#as with much of the show’s examination of morality It’s Complicated

[raayllum]

Been also thinking about the line between "the text wasn't meant to be interpreted this way but it's a solid reading / line of critique (with caveats)" (#1) versus "the text wasn't meant to be interpreted this way and doing so actively worsens the story they're trying to tell" (#2).

Going to do some TDP specific examples.

But basically: When your in-depth reading takes away from the Surface Level reading rather than providing contribution, that's usually a good sign you're going into a story with 1) an expectation or reading that was never promised or 2) are weakening the story through a typically unfounded analysis.

A TDP specific example is the relationship between Viren and Harrow. Canonically, textually, they had a brotherly relationship, both in the dialogue that Viren conveys ("I think of you as my brother" / "You're my brother") and in their persistent parallel framing with Callum and Ezran.

However, that doesn't stop many fans (myself included) from reading a romantic and sexual attraction between Viren and Harrow, especially in their youth. Not only do they just have the vibes, parallels to other couples, and subtext, Viren very much places Harrow's importance in his life in a way that's usually reserved for lovers. Viren having been in love (or ongoing) just makes sense. That doesn't mean any of us are expecting TDP to ever make it Canon — like I said, it's canonically very much Not that — but it does add a layer to Viren always wanting to 1) matter to Harrow as much as he does, and 2) his frustration and severance with Harrow because he wasn't getting the acceptance and affection that he wanted.

This is what I would consider #1 avenue: it doesn't take away from their dynamic, and to me adds a layer, but it allows the text to stand as is. Viren wants Harrow's love and attention in the gradual and then sharp deterioration of their dynamic. All I'm changing is a little bit of the why per my personal reading.

Meanwhile, if I went the route of "Yeah I know canon shows Harrow appreciating, taking Viren into account, and smiling at / loving him, but I don't think Harrow cared at all and he was just a bad friend to Viren for years" then... Yeah I could read it that way — it's not as though Harrow or Viren were hardly perfect friends to each other, and Harrow's discard of Viren is harsh (even if it was a long time coming in a lot of ways) — but what does that leave me with? Frustration, maybe; a poor view of Harrow; immense sympathy towards Viren? At best, I'd maybe resent how Viren learns the lessons Harrow was trying to teach him by paying for it with his life; at worst, I'd think the narrative was being fundamentally unfair to Viren without recognizing that his previous modes of self sacrifice were always couched in ego, shirking the immediate consequences of being saved, or that he was routinely willing to sacrifice everyone around him first, including his own children.

This is where we get into area #2, and I see it happen all the time with TDP, whether it's from the series not portraying monarchies as a bad thing or the ever persistent "issue" of dark magic. Quite frankly, it's silly to walk into TDP post-S1 expecting dark magic to be anything beyond — given all the current textual evidence — "morally complicated" magic at best. Yes it can be used for good things, but that doesn't automatically make it good, and while we could spin logistical wheels for ages, the Point the story is Making with dark magic is about power, desperation, love, self-destruction, violation, and agency, and how all those things can overlap or counteract each other. Toting out "well I think dark magic is blanket statement Okay and Good actually" misses all of that, and actively makes your reading and experience with TDP worse. The surface level reading is important to take into account when examining a piece of media, otherwise it can lead to a very warped view and effect your ability to be well founded in your reading of the text.

That doesn't mean you can't desire a more morally neutral form of dark magic — plenty of fantasy series and stories have it, and some I adore (like "the legend of Zelda" — but it does mean accepting the story is never going to broadly speaking do that, and it's Okay that it won't. I'd be silly if I walked into LOZ expecting them to get into the ethics of its form of (non) dark magic of using monsters for spell parts because it's 1) a game mechanic and 2) it's not interested in the ethics of it, and no amount of me saying "well it should be" will change that, nor is it a Story Flaw that it doesn't.

This is all to say that I think asking "Why would the writers do this?" is one of the most useful, if basic, questions to ask when it comes to analysis and when figuring out whether your viewpoint is falling into avenue #1 of being grounded, or avenue #2 of veering towards warped territory.

For example, if I take Rayla not being by Callum's side when he's struggling over the pearl reveal in 6x06 as an indicator she doesn't care about him, I'm doing a deep dive that ignores all the very Surface Level emphasized scenes of Rayla caring about and supporting Callum a whole lot. I could make the claim she doesn't care based on that scene, but it wouldn't be well founded because it's ignoring miles of other much more prevalent, consistent scenes of her being there for him; it's not a well founded claim.

For something less obvious, let's look at 5x08. While Callum could've given Finnegrin the wrong spell on purpose, as some fans have thoughtfully proposed, as a sneaky wink for die hard fans... why would the authors do that? What does the story gain from that reading or intention? Well, it makes it seem like Callum was less desperate in his dealings with Finnegrin, which makes him doing dark magic afterwards come off worse. It also lessens the battle Callum has throughout that episode for feeling in control and recognizing that he can't always be. It's a reading that, in my opinion, not only strays away from the surface level reading, but is one removes elements from the text that the text would otherwise be stronger for having. In comparison, after all, if Callum gave his version of the right spell without thinking it through, he did so entirely out of desperation, which better affirms just how desperate and worn down he had to be to do dark magic, and is another instance in the episode of him feeling very much out of control (especially since we don't see the 3rd with dark magic on screen, so otherwise, we'd only have him punching Finnegrin as an example and nothing else).

Same thing with the old (now debunked) theory of Callum's bio dad being elven in nature. It's an interesting idea, exploring the implications and backstory and how'd grapple with it, but it'd weaken what canon is actively striving for, which is that Callum's magic use is special precisely because he's an ordinary human who's gained primal magic, and having elven ancestry would counteract that. It doesn't mean that the idea isn't a Good one or that it's not fun to explore in fanon, but there's a lot of reasons the story isn't (or decided not to) have it be canon, because it was stronger for the story they Wanted to tell for it not to be.

Sometimes, as fans this means acknowledging that what we want or prefer in a story is just blatantly not what's being set up, because the story is going to do things regardless of what we want or personally like. That doesn't mean those decisions are bad, and it also doesn't mean those elements or decisions or constructions are beyond critique, but it does mean to ask yourself some key questions:

Is there anything my reading is missing? (ie. if TDP shouldn't have monarchs and that's the critical focus, we lose the messages about leadership, family, and legacy that are engaged with through the vessel of hereditary monarchy)

Why might the story or scene go in certain directions? Are there story constraints (time, tone, etc) they have to abide by?

Am I expecting the story to ascribe to my worldview or preference, and am I open to things that don't do that? If yes, why? If no, why not?

Is my in-depth takeaway aligned with a surface level reading? Are both readings working together, or are they opposed? What other surface level readings might be plausible here for a casual viewer?

Even if this is not personally compelling and/or believable to me, does my personal takeaway match up with the characters' responses to it? Why or why not? (Think every Disney movie where they fall in love in 3 days. Realistic? No. Does it matter within the context of the story? Also no)

Again, this is not to say that 1) what the casual takeaway Is is an objective singular monolith (it isn't) or 2) if the casual takeaway and your interpretation is at odds that you're wrong. But through context clues, we can usually narrow it down as to what the story intends, and that if our interpretations do veer heavily to examine why and to manage expectations accordingly.

Anyways hopefully this all made sense Viren x Harrow forever

[absolutebl]

Hi there! I've just returned from a two-week holiday (as I'm writing this I'm actually still driving back home, but I want to get on top of it lmao), so I would like to defer to your knowledge:

could you pretty please provide me with an update on what series ended/started while I was away? I have a vague idea, but I don't want to miss out on the things that didn't get as much promo and are therefore not on my mdl.

if you can, my watchlist will be forever thankful!!

July Report: BL that Stopped & Started & Is worth Your time

Ended July 2023

Step By Step

This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one.

This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk. And that authenticity added tension to the narrative and character development (how novel). Now that might be because it has western source material, or it might be because it is actually kind of old-fashioned (it’s been years since I worked as an office grunt). I also really enjoyed the brothers’ relationship, and kinda wished they hadn’t attempted (and failed) to give said brother his own side BL. That one flaw made it a 9/10 for me.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

La Pluie

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL.

By activating + examining the soulmates trope this show is challenging a foundation of romance: the idea that there is one person meant to be your one romantic partner all your life. This means that we, as viewers, spend much of the show worried about it having a happy ending, and that’s the source of both its brilliance and tension: would the narrative have the strength to truly challenge its own romantic core? But, ultimately, all this elevated complexity was executed in a somewhat shaky manner with the narrative derailing into some serious pacing issues and characters manipulated by miscommunication.

However, with good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn a 9/10. I enjoyed it even as it made me think, so despite its flaws:

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Started July 2023 & Looking GOOD

Jun & Jun

Korea Thurs Viki 8 eps

THANK YOU BL GODS. It is so good. Like everything I want in the world. I’m incandescently happy with this show.

It’s office set,

it’s an ex idol,

everyone is pretty as peaches,

and it’s all about remembering somebody’s smell!

I could not be more delighted.

Laws of Attraction

Thai Sat iQIYI 8 eps

(Icky picked it up but they are serving it in a complicated way that may require a VPN.)

Stars the pair from To Sir With Love with the same production team. IT’S SO GOOD. A morally corrupted trickster lawyer with a tragic past, sad eyes, and a beautiful smile that he uses like a weapon. Meets paladin martial arts instructor from other side of the tracks (who is out, at least to his baby sister).

Corrupt police.

Spoiled rich kid evil.

Ambitious politician.

Tragic death.

Terrible subs.*

This show is very like Manner of Death but so far it is a much better/tighter story (there's a Devil Judge aura happening). It’s NOT BL but it is fucking phenomenal. And you should watch it. Not wait to binge it. WATCH IT.

On a global scale this might be the best thing currently airing featuring gay romantic leads. Its really fucking good. It’s Lawless Lawyer but more complex character motivation and gay af. Fuck yes please and thank you. FINALLY.

Triggers for violence, beatings, death & torture depicted on screen. Like MoD they are not holding back. 

(* A lot of the familial names they are using are not gendered in Thai but translated as such, like “nephew”. This one is gonna go down a lot easier if you know some Thai.)

ALSO:

Stay By My Side - Taiwan Fri Gaga 10 eps

Hidden Agenda that isn’t hidden - Thailand Sun GMMTV YouTube 12 eps

Low Frequency - Thailand Sat iQIYI 8 eps

Started But You Can Probably Wait IMHO

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI)

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki)

Wedding Plan (Weds YT & iQIYI) it's mame so A trash watch is happening! 

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga)

Hope this is what you wanted.

[its-a-branwen-thing]

Just the Way You Are

This volume of RWBY isn't one that I've felt like writing a ton about. It's existed as a bit of background noise to my weekends, a must watch but in passing. It was a wonderful journey, but not as impactful as I thought it should be to me. It hit all the right marks. Well-written, well-animated, great music. It wasn't until the finale, where I was reminded, again, of why I loved this show in the first place.

I've been seeing an outpouring of love for V9 that seemed to spur a re-examination of it as a series, in both what RWBY means to fans and what Ruby means to the audience. This whole volume she's been a proxy facing the show's vocally decried imperfections: for what the could have beens and should have beens keep saying. In Ruby's own personal doubt, we see the seeds of the show's very own history of grappling with fan expectations, critical analysis, commercial success, and the complicated legacy of the tragic passing of the show's creator.

But CRWBY's love for this volume is so evident it seemed to drown out any bad faith arguments: this is RWBY as it was always meant to be.

In finishing this volume, I see once more that fiction can help us suture the parts of us that seep. That its creators are people we may never know but whose ideas we stitch into the membranes of our core. RWBY doesn't have to be a masterpiece emerging fully formed from the minds of its writers and animators. It is a vision expanded upon, a messy beginning built up, a work of surfeit love, flawed and lovely in the mess.

As a perfectionist I tend to chase that critical clout, to draw from external sources the meaning of my own art, to wonder if the interpretations are good enough, if the writing and characters are done with enough mastery that I can succeed in other's eyes. But RWBY will never be a success to some, and in that we see that even the most collectively beloved things are criticized by their detractors. We will never create a bulletproof thing.

Life is exposure. Love is vulnerability and art in service to that love - of self, of others, of vision - exacts the same toll of knowing. Even against the diatribes on Youtube that have stated otherwise, RWBY's heart is worn on its sleeve. It is a show fully sure of its sincerity. This volume seems meant to present that to us and to Ruby, as a character. She has always been the heart of the show. Pursuant of hope in the face of insurmountable odds, always picking up the pieces of others, always with the weight of the world on her shoulders. But, at her core, she has always been a simple, more honest soul.

RWBY and Ruby have faced failure after perceived failure. Ruby always tried hard but never quite got it and now, in the sea of her doubt and the under the current of others' expectations, she sees herself as less than. As incapable of serving the people she loves most. Ruby's fear of failure does not come from her need to be beloved, it doesn't come from a selfish interest in public opinion, but rather from a stalwart need to do what she believes in.

RWBY has long been the scruffy underdog of the animation world, an easy little show to poke fun at. This isn't to say that critiquing is inherently bad faith, or that there's no place for it. There is, and there always will be things that irk or bother us to some degree with every piece of media we consume. But, much like the people we love in our lives, those imperfections are part of them, and we can either take them as is and have faith enough that they'll grow just as we do, that their center is good and worth it, or we can simply let them go.

Choose for yourself one who can leave your burdens behind, or chose one who can be enough to bare them.

There's something to be said about the moral simplicity of a show like RWBY, in which things don't always work out, but in which the characters have enough faith in themselves, and the world, to still seek to save it. This is a fairytale, but it is one that hopes to impart on reality a little bit of that kindness.

It is wholly intentional that RWBY is thus stylized as a children's fairytale. It lacks the tonal shift of grit and anger that adulthood seems to impart on innocence, and posits that: no, you don't need to be anything else, even if others decry that self as naive or emotional or exposed. There is a beauty to RWBY's vulnerability and it's always been there, baked into the show itself.

V9 feels like a love letter to RWBY as a whole. It has always been a show set on positivity, on pursing that goodness at all costs. RWBY does not partake in the labor of being something else more gritty or mature or indifferent. It is what it's always been.

A simple, more honest show.

[oswlld]

oswlld's monthly wrap up: february

note: i am trying something a bit different this year, so bear with me as i figure out how i want to format this. i wanted to spend more time sharing what i consume, beyond what i rb, and put my thoughts in one place. these posts are okay to rb

--

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid [started 02/04, finished 02/13] I recall an article calling out TJR as one of many authors that are pro-israel and haven’t seen anything that disputes the claim. I don’t have much to contribute to the conversation anyways, so I’ll pass on leaving a review. — After Dark, Haruki Murakami [started 02/06, finished 02/21] What I admire about what Murakami accomplished with After Dark was achieving the right level of simplicity to bring out the tense undertones in the magical realism. I also really enjoyed being invited to float with the story, almost breaking a fourth wall and interacting with the spaces. 4⭐️ in storygraph. — When We Cease to Understand the World, Benjamín Labatut [started 02/24, still in prog] I am only about 50 pages in and I am already ill. Too early to form an opinion, thus I’ll offer a snippet of the book description: “A fictional examination of the lives of real-life scientists and thinkers whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining. When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction.” Feels very timely reading this at the same time as watching Three-Body and then Oppenheimer in the next week or so.

High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America, Netflix [started: 02/02, finished 02/07] WOW!! Wowowowowow. Wow. This needs to be a mandatory watch, even though we are at the end of Black History Month. It’s a well curated journey through the slave era to present day, from shores of Africa to all areas of the US. It’s so empowering and inspiring. Don’t wait until June or next year, please educate yourselves and open your heart to this show. — African Folktales Reimagined, Netflix [started 02/02, finished 02/08] I heard about this show through an article posted on Short of the Week last year and immediately put it on my watchlist. What a wonderful choice of directors for this series. Such strong visionaries and visuals. My favorites out of the six stories were Enmity Djinn and MaMlambo. MaMlambo still has a chokehold on me. MAJOR trigger warnings for this series is under the cut. — Three-Body, Viki (also avail on YT) [started 02/19, paused on 02/26] Trigger warnings for this series is also under the cut. With that said, I have a very personal connection with Three-Body Problem, both the novel and the physics problem, so taking this show on has been my entire world. When it comes to tackling my watchlist, shows that have a substantial number of eps/seasons gets split into chunks, so that I can tackle them over a number of months. For this series, I divided the 30-epsiode series into three ten-episode parts that will take me from February to June. I’ll post an official review when I finish over the summer, but for now I will say I very much enjoy having my brain turn into goo after every ep. What an explosive first outing. I will be resuming this show in April for eps 11-20, where I’ll be reunited with my beloved war criminal.

Over the Moon, Netflix [watched on 2/10, DNF] So unfortunate that I started this and could not finish. I hope to get back into it in May, so I can talk about how beautiful it is. Gotta do it for Glen Keane. — Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang, Netflix [watched on 2/11] I…. I think I am going to let this quote from the film speak for me: “In the 60’s, when American astronauts landed on the moon, that was really good news, even in China. But I was sad because I thought I would never make it to space myself. But later on, I realized that art could be my space-time tunnel connecting me to the universe. If there was an opportunity, I would like to make a ladder into the clouds. But the purpose of this ladder wouldn’t be for me to go to space, it would be to encourage a back-and-forth, a dialogue.” I MEANN!!!! Yes, I did go into this film already aware of some of his works but I didn’t really know a lot about him. What I admired most was his joy and child-like wonder when he’s interacting with his art. I loved witnessing him act like he’s 7 yrs old again, especially in that air balloon scene. There’s also a moment when he’s become complacent in his projects, settling on the bare minimum to get a job done. When the art of creating is stripped of the art, what is left of Cai is very clear to the viewer: he is frustrated, he feels suffocated, he’s used. Alternately, towards the end of the film, he brings it back with “Yes, a lot of artists do things that are too commercial. It lacks some compulsive and sincere emotion that should exist in all art. Collaborating with [unknown artists] will always remind me of the pleasure I felt and my original purpose for doing art.” (Fascinating to compare his turmoil with the govt whilst working with Netflix.) All in all, this film did a great job telling a story about the magic in enduring passion projects over time. In this case, his Sky Ladder being a fourth attempt at a impossibly large scale dream project. I feel like my thoughts are all over the place with this film, but I’m still finding new things that really speak to me as an artist. — Your Name Engraved Herein, Netflix [watched on 2/18] I thought I had this gifset on my blog but it turns out I may have just DM’d @forcebook about this and didn’t rb, but anyways I saw this and thought hey this has the potential to ruin me lemme put it on my watchlist. And now over a year later, I finally got around to it. Well… it’s exactly what I ordered, it definitely ruined me. I mean, when they come at me with “Maybe more people would understand me in hell. Make it easy for me and help me go to hell,” what else am I supposed to be but ruined. I want a sequel, I need their reset.

There are more to add to the movies category, due to Oscar season, but I’ll save them for a separate post, with all my thoughts on the films/shorts I was able to catch, for Oscar weekend.

Ella Sings Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald with Ellis Larkins at the piano [first time listening] One hobby I picked up during the pandemic was growing my vinyl collection. I found this vinyl in 2022 with the intention of finding more from this era/genre. Not much movement since then, since vinyl purchases only happens once or twice a year. Suffice to say, I am so happy that the quality is still in tact and it makes me want to get back into vinyls soon. Current top 3: My One and Only (What Am I Gonna Do), But Not For Me, and Soon — Wicked [relistening] One thing you need to understand about me is that Wicked was my first musical hyperfixation. I used to spend summers on the train to the city to catch the raffle drawings and when my name was picked, it would be the best $25 well spent to be seated front row. And when I was not in the city, the CD would be on repeat in the car on my long drives going to and from home and college. My introduction to YT was watching all of the bootleg clips of every casting. All the Eden Espenozas and Stephanie J Blocks and Kerry Ellis’. All the Kendra Kassenbaums, Megan Hiltys, and Annaleigh Ashfords. And yes, all the Aaron Tveits don’t look at me. I’ve seen almost all facets of this show enough times to start frankenstein-ing together my version of Wicked. All this to say that my love for this show remained dormant for over a decade, until the movie trailer for part one came out. And then *SPLASH* I immediately jump in head first into a slime tutorial just like that. Long ago, I watched Kara Lindsay’s broadway vlogs without having seen her Galinda and now I can say I have seen the light, she’s just as immaculate as I imagined she’d be.

Welcome to Night Vale [recurring/catching up] I typically catch up on this podcast seasonally, since I find that this show is more enjoyable when I binge it. This time around, I have fallen more behind and needed to catch up on 11 episodes. My favorite eps: A Car Crash on Buellton Avenue (Ep 232), Sister Cities: Vermillion Falls (Ep 239), and He is Holding a Knife (Ep 240). I will admit that there was a period of time, maybe four or five years ago, when I dropped the show for reasons I cannot recall now but I am glad that I stuck around.

And now here are some tw to keep in mind:

AFRICAN FOLKTALES trigger warnings: domestic violence/abuse, child abuse, attempt(s) of suicide, drowning, and miscarriage.

THREE-BODY trigger warnings: The plot centers around solving the mystery behind scientists committing suicide on an international scale. Scenes ranging from allusions, thoughts of suicide, to moderate depictions of suicide.

[biillys]

🔥ask game🔥 for Stranger Things

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

11. number of fandom-related words you've filtered

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

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

hello ily thanku 🥺🥺

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

well every time something's happening it's always the bylers or the steddies making noise. the harringrove gang can def be annoying too but something about the way the others think theyre like. morally correct for their ship etc is just like. give me a fucking break. ur litereally on tumblr dot com. wait actually not a ship technically but the people that are obsessed with the fruity four. literally shut uppppppp

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about?

feel like most of my opinons aren't common enough to weigh in here so idk? billy would never settle for steve fucking harrington? HEATHER would never settle for robin!!!!!! billy and max's relationship is COMPLICATED and the duffers did not get to/try to examine and show that in their limited screentime. so all the idiots that are obsessed with saying max hated billy/was happy he died, read the fucking room!!!!

11. number of fandom related words you have blocked?

lol

usually i don't blacklist things cos usually i'm chill but my dash had so much of them and i found myself like. getting actively annoyed everytime they were on my screen. so i started with blocking steve and was like wow. it's so nice here now that he's gone. lets see if i can make it even better.

unfortunate side effect of this is that i barely see any billy content now cos he's unfortunately linked hand in hand with the others. i miss him so much. it's okay tho cos i can cry into ur inbox about him and send my friend 25 minute audios about him and i made another billy sideblog thats locked that i can post headcanons and fic-ish things on so!!! it's fun still!!!! i may post on this blog like once in a blue moon but he's literally on my mind 24 hours a day. has been for almost five years now.

18. it's absolutely criminal that this fandom has been sleeping on...

six feet under crew. billy, heather, chrissy, and eddie all died. max i'm pretty sure technically died so she's an honourary member. yeah i know others died too but anyway. ANYWAY i think they deserve to have fun and start shit together yknow!!!! i think they'd all fuck each others lives up but also be there to help pick up the pieces!!!! stopping myself here becos otherwise i will not shut up. wait also just max, chrissy, and heather...... el too if we're feeling giving. i just think they'd have fun together!!!!!

WAIT ALSO tommy and carol. BRING 'EM BACK. the trio of billy, eddie, and tommy? but also ALSO the nightmare that would be max, heather, chrissy, and carol.

the idea of billy and max living at the trailer park and neil and susan fucking off? maybe susan stays? idk but just the idea of everyone coming to chill at their trailer or going between theirs and eddies, even though their trailers can absolutely not fit that many people??? friday nights getting fucked up and faded. making terrible life decisions. making permanent life decisions. no i need to shut up now....... fuck.... spending the hours between 11pm and 2am trying to nail down a tattoo design before struggling through work for the weekend, complaining about their bosses, making fucking disasters in the kitchen, carol and tommy surprisingly being the only decent cooks, max having a knack for baking. trying to plan concert trips, talking about how differnt their lives would be if they had went to go to college instead. bingewatching terrrible television. semi decent box-dye jobs. terrible at-home haircut jobs. high school spitting them out and them trying to find their feet in the real world, them all getting full time jobs and trying to like. fucking survive. find a reason to get through the fucking weeks. SHUTTING UP NOW i swear.

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

idk if i would say i'm ashamed or horrified or anything?? but idk i like dark fic/dead dove fic so like. that one w billy and the demodog? a fav. also i fucking love age gap so i would easily read billy/karen if it was out there. it is not. i've checked. wait forgot max/billy is usually frowned upon. read that easily too.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped?

i dont know a single person hyping up stranger things or it's plot lines/story arc's? fruity four i guess cos after season four that amount of ppl that made that a Thing? crazy.

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

'how does billy have fans he literally deserved to die becos [usual list of reasons here]' banging my head against a wall. move on with ur life. everyone else has.

'[insert harringrove hate here]' when ppl post rancid takes on them and then i have to defend it even when i don't care for it like. please. did u not see the shower scene? the basketball scene? the fight scene??? open ur eyes. i may be a hater but i'm not stupid. they fucked for real i'll admit that. the worse the take is the more i'm like damn maybe i do ship them maybe they ARE gay as shit for each other and married right now.

[danae-c-y]

ATLA Panel Presentation

Within the article “Growing up in Magical Time: Representations of Female Growth and Development in ABC’s Once Upon a Time,” Katherine Whitehurst’s discussion of female character growth in Once Upon a Time is relevant to the fantasy series Avatar the Last Airbender (2005). According to Whitehurst, this growth presents itself both through the fluidity of time and the focus on magic as a power harnessed for good or evil. Once Upon a Time is non-linear in its storytelling—including frequent flashbacks to younger versions of the main characters. For Whitehurst’s purposes, she focuses mainly on the evil queen and snow white, examining how flashbacks establish the origin story of these characters' current identities and relationship to one another. One episode from ATLA that uses this technique is “The Southern Raiders,” where one of the protagonists, Katara, goes on a mission to find the man who killed her mother, who she knows to be a Fire Nation soldier. Throughout the episode, scenes transition between Katara in the present time being overcome with rage as she tries to locate the soldier (lashing out at the other characters and using bloodbending—a dark, twisted version of water bending) and Katara as a little girl on the day her mother died. Whitehurst argues that “In juxtaposing Regina’s history with her villainy in the serial storyline, the program expands her story and complicates her character” (Whitehurst, 10). Since Katara is seen as a protagonist and a general force for good in the show unlike Regina, it is not her villainy that is being explained and complicated so much as her vengeful desires. 

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How does the series form and content inform the relationship of female physical and emotional growth and development?

Avatar the Last Airbender is a relatively short series. It is three seasons, each with around twenty episodes that are twenty minutes long. This shortform demands intentionality with every scene and requires that the show communicates significant character growth in a short amount of runtime. This usually means that besides the ways that the overarching plot—ending the hundred year war following genocide and colonialism—informs overarching personal narratives, the show largely relies on small, intimate moments between characters to demonstrate character growth, Katara being no exception. In “The Southern Raiders,” Katara’s resentment towards the fire nation and anyone associated with it shows through her one on one interactions with Zuko, the banished Fire Nation prince who has joined forces with the main group of characters. She presents herself as closed off and cold to him, refusing his help and removing herself from group gatherings if he is present. Further, when confronted with the man who she falsely believes is the soldier who killed her mother, she bloodbends willingly for the first time. In this single moment, the weight of her decisions becomes clear, as she shows the morally questionable potentials of her power. By the end of the episode, she spares her mother’s actual murderer and hugs Zuko, showing her ability to move forward and heal from her trauma.  

2. In what ways does the series use cinematic timing to chronicle character transformations?    

While flashbacks within Avatar the Last Airbender are generally included more sparingly, when the show does harness this cinematic tool it is intentional and effective, creating similar presentations of female growth as Whitehurst describes. The grief Katara holds from the loss of her mother is a continuous thread throughout the show’s three seasons, and her internal struggle with resentment finally comes to a head in “The Southern Raiders” episode when she confronts her mother’s killer. As a little girl she is seen helpless, frightened as she looks into the eyes of her mother’s killer, yet as it flashes to present day the roles are reversed. The former soldier—now an old, weak and powerless man—kneels before her as she—now a powerful waterbender—stands with anger in her eyes. The powers she has gained since that traumatic day are now representative of the power she has to actively decide what to do with that trauma—forgiveness or revenge. At the end of the episode, she chooses neither. She chooses not forgiveness, but mercy.                            

3. How are the primary characters' ages and development coded by the characters around them?      

Katara and Toph are the two main female characters featured in the ensemble cast, and they are often used as foils to one another. Though all the characters are young (12-17), Katara is a couple years older than Toph and this age gap is often exemplified through her role as a caring yet sometimes overbearing motherly figure in the group, with Toph being an independent lone-wolf archetype at the start of the show. Because Toph’s experience with parenting has been nothing but overbearing and restricting her entire life, the two characters naturally clash but come to understand one another and recognize the ways they depend on each other to survive. In this sense, the two characters’ arcs meet in the middle and balance each other out by the end.                          

4. In what ways does the series reflect narratives of youth represent narratives of adult functionality or dysfunctionality?   

As mentioned before, the main ensemble of characters is comprised of kids and young teenagers who are tasked with ending the war and stopping the Fire Nation’s brutal imperialist expansionism. Thus, youth is framed as a representation of hope within a world that has become corrupted by the greed and hatred of adults. “The Southern Raiders” represents this within the context of Katara’s arc, as her decision to spare her mother’s murderer signifies the healing of future generations to come after the destruction left behind by older generations.                

5. How does the series use the fantasy genre as an area for framing virtue and villainy?       

Katara’s physical growth is demonstrated through her gradually improved martial arts and mastery of water bending in the fight choreography and her healing abilities. These powers are largely representative of Katara’s emotional growth as well, as she becomes increasingly powerful and thus, the responsibility of using that power puts her through ethical tests. Her simultaneous ability to water bend, heal, and bloodbend—the last of which allows her to manipulate the blood in someone’s body and make them bend to her will—offers compelling dualities. She is forced to decide which of these powers to use and for what purposes. Though her resentment towards the fire nation and all the pain that the war has put her family through builds inside her throughout the series, she ultimately reaches a point where she is confident in her ability to use these powers as a force for good. 

Do you think bloodbending and other forms of “dark magic” in shows are powers that CAN be used for villainy, or do you think they represent inherent evil intent?

Do you think the fantasy genre can change the weight of revenge arcs? How?

How can the ages of the protagonists in fantasy epics change the viewing experience?

@theuncannyprofessoro

[hamliet]

What do you think of Isayama as a writer?

He has his flaws for sure. Namely:

The pacing wasn't great--even though parts of the story work a lot better read as a whole than monthly, I still think there is some wonkiness to the pacing of certain character arcs. Some things seemed rushed; others seemed too dragged out.

Historia's arc was a nightmare that went from being top tier to something so horrid it seems like Isayama realized it was awful and ignored it as much as possible out of a desire not to make it worse.

The worldbuilding--namely, the Reisses and the Fritzes--is needlessly complicated and doesn't make a ton of sense.

He effed up in regards to the real-life allusions of the Eldians. I don't think he intended to be offensive given the context of where he grew up (not everyone learns the same things), but I do think people can still be offended.

Thematically, though? He's among the best I've read.

He's clearly drawing directly from Dostoyevsky, and y'all know how much I love Dostoyevsky. The entire story is basically The Grand Inquisitor, and it examines the question: but what about the children? What about their suffering?

It also addresses free will versus control, that central question at the center of the humanities. It asks us whether freedom, true freedom, itself becomes another enslaver if we fully commit to it. It asks to what degree we can be free and still be human. It explores the paradox of the human need to be free with the reality that we can't shape the world according to how we want it to be without enslaving others. In other words, it looks honestly at human nature.

It offers no clear answers, either. It asks questions instead.

It offers no clear answers. It asks questions instead. That is, I think, a problem a lot of people struggle with in fandom: the idea that a story wouldn't be morally instructive, and would be more an experiment designed to provoke discussion. But literature has always done that. I'd also argue that it's not morally nihilistic at all--much like, say, Dostoyevsky's works, it suggests love is necessary to balance freedom.

But in extreme circumstances, what does that love look like? To what degree must the individual experience be tempered with the reality of a world of billions? These are the sorts of questions philosophers have wondered for millennia.

Oh, and another trope I think Isayama did very well, but which again I'd say modern fandom seems to struggle with, is that he wrote a good Shakespearean!tragic character in Eren. Showing us how a hero can become a villain but without condemning the reader for liking the hero--in fact, saying that like is a good thing (via Mikasa)--is something not many writers can pull off. And showing how people who are fully convinced of their own rightness can fall is something we would all do well to dwell on in regards to our own actions and how we treat others in the real world.

[canmom]

a journal type post

i visited some of my grandparents today. I'll give their names, Jenny and Rick, since i doubt that's enough to be PII and it's hard to talk otherwise.

i haven't been able to see them in a long time, thanks to the pandemic. Rick is... likely pretty close to dying, and Jenny is also definitely struggling at this point.

of my four grandads (lots of divorcing and remarrying on both sides of the family) Rick was always the one that i had the hardest time with. he would be brusque and overbearing at the best of times, and cross lines at the worst, and the older i got i felt like he really stifled my granny, in their very traditional middle class marriage. but he's mellowed out a lot (both of them have really), and i found it much easier to spend time with him today, despite a ton of other stuff weighing on me.

we got to talking about books. it's funny, this is something I've never thought to connect with him on, even though he evidently reads a lot. he was very happy to tell me about his favourite authors, in a way that was so sweet and like. i honestly quickly lost a lot of that resentment i had felt towards him in the past. so i went home with my arms full of RF Delderfield and Barbara Erskine, and this prompted my granny to add on her favourites by Katherine Lynn Davis.

they're all historical novels of one sort or another, a long way outside my usual zone of literature. Delderfield writes about long duration social history revolving around the British people going through social change, his central character usually a young man returning from a war. at my age, my grandad had just left the RAF - i don't believe he fought in WWII, it might have been the period when National Service (conscription by another name...) was still in effect after the war and the UK geared itself up for the Cold War, but he stayed in for twelve years, apparently not enough to get a pension, leaving due to some kind of complications around a divorce that I didn't quite follow. he became a salesman - selling cardboard boxes I think? there's a lot I'm vague on. anyway, he's very fond of Delderfield, and it has something to do with Delderfield's prose, the particular feeling of Englishness it gives, but also the historical details - one of Delderfield's series charts the rise of motor transport in the UK, which I won't lie, I'm easily enough of a nerd to be curious about.

Erskine's books seem to follow a different template. just going by the blurbs, the general structure seems to be that a young woman in modern England is haunted by a connection to another woman a thousand years in the past, suffering under court politics or the witch trials or similar. so again, the theme of the past bearing on the present. Davis, i only have a couple of books so can't generalise, but this one's about three women from different parts of the world (Scotland, China and India) drawn together for a lot of high drama in the 1800s. the sequel seems to be about their descendants. it could be really cool or it could be awkwardly racist or it could be awkwardly racist but still interesting as an artefact of a time (...the late 80s), who knows. and this is all just... cursory examination of the blurbs.

all of these books are full-on doorstoppers. they're also... completely unknown to me, which is probably an indictment of how narrowly i tend to stick to my genre. not that there's a moral obligation to read widely, but it's good to be aware at least. anyway...

I kind of wear on my sleeve that my feelings about "Englishness" and "Britishness", the egregore, the entity that lays claim to me, are very negative. today I also watched an episode of the new BBC show about the founding of the SAS, with snappy action movie dialogue and expensive CGI and a pointedly anachronistic classic rock soundtrack, with the depressing feeling you get when you watch well executed propaganda. hard not to think about the release of this piece about the sacrifices of a roguish, brave, witty SAS coinciding with an ailing farce of a Conservative government and the death of the one (inexplicably) well-loved symbol of the British state, all that jazz. (coincidences - this had to have been in the works for some time - but still).

anyway. so... the idea of the spirit of the British people is liable to make me break out in a rash. don't tell me about that, tell me about the idea of "britishness" being replicated forcefully through history, imposed on successive generations, an eternal reproductive futurism motivating all manner of atrocity. so i feel like... if what people say about Delderfield is true, I might find it... challenging.

i am nevertheless curious about all three of these authors! not just a way to connect with my grandad in what could easily be his last year on this planet, though there... there is that. but also that social history angle... for all my bluster about how much I dislike this country, it's more that I dislike the idea of countries altogether, and having to belong to one. and on some level, a severe case of don't-lump-me-in-with-them-ism. knee-jerk anti-patriotism.

but reflexive loathing is no more revealing than comforting fantasies of national character. both of them assume a 'thing' into existence. finding loopholes to be like... well i like such and such British author but I have a defence of how they're acceptably critical of the country so it's ok, that's cheap.

what I do like is having at least some idea of how things got to be the way they are. I can't help being from here, so I could at least stand to understand 'here' a little better. around a decade ago, I walked back from Exeter's gender identity clinic with an older trans woman who could tell me when a bridge was made by looking at its materials. that's so neat that I still remember it! in the garden of the shared house in London where I rent a room was a stone disc with icons of the USSR on it. why was that there? the weight of the machine of history is overwhelming, Marx was right to call it a nightmare, but it is interesting. you can't just stop at 'this sucks'.

so if the ways of thinking that prevailed in the past were very different, they certainly aren't unrecognisable; it does no good to try to set myself above them and imagine I'm more enlightened. and like, that's just all my baggage anyway. i don't want to be unfair to any of these authors, and miss what my grandparents valued in them. (I'm too tired to look up Engels but I recall he had something interesting to say about a well written bourgeois novel.)

anyway, like i said, they're doorstoppers, and i still have like a third of Worth the Candle to read, so don't expect detailed comments for a little while. but it was eye opening in a way, it's too easy to remain blinkered in your little corner and box off the rest as something you'd have no interest in. i know where I'm at with sff and comics, but on some level i find the 'general fiction' shelves intimidating, with no idea where to start or the codes being deployed, and that's limiting. anyway I'll let you know what i think. eventually.

[lonniemachin]

who's your favorite writer for azrael? and is there an author that you wish that would write him?

i don’t know if anyone will ever dethrone denny o’neil for me. aside from being the one who created the character and gave him the themes he embodied and the purposes he served, i have a fondness for the way you can tell that o’neil poured a lot of passion into azrael and jean-paul, and even if there were quite a few moments that i’m not the biggest fan of and some fumbling down the line, the way he wrote the intricacies of their relationship to heroism, compassion, relationships, rage, power, love, trauma… it’s got a peculiar depth to it that feels earnest.

i appreciate that jean-paul and azrael under o’neil have personalities outside of being The Catholic Guy. hell, most of their writing under him focused more on finding out who they were free of the influences and authorities of others and struggling with their place in the world and ideas about themselves and morality etc. they’d been molded into accepting. they both have distinct senses of humor and lots of little quirks, and some dynamics with others that feel built upon. azrael can speak in sentences that aren’t just “know that men call you defiler” and isn’t in rampage mode all the time. they’re also very very full of flaws both subtle and unsubtle that they never quite move past but try hard to anyway. it’s always a start with them, constant uphill battle, but certain things stuck. denny’s not perfect and some of his choices bug me a lot to be sure, but he defined everything. tough act to follow.

i have complicated feelings on dan watters’ work regardless of how much i love it compared to writers that aren’t o’neil taking on azrael and how happy i am that azrael’s in his hands for the most part. i think he understands the characters in very refreshing ways and knows what they need to progress (sword of azrael 2022’s examination of jp’s very consistent tendency to compartmentalize and project his feelings of rage onto azrael in order to cope badly with views on himself in relation to what the order tried to make him and feelings and actions he does not want to confront), but at the same time some things feel kind of regressive. mixed bag with a lot of positives, still the best modern azrael writer and i’m always stoked to see what he has cooking.

i’d be remiss not to mention alan grant’s azbats writing during the knightfall saga. he did a lot of great work showing the nuances of jp’s thought processes during that era.

as for writers i’d want to write them? i honestly don’t read a ton of newer comics (i do read some! i don’t write ‘em off completely), so i’m unsure, and a lot of the writers i know by name from the things i do read i haven’t thought about outside of what they have done. i’d say ram v, but it seems to be that he & watters are already collaborating to write some azrael in their upcoming TEC issues and he seem to really like the character(s), which i am equal parts insanely thrilled about and nervous as hell for.

sorry this got a little long, but thank you for asking!

[grimalkinmessor]

What would be your take on an AU where Yoichi is the elder brother?

Hmmmmmmm I really had to think about this one. It's not as simple as swapping their ages—a lot of little changes lead to a lot of big ones.

(This got long. Again. 🥲)

Let's see, with my own personal headcanons, this means that Yoichi is bilingual, for one. Trilingual, actually, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Six year old Yoichi is probably entirely homeschooled. He and his mother have a tense relationship, but it's not nearly as bad as Takashi's would've been with her—his mother is more affectionate with him, and but there's still the fact that she does nothing about her husband's abuse, and she resents Yoichi for being sickly and "forcing" her to stay with him and protect him. They still love each other, it's just...complicated. So Yoichi is home when his mother goes into labour, and he watches her die right in front of him. Unlike Takashi, Yoichi calls emergency services, meaning that both he and infant Takashi get taken to the hospital and, after thorough examination of their health and home, get placed in the foster care system! :D

Now we all know that infants are far more likely to get adopted than older kids—but after watching their mother die and getting ripped away from his home in quick succession, Yoichi has formed a rapid unhealthy attachment to his new little brother. One (1) couple shows interest in Takashi and then Yoichi refuses to let go of him ever again. Anyone that tries to separate them or even just take Takashi off his hands for a few minutes gets bitten or screeched at. Yoichi takes care of his baby brother all by himself even in a building full of adults. If something needs to be done that Yoichi can't do, he goes to the most trustworthy (weakest) adult and hovers over them while he watches them do it (before subsequently never needing them again because he's a quick learner).

Then, when Yoichi is eight, tensions between metahumans and the government begin to rise, and the orphanage and various foster homes in between are no longer safe for them. So Yoichi packs up their stuff and takes his little two year old brother with him into the streets. He's a crafty little guy, so unlike Takashi who ran them from one shelter to another, Yoichi sets them up like the boxcar children somewhere away from civilization. If people are the problem, then get away from the city.

Yoichi gets into various scraps and has a lot of close calls protecting Takashi and keeping them alive, and even at two/three years old Takashi notices this. He recognizes Yoichi as the sole person who will protect him with everything he has, who will give him everything he needs, and everyone else are apparently violent greedy demons. He adores and idolizes Yoichi something fierce.

But while Yoichi is inventive and bold, he's still sickly :') He doesn't like stealing, so he usually barters for things he needs—but Takashi's needs come before his. If it's a choice between Takashi getting enough food and Yoichi getting a refill on his inhaler, he's getting Takashi his fucking food, you feel me? And Takashi is maybe about five when Yoichi gets really sick, sick enough that he can't even get himself out of bed, much less go get them food and supplies. This has a few consequences: one being that Takashi no longer sees Yoichi as someone invincible, and another being that Takashi now has to venture out on his own to go get Yoichi's medicine. But he doesn't know how to barter, so of course, he steals it. Once Yoichi is better, he's grateful but he still scolds Takashi for it, WHICH of course leads Takashi's low empathy/high intelligence brain to take everything his brother says on the subject on morality from there on out with a grain of salt. Yoichi does teach Takashi how to barter and haggle after that however, which is a step forward in his tiny manipulation tactics :D

Now here comes the fun part. Takashi's increased ventures with Yoichi outside leads a kindly soul to take notice of them, and of course try to pester than about where their parents are. Where do they live? How old are they? Do they need to call someone? This raises Yoichi's hackles something awful. He wants nothing to do with the system anymore, and he knows that even if they get into a good orphanage they'll just try to separate him and Takashi. Especially since Yoichi is now in his teens and Takashi still hasn't hit double digits. Yoichi makes a quick escape when Kindly NPC #1 isn't looking, but Takashi, now at seven, is able to realize that this is an almost entirely selfish move on Yoichi's part. Takashi is quietly delighted by it, but of course this is just another step towards him dismissing anything Yoichi says about morality, because now he's confirmed that Yoichi isn't the saint he likes to appear to be.

Yoichi teaches Takashi a lot of things, how to read and write, how to convince people to give him what he wants without violence, how to read music, and even some French at Takashi's request. But he is no longer going to be able to teach Takashi how to be a good person—just how to look like one :')

Not long after this, the tension between the metahumans and the government crescendos. When it's no longer safe for them to even go to the store without the threat of being killed or shipped off to a camp, Yoichi decides that it's time to go. Now, during his time as a grifting little boxcar kid, Yoichi ran some odd jobs for people here and there. He might have also stopped a few crimes here and there when Takashi wasn't with him and done a few things for people for free. All this to say that Yoichi has a pretty good network of people that owe him favors. He uses a few of those favors to get him and Takashi on a plane out of Japan and on over to a country where things aren't quite so volatile; I'm thinking Australia or America, take your pick. Somewhere that all the English he learned from all those comics and books he saved from various dumpsters and thrift shop bins would come in handy.

Yoichi gets a job under the table, sets them up in an actual apartment, and that's where they live for several years. Takashi finally gets to go to real school! Only to immediately find that, while Yoichi has taught him how to make connections friends, he doesn't like anybody :/ He quickly develops a whole little hoard of friends, but he sees them all as shields and pawns. (A better deal than regular antisocial AFO with no friends, but somehow also more terrifying :D)

Takashi absorbs a lot of Yoichi's influence as the younger brother, I think. If he does still become All For One, he'd go about it differently—more coercion and manipulation and less brute force.

Yoichi still has his little vigilante arc, if only because even in their new place there's still a lot of prejudice and if anyone even looks at Takashi the wrong way they're getting their fucking fingers bitten off. And, if that isn't an option, any evidence of anything they've ever done wrong posted on the internet ^.^ Try getting a job now, motherfucker 💕

I don't really know what would happen after this! They're still incredibly codependent, Takashi is just younger and more socially competent, and Yoichi is just older and slightly quicker to violence and suspicion. Anything that happens after this would be a product of outside factors :3

I don't think Takashi would still force a Quirk on Yoichi—he'd be far more aware of his Yoichi-nii's ability to fight and survive in this AU, and if nothing else he wouldn't want to give Yoichi another tool to put him in time out :/ So no One For All. Probably. And likely also no All For One, because with Yoichi sprinting ahead of Takashi to fix the world's problems first so his little brother doesn't have to deal with them, Takashi's worldly concerns are much more centralized. Maybe he runs for mayor or something, but even after he discovers his Quirk I don't see him becoming a full on supervillain. Takashi would mention his Quirk urges to Yoichi once and Yoichi would immediately find a way to set him up a line of people wanting to get rid of their Quirks.

He'd still be (more mildly) corrupt, and Yoichi would still nag and scold him about it, and it would still strain their relationship a bit, but far far less than in canon.

[maidenvault]

Violence, please. 1, 20, 24.

the character everyone gets wrong

Everyone who's ever called Matt Murdock basically just Marvel's version of Batman owes me five bucks to seek help regaining my sanity. Aside from the obvious difference in their privilege, there's a big difference between their worldviews that I think can largely be traced to the fact that Jack Murdock is so very not the Waynes, and the Netflix show loses a lot of what makes DD so nuanced because it sanitizes his dad so much. Jack Murdock was a flawed father and not exactly a good person, but he still didn't deserve to die the way he did, and I think that trauma in combination with Matt's Catholicism allows him an actually pretty forgiving and complicated view of people. Even his wearing a devil costume is like an admission that what he does isn't fully justified and he's not free of sin etc, he is part of the problem, but the world isn't perfect and he doesn't know how not to be what he is, his father's son. Matt can be a massive asshole but I feel like his compassion is a more defining part of his character than with Batman. The irony of it is a feature in the way he's written, not a bug. You're never gonna see Bruce Wayne finding his salvation at the lowest point of his life in reconciling with his drug addict ex-girlfriend who sold the secret of his identity to his worst enemy, totally forgiving her because they're both suffering, and then holding her while she goes through withdrawal. And the DD comics have for a long time been very into examining how Matt's genuinely drawn to violence and it's morally dubious, while Gotham being an absolute living-nightmare place is always ultimately going to justify the existence of Batman and it's just a whole different vibe. I mean omg I could talk about him all day, put a tiny bit of effort into looking deeper at my favorite comics character please. 😫

part of canon you found tedious or boring

Let's just say I'm struggling with finally watching all of SW Rebels rn. Like really struggling...

topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

Any discussion of female characters in ASoIaF is cursed and it's always been that way. Some of you need to let someone else hold those books, they're too heavy for you.

[nebulouscoffee]

Ooooh, I def want to hear more about the one tentatively titled Live With It

Thank you so much! 😊

This fic has a premise I legitimately cannot even describe with a straight face, and that is- "The ghost of Benjamin Sisko follows Elim Garak around post-canon Cardassia like that chef from Ratatouille, trying to convince him to leave".

I... don't know how to tell you this ridiculousness is also meant to be an unflinching look at the Bajoran Occupation and a spiritual sequel to ITPM and an examination of their roles as servant of Cardassia/protector of Bajor, retroactive storyteller/omniscient protagonist, corruptor/corrupted (which goes both ways!) and also the fascinating parallels between them, their complicated relationships with morality and agency and self-determination and power, with growing less and less connected to the low-to-high-key colonialist superpowers they're from and finding a new life in loss and "exile"? There's a lot going on, which is why I've been sitting on it so long! I just really want it to be good hehe

What happens is, five years post-canon, Garak wakes up one morning to find Sisko just chilling in his house. (Sisko's sort of a non-corporeal projection here, and also a top tier troll- no one else but Garak can see him lol.) He's gone around reconnecting with his family and crew, and now it's Garak's turn- he's like, we never got closure after that stunt you pulled during the war; but you exposed all the flaws in my dearly-held belief system and showed me what needed to be done, now watch me do the same. And Garak's like uh oh, he doesn't know that I've secretly been growing more and more disillusioned by the year as Cardassia slides back into extreme fascism (in this verse) and wondering if I even belong here anymore... but of course, Sisko's been to the Celestial Temple, he knows! Garak is sort of where Sisko was at the beginning of the show- he's languishing in a place that's killing him slowly, and needs something (aka divine intervention) to kick his butt into gear and make him turn his life around. Sisko's essentially here to save Garak's soul, in a way- the whole fic is one long, involved, and of course very snarky debate.

Tbh this all began with a challenge to myself, which was- can you convincingly make Garak leave Cardassia, voluntarily, without a garashir element? Garak's last scenes on the show have him condemning Cardassia's "legacy of arrogance and aggression", so it's easy for me to see him wanting to- but harder to see him actually doing it, stubborn lizard that he is. I first thought that if any non-Julian character could convince him, it would be Kira- but I've written so much with them already, and what would her motivation even be? And then it clicked! Which was great, because I'd always wanted to write more Sisko and Garak- I love all their scenes on the show so much. This is (sadly, sadly) going to be a gen fic- but also, HELP I literally cannot get them to stop flirting (Garak especially! Like holy Prophets my dude, calm down just a little bit😂)

[flyinghawk02]

A New Chapter in Panem: The Anticipation of the Latest 'Hunger Games' Book

Renowned for its dystopian story, captivating characters, and tremendous action, the 'Hunger Games' series has captured readers all over the world. It is a cornerstone of young adult literature. The brilliant genius behind this amazing series, Suzanne Collins, has once again aroused fan excitement with the news of a new book taking place in the world of Panem. Let's examine what we now know and what to anticipate from this much awaited continuation of the 'Hunger Games' story as we get ready to delve back into this captivating realm.

Panem: The World of 'The Hunger Games' Revisited The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, the first three books in the "Hunger Games" trilogy, exposed readers to a dystopian future in which youths are forced to compete in lethal gladiatorial games under the oppressive rule of Panem. We saw the horrors of the arena, the complexities of political revolt, and the pursuit of justice and freedom via Katniss Everdeen's eyes.

With 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,' a prequel that centers on a young Coriolanus Snow—who would go on to become the despotic president of Panem—Suzanne Collins broadened the universe in 2020. This book provided a new viewpoint and a more profound comprehension of the beginnings of Panem's cruel customs and Snow's ascent to power.

The New Book: What's Available Thus Far Although the next book's specifics are still being kept under wraps, fans are excitedly speculating about the following:

Timeline and Setting: Is the new novel going to be a follow-up to the first trilogy, a prequel, or something else entirely? The narrative and its ideas will be greatly influenced by the setting inside the Panem chronology.

Character Focus: Will well-known characters make a comeback, or will the next book introduce us to whole new characters? Either scenario is sure to be interesting, especially considering Collins' skill at developing memorable, complicated characters.

The 'Hunger Games' series has consistently explored themes of power, resistance, survival, and the human spirit. These are known as themes and motifs. The themes Collins will cover in the upcoming book and how they will relate to current social challenges are topics that fans are eager to learn about.

Universe expansion: 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' deepened our knowledge of the political and historical context of Panem. Perhaps building on this basis, the second book will provide more in-depth insights into Panem's world and richer legend.

'The Hunger Games' Legacy 'The Hunger Games' series has an influence that goes beyond the books. Katniss Everdeen's story was made widely known through the film adaptations, which further cemented the series' cultural relevance. The show has become a touchstone for conversations on justice and freedom because of its themes of struggle against oppression, the moral difficulties of existence, and the questioning of authority.

Awaiting and Conjecturing Fans' excitement and conjecture have been stoked by the news of a new "Hunger Games" book. Theoretical speculation and excitement about the impending release are rife in online forums and fan communities. Many are reacquainting themselves with the complex world of Panem by rereading the original books and "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."

In summary Excitement and intrigue are growing as we wait for the new "Hunger Games" novel to come out. Suzanne Collins possesses a special talent for writing stories that are both incredibly exciting and thought-provoking. It's sure to make a big contribution to the 'Hunger Games' legacy, no matter what path she decides to follow with this latest chapter.

Also Read :-

Elevate Your Style: Premium Leather Brogue Shoes by Flying Hawk Company

Improve Your Look with Flying Hawk Company's Premium Leather Brogue Shoes

Flying Hawk Company's Premium Leather Brogue Shoes are a great option for shoes that seamlessly blend style, durability, and grace. These brogue shoes are made with the best materials and painstaking attention to detail, with the goal of providing long-lasting comfort and classic style. Let's examine why these shoes are an essential part of every elegant collection.

How Do Brogue Shoes Work? The unique ornamental perforations and serrated edges that define brogue shoes. These shoes, which are Irish and Scottish in origin, were first made for functional outdoor use. They are now recognized as a sign of timeless beauty and adaptability that may be worn to both professional and informal settings.

The Flying Hawk Company's Premium Leather Brogue Shoes: Why Choose Them? Superior Craftsmanship Famous for its commitment to superb craftsmanship is Flying Hawk Company. Handcrafted with years of experience and a passion for perfection, each pair of brogue shoes is the result of the labor of talented artisans.

Excellent Materials These brogue shoes are not only aesthetically pleasing but also robust and cozy thanks to the use of fine leather. The premium leather ages nicely, adding to the shoe's character with time as it develops a rich patina.

Original Designs The Brogue Collection from Flying Hawk Company includes both traditional full brogues and contemporary renditions. You may be sure to find the ideal pair to go with your style because each design is painstakingly created to accommodate a variety of tastes and preferences.

Improved Coziness These shoes are made with such skill that a flawless fit is guaranteed. Unmatched comfort is achieved as the leather gradually conforms to the contours of your feet. Furthermore, characteristics that improve the entire wearing experience include supportive arches and cushioned insoles.

The High-End Leather Brogue Shoes of Flying Hawk Company are Expertly Crafted Picking Out the Leather The best leathers are chosen at the start of the journey. Premium hides are sourced by Flying Hawk Company, who makes sure they are flawless and have the right amount of softness and durability. After that, the leather is cleaned and conditioned to improve both its durability and look.

Sculpting and Resculpting Following preparation, the leather is meticulously cut into the numerous components that make up the shoe. To guarantee that every component has the ideal shape, this method needs to be precise. After that, the leather is sewn together, paying close attention to the artistic holes that give brogue shoes their distinctive look.

Putting the Shoes Together The process of assembly follows, during which the upper, insole, and outsole are meticulously sewn together. For increased longevity and the ability to resole the shoes, Flying Hawk Company frequently uses Goodyear welt construction.

Last Minute Details The last step is to apply the finishing touches. To guarantee that every pair satisfies the company's high standards, this entails polishing the leather to a high gloss, checking that the laces and other features are positioned precisely, and carrying out thorough quality control inspections.

Flying Hawk Company's Selection of High-End Leather Brogue Shoes Complete Wingtip Brogues Wide holes and a pointed toe cap that wraps around the sides of the shoe to resemble wings characterize full brogues, also known as wingtips. These shoes give an air of refinement to your wardrobe and are perfect for formal events.

Semi-Brogues With only the toe cap and sides perforated, semi-brogues provide a more subdued appearance. Their ability to blend formal and informal elements makes them adaptable to a variety of environments.

Quarter-length Brogues Quarter brogues usually just feature little holes around the borders of the toe cap. Those who want delicate details without overpowering their overall appearance would love this style.

Long-Wing Sneakers Wingtip detailing on longwing brogues continues along the sides of the shoe all the way to the heel. Those wishing to make a fashion statement have a distinctive and fashionable alternative with this design.

How to Wear Elegant Leather Brogue Shoes for a Formal Occasion Wear broad brogues with a fitted suit for a dressy appearance. To keep your appearance refined, choose with traditional hues like brown or black. Your ensemble is elevated further by the brogues' exquisite craftsmanship.

Professional Yet Casual Business casual attire looks well with semi-brogues. Wear them with a dapper button-down shirt and dress pants or chinos. A blazer might further improve the ensemble.

Undressed More relaxed clothing looks well with quarter brogues. For a put-together yet fashionable style, team them with jeans and a sweater or a loose button-down shirt.

Statement-Making Styles For those who want to make a statement with their wardrobe, longwing brogues are ideal. To show off your distinct style, pair them with striking patterns and hues.

Maintaining Your Exquisite Leather Brogue Shoes To keep your brogue shoes looking good and lasting a long time, proper maintenance is required. The following advice is provided:

Routine Maintenance: Use a gentle brush or cloth to eliminate dust and debris. For a thorough cleaning, use a leather cleaner made of materials compatible with your shoes. Conditioning: Use a high-quality leather conditioner to maintain the suppleness and avoid cracking of the leather. Apply a suede conditioner to brogues made of suede. Shoe shine and leather protection can be achieved by using a shoe polish that complements the color of your shoes. To preserve the shape of your shoes and absorb moisture after each wear, place in wooden shoe trees. The right approach to store shoes is to keep them out of direct sunlight and in a cool, dry environment. Dust bags are a good way to keep them free of dust and scratches. In conclusion High-end leather brogue shoes from Flying Hawk Company are the pinnacle of style, build quality, and longevity. Purchasing a pair of these shoes entails selecting footwear that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also provides unmatched comfort and durability. The brogue shoes from Flying Hawk Company are an ideal option for any occasion, whether you're dressing for a formal gathering, opting for a business casual style, or just trying to elevate your regular ensemble.

[easttraveler01]

A New Chapter in Panem: The Anticipation of the Latest 'Hunger Games' Book

Renowned for its dystopian story, captivating characters, and tremendous action, the 'Hunger Games' series has captured readers all over the world. It is a cornerstone of young adult literature. The brilliant genius behind this amazing series, Suzanne Collins, has once again aroused fan excitement with the news of a new book taking place in the world of Panem. Let's examine what we now know and what to anticipate from this much awaited continuation of the 'Hunger Games' story as we get ready to delve back into this captivating realm.

Panem: The World of 'The Hunger Games' Revisited The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, the first three books in the "Hunger Games" trilogy, exposed readers to a dystopian future in which youths are forced to compete in lethal gladiatorial games under the oppressive rule of Panem. We saw the horrors of the arena, the complexities of political revolt, and the pursuit of justice and freedom via Katniss Everdeen's eyes.

With 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,' a prequel that centers on a young Coriolanus Snow—who would go on to become the despotic president of Panem—Suzanne Collins broadened the universe in 2020. This book provided a new viewpoint and a more profound comprehension of the beginnings of Panem's cruel customs and Snow's ascent to power.

The New Book: What's Available Thus Far Although the next book's specifics are still being kept under wraps, fans are excitedly speculating about the following:

Timeline and Setting: Is the new novel going to be a follow-up to the first trilogy, a prequel, or something else entirely? The narrative and its ideas will be greatly influenced by the setting inside the Panem chronology.

Character Focus: Will well-known characters make a comeback, or will the next book introduce us to whole new characters? Either scenario is sure to be interesting, especially considering Collins' skill at developing memorable, complicated characters.

The 'Hunger Games' series has consistently explored themes of power, resistance, survival, and the human spirit. These are known as themes and motifs. The themes Collins will cover in the upcoming book and how they will relate to current social challenges are topics that fans are eager to learn about.

Universe expansion: 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' deepened our knowledge of the political and historical context of Panem. Perhaps building on this basis, the second book will provide more in-depth insights into Panem's world and richer legend.

'The Hunger Games' Legacy 'The Hunger Games' series has an influence that goes beyond the books. Katniss Everdeen's story was made widely known through the film adaptations, which further cemented the series' cultural relevance. The show has become a touchstone for conversations on justice and freedom because of its themes of struggle against oppression, the moral difficulties of existence, and the questioning of authority.

Awaiting and Conjecturing Fans' excitement and conjecture have been stoked by the news of a new "Hunger Games" book. Theoretical speculation and excitement about the impending release are rife in online forums and fan communities. Many are reacquainting themselves with the complex world of Panem by rereading the original books and "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."

In summary Excitement and intrigue are growing as we wait for the new "Hunger Games" novel to come out. Suzanne Collins possesses a special talent for writing stories that are both incredibly exciting and thought-provoking. It's sure to make a big contribution to the 'Hunger Games' legacy, no matter what path she decides to follow with this latest chapter.

Also Read :-

Discover the Rich Heritage of Delhi: Old and New Delhi Private Day Tour by Car by East Traveler Company

Take a Private Day Car Tour of Old and New Delhi with East Traveler Company to Explore the City's Rich History.

Are you prepared to explore India's dynamic capital city's fascinating history, culture, and heritage? Come along for an insightful private day trip by automobile with East Traveler Company to explore Private Day Car Tour of Old and New Delhi. Discover the striking contrasts between the opulence of New Delhi's colonial-era monuments and contemporary marvels, and the mystique of Old Delhi's historic lanes and vibrant markets.

Why Opt for a Private Day Tour via Automobile? You may explore Delhi at your own leisure and in accordance with your preferences with a private day trip by automobile, which provides the utmost in comfort, flexibility, and convenience. With the private day tour package from East Traveler Company, you can experience the luxury of chauffeured transportation in a private vehicle with a skilled guide and driver at your disposal, guaranteeing a customized and hassle-free trip from beginning to end.

Arranging Your Visit to Old and New Delhi To get the most out of your day tour, you must prepare carefully before setting off on your Delhi journey. Start by reserving your tour with East Traveler Company, a reputable travel company renowned for their skill in planning amazing trips in and around Delhi. To ensure a personalized and remarkable experience, select from a variety of trip packages that align with your interests and tastes.

Our experts will work closely with you to personalize your schedule and make sure that every detail of your day tour is to your liking after you've booked it. We'll go above and beyond to make your time in Delhi genuinely unique, regardless of your interests in history, culture, architecture, or food.

Seeing Old Delhi: A Trip Through Time Old Delhi, the city's historic center and a veritable gold mine of historic monuments, mosques, and vibrant bazaars, is the first stop on your day tour. You'll be taken back in time to the Mughal era as you make your way through Old Delhi's busy streets and little lanes.

Visit well-known sites including the Red Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the historic home of Mughal emperors, and the Jama Masjid, one of India's largest mosques. Shop for spices, fabrics, and souvenirs in Chandni Chowk, one of Delhi's largest and oldest markets. Take in the lively atmosphere there.

Discovering New Delhi: Modern Marvels and Colonial-Era Landmarks Your journey continues to New Delhi, the contemporary and international area of the city renowned for its broad boulevards, colonial-era buildings, and verdant parks, after you have had time to explore Old Delhi. Explore famous locations including the magnificent Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India, and India Gate, a tribute to the troops who lost their lives in World War I.

Discover Qutub Minar, the world's tallest brick minaret, and Humayun's Tomb, a masterpiece of Mughal architecture and a forerunner to the Taj Mahal, both designated by UNESCO. Explore the tranquil Lotus Temple, a Bahá'í House of Worship renowned for its remarkable architecture structured like a lotus, as you stroll through the verdant gardens of Lodi Gardens.

Optional Improvements and Events East Traveler Company offers extras like upgrades and activities to make your day tour even more enjoyable in addition to exploring Old and New Delhi. Take a rickshaw ride around Old Delhi's winding streets, eat a traditional Indian lunch at a nearby eatery, or explore other sights like the Gandhi Smriti or the National Museum.

In conclusion A private day tour of Old and New Delhi by automobile with East Traveler Company ensures a fascinating excursion through the rich history, culture, and legacy of Delhi. Our day trip is the ideal way to see the best parts of both Old and New Delhi in luxury and style, whether you're a seasoned tourist or a first-time visitor.

[themovieblogonline]

SILENCE 2: THE NIGHT OWL BAR SHOOTOUT Review: A Mystery Thriller

Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout is a new mystery thriller that acts as a sequel to the 2021 Silence… Can You Hear It. However, the sequel has very little, if any connections to the original, so prior viewing is not required. The new thriller has a lot going on, sometimes to its detriment. While the morals and message of the story are well-intentioned, the execution feels overly complicated as it becomes guilty of trying to do too much all at once. Read on for my full Silence 2 review.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNIoC1oNOj8&pp=ygUkc2lsZW5jZSAyIHRoZSBuaWdodCBvd2wgYmFyIHNob290b3V0 Please note that the following Silence 2 review will be completely spoiler-free.  The Story Of Silence 2 A grisly multiple murder shooting at a dive bar beckons ACP Avinash Verma (Manoj Bajpayee) to the scene. Even before he arrives, his boss tells him that the shoot-out has to do with a politician’s secretary, and Avinash gets the case to ensure the murders don’t expose anything embarrassing for the government. So when we get the revelation that this is a Red Herring in the plot later on, it’s hardly a surprise, seeing how it was telegraphed from earlier.  As Avinash digs deeper, the shoot-out becomes connected to a plethora of other, larger conspiracies involving blackmail, sex, human trafficking, queer victimizing, and many other social issues. It’s almost all too much for the execution to properly handle, so it comes off as a surface-level examination only, without any nuance. While certain aspects of the thriller mystery feel very well written, such as the technical forensic jargon. Which, while maybe a little far-fetched, was no less believable than those CSI TV shows from the early 2000s. More dramatic flair than an attempt at a realistic depiction.  Manoj Bajpayee Carries The Movie With A Serviceable Supporting Cast While the story in this Silence 2 review may not be perfect, its lead actor is impeccable. The always-talented Bajpayee is his charming self, committing to every moment and delivering a fine performance. Bajpayee makes a meal out of the material he has to work with, and I wish he had more to do. While the story moves at a moderate pace, enough to keep audiences engaged, it’s almost too focused on its murder mystery plot. We can’t really connect as an audience to Avinash, because we know nothing about his personal life, or who he is outside of his job. Barring one pretty great scene when his daughter checks in on him in his new house. Avinash is clearly lonely and dealing with some things, and I wish the story explored more of his demons and how they affect his work.  Similarly, the supporting cast of Silence 2 has some talent included. Avinash’s seemingly second in command is Inspector Bhatia (Prachi Desai), who I’ve been a fan of for a while. However, besides just being another cop on the case, we learn nothing about her personal life. Same with Sahil Vaid, who made a name playing the hero’s sidekick in comedies like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. Seeing him in a more serious crime thriller in Silence 2 was very intriguing, but again, I wish his character had more to do.  Silence 2 Movie Review Is Spoiler-Free Ultimately, Silence 2 is an engaging watch that moves along at a pretty decent pace. But the runtime would have been better served if the main characters were fleshed out more, and more screen time given to them, than the myriad of misdirections and seemingly separate plot lines. The writing of the movie is very ambitious as it struggled with a very complex plot with plot twists and threads that, for the most part, work. But the execution of how it all comes together feels too much to take on. For example, there’s a weird Keyser Soze-like montage near the end of act two, but the ultimate climax never connects the efforts of the villains to that scene. Silence 2 is a serviceable watch with friends or in a group setting, especially for Bajpayee whose performance makes up for any lack of writing or execution.  Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout is now streaming on ZEE5.  What did you think of Silence 2? Let us know in the comments below. Or follow me on X (formerly Twitter) at @theshahshahid for more Bollywood thoughts.  

[farmverse]

andif i posted writing. what th

cw; adult discussing his own hypersexuality and as a teenager, mentions of teen pregnancy

“My history is… complicated,” he says lamely. His new jeans are still stiff. He hasn’t properly worn in his boots yet. His only options with his jacket are to keep it on or hold it in his lap, and his prosthetic makes taking it off and putting it back on easier said than done anyway, but it’s uncomfortably warm in the uncomfortably quiet room.

“What isn’t, these days?” The man sitting across from him reminds him almost of his mother. His laminated nametag reads Dr. Marvin Campbell, and his blond hair is starting to thin, covered with a white little hat that Farm forgets the name of. “With that Scarab guy showing up and attacking the city, I mean. Since then, nothing has been the same.”

Farm examines his fingernails. Over the years, he’s mastered the art of biting them cleanly and evenly, since he can’t hold a set of clippers with the claw of his prosthesis. “My complications go back further than that, I’m afraid. I’m… like that Scarab guy, in a way.”

“That’s right — you and your family came from another timeline…” Dr. Campbell’s fingers move lightning-quick over his exceedingly loud keyboard. Maybe the horrible sound is supposed to help him type faster. “Your original world had magic, didn’t it?”

“Not always.” Farm’s kids aren’t here, so he doesn’t bother censoring himself. “I didn’t fuck with it. Tried to stay as far away as I could. At first, I just didn’t believe in it, but…”

Boy, that old fartbag sure proved you wrong, huh!

Technically, the so-called “Vampire Queen” hadn’t done much. That had been Finn.

Farm.

The crown.

And me!

Farm flexes his left hand forcefully, then shakes it out in an attempt to banish his nerves. It sort of works. Almost.

“…It did some shit to me that I’ve… just had to learn to deal with. And I didn’t always do the best or smartest thing. I-I know that. But I’ve… I’ve done my best. Tried to give my kids a safe childhood. Keep them clothed and fed and happy.”

“And that’s commendable. You should be proud of that, Farm.”

He wants to believe it, but it feels empty.

“…But I’ve also done some things I’m not proud of.” He sighs heavily. “When I was a teenager, I put on a magic crown that granted me ice powers and fractured my psyche. I… hurt a lot of people. My own family included. And, afterwards, I made some particularly bad choices.” He shifts. “I think I felt like… I had ruined the morale of the people around me. So I had to boost it, somehow. And, one thing led to another…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“…Please don’t make me say it.”

“I just want to make sure we’re on the same page, here.”

Farm meets Dr. Campbell’s gaze, at once both reluctant and deliberate. “I told people to use me however they wanted. And they did. And I-” (Fuck, why is his throat choking?)

Dr. Campbell is so fucking patient. The look he’s giving Farm now is the same look Minerva Mertens gave him when he first tried to tell her at sixteen that she was going to be a grandmother. But he’d thrown up and stumbled out, and she had never known.

Deep breath. Slow down. Cool off. You got this.

When he tries to speak again, he manages to keep his voice level. “…I gave birth to my first son when I was seventeen. I still don’t know who his other parent is.”

There’s a brief pause before the next question. “How old is he now?”

The question nearly makes him flinch. Its silly, really. But he answers anyway, because to hide away from it would just be pathetic. “He’s almost fourteen. Does great in school, polite, good-hearted — he’s the reason we moved here, honestly. If he and Dez hadn’t snuck out, we’d probably all still be in Farmworld.”

“Farmworld?”

Farm blushes a little. “Uh, my original timeline.” He rubs the back of his neck, idly tucking his light hair back under his cap. “Fionna came up with the name, and it stuck.”

Dr. Campbell laughs. There’s a moment of recognition, like he’s just speaking with a friend’s father, before the veneer of professionalism goes back up over the conversation.