#I know my take on him is so far removed from the source material

[teddybearty]

Spicy Spider ❤️

[lazywitchling]

[This is a fictionalized account of something that was communicated between myself and J, my familiar spirit. For storytelling / convenience / communication's sake, I will write it out as a conversation with words as if he were a person standing next to me, but the reality of it was less tangible and more... woo-woo. While dialog is fictional, the message that was communicated is accurate.]

--

I had my recently purchased copper pendulum in the pocket of my work jacket, and was fiddling with it in stolen moments in between stocking the walk-in cooler. I wasn't divining with it, just playing with it like a fidget toy. I had a theory about the conductivity of copper being good for communication with spirits, and judging by how apparent J was making himself, the theory was pretty sound.

"Some materials are easier for me to touch than others," he said. "Metal, stones, sticks, feathers, seeds..."

"Natural materials," I summarized.

"Sort of, but not always." It didn't exactly explain much, and my confusion was evident. So J continued with an explanation. "Show me what's in your pockets."

I pulled out two of my pocket trinkets, knowing which ones he meant. In one pocket, a small potato that had fallen onto the deli floor. A good thing to have on me to absorb unwanted 'bad vibes', of which there were many in retail. In the other pocket, a plastic d20. Not a nice one, just the generic blue one from the starter kit, so that I wouldn't be sad if it fell out of my pocket.

J 'pinged' the potato first. A nice spiritual reverberation, a sharp crack like a heeled shoe hitting a marble floor. Then he pinged the d20. A dull thud, more like a boot in mud.

"So... natural materials," I repeated.

Head shake. He indicated a wooden crate on the shelf I was stocking, then gave me an image of one of the plastic action figures on my bookshelf at home. "The action figure is easier to touch than the crate."

He'd lost me now. I was trying to figure out what the copper pendulum had to do with an action figure.

"It isn't necessarily the materials," he explained. "Natural material is one factor, yes. But narrative is also a material."

"So... my Caduceus Clay figure isn't magically resonant because he's made of plastic, but is beause he's also made of story?"

Somewhere in woo-woo land, I got the sensation of the little bell and woosh sound of a character level up in an RPG, and approval from J. The idea started clicking into place less like a slow conversation now and more like a file upload.

I had a plastic Yoda figurine that I found in my basement. He had long ago lost his robe and walking stick. The painted details on him had started to fade a long time ago. But I decided he was my Lucky Yoda, and I carried him in my pocket for every theatrical production I was part of all throughout college. When one of my cast mates was nervous about their role, I would pass Lucky Yoda off to them. 'Here, take Lucky Yoda. He'll help.' Soon enough, people would ask for him for comfort, or start asking about him during tech week to make sure I was going to remember to bring him. On days when I forgot him, the production was worse, even when I didn't mention to anyone that I hadn't brought him.

Was Lucky Yoda more or less powerful than a four leaf clover would have been? Common advice I had seen from other witchy sources said that the closer an item is to its natural state, the more powerful it will be. A tree has more power than a log which has more power than lumber which has more power than a picnic table. By this logic, Lucky Yoda should have been far removed from any sort of magic. But there was no denying that he had an effect on myself and my cast mates. (Whether or not this effect was magical or psychological is not something I'm here to debate. Believe me or don't. I'm not your priest.) A clover would have had more 'nature' magic to it, sure. But Yoda had story, and that story gave him power. J might not have been able to 'ping' Lucky Yoda as well as a clover just by nature of its materials, but the narrative of him was something that J could ping.

The ethereal concept of 'story' seemed to have a more concrete physical substance in the world of spirits. And I am reminded of the folklore that angels or fairies cannot be creative, and that the ability to create is uniquely human, a little spark of the divine in us. And in the world of spirits where everything is intangible, why wouldn't the intangible nature of a story be just as concrete as everything else in their world?

"Now you're getting it."

I found myself standing stock-still in the cooler at work, staring blankly at a half-unloaded cardboard box of packaged soup while the vaguely blob-like form of a spirit bounced happily at his student's understanding.

I shook my head off and got back to unloading. "So... story: good conductor. Copper: good conductor. Plastic: bad conductor."

"Plastic without care and creativity, yes." J gave me the image of a flimsy, shitty, plain dollar store pencil box. One of those ones where the plastic didn't form correctly, so there's little bits of sharp plastic that you can break off of the edges. "If there's anything you don't want me to touch, you can put it in one of these. But don't put stickers on it, otherwise it starts to get easier."

"I think I get it. Thanks! Here, would you like some soup?" I place a plain plastic container of soup up on the shelf.

"Ha ha."

[lurkingshan]

Unknown Episode 11

Well, let me get this out of the way upfront. This episode brought us to the big moment we've all been waiting for, the final turn in Yuan and Qian's relationship--and unfortunately, it didn't quite land.

I've been sitting with this episode, contemplating my disappointment with the first sequence, and I think it comes down to this show that has been so assured and confident through most of its run faltering at the crucial moment and seeming to lose faith in its own storytelling to the point that it used editing tricks to compensate. The choice to chop up and sequence this narrative lynchpin of a scene out of order is baffling, and it's a choice that significantly stepped on the most important emotional climax of the story. I was confused to go from the conversation outside to a sudden kiss, then disappointed when we cut back to a very short exchange between Qian and Yuan that was supposed to provide the basis for this turn with only some thin dialogue that didn't connect the beats of the scene, and then into an intense sexual encounter (that was constantly interrupted by repetitive flashbacks) that should have felt like a triumphant and revelatory moment but didn't because of the way we got there.

I know I'm not the only one feeling that way, since folks have been creating and distributing reedited versions of the scene, and Youku actually uploaded a new version free on YouTube with all the flashbacks removed (a clear move toward fan appeasement after the show received a lot of negative feedback on the scene). The editing and the flashbacks were annoying, but honestly the fundamental problem was the scene they wrote did not sufficiently sell the change for Qian--he goes from saying he is still not certain what he wants to being ready to be dicked down in a couple minutes' time, with nothing in the exchange providing any new information or impetus for the shift. The performers did great work but unfortunately the writing and directing and editing decisions around this sequence were just bad; it's frustrating for this to happen with arguably the most important scene of the romance.

A note about the novel: the way this final turn happened there was quite different and, candidly, better in just about every way, from the impetus for the change to the beats of the revelation to the progression of physical intimacy on a pace that felt much more attuned to the emotional complexities at play. I do not know why the show did...this when they had better source material content to work with, but here we are. I absolutely recommend that anyone who loves this show read it!

So, with that disappointment expressed, on to the rest of the episode, in which Yuan and Qian settled into their couple era. I was deeply amused by Qian taking to their sex life like a moth to a flame to the point of daydreaming in meetings, but I do wish the episode had focused more on the natural tension and role confusion that should have resulted from this huge shift in their relationship. They touched on that a bit in the scene where Yuan asked Qian if his hug was from his brother or his boyfriend, but they didn't delve into those complexities in the way I hoped they would. I enjoyed their date at the local restaurant (and loved their friendly neighborhood gangster helping to set the mood) and how much it felt like they were surrounded by their history as they moved through all of these familiar locations where they've had important moments. I didn't much care for the insertion of the health scare plot or the time spent on Le and the doc, though I'm always happy for more Sam Lin even if it comes in the form of a weird late stage and wholly unnecessary ship.

My favorite scene between Yuan and Qian in this episode was far and away the discussion on the stairs with Qian reflecting on his fears of becoming more like his mother and Yuan biting him to snap him out of his fatalistic attitude (this felt like such a classic Priest tribute, she always has biting in her romances). It was a helpful re-centering of what they do for each other and why Yuan is an important presence in Qian's life. I didn't think we needed the health scare for Qian, but I did love Qian choosing to go to this place where he found Yuan to contemplate his life and what matters, with Yuan in turn reflecting that even though he's seen a lot more of the world now, he still prefers to come home to this street. I found that exchange so moving and I think it was important for Qian to hear that.

And that scene led to my other favorite thing in this episode, which was everything to do with Lili and her bond with her brothers. I teared up to see her standing against the wall where Qian has measured their growth talking about the sneaky ways she would try to care for Qian when they were younger, with San Pang listening attentively and gazing at her adoringly. It was such a small moment, but a really lovely window into their relationship dynamic and the shared history they also have together. And when Yuan and Qian came in hand in hand and she just ran to them and offered up her love and acceptance, I felt so much warmth for this family and everything they've survived together.

[jasmine-tea-latte]

JTL's long but not as long as it could've been review of Netflix's ATLA

So.

I’ve finished watching the Netflix adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender and I have a lot of thoughts. Because despite some of the more questionable changes, I overall enjoyed this as an adaptation.

I wish I could say that I was surprised by the criticisms I'm seen so far, but unfortunately, I’m not. As much as I adore the OG series for being one of the greatest animated shows (or television shows, period), it’s been placed on a pedestal over the years and any adaptation of it will always be held to an impossibly high standard. And for better or for worse, a lot of fans have their nostalgia glasses on when it comes to the show, so any deviation from the source material is going to receive some form of backlash. I say this as someone who clearly still loves the show 19 years later, otherwise I wouldn't be here writing about it, ya know?

Anyways, if I had to give it a grade compared to the OG series, I’d give it a B- or a C+. If I’m grading it as its own thing, I’d bump that up to a B+ or A-. There are some elements (pun not intended) that definitely should have been kept in, and some changes that I thought were done well.

TL;DR – I had fun watching it even during the parts that made me cry, and the parts that made me say “… well that was a decision.” I’d love to see the last two books be adapted as well, if for no other reason than to meet Toph Mothereffing Bei Fong and see all of Team Avatar together.

(Also because I’d LOVE to see The Ember Island Players, especially if they managed to work in a few fun cameos. Can't you picture Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Play!Toph and thee Dante Basco as Play!Zuko, hamming it up for all it’s worth? Shut up and take my money!)

(And of course, the Last Agni Kai for obvious reasons)

So I’d recommend at least checking it out if you’re interested. I’d also like to recommend that if you do, watch it from a pragmatic standpoint that it’s a condensed adaptation, not a shot-for-shot remake.

Some things that I liked, and some that I didn’t are below the cut:  

(SPOILERS, obvs)

Aang – I really liked this version of him, and though his actor’s still young, I thought he embodied the upbeat, playful side well. I also liked that they removed his one-sided crush on Katara, and – don’t shoot me for this – if they went with Kat@ang later based on how they did their characters in this first season, I wouldn’t be entirely opposed if it’s built on actual friendship and not an unrequited crush. (Still Team Zutara for life, but I don’t think that I’d *hate* it if the show went in this direction.)

Katara – I thought her actress did great when it came to portraying the nurturing, sensitive side. What I didn’t like was them removing nearly all of her feminine rage. Let her be angry! Let her lose her temper and be hot-headed! This post sums it up nicely. That being said, I do think she did well enough with the direction she was given. Here’s hoping we’ll see our girl eff some stuff up if we get Seasons 2 and 3.

Sokka – Fantastic and sarcastic. I really liked his actor’s interpretation of him, and it definitely felt more in line with the character we all fell in love with during the OG show.

Zuko – out of the main cast, I think his performance was the best. He had to step into a major role, taking over from a beloved performance that is still hailed as one of the greatest redemption arcs in modern media with a lot of expectations riding on his shoulders, and I think that his actor knocked it out of the park. It’s different from Dante Basco’s interpretation, obviously. But as I watched each episode, I kept thinking, “there’s our grumpy fire boy.” The scene where he’s throwing the temper tantrum over losing his journal, while Iroh’s standing back and watching? I thought to myself, “this boy is the worst, he’s perfect.” Plus the flashbacks to his life before scarring were done well, and even though I knew what was coming re: the Agni Kai against his father and subsequent banishment, I still got emotional.

Also, regarding the Agni Kai – on one hand, I feel like his absolute refusal to fight back was such an integral part of that scene and understanding who he is as a character. That being said, I didn’t *hate* that in this version he was pushed into defending himself, albeit by holding back. That one shot where he hesitates to attack Ozai, only for his father to use that same move against him moments later… oof.

My ONLY complaint with this version of Zuko is that he didn't say "honor" once.

Other thoughts I had:

🟣 I really liked that we got to see more of the Air Nomads and life at the Southern Air Temple prior to Sozin’s attack. I also liked the explanation the show gave of having all the Air Nomads gathered together for a festival celebrating the comet, which makes more sense if they’re all (allegedly) under one roof.

Additionally, witnessing the genocide itself… I was crying. Especially during the final showdown between Gyatso and Sozin, and the realization that we were witnessing Roku’s (former) best friend slaughter one of his other closest friends.

But why wouldn't they send the children out on the flying bison to escape instead of having them all cornered?!

🟣 I really enjoyed getting to see interactions between Ozai and Iroh, which was one of the biggest missed opportunities in the OG show.

🟣 MY GIRL JUNE. That is all.

The part where she flirts with Iroh was also a nice flip on what happened in the OG show, with his covert pervert crush and all. Plus Zuko’s face when she calls his “dad” cute? Peak Zuzu. Also, poor Iroh hahaha.

🟣 Suki! I really liked the Kyoshi Island episode, plus her awkward flirting with Sokka by kicking his ass.

🟣 I really wish the whole subplot of Kya’s necklace hadn’t been cut, tbh. The flashbacks involving her were good, and as devastating as it was actually seeing her death, it does hammer home the point what a horrifying experience that was (side-eyeing you, everyone making the jokes about Katara always bringing up her dead mother.)

🟣 THE SCARF SCENE. Nice try, Netflix, but I know better than to get my hopes up again from 5 seconds of slow-mo. Did I still screech when it happened, though? Ofc I did!

🟣 The twist with the 41st Division was bittersweet and I may have (okay, definitely) cried.

🟣 Combining Jet’s subplots with the Mechanist’s and putting them in Omashu wasn’t too bad. I do wish the message of “not everyone in the FN is evil” from Jet’s episode had made it into this version, tbh.

🟣 Overall, I liked Jet + the Freedom Fighters. Also, props to his actor for capturing the pretty boy / f*ckboi attitude well.

🟣 Loved Chong and the hippies, of course (SECRET, SECRET, SECRET TUNNEL, YEAH!) and I don’t mind that they were included this early.

🟣 I loved the change to the Cave of Two Lovers and having Oma and Shu be lesbians.

🟣 I feel like if the show’s renewed for a second season and we come back to Omashu, there’s a chance they could revisit the COTL with Katara and Aang this time around.

🟣 The random lady smacking Zuzu with a broom – “how dare you hit that child?!” – was hilarious, and Dallas Liu’s facial expressions of “wtf” and “fml” were a thing of beauty (starts at 1:40 in the video below)

🟣 CABBAGE MAN! I just love that they got the original voice actor, hamming it up and screaming at the sky.

🟣 I LOVED the Blue Spirit episode, and all of the flashbacks, plus the voiceover about masks and seeing past!Zuko contrasted to present!Zuko, as presented in this gifset? RIP my heart.

🟣 The flashback to Lu Ten’s funeral and showing Zuko being the only person to join his uncle, sharing a sweet memory of his cousin while Leaves from the Vine plays? Beautiful. Ditto to the flashbacks of Iroh standing up for his nephew prior to the Agni Kai and the scenes of them getting ready to set sail to search for the Avatar. “I don’t need a babysitter.” “How about a friend?” how about excuse you I did not ask for these emotions how dare you.

🟣 I actually liked the inclusion of Ozai and Azula + Mai and Ty Lee. I also loved the opening of Ep. 3, showing how she was able to infiltrate the team of rebels. RIP to Kevin Tran (in advanced placement), though.

🟣 I loved that Katara rallied the women waterbenders and they were able to help during the Siege of the North. I also liked her reaction when she's talking with Yugoda in the healing huts and realizes why she's been sent there. It gave us a glimpse of the fiestier / headstrong Katara we all know and love, and if the show gets renewed I hope we'll get to see more.

🟣 I really enjoyed them giving Aang and Zuko a few minutes to talk / form a connection after he was unmasked as the Blue Spirit. That was nicely done.

and finally...

Nothing else to add, just chef's kiss.

(gif source)

Anyways! I might make a more extensive list of my personal pros and cons, but for now, I’d still recommend giving it a shot.

[galesdevoteewife]

i mean, maybe the mystra hate is disproportional, but from tav's pov, she did ask tav's wizard to kill himself? to take himself away from tav and remove any future they could possibly have together? to discard their connection? can one stay objective about the non-humanness of gods, when the gods are asking for your soul, your home, your love? gale, experienced with mystra as he is, maybe could, but a tav?

First, thanks for the ask!! How I love questions that let me dive into fantasy and imagine how things feel <3 I will answer in both my Tav's and player's POV. It’s going to be purely personal since every person/Tav has a different background and a huge variety of personalities.

Short answer: Mystra ASKED, but she didn’t TAKE. so my Tav was fine with her.

[Act3 spoiler and datamine ahead]

Still, I can certainly see how Mystra's martyrdom request could deeply hurt Gale. He was unsure if they might still be in a relationship, and ordering him to kill himself was definitely a shocking, heartbreaking, world-shaking breakup for him...Mystra was not only his lover, also his guidance: 'teacher and muse', the exact wording.

Astarion: So, do you have loves waiting for you once this is all over? Gale: You know what - that is not the easiest of questions for me to answer. In my opinion, Gale only really made moves in romance after he was certain that his relationship with Mystra was over, which happened after meeting Elminster.

| My Tav's POV A bit of background: My canon tav is a Lolth-sworn drow spider baby, named Zilvera. Where she comes from, humanoid sacrifice happens all the time and no good reason needed. I couldn't imagine she made too much fuss about Elminster saying some words. (even came with an orb stabilizing spell, that's nice) She would, however, be furious if Elminster was sent to snatch her wizard. 1) Zilvera had fallen for the wizard much earlier. She saw it as an opportunity: "They officially broke up, and he feels cold towards her now? Great, that’s my chance! I will treat you so much better, be with me instead!" 2) She didn't plan to let Mystra take the wizard from her, she wanted to find the wiggle room in Mystra’s words —"Use the bomb to destroy the heart of the Absolute." She wouldn't mind playing Mystra's riddle game, but she wanted to win. Overconfident and arrogant as it might seem, yet that's her.

"So, she didn't specifically ask for his life. Good." "Is it possible to trigger the orb another way?" "We need to find out what the heart of the Absolute is." "Would Raphael be able to do something about it?" "Can I resurrect him afterwards?"

3) She sees Mystra as 'useful.' My Tav is the worst cleric material. Deities are nothing but a source of power and favor to her. She was impressed by the stabilization spell, and she wondered what else Mystra's favor could provide for her purpose: the well-being of her wizard. As far as she's concerned, the orb needs to be cured; it’s making her crush unwell and sad. Later on in Act 3, she even grew to like Mystra because the goddess offered an actual cure. What's even better was that what Mystra wanted already aligned with her agenda: kill the Netherbrain. It's two birds with one stone. Mystra seems to be a high-ranked goddess who takes bargain and gives practical boons. Zilvera likes her for those. | My POV, as a player

I, who obviously lost my mind for the fictional wizard, wasn't annoyed much because Mystra wasn't being pressing. Meaning:

Mystra didn't send Elminster to kidnap/mind-control my wizard from camp and use him as if he was just a piece of tool. Elminster is very powerful and likely capable for such task.

There's no threat. She didn't sneak a hidden feature into her spell, and trigger the orb without Gale's consent when he was convinced to live in the colony. She didn't say anything implying that defying her orders would result in harsh punishment. Unless Gale is up for challenging her, that would be a different story.

There's no debuff, ability, or item lost when you defy her/simply being rude. Some conversation options were really rough! xD But she seems chill.

She didn't insult my wizard. In fact, she held him in high regard, trusted the future of magic/world in his hands and wisdom. Certainly much kinder than Gale's university assessment.

In my gameplay, the in-game actions Mystra has ever taken include (1) ghosting Gale for a year, (2) sending Elminster twice, (3) chatting, and (4) providing buffs if you burned the shadow weave in the cursed land. It's not even difficult to convince her at the shrine meeting. She was like, "You don't want to die, fine. But the Netherbrain and the crown must be removed. I will help you as long as those are taken care of." — and that was when the goddess wasn't exactly in a good mood.

"...the 'orb' sleeps is because I have allowed it to feed on the true Weave..." She is the weave, aka she is feeding the orb with HERSELF, and she didn't like that. It's the piece of information hinting she didn't just wave her hand and make all the problems go away — it cost her too.

Hope I am not missing anything. Please feel free to ask me anything if I do!

I tried to approach the subject with a more general term without sidetracking too much with my own Tav's setting, but I find that really hard since everyone reacts differently to things. I mean, I could totally see a Mystra cleric being shocked, or a warlock mocking how little differences there are between a god and a devil. All narrative is valid in my opinion. So here I am, indulging myself to unleash my overly invested Tav story xD Do keep in mind I am just chipping in my iteration though <3

[acewitch-writes]

Hello! I recently found your account, and I went on scrolling down and down...and now I hope you know how grateful I am. Thank u- Merci. About 90% of the content you share here has made me feel so much better. I realllyy hope wonderful things happen for you. I've been a fan of hp since 2001, but I'm not really a social media person so I haven't been active in the fandom. I had no idea what was happening here until recently..two months ago to be exact (other details are not important) and omg.. I ended up in a discussion with some I think, new fans. tbh I thought, "Great! I'm good at this, I read all the books more than once Let's talk :)"  and omg their very first question was "What do you think about Regulus?"

I was like, "Who?" *dying from secondhand embarrassment bc It turns out I'm not that good at this

but as the discussion continued, I became more and more baffled bc "Why was everyone talking about Barty, Evan, and Regulus? who is daddy Remu? and what do you mean people ship James Potter with R.A.B.? What?"

I swear for a moment I thought "Did the writer publish a new book? Did I miss something? " tbh, I respect everyone's opinion it's none of my business but I'm still shocked. The only thing that bothers me is everything that happened with this new Wolfsar

omg, for most fans around my age (or at least people I know), Sirius was the complete portrayal of a bad boy- a rebel, with boots, tattoos, a leather jacket, and a fucking motorcycle. so this new Sirius is like a stranger to me, and that's okay. Mein issue is kinda with this new Remus T T my beloved .

They (the fans I was talking with) told me Remus is "tall, so handsome, SO strong, and hot-headed person because,  yk he's a werewolf." I was like "hot headed? excuse me?" I tried to explain to them that Remus being a werewolf is a metaphor for illnesses like HIV, it's not some superpowery gift.  they didn't believe me, but then they literally looked me in the face and said, "Then why would Sirius like someone like him? He's poor, short, and ugly." I swear I wanted to cry right then and there.

What is this mindset that makes some people think that a person should be, Idk, hot and flawless to deserve to be loved? Yes I don't think Remus is tall and super hot and perfect and isn't it fine? and I am 100% sure he's so beautiful. not like Sirius ofc but he has this "warm, cozy, and soft" sort of beauty. and I don't think he was a coward (ok maybe he was a liitle) but I guess it's easier for us, humans, to take the worst or weakest moment of a character and amplify it until it defines them entirely. and omg I'm so sorry for my rant and my bad english. but once again thank you for your beautiful soul <3 thank you

Hi anon! I, too, am baffled by the recent obsession with Regulus in this fandom. I think Jegulus is fine as a crack ship, but it has become so mainstream that many fans have just gone ahead and canonized it to the point that you'll be vilified for not accepting it as canon. I underestimated how popular the "best friend's brother" trope was, apparently. I also think it appeals to many fans as a Marauders Era version of one of the most popular ships of all time, Drarry.

This new version of Wolfstar is my biggest complaint with today's fandom, too! I get that the Marauders have very limited canon information and therefore we have more creative freedom to flesh them out, but I really believe that it has gone way too far. Sirius and Remus in today's fandom don't bear any resemblance to the characters they're based on. Remus is just a generic alpha werewolf OC and Sirius is his generic himbo femboy love interest OC. They don't even share a physical description with their Canon counterparts, and their personalities and character traits are so far removed that I can't even fathom how we reached this point as a fandom. How can you claim to like these characters if you have to change everything the source material says about them?

You're English is great, by the way! I completely agree that Remus has a cozy-and-warm sort of beauty. He made a point to distance himself from the stigma surrounding Lycanthropy because it was the focal point of his shame and self-loathing. And I just adore Wolfstar's dynamic from this lens, with the intimidatingly beautiful, confident, headstrong Sirius Black, who could have his pick of anyone he wants, choosing this ordinary guy because he's cozy and soft and it's exactly what Sirius wants after surviving the harsh ideals and abuse of House Black.

[accio-victuuri]

it’s time for some yuguyao/the longest promise clowning… i feel like we will get a couple from this timeframe so i wanna be able to archive as much as i can. 🦢

consider this post as part 3. one & two linked.

• something from lrlg ( please come back to us soon ) and thought to be connected to how shiying reminds xz of lan wangji too. yibo was again speaking to someone so it may seem as random convo that time.

you are like a fairy

what do you mean acting in my true colors? ***

neither you nor him ( laughing )

well send it to me

it possibly points to xz telling wyb that he is acting in his ( wyb ) colors, white as in gusu lan. i’m just so fond of the speculation that zz sees wyb’s color as white. even removing the whole lwj connection — him seeing wyb as the color white, something so clean and innocent just gets me. most of us associate him with green, and rightfully so because that’s what wyb prefers. however it’s so gg to tie wyb with a color that represents purity, and i guess that’s how he sees wyb. a really good boy who’s clean and honest like the color white. 🥹🥹🥹

• another example of them not scheduling things at the same time. I don’t know how long this will hold out but so far they are doing it so well. Yuguyao aired 7.2 and for VIPs, it will end on 7.20. Then on 7.22 there will be a YH concert in Macau and on 7.28 premiere of One & Only. a jampacked July for sure but it’s so good how they don’t overlap!

• i don’t really wanna go into detail anymore about the echoes of CQL that we see in YGY. most likely because this was filmed in Hengdian as well. and Shiying really looks like he will fit right in to Gusu Lan. There are already 2 hot search tags for that comparison/parallel ( 7/3/2023 )

While I can’t fault people for noticing and i agree that it sets the scene for interesting edits in the future, I feel that this kind of topic is prone to being misunderstood and may be used by Antis. These are two different stories. Shiying is not WWX. The way GG acts as Shiying is different from WWX. I would hate for passerby to have the impression that GG can only act a certain way in costume dramas.

but shiying and lwj as friends is my headcanon now. no one can stop me.

• going by the shiying x lwj parallel, here they are in a 2019 interview where wyb says he hopes that ZZ will play a role that is contrasting to WWX. and well it came true, it’s Shiying.

( no but this is so funny, he was once wwx who was silenced. and now he plays a role that can use a silencing spell 😂😂😂 )

• not really a cpn but a fact. i always say this — they have the same values and that’s why they get a long. they also take their careers as actors seriously. they are not idols who decided it’s cool to be an actor and just go along with their traffic. nope. they wanna deliver the best. the parallel between btf and ygy scene wherein the bts scenes emphasized an incident where they both were asking to do one more take. they want to have the perfect shot and it doesn’t matter how tiring it is.

• and my fave, interpreting old candies in a new way. this post from way back of an umbrella have always been linked by the fandom to shiying ☂️

The use of 23 ( Ai Zhan ) the 3 “Go” and emoticons are also 3 ( Zhan Zhan ). The shooting time of YGY started from 20210329 so this day fits the timeline.

What’s more interesting is that the umbrella is in the bucket with water. Is it implying the bathing scene of Shiying? And it happened that WYB allegedly went to visit the set again at that time, because in the fake material room on 6.27, LRLG said very clearly, "Go back to Mr. Wang to pack things" and the conversation between the two also said "I'll be with you when it rains" Have a meal"! And "God also wants to eat" isn't it a clear reference to our great priest shi ying?

sources: one / two / three / four

END.

[cienie-isengardu]

I don't really agree with your takes on Kuai Liang. You hold him to a standard far higher than his circumstances allow him. You say he should have confronted the Lin Kuei but the moment he saw them, they immediately tried to kill him and Tomas without any chance. You assume Liu Kang helped him when an intro suggests Liu has left him on his own. You say he should have returned and taken over Lin Kuei, people who rejected him and never gave him a chance but take issue when he tries to get stronger to face them. You conveniently leave out the part Kuai wants others to not touch Bi-Han and Lin Kuei and that's why he's in Outworld to stop Bi-Han according to intros.

I think you're more than a little biased against MK1 Kuai. It's getting obvious.

That’s perfectly fine if you do not agree with my take on Kuai Liang. I’m not here to convince you or anyone to my ideas, simply explaining my reasoning since you asked 🙂 

“You say he should have confronted Lin Kuei but the moment he saw them, they immediately tried to kill him and Tomas without any chance.”

I think you mistake two separate events. I said he should confront Lin Kuei when he learned the truth about Bi-Han not aiding their father in need, right away when he defeated and captured his brother. Tomas thought he would do so, to take the title of Grandmaster and prevent further damage. But Kuai Liang outright rejected this idea, thinking Cyrax and Sektor would still stick to Bi-Han despite the grave accusation. In that scene Kuai Liang chose to cut his ties with Grandmaster, as was seen when he removed his emblemant of Lin Kuei, saying "You are my grandmaster no longer" . Which I guess could count as him leaving the clan. 

From story mode we know only that they took Bi-Han with themselves and a few chapters later, Tomas noted that Lin Kuei refused to aid Liu Kang. But as far as dialogue goes, neither Scorpion nor Smoke said they were attacked by Lin Kuei or in any other way persecuted and I don’t think there is any source claiming that for this specific point in time. Otherwise Kuai Liang and Tomas would either mention they needed to run away from their people to join Liu Kang for the battle or would not be there at all, if the clan wished them dead or hurt.

The attack you mentioned comes AFTER Titan Shang Tsung was defeated and again, comes from Scorpion’s ending and not story mode itself. Which is a second, separate event from the one I referred to in my previous post. In my opinion Kuai Liang should take control over the clan right away Bi-Han was compromised, because it was his duty as the second-in-line. And most likely he was trained for that possibility, as being Lin Kuei was a hazardous job and Grandmaster Sub-Zero was personally involved with doing Fire Lord’s bidding. So no, I don’t think this is holding Kuai Liang to a higher standard, as he is not a mere warrior forced to step in and solve the critical situation all by himself but a man raised as part of the ruling family and with a birthright to do so. Expecting Scorpion to do his duty hardly feels like demanding too much. But it is perfectly fine if anyone does not agree on this one with me. 

So yes, I say he should have confronted Lin Kuei and no, Tomas and Kuai Liang were not immediately attacked between chapters. Lin Kuei refused to aid Liu Kang and at this certain point in the story, it is all they did as far as source materials goes to my knowledge.

“You assume Liu Kang helped him when an intro suggests Liu has left him on his own. “

Yes, I assume so, as for me characters BIO and story mode are a more truthful source than intro dialogues that don’t give us the full context of the interaction, or characters’ endings that aren’t always 100% compatible with the next game (and I do acknowledge that my opinion about Scorpion's ending may change once the new story will be released). Sadly, I have no idea what intro dialogue you're referring to. It would be helpful if you could paraphrase it for me. I checked out MK Warehouse’s page but did not see anything fitting? Or did you actually mean Scorpion’s ending?

“You say he should have returned and taken over Lin Kuei, people who rejected him and never gave him a chance but take issue when he tries to get stronger to face them. 

Yes, as I said before he should do so right away when Bi-Han allied with Shang Tsung but was defeated in one on one match. Sure, the sources strongly imply for us that no Lin Kuei beside Tomas supported Kuai Liang which I admit is pretty surprising. I imagine there were still plenty of people who loyally served his father and to think all of them rejected Scorpion in Sub-Zero’s favor says a lot about the political mood within the clan. Me wishing for Kuai Liang to confront Lin Kuei right away after the failed mission is not saying he would succeed but he definitely could at least try. Instead all the story mode said on the matter is that he doesn’t think Lin Kuei will make him the next Grandmaster due to Cyrax and Sektor, which again raises a question why his socio-political status would be so low between his folks if BIO alone introduced Scorpion as a REVERED Lin Kuei Warrior.

(definition presented at Cambridge Dictionary)

If you meant “return and take over Lin Kuei” in regard to leaks, then again, I do stand by my previous statement. He should take an active part in bringing back Lin Kuei on the righteous path, reclaiming his home and position, if he truly was so dedicated to his duty and father’s teaching. Otherwise leaving Lin Kuei on their own terms may lead to another conflict and in result put Earthrealm at risk. I do not say doing so would be pleasant or easy for Kuai Liang, but what else could be a better way to honor his father and the tradition he revered so much than personally restoring father’s legacy? A legacy for which Scorpion rejected his own brother and future offered by Sub-Zero? Though again, feel free to disagree, as this is just my personal opinion. 

I take no issue with Kuai LIang getting stronger and preparing for the war. I would be quite disappointed if he didn’t do so, as he is warrior first and foremost. Last time I only pointed out that MK1 Kuai Liang has better means to face Lin Kuei than his previous incarnations even had. Which is why I rejected your statement Scorpion and Tomas had not enough time or resources to do anything. If we go with intro dialogues, it seems they used the given opportunity very well, as in the relatively short time Shirai Ruy rose in such power they felt ready to face Lin Kuei on their own terms. Or more precisely: hunt down Bi-Han.

Scorpion: Bi-Han's trail has led me to Sun Do. Li Mei: I'll abide no vigilante justice, Kuai Liang.

or

Raiden: How goes the hunt for Bi-Han? Smoke: I've never chased a cagier quarry.

You conveniently leave out the part Kuai wants others to not touch Bi-Han and Lin Kuei and that's why he's in Outworld to stop Bi-Han according to intros.

Conveniently leaving? Nah, the only reason I did not go into great details about all intro dialogues is simply the fact that those intros do not contradict in any way my statement. Both brothers are fully ready and willing to hurt each other to fulfill their goals and show little regret over this (with only Tomas actually preferring the reconciliation). Kuai Liang rejecting Kitana or Raiden’s help or Mileena's demands as he wishes to deal with Bi-Han by himself is not an example of Scorpion regretting the fratricidal struggle. Same with Bi-Han rejecting Havik’s offer

Havik: Aid me, and I'll destroy the Shirai Ryu. Sub-Zero: That is *my* privilege, Havik.

Funny though how you conveniently left that Bi-Han too rejected help from his allies in regard Kuai Liang at least once or that he actually is willing to make peace with Liu Kang (what most likely would stop the war between brothers)

Sub-Zero: You want peace? Let us be. Liu Kang: The Lin Kuei's sins aren't easily forgiven.

or that he is willing accept Tomas back if he submit 

Smoke: Are we to be enemies for life? Sub-Zero: Unless you submit, Tomas.

Which is not much, but frankly, at this moment it is more than Kuai Liang’s intros offer in regard to calming the clans war. Understandable, as Scorpion has right to be bitter and angry but even Liu Kang is concerned about his vengeance:

Liu Kang: You allow vengeance to consume you. Scorpion: I should not punish Bi-Han for his crimes?

But like I said, showing a bit of good will here and there or brothers seeing their conflict as personal matters that should be resolved between them does not contradict my statement that both Bi-Han and Kuai Liang are willing to face the other in fight and if needed, even hurt each other’s friends and family. So in all fairness, I’m not sure what you are accusing me here? 

I think you're more than a little biased against MK1 Kuai. It's getting obvious.

The thing I’m definitely biased towards is the NRS forcefully bringing back the Shirai Ryu vs Lin Kuei conflict that was solved in MKX almost decade ago. If you think this is a personal bias toward Kuai Liang then sure, why not 🙂

[ruckis--rookie]

there is a specific art piece of your’s that seems to have vanished off the internets: “Dark Lord Gerakobitz - Bad End AU”. and I know it disappeared recently because I have a cross-post from your DeviantArt from November 2023

https://www. tumblr.com/loveandmad/ 733130379991629824/dark-lord-gerakobitz-bad-end-au- by-ruckis-rookie (remove the spaces) that now goes to a 404 page

Yeahhh about that. A lot of old art of mine of Fawful and the other M&L lineup has up and vanished. Twould be on purpose.

Y'see, after some very personal events I tried distancing myself from the M&L fandom. The game series remains very sentimental to me, but paired with the personal reasons and the poor treatment Nintendo was giving their fans, I took a long (possibly few) year hiatus. One of several reasons for my hiatus was guilt that I had strayed so far from the source material that the cast of characters didn't seem like the og cast of characters, rather OCs made to fit the mold of them. So by the time I came back I had revamped all the designs I had for the M&L lineup were revamped to be featured as an antagonistic group for my nonfandom oc story called "Order of the Stars" that I'm working on.

The one inspired by my old Fawful design, now named "Geragera", is VERY special to me. He was the one I projected onto the most in the past and he was the one I worked the hardest to distance from the source material without changing him so much that what I had built was no longer there. He's basically a second Fursona to me now. Words can't describe what he means to me.

But despite the many reminders that I gave to old fans that I would be moving on and if I were to ever return to M&L I'd be referencing the source material closer, people still kept missing the memo. Even years later some get confused and it really made me realize how much of an influence I had on shaping the fanon Fawful that's remembered today. It was... incredibly disheartening and upsetting given how hard I worked to make Gera his own character. And furthermore it didn't make sense to me HOW comparisons were still being drawn. I had disappeared for a while to let the fire and the hype die down, in what world to people think THIS

Looks like THIS

If anything at this point Gera takes more inspiration from Yoshi in appearance, I'm shocked more comparisons haven't been drawn to the dinosaur because then I might actually be flattered

But given the circumstances I'd been silently deleting a lot of my old works and archiving them on a personal thumbdrive. It initially started with things I'd see pop up in my notifications that people liked. If I deemed a picture too close to my old fanon Fawful I'd save and delete it. But eventually it got so upsetting to me that in an anger fueled moment I went on an art purge to try and erase the impact I left, or at least scrub what I could to let Gera have a proper limelight instead of being stuck in the shadow of the thing that inspired him. People were also confusing Order of the Stars for an AU, which it's very much not.

While normally I wouldn't have minded the exposure, in fact I would have been flattered had it been years prior (even though the same pic was very much up on Tumblr at some point), that picture was a sore reminder of the past I was so desperate to distance myself. One of many, and reminded me I had to scrub more than just Tumblr... and might have possibly been the catalyst to the purge? I dunno, I slept since then.

The closest you'll get to it now is a horror themed bad end AU that I made that follows a very similar concept

And this is very generous considering the hell I've gone through. It got so bad that I haven't felt very compelled to draw Fawful anymore for fear of further confusion, heck, more recently I decided that I was just going to exclusively post any future M&L art I make over here because I got tired of people finding reasons to draw comparisons on other sites too. I even thought about dropping ANY M&L drawings related to Beanish just to get away from it, but decided against it. I've even started putting more emphasis on Gera's snout just to make him seem less Beanish, which sucks because I've had to stray away from what makes my style mine to begin with. I could easily change his colors, but I can't bring myself to. He's been like this for years now and it's a characteristic that I can't easily let go of, nor do I want to. I've very begrudgingly changed my Beanish HC so that they don't have blue tongues and blood anymore (which was initially nspired by a beta Cackletta sprite having a blue tongue). It feels like I'm having to strip any and all hc personality I gave to certain fandom characters just to create more distance, which sucks.

It gets hurtful after a while, especially considering Geragera has more than just one inspiration... but yeah, a lot of my old stuff got purged and personally archived for my own growth. Truly sorry about that, and for the being a lengthy explanation. Truth be told I also needed a reason to get this off of my chest but I was never prompted until now. For future reference though (and this goes for just about anyone) I would greatly appreciate if you asked permission before making a crosspost sharing my work. There's a good chance I probably would have said no on that one. Anything that remains on this site is either too sentimental to get rid of or still close enough to the source material to stick around.

[hufflepuffinstorybrooke]

Please Don’t Hate Me

I need to start by stating that I really liked the Red, White, and Royal Blue movie. The cast and crew were amazing and this was a sorely necessary movie in the queer community as far as representation goes. I am also really bad at separating a movie from its source material. So this is just an opinion on some representation, both feminine and queer, that I wish had been in the movie.

First, with the female representation. Most obviously, the fact that June was written out, Princess Catherine was absent, and Queen Mary was switched to King James III.

Even while Alex is the main character, June is the heart of the Claremont-Diaz family. Alex and Ellen are too wrapped up in caring for the nation that they can sometimes forget that they need looking after themselves.

Combine this with keeping Ellen married to Oscar (she and Oscar are too similar, but Leo took care of her) and taking away some of her more nurturing characteristics (good thing bad thing), Alex’s family seems less supportive in the movie than the book.

This is similar to the problem I have with removing Princess Catherine. Henry has Bea’s support, but with the watered down Bea, that’s almost an empty corner. Princess Catherine is what forces the Queen to support Henry and Alex, and that is the first time Henry has felt a parent’s love since his father died. It’s just so important to his story, but I can understand why it was cut.

But why did they have to water Bea down so much? I don’t need the Powder Princess scandal, but if Bea is Henry’s only support, show that she is strong enough to back him for real. Throw her in a leather jacket, send her out to a party with the group, and show an electric guitar in the corner of the music room. It didn’t have to be anything big, but give her back her fire!

Then there’s Queen Mary, which I don’t really mind the switch since it gave us Stephen Fry as King James and the prime minister was a woman. I just felt like it lost some of the symbolism of the female heads of the nations and their opposite viewpoints on FirstPrince and tradition.

Lastly, there’s Nora. I liked her, I really did, but I wish they had mentioned that she went to MIT, even just Alex calling her MIT like he does in the book. There are places of higher learning, particularly in STEM, that kept women out for far too long. It would have been a great boost to show a woman being a graduate of the most well known technical institute in the country.

The only woman I was completely satisfied with was Zahra, they kept her as tough as nails!

Before I start on queer representation, remember that I do realize how important this movie is as a mainstream representation of queer love. However:

By taking out June, they took away the June/Nora/Pez relationship. I personally think that June and Nora were in a relationship and Pez just joined in while he’s in town. But still, a polyamorous secondary relationship in a rom com would have been nice.

That also takes away Nora’s bisexuality, which is just bi erasure! (And I know Alex says he’s bi, but that scene when Zahra calls him and Henry homosexuals bothers me! It erases Alex’s bisexuality!)

Rafael Luna was a huge impact on Alex, and showing an openly gay senator would have been amazing.

I am glad that, since they only kept one secret service agent, that they kept Amy. However, I do miss Cash and his pansexual jean jacket!

Moving on to Amy, I don’t mind that they didn’t mention that she is trans, especially since she is played by a trans actress and that was only brought up in Alex’s thoughts in the book. I do wish she had brought up her wife. There was such a good window of opportunity when she and Alex are talking about her dog. “You know my wife and I named our dog Jonathan.”

The addition of Miguel Ramos brings in the “gays are evil and vindictive” stereotype. Especially considering he was the only other openly queer person in the movie

On a lighter, headcanon note, I see Bea as at least ace, if not aroace, which sucks that it wasn’t included, but it makes sense since it’s not canon. Also, Princess Catherine cuffs her jeans, so she’s obviously bi lol

Again, the book is perfection, and I love the movie in its own right too. These are just some things that were missed or added that I wish changed in the movie!

[missallanea]

@stardustedstories : 👑 + Zuse :P

WOULD I : YES / MAYBE / NO HAVE I EVER BEFORE : YES / NO

Okay, clarification here : Zuse is a character from Tron: Legacy with a grand total of like five minutes of screentime that I, over time, overhauled into my own OC. He is so far removed from the source material, but a beloved muse of mine who I have considered multiple times to bring to this blog !! The problem is, I can't see him getting many interactions outside of Mal, so I hesitate. Still... with Tron: Ares around the corner... he's been on my mind.

ICON & WRITING SAMPLE :

When had this become his designation? Yori's feelings should not have concerned him, and yet — he finds that she occupies much of his mind, these days, as often as she occupies that seat in the corner of his workshop. So when had it become his duty to keep her company, to assuage her concerns when it came to her partner, to his friend?

Troubling.

Not trouble enough to stop.

"Come, Yori. You and I both know that Tron would stop time and count the stars for you..." An impossible task. That did seem exactly the sort of romantic drivel that Tron would say to her — and yet, it hadn't come from the security program. IGNORE. "He's just... You know how he is. He wants to explore every aspect of this new system. Just as Flynn does."

Just as Yori did, and yet... here she was. Left behind.

It wasn't as if she was best served left in one place, as he was. It made sense for a Modifier to be left behind : what purpose could he possibly serve wandering around the vast expanses of the Grid alongside those two? But Yori... with such passion in her very code. It was thanks to her that Flynn was even here. A System Designer should have been walking alongside them, encouraging the place to flourish.

Instead she was here, with him. Surrounded by unwanted code and half-finished projects.

"He'll... I mean, you..."

Lies had never come naturally to him, especially not to her. Not to her face, at the very least. So he could not quite bring himself to tell her some sweet nothing about expecting that they would be finished this work any time soon. Instead, his hands move aimlessly for a moment, fingers twitching until he swipes a small glass disk off the desk. It takes only a moment to access the code, pinching and twisting until it began to take shape.

He had always been better with his hands than his words. Finally, resting in the palm of his hand, the glass had been reshaped and repurposed into a shape that was at least reminiscent of a lotus flower.

It looked horrendous. They all did, all the flowers he had constructed for her over the past however-many cycles, working off of still images and downloaded information. And yet, despite that, she took each one from him as if it were something truly precious. Yori always looked at them as if she were seeing the real thing, and not just a petty imitation.

And so, he keeps making them.

"One day, they shall see you in your true light."  

send me 👑 + a character name of a character you think I should write !! 

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

are we allowed you talk to you about our thots of spencer reid?

ik you don't write for it. but just sake of conversation!

I'm kind of 50/50 on this? But I am leaning more towards no.

I truly, deeply love Spencer Reid as a character - but the fandom has absolutely spoiled him for me and made that love tainted for me, and made me literally divorce myself from participating in the fandom of loving him.

The response to my last Spencer fic was cruel and harsh and now every time I see someone with a blog dedicated to him, it makes me wince, because he is one of many characters (like Eddie Munson, Ellie Williams) who have been so far divorced from their source material and turned into a source of memery and booktokery and steamrolled down into a 2D nothing that when people read a three dimensional portrayal of them, they get viscerally upset (and then take out those negative emotions onto the fic author instead of reflecting inward on why they can't handle a humanized character).

And I really don't want to post things about him. I would much rather happily post about other characters and other fandoms and I know that I won't be rewatching Criminal Minds again for a very long time because of the way these harsh experiences have made me feel.

I always want people to feel open about sending me random messages because I want my blog to be an open and fun space, but I the fandom has given me so many reservations about Spencer as a character, and it really fucking sucks because he used to be one of my favourite fucking characters of all time - honestly, it's so weird that [REDACTED] is an exes to lovers story, because now when I think about Spencer, it feels like having the same kind of conflicted feelings that someone would have about an ex husband.

For one - I don't want to be actively making posts about Spencer anymore because I don't want people to mistakenly think that I have an interest in writing about him again. A lot of people do not read my pinned and don't have timestamps on the dashboard turned on, and so they will see my old posts about Spencer and then send in requests for him as a character (I have gotten some really recently that I have just deleted) - basically, a lot of people don't pay attention.

So I wouldn't want to be making posts about the character (even if I didn't tag the posts) because I wouldn't want people to mistakenly think that I'm writing for him again.

Two - usually, when I respond to 'thot' posts about a character, it's because I'm really excited and enthusiastic, and I am not enthusiastic about Spencer as a character anymore. I am really sick of him as a character because of the over-saturation of him in the fandom and because of the general immaturity of Spencer fans that caused people to react to my fics in a certain way - so even if people sent me asks about him, idk if I would be in the mood to respond to those asks in a fun and positive way.

Yes, I do like the character. Removing all of the fandom aspects and just looking at him solely as a character - he is one of my favourite characters of all time. I fell in love with him purely from the source material when I was 14, long before I ever knew the CM fandom existed, back when I consumed media and didn't immediately run to Tumblr to jump into the fandom of everything I loved (because when I was 14, the only Tumblr fandoms I was in were the Phandom and the Harry Potter fandom and that was it, I didn't know that other fandoms existed and were active - aside from spectating SuperWhoLock).

But the point of posting on Tumblr is to interact with other fans, and I don't want to interact with other people in the Spencer fandom right now. It is not the kind of attention or reputation I want for my blog right now. I have even actively stopped putting my Criminal Minds fics in my fanfiction queue because I just want those fics to exist quietly in the background instead of being the main attraction on my blog (and they are still actively the most popular fics on my blog, which I kind of hate).

So I won't be making any Spencer Reid posts, even if it's just discussion based or whatever.

I welcome people to come and chat with me about my new favourite characters like the ones from Teen Wolf, or characters I have rediscovered like the ones from Maze Runner, but other than that - I will be quietly sorting out my feelings for Spencer and trying to discover my love for him again.

[thelioncourts]

You’re definitely right they can remove some of the useless love interests but even if you do the stories are still about Lestat. Louis would just be there to offer support or whatever but he has no arc or character development in these books after TVL. That’s why it’s impossible to keep him a main character with these book storylines cause even if he’s there in every scene he wouldn’t be doing anything.

So I totally get why people would rather he just leave the show than be used as set dressing for lestat.

But I don't think they're going to just do book storylines??? Like??? They've not done book storylines as they're written thus far, so why would that be subject to change???

I'm sorry, I'm not meaning to come across as short or anything, but I have 11 asks in my inbox all about this right now and I don't have answers and don't really know why people are coming to me.

As I've said in previous asks, I have said most of what I can and have to say on the matter.

As a Louis-fan, I get where everyone is coming from, I truly truly truly do. Knowing his fate in the books, regarding material, is enough to have us all on edge, so please don't take this as something it's not, I just --

The show has already given Louis so much more than what Anne ever did. Not even talking about what the change of time period and race adds to him as a character, we have a fully fleshed out development of him as an individual, as well as him and Lestat as a couple and as parents to Claudia.

Show!Louis has this family that we learn so much about, at least in comparison to the book. In the book, we know Paul, and we know Paul because he's the catalyst for Louis. It's similar here, only we get Grace and we get Florence and we get Paul and we get Louis' relationship with each other these characters. We know that Paul and Louis were extremely close. Paul could come preaching at Louis' establishments in Storyville, causing scenes and making trouble for Louis, and Louis could threaten him and pull a knife on him and the next day they could be sitting at the breakfast table, bitching to each other like any set of siblings when telling on the other to mom. We know that Florence has insane expectations riding on Louis' shoulders and that the death of Paul was a catalyst for her too, no doubt since it's very obvious the entire family knew of Louis' queerness before Lestat even came around, but it was a thing they didn't talk about, and then he goes and moves in with Lestat anyway. We know that he and Grace are close, that he was the first person to know of her pregnancy (via vampirism), that they drifted immensely in his fear of himself as a vampire. We know that the loss of that family for Louis was the reason for so much of his pain, for so much of his struggles with vampirism as a whole.

We know that Louis is a businessman, and a good one too, and he likes it. Sure, he didn't like all the racist shitbags he had to deal with, but he was better than all of them and they knew it and he liked that. He was ruthless in his business, strong and fierce and proud, and the loss of the Azalea, the race-war waged against the black population of New Orleans, was yet another source of devastation.

We know, as a parent, Louis is smothering sometimes, motherhenning Claudia to the point that she had to learn how to shut him out of her head. We know, as a parent, Louis is softer, to the point of fault at times, but that he also gives in to her whims, drinking human blood again when she points out that his criticism of hers and Lestat's eating habits make her feel poorly. We know, as a parent, he watched her go out to hunt on her own proudly, like a parent watching their kid go drive to a friend's house for the first time.

We know, as a lover, Louis is spoiled by his husband. "How can I say no to you?" followed by Louis' most pleased, beautiful smile. We know, as a lover, Louis can look at his husband like he hung the damn moon that guides their nightly hunts. We know, as a lover, Louis can be argumentative, assured that he is right and not afraid to tell Lestat so. We know, as a lover, Louis will smile brilliantly at his husband as they sneak around in coffin together, acting like damn teenagers in love. We know, as a lover, Louis, for all his issues with Lestat, loves him tremendously so, to the point that their hearts sync up and that, when Lestat is lying there, "dead," Louis cradles his body to his chest and screams his agony.

None of this is in the books.

It's all made by the writers of the show. And, as of now, the writers have yet to disappoint me with their writing of Louis. So until that moment comes, I'm going to be optimistic because 1) they've yet to prove me wrong and 2) if I'm not optimistic, what am I really sticking around for then? I don't want to stick around and be miserable at the thought of something all the time.

[blossom765]

RED, WHITE, & ROYAL BLUE MOVIE REVIEW

SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE AND BOOK!

So, i just saw Red, White, and Royal Blue movie and it waaaaaaaaaassss

Disappointing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It wasn't bad. It wasn't abhorrent. But, it had one too many scenes that made me go "Aw. Oh come on! Why?!"

I'll preface this by saying I read the book a long time ago and yet I still remember it as one of my favorites. I obviously was not expecting them to make a complete copy of the book for the movie. I don't really care if a movie is a one to one retelling of a book. But, when your changes are, instead of improvements, detriments, that is when I wish you had either used something from the source material or thought a little more about how you could make a good change.

Let's get this started so I can explain in detail.

First, what I liked. And by liked, I mean loved. The sexy scene in the Paris hotel. And I'm not saying this because of smut and I love smut. I'm saying I loved this because this looks like an actual fairytale. This sensual scene looks like what I've been looking for. A queer movie with a fairytale storybook atmosphere. The lighting, the bedding ( as if they were making love in a king bed in a palace ). How quiet and soothing the characters voices are. How slow their movements are. It felt like this could have come out of Disney golden age. Movies like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty have this art, music, character movements that feel so graceful. Like it was water moving. I swear if Cinderella had an intimate scene, it would look just like the Paris scene. That scene was might be the epitome of romantic sensual scenes. I hope more romances take notes, especially if they are going for a fairytale vibe.

And now, what I didn't like.

June/Nora. If you didn't know, June, who was Alex's sister in the books, is now Nora, Alex's friend and granddaughter to the vice president. I'm still not sure why this change was made. Some have theorized was because Henry already had a sister and they didn't want to do the same with Alex. Well, whatever the reason, it seems unnecessary considering how little Nora had to do. I've been a yaoi anime fan for years and I've witnessed that some of the biggest criticism is how bad the female characters are. They're either scheming or just cheer leaders and nothing else. I appears that only Nora but, Bea, fell into this trope. In the book, June might still have been a secondary character but she still has more to do. She was working as a journalist and as she was also the child of Ellen and Oscar, she felt some the stress that Alex had ( in the book ) from their parents divorce. She also took part in the pr stunt and dated Henry when the emails were leaked. Bea's backstory of being a drug addict and being called "powder princess" was also removed. And I just hate it. These female characters had their own history and lives. They were not just there to tell Alex and Henry "oh, you love him" "oh go for it", they actually existed outside of them. If people hate female characters being boring cheerleaders in action movies, in romcoms, they aren't going to like it just because its a queer rom com this time. Bea went into drugs after her father's death. She still gets bullied by it. She has her own life and struggles to live through in the book, even as a secondary character. The only reason she went to rehab was because Henry was so scared to lose another family member and be more alone in the world after he told her it was gay. This was a way for Bea to be supportive without her character being reduced to boring cheerleader. Lord, she even sat far away from the meeting with Henry's grandfather. That is how far removed she is and how little she needed to be there and it's just so frustrating. There's also Bea's and Henry's mom who is only mentioned once and that is when Henry says he can't talk to her because she's either hunting elephants or doing some charity for elephants. I genuinely do not remember. I think that was her one mention in the movie. In the book, she was detached from kids but she had a good relationship with them before her husband died. And she steps up and stands up to her mother to protect her kids. She changed as a person. Even if it was off-screen ( well, off-page ) she had her own development as a character. And it showed just how Henry and Alex's relationship changed the people around them for the better. Their relationship was changing the world and right in front of us, it changed his mother. June/Nora, Bea, and Bea's and Henry's mom just had nothing. This change was most definitely not an improvement. 

It also drove me crazy just how fast this movie was. There are montages where there really shouldn't be. Like the hospital montage or the getting to know each other montage. I would much prefer if there were less montages and more more on screen developments. Show conversations between Henry and Alex growing as friends. Show the book convo where Henry is talking to a cancer patient about star wars instead of just showing Alex watching him talk to a cancer patient in a conversation we can't hear. Small things like that show more about Henry and show Alex, and thervy, the audience that Henry is more caring towards people than he lets on. A montage does not do a good enough job of that. It just feels your trying to skip through matieral. I get that this is a movie and you don't have much time to work with but could really not afford a few more conversations. Ugh, seriously, Amazon should have just made this into a mini series or something. And how a lot of changes in the characters just felt so random. Let's take Alex's confusion after Henry kissed him on New Year's. He has a talk with Nora and she asks him if he liked it. And this makes him question if he likes Henry. Then Henry and him meet again at a party and the White House and they start making out. What I can't figure out is what Alex wants out of the situation. Is it love? Is it exploration? It just moved so fast that it's hard to pick up on what kind fo realization Alex reached. If it was love, even with the little time they had, they could have showed Alex realizing he might be romantically into Henry. Let's say before he talks to Nora, Alex goes for a quiet walk in the park. He wonders what that kiss was. And he imagines Henry walking right next to him. And he really enjoys Henry's company. He likes when Henry smiles, when he laughs, when he teases him, etc. After that scene quiets down, he goes to Nora and tells her about the kids and there they have a talk about Alex liking the kiss. Because we just established how he would love to walk with Henry just canoodling, we can understand that he clearly liked Henry kissing him. You can't just say he liked the kiss, you have to show. Show don't tell, is one of the biggest rules in romance. I'd argue more than most genres. Because romance is often about internal feelings and realizations. You have to make the audience feel with your character. You can't just say the character felt something, especially at something as pivotal as the first kiss. You have to show us the realization.

There's also another realization they didn't put. When Henry is singing karaoke and then we shoot back to Alex. All they needed to do was slow things down and focus on a change of expression from Alex, showing he's reached a realization. This scene is supposed to be after his mom tells him he needs to know whether or not it's forever with Henry. All you needed was a few seconds of quiet and slowness. And there is also another scene where the movie went too fast. When Alex confronted Henry and when Henry comes to a realization he wants Alex. In the book, Alex is yelling at Henry until he gets quiet and tells Henry that if he wants Alex to leave, he has ro tell him to leave. We go though a lot of emotions in this book scene. It waits for a few seconds. With Henry in Alex's face and Alex telling Henry, nice and slow, to tell him to leave until Henry starts kissing him. In the movie, Alex says Henry has to tell him to leave but there's no big voice changes, no emotions like anger and intense stubbornness. The characters feel like they are exercising the same amount of emotion throigh the whole movie. Alex and Henry cry ( not yell, very little push and tug, just sad, not really a spectacle of emotions from a scene that supposed to be about getting everything out ), Alex says tell me to leave, Henry says please don't, and theygo to the museum. This scene does show how Henry wants a private life without people gawking at him but then Alex plays their song, they start dancing, and Henry says he's in. That's it. There's no reason he's in after saying how much he wants a more private life, he just says he's in. Then we follow with Alex getting on the plane and Henry giving him his ring and Alex giving him his key. I don't know what to say for this other than it's just so boring. At the very least, they could have soared a few minutes to do that scene from the book with Henry holding Alex's hand and saying he 100% in and Alex unfolding his hand to find the ring. If a romance scene actually includes swapping important valuables, you need to actually show that this is a big deal. Not just, here's something to remember me by, which can also be a sweet heart felt scene but this scene just felt like they were trying to finish it up. Just slow down a little bit.

Now on to Philip. You know, the one who did get to sit in for the meeting and say something while Bea sat away like a child that didn't know anything. Anyway, he didn't have much to do in the book either. However, without him knowing, he convinced Henry to start a real relationship with Alex. After Alex storms the palace ( yes, it was a storming in the book and I love that because it actually shows this scene is supposed to be different from the others and signal that these characters are about to reach a different stage in their story and romance) and Henry and him make love, Henry goes out for a jog and runs into Phillip. They have a talk about how Philip has to start working on the heirs he and his wife need to create even though he doesn't like children. And Henry realizes Phillip's not even miserable, he's fine with all of it. He's completely fine. And Henry realizes he doesn't want to live that lofe of just being "fine". That whole thing is summed up in Alex saying "nothing will ever happen to you". I guess they figured if he said it twice it would be as good as that scene. Could have at least added a voice crack from the actor and pulling Henry in closer to say that last "nothing will happen to you" if they wanred to hammer something home. Even that wouldn't have been as good as the book because again, show don't tell ( actually this would have been something the movie could have improved upon by using a flashback. Book Henry just relayed the talk with Philip. Ironically, that still had more impact than Alex saying "nothing will ever happen to you" twice and yet it was something they could have improved ) but at least it wouldn't have been so 'blah'.

I'd also like to mention how Henry saying he's liked Alex since the first time he met him was so dull. In the movie, he just says it when they are having s**. In the book, it's when they are in bed joking and Henry is just like "yeees, the whole time. Nothing gets past you" and they just joke around playing with pillows. I love moments like these. Moments when couples are just laying in bed and just talking and learning about each other. Learning about things that never came up and are finally coming out. 

Now to one of my biggest turn offs from the movie. The absence of Luna. Luna was a queer senator that Alex teased but admired. He turned over to the opponents team and Alex felt like it was a betrayal for all that he stood for. Alex saw this guy that looked like him working hard to do good and it inspired Alex. But, when Luna goes over to the other side, Alex cries to Henry that maybe there's no point to it all. But, Henry calms him and tells Alex that he is good and he works hard to be good. This whole conversation about Alex's fear that he might not be able to do anything and Henry comforting, those moments are the reason why I love seeing the relationship on screen. I like the will they won't they parts of romance but I also like when we finally see the characters in a relationship. The moments when we see what they are like as boyfriends. How they support each other through trying times. Those are wonderful moments in on screen relationships. And we barely got anything of them just talking to each other or going through romantic moments as boyfriends! Luna also tells everyone that Richards was the one who hacked the emails. Again, we see how Alex and Henry's relationship is already changing the people around them and inspiring determination in Luna. I know. I know. Luna had a lot to do in the book and this is a movie and we're strapped for time. Seriously, Amazon, mini series would have been the way to go. 

They also changed Alex's parents from being divorced to still be being married. Why, though? Having divorced parents would added an interesting layer to Alex as a character and his relationship with Henry. Seeing how his parents fought always made him upset. He knows that a relationship could end in a break up. Yet, he still dates Henry because love was worth it. This is what romances thrive on. That even with the obstacles, love is worth it. And his love with Henry was worth fighting for. 

They also didn't include that pr date with, I believe, Alex being with Zahra and Henry being with June. When rumors started circling that Alex and Henry were together, they had to try to debunk that. And Alex and Henry were distraught because they had to hide their love and two women were being used for this. I like this. There are consequences in this romance. It shows just how big their relationship is. And it shows their remorse in having to use two human women as chess pieces. Because these women are actually people not just their cheerleaders. 

I'll just finish this off with something that more of a pet peeves to me. Henry's utter surprise when he hears "sweat dropped down my balls". Come on, honey, child, you heard American songs before. Don't pretend, darling. But seriously, at the end of the book, Henry ( or Alex, I don't remember which one ) reveals to Alex ( or Henry ) that he wants to move in an apartment together. It's super sweet. And shows they can finally move on int heir relationship and be together. In the movie, if looks more like Alex is just showing Henry his house and showing him where he grew up and less about moving in together. I don't even know if he mentioned anything about moving in together. Also, at the end of the book, they notice a mural painted on a wall to celebrate their queer love. I think that would have been a much better note to end on. To show what this movie was about. A gay love story where things just worked out and it didn't end in pain and instead ended with the world celebrating this love story. Some might argue that would have been cheesy, but cheesy is romance's best friend. Romance is where you can have all the cheesiness you want. Just enjoy things about the heart. 

As you can, I take my romance seriously.

I don't think this is a bad movie. Not at all. I think it's good. I think the actors did a good job and took their roles seriously. But, I can say that the book is definitely better. I would recommend watching this movie. Especially the Paris scene. I still can't get over how much it felt like it was ripped out of a storybook. I recommend the movie. It's nice. But, I would highly, HIGHLY, recommend reading the book afterwards. It just is better. At least in my opinion. And read it with the audiobook, it's pretty good. 

( Wish these audiobooks would have some background music and different voice actors for different characters. That would just make them just a whole new genre within themselves. Somebody, anybody, please get in that! )

[laceandsilkhandkerchiefs]

My First Snzfic (N/ewsies)

I was informed that people would be interested in reading my, *ahem*, N/ewsies snzfic, so... here it is. I don’t really know where it came from, I just got possessed by the idea recently and... this is the result. It’s also the first snzfic I’ve actually worked up the courage to post here so... that’s an important milestone, right?

Please note that the characters here are aged-up slightly from canon (early 20s). This also takes place in my Modern College AU, which is honestly so far removed from the original source material that you don’t really need to know anything about N/ewsies to read this. It’s basically an original story, I just borrowed the character’s names and a bit of their personalities.

I think that’s everything so... enjoy! And feel free to let me know if you’d like to read more stories featuring these characters/in this universe, or if you have any other ideas you’d like to see me write. I’m open to inspiration.

When Katherine opened the door to her apartment, Jack was taken aback. The normally extremely put-together journalism major was clad in a sweatshirt and flannel pajama pants, her hair was piled into a messy bun on top of her head, and she wore a large pair of glasses. Perhaps most alarmingly of all, her eyes looked heavy with dark circles underneath, and unshed tears made them appear glassy and unfocused. Katherine's nose, too, looked like it had seen better days, flushed a deep red and clearly swollen.

"Woah, Ace... you okay?" Jack asked as she stepped aside so he could enter.

"Mby whole he-hhh-head itches," she replied stuffily, pressing a crumpled tissue to her nose as her nostrils twitched wildly. Jack shut the door behind him and waited a moment to see if anything came of it, but the urge to sneeze seemed to back off as Katherine lowered the tissue with an exasperated sigh. "I hate this."

Jack frowned sympathetically. "Yeah, I hear ya. Allergy season's been bad so far, Crutchie's got it even worse than you."

"Poor guy," Katherine murmured. "Although I don't see h-hehhh... uhhHHHH- UHHchiew! Hngxt-chew! Ugh, sorry. Snf. I don't see how that's possible."

"Trust me, it ain't pretty." Jack shook his head, then held up the plastic bag he was carrying. "I got the medicine ya asked for. Ask me, though, you should get somethin' stronger from ya doctor."

Katherine shook her head. "I did, years ago, but it made me so drowsy it was impossible for me to work. This doesn't fix all my symptoms, but it at least takes care of the sne- ehhhh- AHH-gnxgt! The sndeezing. Snf."

"Bless ya." Jack handed her the bag, which she took gratefully. "Well, here's hopin' it does the trick."

Katherine nodded, reaching into the bag and pulling out the small box which contained the nasal spray she swore by. Swiping at her relentlessly dripping nose, she gestured to the side table in her living room, upon which sat a box of tissues. "Sorry, cand you hand me a couple tidssues? I ndeed to blow mby ndose before I take this." Snf- snf! "Ugh."

"Sure." Jack obliged, grabbing the box and pulling out a couple tissues which Katherine accepted gratefully. Steepling her hands around her nose, she let forth a productive sounding blow, causing Jack to wince in sympathy. She must really feel miserable.

Katherine aggressively rubbed at her nose with the tissues when she was done, her breath hitching and her head tilting back as she inadvertently coaxed more sneezes forward.

"Hah- ah- ahhh- AHschngxt! Ngxt-shiew! Da-hhh- damnit... Hihhhh..."

"Don't hold 'em back, it'll just make ya have ta start all over again," Jack advised, earning a watery glare from Katherine as she geared up for another round. She did listen to him, however, as she convulsed forward into the tissues with a fit of surprisingly loud unstifled sneezes.

"Ihhhh- ISCHIEW! Aaaa- aHHHH- A'kSCHIEW! K'SCHIEW! Heh- ESCHIEW! Hahhhhh... snf... ahhhHHH- AH'gschiew! Guh..."

"Jeez, Ace, bless ya. You really weren't kiddin' on the phone, huh?"

"Obviously not, Sherlock," Katherine grumbled, pushing her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose. She took advantage of the momentary respite and pried open the box, taking out the spray without bothering to read the instructions. She was something of an old hand at this.

Inserting the nozzle of the bottle into each of her still twitching nostrils, Katherine sighed in relief as the cooling spray calmed her inflamed nasal passages. The tickle she had been fighting all day began to dissipate, and she gave an experimental sniff before smiling at Jack.

"Thanks, Cowboy. Sorry about... all that."

Jack waved her off. "Don't worry about it, Kath. 'S what friends are for, right? Plus now I can go tell Crutchie he's gonna have ta step up his game. He's got serious competition now."

Katherine shook her head, wiping her nose with the tissues as she spoke. "You're an idiot, Jack Kelly."

[about-faces]

I honestly wouldn't bother watching gotham knights for any reason, i'm caught up but i'm also doing a watch party where we pirate it and we just make up jokes from it. tho you /have/ missed the show making harvey cuck lincoln march (...ok on the real never thought i'd type that out and now im laughing at the absurdity of it) and him going "actually yeah joe chill is right i think he's innocent" because for some??? reason??? joe chill never pulled the trigger and the gunshots came behind him????? to which harv deduces that sounds?? forensically correct??? also stephanie loves her dad???? and he's not abusive?????

this show is slowly melting my brain i swear to god. between 'joe chill is innocent', 'harvey does a cucking' and 'talon is stopped by mahogany doors' i honestly could make a game where i make things up from this show and STILL have all the answers actually be correct.

Normally I would heed this advice, but unfortunately, I am burdened by blorbo compulsions to seek out anything related to Harvey. If I couldn't avoid sitting through the Long Halloween movie, I'm not gonna be able to avoid this. As annoying as I find all the above you mention, I can deal with most it by skimming through the non-Harvey parts.

(That said, I don't know if I'll ever understand why Steph is such a beloved character, but even on principle, WTF? Making Arthur a good dad is so fundamentally against the core of her character. It's like how they made Jesse Custer's dad a religious asshole in the Preacher show, it's just such a wrong choice that completely breaks and betrays the fundamental spirit of the source material)

Also, I'll be honest, I hate the Court of Owls so much for several reasons, so I find the prospect of making them ridiculous to be VERY appealing. Seriously, mahogany is their weakness? That's objectively hilarious. I love that. It's one step closer to my ultimate wish to see the Court revealed to be a bunch of rich, stupid, loser weenies who have only gotten as far as they have on good PR.

But at the end of the day, I need to see it for Harvey. And based on the three episodes I've seen, this isn't even CLOSE to being the worst take on Harvey Dent I've encountered. There's enough here for me to chew on, even if/when it's bad. Like the cucking, sure, okay, we're doing that, okay.

(Note: based on the reactions in the GK tag, I had been misled to initially believe that Harvey fucked Lincoln March's MOM, not his wife. I am very, VERY disappointed that wasn't the case.)

On top of all this, the inclusion of Harvey's dad is too personally relevant to me to avoid. Removing (?) the alcoholism but keeping the mental illness and the fears of inheriting mental illness is a problematic choice, but it sounds potentially closer to what I've needed to see from Harvey's dad than most stories, which just have him as a physically abusive alcoholic. I've needed to write about Christopher Dent for ages, tying in my own personal experiences, and this (likely bad!) use of him is something I'm going to want to take into consideration. I can't NOT see it.

This is my gift curse. This is my curse. It's a double-curse. Which tracks.