of manliness in what Hektor chooses to insult. The focus on his beauty and the clothing in Aphrodite's lines add to it, for the clothing (and their emphasised beauty) especially would enhance said beauty. Aphrodite also bringing up dancing, and this is yet another notch in how he is so attractive and sexual/sexualized; the dancing grounds and dancing by young women and men were loci of sexuality.

"No! my son was exceedingly handsome, and when you saw him your mind straight became your Aphrodite; for every folly that men commit, they lay upon this goddess, [990] and rightly does her name begin the word for “senselessness”; so when you caught sight of him in gorgeous foreign clothes, ablaze with gold, your senses utterly forsook you." (Euripides, Trojan Women) "in robes of gorgeous hue, ablaze with gold, in true barbaric pomp;[70]" (Iphigenia in Aulis) -These two quotes are pretty straightforward, especially keeping in mind all the above and Edith Hall's discussion of the words connected to eastern "barbarians" by this point. And, too, however, that 'ablaze with gold' would imply he's wearing (a lot) of jewellery, which is not really a manly thing to do. The description in IA once more has him in lots of jewellery, and the "gorgeous hue" more literally says "flowery", so either presumably the various colours of flowers, or the clothes are embroidered in flowers.

"Vainly shall you; in Venus' favour strong, Your tresses comb, and for your dames divide On peaceful lyre the several parts of song; Vainly in chamber hide

From spears and Gnossian arrows, barb'd with fate, And battle's din, and Ajax in the chase Unconquer'd; those adulterous locks, though late, Shall gory dust deface." (Horace, Odes) -Double focus on his hair, and through that, Paris' behaviour (playing music, avoiding battle), all of it disassociating him from martial effort and into a more "feminine" sphere.

"So then Achilles you, who overcame the mighty, were subdued by a coward who seduced a Grecian wife! Ah, if you could not die by manly hands, your choice had been the axe." (Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 12) -Quite literally spelled out in the text that Paris isn't manly, and that he's so very much not manly that Klytaimnestra, a literal woman, would've been the preferred slayer instead!

"[…]shall we endure a Phrygian eunuch hovering about the coasts and harbours of Argos […]" (Statius, Achilleid) -Again, like in the Aeneid quote, the "eunuch" here is "semivir", so Paris is explicitly emasculated and made out to be effeminate, for while it might be used of a eunuch (who is a "half-man") it's otherwise attached to effeminacy or other gender/sexual deviance. And certainly it is here, in the form of the effeminate man who is a great seducer of and greatly attractive to (and sexually weak towards) women.

"He attached panthers' skins to his shoulders, he did not allow dirt to settle on his hair, not even when he was fighting, and he polished his fingernails. He had a rather aquiline nose and white skin, his eyes were painted,[…]" (Philostratus, Heroicus/On Heroes) -Including the full and not just paraphrased quote here in the interest of fullness sake; the fussiness to his appearance is very clear, never mind the implication of his pale skin as noted earlier.

"And he washed him in the snowy river and went his way, stepping with careful steps, lest his lovely feet should be defiled of the dust; lest, if he hastened more quickly, the winds should blow heavily on his helmet and stir up the locks of his hair." and "he [Paris] stood, glorying in his marvellous graces. Not so fair was the lovely son whom Thyone bare to Zeus: forgive me, Dionysus! even if thou art of the seed of Zeus, he, too, was fair as his face was beautiful." (Colluthus, Rape of Helen) -I don't think I need to say much about that dainty description of Paris' behaviour and the care he takes to still look as put together and beautiful for when he reaches Sparta, do I? The second quote, though, I think deserves some comment, because Collutus twice in short order compares Paris to Dionysos, and as we saw in Hall's book, Dionysus in the Bacchae is associated not just with a foreign man, but someone who would be tarred with the stereotypes of the eastern "barbarian". And Dionysos has long, of course, been portrayed with a particularly feminized beauty, not just in drama.

On top of this, much earlier than Colluthus we have Cratinus' Dionysalexandros, a satyr play where Dionysos takes Paris' place for both the Judgement and kidnapping Helen. To note is that while the satyrs are followers of Dionysos, their uses as chorus in satyr plays wouldn't necessarily have them attached to Dionysos (often, they seem in fact to have removed themselves from him). And in this circumstance, then, Paris isn't just compared to the effeminate Dionysos, Dionysos straight up (though disguised as Paris) replaces him for a part of the play.

It all starts in the Iliad, but it certainly doesn't end there, and by the end his effeminacy is just all the more explicitly stated in text as effeminacy.

(Christopher Ransom's article can be read right here: https://www.academia.edu/355314/Aspects_of_Effeminacy_and_Masculinity_in_the_Iliad Edith Hall's book can be downloaded on her own website: https://edithhall.co.uk/product/reading-ancient-slavery/ Meriel Jones' Playing the Man: Performing Masculinities in the Greek Novel can be found as an unpublished thesis here: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42521 (but also exists as a published book) Timothy Power's The Culture of Kitharoidia can be read here: https://chs.harvard.edu/book/power-timothy-the-culture-of-kitharoidia/ )

[mgsr-sing-to-me]

Sing to Me Reboot Announcement

(Cross-posted from Discord and Telegram)

Hey so — What's the current status on Sing to Me? When will the fanfiction continue?

Well… soon.

2024 was a pretty shitty year for me to be honest; after I finished the revision of Chapter 4 sometime around November 2023 and posted it on AO3, I kept getting more and more frustrated with the fic progress I made. The revisions were made because I wrote the first 6 1/2 Chapters of the fanfiction between late December 2022 and the beginning of February 2023 under an extreme amount of sleep deprivation but a lot of insomnia fuelled creativity and while that made me work super fast, it created a bunch of issues for the fanfiction. Then I wanted to get the last 2 Chapters revised in early 2024 — only for quite personal things to go bad. To keep it short without too many details; I had 2 deaths in my immediate family just 5 days apart from each other in January last year and it fucked with my mental health quite badly. The added chronic pain issues I have on top of that made me go through a lot of shit and the insomnia got only worse as a result. I've now finally medicated properly so sleep is no issue for me any longer, but that took nearly all of the last year to figure out.

Now you can imagine, while my creativity was on an all-time high — on so little amount of sleep, and all the other issues, it was difficult for me to write anything that is something worth posting. Other than lots of note-taking and a lot of work on my Obsidian vault for the fanfic project, I was unable to do anything for the story aside from that.

The good news though is that I got back into writing in general by now; I wrote some short scenes already for Sing to Me and its surrounding 'multiverse' as I call it. I have ADHD, so sometimes it works better for me to write stuff completely out of order and then stitch things together later to make a proper fic chapter out of those loose scenes.

Anyway: After lots of contemplation, I have decided that Sing to Me will get a complete reboot.

For a fanfiction that will span probably over 100 Chapters, throwing the first 6 Chapters that are already on AO3 into the bin isn't that much of a big deal, but I am not completely abandoning them either. There are some things that I actually love about those early Chapters, and I will definitely reuse stuff from Chapters 1-4 that have already been revised, and the Prague Chapters 5 and 6 will also be part of the reboot, but they might be pushed further back within the first arc of the fanfiction.

That being said, I decided that each of the arcs of the story (there is a total of 7 arcs, but they are labelled 0, 1, 2, 3, 3.5, 4 and 5) will be posted as a separate fanfiction on AO3, but will be part of the same series. That means you won't be missing anything if you stay subscribed to the series instead of just Sing to Me itself.

The titles are as follows:

Sing to Me ARC 0: I Come with Knives

Sing to Me ARC 1: Dissociate

Sing to Me ARC 2: Parasite Eve

Sing to Me ARC 3: Dark Matter

Sing to Me ARC 3.5: The War in Heaven

Sing to Me ARC 4: Origem

Sing to Me ARC 5: deNiAL//wE FouND LoVe

(Yes, the strikethrough of ARC 5 has a reason and no, I won't elaborate on that.)

Sing to Me ARC 1: Dissociate is the current fanfiction posted on AO3. I will not delete it — when the time is ready and I will update the fanfiction, the title will change, and the Chapters will be posted when I wrote them. However, I will not stress myself about writing either and do things as my muse allows it as well as my health. There is also still some planning to do and I want to be smarter about writing than last time and have everything set out before I publish anything. How long that takes… depends really on life.

However, this doesn't mean that there will be complete radio silence from me. The nature of Sing to Me's 'multiverse' (or rather, the ideas and characterisations of Sam and Raiden) have already created smaller, shorter stories in my WIP folders and I will be posting smaller things from time to time. I already have a folder named 'the eroticism of the machine' for erotica focused on Raiden and Sam.

Regarding the project however, I am thinking of sharing things that will perhaps not make it into the final fanfic project, because I think of my story as a video game rather than a novel (series), so I am aware that there are some ideas that will be cut. In that case, I might drop them here and there as snippets or separate, short fics, who knows.

Lastly, The first 5 arcs of Sing to Me have teasers that I want to share with you all. They will tell you a little bit what this story will be about, but not enough to reveal too much.

So… Enjoy the teasers and feel free to leave me something in my ask box (here or on my main @hatredmadeofgold) about your thoughts! I am willing to answer questions about anything about my writing, Sing to Me and Samuraiden!