#does this make sense? not a physical script but like a mental note of how someone works and how you should work with the

[autisticlee]

talking to new people I just met is way too hard and exhausting. I prefer to follow each other online for a while first and watch them, get to know them from the side, develop a script/manual of how to talk to or interact with them, and already know the essentials in order to skip the small talk phase. going straight from stranger to trying to talk to someone is overwhelming and difficult. I can barely function in conversation without having a script for someone. but making a script for people takes SO LONG. so it can also become exhausting, especially if you are missing essential pieces that person doesn't easily give you.

[savagewildnerness]

OK, Here we go: S2E7 - I could not prevent it:

SPOILERS

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Random train-of-thought thoughts...

The thing that I find most difficult is that in the books you know nobody deserves death & you know when characters are justified or not justified in their actions or inactions.  But on the TV show I just feel increasingly all-at-sea, especially regarding Lestat seeing as we haven’t had any thing from his own perspective yet and it is just A Lot.

For example, in the books, Lestat does not deserve to die, but Claudia is 100% justified in murdering him… but Louis’ inaction is not entirely justifiable, though it’s understandable and Louis’ passivity and his regret at this is the hinge of the entire novel!  You can understand why Louis has anger towards Lestat and Lestat towards Louis and you understand that the love is more powerful and they always both loved each other.

And you know what characters want: Book-Armand wants Claudia dead from the first second he sees her; Armand & Lestat both want Louis alive more than any thing & Lestat doesn’t want Claudia to die, though if it were the only way to spare Louis he’d do any thing.  And book-Lestat is in an incredibly fragile place both mentally and physically even BEFORE he arrives in Paris.  Book-Lestat literally couldn’t have done the trial the way we saw in E7.

But in the show, all the stuff around memories mean it’s unclear exactly what anyone wants or deserves or is justified or not in in many cases. And sometimes it’s opposite.  Lestat truly does deserve death in the show to a degree he doesn’t in the book at all, which is SUCH a huge alteration.  If you haven’t read the books I can’t articulate the difference it makes.  The fact that Lestat has done absolutely nothing to deserve death in the book HANGS OVER all of the pages where Lestat is not present.  It hangs over Louis and obviously it hangs over the trial!  Louis isn’t thinking about Lestat all the time in the book because he knows he loves him anyway despite everything as Louis hasn’t realised that yet and is only starting to realise it.  He just knows he feels some thing and he knows Lestat was wronged and he misses him.

On the TV show I find it unclear whether Armand actively wants Claudia dead and if so, why?  Or to what degree he needs it?  I can see Lestat doesn’t want to be at the trial, but it isn’t clear whether he could not bear to see Louis die from this episode.  Santiago, confusingly seems to care more about killing Claudia than Louis which makes zero sense…. And I don’t understand the why of everyone.  The clearest character is Madeleine, who simply loves Claudia & that’s it. 

I hope it can all become clearer, but I don’t feel 1 episode is enough for that…?

More notes:

Anyone know what Santiago says to Madeleine?  Clearly hypnotising her, but what does he say?  And why is she hypnotised.  Just because she is irrelevant, so to keep her quiet?

Why would Santiago want to torture Claudia pre-trial more than Louis?  He absolutely despises Louis more!  So it doesn’t make sense to me why it’s Claudia who’d be put in the rat box?

“With additions made by The Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt” added to the play script.  How is this achieved?  Lestat’s telling?  Invading Lestat’s mind?

Incredible acting by everyone

Why did Santiago just go with the audience’s decision for banishment?  

Some kind of DreamStat in Dubai?  It felt that way…

Let’s talk Lestat:

I had expected something similar to Armand’s E3 story-Lestat: a very twisted version so was pleased this episode isn’t that.  Lestat sometimes seems very much his real-self… and at other times he seems like he does’t know what he’s doing… but the times he is his real-self, why doesn’t he scream about the fact that Louis is about to be condemned to death here!?!?!  I mean…. It is exquisite the way Lestat first looks at Louis, with no mercy… then turns away, a broken thing - the acting by Sam.... but like... is Armand in his head the entire time and we just don't know it yet? Some of it must be from Lestat's own volition or he would not be able to go off-script the way he does. The trial feels very different to the books.

It’s an odd mix of what seems very true and what seems total lies - there’s enough of real-Lestat that it feels real a lot of the time, but then it’s a weird mix of sincerity and insincerity crushed against each other and it’s hard to feel from when you can’t entirely tell the boundaries of this…

Lestat’s first speech is obviously scripted and it feels like Lestat is on autopilot almost.  When he says “It’s a story of love, not butchery” I already can’t tell if that’s scripted or if it’s Lestat going off-script?  BUT pointing out Armand’s influence on Nicolas’ death must surely be off-script?

After the “Come to me” bit, where Lestat displaces what he did onto Louis, which is clearly a (scripted) lie Lestat tells, we see Armand looking some way, then Lestat sits & looks exhausted/devastated… I wonder if Armand is mind controlling Lestat there to get him to say that? But it’s very confusing as at other times Lestat is clearly sincere & even goes off-script to be sincere, so it is quite confusing what we are/are not supposed to question…. I also noticed Sam mouths the words of Lestat’s Nicolas story along with Lestat speaking that, so he must have written that part of the script….

Obviously the take down of the homophobic soldier was incredibly satisfying…

I am reminded of when Claudia said the best lies contain truth, but it’s a lot.

At least Daniel knows Armand isn’t telling every thing truthfully…

So!  Let’s get to my least favourite thing - The Drop.  I believe the drop happened after this episode.  I do not see any way it didn’t.  The fight was pretty much as I expected inside.  Though Louis said crueller words than I expected, I guess.

But it seems to me the writers have decided to lessen Lestat’s responsibility in making Claudia, but to up his wronging of Louis - Louis who Lestat NEVER WRONGED!

While in themselves, these changes could be perceived as minor, the impact they have on the characters is massive.

As I say, I do believe the drop happened now.  That off-script apology - I do not see it being taken back or not being real.  That definitely wasn’t Armand making Lestat say that on stage, and in Paris Armand’s book-canon Lestat-drop wouldn’t have happened yet.  The whole feeling of it felt 100% real and a genuine apology.  It is what it is, but for me in terms of the writing it is 100% a mistake because it is a misunderstanding of the essence of Lestat.  Lestat would not do that to Louis.  Specifically, to Louis.  I cannot say it is in any way even in the spirit of Lestat.  And it seems very odd the show is including it because actually they’re emphasising the relationships more than the books so it matters even more in my opinion!  But, I accept that Lestat dropped Louis on the show.  I see no alternative scenario.  The implications of it will carry through Loustat’s entire relationship though and I do not like it.  The ending of Queen of the Damned, if they go with it as written will be SO different in feel as well, which even though that is so far away, makes me sad to even imagine how different it must feel already.

I get why there is an alteration with Claudia due to her being very different from in the books… but in the end I feel this episode should have been all about Claudia and I didn’t think that much about her or feel that much from her because there was so much else I was trying to work out, I suppose?  The biggest feeling was Madeleine choosing her, which was beautiful.  But not big enough.  Claudia deserved more.

Preview for next episode shows Louis seeing Lestat locked up AFTER the trial and with the fire gift, presumably going to kill him.  At first I was panicked that Lestat would *only* be seen locked up after the trial (and I am sure that’s what Armand will tell Louis), but we saw Lestat in that trailer in a different outfit, so we must see him pre-trial locked up too.

Yeah… my brain feels fried.  I did think Lestat would be painted more-the-villain than he was.  But the way things were it feels very confusing.  I couldn’t even guess what percentage of that trial was exactly as it happened and what percentage not…

But anyway, the episode was beautifully acted...

[canyoufucksoniccharacters]

I am DEEPLY sorry about making you dive down this rat’s nest of a lore hole, but I’m back with another question that should be cleared up: Can You Fuck Shadow the Hedgehog?

I have a feeling this is gonna get complicated real fast…

I've had this one in mind for a while, so this shouldn't be all that hard to write.

CAN YOU FUCK: SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG?

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YOU FELL FOR IT! YOU ALL FELL FOR IT!

To any reasonable person, Shadow should have been included in the Sonic post, alongside Surge, Mighty, etc. But you want to know why I didn't? Because if I did, it wouldn't give me the proper opportunity to rant about something.

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG IS NOT 50 YEARS OLD. HE NEVER WAS, HE NEVER HAS BEEN, AND HE WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE.

This is a misconception that has permeated through the fanbase for Chaos knows how long, being repeated over and over and over again, ad nauseam.

Why do people even say this? Well, Project Shadow started 50 years before the event of Sonic Adventure 2. Which means Shadow's creation happened 50 years ago.

So, people take this as "Oh, Shadow was created 50 years ago, this must mean he's 50 years old!"

DO YOU PEOPLE NOT KNOW WHAT THE WORD "STASIS" MEANS.

During Sonic Adventure 2, Eggman breaks into a military base to unleash a "top secret military weapon" for his plans. This weapon, is, of course, shadow. The screenshot above is from the scene where Shadow is released.

What does this look like those particles are? What do they look like to you? Usually, thick white air particles like these are a result of the use of cold to pause biological processes. On top of that, the shot right before it displays the object atop the machinery pretty well, although with some distance.

This is a pod. Like, this is very obviously a pod. Shadow is even standing on top of it once he's revealed.

And what does he say when he's revealed?

Note how he says "Awakening". This is taken from a re-translation of the Japanese script, since the official translation makes him refer to being released as opposed to being awakened. Remember, translations for these games in this era were... Less than stellar.

(seriously, don't go there yet? to the guy telling you he shouldn't have ever been born? like maybe you're right maybe you shouldn't have been born but we don't know enough to say that for sure. ok, buddy)

So, yeah, Shadow isn't 50. I've been saving this for a standalone post, because it is baffling to me how people still keep spouting that "Fact" over and over, even though it makes no sense. He was frozen. He didn't develop mentally or physically. I'm not a Marvel fan by any means, but this is like if you added 66 years to Captain America's age because that's how long he was frozen. For these characters, if you just knocked them unconscious and then sent them to the future, it literally would not make even a bit of a difference.

He's not 50. Moving on.

Oh yeah, uh. That whole immortality thing.

(Source: Japanese dub, translated.)

Here and there, official material will mention Shadow as being "Immortal" or "Ageless". While never stated in the 2005 game, it makes complete sense, as Shadow was made with Black Doom's own genetic material. Black Doom is immortal, Black Doom's genes are in Shadow, thus, Shadow cannot die of old age.

There is, however, no implication that he does not mentally mature. In fact, it would make sense for him to start out quite young to then become more mature as time goes on, since part of the reason he was made was to accompany Maria, in a sibling-like relationship. Although it's unlikely that the Sonic Channel artwork is canon, most of it at least, it does convey a situation akin to this, which would be horribly out of character otherwise.

Look at em! They're doing their homework together! And then a few years later, after Maria's death...

Look at him! Using a minigun for the first time!

His maturity in SA2 also seems just about on par with Sonic's, so it's safe to assume that when that game happened, they were about even in terms of mental development. In general, Shadow is a Sonic counterpart. A very, very close counterpart.

... Very... Very... Ah screw it, let's just bite the bullet.

This happened! An entire Bumblekast episode dedicated to Sonic, Shadow, and mostly Sonadow. It's pretty recent, too! From 8 months ago! In fact, it was made for Pride Month 2023; after Frontiers released. So, Ian Flynn by then became not just a comic writer, but a writer for the games.

I'm not saying Sonadow is canon, obviously, but if the current writer of the games is willing to entertain it for an entire episode and even go as far as saying it's actually really easy to make happen and you don't need to do too much work for it to happen, then it's probably safe to assume the characters are on even ground in terms of maturity.

So, if Shadow can hypothetically, in a fully canon-compatible way, make out with Sonic, and Sonic is fuckable, then Shadow is, by extension, fuckable.

Honestly this is entirely longer than necessary. I could have brought this one up earlier and saved myself the work. Where's the fun in that, though?

Either way, verdict is;

You can, in fact, fuck Shadow The Hedgehog.

[a-really-big-cat]

My question: I sometimes see Catholics complaining about gender roles in society (as seen in that reblog), but doesn’t the Church promote certain gender roles as the ideal? Men and women tending to have complimentary roles, cross dressing generally being a sin, etc? I can back this up with documents from the Church.

Tbh I'm not the expert on this issue, and my analysis could be wrong, and I forget a lot of the useful terminology that could make my argument more clear, but this is how I see it: the differences between the sexes should be viewed by Catholics from a teleological sense; i.e., what is the telos (end; function, purpose) of masculinity and femininity (biologically speaking)? I propose that the telos of maleness and femaleness is fatherhood and motherhood, respectively. Note that this does not strictly mean biological parenthood, but rather can also include leadership and support of a non-genetic variety; e.g. an abbot or abbess is the "parent" of the religious under their supervision. This also does not mean that everyone is actually called to being a parent. We are called to love and serve the Lord before we are called to being a parent or teacher.

The basic biological differences between the sexes (allowing for a great deal of variation), including physical and mental differences, naturally complement these roles of fatherhood and motherhood, aggressiveness and empathy, decisiveness and collaboration. These differences are good and well-ordered, because they arise from the proper ends of the two sexes.

However, there are also societal differences between the sexes, which often do not have clear connection to the ends of fatherhood and motherhood, and sometimes can be very harmful (take footbinding in Chinese history for example). The aesthetic tastes of both sexes fluctuate both by culture and time period. These differences are not truly derived from the telos, and so cannot really be called "male" or "female" in nature.

The primary problem with gender ideology is that it defines maleness and femaleness not by anything essential, like the end or purpose of biological masculinity or femininity, but by those superfluous societal traits and behaviours. Its proponents make use of a highly subjective and unstable definition composed of an assortment of traits and behaviours ("gender roles") which they assign as the true definition of masculinity or femininity.

About crossdressing: I am not an expert but my friend on discord says that it is sinful because of the scandal it causes: "Crossdressing is inherently an attack on societal graces and perceptions with intent to disrupt them. Yes, one culture and time period's masculine or feminine is not the same as another. This does not mean expressing the opposite sex's clothing in your time and culture is not done without intent to 'flip the script' so to speak". I hope that provides some explanation.

TL;DR: This is not a subject I'm an expert on; I tried my best; I recommend reading Theology of the Body (even though I haven't yet lol)

[zivazivc]

Pinocchio AU

Okay people want the explanation for this comic so here it goes. It’s long and complicated and MESSED UP because of course it is, this is me. I’m going to write in points because my small tired brain can’t handle good english atm but basically to sum up the Adrien was a sentimonster theory or Pinocchio AU as I like to call it:

Young married Emilie and Gabriel can’t have kids. Gabriel reluctantly accepts this fate and even brings up adoption as a possibility once, but Emilie doesn’t want to hear any of that. She’s a bit of a Marinette in the sense that she pictures this romanticized ideal life for herself and a child—her flesh and blood—HAS to be in it.

They keep trying to get a baby while other young families Emilie knows keep growing. She feels left out and hurt and depressed, then her newlywed twin sister announces she’s expecting a baby too and something within Emilie just unhinges.

She eventually lies to some of her friends, who she was out for coffee with, that she’s pregnant too. She mostly does it just to see their reaction and feel what it would be like but it quickly spirals out of control where she just starts pretending she’s pregnant until you can’t even tell if she believes it herself.

Gabriel is confused at first because he hears the news second hand (a friend/family member congratulating him) so he’s apprehensive when he approaches his wife but she convinces him that they really are getting a baby and Gabriel is ecstatic.

It’s only later at a doctor’s check up that Gabriel learns that she indeed is not pregnant. The doctor even speaks to him alone explaining that his wife is in denial and that he should make sure she goes to see a psychiatrist, something she definitely wouldn’t do alone.

Gabriel is unsuccessful with that because he’s not entirely persistent, doesn’t want to be the guy with the crazy wife having to tell everyone she lied about being pregnant, and hopelessly believes she’ll just get over it eventually.

That is until her “pregnancy is near due”—her sister already had Félix in England a few months ago—and he stumbles on her transformed with her peacock miraculous (they already have both of them) creating a sentimonster newborn.

They have a huge fight about it but because Emilie refuses to destroy it, won’t tell Gabriel where the amok is, and Gabriel can’t just hurt the baby with his hands, Emilie just… wins. Fucked up, yeah?

Now she tried creating kids before this one, using her imagination to try and blend her and Gabriel’s looks but it just wasn’t working. So she decided to copy of photos of baby Félix because he already looked almost like a copy of his mother, and Amélie and Emilie already looked alike so it’s not so weird?—is what her mind was telling her.

She didn’t dare alter his looks but she decided to give the baby Gabriel’s eye color to include the “father” in some way. (Yes in that comic I made I gave Adrien a mix of green and gray but that was mainly to get the point across to the perceptive readers)

Now we got Adrien, a normal baby boy to the whole world except for Gabriel who’s forced into his wife’s fantasy through social expectations.

Why are we only at this point and this post is already so long AAAAAAAA!!!

Adrien physically basically grows in a way where Emilie just keeps changing his appearance to match what Félix looked like a few months prior.

Mentally he’s like a robot just taking in information without really needing to learn it. So Emilie decides when he says his first word, she decides when he learns to walk,… He knows how to walk, he just wasn’t given the command to do so yet.

But even so he does develop a personality over time, just slower, because unlike a normal child who’s always testing his boundaries, how far they’re allowed to go until they’re in real trouble, Adrien just can’t misbehave. At all.

But he does have his favorite foods and favorite toys, and jokes that make him laugh the most. The problem is just that Emilie could just decide that his favorite food is strawberries and he’d just start acting accordingly, rewiring his belief. 

He also isn’t allowed to argue or be mean to others which is why Félix thinks he’s a goody two-shoes weirdo while Chloé the brat adores him.

This behavior isn’t so hard to hide with a toddler who’s fickle but it’s harder and harder as the kid grows. Which is why the family becomes very secluded over time.

Gabriel always keeps distance with his “son”. He’s not Dad, he’s Father, he doesn’t do hugs and cuddles, he doesn’t say I love you. But Adrien knows he loves him because his mom told him so and he loves him back unconditionally because Mom said that’s what families do.

Now even though Gabriel is traumatized by this whole ordeal and knowing Adrien “isn’t real” freaks him out he does soften a bit over time. I’m going to give an awful example but like someone who hates cats softening for a cat that their partner/roommate decided to get/had from before. Continuing with this example: But still becoming appalled when the cat starts acting odd/unusually.

Okay I think you get the gist. Let’s move on…

Emilie loves her son more and more as he grows and his sentimonster behaviours start bothering her more and more too. She hates being reminded that he’s not a real boy by people mentioning he looks young for his age because Emilie forgot to make him grow for a while. She hates when he does everything like he’s told. She hates that he has no real friends because they’re afraid to expose him to the outside too much and without supervision. She hates to think about his future.

Her desire for him to be real keeps growing and is what drives her to search for a solution in the miraculous spellbook.

She cracks the script after years, when Adrien is nearly a teen, and finds a way to transfer the creators soul into a sentimonster.

It’s a long process that takes time and while she falls ill to everyone around her, Adrien becomes more real.

Gabriel starts realizing what’s happening when he notices Adrien hesitate for a second when he’s playing a video game and Gabriel wants him to do something, groan when he gets bothered watching TV, huff, complain, have slightly opposing opinions to his and Emilie’s, when he argues with his mother when she tells him she’s feeling fine; when he notices his son’s eyes are greener. Or is it all in his head?

He confronts his wife too late, when she’s extremely ill already, her normally vibrant eyes dulled match Adrien’s bluish gray, and he pieces together in his head what she’s doing.

Before Gabriel could properly think what to do to stop the love of his life from turning into a lifeless doll, in a fit of panic he tries to take her wedding band (where he knows Adrien’s amok is) to get rid of Adrien instead, but is unsuccessful in getting it off her so he snatches her peacock brooch instead (which she needs to complete the spell obvs) and breaks it. (Heyoo! broken peacock miraculous. things are coming together)

Because the spell was almost complete anyway it’s Emilie who falls unconscious. But she doesn’t disappear because she’s not a real sentimonster, she just becomes dormant like one.

This is the point in the story where Gabriel makes it seem like Emilie ran away or something like that—basically disappear. Now he’s living knowing he has an almost sentimonster wife in the basement, knowing he almost killed his son (or her), and having to care for a son that suddenly became much more alive, questioning, arguing, angry, screaming, not accepting, crying, grieving, staring at him with Emilie’s eyes.

Instead of becoming a real parent, Gabriel shuts him out.

Soon Adrien evolves desires for socializing, company, getting away from the suffocating home which eventually leads to him going to a public school.

He slowly starts to live life freely without the restrictions that were put around his thoughts.

Gabriel has an even stranger relationship with Adrien now because he still loves him in a way but also holds resentment toward him. But mostly he sees him as something valuable.

The show happens here…  And now finally we get to the comic…

Gabriel gets a hold of the ladybug and black cat miraculouses. (There’s no epic fight in his lair as you see there’s no Ladybug in the comic but that’s not really important)

What’s important is that Gabriel had deciphered the miraculous spellbook with the help of Emilie’s notes and had decided to use the unification’s “wish” power to awaken Emilie.

He’s aware he’ll need to sacrifice something for the wish to come true and he’s certain Adrien should be enough because the soul inside him is literally the one thing Emilie is missing.

✨Adrien (poor boy just lost his miraculous) is taken to Gabriel’s lair, where he finds out his father is Hawk Moth, sees his mother, learns he’s a sentimonster, and that he’s going to become a sacrifice ✨

Of course the last part is not what happens. It’s Gabriel who ends up being sacrificed.

I can’t decide if Gabriel ends up sacrificing himself because he changed his mind in the last moment while Adrien was screaming for him to stop, OR  because he didn’t love Adrien enough for him to be considered an equal exchange for his wife… O.O

But anyhow…

Emilie wakes up with Gabriel’s soul within her (hence the bluish gray eyes in the comic).

Adrien is traumatized for life.

This took me hours to write… I knew there was a reason why I didn’t want to do it. I hope I didn’t forget anything and my brain made sense of it all

Well there you have it, peeps. The Pinocchio AU. It’s as messed up as my sleep schedule. Good night. 

[loousir]

[Merman] Close up Shots

Popular Octomer Male x Photographer Male Reader Part Two

Cassian

Warnings: Tentacle boy do be flirting again, some physical affection with said tentacles, nakey Cass for a little, talking about how he shifts from octo to human

•︎☆×【Ｐｒｉｄｅ】×☆•

2 of 7 The Seven Sins Series

Masterlist | Part One | Part 3 |

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About a week past since you had last seen Cassian. The festival was coming up tonight so as a mental preparation, you decided to go for a walk along the beach. You had your bag and camera with you as you walked along the coast line, snapping the occasional picture here and there.

Before you had even realized it, you were at the place where you had first met Cassian. That same gorgeous cove cave now lay silent, hosting only a couple gulls and some sandpipers. You decided to go into the rather large area and simply take in the mid afternoon atmosphere in peace.

The waves crashed against the shore gently as your shoes crunched through the sand. You found yourself watching the water which nearly tripped you. A heavy glass tinking sounds filled your ears for a moment before you looked to the bottle you kicked. It was very clearly a message in a bottle but as you approached it to open it, you realized it was filled with water.

"Well fuck." You sighed and sat down in the sand next to the bottle. The most confusing part about the whole things is that the cork was really on there so you didn't understand how water got into it. Once you managed to get the thing open, you dumped the water out along with the letter. When you picked up the rolled paper it felt dry. That's when it clicked.

"Oh! That makes a lot of sense now." You said as you unrolled it. In absolutely gorgeous script, a still very readable letter started out by addressing you. You blinked a couple times, staring at your name on the paper before continuing.

'(Y/n),

I might be silly for trying such an outdated way of messaging but as I didn't get your number I figured this would suffice. That is to hope you get this before another does.

Let's meet here on the night of the festival around 6. As a confirmation of sorts, I ask that you leave the bottle underneath the wall tree. You'll see it.

-Cassian'

You smiled and rolled your eyes before glancing around for said tree. It was very close to the water and you decided instead of just leaving the bottle, you would wait as well. You carefully made your way over to the tree and sat criss cross on the rock underneath it. Your wait was only a few minutes before you noticed something shifting in the water.

The familiar blonde octomer breached the surface and looked over to the tree. His face held one of shock. "(Y/n)? You're here?" You smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I didn't bring a pen and paper to respond so." Cassian smiled and pulled himself into the shallow parts of the water.

"Its about 3 right now so we have a few hours before the festival." Cassian said with a smirk. You looked at him with an unamused face. "Don't smirk at me like you're gonna get something, we barely know each other." Cassian smirks again and pulls himself up onto the rock you were sitting on and ploped himself down next to you.

One of his tentacles gently coiled itself around your showing ankle before giving it a gentle squeeze. "Then let's get to know each other." Your cheeks flushed at the proximity and he laughed. Good gods... Cassian looked to the bottle and paper you were still holding in your hand. "Keep it." You furrowed your brows and looked over to him. "Huh?" He motions to the note and bottle.

"Keep it. As a memory of our first date."

You did that thing where you smiled but tried to hide it making Cassian laugh. "You invited me!" With an exaggerated sigh you nodded. "Yeah. I guess I did." Cassian smiles and wraps an arm and a tentacle around your waist. He was a bit damp but you didn't mind. "I have a question." He said, pulling you close to his hip. "What's your question?"

"Have you ever dated a non-human before?" You shook your head before tilting it to say kinda. "Well, I've only had two boyfriends. One of them was a half elf but I'm not too sure if that really counts." Cassian shrugs. "So I would be your first non-human AND octomer then." You blush softly and nod before looking up to him confused. "Wait who said we were dating?"

Cassian laughs again, making you blush more. "You definitely enjoy seeing me flustered." He nods confidently. "Yes I do indeed." After that, the two of you kept chatting about various things in your own lives and Cassian paused the conversation every so often to soak up the salty ocean water to prevent himself from drying out.

Apparently, Cassian used to date a sharkmer and at one point a naga. "The only reason me and the naga broke up is cause of when he learned I was an octomer. Apparently tentacles are an innate fear of his..." You told him about how you only moved here a about a month ago which prompted the question, "How do you like it here so far?"

You shrugged at the question. "Its a lot nicer than the last place I was living. Loads more places to get pictures." Cassian seemed to forget you took pictures for a job and you could tell by the look on his face. "Oh, I wish I could make photography my full time job but I just don't get enough gigs. I work part time in the little Cafe downtown."

"Oh! The one run by the Gargoyle? Tea and Stones right? His name slips my mind." You nodded. "His name is Xavier." Cassian nods. "We met once but it was long ago. I love going there when I do work on the land, especially after a long day." You nod and laugh. "Thats the best time to go." You pause for a moment. "I met Xavier when I first moved in. We're neighbors and as we were chatting it just so happened I was looking for a job and he was looking for people to hire."

Cassian smiles a little more, "Lucky timing." You nod and check your phone, it's just turning 5:10. "It's getting close to when we were gonna go. Did I tell you what it was?" Cassiam shakes his head. "No but that's OK. Let me shift and get dressed. Would you mind walking to my house with me?" You tilted your head and watched as he made his way back into the water.

You watched as Cassian went into the water until it was just above his chest that was showing. You could still see him with how clear the water is and you watched as he put his tentacles together to form two leg-like figures before they melded and fused together to form actual legs. You watched his face and he made it look way less painful then it probably was. And sure enough, he was buck naked, all proud and presented. Your cheeks instantly flushed once you noticed and you covered your eyes. Cassian walked up and smirked at how you weren't looking, taking pride in the fact he flustered you so much. "I went into the water to save you from the sounds as it's utterly disgusting." He said, walking up to you.

"Thaaaaanks..." Cassian chuckled and grabbed your hand away from your face, holding it in his own gently. You locked eyes with him when he did, you wanted to look out of sheer curiosity but your subconscious won't let you. "My place is right up the hill." He said, helping you off the rock. You thankfully avoided getting your shoes soaked as the two of you walked along the empty coastline.

It was maybe a 2 minute walk to his house and you recognized it. "Cassian you live there?" You asked, shocked slightly. Cassian laughs and nods. "Yeah, why?" You blinked and looked down the street as he quickly made his way into the house to avoid an indecent exposure charge. He pulled you inside and shut the door behind you.

"Cass I live down the street. I'm in the corner house. My only neighbor is Xavier." Cassian smiled and looks back to you when he let's go of your hand. "Then that means I get to visit whenever I want right?" You looked at him through squinted eyes. "No, at least text me first." Cassian smirks, "I'll need your number for that. But before, let me actually go get my phone. And get dressed." You blushed and nodded, forgetting he was naked for a moment.

You decided to make yourself comfortable on his couch and scroll though your phone, periodically checking the time. You were too engaged on whatever game you had opened on your phone to hear Cassian sneaking up behind you. "Boo~" He purred into your ear as he wrapped his arms around you. You jumped slightly and tensed heavily, dropping your phone in your lap. "Cassian please don't do thaaaat..." You whined out with closed eyes, leaning your head against his shoulder.

Cassian reached around you and snatched your phone from you lap before pulling away. "Cass, give-" He cut you off by handing your phone back. "I was just putting my number in, relax." Cassian said before going over to the door to put some shoes on. You looked at the new contact on your phone. "How cheesy are you?" You asked, looking up to him as he pulled his hair back into a low ponytail.

"What? It's true." You glared at him before he grabbed your hand and lead you out of the house. "We'll be late if we don't get going. I wanna spend as much time with you as possible tonight."

-----

1639 (sorry for cutting it short, just felt like making another part :>)

[glowingbadger]

Okay folks, get ready for a Modern Au Fluffy Megapost~

Firstly, Sylvain and Dimitri have gotten a fluff post already that you can see here if you like! I'll think about whether I have anything to add that would be relevant to a Modern AU for them, but their sections are gonna be shorter as a result.

Yuri, Felix, Ashe x GN Reader

Fluffy relationship headcanons - SFW

Yuri:

- At first, it's not really in Yuri's base nature to be soft and gentle towards a lover. "Delicate" in the cunning, teasing sense, perhaps- but vulnerable and kind? Less so. Which is why it's a bizarre feeling for him when he finds himself wanting to be softer to you- wanting to comfort you and hold you and protect you. He doesn't really know what to do with this new-found tenderness at first, but it will start to manifest in how he treats you despite himself. His tone is completely different with you, he smiles to himself whenever he checks his phone to see you've messaged him, he starts saving songs you mention to listen to later- he simply can't help it.

- He won't let on that he's got quite a lovely singing voice for some time (he intentionally doesn't audition for musicals)- but one night, as your head rests on his lap as he reviews a script for the next play on campus that he's performing in, he starts quietly humming to himself. He stops as soon as he realizes you've noticed, but you carefully say, "I'm... pretty sure I recognize that song- how does the rest go?" He indulges you, humming the rest, even peppering in some of the lyrics. But by the end, he smiles with a quirked eyebrow and pokes your cheek playfully, "Don't think you fooled me with that line earlier- you couldn't repeat a single note of that song, you were just goading me into singing it."

- After this though, he does treat you to a song or two whenever you're upset or not feeling well. He knows that, with all of the complex and duplicitous relationships he's left behind him, it's a relief to finally have something he can give you that he's never willingly given to a partner before. So when you're sick or stressed or dealing with a mental health issue, he'll stroke your hair and sing softly to you, the quiet smile you wear tugging sweetly at his heart.

Dimitri:

(most of my thoughts are in the link above)

- Dimitri loves doing boyfriend tasks for you, like carrying heavy things (really any things) for you, reaching the top shelf, opening jars (he has broken one or two), and so on. He's the type to make sure to hold the umbrella over you even if it means he gets rained on.

- He's a clumsy texter, and his messages to you are always full of type-o's and ridiculous auto-corrects. He also has every voicemail you've ever left him saved on his phone and will listen to them when he hasn't seen you for a while.

Sylvain:

(once again, he's in the link up there)

- He sends you stupid memes of animals with "this is us" typed below. Most of his signs of affection are dumb and cute but goofy like that, and getting him to actually level with you and express his genuine love and care for you can be pretty rare.

- Sylvain secretly likes romcoms, like, a lot. He tries to brush it off, saying, "Oh you know, I've just seen a lot of them on dates." but his encyclopedic knowledge of their plots and cast suggest otherwise. Once he fesses up to you though, he refuses to meet your gaze and mutters, "it's just.. nice sometimes to think that a relationship can actually be like that, y'know?"

Felix:

- He's so bad at being soft, but he wants to be for you, but also doesn't want to be because ew feelings. Which he has a lot of. This is why the main way he expresses his affection is through physical contact. It's mostly in private, where he can be super cuddly with you- but in public, he'll still find times to lightly brush his hand against yours, or an excuse to "fix" your hair, mumbling, "It's flying all over the place, hold still-" even though it's really not that out of place, he just wants a reason to touch you.

- Felix is a funny one to bring your problems to. He's actually a surprisingly good listener for someone he cares about, so he's happy to just hold onto your hand and listen to you vent about whatever's bothering you. If it's an interpersonal problem, he'll probably offer to confront or straight up fight whoever is giving you trouble, which might at least get you to laugh, even though he fully means it. But for a more serious problem, he'll quietly wipe away your tears and remind you, "Hey, listen- you just... keep living your life as you, okay? You can't be anyone else, and I don't want you to be."

- He secretly loves it when you play with his hair. While he's studying or gaming, he likes to lean back against the edge of his bed or a couch and have you sitting behind him brushing out his hair, or even braiding or pulling it up for him if you like. He finds your touch incredibly soothing, and there have even been times when he's spaced out a bit and completely forgotten what he was doing because he was just enjoying your nails along his scalp and your fingers through his hair. Honestly, it's a bit like scratching a cat's ears- he'll even subconsciously lean against you if he's not careful.

Ashe:

- 'soft' is Ashe's default state in a relationship, and it is just the cutest. He wears his affections openly on his sleeve, and if you're upset or unwell, his concern is completely obvious. When you're sick, he'll immediately start looking up your symptoms and any possible solutions, and he's always got extra pillows and blankets to lend you. He knows your favorite snacks and movies by heart, and always has them on hand for off-days.

- He loves cooking for you, and cooking with you, if you're into it. There's something so intimate and domestic about making and enjoying meals together, and he has an uncanny way of making the best of even a crappy little college dorm/apartment kitchenette. Though, you're going to have to set some strict boundaries with your friends about date nights, because if you let them, your friends and his will swarm to his cooking and mooch off of the fruits of your labor- and we all know Ashe is too nice to say no.

- Ashe absolutely wants to own a pet with you. Perhaps even before moving in together, he'll help you select a small, low maintenance pet, and he'll always be delighted to come visit it and help you take care of it. If you're living together, he definitely wants a cat or a small dog, and he's a total pet-dad about it. He'll give them cute little bandanas to wear, experiment with which brand of food they seem to like best and so on. He gets a bit shy if you tease him about his doting, but ultimately, he'll just kiss your cheek or forehead and say, "I just want to take care of you both as best I can, that's all."

[erratic-brainrot]

Okay ALL of your aus sound really fucking cool!! I'd love to hear about your post covid part 2 rewrite-au though, I'd love to see how you would handle it!!

Okay apologize if any of this sounds weird, I accidentally left tumblr to double check the script and lost the wip of this, so I’m gonna probably approach this more casually.

But regardless, “Post Covid part two Rewrite/Post Covid Divergence” is basically an Au I made due to my own over eager expectation of mystery and time travel and forgetting South Park is here for a good time and not taking things too seriously in the terms of physical reality. Which, like? No shit and tbh I set my own self up for favour.

ANYWAYS,

The plot:

It was suppose to return us back to Kenny’s lab, after Kyle’s speech and Cartman affirming that he’s gonna fuck up his plans because he loves his family and hates Kyle (which I’ll put a pin in, as cartman over all characterization is a bit more discusses here, because I like the way he is portrayed in post covid as an abuser bending the story. But I also want more Justice for Kyle)

Randy still meets Tolkien at the Denny’s Applebee’s Max, where Tolkien returns him to McCormick’s lab due to the reference of Tegridy Weed. He is annoyed most of the time thou because Randy is kinda… Randy. Wendy actively trying to crack all of Kenny’s equations. Noticing a lot of odd secrecy done within his work. Codes, nicknames, symbols used in replacement of certain numbers that don’t apply to typical mathematical basis, etc.

It’s within these notes that Wendy does find the name of victor Chaos (Chouce) which she mentions some weirdness about the name spelling or something but is kinda cut short by the urgency of the situation. Basically informing them of Chaos’ whereabouts and there plan to work try and get the machine working.

The machine disfunction was going to be different as far a I remember. More mechanical or related to Kenny being some supernatural cryptic. Or the aluminum was needed to be placed on those outside of the machine since it’s suppose to bounce the rays off from the victims. It’s hard to remember but shit was different because idk the machine needed cool vibes but I still wanted to add in jokes.

So, like directed, Stan, Kyle, AND CARTMAN, go to meet chaos.

Unlike with canon, the boys don’t actually realize it’s Butters. Simply seeing the name as weird, vaguely hitting them, but aren’t left with the proper background story to provide its Butters. (Also with making the sentence of “phones confuse him” make more sense)

Instead, they are told about Kenny private colleague. How they worked together since the near beginning of Kenny’s work. With Victor actually being one of Kenny’s head engineers, before he was admitted to the mental asylum for “snapping”, which gets all the boys nervous. Hearing stories of Victor apparently destroying the time machine and possibly acting out violently. Blah blah blah. It all makes the group on edge.

So they’re all on edge when they finally meet Butters. Not aware it’s him. And since I was gonna make it a comic I was gonna have the scar identifier because idk it’s fun. But basically they’re able to recognize its Butters from his voice, the blond hair, and maybe references to him and Kenny being “childhood friends” before opening the door. With Butters turning to show the scar and all of key indicators.

They’re in shock for a second, daring to approach near asking, “butters?” With butters already taken aback by recognizing who they are. Getting violently defensive asking why the hell they are there. And basically getting close before being told to back up by the doctors or risk getting basically detained. But butters still expresses his piece of mind about what awful shit bags they are for abandon Kenny.

Once Butters calms down and basically told about Kenny’s death… basically being plead with that they need his help to stop Kenny death, maybe bring him back. Butters specifies that he will help, for Kenny’s sake and Kenny’s sake alone… but admitting he isn’t the same around machines anymore after what happened.

Lore introduced. Introducing the story of Kenny and Butters climb up in the world, with Kenny’s inability to move on. Beginning to develop his time machine. Butters had mix feelings about it the whole time, but agreed to work on it after Kenny’s pleads.

However, due to the governmental pitch for a grant and research privileges… they end up having a lot of people in their business even if Kenny’s motivation is personal. But… despite all efforts to keep the project a secret, it ended up being found out by the Chinese government… which also means to profit off this basis.

The Chinese government already had a firm hold on America through further means of capitalism interest and basically becoming the new empire of the world. Aka why there was so many ads of that Asian lady.

But basically when they were realizing how threat the Chinese government was posing… butters began to kinda lose his shit. Insane but valid paranoia hitting him, constantly checking around him and trying to destroy the information… but Kenny begged him to not… with them agreeing finally to a plan. That butters would house himself at the asylum to protect the information and express failure to anyone around… and try to divorce the time machine from the American government too. An independent project

After dealing with getting butters out, and randy being cocky about being “right” about China despite not actually really being right. I forget if I had Chinese government steal the weed or not

Butters then explains how Kenny did update him about the development periodically for his advice and to hopefully change time… for the both of them. And explains Kenny’s main goal was to fix the gangs friendship… and that they can find Kenny by locating where he was in time. That they’re are multiple showings, they just need to find the right time where Kenny was at to bring him home to either treat his covid properly, or to catch him before it.

And that’s where the meat of the story is. Basically they go in time to the bridge fight, but can’t find Kenny. Deal with sore memories and accept that they can’t find him there. Attempt to jump (with a watch that basically allows them to hop through) to a different time period. With them all arguing different times due to Kenny “pin pointing what was the fall of their friendship” exposing what they thought was the real rot between their ties (mainly Stan end kyle), what was the start of the end.

However cartman is a cunt and basically ends up trying to fuck with the machine to stop kyle from going back and they end up stuck in their timeline and needing to utalize the help of their younger self, Santa and other insane creatures.

I could say more but holy moly I need to like her easier about these kahsksh haha

[leebird-simmer]

Social Cognitive Theory

- Behaviorism is about learning behaviors.

- SCT is more about developing skills and attitudes.

- Cognition (thinking) is critical to learning.

- SCT adds principle of learning from observing others (modeling).

*Key Study* Bobo Doll (Bandura, 1961) [more info here: https://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html]

Main Ideas of SCT

Cognitive aspects:

Mental models are cognitive.

Awareness and expectations of consequences are cognitive.

Personal agency (self-efficacy, self-regulation) is cognitive.

Social aspects:

learn from observing others (modeling)

vicarious consequences

direct reinforcement by others

Who makes an effective model?

- competent

- prestigious/powerful

- similar to observer

- conforms to gender expectations

{note: I’d be interested to see how important the last factor is with trans/non-binary folks; if you know of any research to do with trans/non-binary kids and modeling, please drop a link in the comments.}

How does modeling impact behaviors and cognition?

- Impact on good behavior (facilitates it)

- Impact on bad behavior (can inhibit or disinhibit it)

- Teaching new behaviors

- Increase likelihood of similar behaviors

- Impact on emotion (arousal of either positive or negative emotions)

Using SCT to Teach: Step I

Key Features: Determine the key features of the skill that must be learned.

Attention Phase: Directing student’s attention to the key features of the skill:

Pick a good model

Exaggerate, highlight, simplify, narrate

Using SCT to Teach: Step II

Retention Phase: Encoding the mental model (script or schema)

Imagery

Cognitive rehearsal

Familiarity or similarity

Organization

Using SCT to Teach: Step III

Motor reproduction phase: Retrieve the mental model and practice with feedback.

Self-reflecting

Scaffolding to learner level of proficiency

Reinforcing success

Coaching: providing feedback

Observing by learner and coach

Using SCT to Teach: Step IV

Motivation (not a phase): Experience any reinforcement in the following ways

by the model

by a third person

by vicarious reinforcement

by success or improvement

Notice that none of these are based on material rewards. So motivation in SCT is all about the learner’s recognition of success.

Agency/Self-Efficacy: learners’ belief in their ability to affect the situation.

Believing that you will be able to succeed at a particular task is the best predictor of achievement, because it encourages persistence even when the task is hard.

What affects self-efficacy?

- your own success and failure (Mastery Experiences)

- being part of a group that succeeds or fails (Mastery Experiences)

- success and failure of others like you (Vicarious/Social)

- positive support from others you respect (Persuasion)

- physiological state (Emotions & Physical)

*Key Study* SCT and the career development of Black women (Hackett & Byars, 1996) [more info here: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1996-04918-002]

Personal accomplishment impacted by: differential feedback for the same performance

Vicarious learning impacted by: fewer role models in various professions

Verbal persuasion: less encouragement from teachers related to academic performance

Emotional state impacted by: heightened experience of anxiety

Teaching with SCT

- Draw attention to key features of the skill

- Provide a way to encode the mental model of the skill

- Have learner practice the modeled skill and give specific feedback

- Provide for reinforcement of the skill to enhance motivation to learn

- Include diverse representation within the classroom setting

Self-regulation: managing behaviors and having a sense of control (promotion & inhibition of behavior)

Critical aspect of child development (Steinberg)

Teaching problem-solving

Setting long-term goals (planning next action, taking steps forward, adapting as needed)

Self observation and evaluation

Self-reflection

*Key Study* The Marshmallow Experiments [more info here: https://www.simplypsychology.org/marshmallow-test.html]

{note: Follow-up studies have indicated that passing the “marshmallow test” has more to do with a child’s socio-economic background than their personal characteristics, because it’s easier to delay gratification when you have not experienced food insecurity or other forms of instability.}

Self-Instruction Steps:

Cognitive Modeling

Overt, External Guidance

Overt Self-Guidance

Faded, over self-guidance

Covert Self Instruction

Self-Monitoring:

- can cause changes on its own

- examples: mood diary, exercise logs, etc.

- model goal setting & tracking

Self-Reinforcement:

- Can be effective for doing tasks that are difficult and not inherently rewarding

{note: my AuDHD brain is not great at this, because I tend to think “why should I wait to obtain this reward? Because I said so? I don’t respect my authority, LOL” and then I just do/obtain the thing I want. If you have an AuDHD brain and have hacks for this, please drop them in the comments!}

[itmighthavebeenintentional]

Crossword Clues & Coffee - Four Down

Summary: A chance encounter in Lebanon’s finest (read: only) diner leads Dean to find the one thing he never knew his life was missing.

Warnings: Tiny bit of language? Angst. LOTS of sass. Honestly, it’s a lot of fluff. No romance.

Author’s Note: Many thanks to @there-must-be-a-lock for always-masterful revision and editing advice, and to @thoughtslikeaminefield for encouragement and flails. I think we all need something a little more light-hearted these days, so here you go.

I AM SO SORRY, I THOUGHT I POSTED THIS FIVE DAYS AGO!!!

Word Count: 729

In Case You Missed It: CC&C: One Across | Two Down | Three Down | Three Across

ItMightHaveBeenIntentional’s Masterlist

Four Down

Esther turns out to have a wicked bluffing ability that gives Dean a run for his money every time they play cards. Poker, gin, rummy, any card game that involves mental skill rather than physical, finds Dean using every trick he’s ever learned and still relying on the luck of the draw more often than not.

“My husband Stanley taught me everything he knew from when he worked in Vegas,” she shares suddenly one night. She very determinedly does not look at Dean as she surveys the cards in her hand. She's only spoken of Stanley twice in the weeks they’ve been acquainted, and Dean has enough sense to keep silent.

“Not just tricks he used, but stuff he’d seen other folks trying on the dealers. I took to it like a duck to water, beat him most nights using his own tricks against him before he even figured out what I was doing,” she says, selecting Dean’s discarded five of spades and laying her hand triumphantly out on the table.

“Gin,” she declares, and Dean sighs. Well, if he’s going to be beaten, at least it's by a master of the craft.

Dean clears away their coffee cups and dessert plates while Esther slowly gathers up the playing cards. By the time he’s washed, dried, and put away the dishes, though, she’s still working on straightening the deck enough to fit it back into its special tin.

Dean frowns at the painful swelling in each of her finger joints, the tremor that’s noticeably increased just since their first meeting, and wonders how best to offer to help without offending.

“You gonna stare at the back of my head all night or offer to help a lady out?” Esther barks, amusement and irritation coloring her words. Dean takes the deck of cards carefully from her gnarled fingers and fits them into the tin, replacing the lid and settling back in his seat, frowning down at his own scarred but steady hands.

“Old age happens,” she says, her voice uncharacteristically soft, “for those of us lucky enough to make it.”

Dean considers her words for a long moment. He’s never told her what he actually does for a living, and he’s pretty sure she knew from their second meeting interrogation that he’s not telling her the whole truth about what he and his brother actually do with their lives.

But he thinks that she’s not necessarily talking about his livelihood, or, at least, not completely. He looks to the framed pictures hanging on every available inch of wall in the small dining room, a collection of photographs that circles the room, telling the story of Esther’s family.

A much younger Esther, recognizable even now, in a light-colored lace dress, on the arm of a grinning man in what is obviously his best suit.

The happy couple holding a baby.

The same couple with progressively changing hair and clothing styles and a rapidly growing child in photos with increasing color and quality as he follows the path of them around the room.

The child, Jimmy, grown and in a graduation cap and gown, hugging both his parents.

The young man, in a military uniform: a posed portrait. Esther and Stanley posed together, this portrait with a caption reading “Happy Fiftieth Anniversary, Sweetheart” in elegant script across the bottom.

Esther and Jimmy, solemn faced and black-clad next to a wreath bearing Stanley’s smiling portrait.

And finally, Esther not much younger than she is now but beginning to bend with the weight of age and grief, accepting a folded flag from a soldier in dress uniform.

There are no more pictures after that one. Dean understands, both from his own perspective and Esther’s. No point in taking pictures of yourself, of documenting a life without someone to share it.

Dean clears his throat, his eyes strangely misty, and places the card tin on the table between them. He reaches across the narrow space and places one large, warm hand atop Esther’s tiny, aged ones.

“Thank you for dinner,” he says quietly. Words are not his forte, but he needs her to understand, so he tries. “And for...everything. Sammy loves the pie, and he never eats anything sweet. And I’m pretty sure I’ve gained ten pounds this week alone.”

Her answering smile is both the happiest and saddest he’s ever seen on her.

...

Next: Five Across

[flclarchives]

Amusing Himself to Death, an Akadot.com interview with Kazuya Tsurumaki (director of FLCL and assistant director of Evangelion) from around December 2001. In the article, Tsurumaki explains a few things about Evangelion, his mentality behind FLCL as a whole, and the meaning of the name ‘FLCL’.

Full article text is under the cut, or read the article in its original form [here].

Kazuya Tsurumaki was a relatively little-known animator when Hideki Anno selected him to work as the assistant director on Neon Genesis Evangelion. For the TV series, which became a smash hit in Japan and one of the touchstones of the current surge of interest in anime in the US, Tsuramaki served as the main storyboard artist as well as assistant director, and when Studio Gainax began production on a trio of Evangelion films Tsurumaki got his first directorial assignment.

As he tells the story, Anno came to him after Eva and announced that he was out of ideas and that it was up to Tsurumaki to dream up the next project because, "you are next." Tsurumaki let his imagination run wild, but by the time he had written a script, Anno - despite his declaration that he had no stories left to tell - was already several steps ahead of Tsurumaki and in pre-production for his next series, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijo, leaving Tsurumaki a chance to have complete and unsupervised creative control of his own series FLCL.

FLCL, referred to as "Fooly Cooly" (or "Furikuri" by its American fans), is unlike any anime series to come before it. Wild, maniacally fast-paced physical comedy; exaggerated, exuberant animation alternately pushing towards surrealist- as when mecha exuviate from a bump on young Naota's head - and deconstructionist - as when the animation literally stops and the story is told by a camera bouncing across a page of black and white manga art panels; and obsessively, often irrelevantly, referential to obscure Tokyo-pop bands and anime insider trivia; FLCL was hyperkinetic and disorienting, yet mesmerizing, almost transgressive, and undeniably original. It inspired enthusiastic admiration for Tsurumaki as a creator, even amongst the perhaps 90% of the series' fans who were absolutely baffled by much of it. One is tempted to refer to it as announcing the arrival of full blown post-modernism in animation, or perhaps as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable of the anime industry.

When Tsurumaki visited Baltimore to speak to American fans at the recent Otokon Convention, predictably, many of the questions were along the lines of, "Hi, I really loved FLCL [or Evangelion], but could you please explain this part of it to me?"

Tsurumaki answered all questions genially with a self-deprecating and often mischievous sense of humor. For example:

Why does Haruko hit Naota over the head with her guitar?

Kazuya Tsurumaki: Naota is trying to be a normal adult and she belts him to make him rethink his decision.

Why does Evangelion end violently, and somewhat unhappily?

KT: People are accustomed to sweet, contrived, happy endings. We wanted to broaden the genre, and show people an ugly, unhappy ending.

Why is the character of Shinji portrayed as he is?

KT: Shinji was modeled on director Hideki Anno. Shinji was summoned by his father to ride a robot, Anno was summoned by Gainax to direct an animation. Working on Nadia [Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water, one of Anno and Tsurumaki's earlier projects] he wondered if he still wanted to work like this. He thought that working on Eva could help him to change.

Is there any particular reason why so many Gainax series feature very anxious, unhappy young male protagonists with no parents?

KT: Yes, the directors at Gainax are all basically weak, insecure, bitter, young men. So are many anime fans. Many Japanese families, including my own, have workaholic fathers whose kids never get to see them. That may influence the shows I create.

Could you explain the mecha bursting from Naota's head in FLCL?

KT: I use a giant robot being created from the brain to represent FLCL coming from my brain. The robot ravages the town around him, and the more intensely I worked on FLCL the more I destroyed the peaceful atmosphere of Gainax.

Why doesn't FLCL follow one story?

KT: In the third episode Ninamori was almost a main character, a kid who, like Naota, has to act like an adult.  After episode three her problem was solved so we wrote her out.  She has many fans in Japan and we got plenty of letters about that decision.  For FLCL I wanted to portray the entire history of Gainax, and each episode has symbols of what happened behind the scenes on each of Gainax's shows.   Episode one has many elements of Karekano; episode two, a lot of Evangelion references, etc.

Where does the title FLCL come from?

KT: I got the idea from a CD in a music magazine with the title Fooly-Cooly.  I like the idea of titles that are shortened long English words. Pokémon for "Pocket-Monsters" for instance, and an old J-pop band called Brilliant Green that was known as "Brilly-Grilly."

Is there any reason why the extra scenes added to Eva for the video release were cut in the first place?  Did you think the story would mean something different with them intact?

KT: The scenes that were added to Eva for its video release aren't that important.  We added them as an apology for taking so long to get the video out.  Maybe they'll help people understand things, because the episodes were done under tough deadlines the first time around.

Can you explain the symbolism of the cross in Evangelion?

KT: There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us.   Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious.  None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians.  There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool.  If we had known the show would get distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice.

After the panel, Mr. Tsurumaki sat down to speak with Akadot.

Do you enjoy confusing people?

KT: I have a twisted sense of humor.  I'm an Omanu Jacku, a contrarian.  [Writer's note- Omanu Jacku is a folk character a bit like Puck, a mischief maker]

What do you see differently now that you're working as a director rather than only as a visual artist?

KT: As an animator I have only the art; as a director story is really big.  I still feel as an animator and I often have trouble putting the needs of the story first.

Did you intend from the start for FLCL to be as bizarre as it wound up?

KT: From the very start I wanted a different flavor.  To achieve this I had to re-train the animators to be as stylized as I wanted them to be because I wasn't drawing it.  I knew that not everyone would get it.  I deliberately selected very obscure J-pop culture and anime sub-culture jokes and references.  Because Eva was so somber I always intended to make FLCL outrageous and wacky.

Why the choice to break out of conventional animation and use manga pages? Was it at all a response to how many anime are using computers to achieve smoother and more realistic visuals?  Were you trying to go the opposite direction?

KT: I like manga, not only to read, but the visuals.  The pen drawings, the frame breakdowns and layouts . . . This is the first time I have used digital animation, and those bouncing manga shots wouldn't have been possible with cel animation.   Personally I'm not interested at all in using computers for realistic animation.  I'm impressed by it sometimes, but I'm interested in using computers to do what was once impossible, not to do smoother versions of what has already been done.  I want to be less realistic.

Has using digital animation techniques changed the way you work, or the way you feel about your work when you see it?  Does it still feel like it's yours if a computer did much of it?

KT: Before I got into digital animation I saw other shows that were using it and I felt that there was no feeling, it was empty.   As an animator, there's a sense of release when you draw a cel.  There's something there.  Working on FLCL, though, I learned that computers can do more, and, most of all, that they allow room for trial and error and revising, more freedom to experiment.  That is why I now feel that cel art cannot win against computers.  For actual animation everything is still drawn on paper.  That work hasn't changed.  It's the other stuff, the touchups, and coloring.  If we didn't use paper, maybe the feeling would change.

Earlier today you said that you were trying to broaden the genre by giving Eva a sad ending.  Does the sameness of much of today's anime bore you?

KT: First of all we didn't use a sad ending to annoy fans.  When they're upset, that really bothers us.  Personally, I think a happy ending is fine, but not if it is achieved too easily.  That's no good.

For all the fans that are confused at all, if you had to define in one sentence what FLCL is about, what would you say?

KT: FLCL is the story of boy meets girl.  For me it is also about how it's ok to feel stupid.  With Evangelion there was this feeling that you had better be smart to understand it, or even just to work on it. With FLCL I want to say that it's okay to feel stupid.

Even though it may be strange to us, do you have in your head a logic behind it?  Are you trying to portray a story that follows the logic of dreams, or is it supposed to make sense symbolically?

KT: I'd like you to think of FLCL as imagination being made physical and tangible, just as it is for me when I take whatever is in my head and draw it.

So what are you working on next?

KT: Right now Gainax has told me that they'll support anything I choose to create, but I'm having trouble coming up with any ideas.

Why is that?

KT: Releasing titles for market, I know I have to make something to please fans, but I'm not a mature enough person to accept that fact.  If I'm not amusing myself I can't do it.  I feel bad that fans have to put up with such behavior from me.  I apologize. 

[realityshiftingandblogging]

Script Template

‪ ╭┈┈┈┈┈┈➭

┊✨ Table of contents

┊i. About Me

┊ii. Physical Features

┊iii. Personality

┊iv. Friends

┊v. Family

┊vi. World/Reality

┊vii. World/Reality Rules

╰┈┈┈┈┈┈

About me

╭˚₊୧・Name﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Name Pronunciation﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Name Meaning﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Did A Parent Give This Name? If so, who? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Nicknames﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Who Gave You These Nicknames? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Blood Type﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Ethnicity﹕

﹕˚₊୧・First Arrival Age﹕

﹕˚₊୧・When You Leave Age (if you do)﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Mental Age﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Birthday﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Zodiac Sign﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Birthplace﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Where You Live﹕{Feel Free To Add Multiple Places If Needed}

﹕˚₊୧・Pronouns﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Positive Personality Traits﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Negatuve Personality Traits﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Positive Habits﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Negative Habits﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Skills﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Skill Weaknesses﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Religion﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Beliefs﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Languages You Speak/Learn﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Characteristics﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Likes﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Dislikes﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Occupation﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Relative(s)﹕{Just place the names 👌}

﹕˚₊୧・Friend(s)﹕{Names only}

﹕˚₊୧・Event Timeline﹕{Just place important event times here, you can get more into them later}

╰˚₊୧・Background﹕{You can be long or short with this! Or nothing here at all.}

Physical Features

╭˚₊୧・Appearance: {Place Image/Video/Drawing/etc Here}

﹕˚₊୧・Hair: {Can Place Image}

﹕˚₊୧・Hair Length, Texture, and Thickness﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Hair Color﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Facial Hair﹕{If any}

﹕˚₊୧・Facial Color﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Facial Symmetry﹕{Sort Of, Yes, No, Etc. }

﹕˚₊୧・Face Shape﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Eyebrow Shape, color, thick or thin, etc﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Eye Shape﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Iris Shape & Color﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Eye Color/Sclera﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Nose Shape﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Lip Shape & Color﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Smile﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Teeth﹕{Are they straight? Are they sharpened? Do they have jewels?}

﹕˚₊୧・Freckles, Birthmarks, Markings, Scares, etc﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Body Type﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Things You Like About Your Body﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Things You Dislike About Your Body﹕{Example: Maybe you're too short to reach the cabinet}

﹕˚₊୧・Measurements﹕{If Any/Known}

﹕˚₊୧・Piercings﹕

╰˚₊୧・Overall/Extras﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Height﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Weight﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Body Build﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Body Symmetry﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Body Markings, Scars, Piercing, etc﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Nails﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Scent/Signature Smell﹕{If Any}

╰˚₊୧・Overall Body/More Features﹕

Personality/Non-Physical Characteristics

╭˚₊୧・Intelligence﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Personality Type﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Most Prominent Personality Traits﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Good Traits﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Frowned On Traits/Bad Traits﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Common Mood﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Aesthetic﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Personality Description﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Personality Keywords﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Insecurities﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Do You See Yourself﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Others See You﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Makes You Happiest﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Frustrates You﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Makes You Sad﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Angers You﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Embarrasses You﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Confidence Level﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Self Love Level﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Optimist, Pessimist, Realist, Etc﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Logical Or Emotional﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Night Owl Or Early Bird﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Messy Or Neat﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Lazy Or Active﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Most Relaxed/At Ease When﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Patient Or Not﹕

��˚₊୧・What Tests Your Patience? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Biggest Fear﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Type Of Humor﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Good Habits﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Bad Habits﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Not Sure Of Habits﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Hobbies﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Accents﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Common Sense Or Book Sense (Or Both)﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Swearer Or No? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Are You The Type To Make Promises? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Voice﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Your Laugh﹕{Describe If Possible}

﹕˚₊୧・Aura﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Are You A Vibe? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Dominant Hand﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Sleeping Pattern﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Color﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Person﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Clothes﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Aesthetic﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Animal﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Season﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Book﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Holiday﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Movie﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Genre﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Song﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Band﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Favorite Game﹕

╰˚₊୧・Note {You Can Also Add More Than One Or Add Your Least Favorites}

Friends//Family

You Can Add Or Take Away Whatever You Like. You Can Also Use The "About Me" For Other People As Well!

╭˚₊୧・You Raised You? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Many Siblings Do You Have﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Many Guardians Do You Have﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Many Pets? ﹕{If Any}

╰˚₊୧・How Many, In Total, Close Family Members.

╭˚₊୧・Father Figures Name﹕{If Any}

﹕˚₊୧・General Overview﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Alive Or Deceased? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Were they around? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Is Their Relationship With You? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Is Their Relationship With Your Other Siblings﹕{If Any}

﹕˚₊୧・Are They Important To You? ﹕

╰˚₊୧・Have They Impacted Your Life? ﹕

╭˚₊୧・Mother Figures Name﹕

﹕˚₊୧・General Overview﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Alive Or Deceased? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Were They Around? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Whats Their Relationship With You? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Is Their Relationship With Your Siblings? ﹕{If Any}

﹕˚₊୧・Are They Important To You? ﹕

╰˚₊୧・Have They Impacted Your Life? ﹕

╭˚₊୧・Guardian's Name﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Deceased Or Alive﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Is Your Relationship With Them? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Is Their Relationship With Your Siblings? ﹕{If Any}

﹕˚₊୧・Were They Around? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Are They Important To You? ﹕

╰˚₊୧・Have They Impacted Your Life? ﹕

╭˚₊୧・Other Family Members {Name Here}

﹕˚₊୧・General Overview Of Them﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Relationship With You﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Relationship With Other Family Members﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Relationship With You﹕

╰˚₊୧・Have They Impacted Your Life? ﹕

╭˚₊୧・Pet(s) Name(s)﹕

﹕˚₊୧・General Overview﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Breed/Type Of Pet﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Did You Get Them? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Old Are They? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Are They Docile Or Very Active? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Is There Anything Special About Them? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Who Do They Like? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Who Do They Dislike? ﹕

╰˚₊୧・Have They Brought Significance Into Your Life? ﹕

╭˚₊୧・Friend(s) Name(s)﹕

﹕˚₊୧・General Overview﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Did You Meet? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Are You Still Friends?﹕

﹕˚₊୧・If Not, What Split You Up? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Relationship With You﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Relationship With Other Friends﹕{If Any}

﹕˚₊୧・Relationship With Your Pet﹕

╰˚₊୧・Does This Person Have Any Significance In Your Life? ﹕

╭˚₊୧・Spouse Or S/O's Name﹕

﹕˚₊୧・General Overview﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Alive Or Deceased﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Relationship With You﹕

﹕˚₊୧・How Well Is It Going﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Annoys You About Them﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Do You Love Most About Them﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Annoys Them The Most About You? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Do They Love The Most About You? ﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Have They Caused Any Significance In Your Life?

╰˚₊୧・Does Your Pet Like Them And Vice Versa?

World / Reality

╭˚₊୧・Magical World﹕{Yes Or No}

﹕˚₊୧・General Overview﹕

﹕˚₊୧・What Is It Based On﹕{If It Is}

﹕˚₊୧・Story﹕{If Desired}

﹕˚₊୧・Dangers﹕

﹕˚₊୧・ Safe Place﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Your Home﹕

﹕˚₊୧・World Troubles﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Whats Different From The CR﹕

﹕˚₊୧・Why Are You Shifting Here? /End Goal {Optional}

╰˚₊୧・What Are The Pros And Cons To Your Desired Reality﹕

World / Reality Rules

You can place rules about your desired reality such as {I cannot die}. Here are the symbols if you need them!

╭˚₊୧・

﹕˚₊୧・

╰˚₊୧・

﹕

This isn't thorough, but you can change whatever you like to fit your needs! Or just not use it ┐(‘～`;)┌

I hope it helps!

[luninosity]

Okay, so, some Falcon and the Winter Soldier thoughts (will have some spoilers) for episodes two and three. General non-spoilery comment first: I feel like these were both *okay* episodes - neither as good as the first, but I didn’t dislike them, either. I’m still really curious to see how we’re going to wrap this all up in three more episodes; it doesn’t feel like we’re halfway done yet!

Okay, more spoiler-y notes below the Read More, not in any real order, just as I think and type. I’ll probably forget some things, but for now, here’re some thoughts...

--I like ep 3 slightly more than ep 2, mostly because of Zemo!

--I actually really love Zemo here (I liked him in Civil War, too): complex, sardonic, enjoying poking at people, a villain we do feel sympathy for even as he’s still sharp enough to remind us that he is a villain. Daniel Bruhl has always done a fantastic job flipping between calculated cruelty, wry humor - the whole “I am a Baron” moment was great - and pain that for him is still raw, about the loss of his family. (Some things’re awfully cliche - look, the supervillain’s playing chess and reading Machiavelli in his cell? really? - but, y’know...sure. Why not. We expect some cliches in the superhero genre, and this is an inoffensive one.)

--also Zemo dancing. That’s it. That’s everything.

--moving on from that: I’m also really liking how they’re writing John Walker. He does have charm, and there’s a certain amount of sympathy - especially as we see him worrying about filling the Captain America shoes, in ep 2 - but we’re also getting this really subtle sense of wrongness about him. He’s clearly vindictive and angry when things (and people) don’t act according to his mental script for them, and he’s willing to use his name and power to do things like get Bucky released...which in context and given our sympathies for Bucky is a good thing, but...it’s also an indicator of his willingness to do what he wants, because he can. (To be fair, Steve Rogers also often did that! - but Steve earned our trust, both in narrative and character. From his first introduction to WWII leadership experience to all the Avengers stuff, Steve consistently acts to protect people, and he’ll also listen if someone else has a good idea or if someone needs to talk, like with Wanda.) So I’m really liking this slow-fuse character development.

--mixed feelings about Sharon. I love that the show’s acknowledging how much she sacrificed for our main heroes, with no reward. On the other hand, she also clearly knew the consequences that could happen; she said as much at the time. The level of bitterness seems like a lot. But I’m also interested in everything we still don’t know about her - if she’s not the Power Broker herself, she’s obviously Up To Something. So that should be fun.

--hey, look at that X-Men location, with Majipoor! Also a nod to Wolverine’s favorite bar there, I think?

--I love heist and disguise plots!

--I also really like Bucky’s having to revert to the Winter Soldier - Sebastian Stan does it so brilliantly, with so many layers of emotion: not wanting to, loathing it, recognizing the necessity, shutting off all emotion and just coldly doing it, hurting but covering it up...just fantastic, and you know I love some hurt/comfort, and this seems like such a great set-up for emotional hurt

--but! this also seems like...a weird plot hole, kind of? Bucky’s pretty famous at this point, right? I imagine the criminal underworld knows he’s been pardoned and deprogrammed, right? or do they assume Zemo, with his knowledge of Hydra, still has some special control over him?

--along the same “this seems like someone didn’t think this through” path, Sam, you’re a professional, turn off your phone on a mission. Oh my god. Face-palmingly stupid - and I think somewhat lazy writing, as the writers plainly needed a giveaway, and went for the first idea they had. Even if it made a main character look incompetent.

--the Flag Smashers and Karli are...fine. They feel very Generic Marvel Villain - not the big space alien type, but the other type, the “I have a personal loss and motivating pain so I’m a little sympathetic but also Clearly Evil, watch me kill civilians so the audience won’t ever find me TOO sympathetic” type. Meh. Fine. Zemo’s more interesting, but...fine.

--Anthony Mackie is such a fantastic actor - every bit of his reaction to the Isaiah Bradley reveal is so good. The anger, pain, frustration, ferocity...heartbreaking. Actually that whole scene is so good - his emotions at discovering this secret history are palpable, and it’s so painful, because we also understand why Bucky would keep the secret - as someone who knows about pain and trauma and being experimented on, and knowing Isaiah wants to be left alone - we feel really deeply for both characters here, and it’s great.

--I actually liked the abrupt swing from the Isaiah Bradley encounter to the casual everyday racism of the cops on the street - is it subtle, no. But it’s not meant to be: it’s meant to be standing up and shouting about how not that much has really changed, and about how pervasive racism is. I know some reviews were all, “this was just too much!” or “too forced!” but...look, it needs to be shouted sometimes for people to hear.

--Bucky’s notebook being Steve’s, oh, ouch, my feelings. If I had the time and energy to write fic...

--(also, if I had the time and energy to write dark!fic: where’re my fics in which Zemo’s implication about the Winter Soldier “doing anything you want” gets played with? what or who does Bucky have to do to keep the undercover charade going? so many Bad Wrong Kinky power dynamics and explorations of consent and what this would do to Bucky’s head, here, and honestly I’d totally read them all, just saying.)

--Sam and Bucky together...I don’t know. This is one of the elements that I’m not actually a huge fan of, but I think it’s partly a personal genre / sense of humor thing that’s not clicking for me, personally, again. Like...

--I don’t find people shouting aggrievedly at each other to be funny? I’m not sure why it is.

--I mean, I get that they’re doing, like, eighties buddy cop movies, but...it got old really fast then, and it’s not something we needed to bring back. It’s not clever, and it’s...well, shouty and annoying.

--(I say this as someone who genuinely likes the first two Lethal Weapon movies...but the significant difference is, I think, we’re also shown in both those movies that Riggs and Murtaugh care about each other. They don’t want to be partners initially, and they don’t get along initially, and they do argue over tactics**...but they immediately feel responsible for each other and act to protect each other even as they argue, because it’s the right thing to do and we’re shown moments of them awkwardly trying to connect, because they both have that deep sense of...protectiveness...that makes them Good People - like, if they learn something that the other person needs to know, they tell each other. They protect each other’s families / love interests. So by the end of the second movie, with that fabulous character death fake-out, Murtaugh’s initial shock and grief is real and powerful and painful, and so is his genuine relief when the worst isn’t true - and it’s all earned.) (**however, they tend to argue tactics *before* jumping in - “is it 1, 2, 3, go on 3? or 3, then go?” And then once that’s established, they go ahead. That makes a difference as far as...well...competence and teamwork!)

--(Sam and Bucky, as far as I can tell, don’t do the above, and just...maybe shouldn’t be working together?)

--I also don’t find grown men acting like my youngest nephew, when he’s having a temper tantrum, to be funny. Staring contests? Random insults? Sulking in silence? Oh, grow up.

--(Also, yes, writers, we see you with the “couples therapy” and “get closer and make your legs touch” and “landing on top of each other as they hit the ground” moments. I, at least, personally, am very tired of...I don’t know that I’d call it queerbaiting exactly, but this idea that we’re supposed to find these moments funny...because why? Because, ooh, they’re two men getting close to each other, physically or emotionally? Why is this a thing we need to draw attention to? Do you think you’re doing some sort of fan service? Please either make Sam/Bucky happen or stop doing this.)

--both Sam and Bucky are highly competent and professional agents, or they should be. They should know how to work in the field - even with people they may not like - and adapt to shifting strategy, make best use of available assets, include people in the plan, etc. I can’t help but compare this to something like, say, Leverage, which also has a team who mocks each other and makes jokes but clearly absolutely respects each other’s capabilities, has a plan going in and tells everyone what the plan is, and adapts (and trusts each other to adapt) on the fly as necessary, and does it all without random insults about someone’s (PTSD-related) staring and “robot brain”.

--one of the very specific moments that bothers me a lot is the ending of the therapy scene (yay for showing heroes in therapy! but also I’m pretty sure she’s...not a great therapist?). Bucky finally opens up and says something real, about his own self-doubt and wondering whether Steve was wrong about him....and Sam just...brushes it off and goes, “we’re done here,” basically. Not only does that feel wildly out of character for former counselor Sam, it feels cruel. I really deeply dislike that moment the more I think about it. Makes me want to scream.

--Sam insults Bucky way more than the other way around. It’s starting to feel very one-sided (it’d be better if more clearly reciprocal, though it’s still not a dynamic that’s my favorite), and again, feels out of character - maybe this is Anthony Mackie’s sense of humor, but Sam isn’t Mackie, and Bucky isn’t Seb, and it reads as...a weird unbalanced power-trip thing to me. And also out of character for Sam, who can be sarcastic (”If you guys eat that sort of thing,” about breakfast, when Steve and Nat have randomly shown up at his door) but that’s not the same as just throwing unprovoked insults at a person who’s trying to recover from trauma, and a lot of those insults seem to center on things that were done to Bucky, that he had no choice in (the staring, the arm, etc), and that feels....it just feels mean, to me. Make fun of things he’s had a choice in / can do something about, if you have to - hair, clothes, liking “old people’s games” like gin rummy or pinochle, not knowing who Beyonce is, I don’t know, there are so many options that aren’t cruel! Do that instead. Let Bucky have a good comeback for once, too!

--the action scenes are action scenes. Also fine.

--Sam might be right about destroying the shield, and the show may even be (unintentionally?) setting that up as the best outcome, but that’s a problem for the future, Sam; get it back first. Also it’s a problem you caused by giving the shield up - did you really trust the government to leave it unused in a museum? You’re not that naive.

--overall, it’s...a perfectly fine show, so far, I think? Solid, and interesting, but not great. I think some of what doesn’t work for me is because it doesn’t work for me personally, as far as the shouty insult-heavy action “comedy” bits that I’m not enjoying, but I think they’re doing what they aimed for with it, so in that sense, I guess it’s working? There’s a lot of really cool stuff around the edges - John Walker, Isaiah Bradley, that Dora Milaje stinger, the bigger world of a history interwoven with racism and superpowers, the chillingly effective use of Bucky’s past - but I wish I liked the central Sam-Bucky relationship more. Individually they’re wonderful - they’ve both had such powerful scenes dealing with family, trauma, and consequences - but I feel like, in the effort to do the buddy comedy dynamic, the writing has just made me really sure that they actually genuinely don’t like each other? To such an extent that if they show any affection / caring / interest in each other in the last three episodes, it won’t be believable. (I mean Sam and Bucky, not Mackie and Seb. Mackie and Seb’re adorable.)

--I just want to think about Zemo dancing some more.

[sumeshi-t]

Girl, this just a q. Hahaha what do you think's the love language of the HQ boys? You can name the obvious ones and wild guesses. Been thinking bout it for a day 🤣

Hi!! Sis i'm sorry this came out late, but i kinda did the receiving/showing love language too if that makes any sense. i hope you like it haha! i think i may have gone a little extra on the others (but that's bc ur special to me 👀)

(Do take these with a grain of salt, because ngl no one is strictly just one type of love language, you could be a perfect mix, 20% of each type haha! And these are all opinions anyway, based from what i've seen/watched/read.)

Haikyuu!! Love Languages

Words of Affirmation (Showing)

these boys show their love verbally. they let you know they love you with little unexpected notes or texts. they're usually good listeners who would always have something to say, and that something to say feels so right in that moment and usually makes sense 100% of the time.

sugawara koushi. we all know he has a way with his words. let's not forget that he is 'mr. refreshing' because of how good he is at communicating with his teammates. also the "negativity begone!" moment? asahi? when he made hinata realize stuff about kageyama when he was teaching him how to receive? yeah seems just about right to me.

probably hinata shoyou. but it's so adorable though because he's gonna be sooo shy about it! i mean the way he encouraged a lot of his peers–he has his awkward moments and blushy blushy times but this boy always knows what to say even if it seems stupidly simple–but that's how he is and that's why he's so lovable.

Words of Affirmation (Receiving)

these boys on the other hand, enjoy or prefer hearing verbal validation from their partner. they love it when you listen to what they have to say, or when you praise them and push them to be better with words. or when you appreciate the little things they don't usually do for others but makes exceptions for you.

definitely bokuto koutarou. and goshiki tsutomu. no explanations needed.

tanaka ryunosuke. call him senpai and he's yours maybe. i mean his mental strength do be high but he loves it when he's being praised.

oikawa tooru. i mean, maybe he doesn't enjoy it much when he's being ranted to but if you give him the privilege of listening fully as he lets out his deepest issues/insecurities? without judgment? he's good to go. always remind him of how good he actually is and acknowledge his hard work genuinely. always check up on him with little texts throughout the day or send him memes/quotes/photos and tell him "this reminds me of you" to cheer him up. push him towards greatness at the same time push him to rest. (got carried away with this one i'm sorry)

Physical Touch (Showing)

obviously the all-touch body language gang. prefer to convey their love and affection when they're with you physically. holding hands, hugs, not necessarily clingy but there's always a way or another that they're touching you even in the slightest of ways–can be a hand on your low back or even just fingers entwined loosely.

kageyama tobio. have you seen him hold and memorize the feel of a volleyball? practically the same thing with you. the amount of times his fingers have traced every line on your palm when you two were idling about somewhere–it happens all the time, it's become routine, it's made you volunteer your own hand too esp when you find him stressed.

nishinoya yuu. damn have you seen him just all over everyone? i mean, he isn't exactly clingy but in little background stuff, he's always touching someone? and doesn't he like touching the ball? kskisks

idk i'm just gonna say tendou satori too because... his fingers give me that vibe. and shit, i almost forgot about akaashi keiji. ma'am his little finger fiddling habit??? he'd love to fiddle with yours too. he's so gentle with how he holds your hand he thinks it's immaculate–he'd even ask permission first omg 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

Physical Touch (Receiving)

basically they love being touched or having skin-skin/close contact initiated by you. they love it when you give little hugs or just idly resting your head on their shoulder or lap.

iwaizumi hajime. this cuteass hedgehog–i been simping for him for a week already 😭 i feel like he craves touch even though he doesn't explicitly say it. smooth your hand over his cheek or forehead you'd already see a difference that his brows relax, his lips part slightly for an exhale. when you make it a point through your touches that you're there, for him, even if it's just choosing to sit beside him during lunch is already 👌🏻

i think... miya atsumu. the opposite of iwa's tho. this boy is handsy-handsy. this might as well be his way of showing love too. run your hands over his muscles madame, or brush fingers through his hair if you feel that it looks out of place. a sucker for you clinging onto his bicep when walking. idk i just think that for new/early on in a serious relationship with him, he's gonna be big on showing you off to the world so physical stuff are important for him because he knows words can be faked or scripted sooo yeah

Receiving Gifts (Showing)

"it's the thought that counts" kinda dude. they give you little things they think you might want but moreso things that you need. it doesn't have to be any "thing", it could even be something as simple as a bottle of water or energy drink. they make you one of their top priorities in life.

miya osamu. bruh he's chef's kiss cooking. that's it. i feel like he's the one who's gonna be making bentos for you (or you two can do that together as bonding too!) but i feel he's the type to remember food you pointed out once or watched on youtube, and i tell you you're gonna see it wrapped nicely on your desk a few days later.

yamaguchi tadashi. i feel like he's the type to just pick something up from the convenience store on his way home from training, then next morning he's going to shyly give it to you. "i just thought you might need a new one," his cheeks are flushed and a bashful smile on his lips when you thank him gleefully!

kozume kenma. just because this boy is sugar daddy material. can easily buy something online that he saw you window shopping for on your phone. he does this not to show off his cash, but because your happiness comes first 🥺👉🏻👈🏻 he's not really that good at handling emotions he's so closed off so i think this is the way he finds and uses to show love to you.

Receiving Gifts (Receiving)

sounds redundant, but these boys fall for you harder when you remember them through little things you drop on them. can be from a well thought out gift to something so mundane like a single piece of candy. (but thoughtful gifts are better!)

daichi sawamura. he's not materialistic don't worry (ngl daichi's like, one of the most virtuous characters in haikyuu). but can we not forget that little charm michimiya gave him (the team)? i hc that he's the one who kept it, it's somewhere in his room on a shelf. i mean, anyone could keep that right? they could put it in the clubroom (even after they graduated) but he just decides to keep it. anyway, he's not going to expect you to give him extravagant gifts in particular–he just... enjoys seeing little things that you give him (it can be a pen or ink refills, a phone case, or anything at all) and he's bound to treasure it for a long while, and will always be grateful for you (because you're the greatest gift you've given him)

just a freaking guess but... bokuto koutarou. he's one of the more simple minded folks so if you remember to buy him a shirt he was eyeing or just basically bring him cute matching charms, he'd be sooo soft for you. big buff baby.

Quality Time (Showing)

these boys show their love for you by spending time with you–no distractions (to some, maybe no phone-using too!). not meant to sound restrictive or toxic in any way, but when they're with you, whether if it's a drive home or just lazing about the house, they'd appreciate it if you're attention is fixed on them.

ushijima wakatoshi and oikawa tooru. they're both hella busy with killing each other getting better, they're practically married to mikasa the volleyball. so they show their love for you by clearing out their schedule, or reserving just a day or two with only you. and if they do that, shower them with all your focus, love and attention. (esp oikawa if he comes to visit you from argentina). y'know the feeling of "the world stops and it was just us" kind of vibe. anyway the point is, they'll make time for you to make up for missed dates or calls. a lot of understanding needs to happen here, and if you respect their dreams and support them, sis ya got the 💍 coming

Quality Time (Receiving)

these boys on the other hand prefers alone time with you; maybe has something to do with not being so keen on PDA but if it does, only by a little bit. they don't say it but they love it when you share a bunch of small little moments together without interruption from nosy senpais/brothers/cousins.

tsukishima kei. this tol salty french fry... you don't even need to be talking, or touching each other. he likes the comfortable silence between you, and he loves spending time with you even if that's hard to see or realize. the only giveaway is that, only one of his ears is covered by his headset when he's with you doing homework; meaning he's ready to hear if there's anything you wanna say.

sakusa kiyoomi. bro just clean your room or the house for him and he's sold. i'm not kidding. he loves doing chores with you and going grocery shopping (especially in aisle 15 for the cleaning wares).

Acts of Service (Showing)

no they're not slaves for you, they show their love for you by doing stuff for you, from something so little that's hardly noticeable to even grander gestures–they're willing to go out of their way just to help you in anything and everything that you need. homework? chores? you don't even have to say anything and they'll pipe up with "i'll help".

aone takanobu. :( big, giant, softie. he'll do anything and everything for you. you'll notice stuff from the cupboard have been taken down, especially when you tell him you're gonna cook something and he knows what ingredients you'll be using. he's a man of very, very few words so please know that he loves you whenever he brings it upon himself to carry your stuff for you, and blocking away all negativity from your life.

akaashi keiji. bro you've seen him grab a glass of water for a choking kageyama. that's just the veeery tip of the mf iceberg! this boy is so well mannered that helping others just comes naturally for him–but with you he even does it a little more extra. will always bring water for you (esp if he knows how little you drink), will bring your fave snacks to you when finals are coming up, you'll notice that your work desk is a bit neater lately; he's just so pure and wholesome and you know if it's him, you're in good big hands.

Acts of Service (Receiving)

they become mush when you do stuff for them voluntarily. like no you didn't have to, but you did–it's you who did that for them–and they just fall in love with you all over again

yamaguchi tadashi. no i didn't say this just because his specialty was his serves. i just feel like his heart is gonna combust when he sees you doing something for him. omg imagine if you were the one who holds up a plastic bag of shimada mart and you're his reset point??? omg??? that's so soft??? like there's a lot of people there but all he sees now is you and just courage 100 worries 0

another motherflippin guess but yaku morisuke. not bc he'a good at receiving serves. he's like the mom of nekoma so he's used to being the one kinda telling people off and keeping the kids in line–he's got that responsibility on his tiny and firm shoulders. so if you decide to do stuff for him (or even the team) like bringing extra towels for everyone, making food (and a separate packed one for him), he's gonna be sooo proud of you and spite kuroo about it lolol

gen.taglist: @yams046

cheese cult: @akaashit-baeji @taeiliee @bubbleteaa @pineapplekween @ouikarwa @agaashi @boomboomjaz @akaashichigo @haikkeiji @annalyn-annalyn @mlkytobio @sosugasweet @cali-writes-sometimes @simping4ratsumu @shishinoya @ushiwakaa @kxgeyamasmilk @agaassi @hanibuni @cupofkenma @kawanisshi @milk-n-writings @thiccbokuto @shinsukestan @sufiawrites @wakaitoshi @skyguy-peach @fern-writes-ig @briswriting @kawaiikraykray @miyuswriting @raevaioli @hakueishirei @estherwritess @keiji-n @achoohq @badlywritten-hq @mochibeaa @oinkanna @chxrry-wxne @spudicide @airybby @asranomical @karmasuna

[worldwidemochiguy]

Better Than A Dream (MFEEU! Taehyung)

➵ Taehyung has been waiting for so long, and one day he wakes up and finds you waiting too. 

or

Made For Each Other from Taehyung’s perspective

➵ Word Count: 1.3K

➵ MFEEU Masterlist

➵ General Masterlist

Taehyung wakes up abruptly, cruelly dragged away from one of his favourite dreams — snuggling with you and playing with your soft hair while you nap on his chest. He rubs his eyes bitterly as he glances at his alarm, which proudly displays the time of half three in the morning. He’s about to roll over and go back to sleep, but then-

A little shuffle in the hallway outside his door. A quiet sigh.

Taehyung shoots to his feet, immediately alert and wishing on every star on the sky that it is who he thinks it is outside that door, and not some kind of cautious home invader.

He takes a deep breath, and then swings the door open. The sudden movement seems to startle the person on the other side — and it’s you, thank god — and you overbalance, falling into his chest.

Oh. Okay. Fuck.

Taehyung doesn’t like wearing a shirt in bed, but he’s starting to think donning a full suit of armour would be the reasonable course of action because the feeling of your body pressed against his bare skin makes him want to forget the promise he made to himself to take it slow with you.

You just feel so… soft, and warm, and perfect. Like you were made to fit into his arms.

You wriggle slightly in his hold and Taehyung realises he has been wrapped around you for probably longer than an appropriate amount of time, and reluctantly sets you back on his feet. You sway slightly, and he can’t resist letting out a soft chuckle. You’re so cute when you’re sleepy.

“I could hear you padding up the hall.” Taehyung explains, cooing slightly as he takes in your adorably flushed cheeks. It seems he wasn’t the only one affected by you falling into his chest. “What do you need, baby?”

And then you answer with the least expected thing Taehyung had ever heard.

“You.”

He has to make a physical effort not to kiss the sense out of you. He’s sure all the emotions he’s feeling — shock, delight, very very slight arousal — are displayed on his face. This is amazing. This is the best moment of his life. He had never dared to hope that you would let him in so soon, and he had never realised it would make him this happy.

“Well, what do you need me for, baby?” He purrs, some of the very very slight arousal leaking into his tone, but who can blame him? At his words, you shiver — amazing — but then that seems to trigger a real shiver, and that’s not so good.

Taehyung ushers you into his room — the hallway’s far too cold for his princess — and grabs one of his blankets, wrapping it securely around you. If he selected one that had a particularly strong trace of his cologne, he didn’t intend to, and he certainly doesn’t smirk in satisfaction knowing you will now smell like him.

Now that he comes closer, he can detect the almost feverish temperature your skin has taken on, and his frown deepens.

“You’re sick.” He admonishes you, his mind flying through worried thoughts about all that time you had spent alone tonight, and why didn’t you just tell him?

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Taehyung asks, because he regrettably has no filter, and you curl into his blanket demurely.

“I didn’t want you to worry.” You say in a small voice, and if he hadn’t already been in love with you for almost a year then he certainly would be now.

“But now you’re outside my door.” Taehyung points out, trying to calm the erratic butterflies in his stomach because they aren’t helping anybody, you’re sick and he can’t afford distractions when taking care of his baby.

“Well, actually,” You say, a cute little smile pulling on your lips, and Taehyung has to remind himself again not to just pick you up and snuggle you unremittingly until you both starve, buried in your joint graves, still snuggling. “-I’m inside your room, now.” And if Jimin or Jungkook had said that he might have smacked them upside the head, but you said it so obviously it’s the cutest thing he’s ever heard.

“What changed your mind?” He asks, and you blush, burrowing even further into his blanket. Taehyung hates to stop you from nuzzling even more into his scent, but he grips your chin gently and tilts you head up until your beautiful doe eyes are locked with his again.

“I need an answer, baby.” He tells you, and your mouth forms into a slight, very kissable pout. Focus, Taehyung!

“Well…I…” You mumble, and Taehyung hums impatiently because if this continues he really will have no choice but to bury his face in your neck and never come out again.

“I couldn’t sleep.” You say eventually, and Taehyung coos in pity even as he smiles because cute. “My mother would always cuddle me when I was sick, but now I don’t have anyone.”

“You have me.” Taehyung responds immediately, slight offence colouring his tone, and your gaze dips down bashfully.

“…I know. That’s- that’s why I’m here.”

Oh? Oh.

You want to cuddle.

Right.

Okay. He can do this.

Fuck, those stars really weren’t fucking around when he wished on them.

He grips the corners of the blanket he lovingly wrapped around you and tugs you closer. You obligingly shift until your nose is almost brushing his jaw.

“You came here… in the middle of the night… to cuddle with me?” Taehyung knows he sounds like he can barely believe it, but he honestly can barely believe it, and it becomes even more unbelievable when you bury your face in his chest. Fuck, okay, you’re touching him again and he absolutely cannot combust into flames. That would be rude.

“Yes.” You mumble against his skin, adorably, but then, when don’t you do something adorably? “Now, please, just do it without being too smug.” 

“What would I have to be smug about, my love?” Taehyung asks, already scripting his boastful announcement to the boys at work that his baby asked to snuggle.

“Taaeeeee~” You whine, and wow, you really know his weak spot, don’t you? “I don’t feel well. Please don’t tease me.” You pout, and Taehyung can’t suppress a loving coo, gathering you in his arms- finally- and sweeping you onto the bed.

The sight of you making yourself comfortable on his bed is- well. Hmm. Taehyung contemplates whether or not he has time to take a quick cold shower, but then you let out this adorable little whine and Taehyung really cannot resist you.

He gets into bed beside you — noting with amusement how your eyes perceptibly widen, even though you literally asked him to snuggle in bed with you — and settles on his back. He gives himself a second to mentally prepare, and then he’s tugging you onto his chest, with your head resting above his — undoubtedly erratic — heartbeat, and his arms circled around your perfect waist. There’s nothing more he wants then to smooth his hands over the soft curve of it, but he reminds himself to go slow. The last thing he wants is to scare you off.

He tangles his legs with yours, looking down at you and thinking, this is the sight I’m going to wake up to every day for the rest of my life.

You tilt your head up to look at him, and he doesn’t bother to rid his gaze of all the love he’s feeling. The two of you simply look at each other for a soft moment, and then you shift a little, and rest your head on his chest, mumbling something as you drift off to sleep.

Taehyung laughs quietly. This is practically the exact dream he had been so upset to leave when he woke a few minutes ago. But now, as your elbow digs into his gut uncomfortably and his arm starts to tingle with lack of circulation, he knows that this reality is so much better.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

The Leithian Reread - Canto VI (Beren in Nargothrond)

While The Leithian-related plot of this canto focuses on Beren in Nargothrond, almost the first half of it is a brief summary of the Silmarillion from Return of the Noldor through to the Dagor Bragollach. Which I love, since those events for the most part aren’t coverered in Tolkien’s other poetic works, and I prefer the poetry structure of the Leithian to Tolkien’s other (non-rhyming, more Rohirric-sounding) pieces of epic poetry.

This is a good place to note, for readers who are new to the poetic Leithian, that some names are different from the Silm (Tolkien started a revised version with Silm-consistent names, but he didn’t get very far with it). The Noldor are referred to as the Gnomes - a rough transliteration of their elvish name into a human language, drawing from the Greek for ‘knowledge’. Tolkien later rejected this on the basis that the word was already too associated with entirely different mental images, but given how transformative his use of ‘elves’ was (typical fantasy elves are now almost all inspired by his ideas of tall, beautiful, long-lived immortals), we might have completely different concepts of ‘gnome’ now if he’s gone ahead with it. 

The second big diiference is that Finrod is referred to exclusively as Felagund - his Dwarven honorific - whereas his father Finarfin is referred to as Finrod. Tolkien had a lot of difficulty with Finarfin’s name and it went through a pile of different iterations. There are also other minor differences, like Finwë being referred to as Finn.

Returning to the poem - it’s hard to pick a favourite part of the summary section; I love so much of it. This is the closest I’m ever going to get to the Noldolantë (Tolkien wrote a couple pages of another poem focusing on the Return of the Noldor, but I don’t like it as much).

The mists were mantled round the towers

of the Elves’ white city by the sea.

There countless torches fitfully

did start and twinkle, as the Gnomes

were gathered to their fading homes

and thronged the wide and winding stair

that led to the wide echoing square.

There Fëanor mourned his jewels divine,

the Silmarils he made. Like wine

his wild and potent words them fill;

a great host hearkens deathly still.

But all he said both wild and wise

half truth and half the fruit of lies

that Morgoth sowed in Valinor

in other songs and other lore

recorded is.

There’s such a wonderful sense of place and of mood in those lines; the Return of the Noldor has always been one of the most compelling parts of the Silmarillion for me. In the same way that Elves have a different sense of time than Men, Valar must have a different sense of it than Elves; they’re acting, but within their own sense of time, and for the Noldor, in the wake of the Darkening, the desire to do something rather than wait around for the Valar (who are looking more deeply fallible than they ever have before) to fix things must be extremely powerful. And Fëanor’s presence and words and fury, brought into that environment, is like fire to oil. To be active and purposeful in the face of disaster, rather than passive and directionless - that’s a powerful force. The poem also acknowledges that Fëanor’s not entirely wrong (“half truth and half the fruit of lies”), however deeply distorted his ideas about both the Valar and the Secondborn are. As I’ve said before, I think that Eru intended for the Elves to be in Middle-earth, not Valinor; the entire Leithian is centred around the value and importance of an elf-human relationship that continues to affect the history of Arda down through the Third Age (and, in its symbolic meaning, even further).

There’s also a line about the Oath: Who calls these names in witness may not break his oath, though earth and heaven shake. The texts on the Oath are somewhat contradictory on its breakability, though they are united on its importance and severity (it is decidedly not just words, or something that can be casually laid aside). The Silmarillion says “so sworn, good or evil, an oath may not be broken, and it shall pursue oathkeeper and oathbreaker to the world’s end”. But that contradicts itself - it it can’t be broken, then there can’t be oathbreakers. Maedhros and Maglor’s final conversation at the end of the Silm is more illuminating to me: it’s not a matter of the Oath being physically or psychologically impossible to break (if it was, how did they go the 400 years of the Siege of Angband without actively attacking Morgoth?), but of fearing the fate they have called down upon themselves (the Everlasting Darkness) if they do break it. (Plus a lot of sunk cost fallacy, by that point.) Which is considerably less sympathetic: murdering innocent people in order to avoid the consequences of your own bad decision is, ultimately, the choice that innocents should bear the cost of your own choices, which is ultimately a form of cowardice. (Not to mention the inherently contradictory nature of saying “I’m going to do evil so that I won’t be damned,” which Maglor eventually realizes.)

(More of my thoughts on the Oath here.)

This is also one of the few texts we have that actually states the Oath (or rather, part of it; the invocations are not included) rather that describing it. I think all the ones we have are in Tolkien’s poetry; there’s no prose version.

The Kinslaying is not mentioned in this Canto; that’s saved for the Duel of Felagund and Sauron in the next one. But this canto does include possibly the only poetic rendition we get of Fingon rescuing Maedhros from Thangorodrim:

Fingon daring alone went forth

and sought for Maidros where he hung;

in torment terrible he swung,

his wrist in band of forgéd steel,

from a sheer precipice where reel

the dizzy senses staring down

from Thangorodrim’s stony crown.

The song of Fingon Elves yet sing,

captain of armies, Gnomish king...

They sing how Maidros free he set,

and stayed the feud that slumbered yet

between the children proud of Finn.

After describing the Siege of Angband and the Long Peace, the narrative moves on to the Dagor Bragollach, and specifically Barahir’s rescue of Felagund. (And in this account, as in the Silm, Orodreth is Felagund’s brother, not his nephew.) From there, it returns to the main story and Beren’s arrival in Nargothrond. It could not be more different than his reception in Menegroth:

When the ring [of Barahir] was seen

they bowed before him, though his plight

was poor and beggarly...

Fair were the words of Narog’s king

to Beren, and his wandering

and all his feuds and bitter wars

recounted soon.

Regarding Felagund’s fulfillment of his Oath to Barahir, and the betrayal by Celegorm and Curufin, and the abandonment by the Elves of Nargothrond, I’ve already written a fair bit in my (much earlier) posts on Finrod & Nargothrond and Celegorm & Curufin. I’ll add a few additional points here.

First, I do not think it was irresponsible of Felagund to leave Nargothrond to go with Beren. If his presence as king of Nargothrond was important (and I think it was; basically all of Nargothrond’s decisions after he leaves are bad, and he’s been the peacemaker and diplomat between different elven and human groups throughout the Silmarillion up to this point) that is all the more reason why Nargothrond is indebted to Barahir and his descendents, since Felagund would already be dead if not for Barahir’s actions.

Secondly - and I’m getting this from Philosopher at Large’s Leithian Script, which emphasizes it very heavily - Felagund, as liege-lord to the Bëorings, has certain obligations to them even outside of his oath, including providing military assistance in times of need. Usual chains of communication have been cut since the Bragollach, so Felagund’s only just now finding out that the Bëorings have, aside from Beren, been basically exterminated; and that Barahir and later Beren spent years fighting a very long-odds guerrilla war without ever asking or recieving assistance, while Nargothrond was safe and largely inactive. This is going to strongly enhance Felagund’s (legitimate) sense of indebtedness to Barahir’s kin.

Thirdly, Celegorm is often treated as something of a meathead (because he acts like one; all his decisions are terrible in both moral and practical terms), but this sequence makes it clear that both he and Curufin inherited their father’s rhetorical abilities; his speech is specifically compared to Fëanor’s speech in Tirion (Many wild and potent words he spoke, and as before in Tûn awoke his father’s voice their hearts to fire, so now dark fear and brooding ire he cast on them...) But ironically, the direction of Curufin’s speech is opposite to Fëanor’s - while Fëanor’s was about rallying the Noldor to fight Morgoth, Curufin’s is about discouraging them from fighting Morgoth, by frightening them, and he does it so effectively that it’s unlikely Nargothrond would have showed up at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad even without the additional motivation of being furious at the brothers. And continuing on that theme, the brothers are setting themselves against the first real attempt anyone has ever made to regain the Silmarils from Morgoth. A mission that resulted in Beren and Lúthien having one Silmaril, and the Fëanorians having the other two, would obviously be better in terms of their goals than all three remaining in Morgoth’s posession, but they don’t appear to even consider it. This is part of a long thread throughout the Silmarillion - every action taken directly in service to the Oath aids Morgoth and harms the Eldar.

The people of Nargothrond, by the way, really do not come off well here - they’re rejecting their king for someone who has just threatened violence against them all (Celegorm’s speech is basically threatening them with another Kinslaying here and now).

And as a final point - what Celegorm and Curufin do here is one of the worst crimes imaginable within their society. The sacredness of the relationship between guests and hosts (and they are guests in Nargothrond, having fled there from the Bragollach) is a major theme in a lot of pre-modern societies. People familiar with A Song of Ice and Fire will remember its importance there; for a more historical source, Dante places ‘traitors to guests and hosts’ in the ninth circle of hell in the Divine Comedy and goes beyond that to state that people who betray their guests or hosts go directly to hell even before they die, while their body becomes inhabited by a demon for the rest of their life. From this betrayal, to the usurpation of Nargothrond, to the attempted rape of Lúthien, to the attempted murder of Lúthien, to Celegorm’s servants leaving Eluréd and Elurín - young children - to die of exposure, everything we see from the brothers from this point on is them committing crimes that are literally unthinkable to elves. Which is to say that the Eldar might have found Dante’s explanation pretty credible.