#era: between 1&2

[chimerafiles]

[queenlucythevaliant]

Chiming in on the Bad Christian Art discourse. Christian art is bad when

A) It's trying to be a sermon rather than a work of art and

B) The sermon is bad

[fifthnailinstevesbat]

after the events of season 4, steve just wanting SO BADLY to be friends with eddie. just LOVING the idea of them getting closer and having eddie as a friend because hell yeah! a close male friendship with someone that is actually my age, and who i don’t have a weird history with involving bruised eyes and love triangles? count me IN! and eddie is FUN, he is actually hilarious! the way they share the same glances of understanding when dustin is being an absolute shit head, rambling on and on about some obscure topic, expecting everyone to always be on the exact same page as him. of course. and, although steve suspects that eddie actually probably is keeping up with everything dustin says, much better than he ever could, he knows that above it all eddie can appreciate the antics for what they are, and roll his eyes with steve at dustin, i concur, you dustin henderson, are a total butthead.

steve just about junps RIGHT IN to being friends with eddie. hey man, what’cha up to tonight? wanna watch a movie? get drunk, smoke a bit? hey eddie, how have you been, man? he starts calling eddie up on the phone regularly just to check in, shoot the shit, he loves it! he loves having this new friendship with eddie munson and he loves how much the other boy has surprised him with how much he actually enjoys being around him. he’s not a freak, really, well ok maybe he is a little bit, but only in the best ways. he’s kind, thoughtful, and is always looking out for the people he cares about, which is something steve can really respect in a dude. but he’s also so funny? steve never could’ve anticipated just how much eddie has managed to make him genuinely LAUGH over their short amount of time spent together. and he’s really, out there? with the way he presents himself, the way he takes up space with these big THEATRICAL movements, leaving no room for regret or shame or god forbid embarrassment. steve isn’t even sure munson is capable of feeling it at all.

eddie munson is a good dude, and steve could use a bit more of that kind of person around him. he loves all of his friends, the weird little bonded family he’s found himself apart of, and they are all good people, but it never hurts to have afew more added in here and there. it never hurts to know there are more good people out there to find.

so steve is all over eddie, it seems.

at least, from where eddie is standing. nobody else seems as phased as eddie does at this sudden change in steve’s demeanour, in his interest in what eddie munson spends his time doing these days. it seems like, to everyone else, to steve, it’s just a natural progression in their relationship, after being sort of role model figures to the same group of kids, both being the two single dudes, who fought the same monsters together last spring, it seems nobody questions too much that they’d start casually hanging around eachother more. especially since eddie has found himself to fit into his own special spot as one of the group now after it all, after he unwillingly became tangled in this whole upsidedown-superpowers-supernatural-monsters and demons debacle, and tangled quite dramatically at that, the rest of the group that’s been with this since the beginning seemed to find no trouble in taking him in and seeing him as “one of them” now.

so, steve asking eddie to smoke, to watch movies, to go for a drive with no real end destination, it’s not really something that earns them too many double takes. dustin makes a comment or two in the beginning, because steve since when did you like hanging out with eddie? you guys are like so opposite, you don’t like any of the same stuff he does? and steve barely gives a shrug and a dismissive yeah yeah whatever man in response, with a signature eye roll, and dustin had said it seemingly also not too seriously, poking fun at steve wherever he can, not really meaning anything by it, as he fidgets around and rambles in the backseat of steve’s car, eddie riding up front. after that, though, he’s dropped it. it’s never brought up again. part of eddie thinks, too, that dustin would actually be enjoying that his two older friends are becoming friends themselves.

robin seems to be the only other person to look a bit harder at their situation, lingering stares at their interactions, all squinted eyes and eyebrows raised, though from her all this seems to be almost always and only ever directed at steve. eddie’s not sure what to make of that. isn’t he the weird one? i mean, he’s the one that stands out, right? he’s the odd denominator that makes their friendship strange. why would steve harrington want to hang out with Him? HIM? but robin doesn’t spend her time studying eddie to try and search for what about him could possibly have piqued the interest of cherished steven harrington, no, shes always looking at steve. like she’s seeing him differently, almost. eddie doesn’t even think that steve notices it, either, because he doesn’t seem to be questioning or doubting anything odd or strange or out of the ordinary with their newfound time spent together. and maybe, maybe robin is seeing him differently. eddie knows he definitely has been. seeing him more, intensely. deeply. human. seeing the person that steve is, as just steve, not this idealised version of a boy that eddies starting to question ever really even existed at all, or if everyone around him just needed to believe that he did, and who was steve if not happy to comply to the wants of the people around him for who he should be?

eddie likes having steve as his friend, too. don’t get it twisted. he loves how unexpectedly expressive steve is about everything, even really small things. steve LOVES to raise his voice, rest a hand on his popped hip, scolding the kids for something stupid with no real heat or malice behind it. and steve is, like, kinda bitchy too. eddie knew he had the capacity to be a real asshole when he wanted to be, that’s all he knew steve for back in the day, when he was back in high school, hanging around tommy h and the basketball boys, the jocks. eddie would spend his days hearing only whispers and gossip in the hallways of the parties at king steve’s house and the fights king steve had started and won on the court or out in the fields, only ever getting as close as a shove into a locker with the guy at the time, but eddie knew how it could go. he knew all about what steve had done to jonathan, what he’d said to him, the words he’d used. eddie knew it all. he’d seen enough, and been through enough himself, to know how these guys acted in response to guys like him, like jonathan, people who were lower on the social food chain. so, eddie knew about steve’s “mean streak”, if you will, but this kind of snarky bitchiness was something new to him. harrington was almost, sassy, when he wanted to be. it was less so cruel and more just, just sass. if he’s being completely honest it kind of blew eddie away, at first. he thought steve was one of those dull headed jocks who thought with their fists more than their actual brains, but that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. steve’s insults were well thought out, they were FUNNY, he was smart with his words. and silly. oh my god steve harrington could be so fucking silly, real honest to god goofball when the moment called for it, when he felt comfortable enough. eddie had caught on multiple occasions steve mimicking lightsabers to play fight with dustin, or the stupid fucking shit he would do or say just to make robin laugh, singing along to a song playing on the radio with a funny voice.

it was all a little, intoxicating, to watch. eddie didn’t know what gave him the right to be in on this now, to get to see this side of steve and better yet to be at the other end of some of his best qualities. it was fun, all the time they spent together, but there was always something else tugging inside eddie everytime they spent close time together, too. something, he knew steve wasn’t aware of. something he knew steve wasn’t equipped to deal with. something he knew, was him. was him, making things something more than they should be, because, nobody seemed to be questioning that they could become friends, so why ruin that? why disrupt it?

- robin and steve

“Steve.”

“-but then like, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to watch it I just thought, hey, y’know, let’s try something different for a change, but then he- oh my god he honest to god TACKLED ME Robin — I mean, it was so fucking funny and it happened so quick — and all over a fucking Tom Cruise movie-“

“STEVE.” Robin lightly slammed a hand onto the counter. She had been standing behind it for no short of 20 minutes, watching Steve as he paced around, supposed to be stacking tapes onto shelves, but ended up spending the whole time going on and on, and ON, about how movie night went with Eddie last night. She thought she was bad…

Steve jumped, almost running into a shelf and knocking down his hard work, and seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had found himself in after starting to tell Robin a story about something funny Eddie had done last night.

“Shit, sorry. Sorry, what were you saying? Were you- were you saying something?”

To this, Robin just rolls her eyes and let’s out a laugh, “You, sir, are goddamn hopeless.”

“Sorry. How long was I talking for?” Steve wandered his way over to lean his arms onto the counter from the opposite side.

“Oh, I dunno Steve, just about half an HOUR?”

“That is an over exaggeration Robin, it’s only been like-“

“Honestly, man, i’m concerned for you. You are like next level OBSESSED with Eddie. Eddie Munson. You do realise this right??? You are obsessed with him, Steve.”

To this Steve sputters, lazily waving his hands back and forth.

“No, Robin, what the hell are you talking about? I am not OBSESSED. No need to be jealous, alright, Stevie-Boy here can have more than one friend. Your spot in my heart isn’t any less special now that it’s beginning to be shared by another.” He bats his eyelashes up at her, holding both hands over his chest as if to cradle his heart.

“Oh my GOD! You even SOUND LIKE HIM!”, she playfully slaps his shoulder. “Steve. You are obsessed.”

“I am not obsessed! He’s just a really great guy, alright-“

“Blah blah, yep whatever you say, lover boy.” Robin quips, plopping down onto the chair chair infront of their staff computer, turning herself to face it.

“Wha- what? Lover boy? What the hell Robin, that is not- that doesn’t even make any sense!”

She is just smiling at him now, enjoying seeing him spiral like this. Steve let’s out a sigh as he puts his hands on his hips, and shakes his head, looking at her right back.

He opens and closes his mouth afew times, like he’s really thinking about what he wants to say next. Or like he has no idea what to say next, and his brain is not moving fast enough to formulate the next sentence his mouth knows he wants to say. He wasn’t obsessed. That’s not- that’s like- no. No he was not, Robin was just playing around with him, she knew how to get on his nerves. Get him all wound up over little things just to see him react like this.

After a minute or two, Robin realises Steve was not going to reply anytime soon, so she turns fully back toward him. Saving him from his spiral.

“So, what are you’re plans for tonight Steve-O?”

He lets out a chuckle and walks around the counter till he’s behind it with Robin, leaning his back against it so he can stand across from her and face her.

“Well, not really sure. Parents aren’t home, no early shift tomorrow, might drink afew beers, listen to some music, —“

“See what Eddie’s doin?” Robin finishes for him, quirking her eyebrows up and down as she does it.

“Oh shut up!” Steve just laughs and softly throws a tape from the counter at her chest. “As a matter of fact, yeah I will see what he’s up to. Because we are friends now, Robin. Is that a problem? Actually I was also gonna ask you what you were up to after work, too, but you know what after this I’m having second thoughts, I mean, the way you’ve been treating me lately-“

“Oh my god, you are the worst. Yes, I’m free, of course I’ll hang out with you dingus. You and your tweedle dee.”

Steve laughs at this, then tilts his head.

“Wait, does that make me dumb? Tweedle dumb?! That’s how you see me?”

“Yeah it is actually, got a problem?”

“Oh wow, she’s feisty today. Can’t believe you think I’m dumb, Rob’s. When you come knockin’ tonight, do not expect a warm greeting at my front door.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll take my chances.”

- later. steve’s house. to be continued?

[hipsternumbertwo]

Favorite Angela Moments 81/∞: Prudence Wall

[sha-brytols]

i am literally not even halfway done with the book but so far i'm not super sure i actually agree with that fandom consensus that celene/briala belong in the "bioware writers are weird about gay women" category. so far the only thing celene has in common with marjolaine and branka is that she was a VERY BAD lover

[hifi-walkman]

Thoughts on that kids show from the 2010s that changed the course of my life:

So, season 1 of Steven universe is really clever, because it shows the world from the perspective of a child in such an effective way. For example, the plot.

The viewers become aware of homeworld as a threat in ocean gem, but the crystal gems (other than Steven) know homeworld is coming from episode 2.

The red eye is the first thing homeworld does to check on earth, and the crystal gems are *powerless* to destroy it until the laser light canon is used (and that's *old* gem tech, not even the new stuff!)

In serious Steven, Coach Steven, and Steven's lion the gems are actively working to dismantle structures they had previously left untouched for thousands of years. Why? In case the diamonds try to use them.

Even after lapis' two parter the extent of why and how the gems are preparing for homeworld to attack isn't spelled out.

Pearl is trying to *escape* just like lapis did in Space Race, she knows it's possible... She knows if they leave earth they can be safe. Warp tour shows more explicitly that homeworld was already coming before lapis left, that even though she was Steven's introduction to the concept, homeworld was already interested in earth for other reasons. In rose's scabbard, they're clearly cleaning up the battlefield to keep extra weapons out of homeworld's hands, as it happens right between two major homeworld episodes, and just barely before the finale itself. Steven may not have known homeworld gems were coming for them, but the crystal gems did, the message only told them just how little time they had to prepare for it.

When you're watching Steven Universe for the first time, all this context slips past, you don't consider the reasons for the crystal gems going on certain missions, because the viewer doesn't have the information to even realize there was anything to consider (because the crystal gems are obviously keeping that info from Steven early on). Only on a rewatch does the exact level of urgency weigh in on the viewer, only when looking back do they realize exactly how much danger Steven was in even in the first season. It's a really clever set of details.

[the-journey-was-the-point]

Gonna start off with an art explanation!

I tend to associate Linnéa with a dark reddish brown-- I think it just suits her in that brown is a neutral down-to-earth color, but the reddish hue hints at a stronger nature. I think it really matches how lowkey she is as a person to the point that it's too easy to underestimate how cunning she can really be.

But my latest art has her in straight-up red. This is her as a prominent underworld figure, her at her peak. She's gone all-out, no more holding back.

Backstory below the cut!

The Gist

Still gonna have to flesh out details but the gist is that Calarphain dies and Linnéa finds out that she can't in fact sail to Valinor (it was always a longshot) and she's stuck in Middle Earth and then the group splits.

Separated from her friends, she ends up getting recruited (captured??) by some servants of Sauron (Angmarim?), likely to fill in Laerlas's spot (she helped take him down). There she gets a dark mentor, does some terrible things while working for them, and really earns her stripes.

And then she escapes, I think. In my mind is a scene where she runs through the wraith-infested Fields of Fornost and manages to enter Evendim where the threats are more.... alive (namely, thieves). And while there, she decides that all this time she's been a helpless pawn at the mercy of others, whose life is dependent on their word, and getting looked down on and demeaned. But no more. If she's gonna be stuck here, she's gonna be stuck safe and on top where no one can reach her, even if she has to carve out a place for herself with a butter knife. So she establishes her dominion...

So, why Evendim?

I think it's really cool how in LOTRO, Evendim is portrayed as a formerly great fallen kingdom that is now inhabited by graverobbers trying to make a buck, Angmarim serving Sauron, and Rangers trying to preserve their history and keep everything together.

Arnor fell long ago, and now much of Eriador is a deserted wilderness with orcs and bandits roaming the land. No one is actually in charge and the Rangers are stretched thin and I like to think there's ordinary folk who think Bree is getting a little too crowded so let's branch out... oops this place is infested with orcs and wights!

In other words, for Linnéa, it's free real estate!

So she gets involved in the criminal underworld then climbs up the ranks and goes on the aggressive and deals with anyone who tries to undermine her (I imagine it gets bloody). She also garners the genuine support of some ordinary folk by giving them protection from orcs and the like when they branch out to other lands. (I imagine her base/starting point is in Evendim, but her influence stretches out).

Once she's on top, the situation stabilizes and she becomes a Big Neutral figure with her own territories and henchmen. She has dealings of both a shady (spies, assassins, hired swords) and legitimate (shops, agriculture, town patron) nature, and everything in-between. She owns at least one tavern that's considered a "neutral zone" where brigand groups, Angmarim, and Rangers can parlay if so desired (no fighting allowed or else).

Both the Rangers and Angmarim are a little miffed that she took over but can't really move to take her down, mostly because she's way too useful (for both sides), and cus she's powerful enough that taking her down will leave a power vacuum. It goes for the other big underworld players too, there's a very delicate balance that needs to be maintained.

She's not ideal for the Rangers but she's also the most reasonable option. Better than an outright servant of Sauron or a power-hungry warlord. She's not actively trying to hurt people, and she sometimes even helps them out.

The War of the Ring

During the War of the Ring, her conscience is once again put to the test. She gets pressured to either side with the Dúnedain, or side with Sauron, or stay neutral as a third option. She takes a gamble and sides with the Dúnedain, feeling it's the right thing to do. She convinces some other underworld players to do the same, on account of "if Sauron wins, we all lose", which shifts the balance.

Problem is, the good guys won, and now that Aragorn is on the throne, her empire is on thin ice since now that Gondor and Arnor are reunited, he'll certainly wanna clean up. Some of her people suggest they... take care of Aragorn , but then Linnéa wonders if that's a good idea or if she still wants to do this. It's a new Age, after all.

And I guess it's all about how she tried so hard to make a place for herself where she'd be protected and respected only to willingly risk it because it was the right thing to do!

That's all I have for now but yeah that's the gist, sorry for the long post ^^"

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

rewatching 13s era for me is not so much diminishing returns as it is something opposite and eviler...............increasing losses? increasing losses

[sovamurka]

minor mistakes on timebomb shipping wiki page makes me wanna go and sign in so I could edit the page and correct those mistakes because I don't want our fandom to have a misinformation problem 😑

[seaofreverie]

The Me who bought tickets to see TMBG in february 2023 and the Me who's going to actually go to the show next month are two completely different people

[collegeoflore]

i think the funniest part of the isabela/allegra/fenris casual sex situation is that fenbela Do start catching feelings at some point and it evolves into a sort of unicorn situation with this couple fucking a bisexual girl but the unicorn started it. this was all allegra’s idea. she becomes a unicorn by association

[doctorwhoisadhd]

btw i am putting together a fucked up watch order that involves 12 AND jack

[rosykims]

love thinking about ocs-as-companions its gotta be one of my favourite genres of thought <3

[goneatlas]

i haven't listened to this song in a while and forgot the reason i used to listen to it religiously

'TIS A FUCKIN BOP

[theha1rarch]

@ga1inda asked: "Well, it depends on what you mean by 'friend'." ( steve + galinda )

( "wicked" sentence starters )

"i think you know exactly what i mean, glinda." steve responds, arms crossed, unimpressed look on his face. "you were her friend. elphaba's. i know you were. do you forget i went to school with you?" he gives her a pointed look now. "so i just don't get why you're acting like you weren't. why you're buying into all the stuff being spread about her, supporting it even. you know just as well as i do that it's not true. so why are you doing this? to her?" maybe he's being a little hypocritical here, after all years ago - he'd have probably been doing the same thing. but he's not that person anymore, hasn't been in a long time - maybe never really was. and he knows, he knows, deep down ... galinda isn't either.

[thespianinthebackcorner]

Hey hey hey writers!!! Especially y'alls who are struggling to develop character or have white room/still character syndrome!!!

Look into Uta Hagen's acting techniques, specifically her 9 questions. I'm not kidding. She built off Stanislavski's techniques to help actors develop their characters and roles & bring that to the stage- specifically, and this is why I'm pushing Hagen specifically and not anyone else, their relationship with the set, props, other characters, setting (yes that's different from set), history and the play's plot, and how that changes how they act and speak. I have my textbook open I'll take some pictures.

If you need a transcript/image description I'll put it under the cut, they're a little blurry cause I'm bad at holding my phone... I know alt text is a thing but I don't want y'alls to have to scroll through a tiny box lmao.

[Image 1 alt text]

The lower part of a textbook page. The text reads:

Uta Hagen's acting exercises

[Out-of-transcript note: Most of these, with the exception of Three Entrances, are less useful in terms of writers, but you could make it work, especially for roleplay.]

Basic Object Exercise: Sometimes called "two minutes of daily life," this exercise requires the actor to replicate activities from their own daily routine in specific detail (think making breakfast or getting ready to go out). The goal of this exercise is to increase the actor's awareness of their un-observed behaviour.

Three Entrances: Starting offstage, the actor enters the environment of the scene. The actor's performance should answer three questions: What did I just do? What am I going to do? What is the first thing I want?

Immediacy: Hagen asked actors to search for a small object that they need. You can perform the exercise on a set or in your home. As you search, you should observe the behaviour and thoughts that arise as you authentically try to find something. The objective is to identify the thoughts, behaviours, and sensations you experience when you genuinely don't know the outcome, so you can use them on stage.

Fourth Side: This exercise starts with a phone call to a person you know. You should call them with a specific objective in mind. During the convention, Hagen wants you to focus on your surroundings and the specific objects that your eyes rest on. The purpose is to help actors observe how they interact with all dimensions of an enclosed physical space so they can recreate privacy on stage.

Endowment: this exercise is designed to help actors apply their observed behaviours to endow props with qualities that they cannot safely have on stage. Hot irons and sharp knives are typical examples. The Endowment excercise asks actors to believably treat objects on stage as though they have the qualities the actor needs in a scene.

Uta Hagen's exercises are her greatest gift to actors working today. She developed them between Broadway jobs to solve some acting problems she had never seen anyone tackle to her satisfaction. The result is that Hagen's exercises give actors a way to observe human behaviours and catalogue it so they can recall it onstage when useful in a role.

[Image 1 alt text end]

[Image 2 alt text]

Most of a textbook page. The image cuts off about 3 quarters of the way down the page. The text reads:

Uta Hagen's 9 Questions

Who am I? This question's answer includes all relevant details from name and age to physical traits, education, and beliefs.

What time is it? Depending on the scene, the most relevant measure of time can be the era, the season, the day, or even the specific minute.

Where am I? This answer covers the country, town, neighbourhood, room, or even the specific part of the room.

What surrounds me? Characters can be surrounded by anything from weather to furnishings, landscape or people.

What are the given circumstances? Given circumstances include what has happened, what is happening and what will happen to a character.

What are my relationships? Relationships can be with the other characters in the play, inanimate objects, or even recent events.

What do I want? Wants can be what the character desires in the moment, or in the overall course of the play. [Out-of-transcript note: I recommend figuring out both for writing, the former multiple times for whenever it changes! Outside of Hagen's technique, we call it objective and superobjective.]

What is in my way? This is the actor's chance to understand the obstacles the character must react to and overcome.

What do I do to get what I want? In Hagen's teaching, "do" means physical action.

Uta Hagen's nine questions help actors develop the granular details of their character's backstory. The questions come from Hagen's first book, "Respect for Acting," though in her later book, "A Challenge for the Actor," she condensed her original nine questions into six steps.

Uta Hagen's revised six steps to building a character are:

Who am I?

What are the circumstances?

What are my relationships?

What do I want?

What is my obstacle?

What do I do to get what I want?

Later in her life, Hagen distances herself from her first book and encouraged her students to rely on her second book, which she felt was clearer about her concepts. Both books are popular with acting teachers and students today, however. Hagen's questions and steps are the foundation for all of her acting exercises. Whether you rely on the nine questions or the six steps depends on personal preference.

[Image 2 alt text end]

Personally I like the 9 questions more, but like the book says, personal preference! So yeah, if you're a writer, try some of these out for your characters. :]