#“fan of the drama” that only the person you're a fan of can produce

[therealvinelle]

Can I hear your opinions on rita skeeter?

You know how some stories have that only sane man, the one person who isn't impressed by our dashing main characters or who's living in a different genre and rated story? The one, typically a fan favorite, character who has a fundamentally different perspective. They can also, shortly put, be the "this is stupid and you're stupid" character.

The NBC Hannibal show has Freddie Lounds ("I'm a bad, bad man", Will threatens her. He is then surprised when she runs a feature on the FBI hiring a creep to come to crime scenes and pretend he's a serial killer.) The Vampire Diaries had Elijah (he isn't a great example of this, but legacy fans will remember all the jokes about how the reason the writers never put him in episodes was because he'd have solved all the characters' stupid problems within twenty minutes and there would be no plot for the rest of the season. Elijah was perceived to be living in a different type of show than the rest of the teen drama cast), and there are some who think that this was Snape for Harry Potter.

They are wrong.

Rita, my dove

Let's take a look at a few things Rita prints over the course of canon, where we have an insight into what actually happened and know precidely what she printed. I have my copy of Goblet of Fire with me, it's in Norwegian so I'll be translating back to English but I trust that's alright.

The Quidditch world cup incident

What we know happened:

The British Ministry was responsible for the event. It was highly prestigious, with foreign leaders attending and people from all over the world camped out near the stadion. After the first match there's celebrations, which turns into a riot. Tents are set on fire, people are chased through the camp grounds, and there's total chaos where nobody knows where their loved ones are. The riot soon turns into a homage to Voldemort, with rioters in Death Eater uniforms tormenting the Muggles living nearby and someone putting up the Dark Mark.

Arthur Weasley, who works in the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts (which is admittedly part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement), is sent to make a statement on the Ministry's behalf to the terrified witches and wizards hiding.

What Skeeter reports:

Headlining "TERROR AT THE WORLD CUP" (me translating), with an image of the Dark Mark, Rita Skeeter writes (this is Arthur skimming): "Ministry blunders... culprits not apprehended... lax security... Dark wizards running unchecked... national disgrace..." (original English from the wiki)

A full section (and this is me translating again): "If the terrified witches and wizards who waited for information while they hid in the woods had hoped for any sort of reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sorely disappointed. A department spokesman, who only showed up long after the Dark Mark had appeared, claimed no one had been injured but refused to give further information. It remains to be seen if this statement will quell the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later."

Verdict

All of this is accurate, except the last sentence.

Nobody was killed in the incident. However, Skeeter was acting on the information available to her, and she makes it clear this last part is unconfirmed. Further, I'm going to come out in her defense and say that Skeeter, writing an article critical of the Ministry in a community with a very loose sense of free speech, can't take Arthur Weasley at his vague word and should refer to her own sense of judgement when deciding whether the rumors are credible enough to print or not.

As it is, a riot in a crowded area at night with people who dressed like Death Eaters, where the Dark Mark was fired into the sky, where mass panic erupted, in a world where children can produce deadly magic with their wands, could easily have led to casualties. I don't think it was a far leap for Skeeter that people might have died, and the Ministry didn't want to admit as much.

Notice her phrasing (and yes, I know you're reading my translation) when she talks about the Ministry: "It remains to be seen if this statement will quell the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later." Not, "It remains to be seen whether the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later were true.", or any type of phrasing indicating that the truth will out. Only rumors that may or may not be quelled.

Knowing that the Wizarding World doesn't appear to be a functional nor accountable democracy, that things like statistics likely don't exist (who will be your statistician if there is no basic math education? How will wizards interpret statistics if they don't understand basic maths, what use are error margins and percentages to them? This is important, because without statistics there is also no need to collect numbers - how many students take the core classes, how many are employed after X years, how many citizens die in a given year and of what causes... you see where I'm going with this), and that Arthur gets so defensive when reading legitimate criticism of his Ministry (not even his department or jurisdiction, mind, and Skeeter anonymized him), indicates a fraught understanding of governmental accountability and transparency.

In other words, who can say if anybody died that night. Arthur himself had gone to bed with his family as soon as the chaos was under control, and there was no tally after the riot, no controlled evacuation, nothing. Skeeter wasn't wrong for publishing what she herself clarified was speculation, either way I'm hard pressed to see her as a villain for putting the Ministry under pressure, in fact I have to wonder if this kind of pressure is necessary to get them to admit things they'd otherwise shove under the carpet.

Back to Arthur Weasley. In response to this article he says to his family (me translating again): "Molly, I must go to the office. Killing this is going to take some time."

Now, I know real governments have to cry over scandals that take time to move past as well: however, what are people upset over? What's the scandal?

Oh, yes, that the Ministry wasn't able to prevent a riot at a large sports event, flubbed completely once it had begun, and failed to give the people any kind of useful or timely information. All of that is true. The only part that isn't true, would be dispelled if they'd only put out a statement saying "no one was killed". The only reason why one such statement wouldn't work is if Ministry statements are not considered trustworthy - and this is where we return to the above.

So far, so good on Rita Skeeter, and so bad on Arthur who, going by this section, questions the Ministry less than Bellatrix Lestrange questions Voldemort.

Interlude: Percy and the vampires

While the article about the World Cup is read, Percy jumps in with an anecdote about Skeeter.

"That woman is always out to slander the Ministry," Percy said angrily. "Last week she claimed we waster our time fooling around with cauldron thickness when we should be extinguishing vampires! As though it is not expressedly stated in Guidelines for treatment of non-wizard halfhumans that-"

I'm not going to make any guesses as to what precisely Skeeter's criticism was, because Percy is angry and venting to his family, which doesn't make him likely to present her argument fairly. Who knows what, specifically, she criticized and why and what she asked for in her article. What we do know is that she questioned Ministry priorities and resource allotment, and Percy takes it personally, he gets angry about it. Hostility and defensiveness is the gut reaction.

More damningly, "that woman is always out to slander the Ministry" implies no one else is doing it.

Your star is rising, Rita.

Oh no, post got long

And this is the part where I'd go on to her interview with Harry and subsequent articles, and later on Dumbledore, but I'm realizing that would make this post a very long and decentralized mess.

Will cover it in follow up posts: today is for Rita vs. the Ministry and how the Weasleys think Muggles are so quaint with their democracricy and freedom of speech, teehee that's silly.

[tonixe]

☆ 𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑/𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑

n.o.t.e.s - This was floating in my head!!

w.a.r.n - Little NSFW, fluff, and dirty thoughts, Kenny being a total perv

p.a.i.r.i.n.g - Kenny x Rapper/Singer!reader

w.c. - 934

☆ Kenny is 18+, so don't try to kick me off.

☆ Reader is also 18+.

Ꮺ SFW Ꮺ

You met Kenny when you were disguised as you were going to a coffee shop in South Park called 'Tweek Bros Coffee' trending on your Instagram page. Due to your concert that was being held there.

He caught your eye, he was an employee working there. He had beautiful golden hair and blue eyes. When he looked at you, it made you blush.

☆ Kenny walked over to your table holding a notepad, "Hey beautiful, what do you want to order?" he asked you holding his notepad and pen.

You blushed immediately at his compliment, "looking down at the menu, your hair covering your cheeks. "I would like a latte and strawberry cheesecake," you said, pushing a strand of hair behind your ear.

"That's a good choice," he gave you a wink, and you turned redder by the second, "T-thank you" you smiled, you swore you saw pink glitter all over your cheeks.

You saw some paparazzi trying to find someone, as they were searching for the celebrity that was rumored to be in the area.

You waited, looking at your phone and scrolling through your Instagram feed.

Soon your food was served by the hottie, which got you blushing. The food was good something that suite your sweet tooth, you were with awe with the food.

Soon your mood was ruined by the paparazzi that ambushed the cafe, you didn't want to get caught in the action of them ruining their mood, as you left your balance on the table in cash and a lovely tip for the hot waiter.

Soon the paparazzi figure out where you were, and you started walking faster away from their stupid questions, "Y/N why were you spotted at this cafe in the south park"

"Did you know that south park is a dangerous area"

"Are you visiting a lover" the paparazzi yelled out trying to get you before you got pulled somewhere, your mouth covered before you can even scream.

"Shh!" your eye came to contact with the person who pulled you into what seem to be a storage unit, "H-how did you know?" you said quietly.

"Your smile" he said.

"O-oh" you murmured, after what happened at the cafe you guys seem to hit off.

Kenny would definitely be a supportive boyfriend for you, he would be backstage cheering for you. He would help you with everything.

Kenny would deliver your lunch stop by your record label, and support you all the way. What would only happen would you cuddling with him and your producer just yelling at you to record your music.

☆ He would be always humming some catchy song that you made from listening to it for so long.

He would be your little photographer, when you want to take a picture Kenny would get on his knee to even to take the perfect picture for you.

The first time you take a picture with Kenny and upload it on your Instagram, the comments exploded with some much drama, and comment about you and Kenny.

Even the paparazzi are making the theory of your relationship with him.

Kenny would put you on a pedestal; he kissed your feet, always treating you like a queen.

Kenny would there for you, especially when you're doing a music video that takes most of your energy.

☆ Kenny is going to be your number 1 fan.

Ꮺ NSFW Ꮺ

Kenny is your number 1 fan and your favorite groupie.

Imagine this, After your concert, you wrapped your arms around his neck, kissing him, as he picked you up, heading to your guy's hotel.

Throwing you onto the bed as he stripped himself and you of your clothing, throwing your head back as you moaned out from him fucking you.

As Kenny glittered your neck with hickeys and love bites.

☆ Imagine getting ready for your show, doing your makeup, touching up your outfit, and feeling nervous about performing for hundreds of people. Hearing Kenny entering the dressing room.

Looking at his reflection in your mirror, "You ready for your show," Kenny said, walking toward you and rubbing your shoulder.

"I'm a bit nervous; there are more people," you murmured, looking down before turning your head to Kenny before he lifted your chin, "Want me to make you feel better" he whispered into your ear.

Nodding at him, soon he was in between your legs, as he held your legs up, going to town on you, your moans filling the dressing room. His tongue fucking you, making eye contact with you, you as he gripped your thighs.

Kenny's saliva drooled down his face, making you feel embarrassed, hiding your face in your hands.

"Don't be shy, Y/N. I want to hear you moan."

Kenny couldn't keep his hands off you, especially when you were wearing a revealing outfit or tight for your concert. He loves it when some of your outfits squeeze your body the right way. But it makes him jealous that he's not the only one who gets to see it.

☆ Imagine Kenny having jealous sex with literally ripping your clothes off and fucking you dumb, random babbles coming from your mouth.

While Kenny is just ramming into you, making your breast bounce from his thrust, you look like a porn star, your body sprawled on the bed, as your sweat glistens on your body.

"Who fucking you, Y/N" Kenny yelled as he plunged into you, his breathing slowly becoming heavy.

"You, Kenny, and only you," you moaned, your tongue lolling out.

"-And only me," he groaned, before painting your walls white.

[changingplumbob]

2, 10, 18

Who is the one who makes the plans? Who is the biggest impediment to those plans?

Your honour they are THE SAME PERSON!

Devin makes the plans. She's very much, oh hey we NEED to catch up. Tell me about your life, your drama, good and bad I am here for tea and cake. But also...

Guys, I can't find my sunglasses, we have to cancel!

I'm having a bad hair day, I cannot go out in public

Just changed the worst diaper, you're not going to want to be in my house until after trash day

Sorry but (insert York family member) needs me today, can we reschedule?

But she will actually reschedule and eventually keep the plans. She is a big fan of the whole group being together as well as reminiscing with her oldest best friends Cassandra and Charlie.

Is there something they all enjoy doing together? If so, what is it and who is best at it?

Hear me out because what they enjoy most together is catching up to share a meal. During university they all had different schedules but would try to be home at "dinner time". It was the part of the day where they all got to catch up and for an hour could just ignore the ever present study commitments. Together they've eaten bad meals, good meals and pretty tricky to eat meals.

Rahul and Devin are probably the best at cooking. Rahul is a foodie who grew up with lots of local produce to choose from. Devin grew up learning how to cook classic Italian dishes from her parents. That said they will go out to eat as well so that no one has to cook or do dishes. Cassandra is the best at eating obviously because she's normally pregnant or nursing a kid so she needs to eat more.

Who has to play nurse when somebody is sick or hurt? How's their bedside manner?

Luna. She and Rahul are older than the others and while all of the group are the eldest child or the only child she has lots of experience looking after others. Since her mum vanished and her dad didn't take much notice of her and her siblings she's nursed a lot of colds and bugs. She has a calming bedside manner.

Devin will try cheer you up and bring food but she'll also forget how sick you really are so may overstay her welcome.

Rahul is good at looking after Cassandra but he feels awkward offering to look after anyone else that already has a spouse because he doesn't like to feel as though he's stepping on toes.

Cassandra will send you a get better soon playlist and/or a video of her kids dong something ridiculous to make you laugh.

Charlie and Kaori will insist you need to get outdoors and that the clean air will fix you... They're also horrible patients who refuse to rest when ill.

Send me an ask, on anon or off, from the post of questions.

[denimbex1986]

Richard: "...I've actually gone past Andrew on a Lime bike, but that's it - we once, I think we shared a nod on a Lime bike; kind of passed each other...it was going through Soho, we were going through Soho..."

Andrew: "Electric bike - what's not to love? Lime - lime green."

Matt (to Jon): "...I am finally coming to New York and I'm going to take you up on hanging out when I get there."

Jon: "Extended invitation to all the people on this call, by the way..."

Andrew: "Can I bring my Lime bike?"

Jon: "Yes..."

Andrew: "Um, yeah, I think it's, for me, it was, you know, the other actors. The character that I played was - a lot of the time I was acting on my own which was a really weird experience because I; I didn't really like it to be honest. We, we shot it during the pandemic and we were away in Italy, and people couldn't come and visit and I couldn't, couldn't get back, um - and when, when you're acting on your own, and sometimes acting a lot in, in, in a different, uh, language, um, was, was kind of hard, so when the other actors came on, um, like Dakota Fanning and Johnny Flynn particularly, it was, it was, it was amazing.

And actually, one person that I think was incredibly helpful - we had a cast ass - assistant and her name was, and still is, uh, her name is Elisa Sofia Fioretti, and um, you know, those people who, who kind of look after - you know, when you're, when you're on a set for like 13 hours a day, uh, it, - it's very all consuming particularly in, in this part, and so the person sort of helps you manage all the other parts of your life and, you know, keeping that afloat, uh, is, and, and helps you with, with those things. You really do, do become, uh, so bonded and Elisa was amazing because she was just a - a brilliant; she was the person that I kind of hung out with the most and, um, she's uh, you know, has, has, um, uh, ambition to become a producer herself and I, I, you know, she was - was just amazing."

Andrew: "Well Steve Zaillian our, our - he, he, he wrote an incredibly, um, uh, sort of beguiling script in the sense that the sta - the screen directions were so beautifully written, they really were; there were sometimes just pages if there's no dialogue, there was just - you read it like almost you were reading the, the Patricia Highsmith novel. So it was a really good map in, in the sense of what the character might be sort of going through, and it was actually a great pleasure to act with no dialogue because all you're really required then to do is just be as alive as you can on the day and, and just um - so I, I always find it really interesting looking at characters just thinking, not necessarily feeling so to speak; I mean, of course there's a bit of feeling there as well, but watching characters just be and, uh, uh, watching them work something out or watching them make, make mistakes was actually a really wonderful thing.

And maybe we don't get to do that as much because, uh, you know, a lot of, a lot of drama is, you know, very dialogue, um, centered. Um, and then the other scenes were just - he, he writes very sparsely you know; I think it's very difficult to make a great movie out of a sort of - or a great TV series - out of, out of a mediocre script, so the scripts were very spare, even the dialogue, there were no greats of grandstanding, um, you know, speeches or anything like that, but uh, they were very witty and precise, and it was just a great, um, great pleasure to, to play the kind of domesticity of this person who's a kind of an iconic literary character, but to try and, to try and um, uh, understand what, what he would be like just, you know, walking down or going to see a gallery or just being on his own, you know. The murder I mean - the murders are only - really only took two or three weeks to, to, to, to film out of a whole year of filming, so uh, so yeah, it was, it was, it was a strangely - I was very, very connected to the character, apart from, you know, the murder."

Andrew: "Yeah, I think it's - I think it's the stage really. I was very lucky - when I was, I was only about 18 or 19 and I joined the Abbey Theatre, the - our National Theatre in Ireland - and um, I got some, got some really good, really good parts really when I was very, really tiny. I'm sure the other actors were like: "What the - who's this little -?" But anyway, um, but I, I feel like I was very - I feel very grateful for that because it was a lot of new writing, and then when I moved to London, I, I worked a lot at the Royal Court Theatre, which is a, is a new writing theatre, and, and what was really helpful about that is it gave me an, an appreciation of, of writing.

And I think the, the writer really is, is the actor's ally; sometimes I think even more so than the director, you know because those work - it g - it gave me an, uh, a real appreciation for what, what, what, um, what you can do with a good script and good - that, that, good writing, and, and I suppose I sort of - I became more discerning about what a good script is; and I think that's a, a handy tool to have as a writer, because sometimes you can get things that look uh, or it might be attached to a great studio, or it might be a good story, but the actual, um, music of the script is actually kind of quite weak and I think for an actor, that's the thing that we, we play with. You go: "God, I just wanna be able to say that line" or "That's incredibly funny" or "That's very moving", um, and if, and if, if a - I always describe it as a kind of an autograph; if a script doesn't have a very singular kind of autograph, then I think it lacks something, and I think I learned that very, very early on from being in the theatre where that's - where the writer is really at the centre of the, of the art form. So yeah, I feel, I feel, I feel, feel that gave, gave me something; whether - whether made the, you know sometimes you, you just don't have a choice, you just - if you're not working, you just choose to be in the thing that's terrible, um, but at least you know; at least you have a sense of going: "Okay, well I, I, I have, I have my own opinion of what, what this is." Yeah."

Andrew: "Um, I uh, I think it's wonderful. You know, I think it's wonderful - um; does that mean that, I would hope that that is every year not necessarily, I think - I think, uh, I think that it's wonderful that it's incidental, but I suppose one of the things that I would be cautious about, um, is I don't think anybody ever - well, I suppose in relation to the characters it's different than, than, than the actors, I suppose, I suppose there can be; sometimes when we're talking about characters and we're talking about actors, there can be a sort of prurience or even sort of hysteria about people's sexuality, and I hope that we're, we're moving towards a place where it's, uh, there's a kind of more fluid place where, where; I think the last thing any actor really wants to be is to be, uh, is to be, uh, to sort of, um, what's the word? To trade on their own sexuality - I think that's kind of what you actually don't want to do, so you know, speaking as somebody who's, who's, who's a gay actor playing, playing a sort of, uh, a non-heterosexual character, um, you know I, I, I don't - I wouldn't want to; I, I feel - what do, what do I mean? I just feel like there - that it's really important that, that, that, uh, you know to play; these characters have a certain kind of sexuality, but they also have an enormous amount of other attributes, and I think you don't really play gay, you know it's - it's impossible to do that because it's not something that we cultivate necessarily, you know; it's a, it's a, it's, it's not a talent anymore than being straight is, so, so yes, it's, it's interesting but what's more interesting to me are the stories.

These are extraordinary stories and they're all gay or you know, a lot - four of them are, are, are, are characters, but they're enormous - they, they may have similar sexualities, but I'm not sure, uh, that - I think the stories is - are what's interesting, and I just wonder if it wasn't - if there were four straight characters, if, if we would be even talking about the sexuality of the characters. So yes, I, I welcome it, but I - I'm not sure it's the thing that we, any of us, necessarily would feel that that's the thing that we would be most proud of, if that makes sense. So it's sort of yes and no for me. Um, I don't know what you think, Matt."

[thelaurenshippen]

Hey Lauren! I've just finished writing my first novel, I'm also the writer/creator of the audio series Life & Death on the Rim (Star Wars fan audio drama), and I've started my own company Galactic North Productions. What I really want to understand is how other writers/creators who are successful and profitable got there. If there are any insights you can give me I'm all ears, whether that's associations, conventions, marketing, etc etc I just really want to learn. Very determined. Thank you!

hey!!! first off, HUGE congrats on finishing your first novel, that's an incredible feat and you should be unbelievably proud!!!! secondly, I hadn't heard of this podcast before but as a huge fan of both star wars and fan works, I am absolutely putting it on my tbl list right now!!!!

so. this is a great question. and a hard question. and one that I'm probably going to spend way too many words answering, if I know myself at all.

I think this question, in part, depends on what you consider successful and profitable! for me, it's meant being a jack of all trades - a lot of my work has come from being someone who knows how to make a podcast from soup to nuts and from being a person who a lot of people know. you've already done the hard thing: making something. that's your resume, now get the resume out there!

I wish I could give advice about marketing and finding an audience, but honestly it's changed so much since I started out that I hardly know how to find an audience anymore. but the basic approach always stands I think: don't promo, build community. be authentic and enthusiastic, and hang out in online spaces that you're already excited to be in. share your passion with people. clearly you already know how to do that, making a fan podcast!

in terms of getting to know your peers, I always recommend people join the WGA Audio Alliance discord to get to know who else is working in the space and hear about events. I did meet a lot of people at events early on, but unfortunately a lot of those things don't exist anymore (or were one-offs to begin with) or were smaller, invite-only things. if you're in NY, LA, Chicago, or London, there are vibrant AD scenes, so seek those out and go to (or organize!) a meet-up.

knowing your peers is the single most important thing for getting jobs. with the exception of one cold outreach, every job I've ever gotten has been because I met somebody and vibed with them. stay in touch but not too much - don't email your industry contacts all the time, but every 8-18 months, reach out to folks and do a catch up zoom or coffee. but don't network just to network! get to know people whose work you really like. getting to know peers at your same level is just as - if not more - important as networking to those who are further along in success than you.

be incredibly findable. having the facebook page, instagram, etc. is great, but if you're a production company hoping to make money through providing services like producing, directing, writing, etc. (which is primarily how I've made a living - I don't really make money directly from my original podcasts), having a website is a must. if you don't want to pay for squarespace or wix, you can make a website through tumblr and then just buy a url and have it redirect (I wrote about this a bit in my production guide). same deal if you want to be hired as a writer - having a website or some kind of resume is huge. I'm not saying you need to have an instagram detailing your personal life or anything (for me, I get personal about my thoughts on social media, but I never post my family/partner/non-industry friends/etc. some creators have had massive success building mystery (lemony snicket, the team behind midst), but I have no idea how to do that lol

this is already too long, so to summarize: build a community, both in your audience and your colleagues, be very clear and open about the skills you have/services you provide, and, ideally, do a lot of different things that put you in front of a lot of different audiences. try a lot of things and stick with what works.

to speak more on my personal journey, just briefly: 90% of being successful in the art and entertainment industry is luck. I know that people always say that, and it sucks as advice because it's not advice at all, but it is just true. luck and timing. the only way to improve your chances are to make stuff, meet people, and be easily accessible.

I know that's all exceptionally broad advice - if you'd like to share more specifics about your career goals, I'm happy to get more specific too!

[archoneddzs15]

Sega Saturn - Maria

Title: Maria / マリア〜君たちが生まれた理由〜

Developer/Publisher: Axela / Break

Release date: 11 December 1997

Catalogue No.: T-36302G

Genre: Interactive Drama

Yet another game whose title will trigger some Shadow the Hedgehog fans. Did you ever think that the Saturn was incapable of producing high-quality FMV? If the answer is yes, then you're probably not the only one to think that. I also thought the same way until I saw Maria. The quality of the FMV used in this game is just as good as some of the stuff shown on the Dreamcast. Axela has made very good use of the True Motion codec. Much better than what Sega ever did with Digital Dance Mix or Fighters MegaMix. Anyway, enough about the FMV, what is the game like? Well for non-Japanese speakers it's going to be very dull indeed since the bulk of the game is text with CG stills. Every now and then you can select an option to determine which path is taken through the story. The story so far is about Maria, a patient in a hospital. The Doctor can't understand why she has an injury. Maria's stories don't seem to add up. What could be going on? Maria seems like a nice quite attractive young woman. That is until the end of the first episode where you see her alter ego for the first time. It seems that Maria has a split personality. As you can see from the screenshots on the box the top and center images are of Maria. She certainly looks a bit nasty in the second image.

It all adds up once you learn that you play the role of Takano the Psychiatrist, and Maria suffers from amnesia, and she also is a schizophrenic. This is why Maria has attempted to commit suicide. Pretty brutal for a Saturn game rated the equivalent of "E for Everyone". So far, I've only played the first episode of the game which has been a little slow paced but I'm hoping that episode 2 will be more exciting now that we know Maria's secret. The whole game plays like an interactive movie novel similar to D's Dining Table. I'm not sure how many episodes there are on these two discs since I never bother reading instruction books.

[mesmarique]

Yuri and Subtext in Spring 2023

Spring season is knocking at the door and the Yuri shipping in Spring 2023 will be unreal. I swear to Madoka.

There's at least two Yuris that are gonna hit us with full force, two at the very least subtext-heavy ones, and I'm sure the Uma Musume creators are gonna find a way to make it really gay in Road To The Top as well.

Here I list the shows (as far as I know, but in case there's gonna be last minute additions, I will edit this post accordingly) that are going to come out in April, as well as little side information, fun facts and my personal feelings about them:

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Season 2

This series is, like it says, a continuation of The Witch From Mercury which aired from October 2022 to January 2023, our protagonist is a shy girl from Mercury by the name of Suletta Mercury, who was thrown into a setting à la Revolutionary Girl Utena, with duels that determine who's going to marry President Delling's only daughter Miorine Rembran. I'm gonna keep the summary short here, because there's a lot of spoilers to beware of, but for the Yuri enthusiasts it's a show that should not be skipped over.

I personally really loved this show, it was very exciting to watch and the next cour promises a lot more than what we have already seen.

And the best thing is: You can watch all of it subbed on Youtube legally on the GundamInfo channel for free. The episodes are still being regionally unlocked, but a great portion of the world should be having standard access to most episodes by now, as well as the Prologue that is strongly recommended to watch before you get into the main series at all.

There is also a novel chapter set between the Prologue and Episode 1, which you're free to read anytime after watching the Prologue.

You are NOT required to have seen other Mobile Suit Gundam series' prior to this one, it's original and written by the author of the official Revolutionary Girl Utena novels (mind you, he is not the original creator of Utena!).

Season 2 is going to air from April 2023, every Sunday (presumably the first Sunday of the month, which is a 2nd. Oy, don't look at me like that, they did say it as cryptical as that! lmao). Edit #1: Set airing date is 9th of April!

Here you can watch an English subbed trailer for Season 1:

Edit #2: There is now a trailer for The Witch from Mercury Season 2 (it contains heavy spoilers for Season 1):

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story Season 2

This show is produced by Bandai, like the series above. The first season aired from April to June 2022. This one is honestly quite a messy but entertaining show, with quite a few genres mixed into it. The lead characters in this one are also girls and have a very soul-matey connection to one another (They legitimately can't stop thinking about one another for 5 seconds, there is also a noticeable attraction going on).

It's best described as a wlw soap opera with golf and other themes (to keep it spoiler free).

Fun fact, this series offers quite a few winks at Gundam fans and I would not be surprised, if somehow The Witch From Mercury and Birdie Wing were to collaborate in one way or another to promote the respectively other series during Spring season.

And even if you don't enjoy golf as a sport, you might still enjoy this series. I personally loved it even more as a casual binge, but that's to each their own.

Season 2 is going to air from 1st of April 2023. Edit #2: it's April 7th, my bad

Here is a PV for Birdie Wing: Golf Lesbians' Story Season 2:

Yuri Is My Job

I'm a huge fan of the manga and I can say for sure: YES, Yuri is indeed their job, but also part of their private lives.

It is personally one of the better Yuri dramas that I have encountered over the recent years and if I had to compare it to anything, then I'd say it's like Citrus, if you take away the SA, make it more manipulative instead, as well as diving deeper into the characters feelings, thoughts and struggles that come with those. I can't say for sure how much of its greatness there will be displayed in just one cour, but regardless of it, I'm excited to see the adaptation.

The general setting is the one of a café from an in-universe fictional German all-girls academy, with very sapphic display of affection among the waitresses as part of a roleplay.

Season 1 is going to air from 6th of April 2023.

Here is an English subbed trailer for the anime:

World Dai Star

There is a rising trend of Takarazuka Revue anime, but why would I complain?

For those who don't know: Takarazuka Revue is an all-female musical theatre group based in Takarazuka, Japan, that perform any kind of roles regardless of gender. Because of that the "genre"(if you can call it such) itself has very sapphic undertones. Directly or indirectly influenced by Takarazuka Revue have been Roses of Versailles and Revolutionary Girl Utena, of which the former inspired Kageki Shoujo!! and the latter inspired The Witch From Mercury (so many crazy coincidences in the upcoming season, aren't there?) and Revue Starlight. To get back to this series:

It's not known a lot (or translated) what the story of World Dai Star is gonna be roughly about, but judging the media footage alone, its focus lies in the Takarazuka Revue performances and presumably to make it big in the world, if the title is anything to go by.

Season 1 is going to air from 9th of April 2023.

The most recent non-subbed PV for the show:

Uma Musume: Road To The Top

Uma Musume is back at it again, after two successful seasons, and other medias, here we have a brand new story that is gonna be directly released as an ONA (Original Net Animation), likely on this Youtube channel. It's not known how long it's gonna be, but its primary focus is a retelling of the late 90s/early 2000s era of Japanese horse racing with 3 new protagonists and I believe some reoccuring characters from either of the seasons before.

Uma Musume retells historical careers of Japanese race horses in a kemonomimi setting, and the passion of the work behind it is tangible. The emotions are captivating.

I had a hate-love relationship with Uma Musume Season 1, because it drifted away from the historical aspects here and there that it initially covered so greatly, but Season 2 reignited my love for it so strongly, that it became one of my favorite anime. A Season 3 is also in the works, which I'm excited for.

Now for the legitimacy of the Yuri in this one: No, it's not Yuri, but it offers enjoyable subtext. Season 2 is a great example for that. Uma Musume is about racing, which also leads to great rivalries. And we all know and love a good girls-rivalry story.

The ONA is going to release (whether one by one or fully remains to be seen, as its length is not known) from 16th of April 2023.

Non-subbed trailer for Uma Musume: Road To The Top (I'm already loving this animation, it's the same studio that produced Season 2 and it shows):

[charles-leclerc-official]

I get you about the DTS Singapore episode, but I also want to share some other thoughts: I'm sure to some degree they will bias it towards Carlos doing an 'amazing' job because he ended up winning and for non-f1 fans who don't know the drivers well I guess it works for the drama to show someone winning in between Max's domination.

However, in the last season DTS actually did really well to show behind the scenes bits of RB talking about how Ferrari were fucking over Charles and how Charles should be the priority, and in the Silverstone episode they made a point of showing that Charles got screwed over and Ted saying 'What a day for Ferrari, but they won with the wrong car.'

I think the DTS producers do care about and support Charles. And the producers have said that they look for certain drivers to be the 'face' of the show. Mainly they mean having someone charismatic and funny like Daniel was, for marketing purposes, but of course thinking of the storyline and the drama of the show, it makes more sense to focus more on the drivers who will have a good arc, i.e. might win a championship one day. I definitely think they are following Charles more for that, because they can see he has more 'potential' for interesting content for the show than other drivers.

Like remember Netflix supposedly filming Charles ice climbing last January? We might see that clip in this upcoming season. They definitely seem to care a bit more about Charles. I expect there will be some clips showing the positives to Charles' year.

You are absolutely right. I do agree that if it's a Ferrari based episode then there is a lot more room for nuance(it will still hurt me personally)

Given the fact it's been clear the Ferrari are making Charles the future I'm sure you're right that DTS want to follow him as the main thread for the Ferrari narrative.

However I see so many people misinterpret that race from a Ferrari, RB, Merc and even a Mclaren perspective. There were so many fuck ups, and weird stars aligning. My worry is that any nuance will be sacrificed to make it more dramatic for the newer fans that the show is bringing in. Especially since that was such a big complaint about this last year, that the sport got "boring" (which I completely disagree, if watching Max make F1 history is boring then we are all truly lost as a sport) So I can easily see them make it a mid season episode to give the idea that Red Bull struggled more than they did? I don't trust DTS not to pull something like that.

I would also be okay with an episode focusing on the behind the scenes at Red Bull and more info about why that race was the odd one out, where they struggled etc. Like give me Christian and the team frustrated and Max's feedback about what's off about this race.

But given that the large narrative is going to be Red Bull domination and Max's insane season, I fear they may fall into the trap of overplaying the only non-RB win.

It has the potential to be a great episode because it's actually a VERY interesting race from an analytical standpoint, but I just see people run the wrong direction with it all the time.

I am hoping that we are going to see them laying the groundwork for Charles and building towards the next steps for Ferrari this season.

I will say as much as I am dreading Singapore, I am jumping up and down for Vegas because I know they are going to talk about it and hype Charles up(overtake of the year, and one of the most positively reviewed races as far as fans being excited about the actual racing)

[shadow-says-hello]

Not back yet but I said I was posting earlier fanfic and I just wrote this one at night recently bc I write good at night and out of boredom sooo my friend requested me to write this

Find the spot

Summary: Ryan Gosling and Y/N are co-stars on the set of Fall Guy. The movie just came out and you two are backstage waiting to go to a meet and greet

Mostly Ryan tickling the reader. SFW also slight spoilers for this movie sooo ⚠️

I tried getting his personality accurate

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Ryan Gosling was known for his huge sense of humor and skilled performances. And you really got to notice this while you developed a special bond for a new movie, Fall Guy.

The movie was about a stuntman who must find the missing star of his ex-girlfriend's blockbuster film. Filled with drama, action and comedy. You were lucky enough to play a close producer friend of Ryan Goslings character Colt.

You two had been sitting on the couch of the backstage lounge before going on. You had time to get ready before presenting yourselves to the fans.

Previously Ryan had been making jokes and getting you to laugh, because that’s just who he was. It was almost impossible to not laugh, especially when he went on SNL and laughed every single skit.

“You’re an A-list actor, were you even trying not to laugh?” You ask, Ryan shrugging.

“Because I couldn’t, besides I was doing the best I can. I was holding on for dear life.”

“I can see that.” You laugh.

Ryan chuckles. “You’re cute.”

“So are you.”

“Now that’s my kind of comeback.” Ryan smirks. In response, you smirk back and get an idea to ask him.

“Ryan, are you ticklish?” You ask.

His head cocks slightly to the side. His eyebrow raises in curiosity. “Me? Ticklish? Pffft. Never. I am invincible to such feeble attempts.”

“Really?” You ask.

He nods with certainty. “Truly.” You inch a little closer to him, getting hip-to-hip by his side. You begin to tickle his belly.

He laughs but maintains his composure. “Oooh so we’re reversing the roles, are we? You need to put some effort into it though.”

You roll your eyes and knead deeper into his stomach and sides. “Your abs are rock hard, no wonder why this is hard, you’re built like a freaking tank.” You grumble.

He laughs.

“You’re right. I am. And trust me, I use all this muscle to my advantage.”

“Can you lift your arms up?” You ask him. He does as you demand and lifts up his arms. You begin trying to tickle under his armpits, a real bad tickle spot on most people.

His face shows more enjoyment than he’d like to display. “Is that the best you got? I have to say I’m a little disappointed, Y/N. I figured you would bring some true effort if I offered myself up like this.”

You are stunned. How can someone not be so ticklish? “How..? You really feel nothing?”

“Nothing.” He replies smugly. “Stop playing around and get down to business, Y/N. If you’re gonna tickle me you got to do it right. Here, lemme show you.”

He tackles you down to the couch so you lay on your back, he pins your wrists down on either side of you easily, causing you to squirm a tiny bit.

He is now tickling your sides. You laugh loudly as he attacks your abdomen with a flurry of tickles.

“Hahaha I have you now! This means war, Y/N! You should have never attempted to tickle me without realizing how much it would backfire!” He chuckles.

“AH! BUHUT IT WAS AN EXPERIMENT-!” You laugh.

“An experiment?! Well, look at this, you've created a tickle monster!!“ He teases, feeling no shame or not even cringing the slightest as he speaks.

“YOU’RE EHEMBARRASSING!!!” You shriek, feeling your cheeks turn a little red as your loud laughter echoes throughout the room.

He shakes his head. “You set off the sequence, Y/N. I'm just following the programming.”

“AHH…STOHOP!!” You squeal.

He laughs. “You're the one who started this war. You only have yourself to blame.”

He suddenly moves his hands to up your belly and your ribs. You shriek with laughter at how much more intensely ticklish this area is.

“I can go on forever, you know. I trained myself for this moment.” He grins wickedly.

He then dug his hands straight into your sensitive armpits. “Admit defeat, you fiend!”

He chuckles, getting you to playfully submit to him. He enjoyed this as much as you did, you just wouldn’t admit it. Ever.

“NO WAY! S-SHUHUT UP!”

“This is what you get for messing with a tickling-time-bomb! And shutting up would indicate that I’m yielding this moment to you, which we both know will never happen.”

You were blushing more intensely than you ever had before, and he wouldn’t stop with the teases.

“You’re so red in the face. I can’t tell if it’s from how fun this is or the lack of air. Maybe both.” Ryan laughs.

You were squirming and thrashing beneath him, entering a deep cackle.

“DO YOU EVER SHUT UP!!!?” You snap, cackling and giggling a whole lot all while trying to push him away. Your voice was also becoming squeaky.

“Nope! Now I’m just curious as to where else you’re ticklish. Tell me, Y/N!” Ryan continues to be arrogant and smug.

“NEVER!” You hiss through laughter, impossible to be taken seriously during all of…this.

He only laughs at your conviction. “Oh, that’s what you think. You just hold on there, I’ll get to a spot that will break you eventually.“

His hands travel toward your hips while his other hand continues ravaging your stomach.

“YOHOU’RE NEHEVER GOHONNA FIND IT RYHYAN!!!!” You squeal incoherently, knowing it only motivates him to search more.

“Never say never, Y/N.” Ryan gives an amused smile.

You were practically screaming out begging while laughing. “SHUHUT UP!”

“I’ll shut up when you admit I win.” Ryan grabs the hem of your shirt an gently pulls it up to expose your belly, and blows a big raspberry on it. His stubble adds extra sensations to the already torturous tickling.

“AHHHAH- NOHOHONONO!!! I SURRENDER JUST PLEASE NOT THE RAHASPBERRIES!!!!”

“Yesss!!! There it is!” Ryan cheers, blowing a few more for the fun of it and because he loved your reactions. “Awww, look at you all broken…I think you secretly enjoyed this.” He stops blowing for a bit and looks up at you.

You took a few huffs before answering, catching your breath. “Absolutely not.”

“Oh sure sure. You love getting tickled. Admit it! You can’t wait for me to hold you down and tickle you again.” He laughs and lightly pats your back while you catch your breath.

“Never again.” You say, knowing it wasn’t true. You wanted him to.

“Now how ticklish would you say you are out of 10?” Ryan asks, catching you off guard.

“Me? I’m not answering that.” You roll your eyes again.

“What if I tickled you some more until you answered? Or is that no longer a threat since I got you to surrender already?” He grins at your defiance.

“Ohhh nonono! Ok! I’ll answer!” Your eyes widen. “An 8 or a 9?”

“An 8 or a 9?! Hot damn, I didn’t realized I was dealing with that much tickle power. But it did make it a lot more fun, that’s for sure.“ Ryan grins at you.

“What are you trying to get at?” You give him a playful-confused look.

He then tickles you again. Moving your arms out of the way with one hand and pinning them to your body while tickling your ribs with the other.

“YOU DIRTY-“ You giggle. “YOU DON’T PLAY FAIR…”

“Oh, you know you love it, miss 9/10.” Ryan chuckles. “I’m playing the game of “tickling-you-because-you-like-it-but-are-lying.” Fairness isn’t supposed to be in play here, honey.” He circles one finger on your tummy and laughs as you squirm.

“I’m not gonna shut up, darling. I am loving hearing your voice like this!”

He moves his fingers faster and faster, running them up and down your sides as you squirm beneath him. He’s enjoying this even more than you realize. But never as much as you do.

After going on the meet and greet, you were tickled a lot more…and soon eventually opened up about how you really love it.

The enddddd

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Why is my writing so good at night bro Ryan gosling is such a stud : P

[heartbeatbookclub]

I feel like in general on this blog, I really do undersell exactly how private & introverted of a person I am used to be creatively, particularly in fandom spaces. When I say I've been entrenched fandom for a long time, I am not joking. Despite this, you'd be hard-pressed to find most fandom content I produced until...well, until this blog!

In fact, unless you know me in real life, it's unlikely you've ever seen any art which I've posted OUTSIDE of this blog, which is saying something, because there is a LOT of it, both original, and for shitloads of different fandoms. I am, at my core, an artist, as pretentious as that sounds; I create ad nauseam.

Despite this, I very rarely post publicly. The few times I have created a public page to post art, it was incredibly infrequent. And most of them are deleted, now. In fact, this blog is possibly the first time I've made an online account for fan content (or art in general) that has achieved general notoriety anywhere, and it's incredibly fun, but it has made me painfully aware that there's something of a reason I deleted most of my public art accounts...(/lh)

But seriously, I keep a comically low profile, despite enjoying both creating and receiving praise for creating. Part of it has to do with the particular way inspiration strikes me (the periods where I don't post to this blog are mostly actually because I'm looking for proper vision, despite wanting to create) which is why my creation of these sorts of things is so infrequent, because I know most people (particularly artists) don't do that, and it can be very concerning or frustrating to anyone paying attention.

It also creates a rather daunting prospect of creating something "good enough to share", which I have been increasingly working on not giving a shit about. And sometimes building relationships with people who sort of expect you to post/message them often, because that's the only way they know you're alive. I barely even talk to my irl friends as often as some people want to over the internet with me. It's wild.

I'm not complaining about the popularity of this blog by any means, nor how people have been interacting with it, I mostly just wanted to share that despite how it might look, it's actually significantly more normal for me to post basically nothing for months at a time and then have a burst of inspiration leading me to make like 3 posts that leave people raving for a week, then disappear of the face of the earth completely.

Like, you wanna talk how I normally am with art, I have piles of old Undertale doodles & fanfiction, which almost no one has seen, and I probably won't ever post again. I have art for a fandom I was in for maybe a week and have never done anything for again. I have drawn YouTubers I no longer watch. I have OCs which I haven't thought about in actual years. I have world concepts I literally used for a single drawing and nothing else. I have Omori fics and drawings I literally never posted publicly. There are probably people waiting on an update to a fic I wrote 6 years ago (when I was 15).

You wanna talk me in fandom spaces? There are people I know from my Undertale fandom days who I'm surprised are still posting. I know nearly every major artist in the Omori fandom on some sort of personal note (I'm still in a Discord with some of them), and they're the people who've seen my unpublished Omori art/fics. I would post stuff maybe once every month or two in that server. Most of them probably don't even realize they know me.

I know fandom drama I didn't even care about when it was happening.

For the better part of my life I've been the fandom equivalent to a mysterious stranger, blowing into a fandom maybe once a week, then once a month, then never again, people forgetting I was even ever there. There are friends I've made over social media who I've not seen or spoken to in an actual decade.

I just live my life. I make shit. Sometimes I'm active in a particular space on social media for a while. I meet some new people. I am cheesed to meet them. The case goes cold. I continue living my life. I go elsewhere.

I think this is both vitally important to understand on the internet, especially in a fandom sense (The Internet is not your life, please remember that you can literally turn your computer off and leave) and also a really bad habit I have that, while somewhat amusing, means that by nature a lot of the new friendships I make are temporary.

Also, if ever we message each other and I stop talking to you, that's not because I'm mad or forgot you or something; if I don't have anything to say I don't say anything. Small talk is my bane because it feels dishonest. Offer to play TF2 or Overwatch with me or something.

Now that I'm thinking about it, this is actually generally applicable to all online spaces I'm in, which might make the entire thing seem a little silly... There are people I've met on online games like Roblox, or old flash games, or old websites where you can PLAY those flash games, who I just disappeared from one day. A lot more of my life than I thought is intrinsically ephemeral...hm.

It's to the point that a lot of people know who I am but don't realize who I actually am because my name is sorta generic, so they don't make the connection. I make a lot of jokes about it on my main but most people don't even realize I'm The Mind Electric Guy who made the big mash-ups and also the Catboy Electric. And Johnny Johnny Electric but we don't talk about that one.

There are times where I'll have people in my comments/messages going "wait YOU'RE THAT GUY? YOU MADE THAT?!?!" about something completely unrelated, and i'm just like "yeah i was bored on a saturday". I'm like the Neil Cicierega of obscure internet/niche fandom bullshit.

Wait, so I'm like Neil Cicierega. And I've been told I resemble him more than once, so maybe that's fitting.

As a reward for making it through my silly ramblings, here's a little proof in the pudding! Here's some incredibly old DDLC fanart from my initial obsession to a little later, not exactly in chronological order. You can really see my improvement as an artist, which is actually pretty funny, because imitating some other DDLC fanartists is specifically how I started getting better at drawing people

These are incredibly old! You can tell, because they look like SHIT! I didn't really know a lot about how to draw people at this point in time, and what became my style was super poorly defined here! I have some other super old art which really shows off how bad i was at drawing people, particularly in the waist. Believe it or not, this is a better showing than most others around this time.

Hey, at least they're recognizable, right?

This right here, this is the exact moment where drawing faces started to click for me. I still think this is one of my best showings from this particular time period, even though it's still got a lot of line jank, and I'm pretty blatantly ripping from a different artist (who no longer has an online presence, so weh, have at it). I still really like this drawing, and a lot of the experimentation that was on this page.

also, you can see me trying to draw boobs for the first time! ain't that a sight!

These are a weird period where I'm drawing a lot of different things on the same sketchbook page just to fill them up, which...I mean, I guess I should be proud I used to draw that much! They certainly do look cool, too. This image of Sayori in an Adidas tracksuit is directly referenced from a picture of a Sayori cosplayer I found on Instagram once upon a time. The @ you see pictured there is my old private instagram--you can try to follow it, but I doubt you're going to get anywhere!

I think a big problem you see in a lot of these is just that I'm uncertain in my lines, even in sketching and doodling, which is still a problem I struggle with sometimes. Also I don't really get how clothes work. But this is significantly better than how some of my old art used to look like, so I'm glad for that!

Can you identify all of the other pictured characters? There are 3 musicians and 2 YouTubers present!

I drew this in 8th grade? I think? These might be slightly out of order. I really liked drawing Sayori.

I really didn't like how this turned out when I first did it. I don't often do digital pieces and even less often work in color, but when i do, they tend to take a lot of time and effort. I think this is definitely rough around the edges, but the amount of work I put in to really make this pop is something I enjoy. Just wish I'd spent longer on those hands...

Remember how I said I used to really vibe with MC x Sayori?

Yeah.

Here's some more, including a more fleshed out MC design. I think I did this my senior year of high school?

And this, dear viewers, is a Sayori I doodled from memory roughly a year ago.

I didn't really have much direction here, I just wanted to talk about this stuff, and I had these that I wanted to share. These drawings were all from roughly 2018-2023.

[goldengashes]

Hi, just wanted to ask will you be watching season 4 and what were your thoughts on both portwell and r*na's development? What about all of them as characters? I personally was rooting for r*na in season 1. But after watching most of season 2, I prefer portwell and probably won't watch season 3 after the mess they made. I'd have been okay with r*na if the narrative made sense but sorry to say Gina has been a "maybe" to Ricky. She picked the guy she wanted since S1, but she seems to forget he's not really deserving of her attention at all after he's blown her off and asked her for relationship advice knowing she liked him. Like come on do better girl.

hey, thanks for the ask! hope you're well, anon.

i'll answer this as briefly and structured as i possibly can but i highly doubt it lmao. possible rant ahead (?)

okay so s4... i can't say that i won't tune in because essentially, i'm a huge sofia wylie fan. i've loved her since andi mack and everything she's ever put out with disney, i've watched (plus sge). and aside from that, the s4 plot (the whole og hsm movie reunion thing/wildcats being extras on the movie) is being hyped up a lot and i'm intrigued to see how that plays out. outside of the triangle, i love kourtney, carlos, ash, jet and maddox as characters. i'd probably just scroll thru hsmtmts twitter posts/tumblr tags to see the scenes/discourse/takes and use it to determine whether i'd watch or not. i've abandoned more shows (esp ongoing ones) than i have finished so... we'll see.

if you want me to be honest, gina is the reason i shipped portwell. in s1, the only person from the core four i truly rooted for was gina. i couldn't care less about ricky, nini and ej characters and plotlines (plus their weird 'love triangle'). i wouldn't call myself a rina in s1, but i was rooting for gina's character to be more vulnerable and possibly finding romance. she's this tough girl who's never really fit in because she had to move so much and i truly sympathized with her. in that homecoming scene with ricky, i actually did feel chemistry between them. now looking back, it's probably just sofia and joshua's acting that made that scene more that it actually was. but by the end of s1, it's clear rini was that season's endgame. i mean, the main plot of s1 was ricky being in the play to get nini back. i also believe they were going to be endgame if olivia hadn't left. and before anyone says s2 was filmed before driver's license and sour blew up, i know! but just think about it: with 'all i want' doing well and blowing up on tiktok the previous year and olivia working with a producer at interscope records (not under disney) for her new album since 2020, i think she was planning to move on to music before the script was written. hence ricky and nini's plotline for a 'final' breakup.

moving on to s2... in s2, i didn't like how in 2a gina's whole storyline was crying/pining over ricky who doesn't really reach out to her after the one exercise where gina rejects him. up to 205, i understood ricky might've been conflicted and confused about gina's feelings for him, he had his relatioship with nini and his family drama to worry about. but since that whole 'plane crash' scene pretty much checks out as a confession, it just didn't make sense for ricky to act the way he did in 205. after the whole "if you and i were dating..." thing he pulled, i could not ship rina at all. all the doors i had open for them, i shut. he was so out of line and so disrespectful. he only cared about nini in that scene (while also stepping over nini's boundaries about being in the play). and c'mon, this boy at least knows gina and him are at this weird stage where they aren't purely friends and there's feelings involved. so why would he say that? now, when i saw ej and gina's scene in the same episode, they got me immediately. and it all sort of aligned with their history and personalities—overconfident, 'anti-hero', ex-scheming partners. now that i think about it, i didn't like rina before i loved portwell. and portwell? well, i think they're neat. midgame ship this, plot device that, i don't really mind. i'm thankful for their development in 2b because it was a breath of fresh air for someone who loves and roots for gina. and ej grew on me, too. in s1 he was this straight up himbo disney villain for but in s2 he was given more dimension in his character, had relatable struggles and we were shown a more vulnerable and attentive side to him. my top reason for shipping pw is the fact they started becoming better people together and they got each other because of that. the whole 'new ej' and 'gina 2.0' thing was probably a happy accident, hence why tim didn't really dig further into that. but on the other hand, they're different in a lot of ways. gina wants to settle down in one place and ej doesn't know what he wants—we even find that he wants to break free from the mold his dad wants him to be. i wish that would be something they help each other out with—he is her constant and comfort and she's the person who grounds and challenges him. instead, it becomes a point where they fail (looking at you, s3!). and whether you are a rina/pw anti, there's no denying ej treated gina like a queen in s2. portwell in 205-210 will always have me by the neck. and even though 211 and 212 makes me recoil, i personally don't blame ej for tapping out from their date with the whole 'brother' thing. just like gina, he's scared of putting himself out there to get hurt.

now, s3. i like to joke about the fact that it didn't exist but honestly? minus the triangle, it was pretty entertaining and funny. i liked maddox's character a lot in particular, she reminds me of me. i loved that kourtney has a character arc. i love ej more after watching s3, he's become one of my fav characters. now, i don't know if i'll get booed for this by the pws but i wish pw would have not been a couple while gina is still in hs. not because of the whole age gap thing (which is ridiculous), but i genuinely think they'd suit that bff-to-lovers slow burn. thank god i have tsbu because the way tsbu!pw plays out is exactly how i imagined it would be. but alas, we see portwell deteriorate in s3. and ofc it was painful to witness but less so because they felt off to me. they weren't really the s2 pw i knew and loved. trust me i don't say this bc they broke up, i say it's the lack of banter and moments of vulnerability (which they should have more of bc they're a couple here!). also the ej caswell i know would've broken the rules and took gina as a date, honestly. like, he literally gave a girl food poisoning so he can star in a show with nini. now, i do believe that gina and ej being in different phases of their lives was a good reason for their breakup, she's got 2 years of hs left and his world is getting bigger than just hs. i mean, like i said before, i wished they'd have that two-year, slow-burn best friends-to-lovers arc. my biggest problem with ej and gina's story was the execution. there were hundreds of ways to write them being right person/wrong time and they'd still mean a lot to each other etc. i'd actually be okay with them ending. but with the whole 'i can't be a maybe anymore' and 'can it really be over, if it never got the chance to start?' rubs me the wrong way. it's like tim really wanted everyone to see that ej is at fault here (despite whatever tim's saying in interviews) when he's doing all of this so his girlfriend and his friends would 1) have a great summer in this place that's really important to him and 2) have this great opportunity to be on disney+, which is a huge deal. specifically, for gina, he wanted to make a good show bc we all know how much finally being casted as a lead is important to her. ej could've just walked away, given up and let this thing fall into shambles, but he didn't. it didn't just cost him time with gina, it costed him his whole summer. it was all weird writing for me. and as for rina? firstly, i find it odd that the rinas were rooting for gina emotionally cheating on ej. even sofia said that gina's not that type of girl and she genuinely wanted her and ej to work. personally, i didn't find ricky pining for gina cute at all. ik a lot of people see it as a parallel for season 2a when gina secretly pines over ricky while he's still with nini. but the context here is different now, isn't it? gina never received a confession (or any sort of sign ricky wanted to be around her) before she got with ej. in fact, ricky was busy with lily and was close enough with her to spend summer with her and her parents in florida?? like i don't know, it just feels like ricky's feelings stemmed out of nowhere which made it seem shallow and not the epic love tim is pushing it to be. again, sofia and josh are great actors, the wdykal scene had so much chemistry but it was just that. the context/history of rina is extremely shallow to me. they needed val to say 'yup, he's genuinely heartsick' instead of just letting josh's acting show it. another thing i should mention is the instances where ricky was so passive-aggressive about ej and gina. the part where jet ran off and they needed a hans to sing liaod with anna (gina), he was going to volunteer to step in because he had feelings for her and was visibly pissed off when cordon told ej to sub for jet. and there's ricky slapping ej, which was an ick moment bc it made him seem entitled rather than badass.

lastly, that one shot of him finding out nini was at camp? "nini's here?" yeah? that one scene had more emotional fuel than ricky spending the whole two weeks max crushing on gina. it sort of set back the whole rina development, i have to say it.

speaking of nini, her sendoff wasn't as satisfying as i expected it to be. in s3, i'd prefer it if she moved to california because she got a record deal or something? since s3 was already so meta, that would've been much better than her moving out to cali because her moms wanted to. back to s1, i feel like she was your stereotypical shy, main character with the usual 'gaining confidence' arc and that arc was sort of boring and overdone for me. but in s2 i really enjoyed her branching out to songwriting and stepping side to help out others. plus, i think people skip over how awful ricky was to her as well. first, he takes a break and feels entitled to get her back and second, he genuinely started suffocating the poor girl in s2. well, at least he realized it, though. again, when people say rini was toxic, it's really just ricky. nini did nothing wrong in s1-2. i don't think the rose song was even about ricky, he just made it into something it wasn't supposed to be. i sincerely hope ricky loses this behaviour in s4.

anyway! end of rant. these are just my thoughts. if anyone agrees or disagrees, it's up to them. i genuinely hope gina is happy next season, bc before i was a pw stan i was a gina stan (even though she was a little ooc in s3). if it means rina being happy, i won't be so mad. at the end of the day, this is just a silly disney show and it’s all for entertainment. i do love portwell but i rather tim never touch them again, honestly. canon pw is already ruined for me, though i wouldn't mind a proper portwell closure scene in s4.

that was a lot more words than i expected lmaoo, but if anyone read all of that, cool! if not, that's cool, too. it was very cathartic.

[donnerpartyofone]

Because of my unspeakable streaming habits, I see a lot of ads for "unscripted" Discovery shows that I would never conceive of watching, that fascinate and horrify me. The exploitation and voyeurism of the actual shows, about dysfunctional people with sometimes (but not always) serious personal problems, doesn't surprise me as much as the ads themselves. They don't introduce any of the players or their narratives, because the target viewer of the ad already knows everything about the shows and is already a fan--which is a strange thing in and of itself, because shouldn't the main point of advertising be to seed new awareness and compel an action that is NOT already happening without the expense of an ad campaign?* But anyway, imagine me, a space alien, watching this ad: An average, unimpressive sort of woman, in no place in particular, speaks into her phone and also to a camera crew about how her mother is dying in the hospital and she's not ready to let her go. She sobs hysterically. And that's it. That's the whole entire thing. Within the bounds of the ad at least, there's no gimmick, nothing to differentiate the people from any other person alive, no overarching drama to give it a special context; like, many of these shows are about people with unusual medical conditions or who have extreme jobs, or they're very rich or very poor, or there's an unwanted pregnancy or something else that raises the stakes, so there's a hook. But as far as the ad in question is concerned this show is like, "Something awful happened to someone, something that happens to everyone, but now you get to see it in extreme closeup!" There is the floating implication that the intended viewer of the ad knows exactly who these people are and why you would want to watch what happens when one of them dies, but for me, who just landed on the planet of Earth, I'm like, this...is a show? How? Why? I'm not surprised by the bad taste aspect of it, just...I can't figure out what's supposed to make it entertaining to begin with.

*I feel like I see an increasing amount of advertisement that has no particular purpose as far as compelling an action goes, and there's something really apocalyptic about that to me. Like, ads for just ordering products on Amazon: Who do they think they're reaching? Who are the as-yet untouched-by-Amazon audiences of the ad? There really isn't anyone who will see that ad on a streaming service who doesn't know what Amazon does, and Amazon pretty much holds the entire world hostage; the only people not using it, who will possibly see the ad, are already conscientious abstainers. Or TV ads for Facebook just kill me, that's another situation where if you're even seeing the ad, you already know what Facebook is and you have already decided whether or not you're going to use it, plus odds are good that you're in a hostage situation with that too where you need to use it for your business or something. What in the fuck are these ads supposed to actually DO? Why spend money on them, at all? My honest feeling is that this is a kind of emperor's new clothes thing, that our economy is just so disproportionately advertising- and sponsorship-based that nobody can even admit that sometimes ads are just not necessary, like at all. They're not producing anything. They are not increasing business for the businesses they advertise. They're actively wasteful in fact. And if we admit that this is true, we might have to just scrap everything and restart society.

AND FINALLY the funniest thing to me is those Metaverse ads that are literally like...hey guys, can you fucking imagine if the Metaverse were actually a product or service that did something? Wouldn't that be totally amazing? And then it just runs through a series of science fiction scenarios complete with goofy floating transparent screens that have already become an embarrassing cliche of, you know, bad science fiction movies. The ad doesn't offer you ANYTHING. It is only designed to get you to imagine using and enjoying something that doesn't exist, has no immediate plans to exist. I assume what's going on is that investors are bailing and the only thing Meta can think to do about it is try to make regular jagoffs talk about the Metaverse as if it's something they want and look forward to, so therefore it's worthy of continued funding and development, even if it is mostly just a very general concept now that may never fully cross over into reality.

Between the last paragraph and now I have enjoyed the following article from last year, since which time nothing has apparently changed. The End.

[hologramcowboy]

This is your whole blog: Jensen is a bad actor, a bad singer, bad father, a bad businessman, a bad husband, and of course just overall bad person. You were anonymous. “You have balanced opinion”. Lol

No, that's all YOU understand from my blog because you have an extremely limited view of the world, lack critical thinking as well as empathy. There's a huge difference there but you'll never get that. ;)

Also, read up on behavioral psychology and how perception works within the brain, a balanced view involves being aware of both the downsides as well as the positive sides of something/someone. When either side is lacking your brain can produce mania, delusions and unrealistic expectations, I'll let you guess which category you belong to. Little clue: If Jensen is a God then you need to rebalance your perceptions unless you want to deal with mental issues down the line. You're welcome.

Also, you think you serve him but the truth is the only thing you are capable of is being creepy, histrionic and objectifying him, if truly cared about him you'd care about his well being and evolution in all areas of life. No matter which level we reach there's a new one waiting for us, life is growth, especially when it comes to Acting. But you are stuck in your manic perceptions about Jensen instead of caring about the real, flawed, vulnerable human he is. Because, if you even remotely cared, you would 't for a second tarnish his name, image and energy by starting drama via anon and you would also get the value of certain conversations. My guess is you aren't even a Jensen fan but rather some b&$$hurt person who as an issue with my blog.

Your opinion is just about as valuable to me as your understanding of my posts as well as intentions. Zero. 🤣

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I don't think fandom negativity will be his problem - the impact fandom negativity has on his career options might. But that's probably Harry of the future's problem

What do you mean by that? Do you think hollywood won't want to hire him because of how easily his own fans turned on him and the movie? They turned on him because of the stunt, which created a lot of discourse and media coverage. So if anything they're probably salivating at pairing him with another actress to create more headlines. And for Hollywood, if that means his own fans are constantly fighting then oh well, that's an unfortunate byproduct. The only issue I have with this is HSHQ maybe not realizing that fans have a limit and might not like being emotionally played like this. I personally don't mind any of the stunts and drama because I've accepted a long time ago that Harrys life, carreer and closet are not mine. I survive this fandom by compartmentalizing but a lot of harrys fans are clearly unable to do that. But then if fans aren't able to keep their emotions in check, should that be Harry's problem? I don't think so. He's just trying to navigate his career as best as a closeted man can.

I think that after what happened with DWD, Harry's fans will be seen as risky, because the way they have acted as catalysts and accelerants. Successfully making and releasing a movie requires controlling a lot of things that are very difficult to control. Therefore casting someone who brings a very volatile force with them is a risk. A $19 million opening weekend for original IP may be worth that risk, but it is still a risk.

One of the fundamental fandom mistakes is assuming that others see us the way we see ourselves. People who are producing and greenlighting movies don't care why Harry's fans act the way they do. They're not going to try and control and manage fan reactions - or assume that if fans are happy then they'll do something different (wisely I think - the idea that fans could be managed in a way that would make them less risky is a fantasy). Instead they'll just note that casting Harry comes with some risk and make their decisions accordingly.

I'm not sure what you're asking when you say 'should that be Harry's problem?' We live in a very unjust world and we're talking about limited prestigious roles are distributed. The idea that 'should' enters into any of this is absurd. If his volatile fans are seen as a risk by people who have the power to cast and greenlit movies that is Harry's problem. Or at least it is if he wants to be in movies.

[theastromind]

ur cool to chat with!

I was thinking its such a recent issue among general internet spaces, I mean on one hand theres people fully deluded thatll maybe overdefend but on another hand theres people waiting for an idols downfall at the same exact time. I do think for instance yoongis dui was obvi a legit crime but ppl now using it to degrade all the things he has done for bts / kpop in general and asking him to leave the group despite being their main producer, then theres ppl that really do seem to only focus on either major flaws of idols like ones who overperform or underperform, what weight an idol is or isnt (changbin lately seems the main culprit as well as jeongyeon of twice) its like they cant win these days. I do blame beauty standards as well cause so much is abt the look of an idol than what they bring and it makes them seem like robots really.

visuals is a useless position for anyone in a kpop group cause it says ehh they aint got a particular talent or part in their group lets just say theyre the face of it then? like its so old fashioned / stuck up. I dont know if its only kpop but in general pop groups are treated like dolls or an object. I do think idols dont mind people doing readings on them cause its like an outlet away from those that are hard core stans but i dont think it has to always be abt whats on the outside of a person or who their fs could be.

I also think an aspect is that either its less about actually enjoying what idols do and release and more about who can be the next target of a witch hunt. its just got so childish over recent years and I try to separate the groups I love from the broken af system theyre in but to no avail its like another week another excessive piece of non issue drama is generated.

I always think balance is the key to a lot of things in life, and that includes being a fan of someone. people need to realise that idols can make mistakes, but thats all it is, a mistake. they don't need to tear his whole career down because he made one mistake. I also kind of hate how the kpop industry puts way too much pressure on visuals, and how it can sometimes seem to be more important than the work that they do. I do think they have a lot to learn from western culture in that regard with the entertainment industry.

I honestly try and distance myself away from as much kpop drama as possible. In 2020 I became a fan of nct as I really liked yuta, and I had a yuta twitter account with about 4k followers. almost every day there was always something new in the way of drama and it would usually be within the nct fandom, which I found was the most weird thing about it. everyone had a solo stan account (before I was a multi carat account, and I still love svt) so it was weird to see people having an account for only one person in the group. some fans of the other members would turn on other members of the group and say '___ doesn't deserve to be in nct' and I was like ???? they're in the same group and you're just hating on that member because they're not your favourite? it was just wild to me. I got so overwhelmed with how much drama there was and got such bad anxiety I had to close my account. I now just have a personal and follow a few kpop accounts that post mainly photos etc. I feel like a lot of people need to maybe do the same, bc my mental health really suffered that year

[event322]

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