#disclaimer the only thing i know about any of these actors is how they relate to the media they are in

[alatismeni-theitsa]

In "KAOS" nothing is anything, and everything is wrong

Two disclaimers: I am no stranger to modern art, and I have no issue with queerness in shows, or in my own mythology (I'm Greek). I am also aware that KAOS is a comedy. It's in the gutter of British comedy, but still part of the genre. At least I laughed every time they said "Oh God!". I don't believe this is the same person who wrote the great and amusing "End of the F**king World"! The premise of "The gods in our modern world" appeals to me a lot, so that wasn't my problem either. My general issue with KAOS is its horrible delivery, bad writing, and piss-poor Greek representation.

This is gonna be long and full of stupid gifs, so sit comfortably, grab a coffee or some popcorn and... pame!

The "ILoveGreekMythology" Kid

Art without context is just a pretty thing to look at. Most of the time, this context can be found within the art piece itself, as the artist has taken care to weave it in. KAOS refuses to connect itself to any context besides the names and a few vague powers. It aims to exist outside of those "boring old stories of the Greek myth" and be entirely "fresh and modern". Something impossible when the entire show and the meanings are based on ancient recorded material. In other words, KAOS is so meta that it ends up being nothing. KAOS cannot stand on its own because you need more than the viewers being familiar with the Greek myth basics to pull such a show off.

KAOS tells us "See? I know all the names of the gods, and what they did, and I know all the locations, so I am qualified to tackle this". More or less like any Western kid who takes all their knowledge from PJO and Marvel and proceeds to unironically hate ancient deities and make a girlboss out of Medusa.

Here's a Greek word for you guys, ημιμάθεια, meaning "half-knowledge". Α Greek saying very well declares "Half-knowledge is worse than no knowledge". The confidence of thinking you know enough often leads you to grave mistakes whereas the humility of not knowing prevents you from touching shit that you shouldn't. When you have no idea what the original myth is trying to say and spit on its meaning, knowing a few names and locations is just smoke and mirrors. I don't believe the audience fell for that.

And don't get me started on the "subversions". A good subversion is intriguing and thought-provoking. In KAOS, every twist was hollow - Greek myth related or otherwise.

"What if Euridice doesn't love Orpheus?" I don't know, babe. What if??? What was the point of that? What did you show us? That women's stories are dominated by men and men don't listen to women, perhaps? And you chose to twist... the love story of Orpheus and Euridice to show this?? One of the best and most tragic love stories Greek mythology has to offer?? You just mocked the myth, you didn't make anything profound out of it.

The Greek Stuff (Nothing salvageable)

I was surprised to see they had a Consulting Producer (Georgia Christou) and an Assistant Script Editor (Isabella Yianni) who happen to be Greek. And I stress that because those people probably weren't hired or utilized for being Greek. We are not sure they were involved in cultural decisions because we have no evidence and because shows with no Greek elements can have more Greeks than that on their staff.

Okay, perhaps they took 5 seconds to ask Isabella about a greeting - which they proceeded to say in a wrong intonation 🙄🤌It's where Poseidon says "ya sás" in the Fates, by the way. How he said it sounds more like "for you (pl.)" than "health to you (pl.)".

Surprise! The only Greek actor present (Peter Polycarpou) has less than 5 minutes of screen time and plays the caricature of an immigrant with a thick (and inaccurate Greek) accent. He has a canteen, selling falafel which is not Greek, and Dionysus buys from him an unidentified tortilla wrap (which... is also not Greek, if you haven't caught up).

For the show they brought in actors of Maori, Nigerian and Sierra Leonean, Pakistani, Black American, Latvian-Jewish, Iranian, Egyptian, Indo-Fijian and Malay descent and you tell me it was impossible for them to seek and find an English-speaking, skilled actor of Greek descent in a show regarding Greek heritage. Sometimes I wonder, do y'all hate us so much?

They considered Greeks only to give us a simple (and wrong) greeting and a stereotype. Crumbs, we are supposed to be happy with. By the way, there are over 70.000 Greek immigrants just in the UK, usually in the urban centers, many of them students or fairly young employees in the corporate workforce. Not the largest minority but not hard to spot either.

Another plague of Anglophone shows: Almost everyone's Greek name is shortened. Yes, we know their full names but we are told that we will use the short ones. Greeks and their "long and difficult" names am I right fellas? Because saying "Ariadne" apparently requires 5 years of Greek language training, and no English word ever has more than two syllables.

Coincidentally, short names are cool in Anglophone imaginary universes and the "long" names are not. it's so strange Anglophones never make universes where it's cool for Greek names to be spoken in full hmmm... They don't even want to practice saying a whole Greek name for just 2 minutes in preparation for a show full of Greek names. And don't give me that "Greek is hard" shit when we only talk about a few syllables. If Greek kids can learn English since first grade and people here can sing English songs and spell English names, you have no excuse.

They also said the name "Fotis" means light, which is close enough but... ugh.. It's like saying Sebastian means "respect". I am not sure if they asked anyone or what their research was here. If I had the writers in front of me, I'd be like:

(This character from an all-time favorite Greek show is called Fotis)

They also made the flag of "Krete" an alteration of the Greek flag and the local Cretan flag. Which is the stupidest move, because they had to remove the religious symbol of the cross to make the flag fit the universe. These are flags created based on 1) Christianity 2) the Greek Revolution of 1821.

National Greek flag to the left, local Cretan flag to the right:

Flag of the KAOS' "Krete":

The only time they seriously took into account anything Greek, was the time when they decided to remove the religious symbol of our ethnoreligion AND (from what I could observe) keep the nine stripes?? The nine stripes of our national flag represent the syllables in "Freedom or Death". The colors are from the white foustanela of the mainland attire and the dark blue vraka of the island attire, the clothing of the Revolution fighters. (That's more of a meta explanation but the characteristics of the flag were decided during and nearly after the Revolution.)

I think I don't have to explain it more but it's not a homage to put the nine stripes in an ancient era where they have no meaning, and to replace a cross??? Let's... not replace religious symbols on national flags, okay? Thank you.

Another cultural element they changed was making everyone have a dedicated coin to pay Charon. Orpheus has Euridice's coin, "her coin", and he's meant to put it on her before she got buried. In Greek culture, any coin would do. Sorry that our culture restricts your script, dear writers. I guess you had to bend this too, in order to create a cohesive plot with a semblance of a twist.

Finally, the many "Kerberus" dogs were cute and I can understand the creative decision behind that. However, in a show full of inaccuracies, this made me roll my eyes a little. I think the showrunners know that Kerveros is not a breed of dog, and there can only be one of him because he doesn't have any other "Kerveros" to breed with. On the other hand, as demonstrated from art/writing on the internet, quite a lot of Westerners are not exactly aware of how our monsters work, so forgive my uncertainty 😅

Nothing is Anything

Every element KAOS played with ended up meaningless. In the words of a Lifo article:

“Zeus is a paranoid authoritarian dictator in mid-life crisis who fears losing his power and murders his aides to vent. Hera is a promiscuous goddess who repeatedly betrays Zeus and has mutilated mute priestesses for protection. Dionysos is a spoiled and immature zoomer who, apart from pranks, indulges in orgies with all genders. Poseidon a sadistic god of the sea, who tortures the crew on his ship for fun. Prometheus is gay and killed his lover so he could overthrow Zeus. Orpheus is a famous pop singer and Eurydice does not love him. Theseus is black and gay. The Erinyes are tough-as-nails mechs that look like they stepped out of ‘Sons of Anarchy’. The Fates resemble a three-member jury in a talent show. The Trojans are a terrorist group that acts against the gods. Crete is more reminiscent of California than the Mediterranean.”

The "River Styx" is a sea, the "River Lethe" is a lake, the gods are nothing more than spoiled humans, the Moirai are drag queens, the Cave is a club where you have to take a quiz to enter the underworld, and generally everything is modern, flat, mundane and anticlimactic. The producers aimed to achieve a work so meta that a "river" is now a concept, a metaphor, whatever you have in your heart. And those who want to see a river when we speak of a river are probably uncultured swines and don't understand postmodernism. Never mind that rivers are rivers in Greek mythology for a reason. That's not culturally interesting enough to explore compared to the new, cool approach of not assigning meaning to anything. That totally shows love for the original rich and meaningful material...

And the reason behind all this subversion? Probably the shock factor. They brought the characters to a point where they said "We have to save the world from Zeus" - Zeus! The father of gods, heroes and humans! - just because they could. It gives off a certain type of smugness that I personally don't like. I mean, I would like the smugness and cheekiness of KAOS if it wasn't a vapid and practically meaningless show. As nothing symbolizes anything anymore, we are just led from hollow plot point to hollow plot point.

If you cut it out of any cultural influence and see it as a story then it's... okay, I guess. But when you consider that it's meant to derive from certain material and it fails spectacularly, it's not a good story. It forgets its bases and doesn't play with the ancient elements at all. Disney's Hercules did it better, FFS!

Bad Writing (pt.1)

KAOS is not without recognizable themes but their demonstration is so juvenile and heavy-handed that it fails to influence a viewer of average intelligence. For instance, "Riddy" says to her religious mother "You dedicated your whole life to Hera, what about me?" Okay, KAOS, we get it. At the same time, this theme nulls itself because it turns out that Ridy's mother was right to do what she did, as she had a greater goal in mind. (And this, kiddos, is called Bad Writing, because your themes and scenes contradict each other)

The biggest theme I spotted was a criticism of religion and religious people who say "Do as I say, not as I do" and create exceptions for themselves. Only, it's not a criticism of anything real, in this case. It's a fact that some people in the clergy tend to preach peace and love and then they do harm, but we don't know, for example, that The Goddess of Marriage is a cheater and yet she pressures everyone into strict marriages. By focusing their wrath on divine beings who are not known for their hypocrisy, the creators missed the mark.

I can give KAOS props for how it handled Trojans to reflect real issues regarding how immigrants and war refugees are mistreated and blamed. I'd argue it was the only (nearly) well-done theme in the whole show because it had the least on-the-nose delivery and some genuine/serious scenes. But that's it.

More Bad Writing!

Jeff Goldblum's Zeus is shit. He'd crap his pants in an argument with a stern Greek dad/uncle his age. Is this character supposed to be intimidating? (Laughs in Mediterranean) That's not to say that Goldblum is not a good actor, but this role wasn't for him. The same can be said for the other actors, too. They are competent but they only give off the air of "The Greek gods if they lived in London, from the minds of people who think beards and body hair are an affliction". In addition to being misplaced, the actors cannot show their talent when following a script that resembles a children's book.

Why does THE GOD Dionysus have the maturity of a 15-year-old? I repeat, The God Dionysus. He's a freaking deity, and a very old one at that. He is not a teenager neither in appearance nor in experience. In our culture, he is mystical, mighty, wise. Why did they downgrade him so? Just for the plot? This is not Dionysus just because you named him so.

The dialogue rarely takes itself seriously to the point it has you wondering at times "Do people talk and behave like that?". In a comedy where everything is meant to be already extreme and parodied. Even in comedies, something must occasionally be serious so there is a healthy fluctuation in tone and the funny moments can hit you. In KAOS very few scenes treated their impactful dialogue as it should be treated.

The queerness and diversity (good elements, in general) were worse off for being in KAOS. Like, I want these elements to be there. I'm just sad about the whole situation. It's not enough that the show is shit, now you also give an additional reason for conservatives to shit on diverse and queer characters because they are part of a stupid narrative.

I'm the type of person who doesn't mind the queerness of Astyanax and Theseus being lovers in the context of this specific show but they're still the oddest pairing to me because they're from the most irrelevant myths and eras. Also, Astyanax in my mind is a baby who died tragically, for little reason if we are honest, so to bring him back and make him a love interest is... ekh.

In addition, isn't Astyanax supposed to be crippled after a fall from the city walls when he was a baby? Sorry to change subjects but the show is so convoluted and with so many issues that it's extremely difficult to stay on track with what's wrong.

To the person who thought this show was a good idea:

Whatever. Bye. I'm fucking done.

[philsdrivinglicence]

Killing the white supremacist inside you. Easy mode. From one whitey to another.

Disclaimer: I am not an academic or an expert. Just a white person who's life was changed for the radically better during the BLM protests of 2020 who wants to share what worked for them.

Below is a non-comprehensive list of first steps you can take to begin the hard work of unpicking the layers upon layers of white supremacist bullshit baked into you from birth by the culture we live in (even if you grew up progressive or in a big city you are not exempt from this).

I made this list because POC in the phandom have been doing a lot of heavy lifting the past few days. I figured the least I could do is share what worked for me to understand what racism is and how its more subtle forms can manifest.

I hope we can all use the below as a starting point to help make the phandom a less racist and more welcoming place.

(btw I do think we are generally more self ware than many fandoms but as we are a mostly white space we have to keep ourselves accountable as white supremacy is an insidious bastard that will catch you unawares if you let it.)

So. Without further ado.

- read this article

- Read "Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race" by Reni Eddo Lodge (how you choose to source this book I will not judge but consider supporting a local book store)

- Stop being so afraid of being called racist. - Hopefully, if you are engaging in good faith then you already accept that racism is baked into our society. Racist is not a dogwhistle for "evil person". It is a descriptor of very specific behavior that we can all fall into if we don't keep ourselves sharp. So part 2 of this step is -

- Look back on your life and identify a time when you have participated in racism. My go to example is my 14 year old "never met a black person in real life" self, yelling along to N****s in Paris (uncensored, duh) at a house party with a bunch of other white 14 year olds. If you're getting really introspective you'll probably have multiple of these such moments. Sit with them, feel the cringe, think about what you might say to that version of yourself now, how you might have acted differently had you been aware the behavior was problematic. And then forgive yourself. Self flagellation does nothing good, the thing to do now is learn and progress. But you can't know what to change/avoid if you don't have examples to work off of. (This one is lowkey hard mode but worth doing early on so you can see your own progress over time. Also, if the examples you are thinking of were directly harmful you may also want to consider making amends in some way).

- Look at your playlists/album collection. If you don't see many/any POC musicians make a conscious effort to change that. Seek out interviews with your favourite artists and see which black artists have influenced them. Add them to your rotation.

- Do this with youtubers, authors, actors, screenwriters etc, etc. In all forms or art and entertainment, look at what you consume and if you find it overerall skewing white, make an effort to fill it with colour.

(Kill the voice inside you that says "I just prefer - blank-", or "the stuff they make just isn't for me, I prefer stuff I can relate to". This is the white supremacy talking, POC are not a monolith, look harder, you will find artists you connect with)

- Every time a POC points something out to you that seems off to them (I often refer to this as "this doesn't pass the sniff test") before jumping in to defend your fave/point of view/TV show etc. really sit with what they have said and try to consider why what they are pointing out, while not a big deal to you, could be a big deal to them.

Like I said up top, this is a non comprehensive list and is only intended as a starting point.

I usually wouldn't post something like this as I prefer to stay out of discourse but the conversation going on this past few days has really disappointed me. So many people are being dismissive toward POC fans and completely missing the points they are trying to make. So here's my two cents. Hope it's helpful.

[theaquinn-misc]

A-spec Lesbian

I decided to make my own list of things that have helped me realized I'm gay. Disclaimer: I'm not the arbiter of what makes someone an aspec lesbian, however if you experience some or most of these it's something to consider. Disclaimer 2: I've also not had a lot of experience dating so I can't include much of that here. This post will be divided in 3 sections: Men, Women and NBs and media

Men:

only crushing on "unavailable" men: married, in a relationship, much older, gay, fictional, celebrities

"crushing" on men and enjoying fantasizing about them, but not trying to flirt or even get close to them in any way

"crushing on a man" for a set period of time and then and thinking he's the hottest thing since sliced bread, but later (especially after a physical separation) finding him meh or cringey

fantasies about men having more to do with being happy and fulfilled in life and being seen as someone to be jealous of, not so much about the specific person

having a crush/attraction to a man only for him to return it and you realize that you feel uncomfortable

meeting a guy who is conventionally attractive and meets all your standards and telling yourself you are attracted to him but still feeling a weird pressure in your stomach/chest because "something is missing"

liking a guy, until he changes something minor about his appearance (shaves, does his hair differently) and then finding him basic/meh and losing all attraction to him

never understanding what women see in the men they date or like in media, at least looks-wise

finding even extremely conventionally attractive men to be kinda meh and thinking women attracted to men must be exaggerating how hot they find them

being uncomfortable when you find out a man has a crush on you and wanting him to stay away, but with women/nbs it's just a bit awkward and overall no big deal

having to force sexual and romantic fantasies for men and getting bored of them after a while

finding the most aesthetically attractive man in a group and deciding you are attracted to him (bonus points: being relieved when you find out he's taken/ and/or you could never date him for some reason)

being anxious or sad or bored when you imagine your life with a man

only wanting to date men if it's polyamorous (note: this is not to invalidate poly people, but if you can only imagine dating one gender ONLY if it's poly and having no issues to be monogamous with another gender... that might be something to look into)

getting sad/anxious/bored at the idea that your first boyfriend could be your forever partner. thinking "of course i want to experience life before I settle down"

wanting to dress sexy and reveal your body, but wanting to hide it when a man pays attention to you

Men expressing their attraction to men is more relatable than women expressing their attraction for men Women/ NBs:

finding only a few men aesthetically attractive but nearly every woman/queer/nb person (esp more femme ones) being gorgeous to you

wanting to impress and/or be liked by "special" women

going on dating apps and switching to "women only" even though you are (supposedly) bi/pan (note: some people may do this for safety reasons but if you can't even IMAGINE finding a guy off an app, even if you take all possible precautions, well...)

finding the fantasy of sharing your life with a woman/nb person far more rewarding and satisfying than the fantasy of doing those same things with a man

having some inkling of attraction to trans women pre-coming out, but suddenly thinking they are the most gorgeous people ever post knowing they are women(especially if they go on HRT),

really "admiring" masc/butch women and women who break gender roles (women in suits, women with defined muscles etc.)

thinking that everyone thinks women are more aesthetically attractive than men (hint: ask a gay man about this)

having deep feelings about a female actor, singer, teacher growing up etc. that feel special and unique

feeling guilty in locker rooms, not wanting to look at women too long

getting really excited at the idea of having a gf, or being a girl/nb person's gf/ partner but not feeling the same way about dating boys/men

wishing to be a lesbian because you think lesbians are cool and/or to avoid dating men

feeling uncomfortable feelings about the label lesbian, especially when applied to you (but not gay/queer/sapphic/wlw/nblw etc.)

not getting crushes on women IRL often because you're still aspec

getting crushes on fictional women, influencers, celebrities etc. Media:

never relating to m/f pairings even if they have bi/pan characters or the m/f relationships you see in media or around you.

shipping m/f, but thinking "that's cool for them, but I don't want that" (note: this might also have to with gender, if you're nb)

imagining yourself as the "man" in m/f ships never the woman

not relating to f/f ships with two thin conventionally feminine and usually white women (esp if you are fat, gnc, WoC, and/or are attracted to butch/masc women)

seeing posts about the attractiveness of men but relating them to m/m ships, not yourself

wanting every bi/pan character to be in a "gay" or at least, in a visibly queer relationship

only relating to m/f ships if they are more obviously queer. Like say, masc woman with a twink boyfriend (side note, I've never seen that, so if you have recs please send them my way)

only being able to get off on gay/lesbian porn, finding straight porn to be unsatisfying or boring or uncomfortable (note: porn is not a great way to determine sexualaity as most actresses are fetishized and fake prgasms, and most lesbian porn is not made for sapphics. but still) Things you are allowed to do as a lesbian/don't make you less gay:

Have m/f ships you feel strongly about

read/write m/f smut

relate to/write bi/pan characters

joke about liking celebrity men & fictional men

not be attracted to the women the lesbian community has decided are the hottest thing since sliced bread (Kristen Stewart is not everyone's type)

not be comfortable with certain sex acts or sex as a whole

[campoverlook-if]

The Horror Corner #1: Bad Ben

Hey all, welcome to the first post of The Horror Corner, a special type of post where I talk about horror media that has either inspried me to write Camp Overlook, or is just something I really like and want to highlight.

Of course, people's opinons of what type of stuff I post for the page matters to me. Personally I believe this series will really highlight the fact that CO is a horror game, and the blog should be open to discussing horror related things that may not fully relate to the game.

I can post whatever I want on a blog, but it isn't fun if people think it's clogging up their feed. Especially if it's something they aren't into. So while this may be the first THC post, it could also be the last, depending on how people feel about it.

With that little disclaimer out the way, let's start the post.

(I forgot I had this queued up, please enjoy it anyways haha...)

Above is the image of the man, the myth, the legend himself; Nigel Bach AKA, Tom Riley. The main lead of the Bad Ben franchise.

It all starts when Tom Riley decides to buy a house out on Steelmanville Road during a sheriff's sale. Thinking a house for that price is a steal, he takes it in the hopes of flipping the place and selling it for a massive profit. But he soon learns that things aren't quite as what they seem in this house in the woods. The previous owners disappeared with a word to no one. All their funiture and personal belongings filling the rooms like they never left at all. And strangest of all? The house is completely covered in cameras, watching Tom's every move.

Contrary to what my intro might tell you, this film is a straight horror comedy found footage film (my favorite genre of horror film). Not because they try to be funny, but Nigel Bach is just not an actor and he's never claimed to be. The original actors he had hired never showed up to the filming, so he decided to act it all out by himself, how hard can it be?

Nigel really is the star of this film series, his plots are all over the place and yet they can still be pretty easy to understand. His future films deal with the likes of multiverses, forced loops, colorful casts of characters, and even better(yet worse?) special effects. But its this first film that really started it all for Nigel and I'm very happy for him. I discovered the series back when it was just a trilogy and never thought it would lead into having a 12th film.

Bad Ben isn't one of my inspirations for Camp Overlook, but it has always given me thoughts of 'expect the unexpected.' Just when you think you know what's going on in the story it just drags you right back, throwing stuff at you, you just wouldn't expect. It also showcases what can be achieved when you fight for your dream no matter what setbacks you may be given.

Currently, the series is no longer available for free on any platforms. Previously, Nigel had worked with a company to get his films put on Tubi, however they ended up tricking him where he recieved no residuals for films of his creation. For now, they can only be rented or bought from his Roku channel or on Prime.

I believe it's worth it to at least rent the first film for the 2.99 it's currently offered under. Everyone deserves to get at least one little taste of this man and his imaginative world of Bad Ben.

Also check out the game, it's really funny (and free)!

[neverwritewhatyouknow]

I’ve been wanting to make this post for a while now, but I decided to make it my last RWRB related post. It’s clear the production will never give a statement about why they changed Nora’s character from Jewish to not, and there’s other shows and movies and productions I need to focus on. But before I switch gears, this needs to be said.

I was wrong about something and I need to just make it very clear how sorry I am to Rachel Hilson for involving her in the discourse around the movie to the degree that I did.

When I first started this blog the day the cast was revealed (over a year ago), I had no more information than anyone else. The only thing I knew about Nora that she was a Jewish character (along with everything else obvi) (book) and that Rachel was rumored to be Jewish (TikTok). In my quest to point out the antisemitism in Hollywood (a very true thing), I allowed logical thinking to guide me down an incorrect path.

That path was thinking that since Nora was Jewish in the book that of course she had to be in the movie too. It wasn’t an insane assumption, since the two options were A: A non-Jewish actress playing a Jewish role, or B: totally erasing Nora’s ethnicity. For some reason, the second option felt impossible for the longest time because to me Nora being Jewish was a part of who she was and for a good chunk of time I didn’t consider that they could separate it, plus the first happens literally sooooo much (especially on Amazon) that I was certain it was happening again.

But I was wrong. Nora’s canon Jewishness was erased very early on in the adaption and Rachel was at fault for none of it. She did an amazing job (like I knew she would), but I need to apologize for what I’ve posted. In my attempt to call out Hollywood for once again casting a non-Jewish actress for a Jewish role, as they do all the time, Rachel got caught in the cross fire and that’s not fair to her. It’s the fault of the movie’s creative team, not her. I always knew that, but I’m human, I make mistakes, and I own up to them when I do. I let the emotional impact of seeing Jewish roles played by non-Jewish actors again and again influence my posting here, and while nothing I said was incorrect regarding Hollywood’s constant erasure of Jews and even the erasure of Nora’s own Jewishness, I was wrong to loop Rachel into that the way I did. I wanted to settle the rumors that she was Jewish, and I did that, but I wish I had known that Nora was just not going to be Jewish period from the start. I should’ve focused more on option B for this movie and not A, but how was I to know when it all started? Regardless, I’m going to be going through my account this weekend and deleting anything that’s directly tied to Rachel, but it’ll take a few days.

So, to Rachel: I doubt you have tumblr, you’re an extremely busy actress and this place is a time wasting hellhole, but I know you or your team knows this account exists. If you see this or hear about this, I want you to know that I really am sorry. You don’t have to forgive me, but you deserve an apology. To anyone connected to Rachel who also feels as though they were caught up in this too, I also apologize to any and all of you.

I don’t use Instagram anymore, but I know Rachel does. If anyone DMs her this apology post, this is the disclaimer that the sender didn’t write this. She’s owed an apology and I just hope she sees it somehow.

Was my calling out of RWRB’s Jew-erasure wrong? No. Was the way I did it wrong? Yeah. I focused on the wrong things based off prior knowledge and assumptions. Truly my only regret is involving Rachel, I wish I hadn’t done that. At the time it all made sense, but even then I should’ve had the restraint and waited until I knew more. So anyway, I’m sorry about that. Hopefully Rachel will someday, somehow, someway hear about my apology and understand that I was upset about the circumstances in this movie and how often it always happens, and that she just honestly was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And for that, I’m immensely sorry.

This is my last RWRB post. Unless something crazy happens. So keep following me if you wanna hear more about antisemitism and Jew-erasure in Hollywood, but I think I’ve exhausted all the things I can say. Thanks to anyone who’s supported me calling out the movie about their erasure, what they did wasn’t okay, but I’m ready to move on unless they say anything else about it.

[morporkian-cryptid]

The fandom : What is Lupin’s first name? What a mystery, we may never know.

Me, neck deep in research about the naming conventions of samurais in the Edo era: Forget about Lupin, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOEMON’S NAME??? .

There’s a very strong chance that Goemon Ishikawa XIII is an alias.

I know that Goemon is probably the least mysterious character in the whole franchise, and the one we have the most lore about, and I’m overanalysing, BUT I’m a nerd with a special interest on medieval Japan and too much time on my hands, and I’m about to make this everyone else’s problem.

(Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert on Japanese history, this is the result of a few days of Internet research; all my sources are listed at the bottom. Please don’t hesitate to correct me if I made mistakes!)

.

The first thing that tipped me off was the way the number is written in Goemon’s name.

Let’s look at his complete name in Japanese: 十三代目 石川 五ェ門 (Jūsan-daime Ishikawa Goemon)

Jūsan means “thirteen”. Notice how the number is the front, and followed by the suffix -daime; in contrast with ルパン三世 (Rupan Sansei) who has the number at the end and followed by the suffix -sei.

I’ve already mentioned it here (x): -sei is a counter for generations, while -daime is a counter for positions or titles. So basically, Lupin Sansei would translate to “Lupin, third of his name” while Jusan-daime Ishikawa Goemon would translate to “the thirteenth person to hold the title of Goemon Ishikawa”.

The “Number-daime Name” pattern is famously used by kabuki actors. Names are passed on along lines of actors, who are not necessarily related. Actors formally change their names during a ceremony called Shūmei.

So, just judging by the shape of his name, it’s likely that Goemon acquired this name later in life, and wasn’t born with it.

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On top of that, you’ve got Edo era samurai naming conventions, and oooooh boi does this complicate things! :D

Goemon is basically a walking-talking-anachronism, if he could live in the Edo era he would, and barring that, he does his best to live in the 21st century pretending it’s Edo-era Japan. (see Part 1 episode 5: “I’m not weird, it’s every other Japanese person who’s weird.”) His name is also the same as all his ancestors, most of whom lived in the Edo era. So it’s not a stretch to assume that his name follows the customs of that time. And in the Edo era, names were a MESS.

(Please note that the following information is an attempt to coherently describe a custom that evolved without strict rules. Also, the naming conventions described below apply mostly to nobles and the samurai class, not to commoners.)

First off, Edo-era samurais typically had 4 parts in their names.

Two surnames:

Myōji: household (or ie) name, chosen by the family, often named after a local landmark.

Ujina: clan (or uji) name, given by the emperor, refers to the larger clan that the household branches off from.

Two “first” names:

Jitsumei: “true” first name, which typically remains private: only your family, close friends and your lord can call you by your jitsumei, and if anyone else does it, it’s super rude. Most people don’t even know your jitsumei.

Tsūshō: public first name, kind of a formal nickname.

And then you have the

Childhood name: that’s the first name you’re actually born with, but when boys come of age, they stop using it, and instead receive a jitsumei and a tsūshō. Boys’ childhood names often end with -maru. (Apparently this doesn’t apply to women, who kept the same name throughout their lives.)

Then it gets even more complicated. An uji (a clan) usually contains multiple ie (households). When an ie grows big enough, it splits into multiple smaller ie. A person can use the name of any of the ie along the family tree as their own surname, sometimes using multiple names depending on the situation and who they’re trying to impress.

.

In Goemon’s case, this is what his name probably looks like:

Myōji (household family name) : Ishikawa

Ujina (formal clan title) : Minamoto (the Ishikawa ie (household) branches off from the Seiwa Genji ie, which itself is part of the Minamoto uji (clan) )

Jitsumei (true first name) : ???

Tsūshō (public first name) : Goemon

So, not only is Goemon not his birth name (that would be his childhood name, which he does not use anymore), but it’s also not his “true” name, more of a formal nickname that people are allowed to call him.

.

You thought this was already a mess? Don’t worry, it gets worse!! :D

Not only did samurais change their names when coming of age, they could also change it multiple times in their lives, for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:

to signify that they had attained a higher social status

to demonstrate their allegiance to a house or clan

to show that they had succeeded to the headship of a family or company

to shed bad luck that was attached to an inauspicious name

to avoid being mistaken for a neighbour with a similar name

The third option (succession to the headship of a family) could totally apply to Goemon. So if that’s the case, that means he would have been born with a childhood name (unknown), then changed it to an adult name (unknown), then changed it again to a new name (Goemon) signifying his position as the head of the Ishikawa household.

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Btw, we don’t know if all of his ancestors were named Goemon, but we know that at least a few were:

In Part 6 ep. 5 and 6 “The Imperial City Dreams Of Thieves”, Goemon the Thirteenth assumes the identity of his grandfather and still uses the name Goemon Ishikawa

In Part 2 ep. 24 “Rats To You”, Goemon Ishikawa the Tenth and Goemon Ishikawa the Eleventh are mentioned

.

So, in conclusion: what the hell is Goemon Ishikawa XIII’s actual name? Fuck if I know, but it sure as hell isn’t Goemon.

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PS: Regardless of what his birth name is, I think we can safely assume that he is really descended from the OG Goemon Ishikawa. Even though name succession in Japan (or at least in kabuki and other performance arts) doesn’t require a blood relation, Goemon did state multiple times that Goemon Ishikawa the First was his ancestor. It is possible that he or other ancestors were adopted into the family, as adoptions were frequent in the Edo era; but during that period, an adopted child had the exact same status as a genetic child, and was considered a part of the family just like everyone else. So, even if he’s not genetically descended from the OG Goemon, he’s still legally descended from him.

PPS: slightly off topic, but I couldn’t resist mentioning additional bits of trivia:

The kanji in the name Ishikawa mean “river of stones”. It’s the 19th most common surname in Japan. It’s also the name of a region, which the family is likely named after.

The historical Goemon Ishikawa’s name is written 石川 五右衛門 (last name - first name), while in the anime both he and Goemon Ishikawa the Thirteenth’s names are written 石川 五ェ門 (last name - first name). The third kanji of the first name differs ( 衛 in the historical spelling, ェ in the anime).

Wikipedia says that the historical Goemon Ishikawa probably used that name as an alias. Wikipedia gives “Kuronashin Sanada” as a possible “real” name. Interestingly, the Sanada ie and the Ishikawa ie both branch off from the larger Seiwa Genji ie and the Minamoto uji.

 .

Sources (if you want more info about the wonderful world of Japanese names throughout history):

Tofugu – A long history of Japanese names

Wikipedia – Shūmei (Japanese page, translated with Deepl)

Wikipedia – Japanese names : Historical names

Linfamy on Youtube – Why are samurai names so long?

Linfamy on Youtube – Why did samurais keep changing and reusing names?

Wiktionary - 世 (-sei) - see “Japanese”

Jisho - 世 (-sei) - see “Counter”

Jisho - 代目(-daime) - see “Counter”

Huge thanks to my sister @aime-aine , who helped me research all of this, used her knowledge of Japanese to help me read Wikipedia pages in their original languages, provided me with several of the above articles, and listened to me infodump about samurai naming conventions in medieval Japan for a whole evening. Aime, I love you so so much <3

[castlebyersafterdark]

showmances are fun to think about but this imo would feel diff than a typical showmance if it happened only cause they’ve known each other almost their entire lives at this point???? they grew up together? that’s either a recipe for something legit and strong and real or it’s a recipe for oh ew no he’s like my brother???? lmao who knows. but if would def be diff. most showmances are ppl thrown together who kinda have this romance based on circumstance and proximity and they often end quickly when filming ends too or they hold on for a while and then fizzle out because it wasn’t based on anything too solid. ofc there are always exceptions and some showmances stand the test of time, some costars end up together forever, married etc, but most don’t. but i can’t think of any that would fit the foah mold lol. ofc the disclaimer this is probably not gonna happen outside of our delulu minds but it’s a fun fantasy! it’s very romantic

Ahhh I tend to call anything going on between actors while on set or when they met on set as a showmance, maybe that's a me thing and not a common terminology thing. Maybe it has connotations of reality tv? But it's so different for them, yeah. It's not some one off movie where they meet and maybe click. They've known each other since they were 10/12. Childhood friends. Like family at this point. Not all the cast is close in equal ways with each other, which is where it's fun speculating because we all see that the friendships are not all the same. N/F definitely have an aura about them. It's just as likely as not likely and I'm unbothered every way, but it's the romance of it all that really appeals. It is very romantic to think about both the characters in the show growing up together, best friends who fall in love and get together. I think that's the reason some people like the idea of Noah and Finn - because it mirrors the characters with enough difference to be really interesting if true. I don't think I'd have as much stock in any of this with the actors if Noah didn't say "I guess I'm more like Will than I thought" and all his chat about how he relates so much to the character. Honestly, that fuels about 75% of my speculation and fun little idea of them as a irl couple. It's all lighthearted!!

[oraclekleo]

Lee Chan (Seventeen) Kinky* Reading

Hello and welcome!

I’m Kleo and I’m here to present some k-pop related tarot readings to you.

Disclaimer:

I would like to state that all these readings have a purely entertainment nature and their purpose is to bring some fun into my and hopefully yours lives. I have never ever met any of the idols / actors / celebrities in my readings, I don’t know them personally. Tarot reading isn’t an exact science and I can never guarantee any of it. Most of it is my intuition mixed with fantasy. Don’t take these readings seriously and don’t base any important decisions on tarot readings only, use your common sense.

If you wish to request a tarot reading, please read the pinned post on my profile first to see the instructions on how to request. I only do readings for idols / actors / celebrities of 18 years of age or older. Requests for readings including younger people will be automatically dismissed. If you feel uncomfortable with these tarot readings, do not engage in reading my posts. Thank you for understanding.

Reading Info:

Rating: 18+

Reading Type: Single - Couple

Requested: Yes - No

Deck: Poe

Spread: Kinky*

Questions:

Position

Libido

Turn On

Kink

Dirtiest Secret*

Full Name: Lee Chan

Stage Name: Dino

Group: Seventeen

Masterpost: Seventeen

Lee Chan

Dino (Seventeen)

Deck: E. A. Poe

Spread: Kinky*

Position - 6 of Pentacles

Dino is not much into power play in a relationship. He believes both parties should give and take equally. He might tend to be more generous than his lover with his affection as it’s his nature to give his all.

Libido - 8 of Wands

Dino is a young vital man and he’s pretty quick to grow passionate and wild. His desire is fiery and fast and all consuming. He might be impatient when he’s with his lover. Dino can become a bit feral and savage. His lover might experience biting and marking. Dino is likely to be also highly vocal with his lover. In passionate moments it’s not rare for him to growl, moan or even howl.

Turn On - Page of Swords

Dino is likely to feel attracted to someone bright, smart and witty, someone with both brains and spark in the eyes. He’s likely to feel enchanted by someone who can play cute but isn’t a soulless doll. He likes to be intellectually challenged in a playful way.

Kink - 4 of Wands

Naughty horny Dino. He’s likely to catch on fire in inconvenient situations and it’s not a surprise that pinning his lover to the table, kitchen counter or a wall is his favourite thing. It allows him to go down on them fast.

Dirtiest Secret* - 10 of Wands

Dino might secretly dream about trying orgies but he’s not likely to actually pursue this dream. He likes it fast and even rough and raw. His lover needs to be someone similarly enthusiastic.

Thank you for reading!

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Comment! 💬

Reblog! 🔁

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Any Feedback is Welcomed ✅

[lunanoc]

For the ship thing, Liu Sang/Wang Can our of curiosity

anon i think you want to watch the world burn

disclaimer heads up once again that these are all 100% my personal feelings and not moral accusations of any kind, so if you happen to like this ship that’s your business and my opinion means nothing. that being said, fair warning, this isn’t going to be positive

so yeah i uh. intensely dislike this i’m not sure anyone’s surprised and there’s vaguely lore as to why that i’m not going to get into excessively, but the tldr of it is basically in two (ish) parts.

the first is that strictly coming at it from canon, independently of what your canon of choice is, this ship is wonky at best. and yes, i know, not everyone cares about that, and i’m not saying it’s completely impossible because AUs/canon divergences exist for a reason, but that’s point number one. i’m not even going to get into the fact that wang can, who’s very much a blip both in sha hai the book and sha hai the drama, di es in both which makes things even more impossible unless you redact that. then there’s simply the circumstances factor. the only way in which i could see this potentially being remotely possible in a canon setting is if you infer that liu sang’s association with tudian means that if tudian had extensive contact with the wangs, they might have crossed paths at some point. but given how little we know about tudian and his everything, it’s speculation, but it’s not impossible so there’s a window there i guess. and you’d also have to assume liu sang, who re: restart the book was born in the 90s, was born in the earlier half of the decade because otherwise he’d have been a bit young: not so much in general, because though that’s a topic for another discussion people do ship wu xie and li cu, more in relation to the popular fanon surrounding the liu sang/wang can ship which i’ll get to in a bit. as for how they’d work even if you filled in all those conditions? to be honest i’ve never thought about it extensively, but i don’t that we really get enough of wang can as a character to be able to pin him as more than a highly driven wang operative, and as for liu sang, given his general approach to most people and things, i can only really picture this in a ‘what if liu sang had been endoctrinated into the wangs’ AU because the way i see it, liu sang is someone who tends to be driven by the same sorts of intense/bordering on fanatical feelings in interpersonal relationships (re: how he is about xiaoge), so he and wang can would have to bond over their mutual devotion to the cause. again, not impossible, but you do need to get creative

this does bring me to the second part of the ‘why i want to burn this with fire’ lore, which is the fanon behind this ship even existing, and even that’s twofold. again, this is purely my personal feelings, but the biggest no-no for me from the get-go is this ship contains liu sang, and i do not like liu sang as a character. and yes it is practically entirely because of his fans but that’s also a topic for another time. unfortunately for similar reasons that also extends to most if not all characters who have been played by the same actor. so this ship is pretty much a double no-no for me for solely those reasons. then there’s the other aspect of the apparent appeal of it that specifically hinges on the fact both characters were played by the same actor, and so that i’ve seen, it’s a fairly popular take to make them both fanon long-lost twins. which then turns it into fanon incst and that’s just. really not my cup of tea. it’s just one of those things i let be but want to stay far away from, which makes it doubly unfortunate it’s another one of those ships i’ve had pushed at me directly or not before i distanced myself from most popular dmbj fandom spaces to avoid them

i wish i had more constructive things to say about this but unfortunately i don’t

[skaterfairy02]

An Ode to Yargı: Part 1

Yargı has been a life-changing show to watch. I haven't felt this way about a tv show - in any language - in a long time (or ever? if i think about it).

TV shows are unique in that they are vulnerable to being driven by ratings. Depending on the country, TV shows are either renewed season by season based on ratings and revenues and may only have 1 season of 16-17 episodes (most K Dramas), or in the case of Turkish dizis (like Yargı), driven by the ratings of each episode. Let me stop here and provide a disclaimer: I am not Turkish, I haven't been watching Turkish dizis for very long, and I probably don't understand the intricacies and complexities of how the Turkish dizi industry works. I only started watching dizis after stumbling upon a youtube fan edit for Nazli & Ferit from Dolunay during the COVID-19 lockdown in Spring 2020. The rest is history. However, it's not hard to see that because dizis mostly depend on the ratings of each episode, the story which the writers set out to tell can suffer as a result. This is not to say that dizis are the only tv shows to fall victim to this pattern. Even with season-by-season renewal, American shows suffer from this phenomenon as well. The first couple seasons of a show might be amazing with very crisp writing, but then the show steadily declines in the later seasons, show-runners change, cast members leave, and you really question why you're still watching the show. Since diving into dizis and learning the bare minimum about Turkish ratings, it seems this phenomenon is just more underscored.

But Yargı has been a game-changer. It's been absolutely beautiful to watch the writer's story play out so far, with so much attention given to all the details, and the actors have truly done an amazing job bringing it to life. At 17 episodes (over 34 hours!), I am still just as excited for the next episodes as I was when I watched the first couple of episodes. It's been extremely comforting to hear the writer (Sema Ergenekon, who is amazingly talented and a genius honestly) openly say that she has the story and the rest of the episodes mapped out, indicating a strategic plan with a definite endpoint. I don't think I could handle a situation where the show was extended for no reason and the plot stretches and suffers as a result. Yargı has truly earned its viewers' trust.

However, beyond the trust that Yargı has earned from me, the show and its fans are also teaching me a lot and subtly causing me to examine my own internalized ideologies, in a way that I can easily say few shows in the world have done for me.

On the surface, I find myself relating to Ilgaz and Ceylin and their struggles in ways that are more obvious. Ilgaz is the oldest and nothing but perfection has been expected of him. When he tells his father Metin (I lovingly refer to him as Metinhoe/Metintrash) that he had to grow up so quickly and was never allowed any mistakes, it really resonated for me. Ceylin, on the other hand, has been trying her best to sustain her family despite their trials and tribulations, and her strongest familial bond is with her younger sister, again reflecting certain aspects of my own life.

However, the beauty of Yargı is that the characters are much deeper than what we are initially exposed to, and more human than what most shows allow of their characters. The best example of this is Ceylin. Ceylin is a flawed character. She is scrappy and resilient, as life has forced her to be, and goes after what she needs, though not always in the most acceptable way. But she knows who she is and does not pretend to be anything else. I am actually so in awe of this characteristic of hers. She is also loving, supportive, compassionate, empathetic, merciful, and forgiving, but is convinced (thanks in large part to her family) that she isn't deserving of fulfilling and loving relationships, so she runs away from things. When women talk about wanting to see flawed female characters, THIS is what we mean. Ceylin's flaws are authentic, born out of her life experiences, and while inconvenient at times, they are highly relatable and honestly endearing because of that. She is NOT flawed for the purpose of being endearing to the male gaze (NOT a manic pixie dream girl or any of her variants). I love Ceylin and who she is because she inspires me to be strong, even when mistakes are made and life is going off the rails. Ceylin is beautiful because of who she is, not in spite of it, and it took seeing this character for me to realize how true that is for us as individuals - that our flaws don't necessary diminish us or make us less worthy of love.

Ilgaz is also a beautiful character, but one I have more questions about and am still understanding. I think this is because I have so deeply internalized the way male characters are generally portrayed that whenever Ilgaz does something outside that structure, I have to grapple with it and it takes me time to understand it. Ilgaz has been living a life in golden chains, but chains nonetheless. His parents worked hard to help set him up for a respected career as a prosecutor and as we learn more about Ilgaz, it's obvious that just because he is a very respected prosecutor -- and he is morally upright, dedicated to doing his job well -- his family (see: Metinhoe/Metintrash) expects his personal life to be equally black and white and by the book. However, when his life intersects with Ceylin's, we start to learn what Ilgaz himself values. Yes, he values integrity, honesty, and hard work, especially with regards to his job and the law, but he is also very loving and supportive. Unlike his father, he does not believe that integrity, honesty, and hard work are mutually exclusive with expressing compassion and understanding, especially when life gets hard. Like Ceylin, he seeks to understand his loved ones and does whatever is in his power to help them. He is the exact opposite of a toxic man.

Edit: Yargı is now on episode 51. Since then, a lot more thoughts have been thunk, so I will write a part 2. However, the overall message is still the same, watch Yargı for clear skin.

[the-cat-chat]

May 13, 2023

The Courier (2020)

Businessman Greville Wynne is asked by a Russian source to try to help put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

JayBell: I didn’t know the true story this movie was based on before watching it so I wasn’t sure how dark it was gonna get or if it would have a tragic ending. Despite the subject matter and what happens in the movie to the characters, I think the movie has a lighter tone than what you would expect.

Our main character (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) really feels like an average guy put into this crazy situation. It was sad how both governments took advantage of his naivete, but it’s also believable. It’s the age old question--do we sacrifice one person for the sake of millions?

I can’t help but feel bad for the poor wife in this movie. I feel like our main guy acted reasonably based on the information he had (or didn’t have) and based on his own sense of right and wrong for most of the movie. The one thing I wish he would have done was just tell his wife the truth. Maybe not at the beginning, but definitely when the situation worsened. 

I don’t know to what extent and to what detail of the movie’s events actually happened, but it does make an entertaining and unbelievable story. The acting was great, the plot was solid, and it didn’t have our main guy becoming like this crazy super spy by the end beating up people. He stayed an average guy with a strong sense of morality and an unbelievable tolerance for pain.

Rating: 7.5/10 cats 🐈

Anzie: Just as a disclaimer- in the last 30 days, I somehow read 2 books related to British spies, 2 spy movies (this makes 3) and 1 tv show. Nooooow how this happened I don’t have any clue bc it’s not like I’m soooo into spy stuff. And only 2 things were expressly SPY, so I feel like I got like tricked into spy month.

That being said, I feel like Benedict Cumberbatch when he’s shocked and says *SPIES?!?*

I didn’t know anything about this movie ( sensing a theeeemmmme here) other than it was about the Cuban Missile Crisis- which I had a small grasp on as a historic event- but the whole dealio this movie tells is a different story.

I did think the start of the movie was a bit slow and boring- especially with it being all spies and stuff - and I know it had to be set up that our guy was a normal person who was just a businessman with a family, but I feel like it was a bit blaaaah. And then there’s all the anticipation of them being caught and all that, which every scene after the first 45 minutes I thought would be the one they got caught, and that’s a top requirement for spy movies. The ending was soooo sad - they did him sooo dirty. But even though it’s the worst of it the actors did such a good job with the emotions the circumstances held and that relieves a little bit of the boringness from the start.

Nothing personal with the story or anything, it’s good and pretty solid - I just think maybe I’m a tad spied out? 🤷‍♀️ And I’ll always compare all of Benedict Cumberbatch’s stuff to the Louis Wain movie and nothing could ever compare.

Rating: 5/10 Cats 🐈

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

5Ds is an enigma that has utterly fried my brain

Okay, okay, get this. 5Ds is not only the only YGO that I believe is better in dub (I’ve warmed up to the dubs recently but I still think the subs are better), it’s also the only Yugioh series that has a better first half than second half. Yes, that includes Arc V. I thought Arc V was pretty consistently enjoyable. I always see people say Arc V had a great first half but the second half/ending completely dropped the ball and ruined everything. Guess what? To me, that statement applies to 5Ds.

Disclaimer: I haven’t seen the slew of undubbed episodes in the middle of the WRGP or the final arc, Arc Cradle, because they’re sub exclusive and the 5Ds sub is a terribly boring thing that I have no interest in returning to if it’s not Jack/Carly or Aki related. Still, I’m gonna do an “overview” of... basically the 5Ds dub.

(Rest of the overview under the cut)

Okay, so first of all, I take back… some of what I said in my initial overview of part one. Not everything. My critique of the Aki’s parents plotline and everything that happened in Akiza vs Misty still stands. Also, I don’t know if I mentioned these things in my overview or not but I’ll say them here: the Devack duel and spirit world nonsense are really boring and honestly, anytime Yugioh does a prison plotline it’s boring as shit, I don’t know what it is but both the prison arcs in 5Ds and Arc V really bore me. I have nearly all the same narrative problems with that first half that I did back then. HOWEVER. What I do take back is everything I said about the story and characters not grabbing me.

Even in the sub I found the Fortune Cup to be entertaining. Leo and Luna are entertaining if somewhat annoying kids and Aki was a fascinating badass. And Dark Signers. Holy shit this arc is where 5Ds absolutely soars. This story is a fucking epic. I didn’t realise it in the sub because despite liking some of the characters and knowing there was good stuff in front of me, I couldn’t connect with the characters. I found most of them to be boring mouthpieces to a generic overly serious story. It just felt like we were going through the YGO motions without any of the personality. The dub doesn’t have this problem at all. 4Kids’ habit of making the characters and dialogue sillier actually did wonders for 5Ds. The dub is just… fun. Because it adds moments of levity that weren’t there in the sub. They allow us to see the characters just… being people which makes it so much easier to connect with them. They talk like real people, Leo and Luna argue and pick on each other like real siblings, the goddamn villains have moments where they feel like people, even if only for a few moments. Also, I genuinely really love many of the voices. Crow and Yusei have really fitting raspy voices, I love the way Carly’s voice sounds very awkward normally but becomes full of confidence when she’s a Dark Signer. 

Kalin’s actor is having the time of his life and it makes me have so much fun watching him, oh my god I’ll get to how much I love this man.

And many of the other characters have voices that I just enjoy listening to and add so much more personality to previously dry characters. Lazar is hilarious in the dub, Sayer’s voice has no right being that cool but my god he completely nails the soft calming voice, I can completely see how he was able to manipulate people and oddly enough? The thing that got me invested in the Dark Signers arc when I watched the dub (because I originally only intended to have this on in the background while I was working) wasn’t any of the duels. It was the scene where Goodwin was explaining the backstory of the Crimson Dragon and how it defeated the Earthbound Immortals:

I remember getting randomly sucked into it and to this day I’m not sure why. I think on a basic level I just liked the dub actor’s voice but also the way it’s explained in the dub just… really grabbed me. I had seen the arc in sub but I truly experienced it in dub. And what an experience it was.

Looking back on it, I honestly can’t believe I ever dissed the Yusei vs Kalin stuff because honestly? It’s just as good and emotionally investing as the Jack/Carly plot. Kalin is insanely entertaining in the dub. His over the top cackling and silly lines delivered in this delightfully gleeful crazy voice got me attached to him pretty much the moment I saw him. I absolutely love crazy sadistic villains when they’re done right and they really knocked it out of the park with this guy. He is hilarious and a good threat and my god the backstory with him and Yusei and the Enforcers is fantastic. I did not give enough credit to them for tackling the idea of extremism and showing how extremist views/actions can result from what was originally a good cause. Also, I just genuinely see where Kalin is coming from at times. Why the FUCK would you run when you’re public enemy number 1 on an island you can’t leave that’s controlled by the very people you’re running from?! No shit that didn’t work! Also, while it was completely in Yusei’s right to, he did still abandon Kalin so I totally get how Kalin believed that Yusei turned him in. Yusei betrayed his own core value of never leaving a friend which makes the moment where he does reach out to save Kalin during their duel all the more powerful. It’s honestly just as fantastic a duel/narrative as Jack/Carly (which I’ve praised excessively in the past so I won’t repeat myself here) and I’m sorry I didn’t see that sooner.

Crow vs Greiger is also fantastic, I love that both of their motivations are wanting to get revenge on behalf of their families and how this duel helped both of them overcome that desire that had consumed them- and oh my god, Dark Signers has issues for sure but the good stuff is downright fantastic.

So this first part of 5Ds is pretty good overall. It has some damming issues that hold it back from being truly amazing but the parts I loved I really really loved.

And now for part 2…

Not gonna lie, I was actually really enjoying part 2 for a good chunk of it. Yes, I hate the Carly thing. Her involvement was cut back and her and Jack’s confessions were undone not because of any real life drama like a certain rumour may have you believe but because of bad writing. Because why have two people in a healthy loving relationship when Jack can instead be oblivious to having a harem of mindless women instead?

Uuuuuuugh.

Okay, but that aside, I really enjoyed the parts leading up to the WRGP. Yes it’s much lighter and there’s a lot of filler but like the early portions of GX, the characters here are likeable enough to make the filler episodes fun and charming. I love Yusei, Jack, and Crow quipping with each other like brothers, I love the kids turbo duelling on rollerskates, I love Yusei instantly becoming attached to Bruno, I love the fact that Lazar gets distracted from important heists by the wonders of noodles. And AKIZA MY BELOVED.

I made a whole post about how much I adore the episode where she learns to turbo duel. I love how we see every step of her growth into a turbo duelist and that they allow her to make mistakes during that journey. And her friends are so supportive of her the whole way and it’s incredibly wholesome…

If only they’d done literally anything substantial with her learning to turbo duel in the next arc.

Okay, sorry, I gotta talk about negatives now. Because while I really enjoyed the stuff leading up to the WRGP, the nosedive this thing took the moment the tournament began is so sharp it astounds me. Because my one big problem with that pre-WRGP arc is Accel Synchro. Because quite frankly it makes no sense. The villains have an ability to steal Synchro monsters so you’d think the solution would be to use something other than to Synchro summon. But no. They decided the best solution to this cool roadblock would just be to synchro summon synchro monsters together, which is just a harder synchro summon that could still get your monsters stolen if you don’t do it all in one turn. But I handwaved this at first. Because I figured they just didn’t want another summoning mechanic to overshadow the one this show was made for-

OH GOD FUCKING DAMMIT.

Nope, that god awful boring put me to sleep Team Unicorn arc that was an insult to Aki’s character and women in YGO in general had the AUDACITY to have Yusei easily and with no explanation summon a fusion monster, something that wouldn’t be targeted by the Synchro stealing effect of the main villains and proceeds to NEVER USE IT AGAIN. When he’s in a situation where he needs to counter the synchro stealing, I was SCREAMING at the screen for him to use the Fusion monster he easily summoned quite literally a few episodes ago but he proceeds to do the much harder Accel synchro bullshit that even fails him once because of how stupid it is and all my investment in this plotline died. Just like that.

This plothole, and Aki’s honestly insulting treatment, completely took me out of the story and honestly, it made me feel like I was watching those subbed episodes again. I was just… so bored and uninterested. The characters still have their moments in the following episodes but it wasn’t enough to grab me or make me feel anything toward the WRGP arc apart from feeling like I was wasting my time. To be completely fair though… The final duel isn't bad.

I enjoy the concept of Aporia and I admire the attempt 4Kids made to make this feel final since, for reasons I don’t fully understand, they weren’t able to dub the final arc. I do feel like I got an ending, unlike the GX dub ending which didn’t even try to be conclusive. There are still loose ends to the dub but that’s just kind of inevitable. I don’t feel any desire to sacrifice anymore of my life points to this show when I don’t feel like it will yield anything positive for me. 5Ds for me ended with Carly taking pictures of everyone in celebration after the floating temple in the sky disappeared.

Or better yet, it ended right here:

Yeah, I’ll admit, I just wanted to end this overview on a positive note by talking about pretty much the only part of 5Ds I’d recommend people watch after Dark Signers last. Okay, besides the Akiza motorcycle episode. But anyways, Crash Town. I love this arc. Yes, it’s out of nowhere as fuck and the wild west theme is jarring at first. But you know what? I don’t give a fuck because this arc gave us MORE KALIN. I love Kalin’s arc in these episodes. The dub barely pulls any punches here. Apparently he’s explicitly suicidal in the sub but honestly, dub!Kalin is so self deprecating and obsessed with punishing himself for everything he did that I was already getting a suicidal vibe from him so this change doesn’t bother me at all. It’s clear he feels like he has nothing to live for and just wants to be punished for how he hurt Yusei and it’s heart-wrenching. But he finds new purpose in life through essentially being like an adopted older brother to those kids and that’s wholesome.

Like I said, this is how 5Ds ended for me. Akiza learned to turbo duel, Yusei finally got closure with Kalin, who has begun to heal and become a better person, and the characters I love have found happiness in their new home in Domino City.

Overall, I’m torn. 5Ds has some of the highest highs of any Yugioh yet simultaneously the lowest lows of any Yugioh. I do think I enjoyed more episodes than I didn’t but despite initially enjoying the first part of season 2, they’re not quite good enough for me to want to go back and rewatch them. Again, aside from Crashtown and Akiza turbo duelling. So… I don’t think I can give a definitive statement on 5Ds as a whole. I really loved some parts and really hated other parts. The first half I can say is overall good, heck Dark Signers I’d go as far as to call great but the second half… fuck everything in it besides the funny moments, Akiza turbo duelling, and Crashtown.

[bebx]

hey!! i’m having a little dilemma and i’ve followed you for so long now that i trust your judgement and reasoning, so i was hoping you’d be able to help,, you’ve helped me before when i was too nervous to not be anonymous so i’m back again 😼

it’s nothing serious by any means!! i’m just a fic writer,, smut being my jam 😎 although i don’t get a lot of chance to write between the lack of ideas for the people i feel i “should” be writing for (you’ll see what i mean in a sec) and getting ready to finish a levels n start uni,, still, i enjoy writing when i can! but i’ve always thought i should only write about fictional characters because they’re exactly that, yanno? but lately i’ve had ideas for real “celebs” (youtubers especially, some musicians,, maybe some actors too?), and i wasn’t sure if that’s kinda immoral or creepy,,, i don’t really know any of their stances on being written about except for one youtuber group who has a series of reading and “acting out” smutty fan fictions written about them, and they just laugh it off, so i figure it can’t be so bad, right?

i know quite a few people on here write for actual people (i cannae recall if you have but i thought i remembered something about tom hiddleston back in the day? apologies if i’m mistaken!!) and i enjoy those when they pop up, although i don’t necessarily search for them anymore.. so i suppose what i’m asking is- what do you think about it? is it immoral or can it be justified? because at this point i may have to write it either way and just not publish it, cos i’ve got ideas for these guys dribbling from my littol brain and out my ears 😭👹

you’re wonderful btw, ty for being someone people feel like they can come to on this scary app 🫶🫶🫶

Hi, thank you for sticking around. I really appreciate it 💗

That being said, I’d like to start with a disclaimer that my opinions regarding this delicate topic are only opinions — they are not facts nor laws that have to be abided — and the answer I’m about to give is in no way to shame any person or to cause any negativity towards any person at all; here we go, the only time I’ve written about real people was when I was younger, back in my One Direction Wattpad era when I “didn’t know better” and I have taken all of my works about them on that site down because, looking back, I’m no longer comfortable having had written about them, since they’re real people and not fictional characters who I can shove my “headcanons” into and act like they’re my own project. Again, this is only how I personally feel about the matter as I’ve grown and am no longer the person I was years ago. No one harassed me into taking my works down, it’s only that my perspective on things has changed.

The only Tom Hiddleston related fics I’ve written about are about Loki and occasionally the other character he’s portrayed, sir Thomas Sharpe, but not Tom himself. And I don’t think I’ll ever write anything about Tom. One person’s reaction upon “being written about in a fanfic” cannot be applied to every other person and I don’t think it’s right to assume everyone would be comfortable being written about in a fanfic, even if they might not ever see it. It still feels to me like a violation in some way? Especially since they didn’t consent to be written about.

I’m all for “write whatever you want” but in my humble opinion, this applies to fictional characters, not real people.

I don’t know if this is the answer you were looking for, and I apologize if it’s not, but as to whether or not it’s morally acceptable or if it’s justifiable, I don’t think I can give you an answer for that, since 1.) I’m not the one being written about, so it’s not my place to assume or assure how the people who were written about would feel, whether or not they’d be comfortable about it and 2.) I don’t think it’s a good idea to rely solely on other people’s advice to determine whether or not something is morally acceptable or if it’s justifiable, because at the end of the day, the answer you’ll get will only be opinions of the person you’ve asked, and you might just get the complete opposite answer from another person, because there’s no “right or wrong” answer but only opinions and each person will have different opinions. I can give you advice, what my options on the matter are, but the only person you should trust the most is yourself.

Again, these are just how I personally feel. I know a lot of people on here also write about real people and all that, and I want to clarify again that this is not to “attack” or to “shame” anybody. We all have our reasons, and… yeah, you do you. I will never judge anybody based on this matter, because it’s not my place. My opinions are that; I’m personally not comfortable reading or writing fics about people who aren’t fictional, but if you are, I will not shame or attack you for it, and I will absolutely not “distant myself from you because I think I’m morally superior than you” — like I said, we all have our own reasoning behind our decisions, and I will never act like I’m “morally superior” than anyone. I hope you have a good time and I hope you’re comfortable with whatever decision you make. My little blog will always be a safe place for you.

[ambrosiarose418]

honestly my friends are actually the most delusional people ever.

i love my friends but sometimes I just question their logic. One of my friends is a classic delulu girl who has crushes on literally everyone. she likes actors and actresses (she's pan), fictional characters (but like, THOSE fictional characters that EVERY delusional girl lusts after), and those huge jerks at school that she only likes because they look kind of conventionally attractive. she's unnecessarily flirty to everybody, turns everything into a pickup line in the most inappropriate of situations, has the dirtiest mind ever, and is constantly ranting about how hot these random book characters are. I love her--she's a distinct personality and an amazing and smart person, but being around her when she's in this state is frankly annoying. i dont like spending my time with someone whose logic can be so flawed. I'm fine with all the other stuff, usually, but the terrible timing of her jokes and crushes on people who have LITERALLY BULLIED ME...to say the least, it makes me uncomfortable.

she can be extremely insensitive at times. she doesn't mean to, she just can't read when something is sensitive. i suffer from mental health breakdowns/burnouts sometimes, and I just want a place in my group chat to rant, but she ALWAYS turns it into a joke.

Me: guys i'm just really tired of life and school and whatnot. scheduling and work is literally so hard and I'm SO DONE. i just want to die.

Her: lol same dude take me with you

an almost DIRECT QUOTE from a conversation we once had. i don't know if it's just her using humor as a coping mech and she has the same problems too--like maybe she's serious whenever she says "i want to die with you"--but I'd rather she just be upfront about it if thats the case. I know that's hard...but also, it makes it harder for me to express that i'm trying to be serious. that i actually need help. She can use humor as a way to cope, but does she really have to make it so it's harder for me to make help?

for the romance thing, it might just be because I'm demisexual that I don't understand the whole liking-someone-without-substance idea. it doesn't make sense in my eyes, but maybe that's just how allo people think? maybe people are actually just like that? from MY pov it looks lame, but obviously I could just have a really skewed perspective on romance-related matters, especially considering I spent most of my life believing I was straight and that everyone was just like me. we love ace panic! all jokes aside, though, i'd love for someone to please tell me if i'm the one seeing this weird or if everybody, or most allo people at least, have these kinds of nonsensical crushes and delusions.

sorry for the harsh words, by the way. as a disclaimer, I truly do love this friend. I think she's brilliant and smart, but some of these flaws just bother me when I'm around her. I have slight anger issues too, and I can't help but get annoyed by her often. I haven't had the heart or courage to tell her any of this, though I did tell one of my closer friends who has started to develop similar behaviors.

please feel free to give me advice, though its okay if you don't have anything. honestly this is mostly just a dump of things i'm too ashamed to put my group chat. :)

-ambrosia <3

[scattered-winter]

🌸 Tom Holland or Andrew Garfield ? 🌸 Dylan O'brien or Ki Hong Lee ? 🌸 TMR Thomas or Gally ? 🌸 Thomally or Minewt ? 🌸 Newtmas or Nalby ? 🌸 Brendesa or Soniet ?

anon you went OFF huh ❤

andrew garfield definitely. tom holland is kinda annoying ngl. and andrew was always my favorite spiderman of the 2, anyway, so this was an easy choice

he's just a friend-shaped fluffy-headed fella

dylan o'brien is my favorite of the two! watching the old cast interviews and bloopers from the maze runner trilogy is always so fun because he's such a fun-loving goof

I gotta say, I like Thomas more than Gally, but I do love them both! Gally's another interesting narrative foil to Thomas (maybe not on Teresa's level but it's definitely there) which makes their dynamic really interesting to see

thomally is good....classic enemies to lovers, 10/10 rivals. but MINEWT MAN.......best friends to lovers always holds a special place in my heart because those dynamics always straddle the line between romantic or platonic, which makes my aroace heart very happy....also they've been through so much together and they care about each other so much ❤ so I'd probably choose minewt

nalby is.....I have some mixed feelings on this one. my main problem with it is because alby is SO radically different between his book characterization and his movie characterization. so it's kind of hard to pin down a characterization that'll stick, yknow? and I never really saw the appeal for shipping them, but thats just my opinion ofc! (I don't tend to ship characters until a friend points out that they ship something, then I rethink things in that lens and decide if I wanna ship it or not. it's generally not my go-to when I look at fandom stuff, so I'm not the resident TMR Ship Expert jshdhskdhd) but newtmas holds a very special place in my heart so I'd have to choose that one ♥

brendesa would be one of those sexily toxic relationships that are an absolute DUMPSTER FIRE to witness but it'd be funny so. there's that. (if you're looking at it from a canon perspective, at least. they're so different that I don't think they'd vibe At All. but from a fanon standpoint they'd probably work) but SONIET IS MY FAVE ❤ they don't have a huge part in the books lmao but in the movies they're shown together at all times and I respect that ❤ post-apocalyptic sapphics my beloved. that scene when Sonya gets rescued from WICKED and Harriet runs to give her a big ol' hug? lives in my mind rent free (I know aris was there too but this ain't about him)

make me choose!

[hologramcowboy]

An Invite to Harmony...

Since my inbox is full of AAs tell me what I should or shouldn't be as a Jensen Ackles fan ("If you are Jensen fan this and that") and basically acting like fandom despots, here's a different point of view. I am aware that not everyone can celebrate diverse views and there are no "shoulds" in life, it's delusional to expect anyone to life according to your values, that's Your job. That being said, here's my healthy version of what being a Jensen fan "should" be:

If you're a Jensen fan then you should focus and enjoy what you love about him as long as it makes you feel good and detach from all the rest without dictating other people's experience.

If you're a Jensen fan that should never affect your well-being, self worth or self-esteem or ever have you feeling entitled to damage it in others because, if so, then it's an unhealthy, toxic obsession that will overshadow not only your thoughts and feelings but it will also encourage sociopathic behavior and overshadow your goals in life.

In other words, instead of fulfilling Your life, you will be out there "defending Jensen" in creepy ways while arguing with reality and trust me, there's nothing creepier to an Actor/Actress than an over-invested, obsessed fan. They may smile when you go to cons and tell them absurd things but deep inside they are either terrified or laughing at your lack of touch with reality.

No Actor loves people starting wars in their name because it directly affects their KLT factor (Know-Like-Trust). If you are meant to be a reflection of your favorite Actor (if that's even an ambition you have formed in life), then be professional and know how to exchange views with others, just as they do in real life without attacking or demeaning anyone.

Furthermore, instead of complaining about what others are posting (let's face it they are not going to sacrifice their expertise or preferences for you). I invite you to write your own posts and reviews with Your opinion about anything Jensen related and quit trying to exert yourself in someone else's experience by twisting everything they say simply because you are unable to process a different POV.

If you're a Jensen fan, then you have the power to curate your own feed instead of dictating what others can or cannot post. Jensen is an Actor, he doesn't love ANYONE limiting ANY sort of experience, part of his job is exploring ALL facets of a particular reality and doing so with empathy not spite or toxic hatred.

If you're a Jensen fan you love him as he is, instead of building him up into a Godlike image that he can never live up to and then complaining when people fail to perceive said image.

If you're a Jensen fan, share your love for him with like-minded people but do so without objectifying, degrading or minimizing him.

If you're a Jensen fan, you should probably be aware that tearing into his best friend in life won't earn you any brownie points. Jensen loves Jared and vice-versa and I often wonder why we can't build a fandom that is similar to their relationship.

So instead of sending me rude asks(which you can do if you want but they will be swiftly ignored as most of the time they lack even the most basic of critical thinking skills), I invite you to be a Jensen Ackles fan which should come with a high standard of behavior and perception and the same openness towards life and people he has. If you consider yourself like an "ambassador" that promotes Jensen, then do so ethically. Last but not least, sending infinite love to those who authentically love both Jensen and Jared and who embody the sense of harmony and beauty tried to convey as an option with this post. I love you. Please keep being who you are because you are beyond special.

Feel free to share this post if you agree.

Disclaimer: As always, this is just my view so please take what resonates and ignore the rest. Also, feel free to add your own notes to this, I'd love to know what others think on the topic.