#i feel like a defining factor in shows i like is also: presence of A Guy. u need a guy

[arsenicflame]

a definitive ranking of every british murder show (that ive seen enough of to rank)

Shakespeare & Hathaway

Death In Paradise (& Beyond Paradise)

Mcdonald & Dodds

Father Brown

Professor T

Midsomer Murders

Shetland

Vera

(i elected not to include Poirot/Marple because i feel they transcend the boundaries of this list)

[horizon-verizon]

"They do not portray Rhaenyra as she is, her clothing is a CRITICAL element that defines her esp when it comes to the subtle "commentary" about a woman's autonomy" Costumes add so much to the overall tone and quality of a show. Fashion is a medium of communication too. In a world like HOTD, where everything from marriage alliances to war declarations plays out as a political move, what the characters wear matters. I also think the show really dropped the ball when it came to Rhaenyra’s costumes. Rhaenyra is living in a male-dominated world where women are expected to behave a certain way, where they’re judged basically every breath they take. She defies all of that, in all her glamorous self, wielding her femininity as armor/sword in a world dominated by men. That is hot! She’s supposed to be this larger-than-life figure, someone who should own the screen the moment she walks in. Where was the wow factor? Where were the bold, in-your-face looks that screamed, “I’m the heir to the Iron Throne/I'm the queen”? It’s not just about looking good; it’s about what the costumes mean. The show could’ve used her costumes to highlight her defiance and individuality, but instead, they decided to "humble" her. This is especially frustrating because we’ve seen other shows and movies do this so well. In the Queen’s Gambit, Beth Harmon steps into a male-dominated chess world where people emphasize that she's a woman more over anything else, yet she never rejects her femininity to be taken seriously. The evolution of her style is a visual representation of her journey while asserting her place in a field that often underestimates women. Rhaenyra’s narrative is deeply rooted in her struggle against societal expectations and the constant challenges to her claim as heir. The black dress moment could have been one of the most powerful visual declarations for Rhaenyra, a satisfying payoff of seeing her fully step into her power on her own terms. For her to don the black dress is symbolic of her house, her lineage, and her defiance. But nooooo the show decided to give it to that moment to Alicent, and it was so sooooo underwhelming! It doesn’t carry the visual weight or iconic presence one would expect from such a pivotal moment. Just another outfit, easily forgettable and far from special that it just happens to be green. The green dress of Keira Knightley has its own legacy. That dress lives forever rent-free in my head HOTD is a fantasy show, so Rhaenyra should feel like a power fantasy.

Anon is quoting and responding to this post.

Rhaenyra is living in a male-dominated world where women are expected to behave a certain way, where they’re judged basically every breath they take. She defies all of that, in all her glamorous self, wielding her femininity as armor/sword in a world dominated by men. The show could’ve used her costumes to highlight her defiance and individuality, but instead, they decided to "humble" her.

THANK YOU, anon, this is all what I have been saying AND why HotD's costuming is inherently offensive in regards to Rhaenyra--who as a character who is meant to highlight women in Westeros/a highly patriarchal society, who through her clothing is re-emphasizing her "femininity" in defiance of the socialized feminine-is-weakness conceit--is then easily offensive to women or those who claim/are assigned "femininity"-as-concieved in any way.

When it is the other royal/high noble characters, it's "disrespectful" to the lore AND audiences bc it's very obviously them phoning it in (execs, producers, what have you who are responsible). Back to Rhaenyra, it's disrespectful bec you are denying/suppressing the realities & lived experience of social denial of one's worth. Something pretty common for women AND queer people.

It’s not just about looking good; it’s about what the costumes mean.

Like I said, costumes are vehicles of storytelling as well; you can never just judge costumes as garments alone. And I suspect that arguement of "it's ridiculous to make as if x's clothes/hair was disrespectful bc everyone's clothes were just as bad" is just a way to cope with how bad & negligent the costumes/teams at HotD have been since forever and the feeling of being perpetually unsatisfied and even kinda jilted from a true experience of what "could" have been. To force some positivity & enjoy HotD. To me, it's become a lie, delulu--to be "harsh". After all, like I said, it's not GOOD nor FIXES anything that MOST OR ALL the costumes were not at the level of quality they should be for certain characters. "It's all shit, so don't bother pointing out or thinking about why it's shit"...what does that solve?

The black dress moment could have been one of the most powerful visual declarations for Rhaenyra, a satisfying payoff of seeing her fully step into her power on her own terms. For her to don the black dress is symbolic of her house, her lineage, and her defiance. But nooooo the show decided to give it to that moment to Alicent, and it was so sooooo underwhelming!

I wrote a post explaining this HERE about the green vs black dress. I also wrote about on Twitter how Alicent's green dress moment inherently did not make sense for the THEMES of this story nor even her character/characterization alone (was flamed by multiple Alicent sympatizers, stans, or just HotD fans).

Summarizing, show!Alicent didn't have any true reason to feel defiant against RHAENYRA bc Rhaenyra did nothing morally wrong or dangerous to her; whereas book!Rhaenyra had to face a stepmother who was trying to actively destroy her public image (unprovoked from Alicent) so she could push her own son towards the from the time Rhaenyra was 10. Show!Alicent, unlike Bk!Rhaenyra, is trying to defy the person who is not creating the REAL larger issues Alicent has or that has victimized her. And I am talking about Rhaenyra, not Viserys, bc that scene was primarily about RHAENYRA, not Viserys!

Show!Alicent is upset that Rhaenyra didn't tell her about Daemon...for Alicent to just seconds before try to pressure her using her queenly authority and not as a peer/freind AND then immediately tell Viserys what Rhaenyra said...and she acts shocked and appalled when she finds out Rhaenyra lied & slept with the guy she wanted. Even if it was about her kids, she has nothing but the word of her father to assume that Rhaenyra would even listen to people around her and kill her own siblings...when kin-slaying is severly taboo! The worst part is that Alicent is supposedly Rhaenyra's best friend, the one she told her secrets & Rhaenyra vice versa before the marriage to Viserys, so you'd think she'd at least have a conversation about such things...but no, we see her double down on authority, not communication.

She essentially freaked out over nothing bc she didn't assess a situation well when she absolutely had the ability to do so but didn't bc she was more concerned with authority & obedience: getting Rhaenyra to obey her/"respect" her authority AND "obey" & "suffer" like a "proper" woman AND comply with the abusive mores of patriarcal surveillance of women's bodies, and we're were supposed to sit there and congratulate her for it. To be "harsh". While she definitely was trying to use what power & authority she felt she had left to her in lieu of sexual subordination to Viserys and Otto/the abuses to her body, it is also true that she does genuinely expect Rhaenyra's total compliance to something like that sexual subordination on socioreligious principles that would really ruin Rhaenyra's very personality/being, dignity, AND her future maneuvering as the heir. Being the first female heir calls for more maneuvering than the straight, sincere compliance Alicent is demanding of her. It is not a good thing to become as complacent as Alicent is being/has been, even with it coming from a place of brainwashing or mental exhaustion or trauma....were not supposed to encourage women genuinely and wholly complying themselves for a patriarchy!

Other than that, in the book Alicent would have known exactly why bk!Rhaenyra decided to wear black-red to her anniversary tourney bc she was intentional with her attempts to lessen Rhaenyra's standing in court. In the show, how does one expect Rhaenyra to understand why exactly Alicent is mad enough to turn against her, plot for her to lose her position & suspects her of murdering her kids bc she lied once (yes, even on one's mother, bc how does this show Rhaenyra is willing to MURDER CHILDREN?!) about something that doesn't really matter and we/she never seemed to find out that Cole told Alicent he slept with Rhaenyra? The show didn't show it either in episodes 5 or 6.

Even after that episode, we do not see Alicent actually plan or build concepts of plans with the Hightowers like how the scene indicated after she went to greet her uncle at the betrothal feast...so what new persona or faction was she really buillding?

So deathly afraid of posing their assigned "co"female protagonist and making her "unlikeable" that they even totally misrepresent her AS WELL AS confuse the ethical structure of the original story/make her seem a victim of an actual victim when she and always been an abuser! Inherently, this is dangerous. It's posing the defiance of a woman against abuse or some element of the (patriarchal) status quo as innately "dangerous", bc Alicent never once as been a figure trying to question said status quo seriously or sympathesize with those who do or can't conform.

Thus the scene was underwhelming. Unless you simply are not thinking, you reject the original story's themes/characters w/o thinking why they are written that way, or you already align yourself/are loyal with the staus quo of womanhood & sexuality (trad wives, internalized misoynists, & dudebros). It simply didn't and will never make any sense.

THIS is merely one--but often repeated in different "fonts"--reason how this show really isn't writing towards misogyny even though it's obvious Rhaenyra's issues stem much from her society's devaluing her gender.

[dreams-are-paper-thin]

There's a great disturbance in the fandom about whether Sabine is Force-sensitive or not. So let's take a look from the beginning.

In A New Hope, Obi-Wan explains the Force as:

It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.

And according to George Lucas himself:

In Rebels, Kanan uses Obi-Wan's explanation for the Force more than once. There's an important conversation in Trials of the Darksaber, which is related to this and to Sabine.

Hera: Or maybe because she doesn't have the Force, you don't believe she can do this?

Kanan: No. The Force resides in all living things. But you have to be open to it. Sabine is blocked. Her mind is conflicted. She's so expressive and yet so tightly wound. She's so...

Hera: Mandalorian.

Kanan: Very.

Kanan never says Sabine doesn't have the Force. On the contrary, Hera says she doesn't have it and Kanan says no. What Kanan says implies that Sabine does have it, she's just not open enough to wield it.

Keep those quotes in mind for later.

Now, we have to address the Bantha in the room: the midichrolians. We're introduced to this concept in the prequels trilogy, I believe. It serves as a more technical explanation of the Force. The SW fandom wiki offers this definition:

Again, the midichrolians are in all living organisms because the Force resides in all living things.

As far as the movies go, we don't know how high the M-count has to be for someone to be able to wield the Force. We just know Anakin has a count of over 20.000 and that it's a very high number, so he's very strong in the Force.

We can assume that the higher the midichrolians, the more aptitude the user has in the Force.

I'm guessing Sabine has a low M-count, thus limited abilities in the Force because of this line in episode 2 of Ahsoka:

Huyang: I have know many padawns over the centuries, and I can safely say your aptitude in the Force would fall short of them all.

Some people interpreted this line as "Sabine isn't Force-sensitive at all." What I understand from that line is that Sabine sucks at using the Force.

Either way, midichrolians haven't even been mentioned in the show, but I've seen people talk about it regardless. I find most discussion of this kinda pointless because there's not much to go on, so we can only speculate.

Moving on. In episode 3, Ahsoka trains Sabine blindly so she has to rely on the Force to see. I think a lot of people missed that Sabine did, in fact, use the Force in that scene. Watch carefully.

2:16. After Sabine has grown impatient for not succeeding, she finally manages to sense Ahsoka's presence (she still couldn't see and Ahsoka didn't touch Sabine) and fight a little, until Ahsoka stomps on her foot and Sabine falls to the floor.

Ahsoka: Anger and frustration are quick to give power. But they also unbalance you.

Why would Ahsoka say that in the first place if Sabine hadn't used the dark side of the Force? She probably struggles with the light side because it's so different from what she's used to as a mandalorian. It's more aligned to her nature.

Later in the same episode, this conversation takes place:

Sabine: I can't use the Force. I don't feel it. Not like you do.

Ahsoka: The Force resides in all living things. Even you.

Sabine: If that's true, then why doesn't everyone use it?

Ahsoka: Talent is a factor. But training and focus are what truly define someone's success. Not everyone can handle the type of discipline it takes to master the ways of the Force.

This fits perfectly with Obi-Wan's quote and what George Lucas said in the interview. This is consistent within the Star Wars universe and Dave Filoni's previous work.

It does not break the canon, it does not retcon anything. We simply hadn't seen before someone training to use the Force and struggle so much with it.

And to me, that is far more interesting than having every single main character being just overly and naturally competent with the Force. You don't have to be the Chosen One to use the Force, you just have to have enough determination to put in the work.

Back to Ahsoka. In episode 4 (the latest episode that's come out since I'm writing this) Sabine manages to do a very slight Force push during her duel with Shin. I know many people will disagree with me, but just watch the scene again.

1:22. Shin disarms Sabine and knocks her to the ground. Sabine extends her hand and Shin is slightly pushed back. Her arm falls down, her head turns to the side.

I've seen multiple people say Shin did this in anticipation (when has anyone everyone done that?) and that Sabine didn't Force push her. But the thing is, there's a Force push sound effect. Listen closely. It's faint and short, but it's definetely there.

I think Shin's line also confused a lot of people.

Shin: You have no power.

This is not "Sabine tried to use the Force and failed and Shin reiterates it." Again, there's a Force sound effect. That should be proof enough that she's somewhat connecting to the Force. They wouldn't put it there if she wasn't using the Force.

I think Shin and Baylan, as sith/dark jedi or whatever they are, see the Force only as a means to power. That's what Baylan is seeking with all this anyway: power.

Someone with low Force-sensitivity like Sabine would seem totally powerless to them. Everyone has been telling Sabine she's not good enough for it (Huyang, Shin, even Sabine herself.)

So, you can totally disagree with me on this, but I personally interpreted that line as Shin telling Sabine to quit while she's ahead. If she'll never be as powerful as the rest of them, why even bother to try? But Sabine, as the stubborn mandalorian she is, still continues to try.

I think Dave Filoni is painting a very clear picture: Sabine can indeed use the Force, but she's not naturally skilled at it. I think she might still have some sort of block from it, like Kanan said. The show seems to be slowly building up to her wielding the Force more succesfully, though. Starting small, one step at a time.

With Sabine's decision (she didn't have much choice, if you ask me) near the end of episode 4, I do wonder if Sabine will be a dark side user. Shin and Baylan use the dark side but they don't seem to be consumed by it. We'll just have to wait and see.

I understand that people think that Sabine being Force-sensitive diminishes her character, but so far I don't think that's the case. She still uses her blasters and some mandalorian tricks up her sleeve. This just adds another layer to her character. Natasha Liu Bordizzo said in an interview somewhere that Sabine changes fighting styles frequently, and I think we'll see more of that soon.

As long as Sabine stays true to her mandalorian ways, I'm fine with it. How cool would it be to have a mandalorian-jedi in the mandoverse? Sabine has been kind of disconnected to her mandalorian heritage for a long time now, and I'm sure she won't be a regular Jedi, if a Jedi at all. She's a special breed, one of a kind. Who knows, maybe she'll help to bring balance to the Force after all.

If Bo-Katan can walk both worlds, then so can Sabine.

[deadendtracks]

responding to @divinekangaroo's response to me!

re: the Lizzie scene in s2, I never feel like I can articulate what I see in any kind of coherent way. It's one of those completely *weird* scenes that CM throws in every so often that isn't quite what you'd expect it to be but isn't particularly easily defined, either.

The impending assassination and his emotional shut down over Grace are definitely elements!

The ability to get away from being used to kill, but then being locked back into it against his will.

Yeah, absolutely, this is incredibly important to both season 2 and season 3 (and arguably season 5 in a different way).

I have such a sense he’s almost *forcing* himself to do it.

Yeah absolutely, that's how I look at it too. I don't sense any anger in it, but Tommy does often react to situations he can't escape by 'going away' in a sense (dissociating, detaching, withdrawing emotionally).

I wonder how this fits with what you talk about later regarding him 'acting out' on Lizzie what's being done to him -- would he have to so obviously force himself to do this if that were the case? It seems like it would be more compulsive/irresistible and feel necessary for him if that was the motivating factor? He doesn't seem to be aware enough to have it be the case that he feels this compulsion and knows where it's coming from and is struggling with it by becoming detached, idk.

From Lizzie’s words (and how warm the two of them are in the typewriter scene) I have to assume they’ve had a relatively amicable paid sexual relationship, and Tommy’s definitely acting different in that particular scene.

Yeah definitely. This tends to be misinterpreted by some parts of fandom as how he *always* is with Lizzie, but Lizzie's reaction to him is definitely a little "idk what *that* was about" and she wouldn't behave the way she does if that was how he typically treated her. There's also the fact that despite his demeanor in that scene where he seems to be dismissive of her, in the next scene he shows he'd listened to her and thought about what she said.

It’s not really about pleasure or release before a risky venture that might kill him. It’s not even about Lizzie at all, or a comment on his prior (or upcoming) connection with Lizzie. A reminder to himself about being used, the way certain disadvantaged people are always used no matter what they actually want, the way he feels about being used that way. And a very strong reminder at the end when Lizzie outreaches for connection that you take the money and treat the exchange as a transaction.

Yeah, that could be part of it, though to me it doesn't feel like he's aware enough even of Lizzie's presence for this to be a kind of acting out of that dynamic on another person -- instead it's like she's not even there (and he's not there either). In some ways you wonder why he's doing it at all. One of my theories about Tommy & sex is that he uses it to get out of his own anxiety spirals/out of his head, so maybe that was what he was hoping would happen and he was just too dissociated from the fact of what he was about to do to get anything out of it but taking the edge off.

So he uses Lizzie, not cruelly or unfairly in that desk scene given she is a prostitute then: she’s his only lover that he doesn’t have to perform with. He can have terrible sex, he doesn’t have to think about her pleasure, he doesn’t have to perform or satisfy her or try to influence her.

In some ways she's also the only person he doesn't have to perform for period, he's always performing for his family, he's always performing for his enemies and for the upper classes. He can often be quite 'flat affect' with them but never quite to this extent; with Lizzie he can drop even the pretense that he's present. Which isn't great for her! But his reaction to her wanting *more* from him ('i wish just once you wouldn't pay for it like normal people' or whatever she says) could be all about the fact that what he *wants* in that moment is to not have to be anything or anyone to her or himself, he wants to *not be.*

Tangentially: I also think a lot of his behaviours with Lizzie are actually about what’s going on in himself, not about his feelings for her.

Yeah, absolutely. His first scene with her at Epsom is about this; he's too wrapped up in what he's about to do to even hear what she's saying or how she feels about it; and I don't think it has a lot to do with what he thinks about her as a person, he's just dropped into that headspace where he can't spare anything for anyone.

This Lizzie as a Tommy-distorted-mirror warps and shifts over time, but I think S2 in particular she’s almost this “sexual-tool / extension-of-himself” to be that mirror of him being used as a “killing-tool” where he has no choice, and he actively uses her that way in the sex scene and at Epsom.

That's an interesting point. To riff on it a bit I think it connects to "everyone's a whore, Grace" and to "everyone gets tired, Finn" -- I think in a wider sense Tommy's thinking is nearly always war-time, in that everyone around him is also a combatant and there are no civilians. It's the same with his brothers often, it's the same with how he has disregard for the civilians in the housing project in the season 4 shootout: this is a battlefield for him so he treats everyone else as if they're also in the battlefield situation with him.

Which... at least for Lizzie and those civilians in s4, they didn't sign up for this! He blurs the lines between how people use their bodies-as-tools, including, later, himself. I think a lot of this comes from having been a lower level officer ranked over his brothers -- to have mentally survived at some point he'd have had to detach from any personal feelings about who he's 'using' to fight these battles and how, and now he can't turn it off.

He also fully intended for Lizzie not to have to go through with it, which is important; at the same time he'd have to know there'd always be a risk of that going wrong in ways that (at that point) wouldn't be true of himself (he'd end up injured, killed, arrested rather than raped).

asking for Lizzie as a thing/a Tommy substitute -- well, he actually did do that to Lizzie at Epsom, because he couldn’t do it himself. 

And it shows how he changes by s5 where he absolutely would never offer Lizzie to Moseley even if it would be strategically advantageous; instead he'll keep putting himself into the position where it's possible he'll have to do it himself, which terrifies him.

[meenawrites]

Seo Yul Deep Dive–Part 2

SO I am back while in class but the professor's not here yet so whatever.

I've clearly been browsing the Seo Yul tag here and I've seen some opinions that really shock me so I hope I can address them here and in future posts.

First of all, we start Part 2 with Yul finally returning from Seoho Fortress after having been forced to leave three years ago.

Guys, he has been SUFFERING from this blood parasite FOR THREE YEARS! So of course, he looks kind of sickly when he arrives. I honestly don't know how he's been holding in there this long.

We also find out that So-I, despite being able to escape now that the blood parasite is no longer in her, is actually opting to stay Jin Mu's little puppet or pawn and let him believe she still has the blood parasite all so she can continue to receive medicine for said parasite and send it to Yul, which is kind of heartbreaking actually and kind of redeeming for her character. (I have a lot to say about her but that may be for another post, we'll see).

So Seo Yul comes back to Daeho Fortress, reunites with his friends, and it's like something clicks back into place for our favorite trio.

We know that Danggu was feeling kind of uncomfortable with Uk not because of the ice stone exactly but he just doesn't know how to talk to him with everything that happened three years ago weighing on their shoulders; which is fair, it was A LOT. But as soon as Yul comes back, it's like they all know how to act together once again.

I really wanted to point this out because I think traditionally a lot of people might find Yul's character kind of boring because of how quiet and strict he is with himself AND HE'S NOT. And we can see that by how his mere presence brings the trio back together, that they start to talk and joke around again as soon as he just makes an appearance. It really highlights how core he is to their friendship, not just an accessory. Yes, his two friends are louder and more lively than him, but because Seo Yul is so quiet and reserved, when he does choose to make a joke or tease it has that much more impact. To top it off you can just FEEL how much he loves his friends and I really think these are two main factors in why Uk and Danggu love him so much. Seo Yul is central to their group, always has been, and he has been looking out for Danggu and Uk his entire life.

Moving on though, we have Seo Yul meeting Jin Buyeon/Naksu, and all of their interactions in the show (prior to him finding out she's Naksu) are ADORABLE! I think they really highlighted once more that Yul and Naksu would always gravitate towards each other in some way because their relationship/bond goes way deeper than anything romantic.

Like yes Yul's care for Naksu has always had a romantic connotation, but his regard for her went way deeper than that. I don't quite know how to articulate it but I think overall he really respected and cared about her as a PERSON just with romantic undertones, not necessarily an all consuming romance. And I think Naksu feels the same way. There is something in Yul that brings her comfort and she likes spending time with him, but it's also never been precisely defined that she loves him romantically. Again, I think there are definitely romantic undertones, even on Naksu's side (made clear by how often she emphasizes how handsome he is) but I think above all her regard for Yul is a lot deeper and purer than that. He is someone who gave her shiny and happy memories in the midst of a life that was anything but happy. This kid showed her that people CAN be unconditionally kind, that people could still be good at a time I think was very important for her, and I think frankly Seo Yul does that for a lot of people. He just constantly reminds people in his attitude and actions that unconditional kindness and care does still exist and he's a prime example of that.

So yes they gravitate towards each other again without remembering the other for a while and it's precious to watch. They frankly just enjoy each other's company, and I absolutely love the scene of them agreeing to be "foolish friends". Might do a whole other post on that scene but yeah.

Let's move on to the agony of Yul's character arc this season.

As we know, the aftermath of the tragedy of season 1 DEEPLY affected Yul. He has no idea that Naksu/Mudeok was controlled into going wild and killing so many people. All he knows is that she went wild, killed Jang Uk and ruined Danggu and Choyeon's happiness. It's his ultimate failure in his point of view. It's been drilled into him that soul shifters are unnatural, that they will inevitably cause great harm, but he elected to ignore that not only for Naksu's sake but also for Jang Uk's sake. He had been watching over her actions all of season 1 both because he cannot stay away from her but also probably to ascertain whether she would really be a threat.

And right when he'd made the decision to leave her alone, to let her and Jang Uk be happy, that maybe the absolute rules he's been taught to believe in unconditionally can be broken, everything he'd feared in letting Naksu/Mudeok continue to live came true.

So OBVIOUSLY he's consumed with guilt. Because he knew exactly who she was for so long, knew that she was a soul shifter, knew the risks and his duties that weigh so heavily upon him, but elected to ignore them for his own feelings, his own moral compass that for once was disagreeing with this set of absolute rules he abides by. And in his view, everyone he loves has paid for his inaction and his decision to let her be.

Like just think about it from his POV, he feels like it's all his fault, especially more so because we know that Yul (and literally every adult around him) holds himself to a very high standard, so his guilt is just that much more intense.

This is why he's letting himself die silently by the blood parasite. This is why he never took the medication even though his pain throughout the last three years must have been so so bad. Because he feels like he deserves it. He's punishing himself, and he thinks he should die for the role he played in the tragedy of season 1.

Yul is someone who feels everything very deeply, and from the way he takes everything upon himself, we can infer that Yul's never had anyone who actually takes care of HIS inner world and HIS feelings. We don't know much about his parents, but from the few family members we have seen –his aunt and uncle – no one seems to care much for him and his feelings. Reinforced by the fact that he's the only heir and the way all the adults treat him, I have to believe that Yul grew up largely having to take care of himself in the emotional aspect. An he grew up, emphasis was heavily put on responsibility and duty as the next head of the Seo family. Combine that with what usually happens with children who act more mature and are more obedient than others -> adults LOVE you. And for someone like Yul who I have to believe didn't really have that emotional support that any child should have from their parents and adults in their life, I think that was just more incentive to cling to this good boy title of his, to foster his absolutist sense of morality that he was being taught, and striving to be as responsible as possible.

That's where his self-flagelating attitude comes from, and that's the kind of background we can infer from the way he acts and reasons through his feelings.

So yes, he was going to let himself die no matter how stupid that is because he thought it was only right.

When he discovers that Jin Buyeon is really Naksu but without her memories, he's in moral agony once again. Because on the one hand he is so so happy she is still alive, but on the other, all that trauma from what happened when she went wild last season is brought right back to the surface (as if he isn't constantly thinking about it already).

And we can see that in the scene where upon discovering it, he just hugs her and asks to stay like that for a while. He cannot believe she is standing in front of him but he is also deeply sad because he feels like she and Uk are destined for tragedy once again (especially with him again not knowing that Mudeok/Naksu was hypnotized last season into going wild, it now feels like an inevitability, a certified truth that the tragedy will repeat itself eventually).

And this time, Uk DOESN'T KNOW. So in Yul's mind, he thinks that that's better, that this is an opportunity afforded him to correct his mistake from last season, and again take care of everyone else's happiness aside from his own.

This combined with how sick he is from the blood parasite I believe largely contribute to his plan to kill Jin Buyeon/Naksu in Danhyangeok. But he also cannot live knowing he did that to her and also Jang Uk. He feels like this is the right choice for everyone's future happiness in the long term, but it will destroy him. So instead of killing her and then just waiting to die, he plans to kill both of them. Infuriating from the viewer's side but totally understandable from his perspective and disposition.

But then we have So-I who is ready to do anything to save Yul, and he ends up being not only discovered but on the verge of death. And So-I dies trying to protect him. Once again, he's just in moral agony because someone has died for him when he was resolute on killing himself. He thought that would be the best course of action for everyone, was convinced, but then someone new dies specifically for him and he's in distress again. What is the right choice? What should I have done?

And when Uk comes to his rescue and grabs him by the back of his neck, we can see just how in despair he is. His "I'm sorry" to Uk is an apology not for dying here and needing to be rescued but for so many other things. For his inaction last season, for having run like a coward to Seoho Fortress for 3 years (in his opinion), for knowing that Jin Buyeon is Naksu and not being able to tell him, for knowing who she is and not being able to protect Uk from pain at her side. For so many things and it's so so heartbreaking.

When Yul is healed and saved, he honestly just doesn't even know what to do anymore, what the right thing to do is. Jin Buyeon/Naksu has saved him, which then makes him feel guilty for planning to kill her in the first place. But he also can't see any way out of a repeat tragedy. Basically his moral compass is going haywire.

Side note: we were totally robbed of the trio reuniting with Seo Yul and then scolding him for being an idiot. Might fuck around and write another Missing Scene oneshot for that.

But then he finds out that Naksu's soul is going to disappear anyway. And he's again conflicted (I swear my man can never catch a break). On the one hand, he's very sad that Naksu is going to disappear out of this world, just gone without ever having been happy. On the other hand, he's relieved because he thinks that with her disappearance no tragedy will occur. Furthermore, the body will be returning to the soul of its original owner which is morally correct by all standards.

So all he can hope for now is for Naksu to be happy with the time she has left with the person she loves. He even goes and threatens Jin Hogyeong (which is not something he would ever normally do) just to give her the chance to be happy with the time she has left. (I'm sobbing yall, I love him).

But then, thanks to Heo Yunok (was very upset with her this season), that all goes to shit because she exposes Naksu right when Uk is finally admitting he's fallen for Jin Buyeon/Naksu, that she's finally going to be happy. And now she remembers everything and how she essentially screwed up the happiness of not only the love of her life Jang Uk (who she LITERALLY KILLED like I can't imagine having to deal with that) but also everyone else she cared about. So she decides to distance herself.

And Seo Yul is just there talking to both of them like won't you use your disappearance as an excuse to be together? Even for a little while? Because damn it they deserve to be happy and they're both so dear to him. And he's just sad once again because the world seems intent on hurting these two people he loves so much.

Now lowkey this is where I feel like the writers kind of failed Seo Yul. Take this with a grain of salt though because they had a limited amount of episodes, so all things considered, they did a great job.

But after all his suffering, Seo Yul didn't really get an emotional payoff. Like yes we see him become in charge of the training center in Songrim and he's going to institute a new and fairer system for training mages. But what really would have been good for him and his character would be for it to be pounded into his head how much his friends care about him, how he doesn't have to suffer alone, how he's not guilty of everything he feels guilty of. For someone to recognize finally how much of a burden he has on his shoulders and show him that he doesn't have to shoulder it alone.

I don't think I'm articulating this properly, but I wanted and needed everyone important to Yul to step up after him almost dying to knock some sense into him, to realize how truly fucked up it is for someone to feel so responsible and guilty and self-sacrificing as to just be willing to die in silence. That's why a scene where Danggu and Uk scold the shit out of him would have been necessary, should definitely have happened. He needs some emotional healing and to realize that people in his life are ready to be aggressively there for him.

Just after this incident, his friends constantly coming to check up on him. Like are you good? Your feelings aren't going crazy, right? You don't feel irrationally guilty for something out of your control, right?

I lowkey have way more to say about Yul and his relationship with other people but that's for a different post.

All in all, I'm super glad that Seo Yul found his own path at the end of the season. I think reforming Jeojjingak (if that's what it's called) is his own way of paving the future so that people like Cho Yeon and So-I who had unlucky lots in life have more of a fair chance in the future.

I clearly love this character A LOT.

Congrats to anyone who actually made it this far.

[succubusmelt]

Hello! And if it's okay to request a fanfic ?

What does Yanderes (Alan Orion, yb/Peter, Sunny Day Jack, John Doe, or others of your choice) think of MC/darling with scars (wounded/ burned/ slit/ others by past accident or by a person's cruel intentions, your choice)?

And darling's insecures about it and wears clothes that cover it, including wearing a mask (if there's scar/s on her face), even in the weather…

Thank You!

ALAN ORION

- Alan would feel sympathy for you. He understands what it's like to have scars cover one's body from past trauma.

- He wouldn't see your scars as making you any less beautiful. If anything, he might feel even more drawn to you for having overcome hardship.

- Alan would want you to feel comfortable in your own skin. He wouldn't pressure you to uncover your scars, but gently encourage you that you don't need to hide from him.

- When you're ready, he would shower your scars with tender kisses to show you that every part of you is precious to him. His scars prove he knows pain, but also survival.

- Alan sees your strength in having survived what caused the scars. To him, scars are just a part of one's story, not a defining factor of their worth or attractiveness.

- He would try to boost your confidence by frequently reminding you how amazing he thinks you are, inside and out. Alan's affection isn't dependent on any one physical attribute.

- Ultimately, Alan respects your pace and boundaries. When you feel ready to shed layers of clothing or masks in his presence, he will make you feel at ease and cherished.

SUNNYDAY JACK

- Jack sees the scars on your body as a part of who you are and he doesn't view them as flaws. He understands that they represent past pain and struggles, but they also showcase your strength and resilience.

- He respects your boundaries and understands if you choose to cover your scars with clothing or wear a mask, even if it means doing so in all weather conditions.

- Jack is incredibly understanding and supportive of your insecurities regarding your scars. He never questions or pressures you to change how you feel about them. Instead, he focuses on making you feel loved, beautiful, and cherished.

- He reminds you that your scars do not define you and that they are just one part of your story. He wants you to love and accept yourself exactly as you are.

- Jack showers you with affection, compliments, and reassurance to help boost your confidence. He understands that healing from past wounds takes time and he's willing to be patient and supportive throughout that journey.

- Ultimately, Jack's love for you extends beyond physical appearance, and he wants you to see yourself the way he sees you - as a remarkable and resilient person who deserves all the love and happiness in the world.

PETER KING

- He gently lifts her chin and looks lovingly into her eyes, "Your scars do not define your beauty, my love. What matters most is your kind and loving heart."

- Peter brushes his fingers softly against her covered skin, yearning to kiss away the pain of her past. "You are perfect to me, just as you are. Please, do not be afraid to let your radiance shine through."

- Looking upon her with compassion, he whispers, "I will shield you from further harm, my darling. You do not need to face this world alone anymore. Let me show you each day how treasured you are."

- Peter peels away the layers of cloth concealing her, and places featherlight kisses on her scars. "These marks signify your strength and resilience. Wear them proudly for all to see your courage."

- With tenderness, he removes her mask to reveal the beautiful face underneath. "Now and always, you shall know love's embrace. Let this be where your insecurities fade, as you see yourself through my eyes of adoration."

JOHN DOE

- John is captivated by your scars, finding them intriguing and a testament to your strength and resilience. He sees them as a unique part of your beauty.

- John's possessive nature kicks in, and he feels an overwhelming need to shield you from any harm or judgment related to your scars. He will go to great lengths to ensure your safety and well-being.

- John wholeheartedly accepts you with your scars, seeing them as a part of your identity. He wants you to know that your scars do not change his feelings towards you and that he loves you unconditionally.

- Understanding your insecurities about your scars, John provides constant reassurance and emotional support. He encourages you to embrace your scars as a symbol of your unique journey and reminds you of your inherent beauty.

- John fully respects your choice to cover your scars with clothing and a mask. He would never pressure or manipulate you into revealing your scars if you are not comfortable doing so.

- Despite the weather conditions, John prioritizes your comfort and well-being. He makes sure you have appropriate clothing to cover your scars, even if it means enduring discomfort himself in hot weather.

- John's love for physical contact extends to you, but he is always mindful of your boundaries and insecurities. He expresses his affection in ways that make you feel safe and loved, avoiding any actions that may trigger your insecurities.

- John actively encourages you to embrace your scars and view them as a part of your unique beauty. He reminds you that your scars do not define your worth and that you should be proud of your resilience.

- John's curiosity about the human world extends to understanding the emotional impact of scars on individuals. He educates himself about the experiences of others with scars, seeking to broaden his understanding and empathy.

- Above all, John is a fierce protector, defending you against anyone who would judge or harm you because of your scars. He is your unwavering shield, ensuring your safety and happiness.

[ravenkilgore]

Diaspora's Marking Identity: Moonlight (2016)

Moonlight (2016), directed by Barry Jenkins, tells the story of a young Black man named Chiron, who is growing up in Liberty City, a predominantly Black, very impoverished neighborhood in Miami. The film is divided into three parts, each focusing on a different stage of Chiron's life, from childhood, to adolescence, to adulthood. This structure allows the film to successfully explore all of the defining moments in Chiron's life, and show how is youth shaped him as the adult we see in part III. Throughout the film, Chiron struggles to understand or come to terms with his identity, sexuality, and place in a community that is plagued with drugs, violence, and homophobia. The film embarks on a journey that explores themes of masculinity, sexuality, and belonging, all while attesting to the Black queer experience through Chiron. Moonlight examines the transition of Black boyhood to manhood, and how the effect of the cultural and political factors of ones environment can have on the development of identity.

Part of what makes Moonlight such a unique film is its narrative structure, which is split up into three parts, or three phases in Chiron’s life. The first part, "Little," introduces us to a young Chiron, who is struggling to find his place in the world. His mother is neglectful, and has an increasingly worsening drug addiction. He is taken under the wing of a drug dealer named Juan and his girlfriend, Teresa, who become a kind of surrogate family for him. In the second part, "Chiron," we see Chiron as a teenager, grappling with his sexuality and trying to navigate the rough streets of Miami. The third part, "Black," finds Chiron as an adult, now going by the name "Black." He is a drug dealer like Juan, but has a hardened exterior and seems to have cut himself off from his past.

Through focusing on the pivotal stages of Chiron's life, Moonlight aims to highlight the trajectory of a Black gay mans life, and how the intersectionality of race, sexuality, and socioeconomic factors can impact it. Though the film is set in the present day, it highlights the generational struggles of African American's that have had lasting effects on Black communities in the US. Chiron, or, Little, has a fear of water in part I, something that is supposed to be a historical fear in the Black community, due to lack of opportunity and limited resources. In Part I, there is a scene when Juan is teaching Little how to swim. As he gets in the water, Little looks at his hands that have gotten wet, indicating his unfamiliarity to the experience of being in the water. Though uncomfortable at first, Juan urges Little to relax, and holds him as he bobs in the water. This scene represents a reconciliation with, and breaking free of generational traumas that have kept Little, and other Black boys like him repressed.

After Juan teaches Little to swim, he tells him a story from his childhood of a woman told him, “In moonlight… Black boys look blue." (20:31). This is the first mentioning of the color blue, which will serve as a motif that represents peace and tranquility throughout the film. In this scene, Chiron is in the comforting presence of Juan, and his feeling of peace is represented through the blue water that surrounds and engulfs him. Juan also connects the color blue to the skin of Black boys, alluding to the fact that peace and tranquility can be found in their their shared Blackness, that becomes blue under the moonlight.

The ocean, acting as the most vast display of the color blue, is very powerful force within the film. The most defining moments in Chiron's life have happened in the presence of the ocean, one being his learning how to swim, the other being one of his two only sexual encounters, with his childhood friend, Kevin. Kevin first appears in Part I, and acts as Chiron's only companion. As the film moves into part II, we see the extreme bullying that Chiron is subjected to. Kevin is the only person who is nice to Chiron, and we soon start to notice that the two share more than a friendship. As Chiron and Kevin sit on the beach together, under the moonlight, Kevin says “sometimes, round the way where we live, you catch this same breeze. It come through the hood and it’s like everything stops for a second ‘cause everybody just wanna feel it” (52:32), to which Chiron responds: "And it’s like all you can hear is your own heartbeat, right?”. In this moment, both of the boys seem to recognize a shared sense of tranquility amongst their community upon feeling even just the breeze of the ocean. The ocean has the power to temporarily relieve the hardships and generational bondages that suppress Black youth in a place like Liberty city.

At the end of Part II, Chiron's bully forces Kevin to beat up Chiron. Left feeling humiliated, and betrayed by the only person who understood him, who he identified with, Chiron was at his breaking point. When Part III begins, we see Chiron, now going by the name "Black". He has moved states, displays an impressively fit physique, and seems to have cut off all ties to his past. His new persona is a direct reflection of his lived experiences and generational traumas that were characterized by his community. This is a common tactic adopted by many Black people who do not fit into their respective communities - to harden themselves from the outside world in order to protect and ignore their unhealed internal wounds. In a society that upholds a rigid definition of Black masculinity, it is often easier to conform to that standard, rather than attempt to be queer in a system that has worked against queerness for generations.

Chiron/Black receives a call from Kevin, which prompts him to revisit his childhood home and confront his past. After the two meet up after so many years, they share another intimate moment together. The final scene of the film is of Chiron as Little, standing on the shore, under the moonlight. Ending the film like this takes us back to Juan's story, and his implication of innate peace that is found through the connection of Black boys to the moon, which simultaneously controls the movement of the ocean. This represents the confrontation with his past that Chiron needed to move forward, and the unhealed traumas of his inner child finally being at peace, which can literally be seen reflected on his face through the moonlight that makes Black boys look blue.

Questions:

How do the elements of moonlight and the ocean work to enrich Chiron's story? Can you think of other movies that use nature as a motif?

What does the movie imply about cultural identity, and its relationship to one's geographic location?

How do the intersections of race, sexuality, and social strata shape the reflection of ones identity? Does Moonlight provide an accurate representation of this?

[frenchtables]

Home Style Guide: Your Source for Interior Design Inspiration

Designing your home in a way that not only reflects your personality but also provides convenience and order is definitely an exciting and evolving process. A home that has a measurable liveliness factor is the one that is not only filled with furniture but is carefully arranged so it becomes the embodied narrative of your life. Where to begin? These fundamentals are crucial to your sensitive interior designs, comprising both perception and application to your transforming endeavors.

Defining Your Style:

Before diving into paint swatches and furniture catalogs, take time to define your personal style. Browse magazines, online platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, and even visit show homes to gather inspiration. Ask yourself:

What colors resonate with me?

What kind of atmosphere do I want to create (e.g., cozy, modern, minimalist, eclectic)?

What are my favorite design elements (e.g., natural materials, bold patterns, vintage finds)?

You must confirm your style, for this will be a cornerstone for all of your design decisions, which will need to be very coherent and in harmony if dry lines are seen to be aesthetically fit within your home.

Key Elements of Interior Design:

A few things beyond this interaction contribute to forming a successful interior design. Knowing these principles will help you make informed decisions:

Color: The color has been a means of expression. Blue stands for a feeling of peace and comfort. They may even promote the sleeping of the babies. Balancing the presence of blue colors. 

Space: Understanding room circulation and the way furniture is placed in space are two primary aspects required to create a functional and cozy environment.

Light:Natural and artificial light have a significant effect on how a space is perceived. Utilize natural light to the maximum extent possible and bring in various types of artificial lighting to give the room a sense of depth and warmth.

Texture and Pattern: Texture and pattern are added to the wall with the help of fabrics, rugs, and decorative accessories that give good experience and make space more enlarging. 

Furniture and Accessories: Look for furniture that is useful to you. Decoration is the last detail that is connected to your living space. Ideally, they should have a story of their own. 

Tips for Creating a Cohesive Design:

Start with a Focal Point:The core of a room will be highlighted by every space, either a fireplace, the big window or the main piece of the furniture. 

Create a Mood Board: Collect fabric swatches, paint chips and images that inspire you into a mood board. This will also help give you a picture of what your design will look like as well as keep things consistent.

Consider Scale and Proportion: Select furniture and accessories that are proportionately scaled to the size of the room.

Don't Be Afraid to Mix and Match: What is great is mixing styles and epochs. Just make sure to do so considered and intentionally.”

Edit and Declutter: Having a clutter-free space means you are ensured a well-designed space. Regularly edit your possessions and declutter to have a feeling of order and tranquility.

Finding Your Inspiration:

Inspiration is all around us. Here are some tools and resources to inspire your creativity:

Online Platforms: Pinterest, Instagram and Houzz are iconic resources for design inspiration.

Magazines: Interior design magazines provide curated inspiration and expert advice.

Show Homes: Visiting show homes allows you to see design trends in action.

Travel: Exploring different cultures and architectural styles can spark new ideas.

Making it Your Own:

But at the end of the day, the No. 1 thing about interior design is designing a space you love. So have fun, take risks, and customize your home to fit your taste!

[recruitryte]

How AI Tools Can Foster Greater Diversity and Inclusion in Hiring

In today's dynamic work environment, embracing diversity and inclusion (D&I) is more crucial than ever. These principles are not just trends but essential components of a thriving, innovative, and successful organization. Achieving true diversity and inclusion in hiring requires a strategic approach, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools are emerging as key facilitators in this effort. This blog delves into how AI tools can advance diversity and inclusion in recruitment by addressing biases, broadening candidate sourcing, and ensuring fair evaluations.

Defining Diversity and Inclusion in Recruitment

What Diversity and Inclusion Mean

Diversity involves the presence of a variety of different characteristics within a workplace, including race, gender, age, sexual orientation, and more. Inclusion refers to creating an environment where all individuals feel welcomed, respected, and valued. In recruitment, D&I means implementing practices that ensure every candidate has equal opportunities, regardless of their personal attributes.

The Advantages of a Diverse Workforce

A diverse team brings a range of perspectives that can drive innovation and creativity. Research shows that companies with diverse teams often outperform their peers in terms of financial success and employee satisfaction. Moreover, inclusive workplaces attract top talent, improve retention rates, and foster a positive organizational culture.

Challenges in Achieving Diversity and Inclusion

Despite the known benefits, many organizations face hurdles in achieving genuine diversity and inclusion. Common obstacles include unconscious bias during hiring, limited candidate outreach, and inconsistent evaluation methods. Overcoming these challenges requires a deliberate approach and effective tools.

How AI Tools Can Help Eliminate Bias

Bias in Hiring Processes

Unconscious or explicit biases can significantly affect hiring decisions. For example, biases related to gender, ethnicity, or educational background can skew how resumes are reviewed and how candidates are interviewed. These biases can undermine efforts to build a diverse and inclusive workforce.

The Role of AI in Reducing Bias

AI tools can mitigate these biases through various mechanisms:

Anonymous Screening: AI can anonymize resumes to ensure evaluations are based on skills and qualifications alone, not on demographic factors.

Bias Detection: AI algorithms can analyze hiring data to pinpoint and address patterns of bias.

Consistent Evaluation: AI tools can help standardize interview questions and evaluation criteria, reducing the likelihood of biased assessments.

For instance, AI-driven resume screening tools can mask personal details like names and addresses, focusing solely on the candidate's qualifications and experience, leading to fairer evaluations.

Improving Candidate Sourcing with AI

AI-Enhanced Sourcing Capabilities

AI tools can revolutionize candidate sourcing by reaching a wider and more diverse talent pool. Traditional sourcing methods might miss out on potential candidates, but AI can leverage vast data sources and sophisticated algorithms to discover talent from varied backgrounds.

Expanding Reach: AI can search across numerous platforms and databases to identify candidates who might not be actively applying but fit the job requirements.

Enhanced Matching: AI algorithms match candidates with job opportunities based on skills and experience, revealing hidden talent.

Targeted Outreach Strategies

AI can also enhance targeted outreach by analyzing demographic data to effectively connect with underrepresented groups. This includes:

Custom Campaigns: Developing outreach strategies aimed at diverse talent pools.

Strategic Partnerships: Engaging with organizations and communities that focus on diverse talent.

Examples show that organizations utilizing AI-powered sourcing have significantly increased the diversity of their candidate pipelines.

Ensuring Fairness in Assessments with AI

AI-Driven Resume Screening

AI tools ensure that resume evaluations are impartial by focusing on objective qualifications and skills rather than subjective factors.

Skills-Based Screening: AI assesses resumes based on relevant skills and experience, minimizing bias.

Uniform Evaluation: AI ensures consistent evaluation criteria for all candidates.

Standardizing the Interview Process

AI can standardize interview questions and evaluation criteria to promote fairness in candidate assessments.

Uniform Questions: AI can generate consistent interview questions relevant to the role.

Objective Evaluation: AI tools can objectively assess candidates' responses based on predefined criteria.

Implementing AI Tools for Better Diversity and Inclusion

Selecting the Right AI Solutions

Choosing the appropriate AI tools is essential for achieving diversity and inclusion goals. Consider these factors:

Alignment with D&I Goals: Ensure that the AI tool supports your organization’s diversity and inclusion objectives.

Transparency: Opt for tools that offer transparency in their algorithms and processes.

Best Practices for Integrating AI

To successfully integrate AI tools into your hiring processes, follow these best practices:

Training: Provide training for HR teams on how to use AI tools effectively and interpret their results.

Ongoing Monitoring: Regularly review and adjust AI tool performance to address any issues.

Evaluating the Impact of AI Tools on Diversity and Inclusion

Key Metrics to Track

Monitor the effectiveness of AI tools in promoting diversity and inclusion by tracking:

Diversity Hiring Metrics: Measure the proportion of diverse hires relative to total hires.

Candidate Experience: Gather feedback from candidates about their hiring experience.

Continuous Improvement

Use data and feedback to continually refine your diversity and inclusion efforts. Regularly evaluate AI tool performance and make necessary adjustments to meet your D&I objectives.

Conclusion

AI tools hold great promise for advancing diversity and inclusion in recruitment. By addressing biases, improving candidate sourcing, and ensuring fair assessments, these tools can help organizations build more inclusive workplaces. To explore how AI can transform your hiring processes, consider leveraging advanced solutions like recruitRyte, an AI-powered hiring platform designed to support your diversity and inclusion goals.

[w21009869mi60213000]

Draft #2

To What Extent Does Sound Design Impact the Gameplay in Five Night’s at Freddy’s: An Analysis and  Evaluation of How Soundscapes Create Horror for a Player Within the Game World. 

Abstract (150-200) 

Five Nights at Freddy’s (Cawthon, 2014) is a game in which sound design creates a more optimal experience. This means that listening discreetly is an important factor that will impact how you play and  advance in the game. This essay will be analysing and evaluating how the game achieves this effect and the impact it has on a player. I will do this by pointing out certain audio techniques. It will not cover the  narrative as a lot of the story is still to be determined, and most of it is just a theory. Sound design can be  analysed in accordance with gameplay, through advancing using audio cues, distracting with red herrings or providing a sense of spatial awareness or certain feelings. These can have the same effects in both first person game play or through watching play-through. 

Introduction (150-200) 

Sound design is often overlooked in gameplay, players will focus on visual stimuli and not realize that sound helps drive it along. Immersion is an important part in connecting the player with the game, and so without it the game is not as engaging. However this cannot be achieved when either  visuals or sound are the sole technique used; they both need the other so as to get the full experience. Sound provides emotion and feeling to a scenario, and acts as the force that directs attention and draws players  through the game experience, and so relaying information about the player’s surroundings. It mirrors reality as to what we hear daily, while heightening it and emphasizing certain events or actions.

Researching into this topic and how it can create suspense and anxiety for a player, is something both interesting and important to consider. This is especially true for Horror Games as sound design is the greatest influence(both music and audio effects) in the feeling of fear for a player. 

Literature and Media Reviews: 

The Creation of Soundscapes in Games. 

Establishing what makes up sound in the game is key to how it impacts the game  experience. In Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design (Sinclair, 2020) the purpose of sound  design is to inform, entertain and immerse a player. In the game you receive and  analyse aural stimuli constantly without even realising, just like in real life. This provides players with spatial awareness and emphasises the presence of others, as well as alerting them to any surrounding dangers. Reverberation is used to inform the player of their surroundings in a game, through perception of distance. Players will understand this concept by discerning how slowly sound energy decays, this provides information on the  size and material of an object or setting. This is useful when  the source is outside the visual window of the player, allowing them to react accordingly. The Soundscape of a game is necessary as it serves both the storyline and the  gameplay. Players can react appropriately according to their surroundings and possible challenges.  

This idea is further explored in The Game Audio Strategy (Zdanowicz & Bambrick, 2019) by showing how  Environmental Interaction can provide immersion(also known as interactive audio). Aural feedback compliments any actions taken, offering a sense of locale and setting the mood for the scene, this is done Purposefully to direct a player’s attention through the narrative and tasks in the game. Adaptive audio is  indirectly influenced by the player, it  reacts to changes in game state and helps the game’s  progression. These techniques help to define realism through literal and non-literal soundscapes, through sounds  emitted within the space (diegetic) or externally (non-diegetic), to establish immersion and  the believability aspect in the game experience.  

How Horror is Portrayed Through Sound 

Horror media relies on sound design to create an unsettling atmosphere and experience. In Sound Design in Horror Games (The Mason Scale, 2022), certain techniques of audio are proposed in general terms while analysing their own case study. Music can affect a player’s experience, by enhancing the mood and adding feeling to locations about their vicinity. Often involving the combination of ambience and incidental music. Connotations can be heard in the music that influences the game’s perspective, like what key the music is in or how instruments are played. Incidental music, emphasizes something happening in a scene, often heard when a melody takes a sharp turn either up or down (fluctuations), or a single staccato note or chord adding punctuation to an action (stings or stabs).

         According to What Makes Music Creepy? Inside the Science of Horror Music (Beato, 2020) many tropes enhance the fear factor in music. For example, certain chords like augmented and minor major 7ths, have dark associations about them to create suspense in Horror music, as exemplified in Psycho theme (Herrmann 1960). Furthermore, Tubular bells (Oldfield, 1973) and The Halloween Theme (Carpenter, 1978) both appear to be similar in terms of making music creepy. Pulsating beats create suspension because it appears that it is building up to something or counting down to an event happening, and both share this trope particularly with a clock ticking sound. When the music gradually becomes louder (crescendo) or faster (accelerando), also can create suspension.

Horror music utilizes a variety of classical techniques to create a disturbing and frightening atmosphere, and due to these common tropes, we recognize how to feel about a certain situation due to association, that early horror media used first. Modern sound design inherits this to emphasize key moments or scenarios and build a suspenseful experience. Whether that’s through horror music or sound effects, it is a technique that is used to create advanced soundscapes.

Music can create suspense through Juxtaposition with the setting. As all sound goes, it  depends on who is listening whether it impacts them the same way or not, but in most cases in the  correct context this idea is powerful. Consequently, there have been known instance where this  comes into play. A video case study How Audio Creates Horror: The Heilwald Loophole (Pastra, 2022)  notices this while analysing and praising the game’s sound design. How seemingly harmless music  combined with a hostile environment creates a unique eeriness, one that a known threat is present, but nature of it is incomprehensible. It may not increase the terror so much, but the effect is potent when unsettling a situation. 

Another example, The Complex: Found Footage (Isar Leo, 2022) A backrooms inspired Video  game that plays this juxtaposing music when the player reaches the mall section of the game,  especially since a low ambience was so used to being heard previously. This music is harmless,  slightly distorted as if aged over time, but positive post-war era sounding with the consistence of  swing instruments. Creates a bittersweet situation, of something so happy and cheerful to be placed  in a completely different setting, it is sad in some way… Nevertheless, the contrast is perfect again in  combination with a lifeless abandoned mall, effectively creating an uneasy horror experience for the  player. 

Other sound effects and design elements can be used within a Soundscape to create  suspense in Horror Media. As explored in Creating Suspense in Horror Films – A Video Essay  (Academy of Edits, 2021). The use of diegetic sounds or Foley can be used to create suspense  especially when very minimal usage of it is present. Limiting the audio to just the footsteps or  breathing, the player is more likely to be pulled into the environment and genuinely fear for  themselves. Especially positioned in a situation when the player is being hunted, the stakes are  inevitably higher as "their life is on the line" and will be the consequences of their actions if they fail.  Once the player feels this way, a level of immersion is achieved in the game.  

Silence can also be a key factor in sound design, although it may be argued that it can often  break immergence of a player as they become more aware of any other sounds. Using silence  correctly, the focus can be directed to any specific audio that plays; to guide the player, or jump scare them if the suspense is built. Stings are the term for any aggressive blast accompanying a jump scare  and are more effective when the audio is cut, and that the loudness seems greater than it would have been. Silence serves as a threat before sound, in this sense, because it makes whatever coming after  more intense whether something happens or not. It can creatively amplify the suspense of a scenario  by simply existing, whether that is before a sting or during foley, it provides an unsettling horror  experience. 

Analysis of Case Study 

Since 2014, the Five Night’s at Freddy’s franchise has been widely known for its complicated  yet intriguing storyline. Scott Cawthon, the creator, establishes his mark in the Indie Horror scene with  his franchise through unique gameplay mechanics. As a player, you are forced to advance in the  game by achieving tasks, completely restricted in place while threats close in on you from different  angles. Including the infamous jump scares that greet you when you fail. Sound design is an impactful  element to the series, because not only does it hide part of its compelling narrative within it, but it also helps advance a player through the game in many stylistic ways. 

The Ambience and Music 

Immediately, a player is pulled into the game by establishing sounds that inform them of their  surroundings and spatial awareness. This impacts their experience and performance as it makes the game believable through a heightened reality world, increasing a level of immersion for the player. The Help Wanted screen visually provides the player context for the narrative about the game, telling  them what is needed of them as the new security guard for the restaurant. The Soundscape enhances  this storytelling by using low mechanical droning like an old running computer or monitor system, and  ghostly-like music that ranges higher than the drone and chorus like as it shifts over a few notes. This sonic palette exhibits two key details about the game before it starts. Firstly, the computer drone indicates the camera and monitor system used in the gameplay itself, and the ghostly choruses hinting at the supernatural theme that the franchise carries. Combined, these elements provide an  unsettling atmosphere for the player, establishing the horror scene, and foreshadows the game that is  to come.  

The office is a confined space where the player is restricted to, however the sound design  provides depth to the setting beyond one room. A continuous deep whirring drone plays throughout  the night; to which we learn to be coming from the fan at the table. This diegetic audio is impactful as  it provides a good sense of surrounding making the room more believable to reality, however it does  fault the gameplay as it drowns out any audio cues later in the game, because of its overbearing and repetitive nature. In addition to what can be heard; a slower drone is played like a low ventilation  sound; a very faint buzzing that pans left to right, blending in with the fan; and an ambience containing  ghostly fluctuations and low synths, which can be highly distracting for a player when listening out for  advantageous sounds. These examples can be considered as non-diegetic and subjective audio, that  only the player can hear, emphasizing the anxiety and uneasiness they may feel. 

Music sets up the mood for the scene, and in this case adds to the eeriness of the  atmosphere. There are two examples in game when music makes a powerful impact, which were 

previously analysed in the literature review about juxtaposing music. Firstly, reverberated carousel  music can be randomly heard throughout the nights. The contrast of a positive and childlike tune with  the dark fearful setting, immediately gives a sense of dread toward a player. As something that was  once happy, is now wrathful and frightening, alike the spirits possessing the animatronics. Toward a  player, the sound is a red herring as it has an unknown source and whether it is or isn’t advantageous  to the gameplay. 

Furthermore, another tune can be heard when you lose power, and the player is engulfed in  darkness. The Toreador March (Bizet, 1875) from the opera Carmen plays on a music box, as the  player awaits their demise, and the sight of Freddy’s face appears at the door. This juxtaposes the  scene because the song is about the victory of a bullfighter, which is ironic as the player has  practically lost at this point. It can also be considered a lullaby for children, to help soothe them, but  for the player it is the suspense building up to a jump scare and the acceptance of their own failure. Linking to the author’s idea, the lullaby, that should be uplifting, effectively creates an intense  atmosphere to the game through the contrast of sound and setting. 

After the player is overcome with darkness, the power shuts down and so do all the ambient  sounds along with it. Silence becomes the suspension builder after an impactful shift in audio, that  was once overbearing and stressful, into complete nothingness. As reviewed earlier, this is a clear  example of how silence is powerful, making any sound proceeding it even the more horrific, like the  music box, and jump scare. 

Five Night’s at Freddy’s: Sister Location (Cawthon, 2016) Is the fifth instalment of the series,  and portrays an example of how music juxtaposes the setting and helps the gameplay alongside it. The player must crawl across Ballora’s gallery, which it practically no light, without exposing yourself  to her and getting to the breaker room efficiently and silently. A music box plays as the animatronic  moves, therefore whenever the dynamics are loud it indicates that she is near you and the player  must stop moving. The music is a juxtaposition to the high intensity, of being ballet music from a wind up jewellery box in combination to a completely dark surrounding. Furthermore, the narrative voice,  acts as an intensifier, being obnoxiously distracting and noisy to a silent room where the player could  get caught or diverted from the music box. Becoming a plain example how much audio can affect gameplay and of how the games continue to creatively use sound design. 

Audio cues and Red Herrings  

When tracking the Animatronics throughout the night, it is necessary to recognize audio cues  as to their whereabouts may be. The Sound Design gives two obvious examples of this throughout  the game, to which the player can acknowledge them and identify patterns that will save power later. Various sounds of pots and pans can be heard faintly within the audio track and can be traced to the  kitchen monitor, even when the camera is malfunctioning. After the player realises that Chica is no  longer seen on the map during this time, it can be assumed that she is the source. Therefore, the  player can utilize this information and help them in the later nights, without having to pull up the  monitors to know where she is.  

In addition, the laughter of Freddy can be heard in different variations to signal the player that  he is getting closer. This is understood, once again, by the player frequently learning and  understanding patterns from the audio, to help them with their gameplay. The voice provides a sense  of uncanny valley, as the voice is a heavily distorted version of a child’s laughter. Once more, creating  a dreadful feeling that something innocent has changed into something drastic, making the player’s  experience unsettling. 

Sister Location highlights further examples of how audio can be advantageous to the  gameplay. The last night of the game, the player can find a hidden security office after doing the  opposite of the narration. Here, the player must survive the rest of the night, while one animatronic comes after them, listening out for auditory cues. The animatronic makes a high-pitched sound of  grinding metal as he moves and can be traced either left, right or centre. The player learns that once  the sound is played more than once in the same direction, they must focus on that side and ready to 

shut the door. All the while, red herrings play to distract the player from these cues, a familiar creepy  female voice. This is to purposefully throw off the gameplay as it is significantly louder than the cues  and confuse the player as to where the voice is coming from, having escaped it previously in the  night. This alternate example shows how audio can influence a player’s performance, even further  along the series. 

Back to the first game, at the start of every night, a telephone rings and the previous night  guard talks on the other end. To begin with, the voice is considered as advantageous as it briefly  informs the player on the gameplay. However, the voice gives a false sense of ease about the place,  through a lazy and sarcastic tone. Yet, when it turns to the third night, the call becomes a distraction  and gives incorrect advice to “play dead” if the player gets caught. This is obviously wrong through  gameplay experience but is implemented purposefully to drown out any important sounds. Any phone  calls after this is portrayed as red herrings; the recording plays the sounds of knocking doors, chimes,  garbled voices to confuse the player whether it’s sourced from their surroundings or the phone. 

These audio cues are often heard throughout the nights, the groans signalling that either  Chica or Bonnie are in the hallway; the banging door or running footsteps indicating Foxy is at the  door. Both examples purposefully inform the player to act accordingly while discovering the  animatronics’ location. But the recording involving these sounds can confuse a player into using the  monitors to check said areas or shut the doors, henceforth wasting power. How sound acts in the later  nights, can advance the player or use those familiar sounds against them, and it is their experience  that’ll allow it to affect them or not. Meaning the sound design is greatly effective toward gameplay  whether it’s positive or negative. 

Consequently, the most impactful sounds can be the stings, from animatronics appearing at  the door and jump scares. As incidental and accented sounds that punctuate their parent action,  making it even the more shocking toward a player. The sting at the door is an extended chord of string  instruments, probably subjective and non-diegetic as its purpose is to emphasise the shock. While the  jump scare sound is a heavily distorted and stretched sound of a child screaming, is diegetic and  would makes sense coming from the animatronic itself considering what possesses it. Individually  they sound highly unpleasant to the ear, especially at a loud overbearing volume, that the impact  upon the player is highly powerful. 

Conclusion (150-200) 

Overall, the Sound Design in Five Night’s at Freddy’s successfully impacts a player’s  experience and performance. Whether it is through positive or negative terms, the game enhances  gameplay mechanics and involvement in the game world. Through the research of audio design within  games, how horror is portrayed through sound, and an in-depth breakdown of play-throughs, this  essay illuminates how the Five Night’s at Freddy’s franchise has a well-designed and stylistically  created soundscape.

[the-hem]

"The Lord, the Eternal." From the Maha Upanishad, the Exploration of the Mysteries of the Atman.

VI-61. ‘that Brahman has been (identified with) emptiness, Prakriti, Maya and also consciousness. It has also been said to be "Shiva, pure Spirit, the Lord, the eternal and the self".

VI-62. ‘There flourishes but the non-dual Power that is the supreme Self through and through; it sportively builds up the universe with (factors) born of (both) duality and non-duality.

VI-63. ‘He who resorts to the status beyond all objects, who is through and through the Spirit that is perfect, who is neither agitated, nor complacent, never suffers in this empirical life.

We need visible cues of the invisible, also called empirical evidence, to detect the Presence of God. Just as we use the appearance of fall leaves blowing in the wind to attest to the reality of the wind, we use everything in this place that is not manmade to attest to the Presence of God. We can’t, however say stuff like “I am saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ” just because we want to say it, feel it, or benefit from it when this is a make believe fantasy figment for which there is no evidence.

We can’t say we are saved by observing Kosher, by being heterosexual, Caucasian, or having a baby. Salvation is narrowly defined as being free of dangerous, toxic manmade things just as the scriptures say. When we remove the causes of harm from the world, we become much, much safer and this makes God feel glad. Adding superstitions that cause worry and very bizarre violent reactions among the human race these deeply disturb Him and us.

There is evidence deep within the soul for these things. To learn to show them respect is the beginning of a non-dual relationship with the Holy Ghost, Pure Spirit, the Great God Shiva, also called "the Kindest."

[pinksilvace]

MY TIME HAS COME... TIME FOR ALONZO CATSTHEMUSICAL PROPAGANDA FOR @eggcrackerbracket

Watching Cats 1998 as a child fundamentally changed me as a person. I don't even know where to start with Alonzo, but every few weeks, I introduce a new group of friends to Cats 1998. Not a SINGLE viewing session has gone by without a trans/enby friend pointing Alonzo out with statements like, "He's pretty gender," "I want his gender," "I like the vibes of that one," or, I kid you not, "That's the gender cat!"

"But Fern," I hear you cry. "He's a cat!"

Look me straight in the eyes and tell me that the trans community doesn't have a large furry population, then look me even straighter and try to tell me that the furry community doesn't have an enormous trans population. Heck; regardless of the costumes, every actor in Cats is at peak physical performance.

What is it about Alonzo, specifically, that makes him such an excellent egg cracker?

1: The Design

Alonzo's costume is very striking. Many of the cats - especially those in major roles - have costumes with some semblance of symmetry. This is not the case with Alonzo. He's also one of the few cats that has a solely black and white design. The pattern of it creates a special illusion with his body lines that alters the effect of his performance.

When a costume is symmetrical down the center, it gives an impression of where an actor's sternum and spine are located. Alonzo's design has led to him being commonly referred to as one of the "boneless" cats; his center lines are not well defined, so his movements feel less constrained by biological factors. A good example of this is located two gifs up from here; see how the white stripe going down his center to his right leg seems to warp an unnatural amount? It's a gorgeous effect that makes him stand out.

Additionally, I KNOW a lot of us like half & half characters. Even without moving, you have to admit that he's got a pretty cool look.

2: The Actors

Every role in Cats has specific demands; in Alonzo's case, the actors must be very good dancers. Here's a snippet of his casting call:

5'10"-6'0", excellent ballet technique, good partner. Strong presence, attractive.

There are a few important things to note here. First, all of Alonzo's actors are pretty tall. Second, they have to have a "strong presence" - the kind that, say, could catch the attention of young eggs. Third, the actors literally have to be "attractive." We'll never truly know how many people look at this character and think either "I want him" or "I want to be him," but I'm willing to bet that it's not an insignificant number.

In some older productions of Cats, Alonzo's actors also played a more androgynous role. During the "Macavity" number (a number well-known for its involvement of the female cast), Alonzo used to "shadow" the dance movements of Demeter and Bombalurina, two of the most feminine characters in the show. To my knowledge, no other male character does movements like these.

(^In this second video, an older Broadway-based design is used for Alonzo.)

3: Projection

Alonzo is a chorus character. He has no song. His entire character consists of three adjectives: vain, uncertain, and bravado. In most productions, he's played as a potential successor to Munkustrap, but that's as far as the show goes to develop him.

What does this mean? The field is WIDE OPEN for him to be whatever kind of character the audience wants him to be. You want him to be the Gender cat? By gosh, then, he's the gender cat.

In conclusion: ALONZO SWEEP

[wordsnstuff]

Guide to Character Development

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

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Motivation

Each character, no matter their significance to the story, wants something. Their actions and presentation are in the interest of their end-goal. So, for each character, the most important questions you must be able to answer for every character are 1.) What do they want? 2.) What do they think they need? 3.) What do they actually need?

For minor characters, this information may be less relevant, but their development is more discretionary and very subjective to their role in the story. For all primary and secondary characters, that information should be the foundation on which you build their action and development throughout the story.

Backstory

The truth is, you’re welcome to build a detailed backstory and personal history for each of your characters if that’s your prerogative, but this information should only be included in the final draft if it serves the plot and significantly impacts the character’s evolution in the text. You must be selective when it comes to presenting back story, because it impacts the pace and tone of the story, in addition to slowing any rising action. If you’re going to include prominent backstory, make sure that it adds more to the story than it subtracts from the momentum.

You don’t need to know what they’ve eaten for breakfast for the 7 days prior to the beginning of the story to write the characters well. You need to develop and comprehend their core values, self image, and motivations, and backstory that concerns those three aspects are the most relevant to the story, no matter the genre.

Positive v. Negative Development

You should be able to decide early on in plot development whether your characters are going to experience a positive or negative development throughout the plot. Once you’ve designed the characters and the plot parallel to one another, you can assess how the events and circumstances of the conflict would change or reveal negative or positive traits about the characters. This is more about getting to know your characters as the author and then going down the list of events, interpreting how they would react to them, and then coming to a conclusion by the resolution.

You don’t always have to have a point B for them to arrive at before you start writing. In this respect, it’s easer (and usually more rewarding) to allow the characters to develop organically as you write the first draft, and then either reinforce the outcome if you’re satisfied or make the necessary changes to reverse it in the second draft.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Each significant character will have strengths and weaknesses, and they will often be adjacent to one another. A character’s biggest strength could be their fierce love and commitment to their friends, but could evolve into intense possessiveness. I write about this in more detail in this post.

Relationships

One of the more defining aspects of a character is the presence and nature of relationships in their life. Their relationships with family, friends, authority figures, mentors, and colleagues can reveal a lot about them. The way their mannerisms differ when they’re with their mother versus their father, a friend versus a colleague. The value they place on these relationships and why they value them is also an easy way to reveal priorities, self image, and motivations.

Common Struggles

~ Do I really need to know their favorite color?... To some extent, developing these very minor and insignificant details can help you, as the writer, get to know your character better, which in turn helps you translate the idea of them into the text more effectively. However, time is a factor, not just because of deadlines, but because of self discipline and motivation. If you spend months and months developing characters to this extent, you will likely run out of motivation or passion for this project, and the drafting process is where you want to allocate that energy. By all means, work to your own strengths as a writer. If this helps you and doesn’t inhibit your process, go for it, but be mindful and assess whether or not you’re just procrastinating the action stage of writing.

~ Beside trauma, how can I incite development… All development spawns because of impact. Trauma is an effective way of propelling development, but it’s not the only way. If you want the character to change (positively or negatively) you have to make them feel something strong enough to inspire introspection and action. They have to have a mental shift, and then act accordingly. This could be the introduction of a fantastic opportunity to further their career, the loss of a loved one, the shift in a personal relationship, etc.

~ How do you know when a character deserves a redemption arc?... Nobody is entitled to redemption. It’s earned, and it’s subjective whether that improvement warrants the return or resurgence of opportunity and trust. This is true, no matter who is reading. You as the writer make an executive decision about whether the character’s reformation is accepted by other characters in canon, but outside the text, the reader’s interpretation is outside your control. You can create a redemption arc inside the story and show the evolution of that character, but you can’t force the reader to trust in that character or accept the notion that they’ve completely reformed.

~ How do I develop minor characters without neglecting the main plot?...The thing is, if the minor characters’ development isn’t relevant to the plot or the main character, then you need to assess whether the information needs to be there, and furthermore whether the minor character needs to be tailored more to do so. Minor characters often serve secondary purposes, such as acting as a platform for symbolism and motif, representation, providing diverse perspectives in your world, etc. While you should strive to make every scene with any character serve the main plot, it’s okay if a few scenes are purely to enrich the reader’s experience.

Other Resources...

Resources for Writing Different Character Relationships

Alternative Method of Character Creation

Resources For Creating Characters

How To Fit Character Development Into Your Story

Connecting To Your Own Characters

Interview As Your Characters

Giving Your Protagonists Negative Traits

Writing Good Villains

How To Analyze A Character

Giving Characters Flaws

Keeping Characters Consistent

Flipping Character Traits On Their Head 

Introducing Secondary Characters

Tips on Character Motivations

Keeping Characters Realistic

Tips on Character Consistency

Positive Character Development Without Romanticizing Toxic Behavior

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Masterlist | WIP Blog

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[aatroxskitten]

just a little history lesson for Arcane fans that joined with the show:

the premise for the emotional core of piltover/zaun started with Ekko. Get Jinxed hinted at it, but Ekko was the champion that REALLY kicked it off. Before then, I didn't feel like Piltover and Zaun were really more than just "shiny science city" and "gross science city."

Ekko was the first Piltover/Zaun champion to be released after the retconning of Summoner's Rift, IIRC, and he brought with him the first real sympathetic look at Zaun. Before then, we did have Janna's implications that Zaun could be a good place, and we did have Viktor's implications that Piltover frequently screwed over Zaun. But those were largely overshadowed, respectively, by Janna's sexualization in the Journal of Justice, and the release of Jayce, whose lore proceeded to frame Viktor as an evil monster with no redeemable qualities who did exactly everything his lore claimed was done to him. The factors we see in Arcane wouldn't really be defined until Ekko's lore.

And oh, was he such a good champion for his time. He released with a super cool introduction video that got people speculating on all sorts of stuff about the setting, such as the presence of chem barons and chemtech. He got a comic that made me bawl about his attempts to save his friend from a monster in Piltover. He got his stories about his parents, who worked long days and couldn't give him all the time in the world, and so he'd use his hextech drive to have more time with his family.

While the story likely started with Jinx, and maybe even Vi, we got a broader look at it with Ekko. Ekko was probably the first time we got concrete lore that didn't just hint at possible connections (worth noting that Jinx and Vi weren't hard confirmed as sisters UNTIL Arcane, just heavily implied, so you'd still get arguments about their connection). I'll never forget his release. He was so cool from a lore perspective, and I'm really glad we got him as a champion.

I might do a deeper retrospective on the Roots of Arcane and where we first got each lore implication (Warwick is perhaps the biggest smoking gun for the show-- he's the character who has arguably changed the least between Arcane universe and base universe) if people are interested! I love Arcane and I also love base universe League lore, so if people wanna hear me talk about it, I'll go ham >:)

[a-robot]

her name is sabie and she's been trapped in a psuedo-timeloop because she keeps taking the deal "blinky" (more on the quotations later) gave her to "re-do" everything and start over. she is blissfully unaware of this fact.

the loop we see her in (not meet, as we kind of already met a version of her in the adventures for drowsytowns stuff) has her be some 16 year old circa 2014 or so. she's pretty closed off and defensive, her only friend being one avery, who she has a crush on. she's kind of dependent on avery, by the time it gets Bad, she begins to view her as a sort of angel trying to bring her salvation. i might talk about avery later actually. her home life isn't really a happy one, but she tends to ignore it, pretending nothing is wrong... but if you look close, you can see a bruise on her arm.

of course though, there is one defining factor in each of the loops, a little piece of media about the lords in black lost to time that, if found or fully deciphered or whatever else, could bring about the end times. sometimes its a kids show, other times its a book, in this timeline, it came in the form of those flash game sites. appearing in the early oughts to only suddenly shut down in 2010. sabie used to play it when she was younger, and one day found out it's lost media and decides to try and recover it out of nostalgia. little did she know, she signed herself up to be one of the first people to be infected by the cognitohazard embedded within the core of the site, blinky putting his sights on her and all that. she begins to feel incredibly paranoid anywhere outside of her room, seeing figures staring at her and later on actual fucking eyes. the visions yknow? she can't really stop trying to search for it anymore either, she's too scared to stop, and it's kind of her only purpose in life at this point. back on the angel shit while she views avery as that she also views herself as basically beyond salvation, beyond saving. she feels like avery should stop trying and leave her to rot, even if she deep down craves her presence.

sabie does inevitably bring about the apocalypse, entitled "the payload". it kind of works like a computer virus in your brain, if that makes sense? the website and knowledge of the website is a cognitohazard that breaks you down to whatever the lords (mostly blinky) deems necessary, basically giving them free access to the biological computer that is your brain. they can erase memories tamper with your thoughts etc. one notable thing is that those infected feel a urge to share it to as many people as possible. it only affects people with an internet connection (this is important cause avery is chronically offline and thus is one of the few ppl not affected by it)

sabie couldn't be bothered with the apocalypse, as by then she came to a horrifying realization. nothing here is real. not her life not the lords nothing is real. she's just a fictional character on a screen. she's not even real in the hatchetfield mythos she's in a fucking fanfiction. she knows about the psuedo-timeloop now, she knows about everything. this is why i put blinky in quotations btw, cause it's not really the REAL blinky as it's more the author (so me lol) than him. but hey, blinky and the audience might as well be the same at this point, right?

anyways i feel like sabie and estelle should me

do you want to hear about my oc

soery i didnt se thiss until now!! yes yes yes!!

[skania]

The Final Stroke: Thoughts on Haru's conflict (+Rin)

Okay so reading all the summaries of The Final Stroke Part 1 has left me with A LOT of thoughts. About Haru, about Rin, about Rin & Haru and how all the different character conflicts will be tied together in Part 2.

BUT since I have been waiting YEARS for Free! to feed me some juicy Haru conflict, of course I'm sinking my teeth into that first because peeling off Haru's layers has always been my favorite Free! sport.

It's been a long while since I've tried to get into Haru's head AND I haven't even watched the movie yet so I'm probably wrong, but here goes nothing. As per usual, it will be long and image-heavy because I can't keep things short and sweet to save my life.

Also, it's heavy on spoilers about The Final Stroke so please do not read without reading Fencer's summary first!

AND since it's basically impossible to discuss Haru without discussing Rin and vice-versa, please do also expect a healthy dose of RinHaru.

Utsumi: Indeed; it’s a path Haruka never would have chosen himself. But despite claims that he doesn’t care about winning or losing or scoring certain times, he’s always been attentive to Rin’s presence. [x]

Please assume there's a huge "IMO" attached to this whole post.

In Season 1, we saw Haru struggle to understand that the reason for his emotional turmoil was quite simply that he wanted to swim with Rin again.

In Season 2, we saw Haru struggle because he wanted to follow Rin into the Pro world, but he felt like he didn't deserve to do so because he didn't have a dream and thus, no strong feelings about competitive swimming itself.

Needless to say, there's a pattern.

In Season 3, the series kind of took a detour. Still, it did plant some seeds, the most important IMO being the following:

"After I hit 20, I will be..."

"If you ask me what lies ahead of me, I..."

"You can't survive without throwing something away. I didn't want to throw anything away. But I lost."

"Maybe I don't deserve to compete at the global level."

Road to the World adds some extra layers to all that by showing us just what else is connected to that fear of Haru's.

Because, what do we see after Rin tells Haru that no matter what wall [Rin] faces, the one thing that doesn't change is his desire to keep swimming with [Haru]?

We see the moment Rin tells Haru "aim for the world with me, Haru!". Then, the moment Rin asks Haru what his dream is—right when Haru finally felt free after achieving the dream he had that season, that of swimming with Rin again. Lastly, we see the moment Rin asks Haru "what will you do?" when it comes to choosing between swimming in a recreational pool, or the one used by the National Team.

Every single one of these moments brought Haru closer to his dream—and Rin is the common factor in them all. So when Rin tells Haru,

It's obvious by those flashbacks alone what Haru's answer is. He, too, wants to keep swimming with Rin in that world.

But before the thought can fully form in Haru's mind, Albert flashes through it. We immediately see Haru's disposition change, and the result is the most telling of all.

Just like always, the imagery is on point. Rin and his desire to swim with him give Haru strength and purpose and Haru clenches his fist—but this time, Albert seeps that strength from him until his fist goes limp. And suddenly, Haru doesn't know what to say to Rin anymore.

Because, what Albert makes Haru wonder, is this:

From my limited perspective (like I said before, I haven't watched TFS yet), I think that might just be where the heart of Haru's issue in The Final Stroke lies.

I think a big part of why Haru wants to win against Albert so badly is probably because he wants to prove to himself that he does deserve to be in that world—like Rin. That all his friends are right to believe in him.

And he feels even more pressured because he thinks he's running out of time.

All this pressure to win—not to feel the water better or to be the best in the water he loves so much, but simply to win before he's "ordinary"—does not let Haru swim freely. He doesn’t swim like himself.

He is probably terrified of his own limits and of how close he might be to hitting them, and this fear and pressure are binding him.

Moreover, while Haru decided that he wanted to swim in that world, the truth is that he doesn’t know what the future holds for him.

He has no long-term, tangible plans. Unlike Rin, who wants to win a gold medal, Haru just wants to swim "in the whole world". This, added to the fact that he thinks he’ll be ordinary by 20 and that he has not managed to beat Albert, makes it so Haru is basically blinded to what the future can bring for him. He can’t see that sight.

Part of the reason for this, I feel, is that the series has never addressed the big elephant in the room.

What exactly does Haru get out of competitive swimming, besides swimming with Rin? Because "swimming in that world" is nice and sweet and idealistic, but it doesn't cover the fact of racing itself.

I used to talk a lot about why Haru needed to find a reason to enjoy competing even when it isn't against Rin. That he needed to find a reason to want that for himself. I even thought S3 may finally go for it, but it ended without Haru finding meaning in that "world of wins and losses", as he used to call it.

Usually, he’d look at Rin to point the way forward. And it is knowing that Rin (and to a lesser extent, Ikuya) is there fighting with him and aiming for the world as well that gives Haru some reassurance.

However, from what we know from the summaries, Haru isn’t thinking of them when he swims. He is entirely caught up on needing to beat Albert because of what it has come to represent to him.

There’s also the issue of Haru’s competitiveness. Haru spent a long time suppressing it and only indulging in it with Rin. But he has always wanted to be the best in the water—the one who "feels" it best.

It wasn’t that he wanted to win, or that he hated losing; it was just that he couldn’t simply accept that there was someone who could feel the water more than he could. (x)

So when you combine all of this, I feel like Haru has lost sight of the most important thing—that instead of swimming just to win, like it’s a job, he should swim to feel the water he loves so much and, most importantly, for the team (with his friend’s feelings in his heart).

That way, he could swim like himself and the water won’t be sad nor lonely.

This all sounds like a lot and it is. Haru is all but suffocating under this weight.

So, when Rin comes and tells him that [Haru] will be facing Albert alone—that they aren’t fighting him together, like Haru hoped for—Haru snaps.

It’s not only that what Haru perceives as the biggest obstacle to his dream (Albert) is standing before Haru (alone) and Rin won’t be there to share his struggles, but also that Rin is the reason he’s there in the first place because Rin is the one that made Haru stop wanting to be ordinary.

He’s the reason why he’s gotten to this point and the reason he came into the global stage and ran into Albert. He’s also the biggest thing Haru will lose if he can’t win against Albert—because if Haru’s dream ends, he won’t get to swim with Rin in that world anymore.

And now Rin’s walking away from swimming free and leaving him alone with this beast of a swimming machine and with [Haru’s] own limitations. And Haru feels trapped. He feels bitter. He feels betrayed. Terrified.

And, of course, lost. Because just like Rin once said, "Without you, I have nothing to aim for, you know?"

So, he snaps.

And by burning bridges with Rin, the very embodiment of "For the Team", the one person that he has always wanted to swim with most of all, the one whose feelings he was still connected to above all—by virtue of swimming together in that world, by sharing a dream—Haru now feels like he's truly alone in the water.

Haru is essentially turning his back on the very reason he swims for—in more ways than one. So, he’s becoming a second Albert. Only there to win, not to have fun.

Because that’s the thing. Haru says he’s doing it for his dream, but since he can’t see that dream clearly, he lacks direction. All he can see is the immediate future and all that stares back at him are his own limitations—embodied by Albert himself.

Albert represents, then, the road Haru must not take. Haru can’t be all about becoming stronger simply for the sake of winning—and he must definitely not do so alone. Like Ikuya said in S3, if Haru isn't gaining that strength for someone else (the team), there's no point.

So, since this is Free!, Haru needs to go back to his roots and truly swim for the team once again. But I feel like he also needs to re-contextualize his dream and truly define what it entails, for once and for all. Which, if we go by everything we've seen so far—should involve swimming with Rin.

Only then will he be able to swim freely again.

There's A LOT of foreshadowing and things from S3 that will most likely play a role in that and I haven't even touched Rin's choice to not swim free anymore, but this has gotten really long and I've run out of image slots lmao so I'll just have to ramble about those some other time 🙇‍♀️