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absolutebl · 19 days

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This Week in BL - I Still On1y Care About...

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Sept 2024 Week 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) eps 7 of 12 - Deeeelightful. They are so damn cute + a nice kiss! The rise of the green flag semes continues. I like it when Diew flirts and shows that he does have some experience in a relationship, and he can/will flex his power. Props to God for being a man who remembers to TAKE HIS DRINK with him.

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 4 of 10 - Yep I still like it and all its toxicity. It’s fun to see how closely it follows the original. Now I really can’t wait to see how this one ends. Since this time around we get an actual ending.

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 6 of 12 - How did they know that what I wanted more than anything was a side couple = spoiled prince + demon lord? How clever they are to give them to me. Meanwhile, in a shocking twist, the leads have known each other since childhood. Because why be original?

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 8 of 12 - Oh it’s very cute. I love Ing. I love that Ai was honest with his bestie. Best friend's older brother trope is a go! Also good kisses all round.

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 1 of 12 - Ohm has his shirt off less than 5 min in. I guess GMMTV is learning what we want. My boy Title is the creep character again. I’m assuming that’s why GMMTV brought him on board at this juncture. Sigh. New boy, Q, looks like Mek’s younger brother. Ultimately? I'm not convinced on this one. It is doing what it says on the tin, but nothing more than that. I’m not wild about it, but I will keep watching.

The Trainee (Sun YT) ep 10 of 12 - The more OffGun BLs, the more time they spend communicating as characters in those BLs. It’s kind of charming. They've become the pair that advocates for communication in relationships. I like it as evolution for their brand. Flirting via the printer was very fun. Especially as the Thai script is so beautiful.

Live in Love (Sun Gaga) ep 1 of 5 - I guess this is a lockdown narrative? Odd choice. A lot of familiar faces but from more minor rolls. Is this from the Destiny Seeker people? It feels like that. It’s a bigger cast than I was expecting, and a sort of classic university BL of the kind star Hunter produces. Or the end of love people. Pretty classic Thai pulp stuff. I’m mildly enjoying it. Hali is too hot to be the dorky second lead. Nice to see Boat back on my screen. However, it is… what’s the word I am looking for? Oh yes. Boring. Plus singing.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 5-6 of 12 - I entirely lost my mind over this show this week. Fuck me it's so good. The delicacy sends me. I keep expecting it to be clumsy and then is just isn't - it's so subtle and it demands we pay such close attention. I feel like I'm holding my breath the whole time I'm watching.

Cliff's notes on these 2 eps as follows:

The pure unadulterated tsundere of it all.

The awesome angst, it aches.

The series of repercussions after the fight was pacing genius.

The brilliant juxtaposition of "the kid who self isolates too easily" versus "the one who has been forced into isolation" meets both of them being smart enough to know why they react out of hurt, but neither can stop doing it.

Baby’s reaction to learning he’s going to be left behind = to instantly make plans to do the leaving in the future hurts my heart in the best possible way.

"Maybe what we call eternity is just persistence."

Maybe one boy simply deciding to be another boy's rock is romance.

Production better nail the second half of this show! It better be the world against them from here on out or the audience is gonna riot.

And by "audience" I mean me.

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 5 of 10 - Oh noes! Poor baby boy!!! My heart hurts. But also gah so cute and next week they shack up together! Hooray!

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 11 - too much time spent on the girl again. I don’t need excuses for why she’s a bitch. So can we talk about Taichi instead? It’s such a good characterization, this boy who understands everything about other people but doesn’t notice anything about himself, including his own abilities of observation. The person who is special never realizes how special they are, I guess. The soundscapes are so good with this show. The moments where prod decided to be silent are so vital and so pivotal and used with such delicacy and strategy, it’s truly audio magic manipulation.

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) eps 7-8 of 12 - I loved how Orca just jumped on the stage. What a great side couple. CHARMED I TELL YOU. Orca was all… singing? Naw. I came back to fuck the manager's brains out. Anything less than that is unacceptable.

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 10 fin - Essentially this was a growth story for Takara and an exercise in patience while the two of them learned each other’s quirks and languages. It was also an exercise in patience for me... who doesn’t like the power differential of a weaker younger character having to do all the pursuing while constantly feeling like he is inferior to the older popular hot character. I know this was a BL that was definitely for some people, since plenty liked it way more than I did, but I didn’t like it very much even though there’s nothing objectively wrong with it. It simply wasn’t to my personal taste. 7/10

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 5-6 of 8 - Enter an ex or something? Well he certainly has a type. Bah. This whole series seems to be mainly about cheating. It’s very annoying because they are all so pretty.

Happy of the End (Japan Tues Gaga) - Based on a manga, longer than usual run time. A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL. Messy gay pain here we go.

Oh it’s exactly what I expected. Do I like it? No I do not. And ya know what? There is plenty airing. I have a bad feeling about this one. DNF

It's airing but...

4 Minutes (Sat Gaga) eps 1-6 of 8 - Gaga picked this one up so we can watch it there. I'm waiting until the end, it seems angsty and confusing and full of awful people being awful. But also... high heat and I'm shallow. So we shall see which devil wins (and how it ends).

The Hidden Moon (Sat ????) ep 1 of 10 - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) ‘เดือนพราง’ by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger)... A Bangkok writer is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai which is being converted into a café. He gets into an accident and nearly dies on his way there. After that, he sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, one boy catches his attention. Was substantially recast. Couldn't find it. Didn't really look.

In case you missed it

Meet You at the Blossom (China) - I'm eating crow, binging the fucker, and live blogging. It's just taking me some time. This isn't really a bingable show, not for me anyway. It's A LOT to take all at once. No new one this week.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Plus:

9/9 Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) 12 eps? - Be gay YinWar, do crimes. Dehup gives us Yin, War, Mark and a few other familiar faces in a Leverage sitch, only queerer.

9/14 Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sat ????) ?? eps - Remake of the original. I'm scared too.

9/15 Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - Assistant to a player boss who is in love with that boss decides to quit to save himself. The boss then makes a move. (A gay What's up with Secretary Kim?)

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Coming SEPTEMBER 2024:

9/17 Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 10 eps - Lawyer and a con artist meet at a bar, pair up, fall in love.

9/28 Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ?? eps - oh I don't know just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again.

9/? The Time of Fever (Korea iQIYI) 6 eps - HoTae & DongHee are back! Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, same actors, same character names I an WILD for this.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Not sure what this is from but I capped it for a reason so, shrug.

The scent trope AND the childhood crush trope? I see you suckering me into one trope because I like the other. Clever, Battle. Very clever.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many at-ings.

151 notes · View notes

sevault-canyon · 2 years

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no, miss appleton did not single-handedly ruin japanese soy sauce forever

there's a popular post going around this week about a ghq (general headquarters, the administration of the american occupation of japan after wwii) employee, a certain ms. blanche appleton, single-handedly changing the taste of soy sauce. while her story is fascinating for sure and i await further developments on the part of the op, and had a hand in the history of soy sauce, the premise is quite a bit exaggerated, and the general narrative so far in the framing by the op somewhat problematic.

tl;dr: as with most things, this is a confluence of factors, with producers, scientists, politicians, (possibly underworld,) and administrators all having their own agency in this story. i find it unusual to sideline so many parties in favour of presenting a single foreign administrator calling the shots in the op's posts.

i've made an initial response here. i will continue my findings in a separate post here.

1. jack daniel's is swill, but it's still whiskey

i think i can distill my issues with this plot so far down to one statement in the original post:

There should be records of her policies, there should be legal documents in America which record how she apportioned out American exportation of soy beans to Japan, there should be sources talking about this woman's ability to transform Japan's soy sauce production so heavily that today only 1% of all soy sauce is made with pre-WW2 traditional techniques.

this transformative impact of one administrator is entirely overstated. this comment led me to a promo blog post where some of the original claims can be seen, and the op mentions that traditional soy sauce was made in kioke barrels, and the this method of production has dropped to about 1% now. this is true, but it appears that at least one source put the decline as starting around the end of the edo period (xvii-xix centuries). [1] sources traceable to yamaroku puts the decline more recently, at about a century ago [2, 3]

this japanese paper on fermented food production is quite clear in stating that wodden barrel production declined from the meiji period (1868-1912) onward.

江戸時代までに一般化した木桶・木樽の使用形態は、明治期以降、一般の生活や各種製造現場で近代化が進む中、コンクリートや金属、プラスチック、合成樹脂等の材質によって代替されていく。 The use of wooden vats and barrels, which had become common by the Edo period, was replaced by materials such as concrete, metal, plastic, and synthetic resin from the Meiji period onward, as modernization progressed in ordinary life and various manufacturing sites. (deepL translation)

another source from a professor on food production in japan suggests that shodoshima (where yamaroku is made) is the area that has most completely preserved the wooden vat method of production.

this survey (oguri) written by a member of the national museum of nature of science in tokyo dates the supplanting of traditional method in more industrialized regions by 1913

1913（大正2）年：栂野は「最新醤油醸造論」の中で、九州、中国地方では桶の代わりに煉瓦又は石でタンクを作り使用していると記述。 1913 (Taishō 2): Tsugano, in his "The Latest Soy Sauce Brewing Theory," wrote that in Kyushu and Chugoku regions, instead of vats, tanks were made of bricks or stone and used. (deepL translation, p.148)

1918年：西二の蔵（ヤマサ印）の建設に当たり研究中の内面塗料が完成したので、これを採用し仕込桶を角型のコンクリートタンクに改めた。 1918: The internal [coating] that was being researched for the construction of the Nishi Ni no Kura (Yamasa brand) was completed, and this was adopted and the brewing vats were replaced with square concrete tanks. (deepL translation with edits from @literaryreference, see translator's note 3, p.148)

i think it bears repetition that soy sauce production was industrializing as japan was industrializing from the meiji to early shōwa periods. as alluded to in the title, a lot of modern soy sauce is like jack daniels: industrial products that evolved from traditional methods alongside a nation's overall development.

2. babe wake up, a new semichemical soy sauce just dropped, and appleton's role in history (a corroboration of @/inneskeeper)

it seems like the plot on the original poster's part has gone to the american side, so let's try to follow the us-japan interaction but from japanese sources.

the survey cited earlier (oguri) has a lot of information that supports the original post. blanche appleton did exist, and does appear in more anecdotes from that era of the soy sauce industry.

(also, this bibliography has more sources on her time in japan, will require institutional access to japanese universities)

to start, there are two methods of semichemical soy sauce production. the first, 新式1号法 shinshiki 1-gō method (i will call it sc1) was invented in the taishō era (1912-26).

大正の末期頃になると、酸やアルカリの化学薬品を併用することによって、速醸の目的を達成しようとする研究が盛んに行われ、その代表的な「新式1号」が出現する。 Toward the end of the Taisho era, there was a flurry of research into the use of acid and alkali chemicals in combination to achieve the goal of fast brewing, and the "Shinshiki No. 1" [sc1] appeared as a representative example of such research. (deepL translation, p.158)

in the time immediately after the war, there was a shortage of supplies, and its allocation was controlled by the americans

駐留軍の総司令部 GHQ（General Head Quarter）は、1948年の春調味料の原料として「エロア資金」（占領地域経済復興資金）により、大豆ミール2万tを放出する方針を打ち出した。このことにより、その配分をめぐって醤油業界とアミノ酸業界は熾烈な競争をすることとなる。 The General Head Quarter (GHQ) of the stationed army announced a policy of releasing 20,000 tons of soybean meal as a raw material for seasonings in the spring of 1948 through the EROA (Economic Rehabilitation in Occupied Area) Fund. This led to fierce competition between the soy sauce and amino acid industries for its allocation. (deepL translation with edits by myself, p.159)

the "amino acid industry" mentioned refers to the monosodium glutamate (msg) industry (glutamate is the ion of an amino acid). essentially, in the early 20th century, both msg and soy sauce (and chemical "soy sauce") production methods have converged to all requiring many soybeans due to their protein content and fermentation properties.

this is where appleton makes her entrance:

GHQは両業界の調整窓口として、「経済安定本部」の経済科学局で調味料と乳製品の需給を担当していたミセス・ブランシェ・アップルトンをその任にあてた。アップルトンは、醤油醸造協会の茂木啓三郎とアミノ酸業界の大内鋼太郎を招いて意見を聴取し、原料の配分を「醸造醤油2、アミノ酸業界8」とすることを内定し、上司のマーカット局長に報告した。この報告内容は醸造醤油にとっては死活問題であったが、内定の根拠は次のようなものであった。 GHQ assigned Ms. Blanche Appleton, who was in charge of the supply and demand of seasonings and dairy products in the Economic and Science Section of the "Economic Stability Headquarters," (?) to serve as the coordinating contact between the two industries. Appleton invited Keizaburo Mogi of the Soy Sauce Brewers Association and Kotaro Ouchi of the amino acid industry to hear their opinions, and informally decided that the distribution of raw materials would be two for brewing soy sauce and eight for the amino acid industry, and reported this to her boss, Maj. Gen. W. F. Marquat. The content of this report was a matter of life and death for brewers' soy sauce, but the rationale for the informal decision was as follows. [...] (deepL translation with edits by myself p.159)

essentially, appleton originally intended for only 20% of the soybean meal to be handed out for soy sauce due to its relatively inefficient usage of materials compared to msg production. this would've crippled the existing soy sauce producers, and they set out to find solutions to save their industry.

醸造醤油側は、醸造醤油の「日本人の食生活における重要性や醸造醤油そのものの品質の良さ」等を強調したが、GHQはただ「脱脂大豆が有効に活用されるのはどちらか」という尺度だけで判断したのである。このような醸造醤油の存亡の危機を救ったのは、もくもくと研究に携わっていた技術陣が開発した「新式2号法」であった。本法を発明したのはキッコーマンの館野正淳、梅田勇雄等である。新式2号の製法は新式1号と同様に、蛋白質を弱酸でペプトンやペプチド程度まで分解し、その後は麹の酵素により分解してアミノ酸の形態まで持っていく半化学、半醸造による醤油の製造法である。 The brewing soy sauce side emphasized the importance of brewing soy sauce in the Japanese diet and the quality of the soy sauce itself, but GHQ made its decision based solely on the basis of "which [industry] would use the defatted soybeans more effectively". What saved brewed soy sauce from the brink of extinction was the "New Formula No. 2 method" developed by the technical staff who had been working diligently on the research. The inventors of this method were Masajun Tateno and Isao Umeda of Kikkoman Corporation. As with Shin-Shiki No. 1 [sc1], the Shin-Shiki No. 2 [sc2] method is a semi-chemical, semi-brewing method for producing soy sauce in which proteins are broken down to peptones and peptides with weak acids, and then decomposed by enzymes from koji mold to the form of amino acids. (deepL translation with edits by myself and @literaryreference, see translator's note 4, p.159)

this development, the invention of the 新式2号法 shinshiki 2-gō method (sc2), led to another round of discussions:

ミセス・アップルトンは「キッコーマンが画期的な技術を開発した」ことを聞き、新法による醤油とアミノ酸液による化学醤油を消費者に提示し、その調査結果に基づいて決定を再考しようと上申書を提出した。醤油の味、使用テストは神奈川県の鎌倉市と逗子で行われたが、消費者の8割が新法による醤油を支持した。この結果に基づき、アップルトンは両業界で話し合って結論を出すように「正田・大内会談」を開かせた。 Mrs. Appleton heard that "Kikkoman had developed a breakthrough technology" and submitted a petition to reconsider her decision based on the results of a survey that presented consumers with both the new method of soy sauce and a chemical soy sauce made with amino acid solution. Taste and use tests of soy sauce were conducted in Kamakura and Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, and 80% of consumers supported the new soy sauce. Based on these results, Appleton had the "Shoda-Ouchi Conference" held so that the two industries could discuss and reach a conclusion. (deepL translation, p.160)

this source seems to suggest that the original decision was under higher-ups' pressure:

当初の提案2対8のアミノ酸業界絶対優位の配分比率は、「新式2号法」の出現により、最終的にGHQは「正田・大内会談」の「7対3協定」を認め、ここに醸造醤油の歴史的危機は回避されることとなった。醤油業界のミセス・アップルトンの評価は従来大変厳しいものであったが、後の調査で彼女は醸造醤油の良き理解者であり、当初の配分比率も上司の強い指示に抗しきれず提案したものであったようである。再度の上申は、彼女の日本の伝統的な醸造醤油への深い理解と思い入れによるものであったと考えられる。 As for the proposed allocation of 2 to 8, due to the [sc2] method, GHQ ended up deciding on the “7 to 3 Agreement” from the “Shoda-Ouchi Conference” instead, thus averting the historical crisis of brewed soy sauce.Although the soy sauce industry had been very critical of Mrs. Appleton in the past, later investigations revealed that she was a firm supporter* of brewed soy sauce and that the original allocation ratio was a proposal she made because she could not resist the strong instructions of her superiors. It is believed that her renewed offer was due to her deep understanding of and commitment to the Japanese tradition of brewed soy sauce. (deepL translation with edits from myself and @blackamite, see translators' note 1, p. 160)

the term 良き理解者 "good friend" (see bolded) i think could mean connoisseur or enjoyer here, will need help in clarifying.

その後醤油醸造協会の正田会長は、1948（昭和23）年7月23日に「新式2号法」の特許公開を懇請し、当時の中野社長の決断により、「新式1号」に続いて「新式2号」についても無償で業界に公開されることとなった。同年8月から講習会が全国12ブロックで開催され、約2,500社の業者が技術を習得した。 Later, on July 23, 1948, Mr. Shoda, president of the Soy Sauce Brewers Association, requested that the patent for the [sc2 method] be made public, and following the decision of then [Kikkoman Inc.] President Nakano, the [sc1 and sc2 methods] were made public free of charge to the industry. In August of the same year, training sessions were held in 12 blocks throughout Japan, and approximately 2,500 companies learned the technology. (deepL translation with edits by myself, p.160)

the main sources the survey used are a manuscript, 醤油醸造技術の近代化 by 永瀬一郎 Ichirō Nagase, kikkoman inc.'s own historical record (キッコーマン株式会社八十年史; a shorter version can be found here), and a history of choshi shoyu inc. (銚子醤油株式会社　社史). i think this confirms a lot of information the original post put out there about ms. appleton and her involvement with soy sauce. plus, it shed more light into how exactly she interacted with the condiment industries.

perhaps @/inneskeeper will find some shady dealings in their research; when you mix a foreign military force, the collapse of existing institutions, and social upheaval, you're likely to find corruption. ill keep my eyes peeled for that development.

3. no, kikkoman is not "fake" soy sauce, but you might be able to find some echoes of the past

so what happened to semichemical soy sauce now? the survey document does not track its usage after its invention and at the surface level, it seems that the original claim was right, the semichemical method has persisted since the american occupation and we're all just drinking sussy sauce.

in fact, this seemed so obvious that this rumour circulated in japan and was debunked by aficionados two years ago.

the link to kikkoman's own record earlier states that sc2 sauce was discontinued in 1970, and the japanese blog post above repeats that, adding that it has reverted back to honjōzō (本醸造) sauce. this paper in the journal of the brewing society of japan (日本醸造協会誌) has this to say about what became of sc2 sauce:

また，キッコーマンの新式 2号しょうゆ製造法の特許が公開されたのも 1948年で，しょうゆ業界は混合醸造しょうゆおよび混合しょうゆを製造することにより効率よく旨味の強いしょうゆを安価に製造し，しょうゆ原料不足の時代を乗り切ったと考えている。現在，大手メーカーでは食の安全性や本物志向から混合醸造しょうゆおよび混合しょうゆの製造をやめ本醸造しょうゆだけを製造している。一方，全国の中小しょうゆメーカーでは，製造設備を全て本醸造しょうゆに切り換える資金力に乏しく．一旦，消費者に定着した混合しょうゆのニーズにより本醗造しょうゆに切り換えることが出来ず，現在も混合しょうゆが主力商品となっているのではないかと考えている。 The patent for Kikkoman's new [sc2] soy sauce manufacturing method was also published in 1948, which allowed the soy sauce industry to overcome the shortage of raw materials for soy sauce by producing mixed brewed soy sauce and mixed soy sauces efficiently and inexpensively. Currently, major soy sauce manufacturers have stopped producing mixed brewed soy sauce and mixed soy sauce, and are producing only honjozo soy sauce, due to food safety and the desire for authenticity. On the other hand, small and medium-sized soy sauce manufacturers nationwide do not have the financial resources to convert all of their production facilities to honjozo soy sauce. Once a demand for mixed soy sauce has taken root among consumers, they are unable to switch over to honjōzō soy sauce, and even now, it's possible mixed [kongō or kongō-jōzō] soy sauce might be the top [soy sauce] product. (deepL translation with edits from myself and @literaryreference, see translator's note 2, p.78)

the three types of japanese soy sauce production methods available today are honjōzō (本醸造, fully fermented), kongō-jōzō (混合醸造, mixed fermented with amino acid added prior to fermentation, closest to sc2 method), and kongō (混合, one of the previous two types with additives). [wiki, academic source] these production methods are in parallel to the traditional varieties of sauce, which rather describe the mash and added taste; these elements of the production, rather than the fermentation process, are usually what define the lineage of the sauce in both japan and other soy sauce-producing cultures.

instead of supplanting "genuine" fermented soy sauce, the industrial descendants of sc2 sauce have become their own type of sauce and have carved their own niches in the consumer market. as someone who is not from japan, i would be careful about making any judgment on whether it is "authentic".

4. clarifications

there were a few statements by the original poster that i think need further context for a more accurate understanding. any bolding and italics are mine.

During World War 2 there was a push to industrialize the Japanese soy sauce industry to be better for mass-production. This innovated the chemical fermentation technique and the semichemical fermentation technique utilized by Kikkoman; rather than ferment for four years in gigantic cedar barrels, kioke, instead fermentation takes place for six months or a year in stainless steel barrels which utilize electrolysis to artificially speed up fermentation processes.

the first part is correct, but the word "rather" introduces a false dichotomy; soy sauce production is very diverse and progresses at different paces in different regions (see part 1 of this post). the sauce op has is simply one from a region that has kept their manufacturing method unchanged.

"four years" is arbitrary: different producers have different fermentation periods.

the last part of the statement is not universally true of industrial production; ac current may be used in brewing.

A single American woman named "Ms Appleton" was given total control of apportioning all American soy bean rations to companies, how much, and to who. She had no knowledge of soy sauce, allegedly.

we can lay that last part to rest. it appears that she does. i will also have to mention that "soy sauce" has been imported from china to the usa since the 30s.

She apparently had so much power over Japanese soy sauce production that she could singlehandedly shape its future by threatening to not give soy beans to any company, family, or factory which did not utilize her specific requirements of semichemical fermentation (reduced from chemical fermentation, since it was that abhorrent). These days, the term soy sauce is distinct from traditional shoyu, and requires distinguishment because of such a radical difference the two products are.

is girlboss applesauce really that powerful on her own? this statement was not wrong, but she did have the military that just nuked japan behind her.

did appleton specify one method over others? probably, but i think the dependency went the other way: the invention of sc2 sauce was the only way the industry could be efficient enough for ghq standards.

that last part is just straight up wrong dawg what the hell i was nicer in my first reply but im not feeling it today

[...] Because there should be way more information on her if this was the case; she was apparently powerful and influential enough during the occupation that she could singlehandedly enforce whatever arbitrary rules she wanted on the soy sauce industry and they had to comply or else have no product at all. That level of power is fucking insane. Imagine having so much raw influence over Japan that you could order them to completely renovate and change how they produce and make SOY SAUCE, literally one of if not THE most important thing in Japanese culinary history--[...]

holy exaggeration batman, this is almost insulting. as with most things, this is a confluence of factors, with producers, scientists, politicians, (possibly underworld,) and administrators all having their own agency in this story. it is incredibly unusual to sideline so many parties in favour of a single foreign administrator calling the shots.

5. what now?

i think there's much to be found out about appleton's dealings, and it would be an interesting story if there did end up being underworld dealings in those negotiations coming to light. i think it is a fascinating slice into that era and how society and institutions interacted in such a fraught situation. overall, i encourage @/inneskeeper's historian work.

that said, it is very important for people to not put a narrative ahead of the facts. i think it is human nature to be attracted to stories that have a clear causality and linearity, but it is something we need to be very careful about when communicating history to a large audience. to anyone who would like to present their findings, consider what your framing of events imply about the state of the time and place you research, and if you are doing all parties justice.

and for the love of god, cite your sources.

if there are any translation issues, please reach out to me and i will edit accordingly and post errata.

erratum 1: jack daniel's is tennesee whiskey, not bourbon, thanks @drdementogrl.

translators' note 1: 良き理解者 could also be translated more literally to “good understander,” thank you @blackamite, @monstrousgourmandizingcats, @leatherbookmark, and others who have given similar notes.

erratum 2 and translator's note 2: @literaryreference has indicated that 一旦，消費者に定着した混合しょうゆのニーズにより本醗造しょうゆに切り換えることが出来ず，現在も混合しょうゆが主力商品となっているのではないかと考えている。 is more equivocal and did not state an outright larger popularity for kongō/kongō-jōzō type brewing, so it's possible it might be the top product. they also suggested removing redundancies and pointed out a copying mistake from the original source (left out a bit of the japanese text).

translator's note 3: @literaryreference let me know that 塗料 would more accurately be interpreted as "coating" and also gave me a link of the sauce brand mentioned.

translator's note 4: @literaryreference has provided a better translation for GHQはただ「脱脂大豆が有効に活用されるのはどちらか」という��度だけで判断したのである, and i have made edits from their translation as well for better context.

#the mysterious appearance of miss appleton #voice of the canyon

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g5mlp · 25 days

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The future of MLP Generation 5

An MLP marketing video published by the Mexican company Panadería Licensing has been circulating. This video claims that in 2025, the MLP brand is to be rebooted with a "Ponyverse" show featuring "our most iconic characters", possibly both G4 and G5.

However, we also were told by a reliable source that this plan may already have been cancelled, and that "G5 is dead". Apparently, there might not be any MLP content in 2025, and it may not be long before My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale ends.

What's been going on with G5?

Last June, a different source provided us with the 2024 Franchise Overview presentation. As it envisaged, Tell Your Tale became the only pony show in 2024, and its second season began with a weekly schedule. A few of the toys that were shown have been released. There was even a statement that content had been greenlit for 2025.

However, at the end of February 2024, Hasbro abruptly changed course. After multiple unexplained delays and scheduling mishaps, Tell Your Tale settled on a bi-weekly schedule instead. Hasbro hasn't promoted G5 on social media at all, and has instead posted about G1/G4 brand collabs. Hasbro also hasn't licensed either of the G5 shows to TV networks or ad-supported streaming services, as they had originally planned to.

What new information do we now have?

The "Ponyverse" presentation tells us:

A "Ponyverse" series would have replaced Tell Your Tale as the main MLP show.

Hasbro wanted G4 to be a bigger part of the brand. G5 is still nowhere near as popular as G4, and its media hasn't been received as well. It seems like "Ponyverse" would have literally combined the "most iconic characters" of G4 and G5 into one show, somehow.

The new show might have been rushed if it had actually been made. It would only have been in development for around 18 months before the first episode was released, which is roughly what Make Your Mark got, and we all know how Chapter 1 turned out.

After the presentation was posted in our Discord server, our source clarified to us:

The "Ponyverse" project has already been cancelled. It was probably briefly real, though.

G5's ending soon, and there's not much Tell Your Tale content left to be released. In fact, they said we'd be "lucky" for the second Tell Your Tale special to be published (four were planned). Hasbro, therefore, must have chosen to prematurely end production of the show.

There won't be any major new content until 2026. This would give Hasbro and the animation studio a bit more time to develop a new show.

Our source has previously provided accurate information about upcoming MLP content, and we have no reason to believe that they are making this up. However, we have no way to independently confirm this information; it may be incorrect, and it may become outdated if Hasbro changes their plans again.

What's going to happen now?

As our source stated, there's no reason to expect that there will be any more Tell Your Tale specials.

It's not clear when Tell Your Tale season 2 will end, but here are some possibilities:

Episode 23. This is likely the last episode that has been added to the season 2 YouTube playlist. The videos are in pairs: one for the Tell Your Tale channel and one for the My Little Pony Official channel. (Click the ⋮ button and then "Show unavailable videos" to see private videos.)

Episode 35. This is the last episode for which we have actual evidence of its existence. In March, the Lil Critter Workshop artist Vian Teow uploaded a bunch of Tell Your Tale backgrounds to his portfolio. Two of the files' names indicate that they are for this episode ("mlp235"), and that they were finished on February 5 and February 7, 2024.

Episode 48. If all of the planned episodes (according to the "328 minutes" number from 2023) were actually released, then this would be the final episode. This now seems increasingly unlikely to happen.

There are several comics left to be released in the Maretime Mysteries and The Storm of Zephyr Heights miniseries, and the Bridlewood RP game on Roblox is still in beta. Other than that, though, there doesn't seem to be much left for G5. I imagine people are already drafting their video essays about how it all went wrong.

#my little pony #mlp #mlp g5 #my little pony tell your tale #tell your tale #ponyverse

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lucystark12 · 1 month

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what are you thinking, finn wolfhard?

everything i'm about to say aligns with my finn wolfhard is a genius agenda.

it was just made apparent to me that not only did finn wolfhard film it 2017 before season two, but he filmed his scenes as boris in the goldfinch literally DAYS before filming season three. this is extremely hard for me to conceptualize. but it also makes me think about finn wolfhard himself who obviously knows the truth about mike wheeler's sexuality. if byler is as deep seeded as we want it to be, odds are that finn knew what was up from the beginning. which makes a girl think- did he know the same about richie tozier when he first played him in 2017?

lets look at richie a bit.

richie is obviously gay. i will not be taking arguments on this. i'm reading a reddit thred right now where people are debating it and i'm like- are you kidding me. but he wasn't gay in the source material. stephen king has stated as much in a vanity fair article. though he calls andy muscetti's choice "genius" (which it is, btw), he makes it clear that it wasn't his intention. it's explicitly clear in it chapter 2, and being wired like a byler shipper, i was able to suss it out in the first movie, but was that andy muscetti's intention to begin with?

there are many ways this change can be interpreted. assuming that it wasn't something that was explicitly written into the original character description for richie in the first movie, you could see this as something that was put in as a sign of the times, a statement if you will. it chapter one was written in 2015-2016 while we were still under obama's presidency, one that saw drastic improvements for the quality of life of a gay person in america. it chapter two was written during trump's presidency and could have been trying to brand itself as a statement of sorts. i only say this because as far as i can find (and PLEASE tell me if i'm wrong) there wasn't nearly as much evidence hinting at richie's sexuality in the first movie as there is for mike or will to use a relevant example.

the idea that finn wolfhard could have gone straight from it filming (summer of 2016) to stranger things filming (early november 2016) just having played a character who he knows was in the closet and in love with his best friend in the 80s could open up new interpretation to mke in season two. oddly, the reason i bring this up is because richie tozier to me is the mirror image of a kid i was friends with in middle school. they acted the same, they even weirdly looked and dressed the same. the only time i've ever made the comparison between middle school kid and mike wheeler was during season two, specifically in the scene where max leaves them the note, which leads me to believe that he could have carried other things over from other aspects of the it production.

season two isn't what really concerns me though. i'm looking more at season three. the goldfinch only moved to production in albuquerque in april of 2018, which is obviously where finn wolfhard filmed all of his scenes. however, stranger things 3 started production on april 23rd, 2018, which means there might have even been crossover between finn's shooting dates if not at least a very short gap of time between them. it chapter 2 was filmed that same summer likely with some of it's own crossover with stranger things three dates. finn wolfhard's lack of scenes in the second movie are probably what made this possible, but the scenes that he did have tackled very delicate topics that had to be handled with care. most actors get their scripts for minor roles like this a few weeks out from filming, which means that finn could have had his scripts for it chapter 2 that very explicitly make it clear that he's gay during filming for stranger things 3.

so here he is with one gay character right before season 3 and one right after. he knows how to handle these things, which means that every move he's making, especially in season three, is most likely intentional, especially if he knows this far in advance about mike's sexuality. i think it's totally feasible that he does. i'm fifteen and i understand what was happening between byler during the fight scene, finn was sixteen and, being a part of this show, probably understood what was going on too even if he wasn't outright told. doing justice to a season like this when he was also having to figure out scenes like the boreo taxi scene or the arcade scene with henry bower's cousin or r + e was probably at the forefront of his mind.

in conclusion, i just have one question:

what does this mean, finn wolfhard?

#stranger things #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things 3 #it chapter 2 #it 2017 #richie tozier #the goldfinch #boris pavlikovsky #boreo #reddie

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mistressroxielove · 1 month

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Hey everyone~ I got some more stuff for ya~

Long story short, I've discovered the new Fairly Oddparents reboot, absolutely loved it and was inspired to make this AU idea for the show! With a slight reimagine/redesign of the characters as well.

Here's some more info about my AU:

Fairly Odd Parents AU/Rewrite

Au Name: FairlyOdd Brother

Summary:

Perri (previously known as Poof) recently graduated from Fairy Godparents School and is eager to start granting Wishes for his very own godchild! Only problem is that with his lack of experience Jorgen is weary of giving him an assignment and keeps finding excuses/reasons to not give him a godkid. Realizing it might be a 1,000 years before they give him a chance to be a Fairy Godparent, Perri decides he needs to be a little bold and perhaps, bend Da Rules, to get his foot in the door so to speak. And his answer comes to him from a new neighbor in his human home, a family with a sweet shy 10 year old girl who is absolutely miserable. Perhaps Perri might be able to offer this girl a little comfort and fun as her new Fairy Godbrother!?

(Basically the same premise of the show, except Perri’s first godchild is Hazel, and through a technicality in the rule book, becomes her god brother instead of her godparent.)

ALSO please note this AU is more of a slight reimagine of the original show, meaning I did tweaked / changed some of the characters personality to match the new story I made for them. Nothing majorly different, but again just a heads up before you read on. Hope you like it~

Name: Devin “Dev” Dimmadome

Age: 9/almost 10

Sex: Male

Physical Description:

Is basically the same as in the show, though there are a few key differences.

-Despite having slicked back hair he always has a single strand that no matter what always sticks out, he hates it and is always trying to move it back into place but to no avail. In reality without the hair product he has natural curly hair like his father, though his curls are a little more difficult to comb and manage than his father, something that he doesn’t like about himself

-Has freckles! But always wears makeup to cover them as according to Dale’s research are ’less desirable’ and would statistically do better with them covered up

-Also has heterochromia, one blue and one green eye, but always wears either a blue or green contacts to hide his ‘flaw’, again being told to do so by his father

- Though he is always required to wear a branded white hoodie, Dale actually lets him wear whatever shirt he wants underneath, just with the promise Dev never takes his sweater off in public. Dev usually wears all sorts of geeky and nerdy shirts, mostly love meridian and Crimson Chin related stuff, it's the closes thing he’s allowed to wear ‘freely’ without requiring his father’s approval. Again this ‘freedom’ is kinda pointless since he still has to wear the hoodie, but he still appreciates it.

-As you can see in the photo above I showed what he looks typically on the left, and on the right is basically what Dev would dress like if he had no rules or restrictions.

Personality:

It's basically exactly the same as in the show, I really like Dev both in a story sense and a comedic sense so nothing to really change. The only slight difference is that Dev in this version clearly gets a crush on Hazel in this version. I think the show is ‘hinting’ of them possibly being a couple later on, but in my version I wanted to make it a little more clear that he has a subconscious crush on her. Basically think Anya and Damion from Spy x Family if you want a good example. He likes her, but being a 10 year old boy with severe daddy issues has no idea how to handle this and ends up being kinda mean to his regret.

Other fun facts:

-I won’t get into it now, but his relationship with his father is a bit different, as I have a unique take on Dale and who he is as a person. I’ll probably draw him next but for now just know Dale isn’t an evil heartless father and there’s more to him than it seems, and thus the relationship between Dale and Dev is a little more complex.

-And yes though it isn’t important yet, he does end up getting Cosmo and Wanda as his fairy godparents instead of Hazel as the AU would suggest.

- In this version Peri is also not a big fan of Dev. As he obviously doesn’t like how he’s mean to her at first, but as they become friends and Peri soon realizes that Dev has a crush on Hazel this leaves Peri horrified at the thought. And of course being a proper big brother is completely against and despises the idea of Dev and Hazel ever ending up together. He’s not too over the top about his dislike, but definitely would be sitting in to conor with his arms crossed, while trying to subtly tell Hazel she could do soooooooo much better than him.

I hope you guys like this, I'm personally really happy with how this design turned out, especially his 'real Dev' design on the right. But I would love to hear your guys thoughts and opinions about my designs. Do you like them, hate them? Feel free to tell me below.

Also tomorrow I'll post a version of this photo with a transparent BG and maybe upclose shots of the design as well, just so you can see the design easier without the BG

Previous - Next

#fairlyoddbrother #fairly oddparents #peri #fop poof #cosmo and wanda #fairly oddparents dev #dev dimmadome #fairly oddparents a new wish

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bettyshoweduptotheparty · 2 months

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The Eras Tour might be huge, but it’s part of something even bigger

Interesting article describing everything we've been saying for the past 18 months. Many long-term fans are starting to have a real ick in the face of the massive commercialised 'Taylormania' around the Eras tour and every new album release.

However you feel about it, it is undeniable that this is a first in the history of music. No artist has ever done what she's currently doing, and I don't just mean play a three hour long show for two whole years. I mean no single person has ever made their personal brand and life(story) this much of a product to be sold to the masses. And it's furthering a point many of us have been making for a long time: Since the release of Midnights in 2022, Taylor's public life has been one big piece of performance art, and the Eras tour is just the final act in a massive spectacle. The overexposure, the High School romance story, and everything that feels like an unnecessarily huge money grab, it's all on purpose, because the bigger the show, the bigger the impact when she flips the script.

And reminder that we've perhaps ignored the biggest hint that the Eras tour is part of a bigger performance: The stage is a key!!

And not just any key, a vault key! It unlocked the 1989 tv vault, which I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the last of yet. And may I also remind you that all the vaults have the lovers family crest on them, so I think we can assume these hold more secrets than just some unreleased music (or perhaps the unreleased music is in fact the secret). And once the tour is done, all the secrets will be unlocked. Karma is a cat and the cat will be out of the bag vault ;)

Our Little Miss Can-I-hint-at-something-three-years-in-advance said in 2022 “I want you all to pay attention to this first single that will become my biggest song of all time. And then I will play it out and become this loud, binge-drinking, glittery bodysuit-wearing, annoying, dumb bimbo, boy-crazy bully version of me and see if you notice. I will be so much in your face that you’ll want to kill me, and even at my funeral my sucky fan children will be at each other’s throats over my legacy. And when you think there’s nowhere to go but down I’ll pull the plug on all of it, but mind you, I’ll take everyone down with me who ever wronged or belittled me, because I’ve given this shitty industry 20 years of my life.”

One thing that came up in the article I distinctly disagree with though, and that’s the community. Sure, as a swiftie it must feel like you can’t possibly find real community or friendships in a sea of millions but in our little gaylor/kaylor bubble I’ve found the most amazing people, even if it originated in the trenches of our constant battle against the swiftie hate. And maybe we’ll have some room to breathe soon when we’ve finally lost the Sarah’s and Hannah’s. 😊 I can’t wait.

(Also just a btw, I’d love if it if she called the finished project ‘ Hi, I’m the problem, it’s me’.)

#the eras tour #everything is a performance #and I’m watching with interest #anti hero Taylor’s performance era

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eregyrn-falls · 4 months

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Gravity Falls Revival Prospects Teased by Disney TV Boss (Exclusive)

By Russ Milheim Posted: June 05, 2024

(From "The Direct", original article linked above.) While Gravity Falls may have ended in 2014 on the Disney Channel, fans are still hoping for a revival—thankfully, that doesn't look too far out of reach, at least according to an update from a top Disney executive. The series may have ended in 2014, but since then, creator Alex Hirsch has published several books in the universe. This included Gravity Falls: Tales of the Strange and Unexplained, Lost Legends, and Journal 3. In fact, another book is even coming out later this year, called The Book of Bill, which tells the story of the show from the perspective of the big bad. However, while books are great and all, a continuation of the show would absolutely thrill the franchise’s fanbase. In an exclusive interview with The Direct’s Russ Milheim while promoting the release of Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation, Executive Vice President of Television Animation and Disney Branded Television Meredith Roberts gave a hopeful update on a possible Gravity Falls revival. She confirmed that they’re “in conversations with [creator] Alex [Hirsch]” before ending with an encouraging “never say never:” “You know, we're in conversations with Alex. He's about to publish a book with Disney on his project. And we also do some shorts. So never say never.”

What Could Be Next for Gravity Falls? While the update is a small one, plenty of fans will be thrilled to see even a slight glimmer of home. Sure, the new book releases are exciting, but not nearly as much as having the show back. If the show were to return, creator Alex Hirsch would likely want to introduce a new threat other than Bill. Admittedly, that's a high bar to clear. Perhaps a continuation would also age its leading characters, Dipper and Mabel. However, having older leads could transform Gravity Falls into a much different, more adult-based narrative. Either way, there's plenty of demand from fans to see the world of Gravity Falls again. Hopefully, that's something Disney can capitalize on sooner rather than later.

Since this is going around, and I haven't seen it posted here... well, here you go. What does it mean? Nobody knows! It may not mean anything. It's hard to tell whether this is just a Disney exec making noises for promotional purposes or what. I honestly would take this with a grain of salt until or unless Alex himself posts or tweets about it.

(My own thoughts: to be worthwhile, I strongly feel that any new Gravity Falls content would need to have the involvement of Alex Hirsch AND a good chunk of the other folks who worked on the show. People like Rob Renzetti, and others like Matt Braly, Alonso Ramirez Ramos, Emmy Ciceriega, Dana Terrace, Matt Chapman, Jeff Rowe, etc. etc. It would probably be difficult to impossible to get everyone back, unless it was for a very limited project, like a TV-movie or something.

I'm not saying they would ALL need to be back, and I do also think you could find some new folks to work on the project who would be very good replacements for some of the original crew who might not be able to come back. But, I've said many, many times: Gravity Falls was not the work of only one man. I respect the hell out of Alex Hirsch, but, the show that we love had contributions from a lot of other people that went into creating the final product. If what we want is something as good as the original show, then I think it would need input from those people.

And even then, we still have to keep in mind that it can be difficult to recapture lightning in a bottle. Even if they got back a majority of the original team, it's 10 years later (ish), and all of those folks have been through a lot, and most haven't been working with each other. There's a groove that the crew of the show got into at the time, and they'd have to recapture that groove. It would be different in at least SOME ways. Maybe a GOOD different! A lot would depend on the enthusiasm they had for doing it.)

So, we'll see! Keep an eye out, though, for more news.

#gravity falls #alex hirsch #disney

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white-cat-of-doom · 2 months

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how many versions of cats were released on cd? I have the obc and olc versions so I was wondering if you knew what other versions there were, and if possible where to find them :D many thanks!

Hello Anon,

There are eighteen cast recordings:

Original London 1981 (both 2CD full recording and 1CD highlights)

Original Broadway 1982 (both 2CD full recording and 1CD highlights)

Vienna 1983 (1CD highlights)

Budapest 1984 (1CD highlights)*

Australia (Sydney) 1985 (2CD full recording)

Japan (Osaka) 1985 (2CD full recording)

Hamburg 1986 (2CD full recording)

Amsterdam 1987 (1CD highlights)

Paris 1989 (2CD full recording)

Japan (Nagoya) 1989 (2CD full recording)

Mexico 1991 (1CD highlights)

Warsaw 2004 (1CD highlights)*

Prague 2004 (1CD highlights)*

Dutch Tour 2006 (1CD highlights)

Italian Tour 2009 (1CD highlights)*

Japan (Tokyo) 2019 (2CD full recording)

2019 Movie (1CD highlights)

Vienna Revival 2021 (2CD full recording)

*Non-replica production, if that matters

In addition, there are a number of promo CDs that include a handful of tracks from the casts at the time of release:

Hamburg 1996 (3 track promo, assuming audio taken from 1986 cast recording)

Japan (Tokyo) 1996 (3 track promo)

CATS 1998 Elaine Paige (3 track promo; 'Memory' included, and two other non-CATS songs)

Japan (Osaka) 2001 (4 track promo)

Madrid 2003 (1 track 'Memory' promo)

Moscow 2005 (8 track promo?, two versions; both have 4 instrumental tracks)

Dutch Tour 2006 (3 track promo, audio from 2006 cast recording)

German Tent Tour 2011 (3 track promo)

Of everything listed above, the only ones I do not own are the Madrid 2003 'Memory' promo, Prague 2004 cast recording (a very rare CD that was scrapped before moving to production, only test/promo copies exist), and Moscow 2005 (another very rare promo release, only found with the press packages). Who knows if I can ever get my hands on them.

In terms of where to find them, the OLC, OBC, and Vienna 1983 are still being produced today and can be easily found new online, through Amazon or eBay (or better yet, in-person at your local music store!), and so is the Budapest 1984 CD as well (at least from what I can tell, it is always readily available brand new from Hungary). The 1989 and 2019 Japanese cast recordings are also still readily available brand new from Japan through the Shiki webstore. The 2019 movie highlights is also very easy to find, considering it just was released. The Vienna 2021 recording is still available from the label's website (at 45% right now!), but they only ship within Europe.

All the others can be found second-hand to varying degrees of ease online (i.e., eBay). The 1980s cast recordings are not too difficult, with Hamburg being fairly easily found, but as you start moving into lesser known (and shorter running) productions, it becomes more difficult to find them. Some are extremely uncommon, and I purchased the only copy I have even seen go for sale throughout the years, and I am still waiting for the chance to get the few I do not have.

Happy hunting to you, Anon!

#The White Cat speaks #CATS Musical #CATS the Musical #One day I will own them all #Just you watch ;)

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kleinblue52 · 2 months

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It's been a little over a month since my second time at Next to Normal London and I have some thoughts

(note: this was mostly translated from a review I wrote in Italian so some phrasing might sound strange)

Like many of you, I knew Next to Normal thanks to several videos of the original Broadway production, while my first time live was with the good Italian adaptation directed by Marco Iacomelli. It’s a musical that I have always appreciated and admired, but for some reason, there had never been the emotional impact necessary to make me feel like it was mine. The original version was chronologically closer to the end of the nineties than any subsequent production and I believe that the influence of the analytical deconstruction of the American nuclear family so relevant in the culture of those years (think of American Beauty) greatly influenced how the musical was originally conceived. In the direction, in the performances of the original cast, in the visuals, I have always found a coldness that led the libretto towards biting and detached social criticism rather than emotional involvement. Obviously, I do not believe this is a flaw, on the contrary. I really appreciate the analytical approach to social criticism and I believe that in this Next to Normal was revolutionary in its genre. But a lot of time has passed since then and many things have changed in the way we perceive the concepts of family, social relationships, neurodivergence and gender. The thing that surprises me most, from a personal point of view, is that along with all this I also feel changed and the more the years pass the more I realize that intellectualism is not everything and that it’s so important to consume art that expresses pure and raw human experience, that shows open wounds without fear of being accused of excessive emotionality. Until a few years ago, the social attitude towards artistic experiences so shamelessly sincere in showing feelings branded them as superficial. Today, I believe, the trend is changing, the new generations are discovering the importance of sensitivity and fragility that doesn’t need to be hidden, which is no longer accompanied by a sense of shame and inferiority. This is the new Next to Normal. It is no longer the show of 2008, it is no longer a successful exercise in style that wants to say in music what Sam Mendes had said in film, what Jeffrey Eugenides and Sofia Coppola had said with their Virgin Suicides.

Next to Normal is now pure and raw life. It is the human experience that shows itself in all its incoherence, without fear of going straight to the heart, without fear of staging a melodrama in which there are no winners and no heroes, definitely without fear of making the audience uncomfortable. An audience that, if truly sensitive, will find something of their own personal chaos in the chaos of what is shown to us.

The price of love is loss, but still we pay, we love anyway. This, in my opinion, is the key lyric of this new identity of Next to Normal, a lyric that in its most intimate nature had not really found expression in the previous and more “clinical” versions of the musical. It is a sentence that for the first time truly speaks to the heart and expresses a chilling truth, which we must all accept as a rule of life and which all the characters on stage must accept by extension. You will always lose what you love, in one way or another. It is not just about the loss of Gabe. Diana loses herself along with her son, but she also loses the love of her life and loses the chance to be a mother to Natalie. Natalie loses faith in the possibility of changing and getting out of the unhealthy relationships of her family, ending up a victim, with the only glimmer of hope represented by Henry. Dan loses the girl he had loved and the boy he had been and, for the love of Natalie, he manages to save his sanity, but he loses the opportunity to know what it feels like to be a father to Gabe. Caissie Levy, Jamie Parker, Eleanor Worthington-Cox all have the ability to manifest the most intimate, difficult, disturbing part of their characters. They are people who are losing themselves and everything they believe in and like anyone with a heartbeat, the attitude in the face of loss is fear, anger, an extreme attempt to cling to what can be saved. It is not always pleasant to see, as I said there are no heroes on that stage and the three actors lose themselves into performances that seem to have no safety net.

Then there is Gabe. I have great respect for many of the actors who played him in the past, but theirs was the Gabe suited to that historical moment. He was the perfect varsity jock that every American soccer mom wanted: handsome, athletic, self-confident. With an unsolved mystery inside, which emerged restless and dangerous. In this new era in which sensitivity is the only weapon to counteract the lack of humanity that the world offers us, Jack Wolfe gives us a Gabe who is delicate, fragile, ambiguous, selfish and desperately attached to "life".

Every look, every gesture, every expression aided by Wolfe's enormous expressive eyes show us a Gabe who is not the projection of an ideal, but something much more terrible: he is the projection of disease, a shield that Diana uses to protect herself from reality, not by creating a perfect version of the son she never had, but by creating a codependent version of a son who will never leave her. Everything in Wolfe's Gabe speaks of a morbid attachment that Diana creates as the only way to ensure that Gabe never leaves her, using him to push Natalie and Dan away, shaping him in her mind as a boy who will never replace his mother with another woman. Just this morning I read that Michael Longhurst, the director, openly said that he took inspiration from his adolescence as a homosexual boy for his version of the character. The very strong queer-coding of this version of Gabe is perfect for this new vision of a codependent relationship and elevates the drama of loss to something heartbreaking and apparently with no escape. The other incredible aspect of the new direction of this new Gabe, and of the performance, is that for the first time the character made me feel uneasy. I thought after this second viewing that it would take very few changes to transform this production of Next to Normal into a real psychological horror in which the ghosts are pure destructive energy linked to the lack of a clear break with their life on earth. Because if we move away from the vision of Gabe as a projection of the disease, if we accept Gabe as an almost supernatural manifestation of unresolved mourning, the character in Wolfe's hands takes on frightening twists. His Gabe has the attitude of a newborn who has grown only in body. His needs are still the primary ones of the child he was when he died, his attachments are so strong and primordial that they lead him to challenge anyone who questions them. His need to have his mother by his side leads him to be destructive, but with all the naivety of a child who does not understand the consequences of his actions. From this point of view, There’s a World becomes a moment that really gives you the shivers, full as it is of all the need of a child who cannot imagine anything outside of his own needs. A child who, out of excess love, hugs his puppy too tightly and ends up suffocating it.

Finally, since I have already gone on too long, I just wanted to add how that hunger for love translates in this production also into a need to rediscover love for oneself, which however in the borderline situation described in the story becomes an unhealthy condition: the continuous parallels between Diana and Natalie, masterfully interpreted by the two actresses, show us the dark and self-destructive side of Diana, trapped in an infinite cycle of need to rediscover herself and need to love her daughter that transform into envy for the potential that her daughter still has ahead of her and that she has left behind. These types of parallels are often found between the characters and find a touching expression in the physicality of the actors, as in the choice to create continuous references between Diana and Gabe's movements, even before the audience becomes aware of the bond between the two. Every acting choice, every directorial choice, everything brings into that rational and linear kitchen (the Bauhaus poster is brilliant) the most twisted, confused, desperate and breathless aspect of the human experience. Next to Normal, in this version, is truly not just a show, it is a mirror.

#next to normal #west end #jack wolfe #caissie levy #jamie parker #eleanor worthington cox #musicals #london

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queer-ragnelle · 4 months

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Hi! I was wondering if you had any advice on how to craft a well-written, compelling Arthurian OC that isn't obnoxious or out of place but is still unique. I recognize the difficulty in doing so with so many different source texts (I'm most familiar with Le Morte, so that's usually my go-to) and the vast list of already existing characters. I'm just curious about your thoughts on the matter, since you're an author and also very knowledgeable about Arthuriana 💖

Hello there!

This is a tough question to answer! I think it's important to note that everyone will have a different opinion on this, but that shouldn't alter you writing your story how you want to. Some think adding any characters at all is too big of a change, while others write a full cast of original characters and then Merlin shows up randomly and makes the story "Arthurian."

I'm going to say something controversial.

Every Arthurian character is an OC.

Even King Arthur himself is an OC.

I'm going to elaborate on this quite a bit, as it's very important to me. But the TL;DR is that reading more will definitely help you conceptualize the boundaries of what's possible. Le Morte d'Arthur is a great start, but there's so much out there, both medieval and modern, that'll undoubtedly aid in your Arthuriana writing journey! :^)

While I do say things like "I love Arthurian OCs" as a means to convey that I view everyone's new creations as valid and interesting, I actually don't believe in a strong differentiation between Chretien de Troyes' Sir Lancelot or Marie of France's Sir Lanval and what you or I are writing today. We're participating in a tradition which can, at times, necessitate the creation of a new character or repurposing of an existing one. I think as soon as you create a character for your Arthurian story, they're an Arthurian character. Some refer to Lancelot or Galahad as "French OCs" or call Knight of the Cart or the Vulgate "fanfiction" as a means to degrade it's validity. Some seem to have an arbitrary timeline on which the full body of Arthurian works is measured, and the more recently something was written, the less authentic it becomes. I think they're wrong. I believe that whether or not we enjoy an installment in the ever expanding Arthurian tradition is irrelevant; it's all equally entitled to a measure of respect, even the new characters. No character or story is lesser than another by virtue of its age or language of origin or target audience or medium. I disdain the excess of scrutiny put upon certain arbitrary groupings of Arthurian tradition. Each story is full of original characters and building on the foundations of what came before. That's the nature of creative influence. Whether or not Arthur was a real person at some point in history is moot. The guy in the Mabinogion or the Vulgate or Le Morte d'Arthur or BBC Merlin is a character. He's a tool to tell a story. Such as your creation will be! Your brand new Arthurian character stands equally with all the rest who preceded them. :^)

Now, it can be helpful to distinguish between a medieval character and a modern one, sure, as they may represent different things depending on what point in history (or part of the world) they were created in. But Arthuriana isn't a franchise one must obtain express permission to contribute to, and it doesn't have a "canon," so therefore differentiating a character as "other" can be counter productive when developing a story. I don't believe Sir Robin from Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975) or Brian from The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956-1957) are any less valuable as characters, even if they do draw on traits of existing Arthurian motifs in order to commentate on them or otherwise expand. In fact I think they're great characters and serve their narrative roles beautifully. One simple and one complex. I recommend watching those to see how it's done well and that may help you develop your own characters. But I'll delve into it a bit here to illustrate what I mean.

Sir Robin carries the coat of arms of a chicken, he's a cowardly knight followed around by a troupe of musicians that sing songs about all of his exploits. That is, the things he's run away from. Rather than use an existing Arthurian character and degrading them, Monty Python developed Sir Robin in order to tell their joke.

The flipside is Brian, a bona fide kitchen boy, who attaches himself to Sir Lancelot and desires to squire for him. Brian's narrative purpose is to deconstruct the nobility in a way that Gareth Beaumains, whom Brian is plainly inspired by, could not. Brian begins as a true serf forced to endear himself to Sir Lancelot to elevate his station. Merlin forges papers of nobility to convince King Arthur that Brian is worthy of this privilege. Even after that, Brian must face the brutality of his fellows while living in the barracks with them, as they don't take kindly to a "smelly kitchen boy" in their midst, plotting to get Brian to incriminate himself as a thief and get evicted from Camelot by Sir Kay. This role is incongruous with Gareth as Sir Gawain's brother, who was always noble, always a prince, and merely cloaked himself in the guise of poverty to prove a point. Gareth could return to the comforts of wealth whenever it suited him and his reason for going stealth was to intentionally distance himself from that privilege. The character Brian exists in order to commentate on the injustice of the upper class's oppression and dehumanization of the lower class in a way Gareth, or even Tor, could not, as they are of noble blood, even if it came by way of reveal. That's why Brian is a great addition to the Arthurian tradition.

Really, it comes down to treating the creation of your new Arthurian character like you would developing one for any other work, one entirely separate from the tradition. If they're a good character, they're a good character! Try not to get hung up too much on whether or not they're going to mesh well with the rest of the cast. For centuries, writers have transformed historical figures into Arthurian characters. (See: King Mark of Kernow better known as the Cuckhold King from the Prose Tristan, Owain mab Urien better known as Sir Yvain from Knight of the Lion by Chretien de Troyes, Saint Derfel better known as Derfel Gadarn from The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell, etc.)

Speaking of Prose Tristan, would anyone consider Sir Dinadan an OC? Or Sir Palomides? They're characters added to a story drawing from a much, much older tradition, and I think they enrich the story. I feel likewise about the many Perceval Continuations, including the German Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, which adds a half brother named Sir Feirefiz, or names Chretien's anonymous haughty maiden Orgeluse. What about Sir Aglovale's son Moriaen in the Dutch tradition? Amurfina in German Diu Krone by Heinrich von dem Türlin? Morgan le Fay's daughter Puzella Gaia in Italian La Tavola Ritonda? Not to mention the countless Middle English additions. The Green Knight and his wife? Dame Ragnelle and Sir Gromer? Or how about everyone's favorite Savage Damsel, Lynette of Castle Perilous? Is she not a late-era addition to the tradition courtesy of the man, the myth, the legend, Sir Thomas Malory himself? And then here comes Tennyson, who read Le Morte d'Arthur, and got to the end of dear Gareth Beaumains' story and had the same reaction we all did: "What the hell? He marries her sister?" And then he went about changing that in Idylls of the King. Speaking of Lynette, what's up with her niece Laurel? She's just a name on a page, the vast majority of retellings choose to ignore her, even if they do keep Lynette and Lyonesse. Laurel can scarcely be called a character, after all. She doesn't even have dialogue. So as I've gone out of my way to make her a prominent, fully developed character, with her own culture and back story and motivations, does that make her an OC of mine? And Henry Newbolt who included Laurel in his play Mordred: A Tragedy. And Sarah Zettel, who wrote from Laurel's point of view in Camelot's Blood. We did all the work, but we threw an Arthurian name on the character, so therefore, she isn't ours? But if we changed her name, she would be? Who gets to decide?

All of the Arthurian characters belong to all of us. That's the beauty of writing in a long-standing tradition, which exists apart from all other forms of writing. We have complete creative liberty to do what we want and refer to it how we want and no person or corporation or anyone can dictate otherwise. The intellectual property of Arthuriana belongs to the people. So invent a brand new wife for Gawain, and well, you're only the millionth author to do it! Just make sure she's an interesting character and that's literally the only requirement. Can't wait to meet her. (And all others you create!)

Have a great day!

#arthurian legend #arthurian legends #arthuriana #arthurian mythology #arthurian literature #writing #writers of tumblr #writers on tumblr #writeblr #ask #merilles

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motherloads · 1 year

Text

I Know You

Summary: Reader who isn't what she seems to be. Supposedly a normal college student working in a grocery store, she has no idea what is about to be revealed. When waking up, she is unknowingly surrounded by the heroes of the DC Universe who have to watch snippets of her life before she jumped into their universe.

->Possible One Shot

-> Word Count: (6,648k)

-> Pairings: Implied! Tim Drake x f!Reader, Past!Miguel O'Hara x Reader (it is not what it looks like)

-> Crossover DC/Marvel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Bat family(Main)

-> Warnings: Suicide(not reader), Grieving, Guilt, Miguel being an ass.

a/n: First Official fanfic published! Originally, the first was supposed to be a Star Wars/Moon Knight crossover but I lost motivation lol. It was halfway done before I stopped writing it. I do not see many fics written with crossovers that include the readers so why not? Fic does include song lyrics relating to the situations but this is a watch-it fic! If anyone would like, in the future I can possibly write more related to this universe. :)

Pls ignore grammar mistakes as I ignore Grammarly. This is an escape from my summer courses.

I hate who I was before.

Her eyes dimmed, as they ran through the inventory list for her work. She murmured the calculations under her breath as she pointed out the things that were most likely stolen by the preteens who laughed their way out of only buying 2 red bulls. With a sigh, she writes down the missing inventory.

This would come out of her paycheck.

Songs came and went through the earplugs she had inserted in her ears. At a good volume to hear any incoming customers, she continued on her way to the last aisle.

No, I never knew what it meant, what it meant to be content with you.

It was less likely for people to steal coffee products. She was thankful that this was the last one she had to look through. Despite her shift having another 3 hours to end, she knew her 30 minute lunch break was coming up soon. She hoped nobody would steal her lunch since she forgot to write her name on the box.

She started ticking off the items and counting them in her head. She murmurs the lyrics under her breath, continuing down the aisle.

I’ll quiet down if that’s what you want. I understand I’m not the only one for you.

Someone calls out her name, a familiar voice that brings her out of her thoughts. Lowering her music just a tad bit, she turns to the customer.

Alfred smiles at her kindly, offering a curt nod in which she responded with a smile and a wave. “Have any new creamers?” He questioned her, now looking at the assortment of creamers in front of them.

She shakes her head in response, “It’s very rare for us to have new stock Mister Alfred. Would you like a new recommendation, though?”

He holds a brand she instantly recognized, “That’d be lovely. What about this one?”

“Lovely choice Mister Alfred. Although, I wouldn’t add too much since it will get too sweet. Don’t think Tim would like it.” He smiles in response, putting the creamer in his basket.

“Fortunately, he is still banned from coffee. I assumed he would have told you?” She felt her face grow hot in response. She sends him a sheepish smile.

“We’ve both been busy. Haven’t had the time to talk.”

All I wanted was you.

Alfred knew what she meant, sending her a sad smile. He instantly recognized the signs of people drifting away the moment things got out of their control. He bids his goodbye, walking away from the worker stuck in her own thoughts.

All I wanted was you.

She rubs her cheeks tiredly, making sure to avoid the makeup she woke up early for. Her bags had grown worse during the past month, reminiscing of the old and what it once was. It was not like it was all Tim’s fault, really, that he had begun to slip away when he noticed things started to change between the two. When Steph noticed the change and brought it up with her, she avoided the conversation as a whole.

“People drift apart, Steph. It’s normal.”

Steph scoffs, “It isn’t normal when you guys are best friends! When you worked at that coffee shop before, you were literally the only one who didn’t decline his weird order. Hell, he stayed when you went through that changing major crisis!”

She continues to bag Steph’s groceries, ignoring the looks she was receiving from her coworkers. Things were slow today, it was not her fault Steph decided to confront her while she was at work.

“Steph,” She sighs tiredly, “I really don’t want to talk about this. I just started my shift. Can we talk about this another day?”

Steph grabs her own bags, patting her hands in response, “Fine. I’m here if you need me.”

You’re not who you are to anyone.

She leaves for the break room, notifying her other coworker, who waved her off with a farewell. Taking out her lunchbox, she heats up her leftovers from the weekend. Scrolling through her phone, she sees the spam messages Steph had sent her. Updating her about Tim and their families’ weekly dinner.

It wasn’t like the dinner always worked! Jason almost never shows up unless it is absolutely necessary. Dick uses his status as a cop to get out of dinners. Tim was always working overtime to avoid the dinners. Damian had to be there or else he would be grounded from going out. Cass was almost always there but never began conversations. Duke, the brightest one who tried to start conversations, became demotivated over time. Barbara, sweet Barbara, who worked too far to arrive at the Dinner on time. Steph ranted to her about the family and she could not help it.

She began to cry.

Can you come back to me? ‘Cause I was too blind to see that you were right in front of me.

She missed her friends. But she could not go back after she failed them.

She failed them all.

I’m so sorry Miguel.

She slips her food onto the table, beginning to eat the cold, but at the same time hot lunch.

She wipes the tears from under her eyes, looking through her small pocket mirror to make sure she did not smudge anything. She felt her eyelashes prickle against her eyelids, feeling ticklish and sensitive from the crying. She sniffs the snot away, pushing her half eaten food away. She was no longer hungry and she wanted to go home.

I want to go home.

She throws her food away, diminishing the past thought from her head. Waltzing into the employee bathroom, she leaned her head on her arms in front of the closed door. No matter how nasty this bathroom was, she still managed to find the (almost) silence good for her.

Used to stick together. You’re my best friend, I’ll love you forever

Her time was ticking to go back to work, silently cursing to herself when she realized she forgot to clock out for her lunch. God, her boss is going to reprimand her for this. For any little thing she slipped or missed to do, her boss was on her about it. Guilt tripping her on the problems she can cause with her mistakes.

She was just trying to do her best.

She steps out of the bathroom, manually writing her clocking out and in for lunch. She was back to work.

When she stepped out, she realized how silent it was. There was no noise except for her song.

What’s up danger?

She called out for her coworker but there was no response. She walked down the aisle but there were no customers. When she walked to the front she realized there was nobody.

Everyone was gone.

Everything knocks out of her at once, feeling the prick in the back of her head that something was wrong. Her phone clatters to the floor, yanking her earbuds out of her ear.

She drops to the floor as well, holding her hands to her ears. The world's noises began to grow louder but there was absolutely nobody around. No cars honking, no children playing at the park nearby.

Only the sounds of the birds chirping and the wind picking up outside.

With that, her eyes roll to the back of her head and she knocks out.

⋆｡°✩

When she woke up, she noticed how the noises were dimmed. The same way it was before the spider bite. Before everything occurred. She looked around, sighing in relief when she noticed the people who had similar confused looks.

Her eyes stopped at Tim, who was next to Steph.

Who was next to Cass.

Who was next to Damian.

Who was next to Dick.

Who was next to Bruce.

Who was next to Duke.

Who was next to Alfred.

Who was next to Barbara

Who was next to Jason.

She sees other familiar faces like the famous Clark Kent. She sees him with unfamiliar people. With boys who had similar looks as him.

She noticed others as well, people who looked like they were important. Like they were part of a team.

Is that Wonder Woman?

She noticed in the far corner, there were recognizable people. People who should be in Arkham Asylum. Villains. Her breathing still remained normal despite this.

When people began murmuring their theories, Clark was the one who spoke up, “I would recommend that everyone should sit down. The villains especially.” He set his eyes at the corner.

Harley giggles in response, “Wouldn’t dream of doing anything big guy. Wonder Woman is here after all!”

"Shouldn't we all be finding a way to escape?" A redhead explains, "This was honestly not on my bucket list today. Waking up with Bruce Wayne beside me--no offense."

Bruce grunts in response, ignoring the way his children tried not to laugh at the redheaded man's comment.

She noticed a group of people now going closer to Wonder Woman. Younger in age, they all varied in appearances. One was light orange.

Wasn’t that Starfire?

She sits down hesitantly, avoiding the light to make sure they did not see her. Especially, Tim, he could not see her. Not now, maybe not ever.

Once everyone sat down, things were quiet.

People began to grow restless at the uncomfortable silence. The people who knew who were in this very room had begun to feel suffocated. They hoped this wasn't a trap from their greatest enemy.

A song began to play, one she recognized from her playlist.

Nothing scares me anymore. Kiss me hard before you go Summertime sadness

She stifles her gasp when the big screen flickers, showing a familiar face.

It was her.

She heard others who couldn’t quite hide their gasps while others murmured, wondering who she was.

Tim’s family definitely knew who she was.

She was smiling, her head tilted. Her hair flowed with the wind, sometimes getting in her face but not quite where she felt bothered by it. She still wore the same headphones.

Dressed differently than how she does now, she knew what was hiding behind that outfit. That bulky outfit that she collected from her own friends.

“I think you’re scared,” She laughs, talking to someone who was not shown on the screen. “Afraid you won’t catch me?”

That’s when everyone noticed where she was. On a high building, the colors became brighter as things began to glitch into place. This world was not there. But she still looked the same. How was this possible?

“I ain’t scared,” a deep voice responds, as a teen steps out into the shadows. A familiar face, adorned with piercings and the tiniest bit of smudged eyeliner, smirks at her. A suit, shredded in a way that screamed edgy was displayed as his outfit. “Think you're scared.”

The accent was unrecognizable to the ones living in Gotham.

“Come on Hobie! I can see you shivering in your platforms.” She shakes her head, stepping closer to the ledge. “You scaredy cat. I thought Pav was supposed to be the one scared.”

“Think that’s Meows,” The teen now known as Hobie reasons, “That man ain’t know how to catch a human.”

“Obviously, dumbass,” She rolls her eyes, “He’s a cat!”

“Don’t let him hear you say that,” Hobie warns, “Might wake up to ah dead rat in your bed.” He paused for a moment, before gesturing to her headphones, “ ‘Ink it’s ok to jump like tha’?

She fiddles with her headphones, “I like the hazard of being hung.” She shrugs shamelessly.

“Mmm,” Hobie steps closer, “Or is i’ that you don’ want to speak to Miguel?”

“No,” she immediately shoots back at him, “I don’t need his help.”

“Don’ you think it’s time to move on?”

“I have moved on, Mr. O’Hara is not a problem!” She exclaims, “Why does everyone think I’m in love with the guy? He's old!”

“Technically he was younger.” Hobie shrugs shamelessly, “Ain’t a problem to like older men. What about Oscar Isaac?”

The girl glared harder, “Do NOT bring Poe Dameron into this. This isn’t about him!”

“Suree,” Hobie drawls, “When are ya—“

He gets cut off with a jacket thrown at his face. When he pulls it off, she grins at him innocently.

“See ya around, Punk.”

And she jumps.

The screen turns dark at this, the people viewing it sharing looks of confusion and awe.

“So did she die?” Jason was the first to speak, shrugging shamelessly when Dick smacked his head in response.

“Obviously not,” Steph argues, “She’s my friend. I would know if she’s dead!”

"She always makes morbid jokes like this?" Duke questions Steph, who glares at him in return, "Hey--I'm just asking!"

Tim stayed quiet throughout this whole ordeal.

The screen flickers on.

But I got needs, yeah, I got needs. I want war, But I need peace And you kept calling me crazy But baby that's what you made me

“Have you ever been in love?” A teen asks, playing with his fries through the cane’s sauce. His chicken tenders were left untouched.

“I think everyone has been in love at least once now,” She responds back to the younger teen, taking a sip of her Sprite. “Why? Are you in love with Gwen?”

“Yeah,,,” He sighs, his eyes widening when he realizes what he said, “What! No, No— I have never been in love! Not with Gwen! Totally, definitely not. Not after what she did, siding with Mig—“ He stops, looking at her sheepishly.

“Sorry. I know how much you like him.” She scowls in response to his comment.

“I do NOT like Mr. O’Hara. Never will, Miles. Do not say that again, or I’ll tell Gwen you painted a mural for her.” She threatens, pointing a chicken tender at the teen now known as Miles.

“Okay! I promise! Sheesh— I should have never shown you!” Miles rubs his neck embarrassingly. He closes up his half-eaten box of chicken tenders.

“Back to patrolling?” She asks, throwing her own tray of food. “Wanna find a kid in need to give that to?”

Miles nods in response, walking out with her.

“So…who is your first love?” He questions her as they walk down the street together.

“He’s long gone.”

“Canon event?”

“Canon event.” She agreed.

“How—How did it happen?” Miles hesitantly asks.

She smiles sadly, “We heroes think we know everything. Think we’re saving everyone. We don’t see the struggles our loved ones are facing just by breathing every day.”

“Did he…”

“Yes, Miles. He did.”

The screen turns black.

“Well,” Barry scratches his head awkwardly, “This has been…informative…but who is she? Or anyone else shown? Or Miguel? The recurring character.”

“I think they’re real people, Barry.” Cyborg answers. “Real people dealing with real things.”

“Heroes,” Poison Ivy hisses, “Always heroes.”

I thought you were my new best friend. Wish I knew better then. Who knew you were just out to get me? My whole world just fell apart. Cause I never felt so alone, felt so alone.

She is pushed to the floor, huffing puffs of air into her lungs. She was tired. So so tired.

“Please Mr. O’Hara,” She gasps, “I can’t—I can’t take it anymore.”

“Heroes don’t give up.” An older man snarls in the dark, darting around the girl, “Heroes keep fighting. They never stop. We never stop.”

“You—“ She wobbles up to a fighting stance, surveying the dark room. She dodges his first attack, but the next hit her right in the stomach. She doubles over in pain. “You are no hero. After everything you did? This—This society is not—“

She gets cut off when he grabs her from behind, putting her in a chokehold, “Say that again, I dare you.” He hisses into her ear.

His face is clear. A man, tired from age and wrinkles adorning his face. His lips twisted up in a snarl, showing off his sharp teeth. His eyes glow red in response. His height compared to the girl was intimidating to the eyes.

She struggles against his hold, slamming her head back to hit his chin. He lets go as she pushes herself away. He loses his balance and grabs the first thing close to his vicinity.

He grabs her headphones.

Noises suddenly blossom everywhere, causing her to stumble to her knees. The noises grew louder as various voices surrounded her. The familiar humming of the machines is felt under her fingers, through the floor.

“It hurts so much!” She cries, holding her ears together, “Please, Please make it stop!” She rocks herself back and forth, screaming in the room that should have no noise. But her senses were enhanced. Too enhanced for her body to handle. She could not live a regular life without something blocking out most noises from the world.

As abrupt as it came, it suddenly stopped. A whirring sound connected to her ears adjusted her hearing to her surroundings. Her soft music starts to play once again.

She touches the back of her ears carefully, feeling an unfamiliar placement of a small mechanism there.

She looks up at Miguel who showed no response to what he had done. How he had just helped her.

“H-How—“ She murmurs, “How did you know?”

“I know everything about you. Was going to wait until you asked. How was I supposed to know that you’re a stubborn son of a bitch who is still in love with my counterpart? Avoiding your boss isn’t wise, you know. ”

She glares in response, “Was. And it wasn’t you. It never was you and you know that.”

“I know,” Miguel shifts his stance, “Let’s go again.”

“Okay so that’s Miguel,” Harvey cooed, “He’s so! Delicious! I wonder if he bites his lovers.” She giggles, squishing her cheeks together as she sways around.

“If it isn’t him, then who is it?” Bruce questions, “None of this is making any sense. Is she around? Can she answer questions?”

Before they could begin looking around, another scene begins.

What’s the kindest way to say You took away my friend, my buddy? What’s the kindest way to say. The end?

“Miguel!” She calls out, removing her shoes at the entrance of his place, “Your brother called me to check up on you! He’s been worried?” She has no answer in response.

“Miguel?” She questions, stepping farther into the dark apartment. There seemed to be nobody, but she knew better. She smells the blood from where she was.

“Don’t do this to me,” She whispers, “Come on, don’t do this…” She steps closer to the bathroom, the only place that had the lights on.

“Miguel? Are you—Are you in there?” She nudges the door open. But, she immediately falls back when she sees the familiar puddle of red.

There laid a younger Miguel, face clear of wrinkles. His eyes are closed, his hand holding a gun in return. She kneels down next to him, looking for his pulse. Anything to show that she wasn't too late.

There was nothing.

All she could see was the red on her hands. The red of his blood. His blood had been cold.

His body had been dead for hours.

She cried, holding his body close to her chest, feeling his cold skin against her warm skin. She felt his eyelashes against her cheek. She felt his lips on her neck.

She felt the gun wound on the side of his head.

The scene switches in front of a gravestone. There, an unfamiliar person stood in front of it. Her face was obscured by a motorcycle helmet. It glowed in response to her eyes, narrowed in the familiar spider eyes that they all had.

Her suit is predominantly displayed in several colors to blend in the night. The spider emblem was bright against her chest, glowing in response to her heart as if it was humming. As if it was alive and a part of her.

“I could have saved him.” She placed the flowers on the grave, pressing her hand against the cool surface.

“Gabriel texted me an hour before he shot himself. Gabriel could tell something was off but I was… patrolling. I was doing my job.”

The figure’s helmet disappeared as if it was never there, showing the girl they all had been seeing.

The girl they recognized now as one of the workers at the grocery store many frequented. The one that was posted on Tims and Steph’s Instagram page. The one Alfred spoke to for recommendations on items he should buy from the grocery store. The one who once met Dick when she had to file a police report for a robbery gone wrong.

She had been the one who secretly gave Duke an employee discount. The one who refused to sell Jason alcohol because his appearance didn’t match his age. She was the one who occasionally offered Cass affordable options for alternative clothing. She was the one who agreed to take in a cat that Damian could not keep. She was the one who Barbara frequently saw visiting the library.

Her eyes, tired from the lack of sleep she’s been getting, teared up at her thoughts, “He could have been alive. I could have saved him.”

“What kind of hero am I?” She whispered, “I’m so sorry Miguel.”

A voice calls out her hero's name. Quickly, her helmet appears again, covering her identity. She turns to narrow her eyes at the woman calling her name.

Jessica leaned against a tree. A brilliance of orange, red, and multiple shades of purple was behind her, “You ready to go? Gotta have your introduction to our Society first.”

“Yeah, yeah, Mom,” She shakes her head in response, walking towards the woman who was evidently pregnant, “Let’s get outta here. Who's your leader again?”

“You’ll see,” Is what Jessica responds. When they walk through the portal, it disappears as if it wasn’t there.

“Oh,” Barry responds dumbly, “That’s Miguel.”

“Why did she never tell us…” Steph whispers, turning to Tim, who turned a lighter shade. He looked sick to his stomach from the recent video.

How did he not notice she was going through something? How could he not push away his selfishness and see what was wrong? He should have. He definitely should have.

Afterall, that’s the girl he likes.

“Well technically he’s alive again, right?” Jason questions. “Mr. O’Hara dude? Anyone?”

“I don’t think…” Barbara hesitated, “I don’t think they’re the same person.”

“All evidence points that they are not the same. First, the age difference. Second, the comments everyone has been making in the videos.” Dick supplies helpfully.

“Then who is that guy?” Duke questions, “A clone?”

“Possibly.” Cass signs, “The pit?”

“No, that can’t be possible.” Talia, who had not shown she was there, spoke up, “I would know if he was dragged there.”

“Mother,” Damian scoffs, “Of course you would have a book keeping that.”

“Anyone going to talk about the portal? Hello?” Duke questions, receiving looks of equal confusion from the Waynes.

But I'm not like the others. I don’t always like what I have to do. But I know I have to be the one to do it. I’ve given too much to stop now.

“What’s this?” A familiar face pops up. It is Miles. A blue, glowing orb is represented in front of him in a dark room. He was wearing an unfamiliar suit with a familiar emblem.

“This is everything.” Miguel, in his glory, is in front of Miles. His height was terrifying and intimidating.

When the orb hits the floor, it suddenly begins to sprout in a bright blue light. It started to spread like blood pumping in veins.

“Can you be more specific?” Miles questions.

“Can you not talk for a second?” Miguel snarks back. Miles agreed.

Red had started to spread.

“This here…is all of us.”

“All of our lives, woven together in a beautiful web of life and destiny.”

“The Spider-verse,” Miles murmured.

“Spider-verse? Huh— that’s…stupid. It’s called the Arachno Humanoid Poly Multiverse.” Miles gave a look towards Miguel.

Miguel concedes, “Which sounds…stupid, too, I guess.”

“In these nodes where the lines converge?” Miles' sentence falls off but Miguel continues, “they are the canon.”

“Chapters that are a part of every spider's story, every time. Some good, some bad, some very bad.”

Different scenes and pictures are presented to Miles who looks in awe. When Miguel moved his hands, an array of heroes with similar suits showed up, kneeling over their loved ones body.

At the last one, it showed Miles losing his Uncle.

As Miguel continues to explain, the dread had started to pool in everyone's stomach. They weren’t liking where this was going.

As many spiders are shown, there are canon events. There was one that many recognized. The death of Miguel.

“Canon events are the connections that bind our lives together. But those connections can be broken. That’s why anomalies are so dangerous.”

Miguel had begun to grow more assertive towards Miles, showing him the problem he had caused with disrupting Pav’s canon event.

“You weren’t supposed to save him. That’s why Gwen tried to stop you.”

“I thought you were trying to save me.” Miles turned to an unfamiliar face, now known as Gwen. She looked guilty.

When Miles questions Miguel on how he knew this would happen, Miguel reveals his own secret.

“I found a world where I had a family, where I was happy.” The scenes shift to a little girl and Miguel, happy together. They were so happy, she did not have a clue on what was going to happen.

“At least a version of me was…and that version of myself was killed. So I replaced him.”

The girl's face was more clear, Miguel so happy—opposite of who he was now.

Citizens were running—from what they had no clue. But they feared for their lives. Miguel ran too, holding his sweet, sweet girl. He continued to run, despite the glitching she was experiencing.

She cries in fear, “Daddy! Dad! Dad, help!” Slowly but surely, she disappeared from his grip. She was gone, as if she was never there.

“We could lose everything.” Everything breaks all at once, disappearing from view.

“My dad is about to be Captain...” Miles realizes. It began panning to the people in the room. The familiar girl appeared, shifting her feet restlessly, free from her helmet.

Suddenly, Miles's spider senses began to overload. His memories continuously shift to an unfamiliar white figure and himself. The figure had abruptly turned pitch black, glitching as it ruined everything from its vicinity.

“I’m going to take everything from you, like you took everything from me.”

An unfamiliar cop was running towards a small child who was frozen in fear in front of a building that was collapsing.

Miles grew restless, asking Miguel of his fathers death.

“I’m sorry, Miles.” Miles refused the apology, asking, almost begging to be sent home.

“Send me home! What else am I supposed to do? Let him die?” The no response was a clear answer to him, but he could not accept it.

He began projecting towards Gwen, trying to make her see reason. Nobody was listening. Why was nobody listening?

He then attacks an unfamiliar man, holding a baby who cooed cluelessly at the situation. The man also deflected Miles’ projection.

“And you? What about you, huh? You said you’d do anything to go back in time! You won’t give me that chance either?” She looks away from Miles, feeling the tears stinging her eyes. She stayed silent, knowing what her answer was.

“So we’re just supposed to let people die just because some algorithm says that’s supposed to happen?”

“You have a choice between saving one person and saving an entire world—every world.”

“I can do both! Spider-man always—“ Miles gets cut off by Peter. That’s when Miles began to notice the people surrounding him.

“Being Spider-Man is a sacrifice. That’s the job and that’s what you signed up for.”

Miles grew more agitated at the people surrounding him.

“You should have never come to see me.” Miles directed to Gwen. His pain was reflected in his eyes. He turns his attention to Miguel, directly stepping forward to face the man. Their prolonged eye contact intensified the situation.

All of a sudden, Miles is trapped in red. He couldn’t get out. They weren’t letting him out. Why were they not letting him out? He bangs on the red blocking him from the rest as everyone argues in the background.

“Palms,” Hobie mouthed. With her helmet back on, the girl stepped closer to the red projection blocking her.

��Do what everyone else can’t, Miles.”

With that, Miles pressed his palms onto the red prison blocking him. Blue electricity ran through his fingertips and followed through his palms. He released his entire electricity current as the room erupted in the remains of the red prison. Many were hit on impact.

Miles breathed deeply, staring at the masked heroes who were gaining their senses back from the explosion.

“Run.”

“Spider-Verse,” Barry Allen gasps, “Is this the multiverse? But for them? Oh my god! This must mean she’s a part of this universe. We should find her, to ask her more about this Society. Are they like the Justice League?” He rambles as others groaned at his tangent. His voice sped up at the end, which caused everyone to realize how interested he was in the subject.

“Is Miguel a bad guy?” Jason questions instead, “Hell, he seems to play the role just fine.”

“Not necessarily,” Bruce argued, “It seems like he has a valid reason for doing so.”

“Yeah, but…would you not do anything if you knew of your future? I think Miles' feelings are valid.” Dick tries to reason with Bruce.

Damien scoffs, “Obviously not, Grayson. It would be a necessary sacrifice to lose one life over everyone.”

“It’s his father, though,” Steph meekly responds, “Tim? Back me up on this?”

“I…” Tim hesitates, “Maybe we should hear this from the source? The connection we all have?”

Before they can find her, the final scene begins.

I’m comin’ through with my crew to make ‘em pay. I don’t need no super suit, I’m feeling brave Don’t be a hero, turn around and walk away. Who in here tryna start a riot?

She hums as the lyrics fill her ears, packaging the orders for the recent customer who had used over 20 food stamps to lower her price. There was a maximum of 5 food stamps, and everyone knew the rules. But, she was feeling generous.

“I hope you have a nice day.” She smiles at her customer, a grateful mother who quickly deposited her bags into her trolley. The woman thanks her in response as she leaves.

“There seems to be a lockdown at a Wayne Gala. No bats seem to be near the premise as unfamiliar villains hold the citizens' hostage. These hostages include the Wayne Family…” The news continues speaking of the situation, the girl focusing on the broadcast.

“The villains seem to be demanding a hero. No heroes go by this name. A Spider…Woman? Do I hear this correctly?”

She tenses up at this, her eyes widening as the helicopter zooms closer to the villain closest to the window.

It was her Green Goblin.

Peter Parker.

“I—“ She looks at her coworker, who looks at her confusingly, “There’s been an emergency. I have to go.”

“Our boss will fire you if you leave!” Another coworker pipes up, “They’ll replace you, I don’t think—“

“Then I quit. I have to go.” With that, she removes her employee’s t-shirt, leaving it on the conveyor belt.

“I’m sorry, Stan,” she apologizes to her next customer, “Your groceries are on me.”

Stan waves her off, “Go save the world, kid.” With a confused look at him, she leaves the grocery store.

“What do we do?” Tim hisses, pointing a glare at Damian who was held down by Cass. They couldn’t believe they were being held by new villains.

“Stay put,” Bruce was on his phone, trying to get into contact with Barbara. “They stopped any communications from the outside. I can’t get through to O.”

“You think Red knows?” Dick questions beside him, “They all have to know what’s going on, right?”

“Like he’d come,” Damian scoffs, “He hates all of us.”

“He wouldn’t leave innocent civilians to die,” Dick shoots back, “He wouldn’t.”

“He totally would,” Tim argues, “These are all rich folks. He absolutely despises them all.”

With those final words, they all quieted down.

“They’re blocking all the exits,” Bruce says after a moment, “I thin—“ He gets cut off from a window smashing into themselves, an unfamiliar person jumping through the hole created. Screams are heard as many stepped back from the glass flying everywhere.

“Heard you were looking for me,” The voice calls out. Her helmet’s eyes narrowed at the main villain, who snarls in response, “Now I’m here, Parker.”

“It’s GREEN GOBLIN!” The villain roars angrily, “Peter Parker is not here right now.”

“Yeah, yeah,” The figure’s rolls her eyes—well helmets eyes, “Take that up with my boss.”

“It is idiotic for you to appear with no backup. All alone, bug?” Another voice hissed out, a black, looming figure that grinned. His array of teeth showed off the leftover blood from his past victims. His eyes, similar to the unfamiliar woman, grinned with his smile, “What a bad idea.”

“Bad, Bad idea.” Another voice agreed, a woman sitting atop the lights above the ballroom. The vulture squawked in laughter, giggling at the lonely woman.

“Ain’t got no friends,” cooed the lizard. Their voice, combined with many, left their identity unrecognizable. Their height overpowered the rest of the villains, nearly similar to Venom’s.

“Who says I came alone?”

With those words, different portals had begun to open around the room. Different figures stepped out, a specific two high-fiving one another.

“Spiders!” Doc Oc shouts, “There are more!”

A portal opened up near the Wayne’s. Bruce protectively put himself in front of his kids. What a way to protect them when he couldn’t before.

The man loomed at Bruce, tilting his masked face at the family. He was silent for a moment.

“You Batman?” The man asks, “Don’t worry. We got this from here.” With those words, the man began instructing the other spiders.

“Byte! Get the civilians out of here. Escort them to the nearest exits.” He calls out, hearing confirmation from a woman who glowed blue.

“Pav, you and Punk get the Lizard. Try not to get bitten by them.”

“Aye aye, Captain!” Pav salutes, running towards Lizard who growled in anger. He swipes at Spider-Punk, who easily dodges his attacks.

“Web-slinger! Vulture is coming at you!” A shot resonated in response. Everyone grew nervous, looking at the man in a cowboy outfit. The man was not who they were freaked about. It was the horse that was matching with him.

Venom stepped forward, grinning at the cat dressed similarly to one of the other spiders. The cat blinked up at the man-eating villain. No thoughts behind his expression.

“Someone get the cat away from Venom!” He hears another confirmation as Gwen scoops up Meows Morales before Venom can take a bite. With the both of them, they both decided to prance around Venom.

Jessica Drew revved her motorcycle engine, lining the floor with her wheels as she guides her motorcycle to hit Doc Oc head-on. She grins in return, her belly no longer evident.

“All that leaves is…”

Green Goblin snarls at the fights surrounding him, avoiding the hits from the woman in the helmet. “Focus on our fight, Parker! Don’t want nobody to steal your attention!” She snarks, finally kicking him in the stomach.

His glider slams into her back at the same time. She grunts in frustration, grabbing at the ends of the glider and hitting him with it instead. “Coward!”

“Mierda…” The man whispers, “Stand down, Astro!”

The woman whips her head at him in response to her nickname. The nickname to tell a difference between the Spider’s when in battle.

“Stand down.” The man asserted, “I’ll handle this.”

“Old man,” she replies back, grunting suddenly as she avoids the onslaught of Green Goblin who continues his relentless attacks, “He’s my villain. I’ll handle this.”

“They’re all your villains, kid.” He replies back, joining her in the fight. Green Goblin screams are filled with pure malice at the continuous attacks from both sides. “Go get the Wayne’s out. And suited.”

“Suited? I don’t know if you’re delusional but they are in suits.”

“Stop ignoring me! At once!” Green Goblin screams, pulling at his mask as he slams it down angrily.

“Shut up Parker!” They both snapped at the villain. The man turns to Astro, “They’ll know what you mean.”

With one final punch to Green Goblin, she lets Miguel handle the rest. As she walks closer to the Wayne’s, Miguel is shown behind her, his eyes from his mask shifting to glare at Green Goblin. Miguel slams him to the ground, sitting on his back as the Green Goblin’s face smooshes against the floor. Miguel’s face is obscured from sight, no one could tell what he had planned. When his mask dematerializes, Miguel bites down with a small grunt.

Green Goblin howls in pain, feeling himself go slack in Miguel’s grip. Miguel stands up, his mask back on, blocking his face from the viewers.

“Oh he’s definitely dead.” Cass confirms.

“He isn’t,” the woman is in front of them, tilting her helmet at the Wayne’s. “Mr. Bossman says you all should suit up. I’m sorry, I think he has bad eyesight.”

“How—“ Bruce glares around the room, seeing the various heroes bring the villains down. Venom, who was now a red headed woman, was knocked out cold. The cat held a vile with an angry, black slug.

The Lizard was entangled in two different webs and slackened into himself as Pav and Punk high-fived one another. They ignored the look they received from Miguel, who had paralyzed their opponent.

Doc Oc talked into themselves with their limbs, murmuring an apology to Jessica. They had a look of pure embarrassment with how they hung upside down.

Vulture pouted from under the horse, who absentmindedly licked the sugar given Web-Slinger. He smoothened out his horse’s mane, softly cooing at them.

“How does he know who I am?” Bruce asks her.

“He knows everyone, Mr. Wayne. Can’t hide anything. Believe me, I’ve tried to hide my weed.” She jokes. The only one who let out a laugh was Dick, who immediately covered it up.

“That was a joke.”

“So he definitely knows.” Tim spoke up from the uncomfortable silence. “He literally said your alias, Bruce.”

“Bruce Wayne is Batman?!” Harley screeches, “I knew it! I totally knew it!”

“No, you didn’t,” Poison Ivy frowns, “You thought Jon Bernthal was Batman.”

“Does that mean…he knows everyone else?” Jason asks, “And is anyone going to mention how he bit that villain? Literally nobody?”

“Is nobody going to talk about the cat?!” Damian hisses, “Alfred can do the same!”

“Do not get any ideas, Master Damian,” Alfred reprimands.

“Guess I need to reintroduce myself.” She spoke up, standing from her position as she waved at everyone who snapped their head towards her.

She grins, her facade of the normal grocery store employee fading from their view. Her clothing shifted in their eyes as the suit began to materialize against her skin.

She gives her name, “I’m one of the many Spider-Woman from the multiverse…although your universe is a completely different path with their own worlds intertwined . I just decided to land in the less…traumatic one.”

“I’m your world's only Spider-Woman, Astro Spider.” She makes eye contact with Tim, her smile widening.

“It’s nice to finally meet this world’s heroes.”

I hope you find some peace of mind in this lifetime. Tell them, Tell 'em, Tell them the truth.

#tim drake x reader #crossover #dc universe #spiderverse x reader #red robin x reader #tim drake imagine #dc comics #batfam imagine #identity reveal #song fic #dc universe x marvel universe #batfam

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inbarfink · 5 months

Text

Okay, so I accidentally thought about Stage Productions of Dr. Horrible Where There’s Not Enough Male Actors So Billy is Played By a Woman too hard again. And the thing is, well, I say ‘Stage Productions of Dr. Horrible Where There’s Not Enough Male Actors So Billy is Played By a Woman’ and not, like, ‘Female!Billy Productions’ because in all of the ones I’ve seen the script is unchanged and so the character is still textually a man. Super-minor characters like the Mayor and the two Newscasters or even Bad Horse can sometimes get genderswapped, but usually the kind of people dedicated enough to DHSAB to want to create their own recreation of it don’t want to change the script too much. So Billy remains gendered the same way he is in the original.

But also… Dr. Horrible isn’t gendered that much in the text of the script. Like, he gets talked about in third-person way less often than the other two leads (so there’s less places where he would be called he/him/himself), he’s not referred to using gendered terms as often as the two other leads, ‘Billy’ can work as a gender-neutral name and ‘Dr. Horrible’ is 100% gender-neutral. As such, the only textual references to Dr. Horrible being a dude are:

Refers to himself as a guy in ‘My Freeze Ray’: ‘I’m the guy who makes it real/the feelings you don’t dare to feel’

Refers to himself as a man in the title line of ‘A Man’s Gotta Do’

Moist calls him a man in the line ‘look at me, Man, I’m Moist!’

Refers to himself as a guy in ‘Brand New Day’, ‘Go ahead and laugh/Yeah I’m a funny guy!’

The one time Dr. Horrible is called by a third person pronoun is during ‘So They Say’, when Moist notes that ‘he’s still not picking up’

During ‘Everything You Ever’, he sings ‘My victory’s complete/so hail to the king’. Implicitly calling himself a ‘king’.

So, like, what that means is that if a production did just want to genderswap Billy… it’ll be considerably easier than doing it with either of the other two leads. There’s basically just a few lines you have to change and basically nothing else.

Like, ‘I’m the gal who makes it real’ is really a no-brainer. ‘a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do’ is an Idiom and I could see a woman quoting it without it meaning anything. (And in a pinch you can replace it with the gender-neutral ‘one’s gotta do what one’s gotta do' or maybe 'I've gotta do what I've gotta do').

“He’s still not picking up” often gets cut from stage reworks of ‘So They Say’ anyways or swapped for something like ‘Doc’s still not picking up’ to make it clear who’s Moist talking to without the Magic the Kuleshov Effect Really. The only line that offers any meaningful challenge is in ‘Brand New Day’ and 'Everything You Ever' cause that use of ‘guy’ and 'king' is part of a rhyme, but I still feel like it’s not the toughest one to solve.

… of course, I keep saying the three main characters because Moist isn’t actually gendered once in the entire script. So basically every time a production gets a girl to play Moist that Moist has a Gender Quantum Position.

But, with all due respect to Moist and their Quantum Gender, that’s just not a change I find as interesting as the possibility of a Female Billy. Like, hey! We’ve got a second female character who is not primarily defined through her romantic relationships and survives through the end of the narrative and has a kind of a Gross Power you don’t really see for a female super-character, that’s… kinda neat. But I don’t really think there’s anything in here that really shakes the basic thematic undercurrents of the movie the way Female Billy does. Female Billy has a really the highest rate of Implied Changes to the Meaning of the Text Caused by the Change Vs. Actual Changes Required to the Text

Because, okay, look… Would making Dr. Horrible a woman fix every single thematic problem people have with the DHSAB Narrative forever and ever and make it the Politically Perfect-est Musical Ever? Nah. Does it arguably create its own set of problems with the whole Tragic Toxic Lesbian Trope? Yeah…

But that’s why I’m advocating for it not as some sort of Remake that’s gonna be the New Definitive Version That Fixes Everything, but as a stage production. A new version that exists in the Kaleidoscopic Multiverse of takes that the stage inherently creates. Not Ultimate, not Definitive, not ‘The’ version. Just A Version I think should exist. Because even if it’s not a change that’ll Fix Everything, it’s still gonna change things in a way I, personally, find very Compelling.

And I was thinking, as part of this train of thought, that if I were to do Lesbian Billy, that for Penny’s role, I would try and cast a girl with a very butch and/or nonconformist haircut. Cause, like, at the start, the one line Billy wants to tell Penny is

And that way you can connect it with how nonconformist hairstyles are used as a way to communicate queerness to other queer people with some plausible deniability from Mainstream Society. So it’s not just that it helps explain ‘oh, that’s why Billy even assumes her attraction could be mutual’, wanting to tell Penny that she loves her hair is a whole thing of

Or rather, because it’s Billy, more like

So that’s another layer of Added Thematic Meaning just via casting choices, without changing anything about the exact text of the script!

And, you know, charity, compassion and kindness are not Exclusively Feminine Traits. Penny could be kinda gender-nonconformist while also being innocent and maybe a bit naive. And, y’know, she’s a damsel in distress when compared to the characters who have super-strength and super-science at their disposal.

And then I thought, well, maybe we can also show Penny dressing more feminine during her time dating Captain Hammer, so there’s kind of an unspoken implication to the audience that maybe CH is pressuring her into being more gender-conformiming. Which isn’t just a New Way in Which Captain Hammer is terrible, it also connects with how he, as a superhero, functions as an upholder of the status que that Billy is trying to upends (and again, it makes ‘love your hair!’ an actually Really Important Line! It’s Billy showing that, even if her attraction right now is kinda shallow. She is appreciating something about Penny that is her choice and CH is probably trying to take away from her.)

And, like, even in readings of the DHSAB narrative that try and make it as critical of Billy as possible, you always kind hit a snug that there is also an unspoken but present assumption, that while Billy does kinda suck, he could’ve been a good romantic partner to Penny if he just Got Over His Shit and is still always better than Captain Hammer despite… not really doing a good job establishing why.

So this thread does give at least one clear reason for why Captain Hammer is absolutely worse for Penny than Billy is, without necessarily letting Billy off the hook for all the way she does still kinda Suck.

You know, since we’re talking about changing as little of the actual dialogue as possible, the audience might not be able to tell if Penny is an out-and-proud Bi woman and Captain Hammer is pressuring her to be less Obviously Queer or if she still hasn’t fully processed that her affinity towards gender-nonconformity is also somewhat connected to her sexuality and the whole debacle is her shoving herself deeper into the closet… but I think that if the audience notice Penny suddenly changing into girlier clothing after she starts getting close to Captain Hammer that’ll be enough to create a visceral “Oh, this guy is BAD” reaction of sort.

Plus, like, the way the narrative kinda treats Penny slowly sobering up to Captain Hammer’s bullshit and realizing she’s not actually in love with him

is treated as interchangeable with the process of her gradually falling in love with Billy

that would hit as less Weird, at least thematically, if we have that thread of Captain Hammer representing, like, Heteronormativity and the Patriarchy Billy and Penny both being girls....

And that’s when I came to realization

of what I was actually doing.

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