#anyway this also serves to show that!!! you can get really far with art when practising

[artinandwritin]

December 28th, 2024 marked five (5!!!) years since I created my beloved baby girl Siri!! And man. Manmanmanman. Yeah.

That's a little bit insane.

So first off, yippee, and second off, i got nostalgic and decided to dig up some of the first art i did of my baby back in december 2019. So now yall get to suffer as i show my old art >:)

First off, my first Siri drawing ever!! She used to look a whole lot different and had a different birthday (and yes her hair was already blonde i just. Didnt have a great blonde marker at 16 lmao)

In january 2020 gussiri became a thing because i thought their personalities would fit together. Oh jolly. What a good thing for all of us (i cant escape them)

Early 2020 digital siri art... save me early 2020 digital siri art... (oh and also gussiri who. Still have this STUPID fucking dynamic. I love them so much)

This is when people realised Siri was in fact. Blonde (lmao) (also i got dared to draw these two singing high school musical)

This is where i learned how to draw chins (surprisingly hard task i do not recommand) and baby girl got a new outfit!!!! Byebye sad greys hello pastels (i actually still really like this outfit on Siri tbh)

She went through so. So manu outfits. And i think i had entered art school by the time i drew this??? So i mustve drawn this in 2022

And!!! Now we're here (with some missed steps inbetween cuz tumblr. Only allows me to post 10 photos >:( )

And yknow i think its pretty fun this lil character has stuck with me throughout the last five years!! Shes really seen me through high school and college and hardships alike and has grown with me as my artskills and writing got better

I love Siri and everything she stands for to me, as her creator, so much, like,,, the idea that i have this character that grew up beside me and developed herself the more i drew her and the more i noted down about her is actually so insane

I dunno if i should thank a character for existing, but if theres any character id like to thank it would be this gal. For being a constant and a developing concept at the same time <333

[phantom-thieves-official]

Hiii

What are your opinions about Ryuji's and Joker's duality?

People only talks about akechi & Joker's duality, but I feel like Ryuji and Joker also have some sort of similarities

(Also, srry if my english sounds a bit off)

Your english is fine anon, no worries!

I was thinking about this the other day, actually, because in the art book, the notes about Ryuji's design specifically mention how he was designed to counter Joker (not as a stark opposite so much as just... a balance) I have a lot of thoughts on this topic but it's always just been nebulous.... vibes. That I just get, without ever having to explain why. So it was a challenge to put it all into words. Hope it all makes sense ^-^

ANYWAY under the cut bc this is long as hell

Joker and Akechi have a very interesting duality, I will admit. I can see why it dominates conversations on the topic of 'characters Joker has duality with.' I promise I have a point in derailing this post about Ryuji into talking about Akechi; bear with me here. Their similarities serve to highlight their contrasting elements; it's like a bad-end look of what Joker could have been if he'd made different/more selfish choices. That's the whole point of a foil.

Okay now that we've established what a foil is, back to Ryuji.

I think Joker/Ryuji are the opposite of a foil, they're a mirror; where they highlight each other's good traits and their similarities. Not that they have no differences, just that those differences work to make their similarities more obvious.

I rewrote this a couple times and kept feeling it was hard to follow, so I guess I'll start to by outlining a couple key character traits for them each.

Joker is selfless, motivated by his sense of justice, willing to get himself hurt to do the right thing, tactful, on the quiet side, level-headed, intelligent and generally good with people. He's a planner, a 'think before you act' type.

Ryuji is selfless, kind, motivated by his sense of justice, willing to get himself hurt to do the right thing, loud, 'act first, think later,' brash, lacks people skills, often says things without thinking, not super smart. He's a guy led mostly by feelings, and is often the first to want to take action.

There are obvious similarities, and obvious differences. I think at a very basic level, Ryuji's traits help make Joker's more obvious - Ryuji's very emotion-based, more impulsive, 'act first, think later' attitude leaves room for Joker's more level-headed, tactful nature to show, especially early on. In this way they also balance each other out really well just in general - particularly early as that's when Ryuji gets the best characterization, Ryuji's the one spurring on the plot action. He's the one moving them along toward taking on Kamoshida. In contrast, Joker's the one reigning him in when he goes too far - he stops Ryuji from hitting Kamoshida, he makes him stop when they're just walking in circles looking for the castle on the second day, things like that. Ryuji's a character of action and Joker balances him out with more thought and logic. Ryuji's the heart of the team and Joker's the brain (not that I think Joker's cold or unfeeling; just he's much more careful and tactical whereas Ryuji is an emotions-based guy)

Their differences also serve to make their similarities stand out. If they were super samey, with tons of things in common, then no one in particular would be unique. But by having their demeanor, temperaments, and general personalities so contrasting, it means the stuff they DO share - the important stuff; the kindness, the selflessness; the want to help others - really stands out. But that's not the only way their differences serve to uplift their similarities. Back with the Kamoshida arc example, Ryuji's more action-oriented character means he's the one who spurs most of the action in the Kamoshida arc, so you see a lot about his character. But despite Joker not being such an active role, you still learn a lot about Joker's character. He's not as emotional or headstrong as Ryuji is, but he's still shown to care - Ryuji's more outspoken nature both contrasts and compliments Joker's more quiet determination. It provides a vehicle for Joker's characterization basically, by giving Joker a more outspoken companion who can drive the action and leave room for Joker to show his own morals by agreeing and going along with Ryuji. If both characters were more quiet, tactful characters like Joker or more rash, headstrong ones like Ryuji, it wouldn't work the same way (or at all.)

I think there's something to be said for their similarities, too, and how those play into their dynamic. Like I said, I think they're a mirror of one another, reflecting and highlighting the good traits in each other. Their kindness, their unwavering commitment to doing what they think is right, their willingness to put themselves in harm's way to help people they don't even know. It's really easy to see those traits in Joker because Ryuji mirrors him in that way. Every time Ryuji displays that selfless, good guy core, it's a reminder that this is the guy Joker hitched his wagon to. This is the guy Joker chose to help out, because he believes in the same things. Every time Joker makes a selfless decision to help someone, you know Ryuji agrees with him. You know they're on the same page, and so you can learn more about one by looking at the things the other one stands for; each time one of them displays those core traits, you know the other feels the same way. I think this is especially pertinent for Joker's characterization as the protagonist, since most things in a game revolve around the protag primarily and Joker, as a character, does not get a lot of speaking roles for himself - Ryuji's expression of these traits is often a reflection of Joker's feelings/thoughts when Joker himself is often not afforded such explicit characterization. (Not that Joker has no characterization, just that as the protag with limited dialogue that characterization is often less/less obvious than the other main characters)

Without Ryuji there would be no Phantom Thieves. He was the one who activated the nav the first time, he's the reason Joker awakened a Persona, he's the reason they went back into the metaverse a second time, he's the reason they started trying to do something about Kamoshida's abuse of the volleyball team, he's the main voice behind going after him in light of Shiho's suicide. I bring all this up as another element where they contrast each other in an interesting way. At the beginning of the game, from the second we meet him, Ryuji hates Kamoshida. He wants to help the volleyball team so much that he wants to go back into the palace where he almost died. From the jump, Ryuji is mad and he's bitter and he still wants to do the right thing. And at that point in the story, I do not think the same applies to Joker. When Joker awakens to Arsene, there's a moment of doubt - a moment where Arsene asks him, was saving that lady a mistake? Joker's at a point where he's been beaten down for following his sense of justice, and I think there's a degree to which he'd given up on it. That's why Ryuji's the main instigator behind the plot early on (besides Ryuji's more action-forward character.) Because Joker's still a little wary of it. I think this difference in their character is really interesting, because I think if not for Ryuji, Joker might not have ever been spurred into action; he might have ended up believing that pursuing his own sense of justice was a mistake after all. But Ryuji, someone similar in sharing his morals and similar in having been kicked to the ground and outcast for it, hasn't given up. I think seeing that reaffirms Joker's sense of justice; reaffirms that he didn't make a mistake after all. So they're similar in circumstance, but one has knuckled under and one has not. And seeing someone else like him who hasn't given in changes things for Joker.

On a less character analysis, more meta note, I think they have fun duality in both design and gameplay, as well.

The art book mentions explicitly that Joker was more 'classic, gentlemanly phantom thief' but that there needed to be "some offbeat fashion, a bad boy vibe, and a sense of playfulness" to sell the idea of students up to no good. So Ryuji was designed to be that - the book states he is 'completely rid of all the refined qualities the protagonist has.' It outright says 'structurally, he's the opposite of the protagonist' and that his slumped posture is a contrast to Joker's better posture. So from a basic, design standpoint they were absolutely considered opposites.

I think there's a lot to be said for their gameplay in a similar vein, where Joker is a jack-of-all-trades and as the protag with LOTS of persona/skill options, you're encouraged to be strategic and thoughtful with your personas/turns. But Ryuji is not that at all - his play style is super straight forward. He hits stuff. Not that there are no further intricacies to his gameplay but the basic is he has a really high strength stat, so get to whacking stuff. Even other characters with a pretty well-defined role don't get pigeonholed as much, as Ann (the Ryuji of the magic attackers) gets some stat and heal moves, and characters like Yusuke, Makoto, and Haru get more varied and complex movepools with some gimmicks available to them (Yusuke's baton pass related skills, Haru's walls) so from a gameplay standpoint you have the most complex (Joker) and the most simple character (Ryuji) for combat.

[egg-emperor]

Often I see a lot of art of Eggman taking care of Sage. Whenever I see that I can't help but think it should be the other way around. Sage should taking care of HIM. She should be the one feeding him. She should be the one doing heavy lifting for him. She should be the one tucking him into bed at night and reading him a story where he wins and Sonic dies! That's the much more accurate dynamic in my eyes. Hopefully one day more people realize this.

LITERALLY you fucking get it!!! Eggman is a selfish, bratty, short-tempered manchild, the one with interests commonly considered childish like amusement parks, carnivals, circuses, toys etc, he created Sage to protect him in his own words, and he specifically values her for her loyalty and efficiency and how she serves him. Eggman is a father only by title and having a creation he calls a daughter and not by the actual traditional roles, duties, and responsibilities. It's anything but a traditional guardian and child dynamic, a complete subversion

And Sage is far from a typical daughter, she's a servant and protector first as that's what Eggman created her for and specifically values in her first and foremost and it doesn't change because it's what his whole appeal for the dynamic even is for him. Sage doesn't have anything in common with regular children, she's far from a dumb baby toddler that needs coddling and protection. Eggman doesn't want her to be like that, it's the opposite of everything he asks of her and doesn't coddle or protect her in the game, he literally lets her sacrifice herself for him even

Sage is the guardian and protector while Eggman gets behind her for protection like the final Horizon teaser (not that he can't defend himself but she was made to protect him and he'd rather someone else take the shot lol). Eggman isn't the overprotective father type when he literally lets her sacrifice herself, he's only possessive in a "you should be giving ME attention" way like when he's jealous and pissy when he notices Sage admiring Super Sonic. Eggman also has tantrums like a stubborn, selfish, bratty kid while Sage is the more level-headed one in such situations and tries to reason with him

With those all canon examples, Sage is really taking on the parental protective guardian roles, positions, and behaviors. So we can definitely assume it applies to everything else too. He's the one who would be indulging in things considered childish like amusement parks/carnivals/circuses/toys etc most as he always has- Sage could possibly show less enthusiasm unless he gets her into them as a selfish way to do more 'family activities" like she asked him for/she takes interest to make him happy/to take only chance for those types of activities to happen between them

Sage would be the one feeding Eggman instead (she doesn't even need to eat anyway and Eggman likes how he's free from the responsibility along with everything else lol), and the one cleaning up his mess, giving him all the affection, attention, support and comfort he wants, prioritizing his needs and desires, and doing all the heavy lifting to make his life easier on top of being his protector. The roles are completely reversed as in her programming and by Eggman's desire for her to serve him and she loves him so much and is eager for his approval so she'll take it all on for him

And YES to HER tucking HIM in and reading HIM bedtime stories, where he defeats Sonic and rules the world agksbakgbsmg I love it. He'd probably encourage her to make up the stories and get happy when she says exactly what he wants to hear but if there's a plot beat he doesn't like he's like "NO, *THIS* happens!" and she immediately changes it like "yes of course father, actually *that* happens" to keep him happy. And how giddy he gets when someone else entertains his dreams and how it cheers him up after a bad day makes it worth her time hehe 💜

I love how much of a total subversion their dynamic is in the game and I'd love if fandom embraced it with fun scenarios like that!

[p0rk-guts]

waitt but what's different about your ocified velvette... i like her a little but find myself wanting more substance from her in canon tbh

TEEHEE WHAT A GOOD QUESTION I TOTALLY DIDN'T SET PPL UP TO ASK ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay sew me and @ajistorpid were talking and they inspired a good chunk of my ideas so you can blame them for feeding my sick delusions.

Read more just like last time bc I talk too much sorry but there's art in there too oooo you should look u should read my ramblings

As far as I know, Velvette has no canon age at death, cause of death, or death date so based on what we know we just crafted our own headcanons. AJ proposed she might've had parents who ran one of those family vlog channels with her as the face of it, becoming a child influencer under her parents' control. I was thinking she could've been a child model- yk like. dance moms or something. Idk I don't remember what was happening on that show— anyways. Yea

Either way she grew up constantly controled and perfection was her standard. All of her outside thoughts and feelings and interests and opinions were constantly dismissed in favor of what made her more marketable. She never did get that popular in life tho, and her mentors always shamed and blamed her for it.

Idk if this is canon or not, but the idea of the sinners designs reflecting their vices or things they regreted or hated in life is an untapped gold mine to me so that could explain where Velvette's supposed doll and clown themes come from. Became a toy dressed up and paraded around for the entertainment of others + joke never taken seriously. She'd hate that

(As for how that ties into my redesign…. me and AJ were thinking she could be a vampire doll, but I'm not sure IDK I wanna sketch that out and see what it's giving)

In hell she easilly fell back into this warped facsimile of her old life bc it was all she knew. "she feels some form of pseudo control and enjoyment because she has no one pulling her strings now" (<-AJ) SHE'S running things!!! Who's the puppet now!!!!!!

Then THAT had me thinking too because now that I think about it. Why Is she the backbone of the V's?? She's like. An undergrad student in my mind at the MOST and Vox and Val are two men pushing 40 I'm sure. I think a big part of it is the fact that those two are almost complete and utter buffoons who let their emotions cloud their actions constantly, Valentino most obviously but even tho Vox seems more composed like when he's talking Val down from his outburst and when he was talking to the press, we can still see he's a total mess—especially where Alastor is concerned. He lost it so bad during their duet HE SHORTED PENTAGRAM CITY'S POWER.

Now out of all the V's we've seen the least of Velvette (I'd call it what it is but yall gon get real mad at me), The most we really got out of her character was the overlord meeting (and despite her huge ego and unruly behavior she did end up speaking facts), so maybe she Is just as unstable as them in canon but canon is SHIT and this isn't about canon anymore. In my mind she's very much in charge of the back end of their work. Vox is obviously the head of the operation—or at least he seems like it to me—what with the tech company having his name and with him answering the interviews, but I think that's all he is. The figure head. Velvette is the brain behind it all. When Vox proposes new buisness endeavors off the cuff she's the one who goes back and makes sure they're getting handled properly because he doesn't really dig into the backend of how things happen. Vox goes to most of the conferences or whatever (Vel's too busy running her shows and serving cunt after all) but Vel follows up on what was learned.

(also yeah all that makes this very much an au of an au bc it'd take a lot of radical changes for the two of them to be friends I think. It's fun to imagine anyway)

Quoting AJ here bc I'm bad at paraphrasing and they said it well:

"And if we're going to make her sympathetic, (obviously not excusing her enabling a rapist) Val and Vox are grown ass men and she never got to experience the world outside a camera

Velvette is easily malleable with no real relationships!! Some victims tend to gravitate towards people who are similar to their abusers the only exception is that she feels like she has control this time"

THIS this. THIS! Okay uhh vague personal experience w/ abuse cw ig. skip this paragraph if you don't wanna hear it. But It kinda reminds me of my relationship with my parents- NOT THAT I SEE THEM AS TWO DADS AND A DAUGHTER I DO NOT BELIEVE IN THAT NOTION IN A POST PILOT WORLD If future content proves me wrong it proves me wrong but at this moment they're all equals in my mind (…and I hc them as poly BUT WE'LL GET THERE) but In my situation it's like. I hate my parents for the abuse they've caused me, my mom more than my dad bc she's satan incarnate, but there are still things I like about my dad and. Tolerate. About my mother. We still can talk cordialy and spend time together, have fun together even, and I show affection to them, but deep down I know I wanna cut my mom off later and maybe my dad too depending. Additionally my mom is completely Incompatent and pulls none of her weight so despite it all I've been forced to pick up the slack and become half the brains of this family. I do chores she should take care of. Handle money. Make important decisions about our health and safety she doesn't care about.

AAAny ways. This is so my version of Velvette. No I'm not projecting (I am). She pulls a big chunk of the weight around there (some of it being carried by Vox and virtually none by Val). She's very close with the two of them but isn't a fan of everything they do (Cares more for Vox than Val in my mind). Speaking of, she definitely isn't some saint now, she still makes the love potions and is Impassive to both Val and Vox's behavior, but part of that Is her just seeing it as part of the business. Shady practices and exploitation are par for the course in any business to her. She never truly grew out of the harmful mindsets ingrained into her by whoever her enabling caretakers were in life and they're still apparent in hell. (Maybe she even experienced some of the darker sides of exploitation in life but was groomed into thinking it was okay contributing to why she doesn't see Valentino's actions as heinous. Idk. thinking on it)

Circling back to my poly V's idea. Idk it just seems plausible to me. Vox and Val already have their whole thing going on, they all live together, and they all have nicknames for each other (Vox calling her my dear, Val calling her baby doll, Vel calling Vox darling). Ik that could just be their personalities and the pet names don't have to mean anything more but this is MY au and my word is gospel hope this helps. It just makes sense

I could go on and ON about the toxic insanity of the Poly V's in my mind— particularly between Vox and Valentino— but this is NOT their post so maybe next time. As for Velvette, I get the vibe that she'd be intimate with both of them and enjoy it but she's never the one to initiate anything. Sometimes they're all like this 🤞🏾 and others the boys are a complete turn off to her (main example being the difference in her attitude towards Vox in episode 3 vs episode 8). Her tolerance of them flips on a dime depending on how they're acting. She also prefers to be a casually entertained observer to VoxVal more often then not (ex. end of episode 8 imo)

Boys aside. My Velvette is still a social media influencer and she's all about advertising. advertising products (like the love potion), clothing looks, technology... Heck even herself. "You're nobody if you don't wear this or use this or look like this ^ - ^". Projecting on her even further by making her have a love/hate relationship with her profession aka the modeling aspect of it: she's always had a genuine love for fashion and dressing up but the internal pressure for perfection she's placed on herself makes it hard for her. She's very hard on her models and designers bc of this

Couldn't think of a segway for this but also WHAT HAPPENED TO VELVETTE WANTING TO FIGHT THE ANGELS??? The "full assault plan" against the angels??? And then when the fight actually came they were all just lounging around watching it go down like it was afternoon tv????? This isn't even a "we'll get to it in season 2" thing did they honest to god forget? Did that line not mean anything??

Well I didn't forget and it's pissed me off since my first rewatch of that meeting scene. Don't think we don't know how the V's got the angel head, but In my head Velvette was the one who initially proposed the idea for an assault against heaven and her insatiable need to feel respected and feared only spurred this plan on, incredible risk be damned.

It also felt weird to me that Velvette just. Let it go when Carmilla said the meeting was over. Just. "Oh ok! Plan cancelled no more attacking heaven ^ - ^ I'm gonna go scroll for the rest of the show!" Hu h. My au-ified Velvette would definitely fight her on it— if she thought killing angels would change the game and Carmilla held the secrets behind it she would pry! Blow up at her about it until she wasn't getting results and bitterly storming off with as much composure as she could muster. Not wanting to team up with Carmilla but find some way to use her for all she was worth and get her way in the end, use the power and resources the V's had to actually make a plan. Would it have worked without the Morningstars? Eh. Either way I'm sure she could delude herself into thinking they were the most powerful people in hell. Ugh I don't wanna make an au rewrite of the show and I that was never my plan so idk where that'd go but. Yea

ANYWAYS anyways. wow you made it to the end somehow! Here's your treat :3

Context u didn't ask for: Some days Velvette overwhelms herself with her own impossible expectations. Nothing she creates or puts out is good enough. She gets extra anxious about her following; nothing's happened to them, but what if they see the miniscule flaw in her latest clothing that she sees? What if she's no longer perfect? (Even worse in the vamp Velvette redesign of her bc she literally feeds off their attention and admiration)

She'll snap at everyone and disapprove of every look and then hole herself away somewhere where she crashes and is just. So. Tired. But she'll be out of it the next day, ready to keep the conveyor rolling.

[moononmyfloor]

Dashing Youth Ep 1-10 Commentary

Ep 11-16, Ep 17-21, Ep 22-25, Ep 26-32, Ep 33-35, Ep 36-40

Alrighty let's organise all my thoughts in neat lil piles.

1. Personally the type of Wuxia I enjoy is the more subdued, mature and philosophical vibe like that of Sword Snow Stride and Mysterious Lotus Casebook. I rarely watch youthful, lighthearted, rom-comey wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan. I didn't enjoy BoY a lot and I still wonder how I managed to finish it, the few characters I loved were Wuxin, Tang Lian, Zhao Yuzhen, Prince Chong and Prince Lingchen, because they had the acting style and character arcs that were closer to my preferences.

I clicked on Dashing Youth just for the curiosity and out of "since I watched BoY anw, I'm kinda obligated for this" feeling, but unexpectedly, within 10 mins I was in love lol. Many of the actors I already know and love, the bromance is instantaneous and strong, the promise of a good tragedy is alluring, and I could enter the worldbuilding faster because I already know what to expect from this universe.

AND I ADORE how the casting directors seem to have chosen actors with BLs/BL-vibe shows under their belt for all the important roles, they all know exactly what to do and like:

I for one am not mad about all the CP pushing promo the showmakers are doing. I mean, even if this was a super straight story we'll end up with gay fanfics anyway, right? So just as well we get to see our fantasies haha 😏

Like, that's an adorable thumbnail!

OK without further ado, getting myself invited into the Daddies' party time!!

By ep 4, Dongjun has so far charmed the asses off of Spear daddy, Lei daddy, and now Liu Xueyi's daddy. At this rate, I'll have to assume that the future kids are gonna be procreated not via their future wives, but through the consummation of the daddies' elaborate spiritual bodies when they flirt-duel lol

(Exactly like that)

Now I really wanna see a 重回我爸的高中时代 (Back to My Dad's High School Days) edit for Dongjun and his harem from the kids' povs Like here .

Ep 6- You did indeed, Wu Xie 2.5!

Hou Minghao collects new boyfriends, old boyfriends and his own other-selves like pokemon😆 Also gotta say that everytime I see Bai Shu now I feel like a proud parent. He's grown so much from the grumpy scrawny bb Wu Xie era huhu

Ep 9- It's amazing how I personally didn't really enjoy BoY, but Wuxin instantly got my love and while I'm 10x more drawn to Dashing Youth, the one who won me over above everyone else is again, Wuxin's dad. Also, Wuxin's dad is a chef! How can I not love this baby!

Everyone showing off martial arts while they are in their own world, serving a buffet lmao

Lei Mengsha looking at this poster: Yep, I can see this polycule is not a good idea. Usually I'm all in but I'll sit this one out and go make my two kids in peace. I'll have my chance with HMH in another universe anw

Despite being the silliest of them all, LMS is the only one who gives the vibe he'll always stand straight on his two feet even if the entire world goes topsy-turvy. I don't even need to look at BoY to be proven correct.

Ep 10- Ever since his intro from ep 1 where he went all, "wow, what a fate!", I love the parts they do these crossover jokes

(In fact, instinctively performing Qimen Dunjia is possibly how LMS figured out the trajectory the other boys were going to be in LMAO)

Now they need to add some tomb robbing jokes when Bai Shu and Neo interact and it'd be perfect!

Also it feels kinda fateful that Lei Wujie would go bond with Xiao Se, Lei Mengsha was best bros with his uncle Langya.

[tarotoftheendless]

Tom Sturridge: A Review

Disclaimer: I have ADHD, so, please forgive me if I jump around and go on tangents... I have lots of thoughts about this man and his projects, so....

At this point I have seen almost everything the man has been in. And I have thoughts about most of his work. I may have to do this review in parts as some of his work I need to re-watch in order to get my true thoughts out on it.

Firstly, Tom seems to enjoy choosing projects that are obscure, which I can appreciate. It fits in line with him not wanting to be in the spotlight and kind of live a more private life. In fact, The Sandman is both in line with the sentiment and yet isn't at the same time.

It kind of reminds me of Adam Driver and his filmography... and then Star Wars happened. Granted, Adam Driver has since been in the spotlight more, but he sure was uncomfortable with the attention when he was in Star Wars.

And I think Tom is the same. Not only does Tom come off as neurodivergent (it is just a speculation, not confirmed... I have observed his mannerisms and the way he speaks from many video interviews...), but he is introverted, doesn't have social media (though he might have at one point, though I think he got rid of all of it when his daughter was very young). There is something about him that screams "Don't perceive me" even with all the modeling he has done and him serving cunt on the Red Carpet. He does acting for the art not the fame, and I think he is handling The Sandman the same way. He always seems so uncomfortable at Cons... actually, it reminds me of how Jensen Ackles used to be at Supernatural Cons...

Anyway, I am sure I could go on and on about Tom himself, but I have thoughts about his films and shows. I will not be review The Sandman though... it's been done to death and I really don't feel like weighing in on it right now. But I would love to discuss in the comments about Tom himself with other Tom lovers if ya'll have something that you feel should be brought up about him.

I have seen the following projects of Tom's:

The Sandman - Dream/Dream of the Endless/Morpheus

2. Sweetbitter - Jake

3. Irma Vep - Eamonn - this was basically just a glorified cameo

4. Skin - Nathan

5. Velvet Buzzsaw - Jon Dondon - almost another glorified cameo

6. 3 Way Junction - Carl

7. Hello Apartment - Adam - basically a cameo... a sexy cameo...

8. Mary Shelley - Lord Byron

9. Double Date - John - a goth pretentious musician cameo

10. Remainder - Tom

11. Far From a Maddening Crowd - Sergeant Francis Troy

12. Effie Gray - John Everett Millais

13. On The Road - Carlo Marx

14. Junkhearts - Danny

15. Waiting for Forever - Will Donner

16. The Boat The Rocked/Pirate Radio - young Carl

17. Like Minds/Murderous Intent - Nigel Colbie

18. FairyTale: A True Story - Hob (A Fair) - cameo

I tried watching Journey's End and it was slow and depressing, so I never finished it... and I plan on watching Hollow Crown... but those episodes are basically films in themselves, so, that'll take forever... and I can't find a way to watch A Waste of Shame...

I have thoughts on many of these shows/films, so I will go though them in no particular order. And I might not have much to say about all of them because either there isn't much to say or I need to watch them again to fully be able to give my thoughts on them.

SWEETBITTER

Jake is a traumatized 30 something bartender that hides behind sex, drugs, and alcohol... and he has no idea how traumatized he really is because the one person that has continued the trauma for him has also been his savior, according to him... and he has to believe that in order to cope with his life, his choices and what actually happened to him. He was absolutely groomed by Simone, and before the show got cancelled I really think they were gonna go there with his character.

I love Jake. I both love his bad boy tendencies, but what makes me love him more is who he is beyond that, beneath that. The episode where is really opens up with Sasha was really eye-opening. He is struggling, and he has to believe that Simone is his lifeline because otherwise his whole life has been based on a lie, "No one knows you like I do", which is word for word what domestic violence abusers say to their victims. He truly believes that Simone fixes things, he has to believe that otherwise he'll fall apart. Much like Frodo has to believe that there is good in Gollum, Jake has to believe that Simone is actually his protector. Everything falls apart if Jake faces reality, hence drowning in the sex, drugs and alcohol. The lies are better than the truth.

He hates himself and doesn't believe that he deserves love, so he believes Simone's narrative of being damaged and dangerous because it is easier than really breaking away from her control and standing on his own two feet.

It makes me sad that we will never get a season 3 of Sweetbitter because Jake was such a beautiful and fascinating character, far more than Tess. I don't think I would have wanted Jake to actually be with Tess in the long run, I think Tess was also wanting Jake to fill a role so Tess herself could grow and use him a stepping-stone forward, a "been there, done that" sort of thing. Tess liked the bad boy, and she tried to make it seem like she wanted to help him but I still think it was for her own gain rather than actually wanting to help Jake, and that is why she would have ultimately lost him. He would run to what he has always known; Simone. Jake needs someone that gives him space to breathe for once. Someone that sees him and hears him and helps him see the truth without wanting anything from him in return. He needs permission to live, truly, for himself rather than for others that always want something from him. He needs therapy and better coping skills... cuz yeah not being sober and burying his dick in everything he can is not helping him at all.

So, really, that's review of the character... and I think Tom did a great job playing an aloof yet interested character that is a bad boy. The song 'Hot n Cold' by Katy Perry fits him quite nicely, I think.

The Boat That Rocked/Pirate Radio

So, I saw this film years ago, probably around 2018/2019, before I had any idea who the fuck Tom Sturridge was. I remember liking it.

Then I watched again after seeing The Sandman and I have grown a lot in my leftist views... and oh boy... this film is so sexist, homophobic and really super okay with SA it is scary... Tom has gone on record saying he would never do the 'Switch' in real life, but holy fuck that is some toxic shit.

As far as young Carl goes, I don't think casting a 23 year old Tom Sturridge was the right move if they wanted the audience to believe he was a virgin. Tom has always been gorgeous, and this film is no exception. And he got expelled for smoking, cigarettes and weed if the implications the film made are correct, making him a bad boy sort of. Girls and guys alike would have gone feral for him. As awkward as he is, it is more charming than anything else.

He should not have forgiven Marianne and he absolutely shouldn't have forgiven Dave. He also shouldn't have been okay with SA of a woman that would've had seemingly no idea that someone else was having sex with her other than the person she wanted to have sex with. I know that we all love young Carl, and I still do and will, but he really shouldn't be let off the hook for considering and almost going through with an SA all because he didn't want to be a virgin anymore.

All in all, I don't believe young Carl would've actually been a virgin because of Tom Sturridge portraying him, but also, the toxic shit that he goes along with shouldn't be over-looked either.

I love this film and Tom's character, but yeah, 2009 was a different time...

Waiting for Forever

So, this film is basically unwatchable... except for Tom's Will Donner... and even then, we have got to talk about the toxicity of this film.

Will Donner is basically a Manic Pixie Dream Boy... and his mental health issues are not only not named but they are handled poorly and without care. AND STALKING IS NOT CUTE OR ROMANTIC. Period. He should not have gotten the girl in the end. That gives the wrong message... like oh yes, we need more incels thinking they can just try and try and follow women and be quirky and then they will wear us down enough for us to see how romantic it was all along.

Now, that being said, I do think that Will is neurodivergent, ADHD and autistic specifically, with PTSD/C-PTSD as well as some sort of delusional disorder that has him speaking to people/ghosts that aren't really there... not schizophrenia exactly, but close to it. And I really think that he had no idea that what he was doing with the stalking because of his mental health issues. He didn't know any better... still that is no excuse and Emma should not have chosen him in the end.

Will Donner has no idea who Emma is. He has an idea of who he thinks she is in his head and that is who he is in love with. It was 2011 and men in films often were rewarded for being in love with a woman even if he has no idea who she really is... and that is a problem. Will, as precious and charming as he is, should not have been rewarded for loving his idea of who Emma is... and he really should not have been rewarded for his stalking... I love Will, he is a cinnamon roll of a man, and I get he has mental health issues, I too have ADHD and autism, but he should have had to work through his own toxicity before Emma would ever consider him... but I really don't think Emma should have ever chosen him.

And that brings me to Emma... as toxic as Will is, Emma never deserved his love. She does not deserve him at all. Will was a last resort to her. She had to loose her father and find out her ex was a murderer before even considering Will as an option. And she is a cheater... Will does not come off as the type that would be open to anything other than complete loyalty and monogamy... at least if he is with Emma. I would think trust issues would be abundant in their relationship, which is a shit foundation for any relationship.

As far as the film goes... I am sorry, but it is not good. If we followed Will only, maybe it would have been better, but all the B-plots with Emma and her family and everything really tanked the film. Will and Emma have no chemistry... yeah, I love Tom and he played the character well, but yeah... not his finest choice in film. I would watch his character literally in anything else other than the film we got.

I also wanted to punch Will's brother in the throat. 2011 really had a fuck ton of stigmas towards neurodivergent folks and this film just reiterated that.

Like Minds/Murderous Intent

So, I watched this after The Sandman hype... and oh boy...

This film came out in 2006 and in Hollywood the only way you could be gay is if you were a villain... or magic... and Nigel nor Alex were not magic... so...

This film is so homoerotic that it hurts... I think if they had just kissed... or better yet, fucked, that would have solved everything. No murder... no incest... no necrophilia... just gay butt fucking.

But Nigel is a psychopath. And I am not sure if it started with Alex or not... Nigel seems to think that Alex was the one that was fucked up and then they had a mind-meld... and Nigel just was more okay with going with it than Alex was? Honestly, this film is confusing... because the narrator is unreliable. Who knows what the truth really was. Maybe Alex was right, maybe Nigel was... maybe both... either way, Alex ends up accepting it and being a toxic evil fucker too, so...

Also, Nigel and Dream are not the same at all... I am weirded out by everyone relating the two characters together. Nigel is a psychopath... Dream is just dark... and toxic sometimes, but Dream is not a psychopath. Ugh. They are not the same, fucking hell.

Junkhearts

So... Tom's character in this is almost worse than Nigel... Danny is fucked up. Not only is he having sex with a minor, but yeah, the drugs and taking advantage of a vet was beyond fucked up. I am glad that Tom said that he took the role because Danny was so different from himself... which thank fuck that's the case because Danny is a nightmare. Though gurl.... that sex scene? Jesus... if Jake had you blushing with all his sex scenes, Danny has you dripping... and you know what the fuck I mean. Damn. I was watching this film with my partner and yeah, I had to take a moment afterwards to try to stop having my cheeks so red. It made me feel things I didn't exactly want to feel...

But yeah, fuck Danny... I don't think he should've been murdered in the end, but he was a terrible character.

I am not sure if this film was great... or even if Danny was necessary to tell the story, but yeah... maybe I will have to watch this film again to have more to say about it later.

Irma Vep

Ugh. I was kinda pissed that I had to watch 8 hours of this show and we only got Tom for about what, 15 minutes? Ugh! And he is hot... and toxic. A cheater and a liar. And him and Kristen Stewart? I want to know the history there so bad, because we all know that Tom and Robert Pattinson are besties... and then Tom has worked with Kris on the film On The Road too... and then he is taking her pants off and kissing her like that in this show? Fucking hell... makes me think Tom and her may have... idk, history beyond Kris dating Rob? There have been rumors... but idk how much of it is true... and old social media profiles have been abandoned and I am unsure if they are real or not, but there might be history... and this show, with Tom's 15 minute glorified cameo raised some questions about that.

Skin

This short film really moved the fuck out of me. I was balling my eyes out by the end of it and I had to sit with it for about an hour after I watched it. Tom's acting ability really shines through in just 11 minutes and it is just him, an Alexa-type voiceover and flashbacks with him and his husband. In 11 minutes. I was blown away by this short film and Tom and if you haven't seen it, you need to. All of the trigger warnings though; death of a loved one, grief, alcoholism, self-harm, suicidal ideation, bulimia-like actions... it's rough and very raw and real. But it is amazing and really shows how amazing Tom really is as an actor. You will cry and be in utter awe at the same time.

Velvet Buzzsaw

This film could have used more Jon Dondon... I do want to watch this again and give a more in depth review of this film and Tom's character in it, but yeah, I loved his South African accent and his pretentious ditzy character. He is funny, sexy and charming. It is a shame that they had to kill off his character.

3 Way Junction

So... this film felt like two films smashed into one and it was weird. Tom was brilliant in it, but I am not sure what the writer(s) was to say... also he would have died... 2 weeks in those conditions and not figuring out how to survive quickly? Yeah, he would have died. No one can survive 2 weeks like that. I do think I need to see this film again to give a better more detailed review on it and Tom's character.

Mary Shelley

I do need to see this film again... but I remember Tom's Lord Byron being sexy and amazing and well worth the re-watch for all Tom Sturridge lovers.

Effie Gray

The film is kinda boring, I'll be honest. But I do love Tom in this film. He plays a hopeless romantic well. It fits him quite well. I don't have much else to say about it than that. I did see this film for the first time before I knew who Tom Sturridge was, I love period piece films, so yeah. Watched it again recently, and I loved him in it, but yeah, the film itself is kinda boring.

Far From a Maddening Crowd

OMG! I wanted to flip a table when I realized he faked his own death. And then he comes back because he wants money? Bitch! He deserved a shot gun to the chest, damn. What a bitch. A hot sexy bitch that kisses women and grabs 'em by the pussy and then leaves, but a little bitch nonetheless. Tom, coming in and serving cunt and then dying. Goddamn.

Remainder

I had no idea that Tom kisses a man in this film... I just watched it because it had Tom as the main character... and then that kiss happened... probably the sexiest thing I've ever seen. Fuck. I do need to watch this film over again to really get a feel for... well all of it... more. This film was confusing as fuck and it deserves a re-watch for a better understanding of the story and Tom's character...Tom...

There other films on the list of stuff I've watched but not all of them really need a review... at least not right now.

Does anyone else have any thoughts or comments of these films and or shows? What about Tom in general? I kinda just want to gush with Tom Sturridge lovers about his roles and just him in general. I know I could have gone more in depth on some of his roles, but I think some of his roles have stood out more than others.

[howlingday]

Do you think Salem has hobbies if she does what kind of hobbies would she have? What would her inner circles hobbies be?

Let's see... Going for jokes and whatnot, let's see what kind of hobbies Salem and her inner circle probably has.

Salem is literally making Grimm all the time in her black pool. That said, I could see her also being really into cooking and might even watch cooking shows and cooking along with them. She then has her Grimm dispose of what's left of the meals when the inner circle is done eating.

Up next, we have Cinder, who is constantly plotting and scheming of way to become more powerful. It's kinda hard for me to say what she likes to do since most of what she does is all in the interest of serving the purpose of a later goal. That said, I'm having trouble thinking of anything since most of it would be more what she considers a waste of time... except gardening. She has her own personal garden that she plants seeds for and waters until they grow into beautiful flowers or food-stuffs for Salem to cook with. It may also better solidify her ties with Salem.

Tyrian is Salem's oldest and most faithful servant, serving as her tracker and hunter for the Maidens and the relics. Since murder isn't considering a viable hobby, part of me wants to say hunting, though I can't really see Tyrian as a hunting guy. Not with long range methods, anyways. Now fishing is a different story. I could see him dipping his tail into the water, using it was a hook until he yanks up the hapless fish. He also provides Salem with her cooking supplies. Am I just making up a Salem cooking AU? Who know.

Watts is Salem's tech guy, and he is very good at hacking and other computer-based things. Aside from that, I could also see him into other intellectually-driven pursuits. Not chess because chess is too important to the story of RWBY. No, I'm thinking more like crossword puzzles and sudokus. His morning paper is all he needs to have a good time. And if he screws up, he can just erase it because he's not an idiot who fills out the crossword in pen! YOU HAVE PENCILS! USE THEM! ...Wait, what were we talking about?

Hazel. Oh, Hazel, how sad it was to see you go after coming so far. Judging by his size, you'd think he'd be big into weight-lifting and some kind of martial-arts routine, but I think he instead picks up where his sister probably left off with her hobby. I'm thinking things like books or movies or maybe even like tiny horse figurines. Stuff you wouldn't normally associate with an eight-foot-tall brickhouse with an immunity to pain and an unquenchable desire for hate.

Let's see, who else is in Salem's Inner Circle? Looking at the Wiki, it's... Oh no. Ohoho my god... Evernight Castle? No, that's not what it's called, is it? Oh, it is! Oh my god, and it's located in "The Land of Darkness". Yeah, no, Hazel is definitely an MLP fan and he joined the villains to avenge his dead sister. Just... Oh my god... This cannot be real! Ugh... Anyway, who else is there?

Wait, who the hell is Vermillion Raddock? Oh, RWBY: Grimm Campaign. Yeah, one of these days I'll actually see it or hopefully play it, but good golly, will it be a while. Did they ever sell Grimm Campaign merchandise, or was it just a podcast that we had to be members of RT to watch? Oh well, questions for later.

Let's see... Tock... Unnamed female warrior... Oh, Mercury! I guess Emerald isn't a member, either, huh? Or even a member at all? Anyway...

Mercury is probably the easiest to figure out for me. Judging by how he's into sniffing boots and recording genocide, I'm gonna guess he's a blogger of some kind as a hobby. He's not in it for the money, just for the reactions he can get out of people. But then again, I may have a bias against the guy who recorded people being murdered with a smile on his face. Seriously, fuck this guy!

But I could be wrong on all accounts for these characters. What do you guys think?

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Manga Ch.100

Yes, Cheelai, we have finally reached the end of the 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypha Liveblog, but in particular, we've also finally reached the end of the seemingly endless manga adaptation of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie.

And yeah, this seems like an anticlimactic place to close out the year, but that's kind of how this entire liveblog has been, when you get down to it. I've had fun going through all this stuff, but there's a reason I'm referring to it all as "apocryphal". The Tournament of Power is a lot of fun, and the two DBS feature films are instant classics, but none of it really feels essential to Dragon Ball. From the OAVs to GT to Super, the main theme here is "Hey, remember Dragon Ball? Let's make more of that!" Everything ends up being a sequel or a callback or an easter-eggy kind of deal. And that's not the worst thing that can happen to a franchise, but it's probably fitting that we're closing out on the final chapter of a comic book adaptation of a movie that serves as a sequel to the Android arc that was a continuation of the Red Ribbon Army arc.

Chapter 100 just retells the last several minutes of the Super Hero movie, and I already went over the film, so let's just concentrate on how the manga depicts it differently. We'll start with Gohan's right arm, which got some heat a few days ago when the previews came out.

I refuse to dogpile on Toyotaro, since he's a far better artist than I'll ever be, and I've genuinely enjoyed his art through this entire read-through, even when the writing has been bad. That said... yeah, Gohan's arm looks kind of weird. Maybe while Gohan was teaching himself the Special Beam Cannon, he learned how to do Piccolo's stretchy arm thing too.

I do think it's pretty dumb how chuds on Twitter will nitpick Toyotaro's art as though the original Dragon Ball manga was some kind of showcase of photorealistic anatomy. I've been a fan of this thing for a quarter-century now, and the key to loving Dragon Ball is to make peace with the fact that it's fundamentally goofy and stupid. Sometimes a guy's arm gets drawn longer than his other arm. Sometimes characters scream so loud that their jaws unhinge like when a snake swallows an egg whole. Bulma wasted a wish on the Dragon Balls to make her ass look hotter, because if she didn't, then Frieza would come back and use the wish to make himself taller. Goku grew his tail back by having a guy tug on his ass with a pair of pliers. This show was always a hot mess, so don't blame Toyotaro. It was like this when he got here.

Anyway, Cell Max tries to block the Special Beam Cannon like he did in the movie, but Gohan has a harder time punching through, so in this version Goten and Trunks jump in to distract Cell and give Gohan a boost. In the movie, they were still Gotenks until after the fight ended, but in this version the battle must have taken a little longer, since they de-fused a little earlier.

Of course, this is just a way for Toyotaro to show off the Great Saiyaman X-1 and X-2 costumes one more time. It's kind of pointless, because all of the added Goten and Trunks scenes in this arc have been pointless. Also, Trunks' pose looks really awkward here. He looks like he got sawed in half, and both halves are still kind of flying forward in the same direction, but he's no longer connected.

I will say that I'm grateful for this final appearance of X-1 and X-2, because it gives me a chance to critique their outfits one last time. I hate the superhero undies they wear over their tights. They look baggy and puffy for some reason, which make it look like Goten and Trunks are wearing diapers. I'm pretty sure that's the exact opposite of what the boys were going for.

I mean, the outfits aren't that bad, but what irritates me is how Toyotaro keeps showing them off like this is the coolest thing going on in this story. The designs are presented like they somehow connect all these different things. Goten and Trunks were inspired by Cleangod, and they named their personas after Great Siayaman, and then Dr. Hedo saw them and supposedly based the Gammas' costumes off their look. Except X-1 and X-2 don't actually look anything like Great Saiyaman, or Cleangod, or the Gammas. It's just frustrating.

Anyway, we get the same bit about cosmetic skin alteration from the movie, except Gotenks has already separated in this version, so Bulma can address Goten and Trunks separately.

I also like this part after Pan shows off her flying ability. This segued into the credits of the movie, but here we see Gohan calling out for her to stay closer to the ground. It's pretty cute, since it kind of calls back to when Gohan was a timid child way back in the early days of DBZ. Now he's older and braver, but I bet when he sees Pan up so high in the air he thinks about how scared he was whenever he was up really high.

Meanwhile, some Red Ribbon goons have survived the battle and appear to be slowly getting away. This is nice because I noticed these guys escorting Carmine to safety in one of the previous chapters, and I've always wondered if any of the Red Ribbon guys made it out of the base alive. Pan knocked Carmine out, so it seemed reasonable to assume that he was vaporized during the Cell Max battle. Actually, in the movie, it looked like the entire crater was flattened, but here it looks like the destruction stayed confined to that area.

Anyway, the implication is that Carmine will return to Red Pharmaceutical and try to figure out his next move, but it seems unlikely that he could be much of a threat. Magenta's dead, the base is destroyed, and a bunch of their soldiers either died or deserted in this battle. Remember, even with the base and all those soldiers, Magenta still wasn't ready to make a big move. Dr. Hedo's androids were supposed to be his game-changing weapon, and now Hedo's turned against the Red Ribbon, so what can Carmine possibly do from here?

We get some additional material of the Goku/Vegeta fight in the movie. In the post-credits scene, they were practically moving in slow-motion and we only got to see the final blow. Here, we see Goku and Vegeta each land one last punch before the one that ends it all. These boys look all rowdy and badass and it's great.

When Whis finally responds to Bulma's messages, we get this cute shot of everyone sleeping in the back of her aircraft. Gohan talks about taking her to the amusement park, which seems kind of random, but it occurred to me that this might be setting up some filler story for Chapter 101. Like Gohan and Pan go to the amusement park for the day, and Carmine tries to kill them or something to avenge the Red Ribbon Army. That probably wouldn't be a bad idea, although I really don't want that to happen, because it sounds similar to the "Hedo vs. Goten and Trunks" stuff we had in Chapters 88-90. Everyone thinks Toyotaro has been champing at the bit to get done with this arc so he can return to his Black Frieza business, but for all we know he's been enjoying this whole bit, and he'll blow the next six months on filler stories with Goten and Trunks goofing around with Sgt. Nutz.

Anyway, this is the last page and this was the last little bit of the movie too, so Toyotaro has definitely run out of movie to adapt. Also, Bulma looks really cute on this page, so I wanted to add that to the record.

So that pretty much wraps things up, except for one minor detail. Where's the big twist?

I ran across this last month when I was checking to see if Chapter 99 would wrap up the arc or not. CBR.com did an article entitled "Dragon Ball Super Chapter 100's 'Unbelievable' Twist to Lead to "'Crazy Developments'" The story stems from comments made by V-Jump editor Victory Uchida, who was hyping DBS chapters 99 and 100 while appearing in an unboxing video for some reason.

The video is in Japanese, so I can't just pull out direct quotes from the man, so maybe this was all some big misunderstanding. Maybe it was a mistranslation, maybe Uchida got confused and was referring to material that wouldn't see print until Chapter 101. Or maybe he was just doing a standard hype job for his publication without thinking about what was actually in the magazine. After all, how can Chapter 100 have an "unbelievable twist" when it's doing a shot-for-shot repeat of a year-old movie?

So I assumed this meant there would be some sort of epilogue scene in the final pages, designed to set up the next arc. Sort of like how the last chapter of the Tournament of Power arc had the scene where the Galactic Patrol kidnaps Majin Buu. But Chapter 100 had no such thing. No Black Frieza, no Cell Max suddenly turning the tables on Gohan to win the movie, no mysterious appearance from Purple Turles or Red Bojack. Not even a lousy cameo from Platinum Cooler.

Does this make Victory Uchida an unreliable source of information? Or has he simply been misunderstood? I feel like his ridiculous yellow wig/hat thing kind of holds the answer to that question.

Anyway, the ultimate fate of Dragon Ball Super lies in Chapter 101 and beyond, but those stories will be printed in 2024, which means they fall outside the scope of this liveblog. So unless Toei or Shueisha has a new movie or anime coming out in the next eleven days, I'm done. This has been the 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypha Liveblog. Good night, everybody!

[midnightsslut]

you know what i find interesting is how people get so in a lather about the relationship with healy. i need to preface this by saying i don’t like matt healy. i find his ‘art’ about performative masculinity being performed to mostly young girls while he gets on a podcast with men and laughs when they mock women to be self-serving. he simply cannot look himself in the mirror and my patience for that in a gown man is negligible

in the summation poem taylor calls it a mutual manic phase and then mocks him for waving a sword he can barely lift. if it was a mutual manic phase then wouldn’t statements you can’t stand by be par for the course? in the stevie nicks poem the relationship with healy is portrayed to be that between two broken hearted people where the guy cannot get it together. closer to the truth imo. and certainly nothing then to raise one’s hackles about. isn’t ttpd an album about how you fuck up when you are broken hearted? and then the ghosting. which fair taylor can be angry about. but her fans? (at least they need to admit that they are being cupcakes/taking the side of their parasocial bestie. and that is fine within limits) taylor ghosts too. she has a song in the same album about being a bolter. for healy maybe leaving felt like breathing too.

and biological clock can’t be a factor because it lasted for barely a month. the relationship seemed doomed anyway and thus he was more clear-eyed about that and didn’t waste her time. and for taylor to be so affected by someone talking rings and cradles..can’t the guy feel some way about being a stand-in for her needs? maybe he realised that she was manic and wanted to leave before he got left. that is not to say that he is blame free. just that taylor admits her faults in her ig caption so maybe some parts of their fandom ahould put down their pitchforks because what is there to be so angry about?

there’s a lot to unpack here. I do agree with some of the things you said, but I think you’re confusing some of the songs to be about matty when they’re not (the biological clock was never referenced in relation to matty, for example. two brokenhearted people who just couldn’t get it together applies to him to an extent, but it is far more relevant to joe).

regarding taylor’s anger, I personally think it’s normal to feel upset when your vulnerabilities were essentially exploited, only for you to be left out in the cold. matty seems like a broken person in general, but taylor was in one of the darkest places of her life, and he made her think he could pull her out of it and then quit after a month. sure, he didn’t waste her time, but he shouldn’t have gotten with her at all and promised things he could never deliver (marriage, babies, a fated, eternal love). yes, taylor has ghosted people in the past, but she really hasn’t done it in more than eight years in a relationship, so it’s fair for her to feel hurt. regardless of your past behaviors, certain things are still painful when they’re done to you. it’s par for the course in hindsight, but that’s not how it felt at the time, because that is not how he made it seem; that’s the very nature of a manic phase.

the fandom is a different matter. yes, the reactions to matty in general have been overblown. I have maintained that from the second we got that article about him attending her shows in nashville. a lot of those behaviors are common for a fandom this size, but that doesn’t justify them. that being said, I can’t fault people for disliking matty. he has said a lot of really vile things that people have the right to feel hurt over. it’s also normal to sympathize with a celebrity who bares her soul to you about the hardest summer of her life. when you hear so much about how she felt, it’s almost more surprising to me if you don’t feel any empathy at all. yes, people take it too far, but they always have. I’m not going to defend this fandom’s stance on matty, but i also can’t really argue with it.

[kerubimcrepin]

Episode 40 - The Beginning

The same text asset as in the previous episode. I really like how good this show is at re-utilizing the art assets and files, by the way.

I don't know why this made me laugh so much.

This moment is made funnier by the fact that they have these balls everywhere at home. Everywhere in episode 1 and 2, then in a basket downstairs after that, then, in the movie, yet again, all over the fucking place. Chances are, playing with balls of wool is something Joris does a lot. No wonder he has no idea why Keke's mad at him this time.

KILL HIM JORIS. I really like that as time goes on he will say this about the most inane things. Buddy, he had a dinosaur tooth, and you're doubting that his orphan ass took a single yarn ball from Ecaflip's collection?

There are all these kids, who are friends, and Keke only plays with Ecaflip. I had said that, probably, being Atcham's brother didn't help him socially, but also,., I do think Ecaflip was isolating him on purpose too.

See, when Ecaflip needs Keke to feel awesome, it's "you're the luckiest ecaflip ever", but when he needs Kerubim to need his care and stay by his side, it's "you will Die without me."

I hate this guy.

DUN DUN DUN. None of the other kids even passed the confirmation. And it turns out they weren't meant to pass it to begin with, apparently... Very kind of Ecaflip.

It seems that most disciples are free to leave. Kerubim's the ~Exception~.

...Says the god of cards and fortune, who is characterized by his ability to manipulate luck and results. But did he really? Or is he simply... lying?

One very pointed detail here, is that we are shown the number of the tarot, which is "13", — and that allows us to pinpoint which real world card Misadventure is supposed to represent, to see what it means. So, shall we?

Oh my fucking god. Ecaflip... Cards never lie, but you just disregard what they say anyway!

Here is what the internet has to say on the topic:

The Death card symbolizes the end of a major phase or aspect of your life that you realize is no longer serving you, opening up the possibility of something far more valuable and essential. You must close one door to open another. You need to put the past behind you and part ways, ready to embrace new opportunities and possibilities. It may be difficult to let go of the past, but you will soon see its importance and the promise of renewal and transformation. If you resist these necessary endings, you may experience pain, both emotionally and physically, but if you exercise your imagination and visualize a new possibility, you allow more constructive patterns to emerge. [...] Finally, Death is a sign that you need to learn to let go of unhealthy attachments in your life to pave the way to a fuller, more fulfilled life of deeper meaning and significance. Death teaches you to let go of outworn and outgrown ways of life and to move forward from them. This is a perfect card to break a bad habit or pattern of behavior. See this as a time to cut out excess and let go of what is unnecessary for your life. Purge the old belongings, memories and baggage that are getting in your way.

I can't deal with this show anymore. How do I even analyse this, when this being the Death card already says all there is to say about Kerubim's childhood and his relationship with Ecaflip during it?

Yes, Ecaflip values the freedom of his disciples. As long as they are not useful to him. If they are... then, well, it doesn't matter what they want.

He probably wanted Kerubim to be by his side forever. For centuries. Just in one place, for him to have fun with. And I think that's a very normal thing to be scared shitless of.

...Orphanage confirmed to have toilers despite the fact that ecaflips can use a litter box. Also it really is such an Ecaflip move, to punish Kerubim for not wanting to be his pet for his whole life.

Can the metaphors in this episode get any thicker than this?

Also, the expression "a gilded cage" does exist in French.

Man, haha, I wonder if he's seen someone get the expulsion from the orphanage before, to give him this idea. I wonder if whoever that was had a name starting with A—— (I am forcibly removed from the stage and medicated.)

Things are that bad. He's being kept here against his will by a guy who plans to do this to him for centuries, and he's forced to mop for him.

I really do think that it's admirable, that no matter how much bullshit Ecaflip throws at him, Kerubim never loses his willingness to fight for himself, or, at the very least, make himself a problem. He will not go gently into that good night.

Y'know, judging from how often hearts are used in graffiti in this series, I genuinely think they may symbolize something far more risqué, in-universe.

It is a common misconception that, in earlier human history, this symbol was used to represent sexual organs, which may inspire its usage in this context, within the show.

(Apparently it simply doesn't look like a heart to modern people because we usually look at scientific diagrams, instead of like... actual real hearts of animals during butchery and cooking, or human cadavers. Apparently the real thing, without all the veins, is "<3" shaped. Yes, I went on a deep dive for this symbol's history, for this post. You're welcome.)

He really is the class clown. We love to see it.

This confirms that, within modern, cartoon-canon, god conversions are still a thing. Though probably very rare.

God, Ecaflip's literally that one meme.

Anyway, he was really, really betting on those 600 years of undying immortal codependency he already imagined for him and Kerubim, huh...

But sadly, his personality is too... bad for that. Someone else will get this specific brand of horrific parent-child relationship with Kerubim instead. It will be a very casual Joris Jurgen Win.

(It will also be an instance of Kerubim perpetuating the cycle. But let's not talk about that.)

Kerubim is saying this to make him feel guilty, as can be seen from his pout immediately after he says this. But the thing is...

The thing is that if you keep telling someone that they're worthless, so that they stay with you, they will, generally, probably start believing it just a little bit. Even if they don't want to. Especially if they're a child.

He can't hide how much these words actually mean to him.

Is it any wonder his relationship with Lou fell apart because he felt unworthy of her, and it made him fall into gambling addiction, and the glitz and glam of being "successful" and "rich"?

Of course he would develop 20 mental illnesses about this...

The scariest part of this episode is that Joris recognizes enough similarities between his own situation and Kerubim's (an isolating relationship with a single adoptive parent (Don't forget, Kerubim did have a mortal family once, before the temple, — Ecaflip essentially took him in, despite being his biological father), and said parent insists on being ~Besties~ with you, while you don't really have many, if any at all, friends outside the household. And the household is a very high-stress environment), to clock the relationship between Keke and Eca as a parent-child one.

Even without yet knowing that Kerubim is a demigod.

Man... Kerubim perpetuating the cycle.

[queenoftsage]

I don't want to spend ....

an entire twenty minutes trying to come up with a solid review for 'The Judge From Hell' because I'm not feeling it, plus I am more excited to start working on some art that I want to do.

[lots of SPoILeRs up ahead.]

Anyway... All I have to say is... That the cultural gap between South Korea and western religions was very evident in the way the whole lore of 'The Judge From Hell' was handled. Like.... What religion were we alluding to here? Catholic? Baptist? Methodist? Either way... I eventually didn't care, I was like. Oh well, it's the 'Good Religion' they're following. You know, the righteous one.

There was no alluding to any kind of entities from South Korean culture like in 'Hotel Del Luna'. So... It made me think they were trying their luck with Western type religious imagery. As far as originality goes, I will give it that. It's very original lore. What with something called a Kylum and Satan and Bael fighting against each other for it.

... Like you're telling me that these demons serve Lucifer and the demon lort[lord] was nowhere in sight? Did we ran out of budget or something to have THE MAIN boss show up and be like, 'Ok bitches, what you all doing fucking around in the human world. When did I allow that?' or something.

Also.... Kang BitNa... What happened to her? I never got it. Like, where did she end up? After Gremory chased after her, and she ran off. Where did she go? did she stay in 'Fake Hell'? Did she escape 'Hell' overall? What happened? Did I miss it within the subtitles and the dialogue?

Why didn't we get more insight on her as a character? All I know was that she was going to get married to that psycho dude and she saw something she shouldn't have and got killed because of it. How was she as a judge, though? How did she end up with such a psycho dude being a very 'good' judge? I mean, as far as the tiny bit of information we get in the series, BitNa was a great judge, but then she was murdered and died. That's how Justitia took over. hmmm...

I get it, the whole story was Justitia and her mission. It was very fun and SATISFACTORY to watch though, and what I do have to praise the series on were the performances. These actors went in on this and crushed their performances, making me smile every other time. I loved Park Shin Hye's performance. But I'm just biased cause she's a fave. Kim JaeYoung was really good too, and just everyone else. They made this worth watching.

Yes, if you watch this, do not expect any kind of realism, anything to make sense, or anything to be 'logical'. Please leave your stupid 'eVeRyThINg NeEdS tO MaKe SeNSe' logic behind, this is fiction, most importantly FANTASY. It does not have to make sense. Hell you can fucking say the entire HUMAN world has a red sky in that reality and that would fly because FICTION.

none of this shit is trying to be 'realistic'. That said... I still gave this 9 outta 10 because I felt bad that Kang BitNa's story never got resolved and Lucifer was nowhere in sight. Instead we had Gabriel... Gabriel seems to be always messing with them demons. I've seen it in works like 'Constantine' and other ish based on the demons and the angels type lore. To be fair, 'Constantine' had a super bad ass Lucifer showing up at some point.

Anyway... yeah... It's over... I was like. Soooooo can we have a season two, to see what happened to BitNa? And if Justitia is going to do that whole becoming a human thing? ... no? yes? maybe? ... *shrugs*

It was a fun ride either way. I liked it, but the ending left me wanting more, to be honest.

Final Verdict: 'What happened to Kang BitNa!?'

[caer-gai]

Angsty Arthurian AU Idea number ???

Reincarnation AU! Ector is raising a not-yet-remembering Arthur on his own in some off the grid small town. All alone. No Kay. Arthur had this feeling of 'something missing' his entire childhood, Ector knows who it is and has just enough of an idea what's become of Kay that it hurts a lot to think about.

They gather a bunch of local reincarnations Bedivere for sure, maybe Dinadan, Morgan, Guinevere, as Arthur is remembering and coming into his destiny. They're a small, tight knit found family scrappy low resources rebellion sort of vibe. Very fun very cool.

Now, Uther is still alive and well and running his own court/cult of personality/militant group. They and Arthur's group will come into conflict but he's also got his own agenda. Anyways one of his strongest lieutenants is Lot, who runs a powerful secret base for Uther's group, where he's "training" his sons to be Uther's perfect soldiers.

He also has Kay.

Between Lot and Uther they've made Kay into the perfect weapon against Arthur: trained since he was a baby, magic forced to it's max making him really powerful (a way to describe it i came up with comes from bedivere "The magic around him was screaming") he's supposed to be unshakably loyal. Excpt the only ones he's really loyal to are Lot's kids, to which he's become a weird sort of surrogate big brother (as much as he can). They're the only one's who treat him like a human.

Gareth absolutely hero warships Kay (though in a naive 'you're such a great knight i can't wait to serve Uther too!' kind of way that hurts Kay's soul). Anyways Kay is absolutely terrifying on the battlefield, and for a long time no one and nothing can stand in his way. Until he fights Bedivere (neither know each other's identity)

Bedivere is a solid challenge on his own, but when Kay blasts him with fire it doesn't burn Bedivere. Instead it activates some sort of magic signal bound to their souls, which protects Bedivere. Now that they know both are horror struck (for different reasons) and freeze. One of Kay's "teammates" takes a cheap shot at Bedivere, but he's warned by his team and dodges away. Making him the first to ever escape Kay.

Bedivere tells his peeps about this, which sends Ector into a dark spiral and leads Arthur to ask a lot of questions. Meanwhile, Kay is back at base and not in his armour for the first time. And he's in a cell. Gawain comes to visit, angry at Kay for freezing up, mostly because it made Lot mad. he goes on at Kay for a while before Kay finally snaps and tells him that it was Bedivere he was fighting, and on top of it the signal that save Bedi's life was one he a Kay crafted together to ensure that they couldn't hurt each other.

Which ouch. Gawain tried to apologize, but Kay's too tired for this rn and goes to sleep.

That's about as far as I've gotten linearly. Two other scenes I have in mind with Kay and Gareth-

Gareth is following Kay around while he's getting ready for a mission, mentions how he wants to be just like Kay when he grows up and Kay stops what he's doing gets down on Gareth's level and looks him in the eyes and says "Beaumains, You are going to be so much better than I ever was." (One day, in a happier world and place, where Gareth doesn't have to be anyone's soldier he remembers the first life, and he remembers this and he goes to Kay and hugs him and tells him he's still his hero)

Gareth wants very badly to go with Kay on one of his missions. So badly he teaches himself to replicate Kay's fire magic, and shows it to Kay hoping to impress him. Instead Kay freaks the fuck out and yells at him and makes him promise to never show or tell anyone about this ever again. it's the first time gareth is genuinely scared of kay. Kay hates himself for it but he can't let Lot and Uther put Gareth through the same hell that has been Kay's entire life.

idk if im feeling silly enough i might do some art for this, bc the visual of badass armoured up Kay reassuring little baby Gareth is living in my brain now

[randomoranges]

some little prince au one-shot silly idea from last week.

this is like, pre prince-au haha

To Be

As was often the norm, after a long day of training and lessons, once they had eaten, Calvin went to lounge in Étienne’s room. The young prince’s quarters were bigger, better lit and more comfortable than his own and Étienne liked to keep his space warm and inviting.

He stretched luxuriously on Étienne’s larger bed after shedding the outer layers of his uniform and stared up at the familiar ceiling. For as long as he could remember, he and Étienne had been joined at the hip, getting into all sorts of mischief together. Étienne had shown him how and Calvin had gladly followed.

It helped, obviously, that Étienne was the prince, and the youngest one at that, and so the scoldings were always gentle. And even though Calvin knew that one day he would serve Étienne’s eldest brother, who would one day be crowned king, for now, he could stay by his friend’s side.

Étienne joined his side moments later and Calvin spared him a glance as he got settled. The light from the window caressed the prince’s features and Calvin felt his breath still for a moment. Étienne looked – beautiful under the pale moonlight that blended with the golden light of the candles that were still on.

Then again, Calvin had often thought that Étienne was pretty – not that he’d ever told him. But, he was, from the curls of his brown hair that framed his face just so, the green of his eyes often bright with humour and the sincerity of his smile, Calvin had fallen slowly but surely for his friend.

“Please tell me your day was better than mine,” Étienne asked him after complaining about his own. For as much as he liked learning, everyone who knew the prince also knew that Étienne preferred to immerse himself in his art or the company of others.  

Calvin tucked Étienne close to his chest where it felt like the most natural place in the world for him to be in this moment and relayed the highlights from training, while the prince played with his hair as he often did when it was just the two of them. It felt nice, this proximity to Étienne and he’d never given it a second thought over the many years they had known each other.

“You should come to the next training sessions,” Calvin encouraged him as he tried to do every so often. Étienne grimaced at that, making him laugh quietly.

“No thank you; it’s absolutely muddy out there. I don’t see why anyone needs such barbaric skills anyways.” He added with evident disdain, making Calvin roll his eyes at the comment, fond despite everything else. It was no secret that the youngest prince of the palace was far from a fighter and could rarely be persuaded to attend any training whatsoever much to the chagrin of the king and of the head of the king’s guard.

“Will you come and watch at least?” Calvin knew that he could get Étienne to come and watch him on occasion, if the weather was nice. Sometimes, he would even sketch the drills the knights would go through and Calvin was always secretly impressed by what Étienne showed him afterwards.

Étienne made a noncommittal shrug, “I was thinking of riding into town tomorrow after my lessons; I need a distraction.”

Calvin nodded, he knew what the prince meant by that. Whenever Étienne got a little restless, he would visit the town and mingle with the people. Sometimes, he would even spend the night at the inn with whomever had stricken his fancy. Calvin had also known for years now that Étienne preferred both the company of men and women, and really, it was no secret.

Still, every time the prince went out, Calvin thanked the stars that they lived in peaceful times and that the royal family was well loved by the locals. That, or at the very least, he did not have to worry as much about Étienne staying out of the castle.

However, Étienne’s potential trip into town brought forth another question to Calvin.

“Can I ask you something?” He started, putting the words together in his mind before he chickened out. It was a rather personal question and even though he knew Étienne wouldn’t judge or make fun of him for it, there was still a bubble of fear that wedged itself inside of him.

Étienne shifted so that they were facing each other, as if sensing that what Calvin had to ask him was serious, and then motioned for him to go on.

“What’s it like to kiss a man?” He said ever so quickly while holding his breath and hoping for the best. He knew his friend wasn’t going to laugh at him for asking, but he did still wonder what Étienne’s reaction was going to be.

The prince blinked, as if surprised, and then a soft smile came to his lips, while Calvin tried to remember what it was like to breathe.

“I’d say it’s pretty much the same as kissing a woman, except sometimes, some of them have lots of facial hair and it can tickle.” He paused, making sure he hadn’t missed any extra information worth relaying to Calvin. “Why do you ask? Is it something you’d like to try?” He added as if giving him the invitation he needed to pursue his plan.

Calvin’s eyes widened slightly and he looked away, suddenly shy. He didn’t know why Étienne wasn’t one to normally be mean for no reason. Even if the prince wouldn’t indulge his little folly, he wouldn’t mock him for it.

“Maybe…” He finally admitted, daring at the last second to look back to Étienne and maybe he was imagining things, but he swore he saw a flicker of something run through the greens of Étienne’s eyes.

“Well, in that case, aren’t you just in luck. I happen to have some experience in that field.” Étienne shifted once more and Calvin found himself with an armful of his favourite prince, pressed close to one another, while his heart sped up quite a bit. Even in his wildest of dreams, it never went quite like this.

This was very different from any other time they had lain together, late at night, talking when they should have been asleep. This felt more intimate even if absolutely nothing had happened yet, but the potential for a shift was ever so present. They were on the brink of something big and Calvin could only pray that whatever happened wouldn’t ruin what he already had with Étienne.

Étienne cupped his face and the warmth of it against his cheek made Calvin’s body heat up all over. He leaned into the contact, marvelling at it and anticipated what would – could – hopefully would happen next.

For a moment, the prince simply caressed his cheek with the pad of his thumb and the action was soothing as well as grounding. Calvin could imagine the paint speckled thumb against his cheek and even though the prince had never touched him this way, the image of his thumb flecked with paint was familiar enough, reassuring even. This was Étienne, after all. His best friend. The boy he had grown up with. It would only be fair and make perfect sense that Étienne would be the first boy he would want to kiss.

It was finally Étienne who closed the last of the distance between the two of them and pressed his lips to Calvin’s first, nearly taking him by surprise at the sudden shift.

Calvin wasn’t sure what he had been expecting but sure enough, just like Étienne had told him, it was pretty much the same. And yet, it was also so very different, for Étienne’s lips had been foreign to him up until this very moment, a far away fantasy, and they proved to be soft against his own. Just as Calvin started to register the shape and feel of them, the kiss was over and Étienne pulled away.

Too soon, in his opinion. There was so much more to commit to his memory.

“See what I mean?” The prince asked, voice ever so caring and soft.

“I think I need to try again.” Calvin seized his opportunity and moved in as Étienne laughed quietly, more than pleased to welcome him back. This time, they met halfway, Étienne parting his lips for Calvin’s eager tongue and this, by far, was much better. Sure, Calvin had had a dalliance here and there, but he felt as though he could spend a lifetime kissing Étienne and it still wouldn’t be enough.

He loved the way Étienne held on to him gently, one hand caressing his cheek, and when they pulled away, Étienne looked at him as though he was his most treasured artefact. Calvin brushed his thumb over the prince’s kiss swollen lips and returned his easy smile. They both laughed, a private affair between them, before Étienne pulled him back to him for another eager kiss.

Calvin felt alive and bold from the way Étienne clung to him, breathy little moans escaping his lips that were like music to his ears. He dared let his hands travel down the length of Étienne’s sides and only wondered briefly why it was he had waited this long to kiss his beloved prince. Étienne was so responsive to his touch, going as far as to twine their legs together to be closer still and Calvin wanted even more.

“Étienne,” He said, breaking the moment. Étienne looked at him, face flushed but pleased and Calvin knew right then and there that he’d want this for as long as possible.

“What’s it like to lie with a man?” He whispered, using his earlier question, lips near brushing against Étienne’s, teasing him really.

Étienne looked at him, surprised, but evidently pleased by the question, “I’d say,” He started voice thick with evident want as he licked his lips in anticipation, and Calvin silently thrilled at the fact that he was the reason for putting Étienne in this state, “That it’s a wonderful thing and I’d be more than happy to assist you with that,” he murmured back, before he gently pushed Calvin on his back in order to clamber on top of him.

Calvin grinned, admiring the view of his gorgeous prince, here with him, in all the senses of the word.

FIN

[feminismisstillahatemovement]

Apparently if you dare to be a sane person and say the truth for what it is - you're Hitler. Despite all historical evidence, the far left opinion on Hitler seems to be very high.

Anyway, hi! I stumbled onto your blog very recently and it's a gulp of fresh air after being exposed to Tumblr's ultra-woke accounts. I used to be on the left too, but their narrative was becoming more and more insane until I started to question it and disagree, and it's people and blogs like yours that helped me to see the hypocrisy and doublethink that seems to be so present in the far-left spaces (far-right too, but I think both of those extremes are very harmful and dangerous.)

You give an impression of being an intelligent, reasonable person and from what I've seen, your arguments are firmly based in logic, common sense and objective reality. How do you think, is there any hope we'll be seeing the end of current woke agenda soon? From what I understand, there seems to be a culture war going on (especially in US), but more and more people are waking up and also the companies are getting rightfully boycotted after pushing the woke narrative (like BudLight, Target, Gillette etc), but I don't know if it really means anything or changes things. I find you an interesting person to talk to and wanted to know your thoughts.

Keep doing the good work and don't pay attention to clowns! They know they have nothing to defend their position with, and so are getting aggressive and angry.

That's very nice to be told, so thank you.

I honestly still don't think of myself as left or right; I largely just see those two labels as being magnetic polarities for evolutionarily-created character traits that the great majority of the population will always tend to fall into (the creative, utopian, collectivist types blindly worshipping never-ending "progress" and the traditionalist, conservative, religious types, suspicious of change but responsible for protecting and maintaining the fabric and narrative of society).

I was more left-leaning for many years, and still feel sympathies in that direction, so I don't wish to "smash the left!" or "smash the right!" because, when working healthily, both those polarities represent necessary parts of human existence and experience that could - theoretically, at least - harmoniously complement each other and make for a better world, if only each were to recognize they need the other.

But having said that, it really is impossible right now to not conclude that over the past 10, 20 years the entire mainstream Left has gone completely insane, and is now utterly adrift from reason, sanity, humour, common sense and any lucid conception of human decency. So that's something that needs to be fixed - hopefully by the left itself - and there are some glimmers of that beginning to happen: the madness of the trans issue , especially, seems to have been a step too far for many, splitting the entire feminist movement down the middle and waking many liberal parents up to the mutilation of their children being terrifyingly (and mandatorily) celebrated and applauded everywhere they turn. And the openly racist hatred and vilification of the straight white male trade unionists who were traditionally the backbone of the left wing parties has got to be making some drift away and wonder who those parties are really serving now. And surely even the most liberal art lovers can tell that all movies and books and TV shows and art exhibitions today have collapsed into empty, soulless, worse-than-mediocre propaganda.

As to whether there is any definitive end in sight, I don't know. Like I say, there are signs, but on the other side of that tabletop there is the relentless indoctrination of children, and the ever-expanding or tightening net of technology, and these two things I find make it especially hard to predict the future world with any confidence.

But the bases of power behind both require money and public silence to continue: if enough people stop giving woke corporations money, they will cease their allegiance to that deranged course of action or else die off, and if parents take their children out of schools that are indoctrinating them into destructive far-left insanity, then the schools will either stop pushing that agenda or die off. And things like that do seem to be happening in some places, so that gives me hope.

The thing that ideally needs to happen more than anything else is for the woke to wake up, out of their conditioning and relentless corporate brainwashing. But if the events of the past 10 years have not been enough to open their eyes to the fire directly raging in front of them, it's hard to imagine what kind of superpowered espresso machine it would actually take to clear the fog and snap them back to reality.

Hearts and minds, though. Hearts and minds. One soul at a time.

[stormyoceans]

I think vice versa was written and directed by a mastermind because there's no other show(specially in gmm) I've seen that has put so much thoughts, elements and details behind their every farme, action, dialogue etc like the way this show did. When I started the show and it's doing so well I often question myself 'how is this new show out of nowhere with these new actors doing everything right so far' like this! was! so! new! We were so used to overlook silly goofy things in shows we didn't expect that the genre is capable of producing this much yk perfection. Every episode KNEW what they were doing, there was a beginning and an ending. No unnecessary cliffhangers, no unnecessary drama, no unnecessary anything really. Even ep 11 I think it was probably the best ep 11 in a show. They didn't put drama just to put drama. It always felt like the people working behind the show loved it so much so wholeheartedly. This show is so carefully, patiently crafted by love. Vice Versa is INCREDIBLE

ANON SAID IN THIS ESSAY I WILL AND BY GOD IN THIS ESSAY YOU DID!!!!!!! CATCH ME IN THE STREETS HANDING OUT INFORMATIVE PAMPHLETS WITH THIS MESSAGE ON THE FRONT PAGE LIKE EXCUSE ME SIR(gn) DO YOU HAVE A MOMENT TO TALK ABOUT OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR VICE VERSA

and i agree with all of this but what stood out to me the most is how you said that the show was a labour of love because YEAH. THAT'S IT. like i fully believe there was mental illness in the air when they made this show but it's obvious that there was SO MUCH LOVE too!!!!! and i think that's one of the things that makes vice versa so unique to me and that captivates me so much about it, the fact that you can tell that everyone involved just put their everything into it. the amount of thought and care that went into it, not only from the above the line crew (the director, the actors, the writers) but from the below the line as well (the art director, the costume designer, the cinematographer, etc.), is honestly unparalleled: no other show is such a treasure trove of parallels details reminders symbolism

it's also so refreshing!!!!! like you said there's no unnecessary drama because everything is functional to puen and talay's journey, and even when there's a misunderstanding between the two of them it doesn't get dragged for too long. there's no episode of doom because episode 11 actually ends with the characters getting reunited instead of having them break up: the separation that happens is due to external circumstances and puen and talay never stop looking for each other. last but not least all the tropes that are used aren't gratuitous but once again they serve a purpose and tell us something about the characters or the story

ANYWAY THE POINT IS!!!!!! despite my personal bias im objective enough to know that vice versa isn't perfect BUT EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE SHOW PUT THEIR LOVE INTO IT AND THE RESULT IS STILL PRETTY FUCKING AMAZING

[tintysun]

Beast Games (2024-) ↳ Chatter

. it's more than 3 episodes and there are only 2 out this week, so i'm watching those two (friday and saturday). then see if i can keep regularly watching more each friday (they come out on thursdays). 😮

EPISODE 1

. i like how they were given the option to quit from the beginning, not leaving empty handed.

. but damn! these games are getting twisted. really pushing and testing people, huh?

. the part where one had to willingly self-sacrifice (with no reward on sight for it?) so the team could go further hit me in ways i can't (or shouldn't) describe. 😩

. it's also pretty cool how one of the first games keeps people with patience and ingenuity, able to build up.

. but man, checking how long those towers stand was such an EVIL TWIST. 😂 yet i like how it brings forth the concept of building to last rather than barely standing on shaky foundations.

. jeez, i'm seeing some awful people here. i hope they don't win. the ones helping each other out, though... 🥺💗

. lot at stake so some of these decisions are quite understandable. also, as much as i'd like the more selfish ones to get nothing or worse, it's interesting how Jimmy is like some sort of neutral devil in this. and art imitates reality.

. speaking of the devil, they're really making the twistedness of it all evident here. the HORROR.

. the games so far are revealing people's characters, though. a whole lot to note. it's not just action. things like how "everyone has a price" or how some bastards can't be trusted.

. i'm afraid of getting attached to participants and then having my heart broken when they lose or show to be horrible. 😣

. my god, this episode was PACKED. there's much more that can be said but better to just watch it and pay attention. the first episode was mainly on deciding who gets to move into the beast city and eliminated a bunch of contestants.

EPISODE 2

. truly loving the drama in all of it. with the counters and countdowns as well as the sounds and different captures. 😂

. the city looks so awesome, too! and we're barely getting glimpses of it at this point.

. the colored tokens to make teams are fuuuunnnnn.

. heh, they can lie but pray it won't be caught on camera. kinda bleh that there'll be people keeping from lying just 'cause of the cameras, tho. but better than the alternative.

. the phone connecting the opposing teams was such a "nice" touch. like yeah, go ahead and consider conversations with people that want you to lose, i'm sure you'll come out of it with bright ideas. 🙄 (unlikely unless u got godly critical thinking skills)

. the golden cup was also another "nice" touch. it's interesting too because the odds of scoring there were lower. so woulda taken not just some self-serving, but PLENTY of it to ignore their chances and go for it anyway.

. rofl @ the aggressive pep talk.

. hey, the trivia wasn't difficulty "obscure-details-no-normal-person-in-their-sane-judgment-would-dig-up-let-alone-memorize", but they were smarty pants anyway answering all that correctly without turning to google.

. whoa, choosing a captain to trust. and so many people wanted to be chosen as captains. SUS. 😂

. ... and there's the cliffhanger.

EPISODE 3

. it is indeed impressive (and kinda unbelievable) that none of the captains took the money. seemingly insane, too. but things like that can happen. maybe they weren’t desperate for money (came from money and/or had money) or they figured they would not have enjoyed money gotten that way (having enough of a conscience). not to mention how they’d go down in history if they had, but i’d like to believe the best. 🙏🏻

. love all the different perspectives, outlooks, and overall insight we’re getting from so many different participants. big social experiment. 🤯

.this split is so torturous. Jimmy said this was his favorite episode? WHYYY? *thinks back* hm… it does get less tense and conniving when introducing randomness for the decision, though, let fate have a say. 🎲

. backing out after an agreement like that. NOT COOL. and boooy, yeah, those brothers were EVIL, mischievous at the very least. poor girl. 😬

. pfft. ordering so much absurd stuff while knowing you’re about to go/lose your chance to do so is so nuts but also makes sense. i have MIXED feelings about this BECAUSE OF REASONS, though. but man, i woulda asked for a whole cheesecake with varied toppings not even 5 minutes in. and tiramisu. and screw dieting. idk if i’d willingly resign, either. depends on who else is there with me. or how addicted i got to beast games and city, making me unwilling. ⛳

. the patience required to deal with some of these ppl, though… Jimmy is being so graceful consoling them and calling them out. i’d snap pretty quick or have my face and more show all sorts of unkind thoughts and feelings about it. 👹

. yay for Good Karma and people being the conduit of it! 🌌✨

EPISODE 4

. pfft. a vacation at a tropical paradise. luv the old-school arcade motifs in between the games too!

. "Sausage Island." ughhh, noooooooo!! 😂

. crowds are great but it does get specially interesting when there's only a few around.

. so the important topic that's brought up and talked about on this episode is manipulation. quite a few noteworthy lines in there...

. hm... Jeremy. those having none of Jeremy's BS. LOL. insta favs. 😂

. i officially identify as a red crystal ball u ain't supposed to drop.

. heehee. those navy seals hunting 'em down, playing hide and seek.

. MY GOD. this keeps getting more and more tense. y'all who regularly and frequently watch games, competitions, and contests... U.R.NUTS. MY BLOOD PRESSURE IS SUFFERING. (can't stop watching once in, though.)

EPISODE 5

. it’s not very ‘smart’ to go for the island unless you really, really, REALLY want that island. i barely get how so many went for it while knowing what’s at stake. AUDACITY.

. so funny in a messed up way how they have to hide from the navy seals, tho. some of them really are going the extra mile covering up and hiding themselves, too. 😅

. the seriousness of the seals, lmao. “check the perimeter.” 😂

. that’s one beauuutiiifull island, if i may say so myself. 😎😝🤡

. awwww, so wholesome that some of them get to enjoy the relaxation of the paradise. 🙂

. i’m glad that the lying of the brothers stained their reputation and it follows them, tbh. sorry not sorry. forgive but don’t forget.

. pfft, shooting and exploding the moon.

EPISODE 6

. Yayyy, she won the island. :’)

. Back to the city so soon. @_@

. Moreee about trust…

. (I’m barely functioning at the moment so not saying much, but equally enjoyable to watch nonetheless)

. Really like how this was broken down into different realms, chance being one of them, mental and physical included.

. Fair way to pick a captain. Pushups for the physical realm. XD

. Ohh, this is further broken down into more categories. Strength, Speed, Stamina. Nice. My brain likes that. xP

. This episode is somehow having an energizing effect on me.

. W00t, monster trucks!!

. My god. The bump.

. “They’re copying you. They like your strategy.”

. Uff, pattern-recognition testing.

. Now I’m stressed. 8P

. NGL, I’m awful at this type of trivia. I be over-relying on google or living-encyclopedia type of pals.

. WHOA, A MAN WITH A MISSION TO TAKE ANOTHER DOWN.

. I could never win speed races but would win resistance ones.

. THOSE FALLS DON’T CEASE TO BE SCARY.

EPISODE 7

. Pink! Pink! Pink!

. “Gotta keep those people you can trust close, 'cause sounds like it’s gonna get pretty ugly.” Damn.

. Pfft, their mottos.

. These games have been pretty brutal so far indeed.

. Uff… Things are getting creepy… X_X

. So I heard that they’re calling Teslas Swastikas now. Also heard that people who bought them before the incident are forgiven but on thin ice.

. Bye Tesla and strangers.

. This trolley episode is indeed something… X_X

. These people are pouring their hearts and souls out and Jimmy’s just like, “Okay, guys, so the game…” XD

EPISODE 8

. Well, top ten…

. Got a love/hate relationship with the phrase “It is what it is.”

. Those rooms do look lonely, though. They should fill them with glowing stars and fans. XP

. Ooohh, family meetings. Coincidentally, this episode came out while I was with my fam, too. (currently late to watch it, though.)

. Uff, black box.

. Gotta give it to Jimmy; these are some creative games indeed.

. I really like the game interface design on screen too. 

. I mean… I get how difficult it is to be fair to others sometimes. But damn.

. Wild how they’re in so much debt.

. Emma’s too good for this wretched world.

. The shock when they see how greedy/selfish those before were… Wow indeed.

. Courtney’s got principles.

. Blergh.

. Interestiiiing follow-up game.

EPISODE 9

. SCREEN DRAMA

. All this talking among each other is so confusing. @_@

. Emma’s so done with lousy lameness. Lol.

. Using noble causes to one’s advantage. Tsk, tsk.

. Jimmy’s skepticism is so based.

. Jeeez, this voting mess. It goes on and on…

. Watching this is torture for me, ngl.

. This episode is triggering my “Sort it out among yourselves, spare me the details, and just tell me the results/conclusion” stance. But I get how other people can enjoy getting into the nitty-gritty details of all of it.

. 424 moving forward is some good karma in action at last and for a change. If only it could always be like that.

. Bye city… o_O

. THE PRESSURE

EPISODE 10

. LAST ONE! I wish things hadn’t been so hectic so I could immerse more in the series, but grateful I got to watch it anyhow.

. Oooh, Jimmy’s galaxy-brain monologue…

. Those tubes are thiinnn.

. 947 is fuming.

. Annnnnnnnd she did it! Hurray for the bullied underdog.

. Pattern memorization isn’t so hard if there’s not so much time pressure and interruptions. Or prompts to second-guess yourself. Turning things into a song can also help if you’re more musically inclined. I think what would have helped me most would have been to “draw” and “redraw” it a few times over the palm of my hand. Turning it into a feet choreography would have been helpful too. But bare numbers? Nope.

. 830’s self-awareness and self-acceptance is top tier.

. The two top players, huh.

. Again with the lying and deceit… Noooo… @_@

. Okay, I just watched a bunch of people lose to Jeff. I’m not too happy about that but... “It is what it is…” 😅 

. Again, I really prefer watching the philanthropy and reaction videos to the game videos, but this was… something. And quite illuminating. 😮

OVERALL

Go Mr. Beast and Go Amazon Prime!!! 🥳🎉 This series is packed with multiple layers and other subtleties that make it a must-watch! And it's enjoyable even to someone (me and everyone else on the same boat) who doesn't follow on YouTube and is currently tired AF. I wanna keep watching. 😁👍🏼 (A-ha, I can tag this with 'Stories' without it being off. 🤓📚)