#a lot of his shit is performative or self-serving

[reikunrei]

"we'll fix it together. okay?" and then the only time we see el fixing the diorama, she's doing it by herself while will sits at the kitchen table nudging at his breakfast

[yyokkki]

Riddle Rosehearts

A former city boy who ran away from home after refusing to become a doctor like his mother was.

Actually works as a lawyer at a small firm in the nearest town. He commutes by car and it's only a 30 minute drive with minimal traffic (thank god cuz his road rage is abysmal) but he works remotely on most days.

Is often found at the town saloon (the community centre after you fix it!) holding tea parties with Trey, Cater, Ace and Deuce or at the local library.

Loved Gifts: Strawberry Tart, Fairy Rose, Ruby, Universal Loves

"...Oh! Ahem, thank you farmer. Expect a return gift in the mail soon."

Hated Gifts: Eel, Clay, Royal Sword Cola, Universal Hates

"Ugh! This is unacceptable!"

Trey Clover

The local baker! His family runs a bakery in the city and he moved to NRV on his own to open another branch of Clover's Confectionaries.

He says the fertile soil and rich foragables make it the perfect place to gather ingredients on his own.

Rumour has it he runs a backdoor business for specialty toothpastes.

Is often found at the town saloon serving his pastries for Riddle's parties or at his bakery tending to his mini garden at the back.

Loved Gifts: Limestone, Pearl, Candied Violets, Universal Loves

"Thanks farmer! How did you know I needed this? ...I don't owe you anything, right?"

For Limestone and Pearl: "This is perfect! Now, to extract the calcium carbonate..." (Yes, for toothpaste)

Hated Gifts: Broken Glasses, Mustard, Universal Hates

"Oh... Uh... Thanks?"

Cater Diamond

A social media influencer and former travel blogger.

Used to travel a lot but decided to settle at NRV. He claims it's because the scenery and people are 'cute'.

Occasionally will go to the city with Kalim and Lilia to perform and hold concerts.

Is in a band with Kalim and Lilia, plays the guitar.

Is often found at the town saloon with Riddle, Trey, Ace and Deuce or in the town square chatting up the other residents.

Loved Gifts: Spicy Ramen, Diamond, Universal Loves

"Aww, you shouldn't have! #lucky #cutefarmer"

Hated Gifts: Anything Sweet, Clay, Universal Hates

"Aww, thanks but no thanks. #lame"

Ace Trappola

The local carpenter! Stays at Night Raven Valley with his older brother who he learned all his tricks from (bad and good).

Loves causing trouble and playing harmless pranks on the other residents (Deuce is his biggest victim), good at magic tricks too.

Plays basketball on sunny Saturdays with Jamil and Floyd.

The first character you meet, who was assigned with fixing up Ramshackle Farm. Shit talks your farm right to your face and holds no remorse.

Is often found at the town saloon at Riddle's tea parties or at the back on the arcade machines.

Loved Gifts: Cherry Pie, Cherry, Royal Sword Cola, Universal Loves

"Dwoes the wittle farmer have a crush on me~ Ack, I'm kidding!"

Hated Gifts: Clay, Oyster, Universal Hates

"Gross! Do you hate me or something??"

Deuce Spade

The local mechanic/handyman! He's self taught and lives with his mom, Dylla Spade who handles the deliveries in town.

Used to be a delinquent but has since turned a new leaf.

His passion project is modding the hell out of his motorcycle and hitting the roads.

Goes on runs with Jack every sunny Wednesday.

Volunteers at the Adventurer's Guild and takes requests from the board for security as his goal is to become a full time officer in the future.

Is often found at the town saloon at Riddle's tea parties or at the back getting obliterated by Ace in Junimo Cart.

Loved Gifts: All Eggs (Except Void Egg), Omelette, Battery Pack, Universal Loves

"Farmer! I knew you were a real one!"

For Battery Pack: "Thanks dude! I needed this for the finishing touches..."

Hated Gifts: Void Egg, Juice (He drinks it, it just reminds him of Ace), Bell Pepper, Universal Hates

"Hah? Oh, I thought you were pickin' a fight..."

---

TWST x SDV Masterlist

Tag List (Interact with the linked post to be tagged in future updates mwah)

[angelflms]

Cobra Kai has a tone-deaf problem.

Now, I am a Black woman so all of my observations are through the lenses of that. You can critique my words all you want, but don't be disrespectful because I will be equally as disrespectful in the replies.

I have this phenomenon that I've noticed for a lot of shows I have watched that I call "The Leo Dooley effect," inspired by character from the Disney XD show Lab Rats, where the main character, a POC who set the tone for the whole story, is surrounded by a white ensemble cast that slowly but surely pushes that character aside to serve their purpose.

Cobra Kai does the same thing with Miguel Diaz, as he seems to be the sole reason why any of these things on the show are happening (for better or for worse) and gets one of the worst character driven storylines throughout the series post-coma (I rewrote his story on my blog. Go find it under the Miguel or Xolo hashtags) to further make the show The Robby Show (we'll get into the tone-deaf writing of his character this past season in a minute). He becomes a shell of a character, empty, boring, and in the sidelines all up until the final season, where the writers seem to remember *snaps fingers* oh shit, Miguel's one of our protagonists, and writes an okay story for him. Better than his s5 plot, but not as good as the stuff we got in s1, 2, and the last half of 3 and 4.

Now, s6 has him in his true prime (not in the way people claimed he was in the past seasons). He's got a clear mind, he's goals-oriented, you wouldn't even be able to tell that this kid was paralyzed from the waist down a year ago (in-universe time). However, he's out-performing everyone, was single-handedly saving his team, and it wasn't even enough for Johnny. It was very interesting to watch as People of Color, especially Black and Brown people, tend to have to go above and beyond to prove that we're the shit, but it'll never amount to anything if our white associates (minus Devon in this case - more on her later) aren't doing anything. But the second they do, everyone is getting praised. Miguel knocked his opponent out in forty seconds. FORTY SECONDS. But because the team wasn't doing good overall, he got no attention. I know that feeling all too well and it sucks.

As much as I thought Johnny's "Miguel is our anchor" line was powerful, it also didn't at the same time. The Magical Negro is such an annoying stereotype, as well as the Strong Black Woman/Man, and the Brown and Asian variations that come with it.

Miguel is the Brown equivalent of the Magical Negro, trying to tell the white Johnny what's right and wrong. Teaching him what's okay to say and what's not, despite Johnny being grown enough to probably understand shit on his own. He basically is teaching Johnny in a sense despite the fact that it should be the other way around. And I know that's a typical mentor/mentee thing trope but with how the show goes out of its way to show how self aware of modern problems it is, it's hella tone-deaf.

In terms of the Strong Black Man trope (or in this case Brown), Miguel isn't always strong. He breaks down and cries pretty often but it's viewed by the fandom as annoying, weak, and pathetic, as well as not manly which pisses me all the way off because every time he gets emotional, it's with valid reason. Losing his girlfriend (both times), finding out he's paralyzed, apologizing for running away, his mom possibly dying, not getting into Stanford (tho this would've had more of a punch if Stanford actually mattered but it doesn't whatever). Also, he's a 16/17 year old Brown kid in poverty who was embarrassingly bullied MULTIPLE TIMES. You're telling me you didn't cry as a kid? But when Robby cries every once in a while (which is also equally as valid because he was also a kid in poverty who was bullied), everyone holds his hand and says "it's okay."

"He's our anchor." It just sounds so off to me. Like has to be the one to help everyone else, when you have two Captains who can do the exact same thing. We as POCs have to be the ones to hold down the fort and keep things steady on our backs while white people can settle for mediocrity and not have to do to much because "hey, the POCs got us." It's just like that "if you're in danger, find a Black woman" thing. Because we're expected to be the ones to save y'all when y'all are in trouble. But when the roles reverse, we're expected to save ourselves because we're strong. Y'all don't like it when Miguel isn't emotionally or physically tough because y'all expect him to push through since he's the main character, but it also feels like he's expected to push through because he's a Brown boy in poverty so he's been through enough.

Tory's "we have to fight to get a spot in life" speech was well performed by Peyton List but it felt strange to see a white woman explain privilege to a Brown boy who has less privilege in comparison to her. I have always had a problem with that scene and I never won't have an issue with it.

Moving on to Kenny. Kenny is the only Black character of current time to be in the ensemble. Aisha was on the show but left ofc. Kenny, like Miguel was brutally picked on, primarily by white kids, especially by white rich boy Anthony LaRusso. In the fandom Anthony tends to be the more favored overall. Kenny is primarily favored on the Black side of the fandom (much like Miguel). Similar to Miguel, there was a moment in s6 part two that may have not been intentional but in my eyes, felt very racially targeted.

Hawk and Demetri were very skeptical towards Kenny because they assumed that he was working with Silver despite the fact that Kenny didn't even want to do the Sekai Tekai to begin with after he became publicly bullied again. During a round of tag-teamed fighting, the boys refused to let Kenny in, causing them to lose the round due to Robby not being prepared to be tagged in (he thought they were gonna tag Kenny). Kenny gets mad, rightfully so but the boys didn't back down on their theory (the only reason this theory was even a thing was because they say Kenny and Silver talking and assumed the worst). It took the team's "anchor" to give Robby a pep talk to lead and the others will follow (you know, something a Captain should already know) for Kenny to get the attention he deserves. And then Hawk and Demetri finally accept Kenny. All because the white guy said "hey, we should tag him in."

That sounds so off in so many ways.

It wasn't intentional, I know. But the fact that this was something that happened and the boys didn't even apologize to Kenny after for the assumptions they made only furthers my point on how tone deaf this show can get. Amanda, Miguel, and Robby are literally the only people who see Kenny as more than just a Silver puppet and it sucks because Hawk and Demetri were in the same spot as Kenny once upon a time.

And then there's Devon, the overworking, overwhelmed Asian girlie who tries her hardest to seek validation and gets overlooked. Similar to Miguel in this new part, Devon got ignored badly in the first part. It was so bad that she cheated to get into the Sekai Tekai and got her ass handed to her. And like Miguel, it takes her to have to explain to her white sensei that she's being ignored for him for her to be taken seriously. She's not the best fighter by any means but I thought we were done with this Asian stereotype years ago. And the way Sam talked to her after literally celebrating her victory with all smiles and everything in the first part??? Like it felt so fake as hell.

Finally, Robby. Robby is written well, we all know that. But this shit that they did to him in the second part pissed me off, especially since it's not gonna get addressed apparently. So Robby gets drunk at a bar and basically follows Zara back to her hotel room. Next time we see them, he's disoriented, and she's kissing him. I'm sorry, but that's sexual assault, yes? Robby was drunk and didn't remember anything. So that's her taking advantage of him, yes? Well the creator apparently doesn't think so and is saying that Robby made a mistake and that the interaction won't be talked about next part.

Bitch, Robby is a VICTIM.

Zara sexually assaulted him. Just because he's a man doesn't change the fact that the man got taken advantage of by Zara.

Like did we watch the same scene?

This show has so many problems and I feel like since it's a show about fighting no one cares. But as a Black woman, I see this shit and in between the lines, there's so many issues that won't even get fixed because the show is over.

[kopykunoichi]

Elias, Chise, and Ruth (Part 1)

I have been giving a lot of thought to the dynamic between these three. We can all see how much their relationship has grown, and how they’ve bonded so much with each other. But I’ve just rewatched the anime and now I’m reading the manga along with it, and I’m catching things I missed before….like how Elias almost ate Chise because he was overcome with jealousy over Ruth. There is so much to unpack in chapters ten through fourteen, it’s hard to focus on just one thing, but for right now, I’m going to just dissect what is happening between the three of them over these four chapters.

So, chapter nine starts out with Elias giving Chise the ring from Angie, and Angie reminding her to put it on the index finger of her right hand, and that it was much too soon to be thinking about putting any rings on her left ring finger. This gets Chise thinking about Elias’ proposal to make her his bride, which he hasn’t brought up in some time. 

They are on their way to deal with the black dog issue for the church. On the way, Elias mentions that he wants Chise to obtain a familiar as soon as possible. He explains that familiars are servants who live off their master's magic and perform tasks in return. Elias really just wants someone who will tell him when Chise's about to keel over, because at the rate she burns through magic, she's going to croak on him within the year. Elias views a familiar as another stopgap measure to help keep her alive until he can figure out a permanent solution to keeping her healthy so she really can be his "forever" person.

Careful what you wish for, buddy.

They arrive at the church and Elias goes off to talk to the groundskeeper while Chise decides to wander around in a creepy cemetery, alone. It takes about five seconds for her to attract a very evil spirit, from which Ulysse (I’m just going to call him Ruth from now on) promptly - and dashingly - saves her. 

Then, in chapter ten, when Alice shows up to try to acquire Ruth to get Josef off Renfred’s back, Chise in turn protects him. This sparks a conversation between the two girls about their masters, and Alice has no problem admitting how much she loves and is devoted to Renfred…which sparks Chise beginning to wonder how much she feels for Elias. The chapter ends with Josef showing up and trying to kill Alice to silence her, but his chimera ends up impaling Chise instead. 

And Elias straight up loses his shit.

Chapter eleven kicks off with Elias dismantling Josef’s chimera in a very efficient, if not messy display of raw power. Alice watches in horror, recalling how Renfred once described Elias as a half-baked monster who liked to play at being human. She observes that he’s no half-baked monster - he’s ALL monster - and he could *never* be human. Her internal thoughts serve to give voice to Elias’ greatest fear, that he’ll never be human. Meanwhile, Ruth is tending to Chise, who is - to everyone’s surprise - not dead. 

Josef asks Elias, “What are you getting so angry for? I’m sorry I mucked up your experiment, okay? But one human is as good as another. I thought they were practically insects to you. Go get a new one if you have to. No big deal–”

And just as Elias is about to turn on the little creep - obviously, he’s angry because Chise is *not* just an experiment to him and he cares for her a great deal - Chise stops him by throwing her arms around him. He is surprised to see that she’s fine. She holds onto him, but then he realizes what form he’s in and says that he must frighten her. He tells her to let go so he can change back, and he does so with no issues.

Pause. This is important, because he later claims that he has issues controlling his form because he hasn't used it in so long. But in the moment, he reverts back to his "human" self easily; and later he even maintains that form in battle while allowing a piece of shadow to detach from himself and shield Renfred and Alice from Josef's attacks. He doesn't seem to be struggling to maintain the form whatsoever.

Unpause. Elias is clearly touched that Chise is unafraid of him, even in the form of a massive nightmarish shadow being. They have a moment and he brushes his face against hers. Immediately, Ruth shows up and grabs hold of her sleeve.

We watch this scene play out through Renfred’s eyes, who is watching a human girl holding onto the sleeve of a monster man, while a very attractive young man is holding onto her. They are literally standing in a triangle. Renfred thinks to himself, “Well, no accounting for taste.” We, the audience, are clearly meant to pick up on the fact that this looks like a love triangle.

Josef recovers and reiterates his desire to take Ruth. Chise is not having it. Chapter twelve begins with her ready to rain down every bit of magical power she has to stop him. Elias stops her before things get too dire, but everyone can see how serious she is about protecting Ruth.

After they are transported by the Will o’ the Wisp, Chise breaks down in Elias’ arms and apologizes for not listening to him. He tells her it’s alright, and she just needs to be more careful. Then he gives her her first “kiss” from him, in the form of a nuzzle. Since Elias doesn’t have lips, he considers rubbing the side of his face or his teeth against her cheek to be his best approximation of a kiss. 

Then the Will o’ the Wisp explains to Ruth what he is; a church grim whose job it is to chase grave robbers away. He tells Chise he doesn’t want to be an experiment or a church grim, he’d rather be with her forever. The Wisp is incensed, claiming that Ruth's a fool. Even if she’s a sleigh beggy, it’s beneath a fae to beg to be bound to a human. Chise is confused, so Elias explains that to be bound with a fae is “an unspeakably powerful tie - a promise the two make to share themselves wholly with each other. And I do mean wholly - senses, feelings, power…even their time.” He tells her that because Ruth is a fae, he won’t die. But if he binds himself to her, he will limit his lifespan to be the same as hers. 

At first, Chise refuses to do that to him, but Ruth begs her, saying he doesn’t want to spend eternity waiting for his sister, Isabel. In the anime, Elias repeats that Chise binding herself to Ruth will eventually cost Ruth his life. He is clearly trying to dissuade her. But Chise hugs Ruth and replies, “It’s okay. I know how it feels…to not want to be alone anymore.”

As they begin the binding ritual, we see Elias watching the two of them speak their vows. Ruth turns back into his human form, pressing his forehead to Chise’s and interlacing their fingers. When it’s done, he says to her, “I’ll be at your side forever now, Chise. Give me a new name for the new me.”

FULL STOP

Look at him.

We know that Elias has a limited understanding of what marriage is. I believe he does understand what humans do in order to make more of themselves, but he doesn't seem focused on that for his own relationship with Chise (perhaps because he's not even equipped for sexual intimacy or he thinks sex is only for the purpose of procreation). In either case, Elias thinks that a bride is someone you live with who spends the rest of their life with you, being your partner, sharing their thoughts and feelings and emotions. He just heard Chise say that she knows how it feels to not want to be alone anymore. In the English dub of the anime, she straight up says “It’s okay. I don’t want to be alone anymore either. And now we don’t have to be.” And then the scene rests on Elias for a good three seconds. To him, all he’s hearing is that he’s not enough for her. She has him, but she’s still lonely. He gave her his home and everything he had and he wanted for her to be his special someone - his forever person…and she just gave herself body and soul to a faerie man she met an hour ago. He wanted her to have a familiar, but he was not expecting her to go this far. 

He just watched Chise give Ruth everything he wanted them to be. He’s hurting so much, and he knows why, but he doesn’t know the name of this feeling yet. He loves her, but like an emotionally immature child, that love is insecure and prone to jealousy. To make matters worse, he’s just transformed in front of her for the first time, revealing his monstrous form…the one that, at one time, ate humans. Elias, like the fae, has several forms, but none of his has a human face. He has to use spells to make himself appear human, but it’s not a true form. Ruth, on the other hand, has two forms - a beast form and a handsome human form. He looks very right standing there next to Chise, protecting her, holding onto her. When Elias imagined Chise getting a familiar, he was probably thinking an aerial or a cute little pixie, not a handsome man who is even *more* touchy feely than Elias is. The child of thorns is understandably feeling inadequate and jealous, but he’s nowhere near to identifying the name of these feelings. But they are dark and they are consuming him and they are drawing him down a path he hasn’t trod in a long time.

When Josef retreats, the Wisp ushers the souls that comprised the chimera back into the cycle. More on this later, but he very specifically says that even artificial beings have souls, in their own way. You can see the souls of Isabel and the animal ingredients separating out and being carried away. If Elias is a chimera, as is heavily implied in these chapters, he has at least one fae soul, a human soul, and animal souls within him. This will be important to this discussion later, which is why I mention it here. 

Elias absolutely insists on carrying the injured Chise back home. Chise beckons Ruth to join them, and he reaffirms his namesake by telling her that where she goes he will go and her home will be his home. Right after he says that in the anime, we see Elias’ back begin to lose its form as the shadows struggle to break free…

Part 2 Here

[napoleonic-sexyman-tournament]

Propaganda Under the Cut

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas:

a. “mustache” b. “Tall! Daring! Swashbuckling! A devoted husband and father! Had a personal conflict with Napoleon! Also it was said he could, while holding onto a bar above his head, LIFT A HORSE WITH HIS THIGHS. How is he not on this list ten times already! Vote for General Dumas!” c. “He was so hot that he inspired The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and many more books that his son, Alexandre Dumas, wrote. He definitely looked the part of a sexyman, as he son recounts in his memoirs: "My father, as already stated, was twenty-four, and as handsome a young fellow as could be found anywhere. His complexion was dark, his eyes of a rich chestnut colour […]. His teeth were white, his lips mobile, his neck well set on his powerful shoulders, and, in spite of his height of five feet nine inches, he had the hands and feet of a woman. These feet were the envy of his mistresses, whose shoes he was very rarely able to put on." He could crush you between his thighs: "His free colonial life had developed his strength and prowess to an extraordinary degree; he was a veritable American horse-lad, a cowboy. His skill with gun or pistol was the envy of St. Georges and Junot. And his muscular strength became a proverb in the army. More than once he amused himself in the riding-school by passing under a beam, and lifting his horse between his legs." He was so badass he could beat 13 men with 4 and take all the enemy prisoner, and defend against hundreds of men on a bridge by himself. He performed these acts of valour numerous times in Italy. He was so formidable that the Austrians named him the "Schwartz Teufel", or the Black Devil, and his feat at the bridge earned him the moniker of "Horatius Cocles of Tyrol". He wasn't afraid to stand up to his morals and protest against unfair treatment. When unjust executions by the guillotine were happening outside his quarters, he closed the blinds of his curtains, earning him the nickname "Mr. Humanity". When in the Vendée, he complained about the wanton indiscipline in his troops. When in Italy, Berthier wrongly reported his actions as one of "observation" in St. Antonio. Dumas wrote to General Bonaparte that if Berthier was in the same position, he would have shit his pants. Dumas abhorred plunder, never exhorted the locals, and ordered the Directory agent who had come to persuade him otherwise be shot if he dared present himself to Dumas again. Integrity and a sense of moral justice is sexy, mark my words. For Dumas' final qualifier as a sexyman, look no further than this Tumblr heritage post (https://www.tumblr.com/petermorwood/133803437020/hortensevanuppity-elodieunderglass), with 300,000 notes and counting. And I quote: "- daddy general dumas was an immense fierce french warrior who was a 6 foot plus, stunningly gorgeous and charismatic Black gentleman - he invaded egypt - the native egyptians said “is this napoleon? this must be napoleon. we for one welcome our majestic new overlord” - then napoleon showed up - napoleon has all the presence of yesterday’s plain Tesco hummus - the native egyptians were like “… no… no, we’ve thought very hard and we’ll have General Dumas actually” - this did not make napoleon happy - in fact it made him jealous - napoleon felt so emasculated that he launched a campaign of revenge against General Dumas, including taking away his pension, that probably inspired a lot of Alexandre’s rather satisfying scenes in which fathers are nobly avenged and the money-grubbing villains are rubbed in the mud" I rest my case. Tl;dr: He was so hot he inspired multiple books, he was a stronk man who could crush you between his thighs or carry you like a sack of potatoes, and he was so badass that he could take on odds of 1 to 3. He had a foul mouth but a heart of gold and his actions were never self-serving. Posts relating to him on Tumblr have had 300,000 notes and counting. He is qualitatively and quantitatively qualified to be a sexyman.”

Jack Aubrey:

a. “Lucky Jack is a UNIT. loves his crew, loves his ship, loves his bf, loves music. JACKED and also pretty hair (his other nickname is Goldilocks). Once played by Russell Crowe”

[setmeatopthepyre]

this season had so so so much potential, there were so many interesting plotlines and seeds for cool stuff that could happen and there were a couple of really good moments that I really loved but there was a lot of wasted potential. it really felt like a ton of good ideas that didn't got to shine as much as they could have because of (I'm guessing?) messy production behind the scenes (?).

I think one thing is that they tried to cram too much into one season and it made for story arcs not getting the room they needed to really breathe, and then unsatisfying storylines being thrown in. like if you squinted you could see how shit could have played out really well, but then they sort of... seemed to forget about the seeds they'd been planting and dropped them again? for example, Gerrard suddenly being nice, and it is suggested in the previous episode that it's because there's performance reviews coming up. that makes sense! it was a funny reveal! they could've done something fun with that! except this last episode, it's explained by hotshots getting renewed for another season. which. also makes sense but then the performance review thing doesn't seem relevant anymore, so it's like they thought of a joke for the last episode, and then they wanted to throw in a fun little meta joke about the show getting renewed and they just. went with both? but both doesn't work, because then it just feels like they forgot what happened the episode before.

and at the same time there seemed to be callbacks all over the place, which feel like they're building towards something, but didn't really get any sort of resolution this season so I'm left wondering if they were callbacks that served a narrative purpose, or if the writers just really thought they were clever sprinkling in some references.

which isn't to say I disliked this season. there were some really stellar moments. there was amazing acting. I love how the writing didn't shy away from dark themes and shaking things up - but I do wish it didn't all get wrapped up neatly with a bow at the end (with some notable exceptions - but the Wilsons officially adopting Mara deserved more time!). I loved how naturally the finale built towards Chim potentially becoming captain, how you could see the seed being planted. the progression for that felt natural and good, even if his speech ran a little long. I loved the episodes that were a little more self-contained, like the halloween ep. the contagion two-parter was really good. I really enjoyed Eddie's scenes in el paso. I loved the throughline of Buck baking and I love that the show actually remembered to keep that up, and I love that the hookup + morning after scenes got the space they needed to breathe and really have an impact. the cinematography was fucking amazing. I hope they lean into the good parts some more next season, and that they figure out whatever was making shit sloppy behind the scenes as well.

[ryntaia]

Caroline and Justine -- "In the End, Your Wishes Became One"

So I don't know if this has been talked about -- I'm sure it HAS, P5 vanilla released almost a decade ago now -- but I haven't seen anyone talk about it so I want to talk about it I guess? Just indulge my fandom nonsense, loves. And don't worry this isn't some 'Caroline and Justine bad' post. Ha ha jokes on you this is a Joker and Akechi post!

Oh yeah and uh, spoilers. Proceed with caution. For as much as you can spoil yourself for a game released in like 2016. And prepare yourself for some high octane fandom dorkiness. I'm afraid Persona happens to be where I get the most over the top.

So something interesting I noticed about Justine and Caroline is that thematically, in relation to the main story, they essentially act as companions to the rigged game being performed by Yaldabaoth. I mean, duh, right. Obviously they were split to make Lavenza more compliant to his whim, but it's interesting how their personalities turned out when this happened. One is more quiet and restrained. One is openly tsundere and aggressive.

So...it's not just me thinking that this is meant to be an allegory to Joker and Akechi, right? The two extremes chosen for the rigged game performed by Yaldabaoth? Literally the opposites meant to go against each other to decide the fate of humanity in a game rigged against it? One just happens to be quieter and takes their time to think about things and ask questions, while the other is excessively aggressive, proud, and masking the self while barreling forward without reasonable questions?

Now these are obviously extreme interpretations of the characters in question. Joker is a bit more forward and bold than Justine could ever hope to be, and Akechi is considerably better at masking his disdain and spite in comparison to Caroline. But I think it's worth putting into account that Justine and Caroline are purposely presented as incomplete. They were torn apart to serve the purposes of a callous God, and needed to work as one in order to defy that purpose. Wait SHIT--

"In the end, your wishes became one."

Yeah.

I guess they did.

Even in the most literal sense.

Now obviously this is all headcanon and speculation but I do think that Persona 5 was made with the details in mind. I don't think there being two Velvet Attendants was an accident, nor do I think it's an accident that they just happen to correlate with the 'thesis and antithesis' characters as presented in the story as a whole. There's a lot of casual drop references to their roles in the overarching story all over the place--to all the cast, really.

Also I'm not claiming this correlates with any actual story beat--I'm quite sure it does not. Though I could be forgetting something. It's a rather long game.

My apologies if I did! As well as if this topic has been well trend upon already and I just somehow managed to miss it. It's been a few years since I've talked about Persona. Have another Lavenza.

[bluwavez]

˗ ˋ 🌊    ARTIFICAL DRIP    ﹕   THE TENTH MINI ALBUM    !

ARTIFICIAL DRIP is the TENTH mini album by the fictional South Korean boy group DeepDive. The album was released on July 21st, 2024. The release caused quite a stir for their revealing concept teasers and the raunchy track names. With a total of five tracks, DeepDive would promote SERVE IT and POPSICLE for a total of seven weeks. They would have three special stages for the b-side "ILY2BBY".

The mini album is completely self-produced, though the boys admit that most of the songs have been collecting dust in the vault for years. "I made Sloppy in 2018," Dowon told the crowd during their premier showcase, "Its original name was 'That's Right' and the lyrics were about something else. Finn wrote the new lyrics." The crowd would then cheer and hoot loudly for the proactive lyrics, causing Finn to shrug innocently.

"I think we made 'ILY2BBY' in, like, 2016? 2017? It was one of our first songs together," Noah explained with a puzzled look. Finn looked equally confused but nodded along. "We polished it a little for this album, but other than that...We didn't change anything. I'm kind of impressed we made that at such a young age, but at the same time, no shit, we made that as teenagers." While the crowd laughed with Noah, Finn chuckled into his microphone.

TITLE TRACK ... TRACK OO1. SERVE IT

TRACK OO2. POPSICLE

TRACK OO3. SLOPPY

TRACK OO4. ILY2BBY

TRACK OO5. KISS IT BETTER

"It shocked me," Kiwoo laughs, "I didn't think any of these songs would see the light of day. I don't really get in the studio anymore, so it was interesting to see those songs I worked on so long ago on the album."

Sirens were a bit miffed when it was revealed these weren't new songs, claiming that this album was not only exploitive but also a cash grab by Mydol. Despite knowing this was a cash grab by Mydol, Sirens would still stream and mass-buy this mini-album, resulting in 18 million albums sold by the end of their promotional period.

YOU CAN GET YOUR ARTIFICAL DRIP PHOTOCARDS HERE!

OO1. First things first, these men were never fully clothed during the entire promotional period. This era is literally defined by how often either Noah or Dowon's boobs were out, like, they were TESTING the limits of how much they could show on music shows. It was a bit ridiculous but also fitting since this album was literally talking about sucking and fucking on the beach like-

OO2. The outfits often caused a stir just because I mean look at them. For some people, it was a bit; some people used it to point out double standards, and some people just enjoyed the beachy slutness of it all. There was a little something for everyone!

OO3. Kiwoo and Jisung stayed fully clothed the whole time unless it was to wear a crop top😁 The classy men duo!

OO4. There were three music videos released in this era. Serve it, Popsicle, and Sloppy. All of which caused a stir. Sirens and netizens alike were just really shocked at how...raunchy these videos were? Except for Popsicle, which was more focused on performance and a Miami Beach concept, but the other videos? Jesus Christ-

OO5. Notably, in the Serve It music video, cameos from all of the Venus members as well as Siyeon and Laila of Lunarix. Myrah, the iconic former Allume member and soloist, was in the opening sequence. They were stacked in the hot girl department! The girls were just being "beach babes" essentially and the boys were pining over them so there wasn't a lot of contact in the Serve It music video until the end when Dowon "gets the girl" and Baebi kisses his cheek.

OO6. NOW, THE SLOPPY MUSIC VIDEO?? WE GET IT! YALL HAVE SEX! GODDAMN!

OO7. But the boys had fun! You could tell they enjoyed themselves on stage and during filming. The behind-the-scenes content seemed a lot more chill than during Tax Write-Off; tensions were high for some reason during that era, probably because a lot was riding on that comeback, but now they're having fun! They enjoy each other again!

OO8. Serve It would sweep every music show the boys got nominated for. Sirens do not play when it comes to voting, guys! They ended the promotional period with 9 wins across various different music shows. However, they did catch heat for going on The Show and absolutely demolishing the lesser-known groups nominated. They got called greedy, but Mydol is greedy, so...Accurate read!

OO9. The physical albums were quite the hot topic because they did not include the boys on the covers but instead girls. Most notably, Baebi is front and center on the "Bay Watch" Version, which confused a lot of Sirens like...She looks great, but what is she doing here? Jisung would explain that the boys actually took the pictures used on the covers and thought they fit the aesthetic of the album better than any of the photos they took of themselves. "I took the picture of Davina on the Surfs Up version. There were pictures of us on surfboards, but the pictures we took of the girls were just so...Beachy! I think the covers are nice. The girls look beautiful in them. Plus, you still get a whole photobook of us shirtless, so-" He'd then put his hand up in a stopping motion, "Calm down. Buy the albums." This would go to highlight how much creative control and input the boys have in the album-making process.

O10. Though it never got a music video, ILY2BBY got a performance video where the boys did the choreography on the beach. Every track got some kind of promotion besides Kiss It Better which Sirens were very vocal about wanting at least a dance practice but Mydol never released one. So, you know what happened? Siren's leaked it! Real EXO-L style, no one knows how the Noah fansite did it but...She did what she had to do! Great way to end the era!

[nico-esoterica]

"Nico, I wanna be a famous artist!" (A Case Study Using Manifestation and Astrology)

Lady Gaga went from no one knowing her name in a hand-made outfit at Lollapalooza in '07 to eclipsing and redefining pop culture in '09. And later headlined Lollapalooza in 2010. She told herself, "I'm going to make a Number One Record," and "The Fame is inside of Me," over and over again. This was what meteoric 'BTS-like' success looked like for millennials (which also happened in the same amount of time).

She manifested that shit like a motherfucker. She's living proof that a small indie artist who can barely move a crowd and who got INITIAL lukewarm reception after releasing her breakout album that only gained traction A YEAR LATER that YOU, IN FACT, CAN DO THIS SHIT. Gaga was performing in hole in the wall gay clubs in Europe and radios didn't care about that album until Just Dance blew up in the US. Every millennial remembers exactly where they were in life when that single became a hit song. This is also the woman who performed in an Ikea Parking Lot to promote said album.

This is a sign for all of the artists in the audience to NOT give up on your dreams. Even if things seem to be slow, delayed, or as if nothing is going on. There will always be SOMETHING behind the scenes if you commit to thinking in your favor. You're human and can have shitty days, weeks, etc, but it's important to NOT COMMIT TO BEING MISERABLE. Your engagement's gonna go up, you can find a new melody for that song, work through your writer's block and just WRITE the damn thing, and you're going to GET the right gig for you. Your dreams will be handed to you if you believe that they will. TRUST YOURSELF.

Astrologically, Gaga was in her 10H profection year when she first performed at Lollapalooza. But between 07-08+ she experienced the classic Jupiter and Saturn squares to her natal planet equivalents which occur in your early 20s that could've served as catalysts or hurdles she chose not to overcome and did the former. Contrary to what we hear about 10H profections being about finally being seen or getting promoted, etc, it's not inherently explosive. It depends on the chart and what the person does with their potential. Gaga used it as exposure and to further build her career that'd soon snowball into legendary success.

This isn't some Capitalistic tale about 'hard work paying off.' I don't believe in toil and 'hard work' in an exploitative economical sense. I believe in all-encompassing self-belief. Gaga could have easily thrown in the towel when the radios weren't gagged or the people weren't moving in the crowd. She, imo, was performing for audiences only SHE could see. Huge ones based on the scale she believed in.

Even if we could say her Mars-Neptune conjunction in Capricorn where she already had an exaltation or that her Moon-Mars or Moon-Pluto helped her, those harmonious aspects could have motivated her in the opposite direction if she wasn't seeing results. Because all of that Mars can easily wear out through exhaustion or entrap itself in the idea that it simply 'can't come easily.' Martian and Saturnian folks tend to enjoy suffering as a kink. She also could've easily been a flash-in-the-pan one hit wonder artist and faded or her era could've been very short. Maybe in hind sight it was from a musical perspective, but that 5 year run between The Fame and pre-Art Pop undeniably gave her quarter century defining success. And she'd later go on to win big accolades as a serious actress and is still going.

And speaking strictly astrologically, I see another big musical era for her coming. I saw it in Galliano's chart when his fire points got activated and will be emblazoned by Neptune in Aries transiting soon. I also see the same coming for our Mama Monster.

So, um, why are y'all giving up out there in the stands? COME GET ON STAGE AND CLAIM IT AS YOURS ALREADY.

[drdemonprince]

I forget if it was a post or an article but one thing that had bothered me a LOT about transmisandry stuff was this person claiming that his male relatives were way more progressive and understanding to him than his female relatives because they invited him to sit with them and socialise with other men while the women did all the chores and then the women got pissy about it and made (admittedly) transphobic comments about abandoning the women and getting out of chores. Everyone seemed to be agreeing with this guy too, and it bothered me so much that this was being framed as the cis men being progressive and better people to be around. It was textbook misogyny at play in the home and that misogyny becoming trans inclusive doesn't make it okay and doesn't make those cis men progressive allies. It is definitely weird to me that this person saw his manhood being respected by cis men of the family and didn't reject the idea that being a man involved putting all the chores onto the women, instead joining in with that practice. I do not at all fault him for being rightly annoyed and hurt at the comments from the women, but I do find it suspect how this guy and many others like him abandon all solidarity with the women in their lives that easily and then uphold misogynistic cis men as progressive because they were nice to the guy personally.

yeah dude it's fucking INSANE to feel like the men roping you into a misogynistic ritual is somehow some transgender inclusion victory.

I've also heard some trans guys talk about how once they began being accepted as a man, the cis dudes in their life would include them in really misogynistic locker room talk and degrading of women's bodies. some trans guys rightly speak to how traumatic that can be -- it's the same thing as the dynamic above. Powerful cishet men LOVE to flaunt the power of being a man by performatively including younger men (or people "new to manhood" as they see trans guys) within the ritual of degrading women. it's weird as fuck to consider any of that to be compliment, or to understand it as anything but the rampant misogyny that it is.

Personally, I went from very stubbornly REFUSING to ever contribute to the gathering of plates and doing of dishes after a family meal because of #feminism when I was a "girl" to being really over the top in involving myself in chores and making myself as helpful as possible as a "man." The former was a little bit self-serving in retrospect I admit but the throughline is that I was always put off by these sexist scripts and was deliberately gender non-conforming. whats the fucking point of being trangsendger if you're just gonna reinforce the most reprehensible sexist shit.

[devastatinglygreen]

I love Polly Walker’s portrayal of Portia but i agree. I think so many of these show characters struggle from wanting to address and keep aspects of their book characteristics and then have them make decisions that differ from those for the *drama* or just take other book characters personalities and give them to other show characters omg who said that??

I know Jess B has gotten a lot of hate for changes to s3 (personally her changes at least made sense to me, unlike 90% of what CVD did) so it’s not like I’m looking to add to it. But I do worry about the “consequences” of Whistledown needing to continue following Penelope after her season. If that’s their only way of keeping Nicola on the show and Pen relevant to the plot then I guess? It just feels like continued shaming of Pen for their girlboss-ified LW.

God if I have to watch Pen still be shunned by the Ton can I at least see her and Colin fuck nasty??? Like god where is the hungry boi?? LET HIM EAT (Pen’s) CAKE

polly walker is amazing tbh. like, she just works with whatever they give her, i love her portrayal as portia. yeah, they needed to decide who they wanted these people to be before they just started handing out book personalities when it was going to directly conflict with the show's version of them. a little forethought, if you will.

tbf to jess, she still had to work with what cvd (when i catch you, cvd) left behind for polin. it's a big ask. doing the pen/eloise fight when it doesn't even exist in the books is wild, it's 100% for drama and needed to be handled in s3 so she had that to deal with as well. they did change eloise in s1-2 quite a bit to become the mouthpiece for the modern woman (which is wild bc her brand of feminism comes off so performative--which is probably how a man would write eloise being feminist but that's a whole other issue).

i think LW is more for the audience than anything else at this point. they're used to her narrating and it's good to move the plot forward at times but it's also a huge part of penelope's character so i can see why they kept it. both of them publishing books is great but also they're going to bring in the drama so LW is a very easy way to do that for future subplots.

also yes, 100% it's a fine way to shame penelope for gossip, ha. like girlie printed what she heard--the gossips were already talking she just made cash from it. if she were a dude they'd call it hustling.

sort of hilariously tragic that the audience who hates pen goes online to talk shit with no self-awareness that they're also feeding into the machine they're criticizing on a romance drama show, ha. only then they make it about real people so pretty sure that's worse. but do not tell them, they do not like that.

the man just wants his wife's titties served up like a brunch special okay is that too much to ask?🙏

[lunapwrites]

Segment the actual-fifth

In which I had tried to rewrite it all properly with more of a narrative voice and then lost steam way faster.

Anyway, this is the last one. Promise.

-

I: ORPHAN SOURCE

n.; a self-contained radioactive source that is no longer under regulatory control.

“See that guy knock himself out on the railing?”

Sirius is in fine form tonight, grin wide and white, a half-forgotten joint pinched between his fingers.

Lily wrinkles her nose at him, wiggling her septum ring. “What, the jagoff doing spin kicks in the crowd?” Sirius snorts, and she rolls her eyes. “Yeah I saw him — get fucked.”

Remus throws his head back, sending a stream of smoke into the air. “Wre-ecked,” he croaks, then coughs. James can’t help it — he laughs.

Peter flicks his lighter, takes three tries, then takes a drag. “He didn’t hit anyone, I don’t think,” he muses around his cigarette — no pot for Petey tonight, he’s driving. “Frank would have thrown his ass out if he had.”

“Like a fuckin’ javelin,” Remus pipes up again, miming throwing a spear, woosh. “Right out the fuckin’ window.”

“Serve him right,” Lily adds, not done yet because of course she’s not. She’s tying her hair into a topknot, scowling. “It’s a fucking metal show, not an MMA fight; get that Naruto-ass shit out of here.”

This of course prompts Sirius to start doing that stupid little run, arms straight out behind him as he runs down into the parking lot, and, well, James can hardly let him go it alone. He runs out after him, making nonsensical hand signs and pretending to blast Sirius off his feet. And Sirius, quick as ever, pretends to get his absolute shit rocked, sound effects and all.

You’d think they’d be tired after performing for two and a half hours, but they’re all fucking amped. They always are, takes hours for the adrenaline to fade, for James to feel the burn in his arms and calves, for Remus to register that his fingers are bleeding again. Tonight’s no different.

They’re a bit of a motley crew, the five of them. Former band nerds — later jazz ensemble nerds — who loved music enough to want to get weird with it. If anyone asks them what they play, they all give different answers. Lily calls it prog; Sirius, jazz with balls. Remus rattles off about fifteen different subgenres no one’s ever heard of — James still isn’t sure what a Djent is and at this point he’s afraid to ask. Peter keeps it simple: metal.

James just calls it fun.

They pile into Pete’s van, stubbing out their cigarettes and putting out their joints. Lily calls shotgun and James slips in behind her, and Sirius stage-dives across his lap, landing with his face on Remus’s upper thigh. He twists around, snuggling in like a Labrador looking for belly rubs.

"Keep it PG over there," James warns, and Sirius moans dramatically. No one pays him any mind; they’re all used to it by now.

Lily gets carsick about ten minutes in. She hangs her head out the window, breathing through her nose deep and slow while Pete begs her not to puke in his car.

“Technically,” Remus says, “she’s puking outside.”

He’s always saying that sort of shit — technically and actually and if he was anyone else James thinks he might hate him a bit. Thinks they all might. But somehow, no one who ever meets Remus wants to punch him in the face. He’s got a little je ne sais quois that warms people right up to him, inures him to most consequences. Like a puppy pissing on your favorite shoes. You just can’t be mad.

Sirius is like that, too, but in a

IN A WHAT, LP???? WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO SAY???????? [shakes brain like a busted vending machine]

The only other thing I had on here was the title section for the second chapter:

II: ISLAND OF INVERSION

n: a region in the chart of nuclides where isotopes have enhanced stability in a sea of mostly fleeting and unstable nuclei at the edge of the nuclear map

[aha-chuu]

My thoughts on the Fontaine characters rn (pre 4.0)

I saw someone making a post about their thoughts and they were tragically wrong and I disagreed. So here I am, being opinionated.

I'm not gonna discuss leaks, I'm just talking about the character designs and what lore we know from the trailer and teaser :))

Lyney

So, Lyney is great. I love that he's kind of sussy, and his teaser that recently came out is almost... Sinister. And yet, he also checks the boxes of being really fun and extroverted! Venti vibes tbh.

Design wise? His animations are the best in the game, hands down. They suit the performance aspect of his character perfectly and are almost enough to make me pull for him.

Tragically, his character design isn't really for me. I think the simplicity works with the bombastic animations, and I'm glad to see he's wearing a reasonable outfit for the job he does (a rarity in Genshin). And yet, I'm a bit too much of a lesbian to be uber interested in the twinky direction his design leans.

Not pulling.

Lynette

So she's super cute. We have got a lot of cat girls already (I think Lyney should have also been a cat-person tbh) but I love that Lyney isn't actually doing cat things. Like, she's this subdued introvert, no meowing during her attacks or curling up in boxes like Kirara. She's just a person.... Who's also a cat.

I like her character design better than Lyney's; the blue just stands out a lot more than his red does, and the big bow is a better centerpiece to her design than Lyney's hat is to his. Plus, her animations are also nice.

We're getting her for free so I likely won't pull, but I am already preparing artifacts to build her on my account.

Freminet

Have I said how much I like sibling dynamics? These three actually seem pretty close and like they will gasp interact with each other! In comparison to the likes of the Kamisatos, this is miraculous.

I know several people who love this guy, and I do think he looks good. I saw some complaints about his hair cut (I think it's adorable), and the chunky boots & coat really serve to emphasise his awkwardness without sacrificing aesthetics.

Unfortunately, he's a physical claymore character, so it's a big skip from me.

Focalors/Furina

Well she's a brat huh. I worry after Raiden that they'll destroy Furina's character arc in order to make her more palatable, but I want her to go full Marie Antoinette. All the lore with the Oceanids disliking her and the general stuff about using the court for entertainment make me very interested in her.

As a design, I just dislike the twin tails. I love the blazer and the huge gem and the hat that's actually a crown!! Like, Furina is extravagant and over the top, obviously self obsessed - she looks perfect in that regard.

Since she's the archon and she's Hydro, she'll probably be broken meta wise. I'll likely pull, but mostly to make cool teams with her, not because she's a fave of mine specifically.

Neuvilette

... Father?

FR though, I understand why several people are crazy about this man. I do wish he looked a bit older since that's sort of where his characterisation is - he's done with Furina's shit and he's doing all the actual work of running Fontaine. With the elf ears, I expect him to be some sort of long-life species - he has no visible Vision and his hair kind of looks oceanid-like, so I figure he's not actually human. That along with the slits in his eyes. I hope he turns out to be older than Furina, and that he has a kind of reluctant dad & spoiled daughter relationship with her; we do see him tell her off in the teaser.

Neuvilette is the most feminine tall man character and the hair is a great aspect of the design. The colour palette is good and I do like the robes since he's a Judge, however I think it might get a bit boring to look at when you're playing as him - which is probably why the hair is so dramatic, in order to bring interest to the design.

He'll probably be Hydro and he'll probably be a catalyst based on that outfit (it's not exactly maneuverable enough for anything else ':))). I am interested in pulling almost a 100%.

Wriothesley

Another man???

I don't understand people talking about the lack of husbandoes in Fontaine, like look at these fine gentlemen.

We don't have much official info on Wriothesley so I'm gonna dip a little into leaks here, skip if you don't wanna know. He is some sort of prison warden which I bop with - it's an expected expansion on the justice landscape of Fontaine. He's on the rough side of the Fontaine infrastructure, in comparison to most of the other characters. That interests me since it feeds more into the duality themes of Fontaine, though currently we're unevenly biased rn to the more santized characters.

Design wise he's one of my favourites. White/black/red looks so good, as does his kind of punk esque chains. The tie puts me off somewhat, like he looks sort of smart and put together, but then the rest of the design undercuts that.

Leaks say Wriothesley is a physical standard banner five star. This fills me with fear. I also don't know what his actual personality will be, so let's say I'm undecided on pulling him.

Charlotte

I liked her personality and en VA in that one TCG event, unfortunately much like that event, Charlotte looks boring. She's cute, whatever, but she doesn't seem particularly story relevant and her design hasn't captured me.

I'm just not that interested.

Sigewinne(?)

Okay, she's cuter than Charlotte she's a sea slug person so immediately more interesting. She was also hanging out with Wriothesley, which is so adorable considering how different they seem.

We're dipping back into leaks here, but it seems like she might be another Hydro healer. I've seen people annoyed by this, but I'm perfectly fine with it - I don't have Kokomi and I like Nilou bloom as much as the next person.

If Sigewinne is a four star, I hope she's on a banner for a cool five star.

Navia

I know a lot of people like this woman. Taylor Swift etc (I am not overly into Taylor Swift), but I think Navia could be cool.

I find her design overcrowded. I do think this suits the fact that we're playing with French Revolution ideas and she's part of the bourgeoisie, so ofc she's overdecorated and elaborate in her fashion. Even though it makes sense, I still don't like the arsthetic of it.

On the other hand, I do like the yellow - it's not a colour we see in too many Genshin designs. I don't really like how it fits with the blue jewellery though.

Personality wise, I worry a bit that she's gonna be our waifu bait, but they did Dehya's characterisation really well without falling into that trap. Navia could be very fun and I think there's a lot of promise in the idea that she might be a class traitor, teaming up with us against the Fontaine government (wow Genshin loves a corrupt government huh).

Will I pull? She's a geo claymore user and my triple crowned Itto is already collecting dust. That's a no from me.

Clorinde

Everyone say hello to my wife:

(I'm waiting)

I've seen so many people mad at Clorinde when I think she looks great. Her outfit is simpler than is typical for Genshin, but that's cos she's a no-nonsense fighter type! Like how we saw with Lyney, more muted designs often mean more dramatic animations, and we already saw Clorinde doing some dynamic fight stuff in the trailer.

She really interests me in that she's a champion duellist, strong enough that even Childe wants to fight her. We see Clorinde works directly beside Neuvilette in the trailer, so she must be high up in position. A gun and a sword? She's trying to kill Navia, but the Devs describe their relationship as "complicated"??

Clorinde is an Electro woman and these are always queer fyi.

I hope she's pretty straight laced, but not quite in the Sara way. She's boring tbh, mostly because she is always answering to someone else, and she gets so little screen time. For Clorinde to work, I think she needs to have independence and apt presence in the story to be explored - not just a prop/obstacle.

Her personality makes me fearful, but rn I'm pulling 100%.

[beardedmrbean]

Zoomer Huey, I tend to see people saying why Gen z don’t have sex much.

Holy

Fucking

Shits

These journalists surprisedly have WORSE self awareness than there boomer relatives

Here a hint https://x.com/swannmarcus89/status/1762582001507323991?s=46

And gender dynamics are…nuked in the fields they are surveying. Women and girls are told that all men are predators and misandry is left unchecked

Also, why Hollywood act surprised about the sex abuse?

We all heard about the casting coach, and how suspiciously people from working class backgrounds like Micheal Jackson (yes his dad had his music connections. But essentially mj was a slave and was arguably was the first black child star unless I’m missing someone) and Walt Disney (though not as bad) are painted as monsters while the actual monsters are protected for decades

I mean look at Judy Garland, she was a sweet person and she did help the LBGT in Hollywood and supported the civil rights movement

But her “crazy” behavior makes more sense because she was sexually abused at a extremely young age

And she not the only one, Shirley Temple, the boy who played at the first LA Dennis the Manis

Oh and the Peter Pan actor (a lot of people leave out the part where ALL of Hollywood basically says he can choke and die because he was “too” Disney)

But sorry about the Gen stuff, but the false rape accusations, maybe if you guys didn’t view men (especially white ones) the same way Nazis viewed the Jews while saying all the working class men were Weinstein.

My Gen would have more sex

Entertainment industry has been like that since the beginning of forever, probably less so when women weren't allowed to participate but still a thing I'm sure.

As for Judy Garland it was nice to see people come out swinging in her defense when someone tried to start shit over well

She was not in control of her carer, saying no was not an option for her with this, but dumbasses that can only think in terms of today's standards never think about that.

Jay North (Dennis the Menace) did ok, so did Shirley Temple, plenty of others not so much, more recently we can look at Drew Barrymore and RDJ who both had fairly public meltdowns and problems.

Drew was ruined since her first film was ET and Spielberg takes care of the kids on set, going beyond the legal requirements.

Bobby Driscol was the Peter Pan VA top of his Wiki article.

Robert "Bobby" Cletus Driscoll (March 3, 1937 – c. March 30, 1968) was an American actor who performed on film and television from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the Walt Disney Studios' best-known live-action pictures of that period: Song of the South (1946), So Dear to My Heart (1949), and Treasure Island (1950), as well as RKO's The Window (1949). He served as the animation model and provided the voice for the title role in Peter Pan (1953). He received an Academy Juvenile Award for outstanding performances in So Dear to My Heart and The Window.

He just fell into the child actor pit, where he wasn't "cute" anymore couldn't get gigs and couldn't adjust to not being in the spotlight, the way he went and nobody knowing is awful to think about still.

Jackie Coogan, on the other hand was a different story.

His parents sucked and as a result there's a series of laws named after him California's Coogan Law all about protecting the earnings of child actors from their parents. % goes into a trust iirc.

He ended up OK in the end though

The false accusation thing, #me too hurt women because #believe women was taken advantage of to such a degree that even this coming out to light

has still probably not cleared up for the trooper, and men are opting to not mentor women because of not wanting to risk a false accusation, everyone screams about how rare they are, to which I say so what, why should they assume the risk even if it's minor

Former VP Mike Pence came out and said he won't be alone with a woman that's not his wife in order to ensure that there is no possibility of someone making a claim of impropriety.

And he got this response

Why is anyone going to put their neck on the line when something like what he said is going to get this kind of response.

Maybe instead of crying about how rare false accusations are they should focus on shaming the people making them and coming up with solutions to keep them from happening.

You know instead of blaming the victims of the false accusations.

All this and so much more going on that isn't in this ask goes to the I don't blame people for not having as much sex, it's actually kinda nice too, fewer std's this way.

I went on a couple tangents, hope that's ok

[napoleonic-sexyman-tournament]

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas:

a. “mustache”

b. “Tall! Daring! Swashbuckling! A devoted husband and father! Had a personal conflict with Napoleon! Also it was said he could, while holding onto a bar above his head, LIFT A HORSE WITH HIS THIGHS. How is he not on this list ten times already! Vote for General Dumas!”

c. “He was so hot that he inspired The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and many more books that his son, Alexandre Dumas, wrote. He definitely looked the part of a sexyman, as he son recounts in his memoirs: "My father, as already stated, was twenty-four, and as handsome a young fellow as could be found anywhere. His complexion was dark, his eyes of a rich chestnut colour […]. His teeth were white, his lips mobile, his neck well set on his powerful shoulders, and, in spite of his height of five feet nine inches, he had the hands and feet of a woman. These feet were the envy of his mistresses, whose shoes he was very rarely able to put on." He could crush you between his thighs: "His free colonial life had developed his strength and prowess to an extraordinary degree; he was a veritable American horse-lad, a cowboy. His skill with gun or pistol was the envy of St. Georges and Junot. And his muscular strength became a proverb in the army. More than once he amused himself in the riding-school by passing under a beam, and lifting his horse between his legs." He was so badass he could beat 13 men with 4 and take all the enemy prisoner, and defend against hundreds of men on a bridge by himself. He performed these acts of valour numerous times in Italy. He was so formidable that the Austrians named him the "Schwartz Teufel", or the Black Devil, and his feat at the bridge earned him the moniker of "Horatius Cocles of Tyrol". He wasn't afraid to stand up to his morals and protest against unfair treatment. When unjust executions by the guillotine were happening outside his quarters, he closed the blinds of his curtains, earning him the nickname "Mr. Humanity". When in the Vendée, he complained about the wanton indiscipline in his troops. When in Italy, Berthier wrongly reported his actions as one of "observation" in St. Antonio. Dumas wrote to General Bonaparte that if Berthier was in the same position, he would have shit his pants. Dumas abhorred plunder, never exhorted the locals, and ordered the Directory agent who had come to persuade him otherwise be shot if he dared present himself to Dumas again. Integrity and a sense of moral justice is sexy, mark my words. For Dumas' final qualifier as a sexyman, look no further than this Tumblr heritage post (https://www.tumblr.com/petermorwood/133803437020/hortensevanuppity-elodieunderglass), with 300,000 notes and counting. And I quote: "- daddy general dumas was an immense fierce french warrior who was a 6 foot plus, stunningly gorgeous and charismatic Black gentleman - he invaded egypt - the native egyptians said “is this napoleon? this must be napoleon. we for one welcome our majestic new overlord” - then napoleon showed up - napoleon has all the presence of yesterday’s plain Tesco hummus - the native egyptians were like “… no… no, we’ve thought very hard and we’ll have General Dumas actually” - this did not make napoleon happy - in fact it made him jealous - napoleon felt so emasculated that he launched a campaign of revenge against General Dumas, including taking away his pension, that probably inspired a lot of Alexandre’s rather satisfying scenes in which fathers are nobly avenged and the money-grubbing villains are rubbed in the mud" I rest my case. Tl;dr: He was so hot he inspired multiple books, he was a stronk man who could crush you between his thighs or carry you like a sack of potatoes, and he was so badass that he could take on odds of 1 to 3. He had a foul mouth but a heart of gold and his actions were never self-serving. Posts relating to him on Tumblr have had 300,000 notes and counting. He is qualitatively and quantitatively qualified to be a sexyman.”

Zofia Czartoryska-Zamoyska:

a. „MY GIRLIEEEE… I love her more than anything, and I'm very sorry for how her relationship with her husband turned out (he was not abusive, perhaps, and treated her with some sort of basic respect, but he had a rough childhood and became emotionally neglectful, both towards her and the children. He did care for her, however it showed much more after she died and he was alone then when she was alive and well). She was actually considered one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful woman in the Warsaw Duchy, and was literally worshipped by her descendants. Her portrait even made an appearance as the male lead's unhappy grandmother in "Trędowata" (well, the book the movie was based on is not exactly wonderful literature, but the movie itself is quite well-known), and I can absolutely see why. She had such beautiful eyes. Also, she was a philanthropist and helped organise one of the first concerts of Fryderyk Chopin when he was a child to raise money.”

[machinavellian]

no (recent/future) spoilers, just probably disjointed rambling about jonas because i've been turning him like a rotisserie chicken in my brain for weeks now

i've been going back through the entire series and. just. god. it's the way that jonas has been so thoroughly bent into the shape costigan/the trust needed him to hold — one whose singular purpose is and has always been upholding valor

and now that his own latent personhood has begun to challenge and warp those confines, we are finding (especially early on, in s2) that he so often barely even has language to identify or describe the concepts he's wrestling with, or even his own emotions.

like, man. i'll never have my shit together enough to write the "gendered qualities of valor" treatise on this i know is bubbling around in my brain, but i think a lot about how the pressure to "correctly" perform valor is one of the trust's most pernicious tools, and how brutally it punishes those qualities that do not immediately serve it.

qualities like empathy, reflection, gentleness — beautiful qualities that were ground out of him by costigan. qualities that phineas has always had in spades no matter how much shit he gets for them, because that's just who phineas is. maybe jonas used to possess those more fully too. once upon a time. but look how completely the consector role has hollowed him out, valor like a weird parasite making room for itself. look at how empty he's been in its absence, as that parasite finds its environment increasingly inhospitable and has begun to die. the void it leaves behind.

phineas has been through all this pretty recently too, of course, but i would say that from the outset, he's honestly got more reserves of Self with which to fill in that void than jonas does. i feel like jonas is gonna have to fully rediscover who he is in a profound way because of the how thoroughly the trust seeks to erase the personhood of its most useful actors.

and it's so sad and i'm so emotional and i'm rooting for him so hard!!!! someone feed this man a moth immediately