#Framing of Charge

[jedaos]

all quiet on the western front is literally a movie discussing the futility of war, of how little boys sign up to march to their death because of propaganda fed to them by their teachers and mentors who prey on their idealistic view on life. it is a film that makes you watch death after death after death, without giving you a single cause or philosophy or ideal for you to soothe yourself with—because there is none. there are only boys and men, bleeding cold and alone on the dirt and mud. there is no worth. there is no reason. there is only death.

and you reduce it to a "war movie". it's based off a book brave enough to depict the realities of war in the charged political climate of 1929, and you call it "the war movie".

[delightfulpenguinwerewolf]

Okay I joke around alot with alastor being scary when he's in full demon form, oh he's cool when he transforms, threatening and all...

But this one takes the cake, the more I stare at it the creepier it gets..like wtff imagine seeing that from outside your window just standing there..

[abstract-moth]

thinking about how Ambrosius originally stood next to the Director far from Ballister and the Queen

and the only reason he was close enough to cut off Ballister’s arm

was because he moved forward to cheer his name

[columboscreens]

[squeakadeeks]

moodboard for this past week ❤️

[mosspace]

Dear PTJ, please develope your female characters

Someone complaining abt the way PTJ writes his female characters (truly, a never seen before concept); 1st Afilliate Arc and Cheongliang Arc spoilers (at this point, I think most people are up to date w/ the story, but I'm still gonna put this warning just in case)

Look, I don't take Lookism super seriously. In fact, I think I never did that, mainly thanks to the outlandish concepts it had since the beginning. I'm just here to have fun at this point, and to finally learn the truth about Daniel's 2nd body (omg, it's been 400+ chapters-).

I definitely wasn't expecting to find super well written female characters (even though I definitely should, it's 2023, for God's sake-), something a good number of fighting-related webtoons seem to struggle with. But damn, does Lookism waste its female characters in a way not many have done before.

Since the focus of the story has shifted primarly towards fighting and taking down the Four Crews and Charles Choi, I'm gonna focus on two of the characters most connected to these aspects: Mary Kim and Crystal Choi (ik Lua and Sally are also connected in this way, but I don't really have a lot to say about them and, besides, they've already been covered by another user here on Tumblr)

Mary Kim

The perfect opportunity to get her more involved came up not so long ago, in the ep just before the Allied vs 1st Afilliate fight properly started. We see Mary's reaction upon hearing Vin Jin tell her that Taejin Cheon is alive; we can see her anger asclear as day both in her expression and her words. She literally expresses how much she wants to kill this guy.

And yet, PTJ doesn't make her go and get her revenge. Instead, we have Vin Jin basically saying that he will do it for her because 'his hands are already dirty" (i heavily paraphrased his words, but you get it), which to me, at least, doesn't make sense.

Time and time again we see how close the two of them are in spite of the many jabs they throw at each other. Even without knowing the details of their shared past in Cheongliang (which comes up a couple episodes later), it's very strange that she would let Vin jin go to face him just like that.

By this point, it's already stablished that he murdered somebody, an act that even if deserved by the deceased person, takes a mental toll on the one who does it. Taking this into account, I don't see why Mary would just let who's basically her best friend go through the same thing again, alone. And I especially don't see why she would obey him and stay behind. Her, Mary, the person who never takes Vin Jin's bullshit and always calls him out.

Why not have them both go together? It would be a great opportunity to 1) deal with the last negative reminder of their past, and gain a little bit of closure once and for all, and 2) have Mary finally fight seriously and be able to demonstrate why she's called 'The Empress of Two Seconds' and why she's considered so strong.

We've only seen her take down minor opponents a very, very small number of times, all of which are altercations that don't ever last too long (i guess this last thing is to back up her nickname but, eh)

TLDR: Let Mary dirty her hands as much as Vin. Let them take down together one of the people who has brought them so much pain as the pair of strong besties they are. Stop telling us how strong she is and actually commit to showing it.

__

Crystal Choi

Oh boy, this character-

Like, you mean to tell me that the sole offspring/child of the Big Bad Guy tm the protagonist and his friends are meant to take down, who also happens to be friends with said protagonist, doesn't play a major role on the story? Absolutely insane

And that isn't even taking into account that she also has 2 bodies, which is something only one other character (Daniel, the PROTAGONIST), has and is a major plot point

I'd like to see her be more aware of her privilege as a rich person. Yeah, she was relentlesstly bullied and undermined for her appeareance (which is a horrible thing for anybody to go through) but at least she wasn't poor, too. Does she actually use her money or her status as the daughter of one of the richest men in Korea to change things or solve problems?

Jay literally bought an ambulance of the same type used by the 1st Afilliate so that Allied could sneak in, so why can't Crystal do something similar to help them, too? She helped them during the Gambling Arc by bringing Kouji

I'd like to see her realize and come to terms with the fact that her father's a horrible person. I don't think she knows everything that's going on behind closed doors, but she's definitely smart enough to have noticed that there's something shady going on with his bussiness.

Let her discover the truth. Let her pick either her father's or Daniel's side (the latter which I believe is the most plausible, since she doesn't seem the type to excuse murder, extorsion, etc.). She could act as an informant, helping Allied from the inside.

Heck, you could have her fight, too, if you wanted to. She trained with Gun, after all. And yeah, maybe she's not as strong as the other characters, but we know that she can hold her own against most people. We've seen it.

TLDR: how the hell do you set up a character with so much potential and don't do anything with it. Also, think abt the angst potential!

________________________________________________

Final thoughts, I guess:

I think that Crystal siding with Allied has a higher chance of happening than PTJ letting Mary fight. There's still a good chunk of the story yet to be told, so anything could happen.

I'm actually considering believing that the reason we rarely see the female characters is that they, also, are working secretly to take down the Four Crews and it's gonna get revealed in the last arc for the sake of my sanity

[landwriter]

*throws roses at u like confetti*

I love ur writing so much!!!!

“Then I shall take my leave of you and prove you wrong.”

“A story.”

“What?”

“Let’s make a second wager. I’ll tell you a story, and if it doesn’t move you, I’ll know I was wrong to accuse you of loneliness. Then I’ll make my amends if you’ll have them, or see you off into the night if you won’t.”

“How is that possibly related?”

“It’s a story about love. It’ll break the heart of any lonely man.”

“I have heard many love stories before.”

“Not this one,” said Hob, “Not this one, you haven’t. It’s never been told.”

“And if I have heard it before? What then, for your wasting of my time? For your insolence?”

“You can keep your own counsel on the consequences. You won’t have heard it before.”

“Very well. Tell me this story.”

“Not yet. I haven’t named the stakes if it succeeds in moving you.”

“I presume you will say you have somehow proven your offensive suggestion,” he said. “I do not think it will be a concern.”

“No. I won’t say anything on it. And I’m sorry for upsetting you. I am. I’d name a different prize.”

“What would you have?”

“A question. One question. And you’ll answer it.”

---

thank u!! taking confetti quite literally here and sharing the early bare bones dialogue from the start of a Secret WIP that only @moorishflower has ever heard abt! it is set in 1889 and a sort of 1001 Nights meets a Hob who speaks instead of hesitates when he stands up angrily after Dream does; who might say stupid things but isn't a stupid man, who sees how stories are what captivates his stranger, whose frustration at being constantly denied knowledge of his friend has boiled over and caused this fight where he tried to name the knowledge himself, who refuses to lose him, who has lived for five hundred years now and knows how to tell a story, and will use them to bargain now not for his life but for the regard of the stranger he loves.

[good-beanswrites]

In one of your answers about lcsys a few days ago you mentioned that you weren't sure how closely Jackalope monitored their calls (re: trying to do investigations over the phone) and it occurred to me because you mentioned kazui calling hinako that she appears in both half and cat so he could contact her in person and they could talk a bit and even pass each other papers if they were sneaky enough. I don't know if anyone else would be willing to do that (the resources available to people like shidous wife and mahirus ex boyfriend would be limited anyway) but it could be another route if you wanted to make call monitoring strict

Anon I love that thank youuu >:0 There really is so much potential with this! 

They might not have committed careful, premeditated murders, but they sure are getting a knack for sneaky crime now. Speaking in code over phone lines, passing notes in between filming scenes, sneaking away to a private area to talk (though never knowing how much of the facility is monitored). Some of their loved ones may not have the skills/connections needed, but the prisoners sit together after getting their scripts to plan out who they’ll be able to make contact with and when.

Haruka’s sister makes a super fast appearance in AKAA, when she comes on set to film her scene someone slips a note in her pocket telling her to call a woman named Hinako with the police department and deliver a message. Hinako and the other connections listed investigate Es and Milgram, then send their findings in a message to the Kirisaki household. When Shidou visits them on his Triage trip, she passes him the information. He leaves her with any additional questions and findings to send to Mahiru’s ex before he leaves, sneaking the message into the facility. When arriving to film I Love You, her ex brings another note inside the facility disguised within his script he’s been told to look over. Mahiru has to stall some of the scenes to make filming last long enough for the others to interpret the information and form their next plan of action. Once they give her the ‘go,’ she’s able to put on a perfect performance and send the man home with a letter to Hinako. Hinako shows up to produce Cat with even more findings. This time, they send her home either with plans to investigate further on her own, or repeat the process with someone appearing in Deep Cover. They’ll have to hold out throughout the third trial, but hope what they’ve discovered/kick started will be enough when they leave. 

And, jailbreak attempt or not, I just realized they would likely end up getting close on their own! Hinako and Mahiru’s ex especially because of their similarities, but everyone would feel connected by this strange experiment. Even with limited investigation skills, they could search up the other prisoners and reach out to their families. There are conflicted feelings of sympathy and shame from the stable families, but it would make sense they’d get to talking with each other. Fuuta is horrified when the experiment ends and he leaves to find his sister is best friends with Mikoto’s. Muu’s parents are insistent about avoiding direct contact to protect their reputation, but they offer money and help to Haruka and Amane in their moving of homes. Shidou’s wife has set up playdates between her kids and Yura. (When we find out more, Kotoko and Es’ families are in the mix too :’))

[paperthinpuppy]

THE RAIN MESSED PART OF IT UP

the universe is doomed we need to stabilize him...

[apersonwholikeslotus]

cursing Molly with a human best friend who will eventually die

[scootkiddo]

craig mazin you have a chance to absolve yourself of your sins in season 2. #bringbackscoot

[dhmis-autism]

whatever. love the writing of the DHMIS show because EVERY single character in it switches violently between the roles of either straightman or bugs bunny with no in between.

[columboscreens]

[d999666]

Snow kids band!

What do you think about Snowkids doing band activities.

[Position]

Ahito - drum

Thran - base

Microice - electric guitar

Rocket - synthesizer

Mark - guitar1

D'jok - guitar2, vocal

Sinedd - electric guitar, sub vocal

What do you think about the band position?

Do they look good together?

----

Using Trace frame from Twitter

[l0vefreak]

The THING about utena “massive trigger warning + changed my life” posting is the secondary characteristic of irony being deep truth. Like girlhood is dominated by allusions to and obfuscations of rape and the threat of rape. The impropriety of exposing young children to the concept puts them in greater danger. It happens to them but they don’t understand it. And this runs so deep it becomes fantastical - without direct language, children pick up on the taboo of the unsaid and apply otherworldly power to it.

[blueiight]

Coming slowly to know his evil, or being catapulted into it ... was all the same. I wanted none of it finally. And, deserving nothing better, I closed up like a spider in the flame of a match. And even Armand who was my constant companion, and my only companion, existed at a great distance from me, beyond that veil which separated me from all living things, a veil which was a form of shroud. (IWTV, 1976)