#I just wrote a whole essay

[ssnowflowers]

Not enough people talk about Pre-LimLife Mean Gills. And I think that’s a crime because it’s integral to their relationship growth and narrative arc (in the Life Series). Spoilers for the Entire Life Series below the cut.

Basically, their first meeting is Scott just trying to enchant his things, which is positive. And from here it’s just small, little interactions of mischief and kindness, nothing substantial. That is until Martyn and Ren demand that the Flower Husbands fall in line with their kingdom, and Jimmy burns the banner.

From here on it’s a (one-sided) relationship of animosity, with them consistently fighting and Scott even implying that someone needs to take out Martyn. This only escalates in the war between the two main factions.

And then Dogwarts kills Jimmy and Cleo.

This marks a major change. Scott is immediately joined with the Pizza Alliance solidly, switching goals. In his conversation with Cleo, Scott implies that everything will die down and he’ll just settle down in the Flower Forest. Now, Scott seeks the destruction of Dogwarts at all costs. This leads to the only low performance Scott ever gets in the life series.

He even runs off with Joel to do so, who is probably his #1 enemy in the entire Life Series. That just goes to show how much Scott wants Martyn and Ren dead. Their final fight is chaos, with Martyn and Ren killing Scott twice. During their last conversation, we see something interesting. Martyn is trying to extend a hand.

“Hey, I never wanted Jimmy to die!” “I’m sorry my Hand, but we must kill him.”

Ren is the one to deliver the final blows to Scott. Martyn is only indirectly responsible. And it shows that despite all the fighting, Martyn still holds his early time with the Flower Husbands in high regard. Martyn is still trying with Scott. Scott wants nothing to do with Martyn, which is understandable. His faction killed Jimmy and Martyn is the direct killer of Cleo.

Last Life picks up and immediately the Southerners and Scottage have a rivalry, placing Martyn and Scott as opposites again. Now, it seems like this will be a very nothing season for them. That is, until episode 8.

In this episode, Scott heads off with Martyn as Boogeyman. Many will presume this is heading in the direction of a cold and calculated kill. What happens instead, is that Scott tells Martyn that he is Boogeyman. Here, circumstances are different and Scott feels he can finally let go of everything that happened.

Martyn, who never held any hate for Scott, tries to actively aid him in getting a kill. This makes no sense from any perspective. He has no loyalty to Scott and an End Crystal could even kill him. And yet, he does it anyway. He wants to believe that Scott has finally come to trust him.

And then the finale happens and Scott kills Martyn. Twice.

In a way that mirrors what happens to Scott in Third Life, despite Scotts reservations he is forced to fight Martyn. Killing him on top of Magical Mountain and severing their tenuous bond. This time, Martyn is the one who feels the hurt. He ends up going reclusive until the battle royal, where he avoids fighting Scott until the man has him cornered in a forest and kills him.

At this point, Martyn and Scott have established themselves as fated rivals, despite how much neither wants this. And now the distrust is mutual.

Double Life brings about Divorce Quartet and it’s not pretty. Cleo is quick to forgive Martyn. Scott is not and holds resentment for the bleeding heart until the latter half of the season. Meanwhile, Martyn is resentful of the relationship Scott has with his soulmate. Once again, fate has placed them as rivals.

However, the gap is very quickly bridged in the finale episodes when Divorce Quartet end up as the final yellows. And Scott is finally able to acknowledge that Martyn isn’t so bad. Finally, Scott shares the same mind Martyn always held for him.

And then Martyn betrays him.

Martyn tries to kill him for the sake of his and Cleo winning. That has always been Martyn’s goal and Scott now stands as an obstacle. Scott is quick to message Pearl of how “they betrayed me”. As if Cleo had done anything. Rather, Martyn had betrayed Scott and now he’s hurting because of it. Because he thought he could finally trust Martyn.

And then Pearl kills Cleo. And like a Soulmate domino, Scott gives Martyn an indirect death.

I personally love this narrative. Two flawed people, trying over and over to care about each other, but they can never turn the other cheek long enough for one of them not to stab the other in the back.

In this way, anything less than Limited Life would be terrible.

Scott is so quick to bind them together as a duo. He doesn’t want to be alone again, hurt by someone who doesn’t give him the time of day. It makes him picking Martyn strange, but also makes perfect sense. Martyn always tried friendship with him and had undying loyalty.

It’s what re-contextualizes the crawling back scene. Scott doesn’t actually hate Martyn, he just wants that show of loyalty. He wants Martyn to make the effort to bridge that gap like he did for Cleo. He wants Martyn to stay by his side, like the man stuck to Ren’s. He wants the loyalty he can only get from a display of Martyn’s devotion.

And for the rest of the season, Martyn is loyal and protective. And that is enough for Scott to try. Their downfall, their hatred for each other has always stemmed from a lack of trust and betrayal. But Scott and Martyn have unconditional faith in each other now and it leads to them being the duo that absolutely dominates the season.

Scott even places Martyn above Jimmy. He completely believes Martyn will keep him safe, tells him everything, shares every faucet of his season with the man. And Martyn does the same, to a point.

Martyn hides everything bad he does for Scott. Every death in an attempt to kill someone who hurt his friend. Every betrayal he makes against other factions to ensure it’s him and Scott at the end. All the guilt he feels for every time he does something that brings Scott harm. Especially killing him for the time.

And in the end, Martyn and Scott are in final three. And Martyn betrays Scott, because the two can never get too comfortable. The two are fated rivals and someone has to kill the other.

But Scott isn’t mad. Because Martyn has proven his loyalty. He is his mean gill, and Scott couldn’t have it any other way.

[salalalas]

I like them just a normal amount… Just a normal amount…

[simplenefelibata]

i think a lot of you undermine sam and cas' friendship.

like, we know sam isn't dean. cas isn't pathetically in love with him and sam didn't change him and he isn't the reason cas cared about the whole world. but that doesn't mean he's unimportant.

at the beginning of the series cas sees sam as the abomination. nothing but lucifer's vessel. throughout the series, sam becomes an extension of dean. cas takes care of him because he's dean's little brother and doesn't really give a much of a thought how his actions could affect him.

on the other hand, i think sam didn't have a lot of friends growing up and it shows lol. he sees cas as an instrument, and then also as an extension of dean. he's important to dean so he's kinda important to him, but he doesn't really Get why dean worries sm about cas — isn't he an angel??? sam constantly says cas is gonna be okay because he "knows what he's doing", or he simply says "it's cas... " it feels like sam is painfully aware how powerful and different he is.

the thing is, slowly but surely, they start hanging out more. they collab for dean's benefit, and then the concern they feel for the other's safety starts being more genuine instead of just "Not letting anything happen because Dean wouldn't survive it". they find out they like each other, and they can work really well together investigating and hunting (i'd argue that even better than cas and dean). this comes to a point where cas teases sam with dean (ex: telling him about the amnesia in the 50's case bc he knows it's embarrassing) and sam texting cas just because.

season 15 is what seals it for me. when cas breaks up with dean (lol), sam is the one reaching out. texting. calling. cas doesn't pick up, but sam keeps doing it. again. and again. that wouldn't have happened in season 7, or season 9, and really not much reason to do it now. but still.

plus, when people talk about cas and his love for the winchesters, they include Both of them. yes, they make the distinction between dean and cas' relationship, but they do include sam. even cas said at one point "you know me, always happy to bleed for the winchesters".

so, what i'm trying to say is: cas and sam's friendship matters!!! they should've had more time screen!!! i bet they would have so many interesting conversations because they're friends!!!

if you say that in a post-canon world you don't think sam would try to get cas to talk about his feelings, or that cas wouldn't confide sam his fears and regrets and worries BEEP you're wrong.

[un-pearable]

as true as the jokes about “everyone wants to rewrite ninjago” are i feel like smthn people forget when complaining about the inconsistencies of the show is that…. it wasn’t planned? it’s not like most other animated shows lately - it didn’t start with a deeply fleshed out world or a meticulously designed pitch bible with grandiose plans for a long-term story or character arcs. the ninja don’t originally get their powers from heredity because they weren’t hereditary powers yet. the magic system doesn’t make sense bc they literally just made it up as they went! they go back and forth on stuff like whether non-elementals can learn spinjitzu bc it’s a collaborative piece of media made by people with vastly different levels of control over the story, the animation, the sets, etc. that varied over the course of the series. it’s totally understandable and exciting to see so many people reworking the early stuff with the lore and logic later seasons introduced but i personally feel that… if you’re doing that. you need to understand why the show is like that instead of writing it off as being bad and shitty. it was working with what it had. it’s only what it is now because of that awkward troubleshooting phase, not in spite of it

[skitskatdacat63]

"The Boy With The Thorn in His Side"(x) - The Smiths × 2023 Strollonso moments + pundits' reactions

[pandoa]

rook hunt is ripped with muscles and here's why

because some of you guys don't give him enough credit and my brain is rotting; let me live

i'll get straight to the point, i've tried out archery to see what it's like in the past—learned the basics and such—and for those who have never held a bow in their life, let me tell you it gets extremely tiring after shooting for more than an hour or so. so imagine how strong you must be to be shooting bows and arrows since you were a child. that is Rook Hunt, who was practically born from the womb with an archery set in his hand /j

bows have different draw weights that affect the speed, force, and distance that is needed to shoot an arrow. typically, children use bows with a 10-pound draw weight, as young adults and adults use bows with 20 pounds or more. to put this into some sort of perspective, i remember my stamina with the 20-pound bow lasted me about half an hour until my arms began to weaken and shake with how out-of-shape i am but anyways 💀

i've heard that the typical draw weight for hunting is about 40 pounds. and assuming with how long Rook has been an archer, i can imagine that he is physically well-fit enough to exceed the 20-pound draw weight and move onto more efficient bows for hunting like the 40-pound.

think about how developed your muscles must be if you began shooting with 10-pound bows since you were just a kid, moving onto 20 pounds as you get older, and eventually using the 40-pound draw weight as you gain more strength and hunting skills. knowing with how much Rook uses his bows and arrows, it's safe to assume that he most likely hones these skills by practicing archery quite often (i can see him going out to practice at least once a day; don't quote me on that though, this is just a thought i have considering that other hobbies also require daily practice to maintain a person's skill).

there are so many muscles involved in a human body's shoulders, back, chest, and arms that you must use when drawing a bow. exercises focusing on the muscles needed for archery are often done to strengthen an archer. this is where Rook's very toned figure comes in lol.

with the numerous muscles needed to carry out his hobby on a constant basis, Rook would need a strong set of biceps and shoulder muscles to keep up with the bow's general weight and stamina for however long he goes out hunting for. bro has built up muscles, man. built up muscles.

in game, though, i will admit his body does look on the more slim and slender side. i can see why some people in the fandom don't see him as a character with buff arms, but i would like to respectfully disagree. Rook Hunt has scrumptious arm and back muscles i'd shamelessly stare at as his magic hands do whatever wonderous things they do with his bow OH AND GUYS HIS LEGS I MEAN-

ahem. anyways.

i know many in the fandom tend to bully this observant hunter—with his questionable haircut and uh huntsman habits of his—however, these targets for harmless memes cannot overshadow the fact that Rook Hunt is ripped. from head to toe, this man is most likely relatively high among the list of twst characters that are incredibly strong (with Jack trumping them all) and is probably covered in toned muscles, which he maintains with his hunting.

this isn't even me simping anymore; it's just simple logic if we all go by what we know about the Pomefiore vice housewarden. i'll defend this man with my life—and that includes writing a useless essay on why Rook is more muscular and buff than we may think lmao

so in conclusion, Rook has beefy arms that the world is not prepared to talk about just yet. the end.

[corviiids]

THANKS @kimdokjafan you are so kind and generous. ok im cashing in the first of three blank checks to talk about faith trust and pixie dust (most recent chatfic) because the last two directors commentaries were too serious so let's do a silly one.

some p5r spoilers, and this is mostly about sumire, and it's long again. do i need to keep disclaiming that these are long? you should know me by now.

i had this written for a while before i started formatting it because i wasn't really sure if i should post it? i feel like silly chatfic is something people go to for predominantly lighthearted nonsense so i was like, maybe there's too much plot and dramatic misunderstanding and i should just keep this one for myself. but then i was like well nothing matters and maybe someone will have fun with it. it's kind of terrible how much fully or mostly completed fic there is my docs that just doesn't see the light of day lol. write for yourself etc but i like sharing! too bad it comes with the mortifying ordeal etc. anyway that was a tangent

potato counter is a neopets game. there's no deep lore i just like neopets. i guess in this universe ryuji doesn't play neopets? or maybe he's just never played potato counter specifically. i also have a different fic where ryuji DOES play neopets. it's about neopets and ryuji and goro talking on neopets.

i think this might literally be the first time ive written sumi in a fic because i haven't actually written that much fic for royal, like, now that im looking, literally almost none? and none that had a group dynamic. so it was kind of fun to find her voice for the first time in a silly groupchat like this. i was worried people would find her exclamation marks annoying but i personally thought it was endearing so i added it in there.

every time i do a gag where a character corrects their own typo i have to code more stupid little bubbles to make it happen but i think it's worth it. all the effort that goes into making tgis look as much like a real chat as possible

this obviously doesnt take place in the canon p5/r universe, but im imagining sort of a postcanon sumi personality where she's more comfortable being herself and isn't borrowing kasumi's brand of confidence, but she's visibly a really anxious person without that kasumi veneer. i also think in this universe sumire is a fairly recent addition to the friend group, and while everyone likes her a lot and she really likes them, i kind of wanted to emphasise that feeling of being in a friend group where everyone's established and you're sort of a plus-one? you don't really fit yet. part of that is her being new, part of it is her anxiety, part of it is just the kind of person sumi is where she's so polite and self-conscious she ends up taking herself out of things with her own good intentions. stuff like her interrupting the flow of an existing conversation by greeting everyone instead of jumping straight in because she doesn't feel comfortable inserting herself, which means everyone else stops to greet her even though that doesn't normally happen in a friend group, or making a point of thanking everyone for being invited to events while the others take it as a given.

idk i love that she feels a bit out of place with the phantom thieves in p5r. and part of that is a natural consequence of being a new addition in royal who can't be naturally integrated with an existing dynamic but i honestly feel like the writing team realised that and acknowledged it, and really leaned into it, and that made it work incredibly well for me. like, it's part of her character that she's sort of an outsider. it's not like p4g's incredibly clumsy integration of marie and subsequent attempt to shove her down everyone's throat as the canon love interest in p4ga (knife). sumi has that outsider vibe on purpose and it makes me really like her dynamic with the thieves as an individual

goro also feels slightly out of place in these chats, but his conversational style blends more naturally with the other thieves at this point and he even uses their codenames sometimes. i keep saying my chatfic series isn't a real Series because the lore keeps changing, but if we accept that they're all kind of following a General Continuity, assume this takes place some time after the last fic in which ren added goro to the groupchat and they made an effort to integrate him into their friend group. he's kind of there now and has settled into being the weird boyfriend. that's his role.

every time goro says something like "ren and i" assume it's the text equivalent of him talking to the group with his arm around ren's waist.

ok i got really fond of this silly running joke where sumi brings up the weather when she's feeling uncomfortable. she's so polite. i like this thread because setting it up meant i got to tie it off like this:

this just made me happy lol i liked writing this. i tried to use it to demonstrate that despite goro's abrasiveness he obviously knows sumire pretty well, he's attuned to her quirks and knows how to tell when she's having a bad time with her anxiety, so he uses her little weather habit to ground her.

i honestly dont think goro and sumire could be considered close in p5r and as much as i like the "royal trio" in canon they're not really... like... friends? with each other? they're both attached to ren, so it' more a V shape than anything else. but that said, i really LIKE goro and sumi's canon dynamic. he takes a really grouchy but politely attentive supervisory role to her during their few forays into the palace as a trio where he doesn't really know her well but clearly identifies her as a harmless little tryhard who needs some guidance and steps into that role grudgingly, and she immediately looks up to him despite being very wrong footed by his ruthlessness, which i find incredibly charming. i think given time they could be good friends, they just didn't get much chance to know each other very well in canon. so i tried to kinda do that here.

once goro stops being evil and joins the group they all kind of tiredly accept that his role is to occasionally push a cup off a bench while smirking and refuse to clean it up. emotionally, i mean.

wait i need to backtrack chronologically to talk about akeshu.

in this scene they're in the same room lol talking and snickering while typing. im trying to get at that vibe of the annoying couple who is flirting with each other, via you. you know? like ostensibly they're talking to you (sumire) but everything they say to you is part of their stupid game. sumi is incidental to goro and ren teasing each other about flirting with someone else, goro is reporting everything ren says because his boyfriend is so eye-rollingly foolish in a cute way. they're very tickled by how amusing and charming they are. gross. disgusting. sumire im so sorry for putting you through this

anyway here are too many of my favourite jokes from the fic

[idlesuperstar]

The My-Eyeballs-Are-So-Happy Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Bluray Watch

Episode 5: Tinker Tailor

- You don't break exactly, you just run out of stories to tell.

[aphverse-confessions]

Nicole and Dante don’t have confirmed ages, however they do have implied ages that leave the impression of an age gap. Nicole and Garroth were fiancés multiple years ago (Zane gave a more specific number when he confronted Garroth aftwr Donna and Logan’s wedding, I just don’t remember what), and when he was met Dante was fresh out of the guard academy (which most assume to mean somewhere within the 18-22 age range) which means he is implied to be years younger than Garroth and Laurence since they have been guards for years.

So with all this information, it just leaves a handful of interpretations.

Nicole is Garroth’s age, being years older than Dante. This is what a lot of people assume, and lead some to having issues with MCD Dancole because of that gap

Garroth was engaged to Nicole when she was Much younger than him (which honestly given the fantasy medieval vibes MCD has, wouldn’t be a large leap in logic)

Or Dante was simply a lot older than most when he joined the guard academy (although this may contradict what he tells Aphmau about his home life and having to be raised by his aunt and uncle, but I don’t remember it enough to confidently say this Cant be true)

Most go with the first one, since it’s the most straight forward assumption abd Dante does give off big little brother vibes in the original season one guard trio. So yeah. There is no Confirmed ages, but y’all. Just think a little bit about what we know about the characters and where they are in life when we meet them and you can actually take a pretty decent guess at some sort of age range.

.

[ssnowflowers]

I think I want to talk about why Ranchers is so significant (to me, at least). In some part, it's because Ranchers are this idea of being needed.

The way Ranchers become a duo is through Double Life and I think it's important to add a little context. Throughout the life series, Jimmy and Tango are used, manipulated and dispensed of when they aren't useful.

In Third Life, Scott strings Jimmy along. He's a trophy husband, in a sense. Scott is the one who does the majority of the building. He makes a home for the two of them. Scott is the one who gets to control the trajectory of their relationship, their major alliances. It is very clear that the Crastle and the Desert are primarily Scott's endeavors. Scott needs Jimmy to not be alone.

It's also worth noting that a lot of players give Jimmy a lot of flak in this season. He's picked on for not being as good as a player and seen as a weak target. Even little peaceful comments. Martyn says that "My red could beat your red". While it is a silly and off-handed comment, it goes to show the attitude players have. Martyn is confident that Ren could kill Jimmy, that Jimmy couldn't protect Scott. Ren agrees with this obviously. Scott doesn't even say a word in Jimmy's defense. Even his husband doesn't see Jimmy as strong.

Jimmy doesn't really get a choice. In a way, no one gets a choice in Third Life. They're all strung along by other people and Jimmy is a good representation of this.

Tango also suffers from this problem. Tango is used as needed and discarded. It's an interesting detail that Tango makes his home in the swamp, away from the other players. It's not for a lack of trying. In the start, Tango is part of the village people. He has an alliance with the Crastle. But people just use him as a warm body to be disposed of.

The firing squad is the primary example of this. Bdubs and Cleo want to kill Etho, so they decide to make up some arbitrary infraction that Tango has broken, steal one of his lives just so they can get at Etho. Then Tango is sent off without so much as an apology.

Tango deals with this a lot throughout the season. He is brought in when he is needed for fighting, or to be used as a meat shield.

Last Life is really when this problem of "need" is exemplified.

Jimmy is part of the Southlands. To be honest, the Southlands is a mess and Jimmy is the one who deals with it the worst. Jimmy's main job is to dispense spyglasses. When they are needed, Jimmy is to give them. And the rest of the group doesn't even care. They don't even try to keep their spyglasses safe. They just toss them away.

There is only a few instances where Jimmy looks out for his own self interest. When he tries so desperately to get a life, after having spent the whole series without any handouts, the South immediately turn on him, try to kill him and then exile him. He is left alone and nearly rejected by his own alliance. The other time, which is the boogeyman, he is left on red and not respected by the other reds.

Grian literally tells him and Lizzie that the other reds are going to kill them. Because they're not as strong. And the sad part is that he is right in both cases. Jimmy tries to get a kill and is turned on, killed while he is barely trying to fight back. Because he's an easy target and not respected. He's not needed for the reds, for anyone. So he just dies.

Tango gets it far worse. BEST is perhaps the worst alliance to record in the life series and Tango suffers as the safety net. He starts off with a lot of lives, and is treated as a life dispenser.

He even makes comment on this multiple times, but every just treats it like he is joking. Because his feelings don't matter. Literally, he gives a life to Scar because "Etho would protect him too". But that isn't proven at any point in the series. It's just assumed that he should do it.

When Bdubs is killed by Mumbo, he gives a life to him because he has to. Because otherwise BEST would kick him out. Effectively, Bdubs get a second life when he betrays and kills Tango. The anger is clearly communicated, with his screen literally glowing bright red. But the kill is brushed off, no one punishes Bdubs in anyway for point blank betraying the alliance.

And BEST expects him to forgive Bdubs. That's not even a joke, they literally force him to apologize to Bdubs so that Tango can stick with his alliance. He is only needed for his lives, to die for the cause of BEST. He is the one who takes TNT in Martyn's boogey kill.

So the common element is that Jimmy and Tango are given purpose by others, as they are needed. And everyone just accepts this.

This is what makes Ranchers in Double Life so important. Because they are Soulbound at the time they most need someone to lean on. But it's not as insidious. This time it's a mutual trust for one another.

They don't blame each other for deaths. When they build, they build together. All of their fights are taken with the both of them there and it is never anyone's fault. The only thing they need is each other to support them. And for once, they finally get that need fulfilled. They aren't just used and discarded.

It also makes the other instances of Ranchers so perfect. During the crossover between Empires and Hermitcraft, they come as they need each other. Jimmy needing someone who sees him as more than just a toy, and Tango needing real connection after spending so long in Decked out.

And they both get that! Again, they mutually need each other and provide that in a trusting and loving way. Even as everyone else judges them, tries to separate them.

The Ranchers are there when they are needed, nothing less. And I think that's beautiful, especially when you consider that both have been treated only as tools.

[limonjarritos]

VINCE IS SO DOWN BAD FOR RODY OH MY GOD??? LITERALLY KILLS HIS EX GIRLFRIEND TO MAKE HIM HAPPY???? THEYVE KNOWN EACH OTHER LESS THAN A WEEK??????

LITERALLY LIKE- MY MAN FELL HARD AND INSANELY. LIKE WHO DOES THAT? I wouldn't have it any other way. Just the way that as soon as Rody came into his life he was like 'I need this man to be so whole-y mine.'

When I was playing the game my pet theory was that he fell for Rody's brand of love, for how he loved Manon (he did say that he spoke of Manon when they first met) and Rody's personality.

(read more because I am so annoying about this game vv)

Something something, how Rody loves so intensely to the detriment of himself (Manon told him to stop giving, to for once in his life realise that he needed to take care of him self and be stable. He can't just account for the other person's needs <- barely know her but I get why Rody was head over heels). How Rody's love is similar to his cooking, burning, burning himself, burning and oh so overwhelming. And I do think Vince wanted the feel of that burn for himself, wanted to feel the warmth and devotion of which he had been so devoid of. To understand what it was he was lacking. How love and cooking go hand in hand in the story, how Vince's dishes were devoid of love, how he can't taste. How Rody's love surely would be strong enough, would be the missing ingredient to allow him to finally taste something. (Also lack of taste going hand in hand with what looks like depression of some sort, or perhaps just apathy for life. How bland his own life may be. How such a love, such a person could perhaps bring some taste to his life.) Vince seems to have killed Manon as a form of trying to show Rody a similar type of love. Giving him something, giving him a meal made out of Rody's own love. A gift since he couldn't give his own brand of love in a way that matters, couldn't give it without showing his own brand of devotion. I do think he 100% had an underlying jealousy and hatred of Manon, how Rody was still stuck up on her. How she never once mentioned Rody when her and Vince dated (though outside of Vince's pov I'm pretty sure Manon was just doing the healthy normal thing by not mentioning an ex?? but Vince is soooo gone) which is obviously a sin (he doesn't seem to take kindly to people who are mean to Rody. Such as the article and Rody's old college classmate) and proof she wasn't deserving enough of Rody's love. But alas she was still a gift and show of love to Rody.

On the personality topic (thought I forgot about that did you?), Rody is such a brash and kind person. A perfect foil for Vincent's more stoic nature. Rody willing to try and befriend Vincent, running into the kitchen to talk to him. He showed a bit of said love to Vince by trying to befriend him and how could Vince not want more? (why wouldn't Vince try to reciprocate in his own way. Make him happy) I mean he seems pretty feared by his cooks, and the people at the party have mentioned that Vince is pretty ruthless, not at all a person many wish to get to know. But Rody is willing to, yet Vince wants his undivided attention...

Okay wow this has gone on way too long uhh I'm 100% open to further discussion especially if I forgot something! And I haven't really looked too much into the game past playing it, so any reveals the creator may have given I'm mostly unaware of and would love to be informed of more!

Anyways tiny Vincent attack!

[sadkachow]

how the fuck did my english class manage to take a semi-positive stance on generative ai

[autumn-may]

love thinking of sad traumatized edgy characters in normal situations but not in a ‘how do you think X event affected the way they handle everyday life’ kinda way but in a ‘what do you think 358/2 days rikus hair care routine is like’ kinda way

[seamayweed]

In Defense of Lady Kang/Queen Sindeok (1/3)

As promised, here's the first part of my defense of Queen Sindeok, explaining her historical political situation + clearing up some common fandom misconceptions about her, which I don't blame anyone for since they originate from the show itself. I must admit that I have a bit of a soft spot for her since history generally tends to be unkind to women - this extends to modern media and MCTNA is no exception:

(more under the cut)

Before we start, I thought I'd give a small refresher on the Yi family constellation - crucial for setting up the conflict and crown prince issue - with the aid of this extremely useful graphic by bodashiri (excluding the daughters for simplicity's sake):

(From here: x)

As you can see, Yi Seong-gye (King Taejo of Joseon) had two wives:

His first wife Lady Han (Queen Sinui) gave birth to six sons: 1. Yi Bang-woo (Prince Jinan), 2. Yi Bang-gwa (Prince Youngan), 3. Yi Bang-ui (Prince Yikan), 4. Yi Bang-gan (Prince Hoean), 5. Yi Bang-won (Prince Jeongan) and 6. Yi Bang-yeon (Prince Deokan).

His second wife Lady Kang (Queen Sindeok) gave birth to two sons: 7. Yi Bang-beon (Prince Muan) and 8. Yi Bang-seok (Prince Uian),

meaning that Seong-gye had eight sons overall.

With that out of the way, let's get started!!!

1. Queen Sindeok was NOT a concubine

(From here: x)

She is referred to as Yi Seong-gye/King Taejo's capital/Seoul wife in the show too:

However, every time Bang-won calls her a concubine and her children illegitimate there is never any pushback or correction by anyone, not even when he calls her younger son Bang-seok/Prince Uian a ‘seoja’ (illegitimate child born to a commoner concubine or royal concubine) in front of Seon-ho:

You'd think Seon-ho would defend Bang-seok by correcting Bang-won... but nope. Nada.

Not even Queen Sindeok (!!!) is allowed to defend herself and her children when they get accused of the same:

Like, what is this madness!!!

Anyone who doesn't know about Korean history would never even SUSPECT that this isn’t actually true, and that Queen Sindeok is in fact a legitimate second wife and queen. By giving no pushback to the (false) claims of illegitimacy, the show seems to implicitly support Bang-won’s narrative of her being a lying, conniving, greedy bitch who wants to push her child on the throne despite having no right to it whatsoever as a concubine and bastard respectively.

Queen Sindeok's tragedy, the one that MCTNA fails to portray, is not that she was a concubine who tried to rise above her station (because she was not); it's that, due to the transition from Goryeo to Joseon, she found herself caught between two conflicting sets of laws:

(From Tombstones without a Tomb by Hildi Kang)

A queen while alive, and unjustly demoted to a concubine in death by Bang-won/King Taejong who used these legal changes and the new Confucian ruling to his advantage, her status was a matter of contention for scholars and kings alike for almost 300 years, until finally, in 1669, the scholar Song Si-yeol managed to amass enough people and put enough pressure on King Hyeonjong to make him give in to their demands and restore Queen Sindeok to her rightful status and honor as queen.

+ Bonus:

(From Tombstones without a Tomb by Hildi Kang)

Turns out that according to the new Confucian ruling, Bang-won himself should have been considered illegitimate too!! Surprise!!!

[winter-spark]

Do you guys ever think about the amount of pressure and how draining it must be to have been Orange growing up?

No no like seriously think about it, think about it.

When everyone found out that Citron would be next in line for the throne, Orange was dragged into the spotlight with him. It had to have been from the jump that people who didn't want Citron, the son of a commoner, as King latched onto Orange.

"Orange would be a better fit." "Orange should be king." "Why the son of a commoner when the next son isn't one?"

Like Orange probably heard stuff like that all throughout his life, that's a lot. To immediately be put in a box as a better fit for ruler, and you know it was a lot of pressure because he then dedicated his life to proving that point. He had to be better than his hard-working, calculative, already training/set-to-be-the-King older brother, when from the get-go people preferred him.

Sure Citron worked to win over the public's opinion but don't you think that hurt more? So many thought you'd be a better fit and now they're saying your brother is a good fit, that they're happy and satisfied with that? What? Was your hard work not good enough? Were you somehow worse than him? Did you dissatisfy the people?

Orange grew up feeling in constant comparison to Citron. Feeling in the eye of the people. Knowing that if anything happened to lead to Citron not being King, he was next up. And even with the number of people who liked Citron, there were still people who thought Orange should be King instead, including extremists, one of which worked for Orange directly for who knows how long. He couldn't relax, he couldn't quit, he didn't have the room to.

They tell us that Citron couldn't get along with his brothers because the competition for the crown but we don't get to see it from Orange and Navel's perspective much. We know they were curious enough about Citron that they'd copy some things he did, such as reading one of his favorite books. But let's not forget they had a negative takeaway from that book, they didn't get it. Their world, though similar to Citron's, has colored their lenses darker than his, to where they couldn't see the positive over the parts that didn't make sense to them, over the negative. Also, they see Citron as lucky, that he was born under a lucky star. While Citron was the one to say they then must've been born under unlucky stars, they already were somewhat thinking that to point out how lucky Citron is. After all, they had to have been comparing his luck to something to conclude he was lucky.

Being Orange was being bitter and cold and working hard to accomplish a goal. A goal many thought you were suited for, to the point that you believed it yourself, that you had to prove it to your father-- to everyone, that you had to be ready if it ever came to pass. And that's what he did.

He worked hard, and plotted, and schemed, and grew so desperate. And it wasn't even because he hated Citron. Because he doesn't hate Citron. Orange resents Citron, he thinks it should've been him instead, he thinks he needs to prove himself better than Citron, he thinks Citron is in his way. But he doesn't hate him. If he hated him he wouldn't read his favorite book to try and get that bit of understanding. If he hated him he wouldn't care if Citron died, so long as he got the throne. But he did read that book, and he did care that Citron lived, making it clear that he thought just kidnapping him was suffice. So yea, Orange didn't do all of that out of hatred for Citron, but moreso out of (self)obligation, expectation and determination.

It was hard in his earliest years for him not to desire the crown, the comments against Citron likely initially felt somewhat as a compliment. So of course, it became something more something he just had to make tangible. People believed he could, he believed he could, he just had to get there. He'd been convinced from a young age that this was what he wanted. And maybe he really did. But it wasn't easy and all his hard work never seemed to come to fruition.

He worked hard and people grew to like Citron as next in line. He studies to be prince, was days away from his coronation, and Citron shows up for the crown. Orange kidnaps his brother, (says no on the killing of him) to try a last ditch effort of getting the crown because if Citron was coronated he wouldn't get any other chances. But the one person who was supposed to be on his side and listen to him directly, didn't and everything went up in flames, which he didn't want, and he's been stripped of the chances to become king(because he did set up basically an attempted hit on his brother). And his reputation was completely tarnished, being blamed for things he didn't do, such as breaking the translation device.

Of course, Orange's actions are his own and of course he has to make up for the harm he's caused and of course people's view of him was gonna change. But gosh it's so exhausting being Orange, working your whole life for the affection, respect and approval of the people, of your father, and for it all to turn to dust. All that hard work down the drain.

You think he ever wished he was Tangerine? Blissfully out of the race for Crown, able to have time without people looking closely at your actions in comparison to Citron's, able to breathe?