#Sooooo fucking sick of this complaint

[raimagnolia]

"The love story between Olrox and Mizrak is rushed"

No, yall are just wildly impatient. They weren't even in love for fuck sake.

Enemies to lovers doesn't happen over night,

and no,

just cuz you fuck someone doesn't mean you love them-- we're not children here, no matter what domestic fluff coffeeshop AUs you're into, it should be fairly obvious that Mizrak has problems with his identity and faith conflictong with one another, making EXTREMELY hypocritical judgements that are literally called out WITHIN THE STORY.

He's nowhere even remotely NEAR ready for a relationship with a species he literally thinks is SOULLESS and incapable of caring for another human being. Yet, "their love story is rushed!!"

Not to mention the potentiality of a Christian man calling an indigenous person "an animal" is an unsavory reminder of what the conquistadors used to call his people during their violent settlements.

And then, with Olrox, he's going to need to BELIEVE again, after putting faith in something that was immediately killed.

He's seen hopes, dreams and empires, rise and fall, over and over again. He's afraid of taking risks, and that's HIS character arc this season.

Loving Mizrak IS a risk. That's why he's stopping himself.

It's called a slowburn, people; this is only the tip of the iceberg.

[inkykeiji]

DAZAI AKU AND READER DYNAMIC AGAIN 😧 not a request but i’m wondering how dazai would punish aku and if reader would be involved like forcing aku to watch as he touches them or only allowing aku to eat the come from readers 🐱 after he nuts in it. 🥱

anonnnn thank u so much for this i have SO much to say oh my gosh

tw: mentions of caning + physical assault, daddy kink, overstimulation, noncon, cuckholding kinda???, orgasm denial, dacryphilia, toxic relationships, cum eating, honestly Daddy dazai is just brutal. 

words: 1.1k

SO! the punishment that i had in mind at the end of that piece specifically was actually purely physical—it was caning! really fucking brutal caning that borders on physical assault. i’m not gonna talk about it much tho because HEHE between u and i, i am currently writing a lil piece that deals with like,,, the aftermath??? and the punishment itself is kinda gotten into in that oneshot so c: 

BUT I LOVE BOTH OF THESE IDEAS SOOOOO MUCH and i could totally see Daddy dazai definitely using either of these as punishment so let’s get into that because i have many Thoughts!!! 

okay first of all forcing akutagawa to eat reader out only after dazai has cum in her/you is so sick and sadistic i love it SO much oh my goddd especially since you know he’d be more than eager to do it, to please Daddy, to receive that precious praise dazai is so goddamn stingy with giving him. so he’d be so fucking enthusiastic as he sucks and slurps Daddy’s thick cream from your cunt, making a real mess of his face, cheeks and chin glistening oh-so-prettily with your and Daddy’s combined essence, tongue unfurling from his mouth to clumsily lick at his own stained skin, anywhere and everywhere he can possibly reach, slick muscle flexing as he stretches it as far as he can, desperate not to waste a single drop. 

and he’s holding your thighs open with such force that his fingertips are sinking into your flesh, nails carving deep crescents in their place, bruises blossoming beneath his grip, sowed deep in the tissues. your muscles ache from how unbelievably wide he’s stretched them, but he won’t let you close them, won’t even allow you a moment of rest at all, a man on a mission—your comfort doesn’t fucking matter, not when Daddy has a demand that needs to be fulfilled.

he eats you out until you’re fucking spotless, not a single ounce of Daddy’s cum anywhere, not even splattered on your inner thighs, because akutagawa, good boy that he is, sopped that up with his tongue, too. he’s almost obsessive with it, eating you until you cum again, until he’s sure your juices have flushed every last bit of Daddy from your body and into akutagawa’s tummy, safe and sound and where it should be. he’ll get in trouble for that, too, of course—you were never supposed to cum, he was never supposed to make that happen, and it’ll be his fault for allowing it, for procuring it, no matter how he tries to spin it. he knows better to argue with Daddy once Daddy’s made up his mind, but he just can’t seem to help it when it comes to situations involving you, whiny complaints spilling from his lips before his brain can even sift through them, voice stringy and thin as he cries about how it isn’t fair! and she should’ve stopped it herself! and it isn’t his fault she can’t control herself! 

at the end of it all, though, he’s proud of himself irregardless, proud of the stellar job he did eating you clean. and even though he scolds him callously, Daddy’s proud of him, too <3

ON THE OTHER HAND, i also really love the idea of Daddy dazai fucking reader over and over and over again and not only making akutagawa watch but also instructing akutagawa to not touch himself at all, in any way (and yes, this includes not shifting and twitching his hips up, rolling them into the air in tiny, pathetic little motions so the head of his cock grinds against the tight denim of his jeans). i love it, because it’s a double whammy in so many ways: in addition to the obvious, he also has to watch as his Daddy fucks the favourite, he has to watch as his Daddy plays with his toy, feeling left out and neglected and lonely. he has to watch as Daddy pushes his toy well past the point of pleasure and into a whole ton of pain, easily reminding akutagawa in that infuriatingly charming, slightly breathless voice that your pain is his fault (v touya-nii of him LMAO).

at first, he acts as if he doesn’t care, and he tells Daddy so, the words spit from his lips with such derision it sours his face, features screwed up tightly. it doesn’t matter to him, he says. he doesn’t give a fuck if she’s in pain, he swears. 

except by the third orgasm you’re sobbing out his name, dainty fingers grappling for him in cute little claws that scratch at the mattress in their haste and leave little divots in their wake, sheets ripping audibly, and ryuu! ryuu, ryuu, it hurts, make Daddy stop! 

but this, this pure emotional torment, is a part of his punishment, too, he realizes. 

because then Daddy’s shushing you, gentle and sweet and all of the things he never is with akutagawa, large palms cushioning your sweaty cheeks as he murmurs to you, voice silk and syrup. 

you can do it for Daddy, can’t you, sweetheart? you can cum one more for me, right? you want to be good for me, don’t you? 

and that hurts, too. watching Daddy be so fucking nice to you, watching daddy dole out praise to you the way he doles out punishment to akutagawa. it isn’t until dazai’s sure he’s fully broken akutagawa in every conceivable way that he finally stops, takes the shivering, snivelling man into his arms and onto his lap, akutagawa’s chest shuddering beneath the force of the sobs he keeps trying so desperately to shove down, long lashes scraggly and weighted with fat tears.

you did good, baby, he’s whispering as slim fingers pop the button of akutagawa’s jeans, hand wiggling beneath the material to pull his cock free a moment later. Daddy’s good baby boy, so precious, so fucking pathetic, aren’t you?

yes, yes, yes, he’s sobbing into dazai’s neck as Daddy strokes his aching cock, hard and fast right at the top, thumb grinding little circles into the slit. his words are nothing more than tangles of spit oozing all over Daddy’s skin as they leak, uncontrollably so, from his lips, but that’s alright, Daddy doesn’t mind the mess today, humming out condescending coos into inky strands as he encourages akutagawa to cum all over Daddy’s fist.

and, oh, he’s so fucking hopeless for his Daddy, cumming after a mere three pulls of his cock, thick and sticky and so much, it’s so much for such a skinny boy, almost embarrassingly, disgustingly so, don’t you think ryuu-kun? 

of course. of course it is; he’s disgusting and deplorable and so fucking desperate, but he did it; he’s Daddy’s good boy, and that’s all that matters <3 

[captaincrazycreative]

Tmagp 19 stream of consciousness

-okay Sam buddy keep tellin your self that

-CELIA NO STOP IT CELIA DONT ENCOURAGE HIM!! WHY DO YOU WANNA KNOW ABOUT THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE?? HUH CELIA??

-Jesus these two are gonna cause SO many problems

-okay so shout out to the person who said that the characters were named after alchemists you were DEFINATLY onto something

-I know the writers can be bad with names but there's NO WAY sam sharing a name with a famous alchemist was a coincidence

-I want a hamilton style musical about Issac Newton and his shannanigins

-I wonder if this is a "speaking machine" scenario where this is vaguely based off a real, weird, horrifying event from history. Do I even wanna know???

-YES WEIRD PLANT HORROR WHEW HOOOO

-who knew murder plant man would be plot relevant

-YES YES BIBLICAL SYMBOLISM CHRISTIAN IMAGERY BEING USED FOR HORROR IS SO SICK

-yeeessss the unknowable horrors of having knowledge beyond your comprehension!!

-I love weird horror so fucking much. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the Bonzo stuff, but the more abstract phsycological stuff from tma is better imo, So I'm glad it looks like they'll be more of that in the future

-oh good the doggo's okay :)

-okay so if I'm understanding this then the protocol is just...going over to someone's house and burning up their shit??? Here we were expecting something fancy, and It's so brilliantly simple I love it

-man I don't think Alice has ever been this done with Sam before, not judging her for it just pointing it out.

-I'm glad we're more focased on plot then romance these last few episodes. Don't know how unpopular of an opinion this is, but I don't like the love triangle

-THAT BEING SAID I'm so happy to Sam and Alice interacting 😊 even I'd they're only arguing about the horrors and being Dicks to each other I don't care I love them

-COLIN! I legit thought Alice was gonna find his body for a sec

-he's so paranoid, but he's also correct to be paranoid

-OH NO FUCK THAT RECORDING DEVICE SOUNDED CLOSE IVE NEVER BEEN SO TERRIFED BY BEING ABLE TO HEAR SOMEONES VOICE CLEARLY

-so either the computers have been able to hear them this entire time OR Alice inedvertently brought the eye to him

- poor Alice keeps accidently dragging the people she cares about back into the horrors :( hopefully this doesn't lead to a guilt complex later on hahaha

-if our boy Colin wasn't in it before he sure is now oh Colin... :(

In conclusion this episode was SOOOOO fucking good. I've had my problems with the writing, but the last few eps have been REALLY good. I loved the statement, I loved the character interactions I LOVE THE LORE DUMP I feel like we're finally seeing the plot start to take shape and I couldn't be more excited! No real complaints except that the characters were a bit hard to hear in the beginning. I'm so hyped!

[gffa]

25 and 1 for the violence asks ;)

WHICH FANDOM TO CHOOSE? HRM. 1. the character everyone gets wrong I was going to say that, thankfully, both fandoms are big enough that I can usually find a fair amount of people who get the characters right, but then I remembered: the clones. To be fair, for all that they get a decent amount of screentime in TCW, they're rarely focused on as a culture, so I understand why a lot of fanon took root, but there is sooooo much that just does not feel like it vibes for me. 25. common fandom complaint that you’re sick of hearing I am done with "Jedi fans aren't capable of nuance because they don't agree with my take on them, that they're morally gray characters who ~tried their best~ but really fucked up along the way", like if that's your take on the Jedi, then go for it! Nobody's stopping you! But leave me the hell out of it. I'm done with the idea that disagreeing with someone else's take means that I lack the ability to have a "nuanced" take, that the idea of morally gray characters is superior to "they did the best they could in shitty circumstances" and that liking morally good characters is just as meaningful and depthful as anything else.

[anachronistic-falsehood]

EPISODE 12 TRIVIA:

- some things that were planned that they didnt get to see:

the carnival itself had a place in the initiative order (environment would have shifted and changed etc)

bizly assumed they were going to kill the groundskeeper- if that were the case, 3 more of the exact same guy would have showed up (to push the fear factor/show just how powerful things are in the spirit world. they wouldve kept multiplying until there was an army of them AND the environment would have been actively working against them etc. that fight couldve been sooooo much worse)

they got REALLY lucky with the hall of mirrors: if they wouldve failed the save their fears wouldve started attacking them (they could each only see their own fears, so to the others it would just look like they were swinging at nothing if they tried to fight back)

- charlies only complaint about this episode was "you need to beat the shit out of us more" LMAO

- condi, about ashe: im really looking forward to a situation where you have to use the full extent of these powers (<< referring to the book)

bizly, in Scary DM Voice: im really looking forward to a situation where you have to Use! These! Powers! aha. ahahaha. ahaha (<< monotone scary laughter, cue everyone else being like "um what the fuck")

- yakko: ohhhh i just had an absolute revelation about my character but i cant say it because tou guys dont know my lore i cant SAY IT

bizly: NO I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN, *DO NOT* SAY ANYTHING (<< i like giving you these. putting some sprinkles of fear into your heart <3)

- charlie, out of character, mostly knows what happened to william/why he has his powers. william, in character, *does not know anything about his own powers or what happened to him* which is part of the reason hes so scared of them

- william doesnt consider himself a superhero. he considers dakota the most heroic out of all of them. this is a recurring theme <3

- "any hints from yakko about some fun plans for his character?"

bizly: "NO."

- yakko: okay heres one thing. i want to have a scene where hes in a fight and just puts on his headphones and cranks up the music i think that would be cool

charlie: i want ashe to be put into a situation where the three of us are incapacitated somehow and he has to do something to save us

HI HI IM BACK GOOD MORNING <3 oh man the carnival itself MOVING????? THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO FUCKING COOL. ohhh man that would have been so sick!!!! absolutely awful for them bc i can only imagine how hard that fight would have been but oh my god that would be so cool <3

WIWI DOESN'T CONSIDER HIMSELF A HEROOOOO ok. explodes. king ur so a hero king please. pls. wiwi i love u

[tchaikovskyed]

extremely privileged + annoying complaints under the read more

Sooooo I think my agent just doesn't want to sell my books. She keeps saying that there's no hook and people won't want to buy it/won't be excited about it, which is... *really* disheartening but also now I'm just like nice. what the fuck do i do with this information. rewrite the book to death? we already tried that with the first book until I was sick of it! (two years!!!!!! of editing and rewriting that almost constantly) I'm just taking a deep breath and preparing myself to change agents because i don't want to leave my work with someone who believes so little in it

[tollundmen]

les mis stage show thoughts (as promised) (it’s long) (and unedited)

Lost the playbill so I can’t credit the actors by name but Valjean and Eponine both had incredible voices

Before Valjean goes into Digne, he passes by Petit Gervais and steals the coin. Nice little easter egg that I could annoy my sister by pointing out

I’d forgotten how overtly Christian the musical is. Like, Jesus references everywhere. I guess this element is present in the book and all adaptations, but I think the musical lacks depth and complexity in its religious metaphors since it effectively cuts out the social commentary. Not begrudging the musical of this—I think in order to make an entertaining musical you’re going to cut out Hugo’s polemics—but still an observation. 

What Have They Done To My Girl Fantine

^^This is one of two major complaints I have with the musical. Obviously, Hugo’s writing is riddled with strange misogyny, both unique to him and typical of his time. However, I’d argue he does try to portray his women sympathetically. Despite the ultimate message of lower-class women as victims of upper-class male society, the book’s Fantine does have agency. She is desperately trying to life a live free from the patriarchal realities of her day. The musical robs her of this agency. I may be misremembering, but I don’t believe the foreman wants to fuck her in the book, and I don’t think that builds resentment between her and her coworkers. You could maybe argue that this relationship between her and the foreman takes the narrative place of her relationship with Thomolyes, but I don’t think that’s a strong argument. I dislike how involved and kind she is with Valjean. I think it’s crucial to his relationship with Cosette that Fantine is effectively a stranger to him. I also dislike how she leads Valjean to heaven at the end of the musical. Again, I think it weakens her character because she becomes a supporting character to Valjean. But I digress.

Also I still think it’s weird to reverse Fantine’s descent into prostitution and the Fauchelevant cart incident. Not that problematic, just weird.

Who Am I is a great song though. Like watching it happen onstage is just fantastic. I adore a scene where you can see the characters running through time and space. It’s one of those scenes that can only happen in musicals, I think. Just super cool.

I wish it was insinuated in the musical that Javert’s appearance killed Fantine. But the choreography with Javert and Valjean during The Confrontation is sick as fuck. During this production, they did stuff with a chain.

I forget how valverty the musical is

The woman behind me kept laughing really loud at the Thenardiers. I forgot where the homophobic line is so I was distracted during those parts instead and forgot to laugh.

Mdme Thenardier is an interesting character because her writing is like sooooo misogynistic, dude. Not the musical’s fault here, though.

Little Cosette was cute.

Political background of the musical is not really explained at all. The audience is just expected to know about the June Rebellion and General Lamarque. Didn’t realize this until my mom asked me about it afterward (unfortunately I’ve developed a reputation for knowing things like this… not sure how). But now that I think about it, Les Amis and the barricade does seem super random. I think this has to do with nearly completely cutting out the whole class struggle part of Hugo’s Les Mis—or at least skimming over it or making it comedic. Pretty hard to cut it out completely. Honestly, I think the playbills should just come with a brief overview of French political turmoil at that time & that could solve a lot of issues. 

Actor who played Grantaire was a good actor (maybe I was just highly attuned to him, though). All of his movement seemed to circle around Enjolras. He played the part of the cynic really well. I’ve read some other people’s reviews of the current US Tour that have said they’d heard Grantaire picked up inspiration from fic, and I could definitely see it here. Not just the whole Enjolras thing, but because he took a lot of care of Gavroche during the whole show. Maybe that’s an established stage Grantaire role, but I still enjoyed observing it. 

But Maybe I Just Love Gavroche

However, What Have They Done To My Girl Eponine

^^This is my second major complaint with the musical. Reread everything I said for Fantine. The musical completely replaces her class struggle plot line with a romantic struggle plot line with some class difference undertones. Idk. I wish her relationship with Marius was explored differently, is all. She becomes an underutilized supporting character for Marius. 

However, On My Own goes hard. I already mentioned that her actor just had a fantastic voice. She was incredibly talented, and I really wish I still had that playbill.

Where the fuck does Marius comes from? I didn’t realize that in the musical this is not explained at all anywhere. He’s just some random dude until he and Cosette have this lavish upper-class wedding. Kinda funny.

I also think it’s funny how politically involved musical Marius is. He’s not a loser at all! Poor guy. He’s noble and stuff. What a chore.

Drink With Me fucks incredibly (except the second part where Marius gets all sad and stuff). Grantaire put his everything into his lines—delivered with such vitriol toward Enjolras, but I have to give credit to Enjolras’s actor for displaying such complicated emotions toward Grantaire in their little stage time together. You could tell he cared for Grantaire deeply. They have several moments where they pressed heads together, shared long, meaningful looks, etc. Nice to see. 

Bring Him Home was delivered so so well, but I can’t help but laugh a lil. His ass does not see him as the son he never had. 

Woman behind me was WEEPING when Gavroche died.

The lighting during the barricade was absolutely incredible. 

Grantaire was the last to die, and he did so in the same position as Enjolras had a few moments ago. The also pointed/saluted each other a lot. Again, nice easter eggs for those of us who Know. also he never touched a gun during the whole show. I think he’s handed one once but quickly passes it off. nice touch.

The staging during the sewers part was super cool. There was a projection on the back wall of the stage that moved and really created the illusion that Valjean and Marius are trudging through this long tunnel.

The rest of the musical I didn’t have much to say. I already said my piece on Fantine/Valjean. 

To love another person is to see the face of God does kinda kill me right in my heart though (good way) (almost joined the woman behind me in tears)

[blackbird-brewster]

25 for the asks?

Thank you for playing!

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

People who ONLY ever focus on the old core team (Hotch, Rossi, Reid, Prentiss, JJ, Morgan, Garcia). Tara, Luke, and Matt are SUCH great characters and it says SOOOOO much about the fandom that three characters of colour are never celebrated while people obsess over Hotch/Reid all the fucking time. I'm so tired of the boring white men being the pinnacle of all fandom conversations/art/fic/etc.

[Send me asks]

[oracleofsecrets]

VIOLENCE AND BLOOD AND MAKING EVERYBODY MAD. 1, 19, and 25 >:)

SAE 0W-20. Oh oops. Wrote this in notes app so. Here, have my car’s motor oil flavor

Anyway I think I’ll do ace attorney bc that’s the one I’ve been Most aware of its fandom

1 — character everyone gets wrong

There are several,,, but the ones that peeve me the most are Maya and Franziska

Maya’s often flattened into memester burger queen comedic relief who dispenses Romantic advice to make nrmt happen. It’s such a waste when she’s got So much happening and is pretty damn smart

Similarly, Franziska is sidelined even More and is reduced to Angry Meanie and also a prop to encourage nrmt. I find that the average franziska portrayal is really one-note and is just like “Haha she says fool and whips people” which sucks bc again she has So much unexplored complexity in the games And in fandom that people wouldn’t hesitate to explore if she were a male character instead

And also these tend to combine into really boring franmaya just to make sunshine/grump happen. Or again, they’re off to the side or used only as a vehicle for nrmt development.

Or like… I’ve seen ppl think Maya was head over heels for Franziska from Day One like. No??? Wtf? I think Maya had More Important Things on her mind than like. “Ooh that person prosecuting me is kinda hot👀”

I can’t even elaborate Too much bc I’d be here all day but. Also criminally misportrayed is Phoenix. He is not uwu sunshine bleeding heart heart on his sleeve. And neither is Ryuunosuke.

Ok one more salt. Temenos OctopathTraveler2 wasn’t Madly In Love with Crick. Also he is Not as horny/flirty as many are portraying him as…. He outright said staves don’t need sheaths smh my head

19 — smth I’m mad/ashamed I actually kinda like

My lawyer says I don’t have to answer this question

(jk)

Idk if Shame/anger is the word for it. But I want to study kristoph under a microscope and also purposefully zoom in too far so that he gets crushed when the long magnifier breaks the slide glass

It’s more like… I don’t want to be associated w people who like genuinely think he was just misunderstood 🥺 uwuuu he was in WUV, he had a bad childhood. or the opposite, with ppl who go a lot darker in their interpretation bc that’s just not smth I want to think about

Cuz like. Obviously this guy fucking sucks and I hate him but also he’s sooooo pathetic that it’s funny

And also I think it’s interesting to think about like, what being friends (or “friends”) with someone like that for Seven Years does to Phoenix. Bc I lov putting that man through the wringer ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

25 — common fandom complaint sick of hearing

Any apologism and vehement defense of shitty male characters lol

Godot’s shitty condescending misogynistic remark at franziska wasn’t a mistranslation. He calls her a shrew/unruly woman, basically says “that’s enough princess, it’s adult time” (notably using “-Chan”, where Phoenix calls her Von Karma Kenji [“prosecutor von karma”]). This line was translated to “But you can go now, princess. It's time for the big boys to take the reins.” So like…. Where’s the misinterpretation 🤨

And also he says “I don’t like talkative women”. There might be more nuance there that google translate can’t capture but like. That’s Still a sexist thing to say.

Just admit ur horny for godot and don’t care about women

Mvk doesn’t have lead poisoning; he’s an emotionally abusive parent and shitty person. Like u don’t even have to squint at the games to come to that conclusion. Kin memories and brainless analysis won’t disprove that. Sometimes abusers can even do nice things or genuinely love someone, but that doesn’t mean they’re not abusive

Barok van Zieks doesn’t have a Redemption arc from his Constant Indefensible Racism. You clowns are just horny and have bad taste.

[girlbob-boypants]

1-21-25 for uh Guild Wars? or whatever you want

You know what yeah let's be violent about my beloved game. Oh okay this was a lot more than I expected uh lets put that under the cut

1. The character everyone gets wrong

You think I'd say my precious baby boy BUT its Caithe. She's an incredibly interesting character who is denied the actual on screen depth and arcs she needs. It's an interesting case where the people who hate her are missing the points and the people who stan her talk like she's actually given an arc instead of simply plopped into the story with a "she's better now." The key example being the fact that she doesn't show up in s4 until THE END OF EPISODE FOUR??? That's hardly her fault cause for whatever reason THATS when she's allowed to actually give a fuck about the daughter she loves so much that the moment that daughter cared about the fact that WE WERE BEING MURDERED she ignored Aurene for fuck knows how long?? And then admitting that is enough for them to ignore the psychic connection Aurene canonically has with the Commander so they can just. Set Caithe to post therapy with no real story. The people who hate her act like she's personally the cause of every single problem in the game and that setting her on fire and replacing her with a man will fix everything. Meanwhile the people who stan her claim her story was sooooo good and 100% justified and didn't fuck with things or have problems. She's a brilliant concept that post HoT is executed in a parking lot. And while her parts in EoD are perfectly fine and logical it's just...ugh. She's barely there and exists purely to limit Aurene's screentime with the Commander. Which sucks cause I love both of them.

21. Part of canon you think is overhyped

All of EoD. I am going to pick at a certain part, actually. Rama as a character and especially the entire story with the cop father he has was TRASH. Not as in it's a bad idea but in that it's so terribly done. The lack of build up, the fact that it's the ONLY RATIONAL PERSON WITH A PROBLEM WITH JOON'S MONOPOLY OF TECH who turns out to be King Fascist, the way they just don't explore Li's whole being Kurzick like Rama (or at least I think that's what was being implied? It was literally just Rama saying his Secret Name in front of us and then not addressing it). It all goes nowhere and means very little beyond the strike mission. Like no we aren't going to explore this corruption of the cops, we aren't going to discuss why the society of Cantha would cultivate a minority joining a supremacist group, and we're ESPECIALLY not going to explore Rama's feelings about it for longer than a minute or two. Didn't you know his entire story is that he has a crush on a cop? Don't ask for depth, don't ask why the only people who have an issue with forest polluting tech monopolies are fascists and ecofascists, and don't ask us to give Rama lines that aren't mcu zingers. Take what you get and go make really fucking questionable jokes mocking his hat without expecting more of the expac that brutally murdered Icebrood Saga and gave us CHAMPIONS.

Not too fond, really.

Also the beast races but that's not really controversial to say it's just true. But I hate the Kodan, Grawl, and Centaurs especially. Whoever wrote their parts in s2 and s3 should be hit with a bat and robbed.

25. Common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

This one I'm actually having trouble with rn. The obvious answer is character hate and, no, I don't mean character criticism. I mean things like 'i hate Trahearne cause he sucks his voice is annoying and he's overhyped' and the many, many death wishes. This feels like a cop out but I barely scroll the tag anymore cause the game is in a weird space in my heart so I only really engage with it as I see fit for myself. Which is mostly nostalgia tinted thoughts about past seasons and expacs but hey. Better than being a rage filled ball of spite and bad faith readings like I've been in the past with things I've fallen out of love with.

I'd also say I got tired of the weird relationship gw2 has with strikes and raids both from newbies AND vets alike? This game kinda sucks at making the endgame accessible for everyone and I'm vividly aware of that but vets complain that it's stale while gatekeeping to the point of intimidation and newbies all sit and stare at the training LFG without doing anything like these groups are a match made in hell and if anet just learned how to make something like the ff14 duty finder it'd probably be a lot easier but that would require work and admitting that having some kind of role system would make class and party designs easier.

[sleeping-on-cracking-ice]

Hi! I'm a new follower and I just binged all of your stories today! And sooooo in love!

I just want to request a story, where chishiya is madly possesive of his S/O, where he gets jealous of anyone who would touch her.

S/O is a female.

Thank youuu so much!

Of course! Thanks so much for following and reading my fics! ❤❤

Possessive | Shuntaro Chishiya

{Alice In Borderland Masterlist}

Summary: You begin to notice Chishiya’s possessive behaviour around you when you start becoming more serious about your relationship

Type: short scenario

Word Count: 1.7k

*reader is female

Author’s Note: this is more like just a few scenarios of Chishiya being possessive. It isn’t that well written since I had to rush it a bit. I felt like I had to post something today cause I haven’t in a while, so I was a bit busy 😣

You never viewed Chishiya as the possessive type, especially when it came to relationships. The sly, manipulative character seemed to convey the vibe that he wouldn’t care less about who his significant other talked to or hung out with. But of course, during the first few weeks of dating him, you began to notice that your assumption was completely inaccurate.

It started with small gestures, like pulling you closer to him subtly when you were hanging around the pool area, or keeping a strong grip on your hand when walking down the hallways of the hotel together. You always thought it was him just being a good boyfriend, but over time you began to think otherwise.

Chishiya became more clingy towards you, both in public and private. Sometimes he would not allow you to leave his side at all, which always ended in a complaint from you. Even when you rolled your eyes and tried to walk away from him anyway, he would just grab you by your waist and pull you back to him, giving you a quick glare to warn you.

In private, like when you were in your shared room together, he always hid your shirts from you so you would be forced to wear one of his white t-shirts. He would become all happy and giddy when you saw you in his clothes, wrapping his arms around you like a little koala and not letting go for hours. There would be some nights when you would have to pry his arms off from your torso, as he simply refused to let you go.

************

One night, you both were sitting in a booth together outside around the pool area. Most of The Beach’s residents had made their way to bed, so it was just you and Chishiya having a few drinks together with the occasional small group of people walking nearby.

Chishiya had his lips against yours, moving slowly and intimately as he held the side of your face with one hand and rubbed the bare skin of your waist with the other. You were having a heated make out session, just enjoying being in each other’s presence without being disturbed by anyone.

“Chishiya,” you breathed out as you broke the kiss, making Chishiya pout unhappily. “Let’s head inside, it’s getting cold out here.”

Chishiya smiled and shook his head at your suggestion. “Can we just spend a few more minutes here? There’s too many people inside and just want some alone time with you,” he asked, tucking his head into the crook of your neck and lightly nipping at the sensitive skin. You winced as he kissed and bit along your neck and collarbones.

“I want to see Arisu. He said he wasn’t feeling too well today and I want to check up on him,” you said, pulling Chishiya away from your neck by his shoulders. Chishiya held a frown on his face.

“Why do you want to see Arisu? I’m right here, you don’t need him,” he groaned in an annoyed tone while tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. You pulled a sarcastic face and rolled your eyes.

“Yes I know, but I’m just worried about him, that’s all,” you insisted, pushing your hand underneath Chishiya’s chin and pressing your thumb against his lips lightly.

Chishiya gazed lovingly into your eyes as you traced your thumb across his cheek, closing his eyes in content as the feeling of your hand on his skin. “You’re so pretty,” you praised, giving him a short peck on his nose, making him chuckle slightly.

*************

A more prominent incident that conveyed his possessive personality was when you were in an executive meeting together.

You were a higher ranking member of the militants, so you were able to be present at meetings with Hatter.

Both you and Chishiya stood at the end of the large room together, leaning against the wooden wall and listening to the debate that everyone was holding. Hatter was trying to decide which executives to send to the next game, as he was expecting the game to represent a card that they had not yet able to achieve, and he wished to make sure that they were guaranteed to bring it back.

“Niragi and Aguni could go,” Mira suggested, gesturing towards the two taller men that sat at the table next to one another. “They have a 100% winning streak, so I think they’d be the best choice for a diamonds game such as this one.”

Your eyes broke from the rest of the room when you felt Chishiya’s hand run along yours, reaching for your hand and lacing your fingers together. You looked at his face, not even earning a side glance from him. It was unusual for him to act romantic towards you in front of the executives, especially during a meeting.

“Why doesn’t Y/N join then?” you suddenly heard your name. You looked back over to the table and saw Niragi eyeing you, making you tense immediately. “She can come with us, since she too has cleared a lot of diamond games.”

As everyone turned towards you and Chishiya, you felt Chishiya’s grip on your hand tighten.

Before you could even speak, Chishiya spoke for you.

“No,” he bluntly stated.

“No?” Niragi questioned, standing up from his seat and making his way over towards you and Chishiya’s position. “Why do you say no Chishiya?” Niragi asked, pressing the barrel of his rifle towards him.

“I’m not letting her go with you, not if I’m not there.”

You didn’t know what to say, so you just continued to glance between the two bickering men.

“She’s her own person, she can speak for herself,” Niragi growled into Chishiya’s face, turning towards you. Your heart stopped as he stepped towards your smaller frame. “So, what do you think sweetheart? We could really use your help.”

The way he ran his tongue along his bottom lip creepily at the end of his sentence made you uneasy. Before you could even answer, Chishiya had pulled you by your arm roughly behind him, putting himself between you and Niragi and shoving on his chest to get him away.

“Fuck off you perv,” he cursed at him, “she’s staying here. I don’t care how much you need her. I wouldn’t even let her in the same room as you or Aguni without me there.”

Niragi scoffed and gave you both an angered look before turning away. “Fine. Keep that personality up around her Chishiya, she just might get sick of you treating her like a possession you have control over.”

***********

Another incident occurred when you were both at the neon coloured bar outside in the party area.

Chishiya had to leave for a few minutes to look for Kuina, so you decided to wait at the bar for him to return, despite his protesting.

You were nodding your head to the music and sipping your drink, enjoying your time by yourself and having a nice conversation with the young lady who was the bartender. You suddenly were pulled from your thoughts when a cold hand was placed on your lower back, making you jump and spin your head around with an annoyed expression.

“Hey gorgeous,” he slurred his words, obviously drunk. “You’re looking awfully lonely. You want to come dance with me,” he pressed, running a hand through your hair softly. You swatted his hand away from your face and shuffled over in your seat to distance yourself from him.

“No thanks,” you declined politely. “I’m actually with someone, so I’m waiting for them right now,” you tried to reassure him.

He frowned and looked around the bar for someone who you might have been with. “I don’t see anyone. I’m sure your partner won’t mind if you have a little dance with me~”

His flirtatious tone made you cringe. He seemed awfully insistent. You declined once again and stood up from your seat to walk away, but you didn’t get the chance to when he grabbed you by your waist and pulled your back against his chest. “Stop being so hard to get. I just want to get to know you a little better.”

You tried to pull yourself from his touch as he ran his hands along the skin of your stomach a bit too intimately for it to be comfortable.

To your surprise, you heard a loud impact noise and the man’s grip left your body. You turned around to see what had happened to notice none other than Chishiya standing above the man on the ground, taser in hand.

“Piss off you horny dog,” he spat towards him, tucking his weapon back into his hoodie pocket. You noticed the people surrounding you watching the scene, making you feel uneasy, but Chishiya grabbed you by your hand and dragged you away from the crowd, heading towards the hotel.

After walking for a while, Chishiya turned around and looked at you, concern painted across his face.

“Oh my god, are you okay baby?” he asked, frantically checking your body for any signs of injury. “Did he touch you anywhere? I’m so sorry I left. I shouldn’t have left you alone like that, especially around all those intoxicated people.”

He was rambling as he rubbed your skin, trying to comfort you. “Chishiya,” you said, interrupting him. “I’m fine, it’s not your fault.”

You pulled him into a passionate kiss, running your hands through his hair, trying to calm him. Chishiya wrapped his arms around your shoulders to pull you closer, making you feel his warmth against you.

You snaked your hands underneath his hoodie and wrapped them around his back, scratching lightly through the material of his shirt. Chishiya sighed and pulled away from your lips, looking into your eyes.

“You’re all mine,” he whispered, rubbing his nose against yours playfully. You smiled at his statement. “You’re mine, don’t forget that.”

You nodded as he leant downwards to bite underneath your jaw. “Maybe I’m not making that clear enough,” he slyly said, making you chuckle nervously at his words. You gasped as he latched onto the skin of your neck, sucking on a single spot harshly. H.

“Chishiya, don’t!” you whispered-yelled. “You’ll leave a mark!”

Chishiya pulled away from your skin and admired the purple bruise that had formed on your neck, making him smirk. “That’s the point baby,” he said in a teasing tone. He leant back down and licked over the spot lightly to sooth the bruise.

You smiled and playfully hit his shoulder. “Idiot,” you groaned and rolled your eyes.

[whumpasaurus101]

'898

Haven't written Danny in quuiiittteee a while sooooo, here ya go! :D I'm sorry for the delay in Asher / Danny content <3

CW: Biting / Dehuminization / Creepy whumper /

Previous / Masterlist

Danny woke up with a fright as his mattress was kicked. He opened his eyes to see Aiden standing over him, He opened his mouth but Aiden’s heavy hand was pressed against his mouth. Danny let out a muffled cry as he tried to push the man’s hand away, but it was useless. He was quickly backhanded and hoisted from his mattress.

He tried to fight Aiden’s strong grip but it only grew tighter. Once he was shoved outside the ‘bed’room, he was slammed against the wall. Danny whimpered as his head hit the concrete. When his vision went back to normal, he saw Mathew standing at the front door, head hung, eyes burning into the carpet just by the front door.

Danny’s head snapped back to Aiden, who wore a stupid smirk. God, how Danny wanted to slap that stupid face. He then leaned in close and whispered right into Danny’s ear, making him squirm, “Now, you're a smart boy. You wouldn’t want to try anything that would cause harm to others if you disobey me.”

Danny tried to make a smart remark but it was muffled by Aiden’s hand. “So shut the fuck up, and stop fighting. Or else I’ll let my friends have a go with Mathew.” Danny shook his head quietly and Aiden chuckled, “That’s what I thought. Walk.” He was shoved forward and Mathew -not looking at him once- opened the front door. Aiden pushed him against the car door and yanked his arms behind him, tying a thick rope around his arms.

He then took a roll of duct tape and spun him around. Danny took a deep breath and the tape was stuck over his mouth. He looked to Mathew, who quickly hurried to the front seat, head bowed in shame.

The back car door was opened and Aiden shoved Danny inside. Danny lay on his back over three back seats, staring blankly at the light over him. It was still dark outside, but the birds were chirping. He jumped when the car started again. “Sit tight Danny boy, it's a long ride!”

The car hummed as it travelled on the road. Danny tried to yawn as best he could but it was impossible with the tape. A million thoughts raced through his head. Where were they going? Was he being sent off? Surely not. Mathew would’ve been sadder….. right?

After a lot of turns and a lot of lamp posts passed, the car turned into what Pheonix presumed was a carpark. Aiden got out, opened the back door and dragged Danny out of the car by his legs. He collapsed on the concrete ground with a grunt and glared at Aiden. He was roughly lifted up and was once again slammed against the door. His ropes were cut and the duct tape was ripped off.

Danny stopped at the door once it was opened. There, four people dressed in dressy clothes sat at a conference table. The room was brightly illuminated by the windows which ran all along the walls. Aiden once again shoved him inside. Danny fell to the rough carpet with a whimper. “Sanjay, Peter, Alex, Rosie, thank you for coming in such short notice!” Aiden beamed.

Everyone smiled apart from Rosie who scowled, furrowing her eyebrows, “This better be good, I have -ten minutes,” She scowled, looking at her silver watch. Aiden chuckled, “Of course, of course. Trust me, you won’t want to miss this!” He kicked Danny hard in his side, “Hey, up!”

Danny let out a whimper, clutching his side tightly. But he didn't hesitate on scrambling to his feet and looking over to Aiden in confusion. Where the hell was this place and why were they here? He was roughly yanked by his plain black collar. He let out a gasp as his hands flew up to the collar in an attempt to loosen it.

“This is Danny, some of you might know him as 34703.” Danny noticed as one of the men’s heads cocked to the side, why did he look so familiar? - “He will be my show dog today. So, we’ve had a few complaints with owners saying their pets are starting to disobey-” Danny’s heart dropped, no, he- he was good! He didn't disobey!!!! “-So I have come up with a simple solution! Mathew, bring in ‘898 please.” Danny’s head snapped over to Mathew, giving him pleading eyes, but Mathew ignored him, gulping and slowly made his way to the door. He disappeared for a moment but later returned with a growling beast. To Danny’s eyes he looked about mid thirties? He didn't know- definitely older than him anyway. And much taller.

Mathew was holding him by the collar, eyes still not daring to meet with Danny’s. The man he was holding had… were they fangs?! Oh Hell no, Danny’s breathing started picking up, “Ai-Aiden, n-no, I don't wanna do this! I-”

“-Everyone, this is ‘898, he is our new breed. Breaking dog. If your pet simply obeys, and you're getting sick and tired of their crap, all you have to do is say the ‘magic words’ and ‘898 here will handle the disobedient mutt for you.”

Sanjay looked at Aiden from over his glasses which had slid down his nose as he took down notes. Alex sat back in their chair, clasping their hands together, “Well, will you show us what it does?” Aiden chuckled, “Why of course, ‘898, break.”

Before Danny could even flinch, ‘898 was on top of him, knocking him to the ground. Danny let out a horrified cry and almost broke down there and then. He used all his strength to try and shove or kick the man off of him but it was hopeless, nothing worked.

He let out a shrill shriek as ‘898’s teeth sunk into his arm which had used, trying to push him away. “P-please Aiden! Please!!!! Make him s-s-stop!!!! I pro-promise that I’ll be good!! Ple-ase.” His voice broke at the last sentence.

Aiden let out a chuckle and let it carry on for a few more moments, looking to his colleagues for approval. His smile brightened as he saw all four of them staring straight at the scene, all looking impressed. Even Rosie!!!

“Alright, ‘898, release.” In an instant, ‘898 was off of Danny who was now a crying mess. He curled in on himself, clutching his bleeding arm as tight to his chest as possible. He muttered “Sorry sir.” over and over again.

The four colleagues slowly brought their eyes back up to Aiden once Mathew had retrieved ‘898, who wiped the excess blood away from his mouth with his forearm, spitting the remaining blood in his mouth onto the carpet. He looked down at Danny, expression blank.

Danny’s lungs were on fire. Mathew tried to blink back the tears but he looked down as they slowly trickled down his cheeks.

Aiden fiddled with his fingers behind his back. “Well,” Alex said, letting out a sigh, “Can you step outside while we have a discussion?” Aiden forced a smile, “Of course.” He cocked his head to the door and Mathew brought ‘898 out of the room. Aiden then turned to Danny, “C’mon, up.” When Danny didn't oblige straight away, he kicked him in the ribs and dragged him up by under the shoulders.

He tried to weakly fight against his grip but he was so embarrassed, tired, and the pain was too much for him. He whimpered as he was thrown onto a chair outside. He knelt beside him and stroked his hand through his hair, “Hey, hey, listen to me, you did so good for me, okay?”

Danny whimpered but his heart lifted as he heard Aiden’s words. He jumped as he heard ‘898 growl. Aiden chuckled in the crease of Danny’s neck and turned to face him, “Oh, don't worry, you were amazing too, such a good dog!” ‘898 made some sort of happy noise. Danny whined, he wasn’t human. He was anything but human.

He pressed himself closer to Aiden and rubbed his head against his shirt, feeling the warmth against his chest. Aiden ran a hand fondly through Danny’s hair. The door opened moments later and Sanjay came through, “Aiden, can we talk to you?” Aiden stood up from his honkers and walked into the other room.

Danny kept his arm close to him, it was still bleeding, a lot. He started to speak, his voice hoarse, “I- I thought you were on my side.” Mathew felt his heart shatter, “Danny, please, you don't understand! And the-the threats he gave me, Danny.” Danny gulped, he believed him but he was in too much pain and was too embarrassed.

‘898 was kneeling right by Mathew’s legs. Danny looked away, he didn't like the look of them two. “Danny, please say you believe me.”

“Y-yeah, I do, I’m sorry, I just -just a warning would've been good.”

Mathew looked over at the boy’s arm and sighed, he took off his t-shirt and ripped at part of the seam which kept the two sides together. He tore the fabric in a semicircle and the fabric came off. “Here give me your arm for a second.” When he did, Mathew carefully wound the fabric tight around Danny’s wound, making him wince slightly.

Danny looked up at him as he did so. He studied how there was a slight furrow in Mathew’s brows and his tongue slightly sticking out from concentration. He couldn't help but smile as he saw him. Mathew gave the fabric a tight pull and neatly tucked it in between each fold, “There, that should do you until we get home, I think,” Mathew’s tough voice was back on and Danny let out a sigh, “Thanks.” Danny wiped the remaining tears from his cheeks and sniffed.

“We like this, Aiden, we really do,” Alex smiled. “But,” Rosie added with a stern tone, “How are we sure that these breaking dogs will follow clear instructions?” Aiden thought about this for a while, “Special training, when we think the dog is ready, we bring them to the special training facility to ensure they are broken fully.” Rosie scribbled down more notes into her notepad. She closed it and looked to her employees and nodded, “Well, I for one would say that this would work. I’d be delighted to see how this goes, I really think that this has potential!” Aiden felt a grin paint his face. Sanjay cleared his throat, I also agree with Rosie.”

“Same here.” “Me too.”

Rosie closed her notebook and smiled… smiled, “Well, thank you very much Mr Smith, we will be sure to look further into this idea and hope to hold a meeting next week.” Aiden smiled and bowed, “Thank you so much for your time, I’ll be sure to bring my boy along with me.”

Danny jumped as the door opened, “Danny, Mathew, go to the car, I'll bring ‘898 back to his cell,” Aiden smiled, throwing the car keys to Mathew, who quickly caught them. Aiden took ‘898 by the collar and guided him away. Once they disappeared down the corridor, Mathew stood up and Danny copied him.

Danny went to walk but stopped when Mathew held out his arms, Danny looked at him weird until Mathew closed the gap in between them, slowly wrapping his arms around him, “I’m sorry.” Danny didn't say anything, he just closed his eyes tight and wrapped his arms tighter around Mathew.

They weren't usually allowed to hug -no, they weren’t allowed to hug, but Mathew made sure they did. Physical touch was important, especially for Danny. Mathew broke the hug in fear that Aiden would return without them noticing.

They both walked to the car park and sat in the vehicle, waiting patiently for Aiden to return. Danny noticed the blood on Aiden’s collar when he returned, it made his stomach knot up. Aiden sighed as he got into the car and revved the engine, “How does fast food sound?” Mathew and Danny both looked at each other with excited looks.

The car started up again and Danny rested his head against the window, slowly closing his eyes. He was tired. He didn't know if it was from the blood loss or the immense pain he was in, but he could feel everything around him spinning. The thought of food made his stomach rumble.

“We’ll get your wound sorted in no time Darling, alright?” Danny nodded, soon remembering Aiden couldn't see him. “Y-yes sir, thank you.” He ended up drifting off on the way, he was exhausted, but he didn't have any good dreams, oh no no no. He hadn't had a good dream since- he didn't know…

But that didn't matter. What mattered was that he wasn't in the facility anymore, he was safe, and he had Mathew, what could go wrong?

---

Taglist:

@likeit-or-whumpit @milk-carton-whump @yesthisiswhump @as-a-matter-of-whump @appy-polly-loggies @happy-whumper (let me know if you want to be added or removed) <3

[sanstropfremir]

it's kingdom time for real!!! the first episode is here and mnet finally uploaded the stages from like a month ago so i can actually watch them more than once to review.

happy to see them all actually performing. not the most interesting stages overall, but it was the 100sec one-take so i wasn’t expecting anything crazy. like the performance stages, this is about what i expected at this point in the show.

ranking under the cut, i have Opinions(tm) and they are not all pretty.

(anyone that’s seeing this for the first time, i’m a trained performance designer with over 30 credits and a decade of experience, yes i can talk about this with authority)

a few general notes:

this type of stage that mnet has built is called a traverse, or alley, stage. named exactly for the reason you think. it’s characterized by a narrow playing space with audience on opposite sides, and two entrances on either end. so mnet had a pretty typical setup. there are some advantages to this type of stage:

because of the narrow stage space and usually smaller audience capacity, the performer and audience are in much closer proximity

because of the shape of the space, blocking (choreography but for not-dance) can travel well and be very dynamic

it’s uncommon outside of midsize/small productions so there’s some novelty for the casual theatre goer

however! there are some pitfalls with this type of stage. the hardest type of stage to work with is (theatre) in the round. theatre in the round is characterized by being....in the round. that means the audience is placed 360 degrees around the playing space. which means that they can see everything; every entrance, every exit, every performer’s back, 360 degree sightlines means there is nowhere to hide. and in a medium that relies on concealment to create magic, it’s a tough stage to work with. not saying it doesn’t work. some of the most incredible shows i’ve been to have been theatre in the round, but when you go to those type of shows, as an audience member you understand that there will be some scenes where you only see the actors’ backs. there is no perfect seat in the round. the reverse is true as well, the actors can only act to those in front of them. and like i stated previously, on the production end it becomes difficult to hide things like props/set/costume changes that you might have been able to in another type of theatre. why am i talking about theatre in the round? because traverse works on exactly the same principle. even though the audience is only on two sides, the same issues still arise. directionality is key: a director has to be careful of how exactly the stage gets blocked.

why am i talking about stage formats? because the space always informs the performance, that’s why. i think mnet made a sort of smart choice to build a traverse stage. since the ‘audience’ is a video camera, that eliminates the need to play to the opposing seating banks, and opens up more staging opportunities. it’s a fancy looking stage that does what they need it to. 

now here’s my gripes. if you’re going to specifically orient a stage so that it is by nature directional, why are you broadcasting in a format where direction doesn’t matter? if the camera has no fixed position, then you’ve just skipped directly into in the round staging without taking into account the function of the space. it's a round peg in a square hole; yes it fits, but you can see the spaces where it doesn’t quite match up. for a very obvious example, any shot that is not staring directly down the barrel of the stage from left or right has audience in it. and not enough to be worthy of a reaction shots (because those are just cut in in post), but enough to just be there. why would you do that when you could just.....not? just go properly in the round and then you wouldn’t have that distraction. especially when the audience is wearing white. also, there are only so many ways you can stage on a traverse, you’re pretty much limited to directional points on a compass, because there are literal risers in the way. because of the way most groups are choreographed, the member layouts lean more towards having the members in a line than they do layering the members deep. this configuration is fine on a proscenium stage (which is what most stages are), and would even be fine on a traverse stage if you were playing to the risers. you could even do some interesting choreo alterations. but! because mnet has decided that the camera is perpendicular to the risers, that means that most of the formations are not optimized for the stage dimensions and are in fact the opposite dimensions. most of these groups are doing their longest blocking across the shortest area of stage, which is dumb. although it isn't much of a problem because the stage is still very large, but it's still a bizarre choice on behalf of mnet. why would you not arrange the stage so you have more clearance for the camera, the audience, and also the performers? i would have to check back over the rtk performances, but im pretty sure at one point they switch to an in the round stage. why are you not doing that from the start? this would also allow for more built setpieces. although it does remain to be seen if they do switch after this episode, since this particular challenge was a one-take with minimal props/set pieces. which segues to my next point: these groups barely took up the parameters of the challenge, or utilized them effectively! this is also mnet’s fault, mnet if you say that you’re gonna do a one-take, don't cut between seven other cameras!! show us the power of that single point of view! let the groups actually do some interesting blocking with the path of the camera! there’s so many interesting things they could have done, but no!! had to be boring!! i know this is technically an introductory stage, but i also don't care. these groups have (relatively) competent ADs and stylists, they can think outside the box.

ok now here’s my actual rankings:

1. btob

sorry babies, none of you can match them vocally. love you ateez but you sure fucked up picking them to go after you because they blew you out of the fucking water. and everyone else, but ateez cumulatively is the weakest vocally. more on that later. like the performance stage they showcased their strengths and the experience (and training) shows. good use of the directional stage having three vs one that came together in the middle. loved the white suit variations, im especially a sucker for a belted suit jacket. loved peniel's gigantic trench and massive earrings, very mid 90s, his stylist definitely took a lesson in how to accessorize very short hair. always love good use of fog. uniform colour theme, all elements were there to support the vocals. no complaints, chef’s kiss.

2. ikon

hey baby groups? see bobby having fun? do that more. i know you think performance face is sexy and serious but none of you know how to act and you all look dead inside on stage. the lights may be on but nobody’s home. anyways. excellent beginning formation, excellent ending formation, no complicated position changes that make the camera give you motion sickness. fun choreo that they are obviously having fun performing, which goes sooooo far in the success of a performance. only group so far to use silence as an effective device, and the arrangement was interesting and suited to the song+performance. i think it was smart of them not to deploy bobby right away, although it would have been funny to watch after whatever it was that stray kids was trying to do. again, like btob and also sf9, sticking to their strengths. costumes fun and fitting, indicative of both the colour of the group and of the song. nice detail in the monochrome and the black accent details.

3. sf9

taeyang is that bitch and they only way this would have been better is if he had actually grabbed the ties of those two other members (if you think i am going to remember anyone's names other than the people i already know you are wrong). love the confidence to waste a good chunk of your 90 seconds for walking and standing in formation. actual good use of one-take directional camera, even though they ruined it once they started dancing. choreo perfectly fine, lighting good complementary colour scheme, costumes nothing to write home about, surprisingly good projection design? wasn’t expecting that. im not the biggest fan white suit jackets over black shirts but ill give it a pass for the proper suit accessorizing.

4. ateez

i applaud your dedication to the pirate gimmick but boys you don't need that anymore, i promise. hongjoong's lil bloody cough was a fun gag that didn't draw too much attention but fit with the theme. came out of the gate strong with an actual clear narrative, which can be a challenge to do in 100 seconds, and the only group to have a narrative. also actual camera choreo! that was interesting! mnet stop fucking cutting to overhead shots! apparently im destined to always be beefing with the ateez stylists because what was the point of all that? very little variation in texture or pattern on matte all black just made any relevant details disappear. torch gimmick and end formation fun, and the arrangement had an obvious climax. weird and kinda fun projection design, but not helped by concert-style stage lighting. pick one or the other lighting designer, don't make them fight like that! props to them for actually having their mics on the whole time, even though they are probably the weakest group vocally. im also going to be beefing with the choreographer because they are always making seonghwa sing while doing ridiculous moves that make him go offkey. ateez has some of the stronger 4th gen vocals, but they're at a disadvantage because a) none of them have proper vocal training, and b) their main vocal is not actually a skilled singer and is destroying his voice.not a lot of vocals for them to showcase this stage and that was probably for the best. hanya (@changdyke) is in charge of vocals critique and will have more to say about this than me, even though i am also trained. im just here to talk about the production.

5. the boyz

im neutral to positive on tbz because i did really like their danger stage from rtk. this performance is just....fine. I don’t like the arrangement, but that's mostly personal opinion. but it doesn't have a conclusive end and the whole dissonance thing isn't really working for me in this instance. the choreo is quite flippy and tricking is not necessary for an interesting choreo. i did like the throwback/use of modern choreo, i think that's a strong choice for them and it's not something that many other groups are doing, so they should stick more to that than to tricking. the camera choreo is also not good. here’s where the clearance issues and fighting against the stage layout happen! stop making a handheld do a 180! are you trying to make us motion sick? to be fair, this is not the most egregious one, but at least ateez got it right by having a person lead the camera in a particular pattern. also, what even is the theme here? leatherclad boys in the forest? nobody give me any shit saying it's based off one of their music videos or whatever, that shouldn't matter. there should be a clear theme that can be easily identified without prior knowledge of the group, especially when this is an introductory stage and they are a relatively young group. none of the other groups have this issue. that being said, at least the costumes were interesting to look at, although thematically confusing. good use of accessories, texture, and bedazzling to make the black stand out against the stage. the hands in front of the camera were kind of fun but didnt really mean anything? again, back to the lack of clear concept. i did like them reaching out to pull that member forward, it would have been better if they had just left it at that.

6. stray kids

the more i watch this the more i hate it. im not even sorry about it anymore. starters, and i will admit this upfront: i do not like most 4th gen music, so the spiderman meme groups are already operating on a deficit in my point of view. and i particularly did not like this arrangement. same as with tbz, why did it not have a conclusive end? also overuse of sound effects. and stop saying your fucking band name! the only musician that’s allowed to do that is jason derulo and thats because hes a meme now. but twice in 100 seconds? no. and what was the point of that logo/crown reveal? im tired of crown reveals we have seen them so many times by now, we don't need to see it again. was it meant to be that they were carving it into the ground?? very unclear. there was an attempt with camera choreo, and i will admit that the pan up and then back down to the ‘wolf pack’ was probably the strongest moment in the whole performance. the lights were in their mouths, by the way. however, the rest of the choreo is all over the map, quite literally. as with tbz there’s a lot of members in the group and so in order for everyone to get their screen time they break down into smaller groups, which i don't disagree with on principle, but here.........the breakdowns are just tricking, which although eyecatching, does not a very compelling or cohesive choreo make. even the unison choreo is weird, obviously its stylized horror but it just looks awkward and strange. you can make awkward/unattractive choreo work (see taemin’s want, or even move, to some extent)***, but skz doesn't have an ounce of the charisma that taemin has so it just looks awkward. also, that rapid switch between opposite sides of the stage? nausea inducing. ateez was the one with the pirate concept but skz apparently trying to make us seasick. im not gonna say anything about that rap other than it was bad, why was that allowed on stage. the sparkthrower was fun but that's like the 14th gimmick in this 100 second stage and that’s too many gimmicks. costumes are truly nothing to write home about, extremely unclear relation to the theme. if you're gonna be wolves then at least have some fur accents or something. the makeup effects were a bit over the top and not necessary in the actual performance. a hairdresser needs to thin out felix’s hair because he looks like he's wearing one of those lego hair helmets. oh, i did like that one guy’s shirt with the collarbone cutout, but again: how is that relevant to the theme? cmon people!!!! design the whole experience!! im sure there’s more i could write but holy shit this is long and im tired and also i don't want to watch this stage anymore.

ok im done. jesus this is long. again, this is just the intro stage so i suspect that some of my complaints will become null next week, but we’ll have to see! well, what i actually want to see is changmin insulting children but i’m not holding out hope for that to happen. hopefully we see some more spectacle-y stages and i can really go in.

***this is not me saying that taemin has a bad choreo that he’s making the best of. want is purposefully choreographed that way in order to showcase taemin’s ability. same with move. the point of want is that it IS awkward and should not be seductive or appealing and yet it still is. almost like....it’s in the name of the song or something.....

[flufflekiss]

TW: COVID19, anger, death.

I am livid right now.

Seeing people flexing about their comfy lives, posting how excited they are to stay home like it’s a vacation, “I need recs for activities to do because I will be sooOOo bored” and “omg being stuck inside is going to be aWfuL” chit chat, posting extravagant things they just bought, outfit shots with ‘lol all dressed up with no where to go cuz I’m bored at home thanks quarantine’, mocking and laughing at people who are ‘overreacting because it’s just the flu’...

For fucks sake. The audacity to not have a SHRED of delicacy and tact during a time like this. There is a difference between staying positive and trying to have good morale vs really letting your privilege show in the worst of ways.

I am watching people die where I live. I’m watching lives and vitality completely fall apart, with no hope, resources, or answers. I work in healthcare and the amount of fucked up shit I have seen in the last few weeks, in the state that has the worst outbreak in all of the US, is awful beyond what I can describe. I personally got sick with the virus due to my work and not having proper protection, and soon will be out of the job myself because my clinic cannot continue to operate if we cannot see patients- which then affects us being able to help people and adds to the already limited number of resources patients have right now. Our medical system/options and economy cannot support this outbreak. Almost everyone I know got laid off or they are being forced to keep working in at risk jobs and putting their health (and everyone else’s) at risk, without proper protective equipment due to the instant supply shortages that are compounded by assholes who buy it all up and scalp it for a quick buck. People are afraid for their lives, afraid to leave the house if they are elderly and immune compromised when they cannot easily get basic necessities. Business owners are putting their businesses profits above people’s health and safety, and the wealthy/powerful/government is putting their wealth above people and businesses. People who get sick can’t get tested. People who get sick can’t afford insurance. People who get sick can’t go anywhere because no one is allowing them in to their facilities. People are getting dragged through the mud and then laid off. People who thought they had some semblance of job security just had everything evaporate into thin air. People can’t go to work because schools are closed and they can’t pay someone to watch their children. People who live paycheck to paycheck and now get literally nothing with the joke of what Unemployment pays. There is no relief or security. No one has any concrete hope as they use up all their PTO/savings, and brace themselves for a crash or horrible recession. People are panicking that they are going to be robbed with no help because everything is stretched so thin. People are hoarding so no one can get essentials they need. Looting and guns are a very real fear. Everyone feels like they are on a foundation that is crumbling or the do not have resources to protect them financially nor from this virus. And if you get sick, you are not welcome anywhere because no one knows how to handle this virus and before you know it, your friends and family are DEAD and possibly because of you giving it to them without realizing.

And that is just my state. It is so, so much worse in many other countries.

Just because it hasn’t hit like this where you live doesn’t mean it is ok to be so willfully ignorant. It is sick seeing how many people are turning a blind eye to this or making light of a situation that is. fucking. serious. Throwing out complaints on social media like ‘boohoo I have to be home for a few weeks in my comfy house where I have food and entertainment and don’t have to worry about finances’ or ‘boohoo I have so much free time now I’m bored’ or ‘boohoo these trivial things in my life are not going perfectly’ or ‘lol here’s a photo of my new games I bought to play while home for two weeks’ when their lives are not affected at all, health wise or financially, is sickening while all this other shit is going on in the rest of the world. I am beyond disgusted. That energy could go towards trying to help others whose lives are falling apart and trying to make a positive difference any way possible. But no, who cares about anyone else, right? 

Please, just a scrap of consideration to others right now who are losing everything and/or their lives. Donate to sources that are trying to help people, especially medically and financially. If money is not an option, do something with your time: try to be a voice asking for change and gathering support for those affected and using your social media platform for that, instead of complaints about minor inconveniences or humblebragging and letting your unaffected privileged life show so strongly. People are losing everything, have little help and few options, and feel helpless and hopeless. Consideration and helping one another should be the priority right now and should be on the forefront of thoughts and conversation.

[offtothepictures]

mamma mia! (2008) - part 1

mamma mia! is a musical starring meryl streep and amanda seyfried (post-mean girls but pre-les mis), in which seyfried’s character sophie discovers she has three potential dads and invites all three of them to her wedding on an idyllic greek island. got all that? and the best and DEFINITELY most important aspect? it’s allllll ABBA songs baby. talk about culture clash (1970s sweden vs 2008 greece? actually we’ll come to the 2008 part later). it’s cheesy and raucous and loud and sweet and an utter riot of joy, and the only musical my best friend actually doesn’t hate. and his excuse for hating musicals is that they’re cheesy so i think someone needs to work on their argument.

hi everyone! so love island has finished, i’ve just got back from holiday to torrential rain – thanks england – and meryl streep owns my ass, so before i go and see mamma mia! here we go again a gazillion more times (and meet the director AGHHHHH yes that’s actually happening) i’m gonna review the first one! bear in mind that i’ve seen this film literally 100 million times please. i can’t actually stress how much i adore this film and it’s my comfort film that i watch when I’m sad or ill or tired or bored in history. i’ll pick holes in the technical aspects of it but just know that i would die for this film. got it? lets go.

visually, it’s a pretty film. nothing toooo wild or groundbreaking (like florals for spring) but it’s saturated and dusty and bright and 100% suits the tone and setting of the film. it also has a softness and realness to it that i feel we don’t get anymore from hollywood in 2018 – if a film isn’t crisp and chockablock with cgi and visual effects, then it’s not making bank, and that includes you, new mamma mia. from a glance at this film, you know it’s set in the mediterranean. also the faded and bright quality of the film evoke some of the 70s imagery, not only of ABBA but of donna’s (meryl streep) past.

the costumes are also gorgeous and so camp and bright and cheesy! mamma mia! knows what film it is and keeps itself campy and cheesy without skimping on quality, and this is especially prevalent in the disco costumes, particularly super trouper and the end credits (which are oscar worthy in themselves lets be honest)

so I know it was originally a west end musical and having source material makes screenwriting easier, but i love the way the songs are worked in. nothing feels forced and once again, the crew didn’t have to compromise on quality by changing most of the words, which is a relief to the avid ABBA fan. and yes, this is a complaint i’ll revisit in my mamma mia! here we go again review.

why does sophie go post her letters on the mainland at midnight? did she sneak out? didn’t donna or sky question this?

also this will come up again a bit later but why do they have to shoot night scenes during the day and then try to colour correct? It’s just PAINFUL. can’t y’all shoot at night? jesus. also this is my theory as to why they cut the name of the game later in the film with bill and sophie – because it looked like shite!!!

this is EVIDENTLY SHOT DURING THE DAY CAN’T Y’ALL EVEN TRY?! THAT IS FUCKING SUNLIGHT BUT I GUESS MAYBE I’M WRONG AND THAT’S NOT HOW LIGHT WORKS

I ALWAYS THOUGHT THE SONG WAS “I’M TALL I’M TALL I’M TINY” BUT I GUESS I’M WRONG also i love that being ‘tough’ is this scottish girl’s quantifier in her friendship group. is that racist? smh mamma mia u ain’t woke

you know what isn’t fucking mentioned once in mamma mia 2? (yes i am already sick of typing out the whole damn name so this is what you get) BILL’S ICONIC EYE TATTOOS. okay butch count olaf i see u sweetie

did they hire christine baranski before or after this line was written? because either way that’s…………. savage

this is 1000000% a whole ass reach but is sophie wearing three little stars on her necklace to represent her dads? Because that’s some adorable shit right there

this is still the coolest scene transition ever imo

okay why have they got sophie doing these anime-ass gasps when she sees her dads for the first time lmao

QUESTION: how did sophie meet her two friends? did they stay on the island? this IS a question i’ll be asking director of mamma mia! here we go again ol parker when i see him in two weeks. also WHERE ARE THEY IN THE SECOND MOVIE FFS

and on that note how does sophie know sky?

sooooo this film is supposedly set in 2000? if sophie is born in 1980 according to the second mamma mia film…… so sky is setting up a website for donna in 2000? i did some research trying to trip the film up for not actually being set in 2000 when it was released but i can’t find anything incriminating. just know….. that i know the truth. you can’t hide from me phyllida lloyd.

Is aunt sophia dead?

the guy who hits on tanya does have a name and it is pepper. i was initially wondering why it wasn’t mentioned in the film but now i guess i know why. also it is shouted at him at some point in the second act but i guess i just thought they were….. hurling abuse?? idk

the level of innuendo in this film that completely went over my head as an 8-year-old is unreal

also shoutout to my friend hannah for not realising harry is gay even though he basically says it. and makes out with a dude. and sings take a chance on me to him which is honestly the most convincing part. love you han x

harry’s greek boyfriend is actually called petros or smth but he looks like a fabio so we’re calling him fabio

okay here’s where we’ll leave part 1!! keep ya peepuhs peeled (not ya noggin. god that’s quite the reference) for part 2!!

[fatlarde]

we’re out of filet sliders and i always mention this to all my tables but i forgot to do it this ONE TIME and of course they both wanted them sooooo bad and i was like ‘ i am so sorry; i forgot to mention that we are out of that item currently. can i suggest something else for u?” and they were like “WOW! that’s just great :) What was your name again?” and i was like r u fucking serious ur gonna lodge a complaint against me bc of this shit lmao and i was like ‘my name is michelle. if i can’t help you, a manager can.’ bc i was sick of customer shit today bc literally the table right NEXT to them was angry that they couldn’t read the menu bc the print was too small (obviously my fault) and when i suggested they use the QR codes to view the menu online to magnify to their comfort bc we dont have more accessible menus they were like ‘thats annoying to do’ (also my fault <3) and then they basically had me read every fucking menu item to them not all at once but in stages starting w my recommendations and everything sounded unappetizing (also my fault <3) and then they proceeded to ask me about shit that we clearly dont fucking have ‘well i want mahi mahi entree with potatoes or something’ yup we dont have that sorry . ‘well ribeye then’ we literally are not a steakhouse we dont have that ‘well then i want some kind of  other fish’ we have salmon ‘ew i dont want salmon ew’ (my fault that u hate salmon and also that we dont carry anything that we dont list on the fucking menu <3) they ended up ordering fish tacos, told me htey were good, and once they were done eating, they said ‘these were disgusting i wouldnt feed this to my dog’ so which is it u stupid fuck.. i had enough i was like ‘ok so when i checked in, you said it was good. now u are saying it is bad. which is it’ and he was like ‘ITS BAD’ so i was like ‘ok so u were being untruthful earlier’ and he was like ‘I  AM NOT A LIAR’ and i wasl ike .........ok..........so anyway u ate all of it so i can’t do anything and he was like ‘im not trying to get anything for free’ ill kill you