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tuiyla · 1 year

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"idk if anyone watched that “Ryan Murphy is problematic” video on youtube but tell me I’m not the only one who found it an unfair and lacking in nuance take" can you expand on your problems with that video? 🤔

Okay so it's a half an hour video, available here, so I won't touch on every single point they bring up. From the get-go, my problem is that the vast majority of the talking points are based on nothing but conjecture and what Ryan Murphy is supposedly like as a producer but also more so as a person. I get that producers work with and are in charge of people but I find it inherently, hmm, well, let's repurpose the word "problematic" to try and draw conclusions about people based on their work, rather than just examining their work. I'm all for criticizing Ryan Murphy's work, and yeah sometimes we speculate what personal agendas or even vendettas could have been influencing said work, but this whole video simply doesn't justify its existence to me. There's simultaneously an aversion to drawing any sort of conclusion, since it is just a summary of rumours and allegations, but also a clear judgement in the way these rumours are presented.

Like I said I don't wanna touch on everything but just a few moments in particular to get a sense of what I mean:

The two sections on RM "hating" Chris Colfer and Dianna Agron. Sometimes I think the Glee fandom gets so immersed in its own mythology it forgets that so many of these universally agreed-upon truths are just rumours perpetuated by tabloids and tiktok teenagers. I've had an ask about that Rolling Stone interview sit in my inbox for a while so maybe one day I'll dissect the Dianna of it all, but the way this video uses pure conjecture to speculate even further just creates more and more unsubstantiated claims. The dots connected between Ryan's tweet about "Quinn" filming in Europe and the New Normal stuff is like, come on, where do we draw the conspiracy theory lines. And as another example of trying to substantiate conjecture with more conjecture, the Ashley Fink rumours coupled with the Lea Michele ones. I won't get into it here, it's in the video presented in such a bizarre way, imo. "Here's this malicious rumour, I know we have to take it with a grain of salt so here's another rumour to back it up." That's not how it works. But it is the nature of videos like this that they can't bring anything new because we don't have the facts, so they just regurgitate decade-old rumours and try to pass judgement on people we do not and never will know. Adding "...allegedly!" at the end of claims does not make the framing of this any better.

The biphobia section, which is so emblematic of Gleeks being ultra ready to blame everything wrong with Glee on Ryan Muprhy - and sometimes give him all the credit, too, which just does not work on any TV show, let alone one with three showrunners. Now, we won't get into the actual biphobia of it all because I'm sure I've spoken about it somewhere and I don't think whether Ryan Murphy is biphobic is the point. The point is that you can look at the text, Glee, and criticise its approach towards bisexuality and you'd be right to do so. But you can't just imply or outright say that this one writer out of three main ones, or later one of many, is responsible for it all, much less say that it reflects his personal beliefs. It's also wild to speculate on whether Brittana would have happened if it was only up to Ryan; credit Brad Falchuk (and Naya) by all means but it's just really running with conjecture to imply that Ryan himself never would have made Brittany bi. We just don't know "what if" and what's the point in trying to say stuff like "Ryan agreed, but WHAT IF Brad wasn't there" like come on, how is that a valid claim against Ryan Murphy. I certainly don't think it is in the way it's presented. Again, Glee's biphobia is fucked up. Again, I actually do have beef with RM regarding biphobia in particular. But this is all presented in such a tabloidy gotcha way and that doesn't sit well with me.

In general it's a lot of "maybe this doesn't mean, a grain of salt, BUT have you considered this other rumour and how it all adds up?" And no, I don't think it does and I don't like the way all of this is framed, where you're encouraged to make of it what you will but there's a very clear direction in which you're being steered. Which makes sentences like "I do normally try not to bring up things that are purely speculation" w i l d because, to me, so many of these are. Based on a kernel of truth or twisted from something factual, sure, but twisted nonetheless and the conclusions drawn can in no way be definitive. Just because these are all widespread rumours that doesn't make them not rumours.

There are other things like trying to use Naya's dad's tweets as a source and a, idk, gotcha moment against Ryan Murphy. "Still heavily questioned whether or not that's true," they say about Ryan's statement, but that short section becomes emblematic of the whole approach. Take Ryan's statements and defense with a heavy dose of skepticism but imply that claims against him are somehow more substantial. I just don't like the bias, the lack of true nuance, the lack of a point, really. And again blaming everything that happened on Glee, even stuff he didn't actually write on Ryan Murphy is just grasping at every possible straw to round out this video on him being "problematic". Still hate that word.

To be perfectly clear, this is not me coming at the person who made this video, I'm sure they're lovely and are just doing their thing on youtube. I just don't find it any more substantial than a buzzfeed article listing all the Glee bts rumours relating to Ryan Murphy. (I didn't touch on Dahmer simply because I can't and don't care to, plus most of the video is Glee-related anyway.)

#anon #glee asks #ryan murphy #glee production #kinda look i need a tag for things like this the nonglee one has been taken over #there were just so many bits in this video where i had to go #'no actually that's not how it works #that's pure conjecture that's bs you don't know that' etc etc #but that's all i wanted to sort of rant about that #and if anything it's against the whole glee gossip machine and the way in which we feel entitled to cast and creators #not against this channel and this video in particular #okay well i do have more to say on the topic of how everyone still looooves the glee drama and to bathe in it #and how that's the exact reason we need ATWYRM because god was that two parter with rm such a breath of fresh air

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fivekrystalpetals · 2 years

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I was wondering if you have any theory on who from the ADA that Mori will choose to trade to the PM? I am thinking Tanizaki or Atsushi. Tanizaki because of his ability is very useful, but I was also speculating on possibly Atsushi to guilt Dazai? What are your thoughts?

A BSD ask? I wasn’t expecting one so thanks anon!

I believe many people have already written about this topic so I don’t want to go into a lot of details. I will simply try to eliminate who Mori is unlikely to recruit to his side based on their ability and their usefulness. Also, tbvh, it’s quite hard for me to make any solid theories about this series... though, I will try (and I could be totally wrong anyway lol the author is waiting to swing another wild curveball right into my face)

Before coming to your question, I just want to recap a few things and then build off it bc I feel it’s important sort of.

So, at the time Mori made the deal with Fukuzawa to rescue the ADA from the Hunting Dogs, Port Mafia was (seemingly) not being targeted by either the DoA or the Hunting Dogs. The Agency was made out to be terrorists for whatever reason whereas the Port Mafia was stronger on the power scale and ADA needed their protection (even if it was against their will).

But now? With all that has happened, most of the Port Mafia has been turned to mindless vampires. I held out some hope that the top executives might have been whisked off to safety before the vampire outbreak could spread to them—after ch. 98, I don’t think so. Chuuya is the strongest martial artist in the PM. If he has been turned, then no doubt the rest too must have been turned. Mori (and maybe, a few subordinates for his protection) are probably the only ones left human in the PM.

I am guessing by the time the news of what’s going on with the lower ranks reached the top brass, it was already too late and perhaps, Chuuya had to sacrifice himself to protect his Boss? Well, that’s just my headcanon—since going by his casuals, the popular theory is that he was caught off-guard. Maybe.

Anyway, my point is that both ADA and PM are on a (seemingly) losing end rn, comparatively PM even more so. Port Mafia (Mori) has even judged that the Agency’s strategy is essential to the Mafia too. See—

The tables have turned now and the Agency, cornered as they are, are stronger on the power scale (they have strength by their numbers alone. The ADA hasn’t lost any members so far except for Dazai who is working from the prison through Ango anyway) compared to PM, which has only one important figure now. Meaning, rn, the Deal isn’t gonna go through. Surely, Mori’s first priority is to bring PM back to normal, right?

And, for that, we need Dazai. He has to make contact with Bram Stoker and neutralize the Vampire ability (Dracula??) (the same way he did for Q).

Annnd, this—if my guess is right—will take place at the end of DoA arc. How the DoA arc will end, idk. Pretty sure nobody will die and stay dead (Yosano is right there and as long as she is safe, we can put that thought out of mind. Please heal Akutagawa and Tachihara too, Yosano-sensei~) but not whether everything will be back to normal as before.

You see, the DoA arc is the longest arc so far and I can’t even compare the amount of damage the ADA and the PM has taken to that in the Guild or the Cannibalism arc. More importantly, Dostoyevsky. The guy wasn’t really involved in either of the earlier arcs. The first one—he meant for the Guild to take the hit and in the second—he meant to get arrested.

I have no idea what his real agenda is because continuous attempts at burning down a city to hunt a single novel seems tedious and uneconomical. If I were the leader of a massive underground network, I would rather keep it lowkey and locate the Book without any fanfare plus keeping the news of my search from the ears of the major protectors (?? what do I call them?) of the city. That’s why it feels to me that either the Book isn’t really a Book and something else (unlikely bc they apparently already wrote the DoA scenarios on a Page from it) or he was (for the 1584th time) lying about his actual mission. Maybe, not about him wanting to rid the world of the ability users but the rest? (something like this theory maybe?)

Oh, but back to topic. Why did I get talking about Fyodor lol sorry

tl;dr, only if Yokohama returns to normal with the ADA and the PM back to their usual petty animosity will the Deal make any sense. Till then, the two organizations have to work together, whether they like it or not, bc that’s the only way to protect the city and the country. If the Hunting Dogs (not Fukuchi) become their temporary allies, even better.

Well, having said this, let’s go through the list of the Agency members (ability users only) and see the chances of who might get traded into the PM anyway.

Yosano: I don’t think Mori was being serious when he said he wanted Yosano to join the Mafia. It was probably more to cause confusion and a feeling of betrayal (if the false news of Fukuzawa agreeing to trade Yosano was believed, that is) among the ADA ranks and nothing more. But I could be wrong ofc.

Kyouka: Even if she weren’t an ex-PM member, I doubt Mori would particularly demand for her coz the PM already has an assassin trained by Verlaine (Gin) and an ability user with the same ability (Kouyou). Wasting the one chance to get hands on a powerful ability user from the ADA on her doesn’t seem likely.

Ranpo: No, obviously.

Kunikida: His ability is quite useful as we saw during the Cannibalism Arc (him activating it for Tanizaki over a long distance) and during the Introduction Arc (when he and Dazai switched places to neutralize the countdown ability user (I forgot the name)); add to it, he is Dazai’s current trusted partner. But, but, he isn’t exactly cut out to be a mafioso because of his highly valued ideals. Recruiting him might cause more harm to the Mafia than good. In short, this (lol sorry Kunikida)—

Kenji: he is a tank like Chuuya; might make him a good addition to the PM if only for his ability. Taking into account his personality... well, it is not like I won’t love to see a happy sunshine-y ever-optimistic mafia lol

Atsushi: Now we are getting a bit closer to the possibility. Depends on Akutagawa btw

Akutagawa survives the DoA arc:

In this case, Atsushi won’t be traded. Because the Shin Soukoku will continue to work as a unit. Mori doesn’t have to go out of his way to hire the other part of the SSKK into the mafia.

Take Soukoku, for example. Chuuya is still in PM whereas Dazai moved to ADA. Yet during the fight against Lovecraft and Steinbeck, Mori sent Chuuya to form Soukoku once again and Dazai, in spite of his earlier reluctance to make an alliance with the PM (Mori) on the whole, had no choice but to agree. Similarly, at the time of crisis, Mori (or, rather, Dazai) will definitely make the Shin Soukoku to work together again.

Akutagawa doesn’t survive the DoA arc:

In this case, as you say, I can see the possibility of Mori hiring Atsushi if only to guilt Dazai bc he was the one to (indirectly or otherwise) send Akutagawa to his death. Chances are low, though, coz Mori is a cold, calculating man who values results over emotions. Only if he gets to guilt-trip Dazai into doing something for him via this route, then yeah. Otherwise, no.

Add to that, the fact that Atsushi’s tiger is closely related to the Book in some way? idek what the whole sporadic abduction of poor weretiger was all about? Now, the guy who was really after the Book doesn’t seem at all interested in Atsushi? Was he simply bluffing about him being related to the Book so the Guild and Shibusawa enter Japan and launch an attack on Yokohama?

Tanizaki: Frankly, he is the best choice for the transfer. He says he goes feral for his sister but he was also all ready to straight up assassinate the PM boss to save their President had it not been for Kouyou (she even remarks about his terrifying bloodlust as does Hirotsu about how his ability is so well suited for sneak assassinations.)

See—

Not only that, he is the first to recover from the shock of the sudden Deal between the two leaders and adapt the fastest to the new circumstances—

Annd the first to offer to switch to the Mafia instead of Yosano:

All in all, Tanizaki seems the best choice. He has an ability suitable for stealth jobs—he is serious and ready to go to any lengths (even, kill) to pull off the job assigned to him. But most importantly, he doesn’t have any fast ideals. Hirotsu and Kouyou have already noted this and no doubt, Mori too. Among the members of the ADA, he does seem the perfect candidate for the transfer. But, well, let’s see what happens :)

#bsd #bsd 62 #bsd 91 #bsd mori #bsd tanizaki #bsd atsushi #my-bsd-posts #may-answers #bsd yosano #doa arc #manga spoilers

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monkberries · 3 years

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So here goes: Personally I find Paul to be hot with a beard. But it annoys me because there’s always some Paul stan who’s like “he was super depressed during that time you know” anytime someone says how hot he looks with a beard. Like first of all, I don’t think we should go around diagnosing people and assuming how he felt 24/7 just based on a couple of quotes when we don’t know him, and second of all I was just saying he looks good. Also idk why Paul stans want to pretend like Paul is STILL a victim when he’s definitely not. He’s a super successful billionaire musician. He’s fine.

I'm going to assume all four of these were from the same anon; I received another along these same lines that seems to be from someone else:

OKAY. There's a lot here.

As I've said before, I think the concept you are both talking about - that Paul is the favourite, that people will attack you if you criticize him, that people are vilifying John more now - is true, but is also a matter of perspective. I think sometimes we perceive the whole fandom as just the people we're surrounded by; that can be true in smaller fandoms, like for obscure shows or whatever, but for the Beatles, the fandom is so much bigger and more spread out across generations, social media platforms, and works of literature than almost any other fandom. There are literally thousands upon thousands of books either about or tangentially about the Beatles; there are pockets on every platform from tumblr to twitter to podcasts to instagram to facebook etc., and it branches off even more niche within those to like, facebook groups specifically for podcasts about the Beatles, or discord servers, or livejournal threads, or music forums, or fics on ao3. There are fansites with thoughtful speculative articles like heydullblog and blogs specifically reviewing Beatle books like beatlebioreview and sites cataloging every bit of minutiae like the Beatles Bible, all with their own flavor of comment sections. And not only that, the Beatles fandom spans generations and cultures in a way that almost nothing else ever has or ever will.

And this is not even going into the shifting narratives that have been in play over the years surrounding Paul specifically, and the huge, huge difference between the perceptions of him by the authors and the Counterculture People, the perceptions of him by regular ass Wings fans who have only idly flipped through Rolling Stone while waiting in line at the local bodega, and the perceptions of him by everyone in between, who may or may not have been unconsciously influenced by the wider narratives about him.

All that is to make the case that the fandom that you are experiencing on tumblr/twitter is an extremely small fraction of The Fandom at large. For every Paul stan on twitter that yells at people for not believing that Paul literally invented music, there is a John stan in a facebook group going on about John's supposedly tireless peace efforts. For every nuanced, well sourced post on amoralto's blog, there is someone in the Beatles Bible comment section saying that John and Paul hated each other. For every fan who's read the major Beatles bios with a critical eye towards bias, there are plenty more fans who just absorbed them as straight fact. This is not to say that your experiences are not real or valid! They absolutely are! What I am saying is that there are infinite permutations of infinite Beatles fandoms out there, and the people you see who insist that Paul is still treated worse than John, I would imagine, are occupying various permutations of the fandom where that is more true, alongside the one they share with you. It's not for me to say whether the Paul or John people have the upper hand on the whole - truly, I don't think anyone has enough perspective on the whole fandom to make any judgment on that, no matter what general Grand Pronouncements anyone may make about The Fandom.

As I've said before, any overly defensive "stan" behavior, whether it's for John or Paul or George or anyone, is exhausting to me, so I definitely understand where you're coming from re: him being supposedly underrated. He is literally one of the most successful musicians of all time; as of the beginning of this year, he is worth 1.2 billion dollars; and, thanks to his own efforts and the efforts of quite a few fans and writers out there over the decades, he now enjoys an incredibly positive "granddude" reputation. There are ways in which it can be exasperating to read yet another indignant refutation of music reviews for RAM that came out fifty years ago, when his last three albums have hit the top 3 in the charts in both the US and the UK and have gotten great reviews. I have seen people wonder, honestly wonder, how much more money Paul could have made, how much more respected he could have been, if the rock press had been inclined to give RAM good reviews. When I see that, it does start to feel like fans of Paul, at least the defensive ones in the fandom permutations I occupy, are arguing with the author photo of Philip Norman in the book jacket for Shout!. It's not that I think those arguments and discussions are not worth having; I do think they're worth having because I believe that the only way we can continue to grow is if we grapple with the mistakes made in the past. But there is a strange kind of disconnect that happens when you read about someone indignantly defending Wild Life as though the members of Wings are currently, actively having eggs and rotten fruit thrown at them, and then you remember that Paul is currently, and has been for many years now, one of the richest men in the entire world.

As for the misogyny thing, I'll copy and paste a quote from Erin Weber which may explain a little better than I can:

"Where it starts entering into serious discussion for me is when you have professional grown men (Schaffner would be the most glaring example of this, but not the only one) repeatedly using the term “pretty” or “pretty-faced” to refer to another grown man. (Norman does the same). Schaffner doesn’t only do that once or twice, he uses one of those exact words at least fifteen times in his references to McCartney. “Pretty-boy” is also a term that at least one journalist has used to describe Paul, and that’s not a stealth insult: that’s an overt one. (My husband, who hates the Yankees, routinely used the term “pretty-boy” to insult Alex Rodriguez. And it wasn’t meant as a compliment).

My reaction to this is based both on studies that I’m aware of (I’d have to hunt them up, but I’ve seen them referenced before) which argue that the use of feminized language can be a method of stealth insult/diminishment when used by men to describe other men, and my own personal experience. It is difficult to see a situation where a grown man using the term “pretty” or any variation of the word “pretty” to describe another grown man means it as a compliment. Even if its purely meant as a descriptive term, it is a descriptive term that is weighted with significant meaning and is feminizing. And given the rock press’s obsession with masculinity and its insistence, as noted in other studies, of using masculine terms to portray a song as good and feminizing terms to describe them as weak or inferior, I don’t think its a coincidence that a rock press that knew well the power of masculine and feminine language commonly used feminized language, particularly in the 1970s and 80s, to describe McCartney."

I personally see this more as pseudo-homophobic than pseudo-misogynistic (like, when I see a man called "pretty" by another man in an insulting way, I immediately think "oh, that author wanted to say a gay slur but he's too Professional"), but the two things can get muddled together, I suppose.

Anyway, actionable items:

Diversify Your Fan Experience. More perspectives can really help gain a fuller understanding of not just the fandom but the Beatles themselves. Don't be afraid to be wrong, and don't be afraid to be right; always be open to learning new things and hearing new insights.

If All Else Fails, Block 'Em.

#macca #anonymous #i guess this is #hot take tuesday #?#even though its thursday night #about the blogger #for reference

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thetormentedpoetsdepartment · 3 years

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Some reflections I’ve been having about Folklore, The Long Pond film and Loverfest, and idk I felt like sharing cause I have no one to talk about this to hahaha

I think the Lond Pond studio sessions answered the question “how is she gonna deal with playing songs from Lover AND Folklore on tour?”

I think the long pond studio sessions were the live concert for Folklore, and it was performed exactly as the album deserved: in a quiet, cozy, intimate environment, just a couple of people playing, all acoustic. I don’t know how well it would translate in a big stadium you know?

I feel like part of the reason the film was made was so that when/if Loverfest does happen, when possible, it’ll mostly be about Lover, her usual big hits, and maybe she integrates a couple Folklore songs as part of her acoustic bits.

I’m just speculating based on a couple of reasons:

a) I would have emotional whiplash going from Exile to Shake it off to Mirrorball to You need to calm down etc, for the mere fact that these belong to different genres and they vary in meanings. Not that her other songs don’t have the depth that Folklore has, I mean just look at Reputation, but Folklore is still so different from everything else (its genre, meaning, the stories its telling, its entire conception)

b) The amount of songs she’d have to perform. I mean a lot of times songs from an album aren’t played on tour, even if the tour is dedicated TO THAT ALBUM. Taylor released an insane amount of songs since her last tour, I mean we had TWO albums in the matter of ONE YEAR. In one single tour concert she couldn’t possibly sing both new albums in a satisfactory way, without leaving out many songs, and having to also play older fan favorites.

So my “theory” ( i mean its just ramblings and reflections) is that we already had our Folklore performance, and that when touring will become possible again, it’ll be a Lover dedicated one. And idk maybe she will make a second one for Folklore...?

Or maybe I’m just looking way too much into it and she’ll just make concerts 5 hours long and include everything I mean it’s still Taylor she’s wild like that lmao I could be completely wrong hahaha

#taylor swift #folklore #lover #the long pond studio sessions #loverfest #just my thoughts feel free to ignore

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dillydedalus · 5 years

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september reading

i read some things i guess! open for the last (almost) of robin hobb, more mountaineering disasters, and …. dungeons & dragons?? (i completely forgot i had this in my drafts lol)

the nickel boys, colson whitehead idk man this is really well-written, well-paced, an important story based very much on real history, the characters serve their purpose very well, the violence and abuse is written in a way that is chilling without ever being gratuitous and with the exception of a twist that i thought was a little too predictable, there’s nothing i can really criticise. it just really lacked some spark for me, and maybe it’s just that after underground railroad (which is also didn’t particularly like, but damn that had spark) it feels a lil conventional. still good tho! 3/5

the adventure zone #1: here there be gerblins, various mcelroys & cary pietsch my brain Does Not Do podcasts but obvi i’ve been hearing A LOT about the mcelroy boys & i’m like. vaguely interested in d&d* so when this was made available on overdrive i was like okay why the hell not. it’s a fun, quick read, and while i don’t really know anything about d&d the trappings of the game were included in a fun way. nothing mindblowing, but a good time. 2.5/5

assassin’s fate (fitz & the fool #3), robin hobb y’all this is it… it’s been over a year & now i’m done with the realm of the elderlings (actually i still have the piebald prince novella & the short stories). i have some criticisms of this one (the timeline & the main climax seemed a lil muddled to me) but to be honest??? loved this, had all the feelings, was superhappy to see my cursed shores kids again, fitzy & bee were heartbreaking all the time, the paragon conflict was great, when fitz got to the quarry i literally immediately started uglycrying & pretty much didn’t stop until the end, so: 4.5/5 (series rating 4/5 i guess bc fool’s assassin was a drag & a half)

die nebelkrähe, alexander pechmann this is a speculative fictionalisation of a little episode in the spiritualist movement where medium hester dowden claimed she had communicated with/been briefly possessed by oscar wilde, which is pretty fun. unfortunately, pechmann chose to focus on his version of mr v., a pretty boring mathematician and skeptic, rather than the absolutely wild shit going on with dowden, which includes oscar wilde’s ghost dunking on james joyce (who responded by making fun of the whole thing in finnegans wake) and claiming he’s like totally straight. 2/5

oval, elvia wilk a neoliberal corporate hell/psychotropics/eco-punk gone wrong dystopia in berlin so you know i’m here (i.e. in berlin lol) for it. this is about a berlin in the not too distant future where finster corp (real subtle) is buying up everything, driving up rents through ecological redevelopment, artists mainly work as consultants for corporations, and our protags anja and louis live in a finster-sponsored zero-waste eco-commune on an artificial mountain in the middle of berlin. everyone’s jobs are nda-clad bullshit, everyone parties all the time without ever enjoying themselves, homelessness and income inequality are ignored with the barest twinge of guilt, and louis is developing a party drug that chemically makes you generous. oh and the nature on the mountain (the berg -.-) seems to be eating itself. the concepts are great, the writing is pretty good even tho it tries a bit too hard sometimes, wilk, while also suffering a lil from Expat Gaze, really knows berlin. the execution isn’t perfect, the pacing is a bit off, too much time is devoted to anja and louis’ boring relationship, and look, some of the dystopian elements are a bit obvious. neoliberalism bad. okay, we know. but there’s a lot of good here, and the ending is pretty great, if a bit underdeveloped. 3.5/5

travelers, helon habila a novel about the african diaspora in europe, told thru 6 inter-connected stories, all focusing on one story of migration. these are important stories well told, and i liked how they all linked up in the end. while berlin is the central hub these stories revolve around, not all are set in berlin and the setting really isn’t as central as i’d hoped (this is obvi very personal to me & my research interests so it’s not really criticism). i’d recommend this if you’re interested in the representation of african migrants and refugees. 3/5

the uninhabitable earth: life after warming, david wallace-wells shit’s fucked: the book. starts with ‘it is worse, much worse, than you think’ and doesn’t really get much more cheery from there. good if you want an idea of what the effects of global warming might be (a pretty pessimistic one, which is the point - when does pessimism become realism?), and how we (& how we might) respond to them. 3/5

the girl from the other side, nagabe (#1-5) spooky-yet-wholesome manga series about a snazzy demon who’s adopted a little human girl who has been abandoned/cast out by her human community, which is like 100% my jam. the central relationship is super cute & wholesome, the demon designs are amazing, the worldbuilding is really spooky & intriguing (if you touch a demon you’ll be cursed & also turn into a demon & tbh who doesn’t want to turn into a weird tall slightly monster with cool horns), and a lot of it is just the demon like. badly baking pie to cheer the girl up.

girl woman other, bernardine evaristo somewhere between a novel and a collection of short stories written in a somewhat unconventional but highly readable style. the 12 stories each focus on one woman (and one nonbinary person), most of them black, examing black womanhood in britain throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. i enjoyed many of these stories, but the observational style and the way we quickly cover whole lives left me a bit detached. there’s also a lil corniness throughout, which comes out in full force in the epilogue, and while it’s cool to have trans rep, it honestly came across as a bit clueless. 3/5

dark summit: everest’s most controversial season, nick heil did someone say high-altitude mountaineering disasters? because i’m always here for some high-altitude mountaineering disasters. this is about the 2006 season which was p disastrous in terms of deaths even tho it didn’t even have a storm (cf the 1996 season aka please just read into thin air), just people walking past dudes who were dying bc rescues are extremely difficult & dangerous. anyway this ain’t into thin air, but it’s a good one & pretty wild bc all mountain climbers are fucking nuts. 3.5/5

sense & sensibility, jane austen really enjoyed this! the pacing is a lil weird & none of the men really is all that, but it’s all very charming & witty & i love sisterhood narratives (poor margaret!). as in (tho not as much as in) mansfield park, there’s a lot of attitudes that just don’t really track but in contrast to mp i found them interesting rather than frustrating, mostly - brandon/marianne is very uncomfortable especially when you realise that he’s projecting his tragic dead first love/sis-in-law onto marianne and that we don’t really see their courtship at all, but w/e. i especially enjoyed the ferrars family drama and the hilarious resolution to it, and i gotta say: lucy steele really did that & good for her. 4/5

anyway, i’m about halfway thru alasdair gray’s lanark, which is a great big pomo brick, half portrait of the artist as a young glaswegian, half weird visions of hell in the city of unthank & i’m into it but it’s not a quick read. in october uni reading is also going to start, perhaps for the last semester ever :(

#the only podcast i ever semi-successfully followed was welcome to nightvale #and only because it was the kind of story where it didn't matter if you spaced out several times in between #and even then i kinda had to stop once they started having an overarching plot #*lmao rereading my lil review for adventure zone where i say i'm vaguely interested in dnd is a trip #after i spent the whole last month mainlining critical role and most of my dreams now involve dice stuff i barely understand #like i really had three separate dreams about dnd last night & i've never played it & know nothing about it that isn't in critical role #really just want to be a tiefling that bad huh #the books i read

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applekitty · 5 years

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ive noticed that a LOT of fanfics that try to redeem dedede really dont try. like its not like the author is lazy but the way its executed is

i have never read a fic wherein dedede is given a satisfactory redemption arc, he’s usually just nice from the beginning and very flat with the same personality every other ‘game’ dedede has, basically just ‘i am loud, i’m not mean or cruel im just loud and also im very sassy and a dad dont mess with me im epic’ which seems at first like it might substitute for his evil nature but it doesn’t

or he’s just really outrageously stupid, which is more anime dedede.

i do agree with you, though i think dedede in and of himself is a hard character to do perfectly ‘correctly’. because when it comes to game canon, there is no correct way to write him. because dedede has no personality. he has hints of personality. which is not replacement for a personality. you are left entirely to your own devices when it comes to dedede’s flaws and his entire mindset in general, because canon supports absolutely everything you could ever put onto his canvas. i could say dedede is a hostile matriarch with no care for anyone other than himself and his kingdom and it’d be supported, because the only times dedede has been forced to act out of good is to defend his planet from something (potentially, in magolor’s case) hostile. or i could say he’s just a cozy uwu dad who’s done some wrong but he’s fluffy and cute nao and canon would sort of shakingly support that.

i went out a LOT about this on the hnk discord server. i’ll leave the entire transcript below but it’s about how people write game canon / why i don’t read game canon fics / the intrinsic, EXTREME difficulty with writing game canon fics. had this convo with @sociallyunacceptableorb , @toon-kirby , and azuranaito

i’ll tl;dr it here but: the reason why game fics seem a little strange while going in is because the games themselves lack a solid personality for the characters. fanon personality exists for them, and usually when writers write for them, they step in such a way which may not align with you, the viewer’s expectations of the fanon personality. it may seem inherently unsatisfying, to you, but for others, it’s very satisfying. the status of game canon and fandom canon makes it harder for you to be satisfied by the fanfics you read unless they are very surface level, boring sorts of fanfics.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:40 PM

kitty’s opinion time

most writers cannot go without incorporating the anime in some regard to kirby content due to how much the anime had bled into the interpretations of the games. people will write spanish meta knight as a game thing, people will write kirby being babyish / saying poyo being a game thing, as well as dedede being southern a game thingthe writers who decry the anime as bad / only good ‘at the time’ yet use anime personalities / interpretations make me lul extremely.(edited)

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:44 PM

Galaxia was from the anime.

Girlaxia was from 4Kids.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:45 PM

kirby saying ‘poyo’ is an anime thing, galaxia is an anime thing, to pick and choose from the anime shows that the games and their lack of writing cannot stand on its own without having to take from the very franchise that’s being decryed to help a worse written franchise

(edited)

no writing / intrigue writing ≠ good writing

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:47 PM

To be fair, it’s probably for the best that anime bleeds into the games or else we’d be stuck with oceans of edgelordery KIRBY IS EVUL AND EATS INNOCENT LIVES… though that’s already on AO3.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:47 PM

looks at matpat

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:48 PM

He ignores all canon to make people mad on purpose.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:48 PM

honestly if removing anime canon / anime’s bleed into the video game’s interpretation = writers to go 'KIRBY EVUL’ then idk what to say other than lul

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:49 PM

I mean, I don’t think the games writing is shit, but I also don’t trust edgy people with Void Termina.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:50 PM

i think saying 'game writing > anime writing’ is just blatantly.. wrongbecause that’s just saying 'little to no writing so that way you can focus on gameplay > a literal 22 episode made for television with themes and lessons’

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:51 PM

Oh! Yeah, that I agree on.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:51 PM

i also dont trust edgelords with kirby or void honestly

or any kirby characters

i dont trust edelords period

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:51 PM

I thought you were saying that all game lore was trash.

It’s crumbs.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:51 PM

i used to be one and i made EVERYTHING baaad

it’s comparing crumbs to a loaf of bread

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:52 PM

“Well, I hate pumpernickel! So the entire loaf is bad!”

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:52 PM

uerGHERUG

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:53 PM

“But you haven’t even eaten it.”“IT’S BAD.”…this metaphor is getting lost.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:53 PM

honestly it’s why i just.. dont read game fics, because there’s little to no ground for writers to stand on and write stuff with

things get too wild and they feel just.. weird ig

i dont know how to put it into words, really

AzuraLast Wednesday at 12:54 PM

That kinda makes me mad with what happened with one of my friends. People got onto her for crossing the anime and games together, which, when she wrote it, it wasn’t bad at all, but because the anime was involved people wanted to bitch at her for it.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:54 PM

interps of game canon are based purely off the person who writes it and all the people reading said thing all have different interpretations which inherently makes reading a game fic unsatisfying and ooc for you personally because your hc filled in the void the game left differently than the authors did. but for the writer it is ic.(edited)

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 12:55 PM

Like gijinka fic?

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:56 PM

reading mirror fics also, inherently, can be unsatsifying i think

for the same reasons

people have so many different interps of how mirror world works that reading anything about it, just on its core basis that the author uses to define a 'mirror world’ can feel unsatisfactory

gijinka as well suffers from this

AzuraLast Wednesday at 12:57 PM

My friend didn’t write gijinka. But she self projected quite a bit onto Meta; her HC for him was that he was an engineer trained under Haltmann.Which also ended up writing out the actual irl problems her major has which is an aerospace engineering.Hoo boy, with the Mirror World, there’s no clear line with it but the majority is usually edgy.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 12:58 PM

people have different interps, and because of how the western world works, we all think our interpretation is the best we can possibly have. usually when we read things we suspend our disbelief, and when it comes to kirby fics, game fics, gijinka fics, i don’t think people can really.. deeply get involved in them.it’s a problem fics i suppose in general have. but it’s especially bad for game canon writers, or gijinka writers.people have hugely different adaptations of the same subject. with the anime there’s clearly written rules and characters defined over the course of 100 episodes. there’s a clear cut story with lots of dialogue and content there to be tackled. but even still, it can be interpreted differently by different people because thats how life works. only the existence of a canon episode cannot be refuted; a fic can be

game canon is harder to do because yes you have the games, and a lot of them, but there is no writing. it is all gameplay. which means that personalities and dialogue and whatever else is not the focus. people can have extremely varying interpretations of canon because of this, which is what intrinsically makes game canon harder to write for. with anime canon it’s easier to write closer to canon because there is a clear cut one. but with game canon, there is no clear cut canon.

AzuraLast Wednesday at 1:02 PM

That’s also why so many people also freak out about all the supposed lore the games have, right?

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:02 PM

the lore in games is very open ended is the thing, so it leads to people’s speculation and very different extrapolations of the lore and canon, yes

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:03 PM

Yup! It adds to their own things; it’s satisfying less for the confirmation and more for the new content to tinker with.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:03 PM

kirby is very, VERY dry in terms of story telling in the games, so any piece of lore given is EXTREMELY important for content creators / theorists(edited)

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:04 PM

I can’t really fault people who build off lore since it’s such a personal thing. Other people get huffy and whine about them “not really appreciating the game” but I find it is appreciation, just in a different fashion. It goes downhill once people get childish and argumentative, though.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:05 PM

the thing is people can also do that ^ for the anime too

remember that one server you were talking about in #newbie-chat

lol

in the end we are the people going 'you are not appreciating the anime right and the way you write for the games is going to intrinsically be unsatisfying unless you go onto the crutch of anime lore'i do anime/game fusion because i know the games can’t stand on their own

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:08 PM

Aheh. But of course.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:08 PM

[snobbish laughter]

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:08 PM

I actually don’t for the same reason. It feels cheap, like I’m forcing a square peg into a round hole.The barebones of the games doesn’t mesh with the backstory of the games that well for me.

StarRodPiplupLast Wednesday at 1:09 PM

So, like, if I wrote a fic with a sentient Galaxia, and then threw the rest of anime canon in the trash, it wouldn’t be cool?

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:09 PM

it’d be relying on the anime canon in some regard, showing that the game canon can’t hold its own

StarRodPiplupLast Wednesday at 1:09 PM

Too many plot holes

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:10 PM

it would be a tad bit jarring, at least in my opinion because im the local brutal 4kids anime stan

but for other people it wouldnt be, i’m just a person with too much time to complain about kirby

StarRodPiplupLast Wednesday at 1:11 PM

I’ve been really curious if “a nightmare of a galactic crisis” was just a coincidence or a deliberate lore inspired word choice, hence why I’ve steered away from capitalist idiot nightmare….it’s fun to write him like that though.

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:11 PM

Also, if it’s a prequel… where the hell does Tiff go? The Cappies? Cappy Town? Dedede just abandons everybody for no reason and there’s a fountain powered by something that Kirby had to create by eating?

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:11 PM

schrodingers cappytown

AzuraLast Wednesday at 1:12 PM

I would like to know my own headcanons give my own appreciation to both the anime and the games. Games can’t stand alone with their bare bones and the anime can always be expanded upon. Nothing wrong with having fun while writing, that’s all it is, isn’t it?

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:13 PM

honestly i think the best way to write kirby stuff is anime/game fusions

i wonder if it’s because thats what i write HMMMMMMEIUGUIERGHERG

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:13 PM

I fuse. I go by manga lore.

Novel, whatever.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:13 PM

novel lore or bust

AzuraLast Wednesday at 1:14 PM

I fuse because it feels the most natural for me.

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:14 PM

Because the novels actually build on it! They don’t pop backstory in everywhere! It’s just a Kirby game with more explanations for stuff in it!

StarRodPiplupLast Wednesday at 1:14 PM

I just wanna write about an evil vampiric wizard for some reason

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:14 PM

the games do need something to help them, i believe. when it comes to content creation of the purely fic type, anywayscourtesycalling does great one-shot comics and what not, they do game lore to the t because their comics are.. well.. oneshots. they’re satisfying by themselves

anyways i’ve got a lot of feelings on people decrying the anime as bad or cool to hate then taking things from the anime and putting it into game lore. that’s mostly what this is about

AzuraLast Wednesday at 1:17 PM

It seems kind of hypocritical in a sense too, doesn’t it?“Oh, I hate the anime but love the games but I’ll piss on the anime as I write my fic because even though I love the games I need to strong bones of the anime to hold me up as I write my fic.”

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:18 PM

yeah that’s sorta what im on about here thank you for summarizing it for me

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:18 PM

Yep! I joke about it a lot myself.Especially people using 4kids voices when they say 4Kids is trash.

AzuraLast Wednesday at 1:18 PM

Same, all it seems to be is a freaking joke.

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:18 PM

Sorry for turning this into a Steven Universe-esque debate thread.

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:19 PM

i instigated it

Garlude Smoocher (Shirley)Last Wednesday at 1:19 PM

chingkittycatLast Wednesday at 1:19 PM

it’s an interesting thread anyways so

#they speak #Anonymous #i have never read anyone ever try to give anime dedede an actual redemption so im assuming this is about game dedede #analysis

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gothfield-official · 6 years

Text

Who Neopolitan is Based on (UPDATED)

Ok so a while ago my friends and I came up with this theory and I feel the need to update it with more proof. If you haven't read the original theory then strap in bc it's kind of wild. (Also I tried to upload this to r/rwby but evidently I’m still shadow banned for no reason so guess I’ll die?)

So everyone in RWBY has some sort of fairytale/classic literature ties to them. Obviously there's Ruby as Red riding hood, Weiss as Snow White, ect. Some of the connections aren't very deep, for example Roman's connection to Romeo Lampwick seems to be only in character design and the basic characteristic of being a criminal. However, there are a few characters who's fairytale backstory we don't know yet. And among them is Neopolitan.

Before I go into this I want to make it clear I'm not going to consider the "Neo is Mary Poppins" Theory. It's pretty much only predicated on the fact that she has an umbrella and many people seem to think this has been confirmed. The only thing Neo is, in canon, based on is the ice cream.

So, if she's not based on Mary Poppins, then who is she based on?

Frankenstein's Monster.

Now, I know Frankensteins monster is about the furthest thing aesthetically to Neo, but the connections are there.

But first, a bit of background for reference: Let's go back to the episode in volume 3 where we're introduced to how Cinder got her motley crew. Pay attention to who's introduced. First we hear Cinder, then we see her recruit Emerald, then Mercury, then Roman (albeit we only hear her recruit him). We even see her forcing Adam to join her and he's not as closely linked to her group as everyone else. But who do we not see? Neo. This leads me to believe that Cinder never recruited Neo, or even had the need to.

In addition to this, while Neo is almost always seen with/associated with Roman, in the first episode he doesn’t have her with him and has to hire second rate mercenaries to help him rob the dust shop. Granted, it’s a small job but considering how much we see Neo with Roman afterward, it is odd for her not to show up. It's especially odd since Cinder shows up to help at the end of the fight, which is the role Neo fills in all other battles. I speculate that Roman didn’t find Neo, nor have they known each other for a very long time (they met some time after the events of episode 1)

Then we have Neo's connections to Frankenstien's monster, which, as I said before, seems as aesthetically antithetical as possible. However, that's only if you get caught up in the big discrepancies.

My first and main piece of evidence comes from Neo's name itself. Neopolitan. Neapolitan is an ice cream made up of 3 different ice creams. 3 parts, one whole. Frankenstein is a monster made up of many different humans. Many parts, one whole. Admittedly this sounds really stupid but it also makes a lot of sense.

We also have the fact that Neo never speaks. In the first half of the book "Frankenstein", the monster cannot speak. Granted, the monster does learn to speak through observation and study, but putting that aside for a moment consider that the lack of speech as abnormal and an imperfection. Imperfect because the monster, and Neo, both were created by men trying to play god. Imperfect men with imperfect creations.

Going back to aesthetics, consider the fact that Frankenstein is, in almost all interpretations, stitched together, clearly abnormally looking from the outset. Now, consider Neo, with her two tone hair that's split exactly down the middle, her heterochromatic eyes that inexplicably change color, and her overall doll like appearance. Both are very abnormal, even in the context of RWBY, no one else has two toned hair like Neo's, or eyes like hers.

The prefix "Neo" means new. Frankenstein's monster is a "new" form of man. The fact that her name is often shortened to Neo puts emphasis on the meaning and it's importance.

Homunculi are very similar to Frankenstein's monster. Interestingly, homunculus means "little man" Neo just happens to be the shortest character in RWBY by far.

So Neo has clear connections to Frankenstein. The next question to answer then, is who created her and why? My answer is from a person who has no canon interaction with Neo so far. Watts.

We learned in volume 5 that Dr. Watts is a disgraced Atlesian doctor and scientist. I find it very telling that Watts was able to get himself booted from Atlas, considering we know their science gets very morally grey (see the soul transfer machine in volume 3). Ergo, Watts must have being doing so really fucked up experiments. Perhaps fucked up enough to grab Salem's attention.

Watts is the odd man out in Salem's group. Cinder, Hazel, Tyrian as well as Emerald and Mercury, are all capable and used for their fighting skills. Watts, meanwhile, has shojo legs. He's not exactly the fighting type, so why does Salem keep him in her inner circle? Experimenting. Watts is making Salem a weapon, a living weapon, Neo.

With all that in mind the theory as applied to the story goes like this:

Watts was most likely disgraced for doing human experiments, gained Salem's attention, and began to work for her and continue his own research in human and other unethical experiments.

Watts creates Neo. Admittedly im not sure who she’s made out of (literally or figuratively) but we speculate it could be Cinder, Emerald and Mercury, since her semblance includes parts of Cinder (illusion shattering to glass) and Emerald (illusions). Obv Merc is just a guess since we don’t know his semblance yet (I also say it's the 3 of them because there's 3 ice creams in Neapolitan, so 3 people would make Neo). I assume Salem’s dark magic is involved in some way as well. Her hair could also be a clue as to who she's based on, however we haven't seen any characters with bubblegum pink hair yet.

Watts may have also used the same technology behind the soul transfer machine to transfer people’s semblances into Neo to make her more OP. the whole reason they tried to use the STM in the first place was to transfer Ambers powers to Pyrrha, not her soul. It would make sense if Watts attempted the same thing. (It also makes sense that Watts would have been involved with the STM, considering it's an Atlesian human experiment and ethically dubious.)

On the OP thing, something I didn't mention earlier is that Neo’s has a lot of powers. Clearly she can create illusions, which have a physical presence seeing as how Yang shattered the one she used in V2 Ep4. Also, many people have noted that during the Yang and Neo fight, Neo’s eyes switch when she’s about to attack. Then there’s also her teleportation at the end of that fight once Raven shows up. Suffice to say Neo has a lot of powers, more powers than anyone else in the show save for maidens.

It makes sense if she got all her powers either through the parts of others that were used to make her (i.e: Em, Cinder, Merc), through the STM, or a combination of the two.

Salem gives Neo to Cinder, most likely to test her ability in combat as well as test Cinder's ability to control her. While it does seem like Neo would be an important asset to have as a human weapon, Salem still needs to test her, she and Watts could probably duplicate their results or literally stitch her back together if they needed to. Not to mention that Neo is a flawed prototype (remember, she can't speak) so Salem wouldn't see her demise as much of a loss.

So there you have it. I think it's a pretty good theory and leaves a lot of interesting paths for reintroducing Neo to the story and for the story at large. Lemme know what you guys think, and if you have any idea where Roman fits into this, bc admittedly I haven't figured that out entirely either tho my inclination is that he's like the fire prometheus gives to man that they then depend on? Idk but ill update this if I figure it out.

#rwby #rwby theory #neopolitan #Neo rwby #rwby predictions

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killianmesmalls · 6 years

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In Defense/Support of KnightRook

First, this is not in response to any particular anon that has come through the inboxes of those who happen to be like-minded about this season of Once Upon a Time, but more general thoughts of why I in particular truly appreciate KnightRook, both as a unit and as individuals, and why I believe others appreciate them, sometimes more than the previous iterations of their characters. This is not to say that I do not appreciate Storybrooke Killian—he is still absolutely my favorite SB character, I still ultimately ship him with Emma, and I sincerely hope his fictional little self is happy in his fictional little life.

Below the cut are some thoughts on what I’ve personally noticed in these past thirteen episodes that helped turn me from largely ambivalent to Alice/Tilly and the-pirate-previously-known-as-Wish Hook.

Clearly, I have thoughts on Alice Jones. If you’ve come to my blog at all since I started it after 7x08, you’d know this for a fact. To be honest, she wasn’t someone I was thrilled about in the first few episodes of season 7. I believed her being Killian’s daughter as too obvious (the chess set in the hospital was so blatant it felt like too much at the time, though now I love it) and thought they were pitching her too hard to be a wild-and-crazy potential villain or just the token headcase character. However, starting a bit in 7x04 and progressing through to now, I am thrilled to have been proven wrong. I have loved the Alice character since I was little, from the original stories to the Disney cartoon to all sorts of terrible TV shows and movie offshoots. Rose, her dynamic with her fellow actors (mostly notably Colin and Bobby), and the writing of her character have endeared her to me as my now-favorite version of Alice.

Depiction of Mental Health We're in a time where there's constant overstimulation, we're never allowed to shut off, we don't know how to tune out, and then there's a culture of self-medicating, rubbing some dirt in it, and walking it off. Our media still does a poor job of showing even conditions on the “lesser” end of the mental health spectrum to the point when one show gets it right there’s a sense of shock from the community that endures those same symptoms having them finally depicted well on TV. For instance, when Randall was displayed having a panic attack in a realistic manner on This Is Us, it was worth discussing and had several articles devoted to it. There’s a celebration in someone “getting” it.

Which, considering the fact that, due to the above reasons, so many of us suffer from depression, anxiety, insomnia, addiction, etc., the lack of many of these being handled with honesty and sensitivity is both mind-blowing and sad. I believe Alice, or at least her HH counterpart Tilly, help to show another character with mental health issues in a realistic and, largely, positive light. Though we don’t know fully what she’s been diagnosed with in Hyperion Heights, and we do know some of what even she’s led to believe about her condition is made up in order to keep her under the curse, we can still see her battling with conditions not unlike anxiety or schizophrenia. In the Enchanted Forest, she is shown to “see the world in a special way,” which we have yet to get fully fleshed-out details on, and to behave in sometimes eccentric ways. While I doubt we’ll see a concrete diagnosis for anything she has, either as Alice or Tilly, I believe based on what we’ve seen we can at least takeaway that those with the above conditions can find some solace in having a character like her on their screens.

In addition to how they handle her behavior, never overly hamming it up or calling it out like she needs to be put on display, we get the reactions of others. Rogers/Killian never seems to invalidate her feelings. In the EF he says she has a special way of seeing the world. He doesn't, again, call her crazy or invalidate her feelings. In fact, just the opposite, he believes in her fears and does what he can to help. While he does brush her off as Rogers when he's focused elsewhere, he doesn't call her crazy, ask her repeatedly if she’s on her medication, or otherwise treat her with kid gloves. He uses her own terminology in HH (her "upside down" thinking) and doesn't point to her mental health as a sign of evidence that she could be guilty of anything.

Which, considering the state of mental health issues and the gun debate in this country, I feel is a topic they're handling in a very subtle way. Perhaps unintentionally, and maybe I’m reading too much into it, but when the current topics for debate are how everyone with mental health issues are a problem and how to deal with keeping them away from others or away from weapons rather than acknowledging that mental health issues, like many other things, are on a spectrum (or, I suppose, a series of them), and immediately pointing to them as evidence for why someone did something terrible instead of looking into other factors, I feel like showing the interactions between her and him in both the EF and HH are important. He knows she thinks differently from others, but in no way is that an immediate indication that she is a danger to herself and others, even when one takes into consideration the fact that her “upside down” thinking had her shooting Weaver.

Now, yes, they can add to this, expound on why he feels such a trust in her in spite of that previous incident, but just seeing someone who thinks “clearly” trusting in her enough to not immediately place blame at her feet in spite of what others would see as evidence against her is refreshing and needed in this current climate. And, yes, I feel like people are going to call me out for saying how refreshing it is to see Tilly believed to be innocent in spite of her mental illness and then for me to compare it to the gun debate vs mental health awareness when she did, in fact, shoot Rumple. However, she was asked to do that and, arguably, did it then in her more "right" mind, so there’s going to be a lot of “if” and “or” involved in any back-and-forths there. The point here is to address the well-handled aspects of her “upside down thinking” and how others can relate to it and its more realistic portrayal than other forms of entertainment have displayed previously.

Single Parent (Shock! Single Dad) Then we get to the fact that it's not really discussed in depth the fact that Killian is a single parent and had all the struggles that came with it. I could be wrong and am open hearing out if I am, but I feel like single parents aren't really handled on non-overly-dramatic TV shows often, and certainly not often showing a single father, let alone a single father with a daughter. I still recall comments to a friend of mine who was raised by her father, and all the comments he’d receive by women about how incapable he was in raising his own daughter (a then-toddler), to the point where they didn’t trust him in dressing her or bathing her.

We have an issue in a lot of cultures of pretending like men don't know how to take care of children or take care of housework, boys will be boys, and we perpetuate these stereotypes. Seeing softer, nurturing men is an absolutely needed thing. Bigger points for it being a formerly ruthless pirate because it's not like you can take the next character that comes to mind (for some reason for me), Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and say "well, he's arguably on the spectrum and more effeminate." The next one to come to mind is Danny Tanner, the widower from Full House, who was teased for his “mothering” ways and even then had two other men in the house to help with his three daughters because “IDK how parent?” No, Killian is plenty traditionally masculine (guy-liner and leather pants aside), and yet has, thus far, shown himself to be perfectly capable to also be a nurturing, loving, supportive father. Completely on his own, to boot.

Killian didn't have anyone, and as much as I love the fluff of KnightRook, I also think it's important to remember how difficult it must have been for him to have raised her while isolated. He had Liam as an influence, but Liam could only parent so much. His childhood was traumatic and arguably abusive in various ways, so he couldn't use any of that to model his parenting off of, his father abandoned him, and he only had so many memories of his mother, I'm sure, considering how young he must have been when she died.

Yet, with the lack of a parenting influence, we see that Killian managed to raise a well-rounded, polite, patient, and brave little girl. Killian managed to do all this in an extremely confining environment with no doors, no bathroom, and absolutely no privacy. After all, there is only so much a curtain can do. Even with these uncomfortable truths, there is no hint of embarrassment with Alice, no strong sense of shame, and she genuinely seems to be close to him even with this occasionally uncomfortable living space. He got her dolls and wooden swords, she had all sorts of toys that could be for boys or girls, and, please, no one come at me about how she's a lesbian and he forced her to dress like that—for all you know, she enjoys dressing like that and I don’t condone dressing for a stereotype. Anything regarding her preferences is conjecture.

Yes, I know he made a mistake in choosing to duel with Ahab, but his reasons for doing so (for better or worse) have been discussed a number of times in some very well-thought-out metas, and honestly most of it is speculation. Gothel mentions it’s for his pride, Killian doesn’t deny it, but there are arguments to be made for him hearing the Dark One’s voice behind him telling him to go one way and Ahab insisting on the other, using Alice’s name against him. Also, one mistake does not a bad parent make, and it certainly doesn’t negate all he did in raising her to that point. I’m sure we’ll see more of the fallout from his decision, but honestly the punishment is cruel and unusual for the crime.

And, yet, for now there is proof he keeps trying. In spite of the threat on his heart and, arguably, his life, he continues to try to get back to Alice and to right his wrong. I’m sure we’ll see just how much he tries in upcoming episodes, hopefully the next one, but for now I’d like to believe he repeatedly attempted to fix his mistake and make it up to Alice. Again, until anything comes out, it’s all conjecture, but I do believe the foundation is there.

Additional Notes/Reasons/I Just Love Them, Okay? The dynamic between the two of them has been absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking to watch, and both Rose and Colin have brought their A-game for this season. Both as Tilly and Alice, Rose has shown a character with so much heart yet so much pain, who attempts to do the right thing and be a good person but is often unfairly robbed of the same kindnesses thanks to her awful mother and further reasons I’m sure that will be revealed later. Colin has performed an amazing (and, I’m sure for him, fun) balancing act between revisiting “Old” Hook, getting to walk in the footsteps of a new version of the character he played for the better part of five years, and getting to play a character in our world who is so dramatically different from all versions of Killian he’s been handed since season 2. Though the change of pace and storyline was initially jarring to me, I agree with Colin that (timelines aside) this has been some of the best writing I’ve seen on Once.

Witnessing Rogers struggle with various temptations and trying to be the man he wants to be, trying to find these missing pieces in his life and gain some sense of self while helping others has also been bittersweet. I have such a soft spot for this cranky, gullible sweetheart. He’s offered to help Rumple in his quest to be reunited with his wife in spite of the many reasons given to him not to fully trust his partner (Weaver has also been a breath of fresh air, but perhaps more on that another time), he’s developed friendships with Sabine (YAAASSSSSS), Henry, and Regina, all of which I am enjoying immensely.

SPEAKING of friendships, this is a Killian that has bonded with people in various ways outside of his true love. Based on how close he is to the queen of that realm, another queen (that he has a history with), and arguably a prince and maybe princess, I feel like I’d be shocked if he weren’t part of some royal court with how much he’s around. He’s being given little things like pats on the back, supportive looks, reassuring words, and it’s refreshing to see that happen. It’s nice to see them support his quest to get his daughter back and also support him as a person. Honestly, his friendships, both in the EF and in HH have been a breath of fresh air. I loved Captain Charming, I still do, but that basically started to feel like his main friendship once Smee was out of the picture (SMEE! Ugh, that might be another rant) and still, clearly, David was going to care for Emma more. It’s natural. It makes 100% sense. Still, it’s a little sad knowing that the only person in Storybrooke that would put Killian first is…. Honestly, I don’t think anyone would. Emma would rightfully put Henry first, Killian never thinks of himself, and everyone else is holding hands with everyone else while the world ends.

I just think Killian was a side character in another more prominent character’s story for so long that he occasionally became more a prop for her happy ending than his own person. I still love him. I always will appreciate so many parts of who he is and what he did, but in this season Killian seems more part of an ensemble than a side character. I suppose if we’re going to reference back to more pop culture references, and these may be poor which I’m sure someone out there is going to harp on and point out, but seasons 2-6 was like seeing Katniss with Peeta in the Hunger Games series and season 7 feels a little more like Harry Potter and its main character but stronger group adventure. In 2-6, he didn’t really have his own story, just a part in Emma’s. And that, sometimes, was fine. But along the way the writers forgot that even side characters need their own moments and nuances and to be treated as if they’re at least the main character in their own story that isn’t being told to the audience. Season 7 Killian is like part of a trio that clearly has things going on, on the side free from what otherwise may be the main story arc.

IDK guys, is there a main story arc anymore? Maybe that’s also why I like season 7 the most. There isn’t one prophecy with one savior with one goal and everyone else has to help with it. No one is hope or light or whatnot. Everyone has a part in each other’s happy ending, and it’s been amazing to see the different ways Alice and Killian play into each other’s, their own, and everyone else’s.

If anyone has further thoughts, including polite disagreements, that’s completely fine. However, due to the habit of some I’ve seen, please be sure you’ve read through the whole thing (I know it’s long) before sending an ask informing me of how I feel through your lens. Also, do not make assumptions based on anything you don’t see clearly written. Finally, if I choose not to engage with you, don’t assume it means I think you’re right and I’m hiding. I might just choose, for my own sanity, not to engage.

#knightrook #OUAT S7 #ouat s7 meta #wish hook #killian jones #alice jones #alice/tilly #ouat positivity #but also kinda ouat critical?#mostly positive

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analyzingadventure · 4 years

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PSI THOUGHTS 2: THE ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

Aka time to share some thoughts on the profile blurbs and participate in some wild speculation

(Quickly though I just wanted to say that the new outfits are fine but there is something weird to me about them... It’s like this weird mix of taking the original designs, trying to modernize them while also keeping them looking the same and it like... It feels like they tried to Adventure-fy the old designs it somehow made the kids look like background extras of their own show?? IDK maybe it’s just nostalgic bias or something lmao. But yeah the kids look fine, I wish they had left Mimi’s hat pink and... Man they really did Koushirou a dirty, eh. He really looks awful in that outfit holy shit)

When it comes to the kids I actually don’t have much to say about them- they kinda sound like parodies/abridged versions of themselves from Adventure, like the way they call Mimi a “princess”, which kind of sounds like someone saw her childlike innocence from Adventure and figured all there is to Mimi is that she’s a whiny little brat (/”princess”). I am jumping to conclusions here but rn I feel like tri. had a better understanding of the characters than Psi, but then again Psi doesn’t have to stay through to Adv.’s characterization.

The only things I found worth mentioning were that Hikari indeed seems to have a sixth sense so she seems to still be the DigiJesus (or, well, techinically they made it sound like Hikari has a tendency to astral project but whatever lmao). But in a twist, based on Takeru’s profile he too may have that sixth sense! 8O And ngl I am very excited to see where they’re going with that

EDIT: I misread a good portion of the blurb, ignore the next these paragraphs lmao (leaving it here for people to laugh at tho)

Also; They mention Takeru lives apart from “his brother” due to “circumstances”... Now either these profiles are vague and cheeky because the writers don’t want to spoil to any kids that Takeru and Yamato are brothers whose parents divorced, OR... A) They are brothers but their parents aren’t divorced (yet) or B) They’re not brothers at all (they don’t have the same last names after all) and Takeru has another brother he lives away from for some reason.

I mean I do think it’s most likely the writers are being cheeky and trying to not spoil things for the kids, but the fact they didn’t mention Yamato being Takeru’s brother at all is super interesting to me.

ONTO THE DIGIMON, again, not much to say about the most of them. They did confirm the Adult form of every Digimon so my hopes of branching evolution trees has been smothered a bit but not killed yet, not entirely- it is still possible they could get new Perfect level forms and/or multiple Perfect forms. Or Ultimate (depending on how Psi will treat levels, like for all we know they could ditch the level system again like Frontier and Xros Wars did)

BUT THERE’S THREE THINGS WORTH NOTING IN THOSE PROFILES! The Great War, no mention of Angemon, and Tailmon.

Some people immidiately started speculating about a multiverse/AU theory from the mention of the War and how Agumon knew Taichi but considdering the other things mentioned in the profiles I doubt this is the same Agumon from Adventure... Unless it was specifically Agumon and Agumon alone while all the other Digimon were from this universe specifically. But still, I don’t think there’s any multiverse stuff going on here, Agumon just pulled a Hikarigaoka-esque stunt at some point but nobody remembers it, probably

The mention of the “old Internet” (and the war that happened there) makes me wonder if they’re going to pull an X-Antibody-esque kinda storyline with Yggdrasil or something where instead of a Digital World being destroyed, it’s the Network? Who knows, there’s only so much you can speculate based on a handful of words

Patamon totally evolves into Angemon, I think they’re just being cheeky about it and Angemon is like a “legendary warrior” and some shit like that, it’s totally gonna be like that and I’m sure he’ll die just like he did in the past

BUT WHAT’S REALLY INTERESTING FOR ME IS TAILMON

TAILMON WON’T JOIN THE KIDS/HIKARI, SHE’S JUST BEING MYSTERIOUS AND SHIT, LIKE REI IN APPMON

Now that’s a trope old as kids’ shows, but it’s still interesting due to its implications.

Tailmon could be a lone wolf because she’s on a secret mission. She could be a lone wolf because she has some issues. She could be a lone wolf because she’s teamed up with the enemy and is either playing Taichi and co into a trap, or she’s having second thoughts and is kinda two-timing the Chosen and the enemy

There’s many options, and it’s very interesting to see what they’re going to do

And if Tailmon is working for the enemy... Who is it?

There isn’t much left to discuss here actually... The enemies we see in the new trailer kind of remind me of the Virusmon in Appmon, but they look a bit... off? IDK maybe it’s just this weird whiplash of the old Digimon looking weird to the new enemies with more modern designs. That said I wouldn’t be surprised (and I would be a bit happy actually) if those new enemies from the trailer were not Digimon, but they probably are, and I’m sure we’ll find out what species they are

Now one last thing I found interesting about the trailer (which is definitely giving me that Hunters/Appmon feeling rn) is that we definitely see the kids entering the Internet in it (the Internet having that very DigiQuarts/AR Field look to it).

The thing is, we had it already confirmed way back that there is a Digital World, it’s the green foresty thing on the poster. So it’s going to be interesting to see how they’ll handle the Digital World- it already sounded a lot like to me that the kids could travel with ease from the Human World to (what has now been confirmed to be) the Internet, so how that’ll extend to the DW is interesting. Is it going to be like like how the Deep Web worked in Appmon where once you go deep enough you’ll find the DW?

So will we see a lot of the DW or will the show take mostly place on the Internet with very limited visits to the DW?

(Unrelated but hilariously that was kind of what I always expected Appmon would do, like they’d go deep into the Net Ocean and find themselves in the Digital World (with Digimon specifically) and I was sad nothing like that ever happened so it’s gonna be surreal and hilarious if that’s exactly what Psi does)

And.... I think that’s it? I can’t think of any other things to briefly discuss, I ran out of disjointed thoughts

I’m expecting Psi to be either pretty decent or an absolute, flaming trainwreck and if it’s the latter it’s gonna be hilarious to watch and my popcorn is ready for it

#Text post #Psi #Long post #I did get a few asks about Psi but I answered most of the things asked in this post so sorry I'm not publishing them #I saw the asks no worries!#Also sorry this is so long

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amwritingmeta · 6 years

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Cas’ Deciding Moment in S13 (this is so Wild Spec)

Please, please, don’t read this if the idea of human!Cas in any way upsets you, okay? I’m not writing this post to anger or appall. This is entirely my own speculation regarding Cas’ arc this season, based in my own hopes for his character progression. I know how much we all love him, and I sincerely don’t want to get anyone in a slapping-faces-because-I-can’t-take-this-shit type of mood. You may slap me if you forego this plea and read this post and want to slap me. *perhaps this post is a ploy to get people to slap me* *shhhhh*

What I Hope Happens to Cas, in Some Narrative Shape or Form, in S13:

1. I hope we see, or it’s implied, that he’s faced with a choice in the Empty and that it’s his own choice to go back to Earth fully-fledged.

2. I hope this is the right choice made for the wrong reasons, meaning–

–to go fight a war –to raise Jack right –to protect the people he loves –Cas once more dresses himself as the weapon, believing, as ever, that his grace, his wings, his powers are the only things about him that will make him a force to be reckoned with –Cas still believing this is true makes returning fully-fledged a choice made for the wrong reasons –but it’s the right choice because Cas has to come back fully-fledged in order to finally gain perspective on what his grace, his wings, his powers really are, what they’ve always been: a yoke, something to hold him back and keep him in his place, a place he’s never chosen for himself, merely been duty bound to.

3. I hope, at some point this season, that fully-fledged, reset, BAMF Castiel is faced with this truth and that it’s delivered through a situational challenge–

–that situational challenge could be Cas being told to bow down to Heaven fully (a Heaven possibly under the new direction of the fanatical Michael, if he crosses over between worlds) –in this situational challenge, Cas finds himself reminded of Naomi’s brainwashing, of her saying he came off the assembly line wrong, and finally he’ll begin to see his powers for what they really are: a weakness. –I hope that whatever the circumstances surrounding this situation is - hopefully one that is overtly dramatic and foreshadowed - they serve to lead Cas into doing what Anna did, that the circumstances lead to him cutting off his wings and choosing to become human, because he refuses to serve Heaven for another second.

(as he’s already in a vessel we’ll just forget about Anna falling from Heaven and being separated from her grace etc.) (I’d love for Cas’ humanity to be wholly an individual experience… but, again, not terribly fussed)

4. I hope human!Cas happens, and I hope he happens sooner than later, because to me it feels imperative to his character progression that he takes this leap and faces this oncoming war as a human.

This also makes sense to me where the narrative stakes are concerned –>

–> fully-fledged Cas poses a problem because he more or less negates the stakes (the brothers are never in peril of death when they can call out for Superman… sorry, for Cas and he appears) so to have him come back in order to guide Jack in how to open up the rift, for example, and have Cas with his angel mojo back, only to pull that safety rug out from under him in some way… oh it could be beautiful and so fitting for his individual arc.

5. It also gives me this immediate sense of balance because of the Battle of the Brothers angle, where - if we get human!Cas - Michael represents Heaven, Lucifer Hell and Cas Humanity, all three of these concepts knitted together in Jack, who is also the knitting point for TFW, while TFW - with human!Cas onboard - are completely equal for the first time ever (since there’s no cock blocker angel named Gadreel to put the power of Heaven in Sam).

But leaving that for another post.

6. I have a second scenario in mind, where Cas’ refusal to bow to Michael (because he’s powerful enough to do rip another angel’s wings off…) makes Michael do just that - tear off Cas’ wings - and tell him that if he loves man more than his family, he can live and die as a man.

Cas having the choice stripped off him, like it was stripped by Metatron, would serve as punishment for not learning his lessons and choosing to come back fully-fledged, his forced humanity enabling him to learn his final lessons so that he can reject an offer of his powers restored to him by the end of the series.

But I’d rather he makes the BAMF choice for himself now.

They could still have him grappling with it, with the enormity of it, but also show him embracing his new existence even more than he did in the previous human!Cas arc.

7. I love the idea of all this tying into Dean’s freak-out in 12x20, where he did not see Cas looking back at him. The way I see it, the guy he did see was Castiel, which was why he was so utterly freaked: all that growth reduced to nothingness and Cas, his Cas, gone. Dean saw this BAMF Angel of the Lord, who was reliably unreliable and came and went as he pleased, who was such an overwhelming, startling, breathtaking presence that Dean tried - and most often than not failed - to bring him down to Earth as his Cas was burned away. (wrong of course - all wrong wrong wrong) (but it’s an intriguing thread that they might be playing with here)

So, yeah, I think we’re getting Castiel back not only because it’s important he goes through this final stage before his transformation can actually be complete and his choice to become human feels fully informed by the shit-fest that is Heaven, but because Cas returning as BAMF Warrior of Heaven on a mission to protect Jack is going to throw Dean off completely.

I mean, Dean won’t know what the fuck to do, right?

He’ll be so ecstatic to have Cas back and alive, and he IS Cas… and still, he isn’t. I can’t wait to see what they do with it!! It’s a remarkably effective way to slow the love story down, now that Dean is poised for self-examination and real fucking growth. If Cas had come back human then, yeah, the way that they’re truly going balls out with Destiel this season means it simply would not have worked. But if Cas is fully-fledged and becomes human by episode… idk, timelines are so fucking hard, but say by 13x12…

Oh my God, the brain delights if we get that slow build between human!Cas and Dean. Like super slow. Like the human!Cas arc and all the innuendo and flirtation was like a blitz view of what they could be like if both were feeling somewhat on equal footing.

And do you know what else it might mean, if this wild speculation is even in the ballpark of what is up ahead for Cas and Dean?

It might mean that they are building the love story from scratch, tying it back to the beginning for more callbacks than in 12x19, more callbacks that aren’t just spot-it-if-you-know-it, but that actually draws on that old amazingly taut chemistry between these two men, who are so alike and equally stubborn and omfg it could be glorious. Thelma and Louise moments, PLEASE, give us loads of Thelma and Louise moments. Awkward!Dean is my sweet cherry pie!! (and yours too I bet) (if you like sweet cherry) They would do this to ease the GA into the very real realness of how these two men are meant to be together.

I’ve said all this before, many many times, but I’ll say it again and again because goddamnit if this isn’t where this is headed. *hat-eatage*

Here’s what I see:

I see them pushing Dean’s character progression so that, once Cas comes back, Dean is ready to relate to him differently. The fact that Cas has had a reset should, absolutely, give Dean pause, and Cas pause, too, but my hope is that Dean is way too far gone now to even start back peddling. He’s in love with Cas and he has, by some miracle, gotten Cas back, so Dean will try to, awkwardly, show his feelings. Dean wants to show this angel that he matters to him. And it’ll be tentative as all fuck, and it’ll be scary, too, but Dean won’t back down because, damnit, he lost Cas once and he cannot do it again.

((The strain on Dean of fully-fledged Cas fluttering in and out, though. Oh man. And will Cas start out with ties to Heaven again, or purely Jack?? What about that smiley angel who stood by his dead body on that table? What’s her play?? Will Cas’ possible ties to Heaven grow and solidify as the episodes roll by? Oh so much fun!! They can have so much fun with this!!))

I see them reliving Cas and Dean’s greatest hits, putting them face to face in long silent stares and Sam somewhere nearby clearing his throat. While Jack observes them, entranced and fascinated. And of course there’ll be head butting and I really really want protective!Dean, wether Cas is an angel or not, because Cas has died - every time except for one - as an angel, so his powers don’t exactly mean he’s invulnerable and the last time he damn near died for good so Cas can just stay behind him, thanks very much. Ohhhhh. PLEASE PLEASE. We want it! We all want it!!

Keep them together! Please. If it’s made sweet and irresistible and undeniable, the GA will be as enamoured with them as the rest of us have always been. And if they’re not - FUCK THEM. My God, Dean and Cas deserve this. They both deserve to be happy!! Together! But the deciding moment will be when Cas decides, for himself, to become human, and the beauty of the above setup is that even if we see Dean trying to show Cas how he feels, fully-fledged and utterly graced Cas will not be able to relate to Dean’s flirtation (I mean, hell, even very humanised Cas in S12 still squinted at Mandy flirting with him in the absolutely most audacious manner one can flirt with another person) and the love story won’t kick off before Cas is human.

And once he is human, well, then there’s the fear as an obstacle to overcome because, all of a sudden, the thought of a future together will seem very real. And possibly probably very, very, very scary. :P *crossing fingers and toes*

I so see positive endgame, my peeps. All the way!!

#human!Cas #Cas in S13 #spn s13 wild speculation #destiel #dean winchester #positive endgame #no matter what #I trust in Andrew Dabb

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undiscoveredsky · 7 years

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Day Five- 100 Character Challenge: Arcanist

The way I view Arcanists, they push the boundaries of mortal magic. And idk, trying to use the powers of a god is pushing them pretty hard, lol.

Countless books were sprawled out before her, all turned to pages of information and diagrams, and to anyone else, it wouldn’t have made any sense. Hell, even to her, there was still a lot of unknown factors and things that didn’t quite add up. But that’s why she was there and why she does what she does.

She casually played with her hair as her eyes bounced from book to book—a way to give her hands something to do during her studies. There were so many variables to consider. So many things that could potentially happen. If they went through this—if she went through with this, she could potentially get herself killed if she wasn’t careful. But the end results…They were very well worth the risk, she assured herself, regardless if the others realized how dangerous this was or not.

The words and diagrams started to blur together as she stopped paying attention to what was before her and instead her own thoughts. There was no way to test this theory. She had to go all in to try it, and that made her a bit nervous. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“It’s hard to read all those books with your eyes closed, Anika.” That voice startled her and she jumped from her seat to look at the intruder. “Always so jumpy my dear. Relax.” Anika pouted at Percival before she reclaimed her seat.

“For the Royal Advisor, you sure move like our Spymaster,” she muttered and he just laughed it reply.

“I may have picked up a few things from him. Now tell me, how are things looking? You’ve been at this quite a while.” He moved to grab a seat and pulled it next to hers. Right now, he felt Anika needed the company. It was considered a distraction perhaps, but he felt they both needed a little distraction for the time being.

“Ugh.” Anika rubbed at her temples before she just idly motioned to the books before her. “Half of these things are just speculation. The other half is just wild guessing. This is something that’s impossible from our understandings of magic.”

“You’ve made the impossible happen before, need I remind you?” Percival gently tried and Anika just waved her hand.

“Simply a good stroke of luck that I, nor anyone else, have ever managed to replicate. Good fortune shone upon us.”

“So, you’re going to try and tell me those were all simply based on luck?”

“Yep.” She popped the ‘p’ at the end and Percival sighed softly.

“Regardless if anyone has replicated it or not, you were the one that made them happen.” Anika gave an exasperated sigh, but during this whole exchange, she never glanced up at him.

“There’s a difference between influencing our realm of magic and trying to channel a god, need I remind you.” Percival’s hand flinched reflexively at that tone, not having meant to upset her. “You are asking me to reach into the dragon’s magic. They are gods for a reason.”

“Anika…”

“Percival, please.” Anika shook her head, finally bringing herself to look at him. “We’re both busy people. If there’s nothing you need me for, then it’s best you leave me to my studies.” Percival sighed. When Anika was set on something, there was nothing you could do but comply with her demands. Percival got up from his chair, but before he left, he briefly pressed his lip to her forehead.

“I believe in you. Stay safe.” With that, he was gone, having left just as quietly as he came in. Anika was started by the kiss and just sat there for a few minutes before she shook it off and returned to her studies with a renewed fervor.

The day was finally upon them, and Anika was calm. While there was only so much out there she could look to, with her own magical equations and thoughts, she felt she could pull this off. Or at the very least felt she had to pull this off. Her grip on her staff tightened and loosened over and over, still trying to keep her hands busy. This time though, she was aware of Percival’s approaching presence. She turned her head to look at him and gave a little nod.

“Anika, are you ready?” He quietly asked. She gave another nod before she turned back ahead.

“I am.”

“All right.” He gave her shoulder a soft squeeze before he pulled away. Anika didn’t want anyone close to her in case…In case something went wrong. She watched out of the corner of her eye to make sure he was retreating before she started to draw the spell circle into the ground with the butt of her staff, muttering soft words to herself in a dialect that was just as harsh to listen to as it was to attempt to speak. She already felt her hands trembling, but kept herself going. She felt the magic reacting and building with each passing second as the circle moved closer to completion.

“Please…Help me keep these people alive.” As she said those last words upon completing the circle, she felt as if she was suddenly weightless. In fact, she was no longer on the ground. The last thing she was aware of was a sudden, albeit gentle pressure pressing against her. She swore when she looked up, her eyes met that of a dragon. But the rest was blank.

#d100 character challenge #100 characters 100 days #arcanist #anika

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survivorazores · 7 years

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Ep. 9 - "I'm an online Survivor player not a fortune teller dammit" - Francie

After eight tribals full of crackedness, wild strategy and of course puns, the Espirito and Salao tribes merged.

https://survivorazores.tumblr.com/post/163925460048/announcements

Omg I made merge I am so happy!!!! Reunited with my fellow INFP's! The only downside is that those 2 are definitely closer to each other than me :(. But I am still happy to have made it this far

I've achieved my goal of making merge at minimum so I'm happy for now. Now to not be the next one out lol

I MADE IT PAST MERGE I ALREAY SURPASSED MY EXPECATIONS

I'm so happy

MERGE!!!!! I ACTUALLY MADE MERGE!!!! I'm so happy to be reunited with Bryce!!! Amanda G and I have tea to spill and I can't wait to hear his tonight when we call. Also, the Gal Pals want to call and talk too. I have some stuff to clear up before Amanda Lynn gets called out by Gwen. I need to figure things out before things get out to everyone. I'm a little nervous.

Also, about Espirito's tribal, I almost shit myself when Bryce's name was read out. That shit was scary. BUT OMG MERGE BONDING!!!! SO WHOLESOME!!!! I'm so happy :-) This was a goal, now my next one is to win an individual immunity for myself. Let's hope I can do that. Also, I'm super excited about getting that merge idol clue. I can't wait to figure out what it is!!! AHHHHH!!!

My showmance Ashley Sarah is gone and I'm SO SAD but I'm more sad that Francie and Amanda didn't tell me how they were voting, but I'm just so excited that for at least a little while no one knew we were best friends and we got to play together, she was ROBBED and should have been the first member of the jury but it was fun playing with her and i hope she wins the record for the most votes casted against her in the season hehe. Going forward I'm going to be loyal to Will and probably only Will, everyone else is a RAT and I can't wait to get rid of Gwen still for swiping RIGHT on me.

It's merge time and the INFP's are reunited once more! I'm so happy to have us back together again. We might have to do some recruiting, though. We'll only have 3/12 votes if we go to tribal council like this. I really like Gwen, but we betrayed her by voting out Nayeli. I think we might try to get Ali and Francie on our side because Emily and I trust them, but we'll check with Bryce first. We need two more people, but we'll figure that out later. I'm also happier because now Emily's merge idol clue is able to be used for our advantage!!

https://survivorazores.tumblr.com/post/163928032843/reward-escape-room

https://survivorazores.tumblr.com/post/163928380688/merge-idol-hunt

We're all getting heckt.

Get hect.

I didn't know how much activity this challenge required (or just paying attention enough) otherwise I wouldn't have picked Gwen bc she's not on enough. Aksjdhskda. Hey, I'm an online Survivor player not a fortune teller dammit.

*Gabriel Reyes voice* D E A T H C O M E S

Can I vote out whoever created this challenge lol

The challenge ends, but the merge tribe is unaware of the challenge’s real nature

How was a five minute long challenge so emotionally painful?

Made the merge? Loving it! Won the first reward challenge? Also loving it! Finding the idol? Gonna do it and loving it!

Francie’s team: Francie,Emily,Ruthie,Mo,Michael and Gwen are sent to tribal

https://survivorazores.tumblr.com/post/163930618868/reward-results

I'M SO SCREWED THIS ROUND NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

What kind of bait and switch was that smh. Can I sue the hosts for emotional damage??

Emily is a rat.

Holy SHIT I found the idol???? I just spent so much time doing all of that and I actually found it I am so proud of myself oh my god this is beautiful this is amazing I feel blessed I feel incredible. This could easily be what carries me through these next few votes if anything starts to look fishy... and I'm loving it.

I'M SO MAD!!!! I wanted another idol and someone else got it :(. I do have my Espiriro idol, though, which is beneficial to my game. I'm really nervous about the next tribal council because my team won the competition, but that sent Emily to tribal council. I hope the can make amends with the majority and be able to survive.

So we merged and I'm so happy! But I also found out that apparently I was at a higher risk than I thought I was originally. But this idol thing was so much fun. Even if I didn't find it I had so much fun doing it. I wonder who got the idol tho its so scary :s.

i made merge!!!!!! me and Amanda did it together!!!! its amazing content im so alive! We had a """""""""reward""""""""" challenge that had me and amanda on a team together and we won and it turned out to not be reward and were immune! but emily and francie are not but they seem to be on lock so it should be okay. Will has been a little shady and im like 75% sure he found the merge idol BECAUSE amanda and I went on a spree and finished the hunt and it was gone so :\\\ very disappointing but ive never won a game where ive had an advantage and i did win when i had no advantages so its all fine and dandy we still good! I want to stick with the gal pals alliance most, will has been giving me iffy vibes lately but i also want to stick with him for as long as i can. He isnt making final 4 though if I have anything to say about it!

Well, after a long night of idol hunting, we have realized that the idol, in fact, has already been found. Iconic? I love flopping. But my favorite part of this was being on call with the INFPs!!! I love them. I feel like the bad decisions made by the cracked INFPs sprung from Toph and Raffy... I'm hoping that Amanda G, Bryce, and I can make some smart moves and not flop? Unlikely, but it's fine. But on the dark side of things, I'm going to tribal tomorrow night. I'm so emo. I know I have to vote with Francie because of the Gal Pals. I don't want to vote her out anyways. I can either vote out Ruthie, Gwen, or Michael. I don't want to vote Mo out. I need time to think about my decisions. I'll probably write a lengthy confession tomorrow or record a video confession. I need time to decide and sort things out. I'm just going to enjoy the time I have with the INFPs for now :') I hope I don't go home this early, though it is jury. I don't want to be the first jury member. :0

Helen was pushed and Jodi was robbed. And EMILY IS MAKING IT INTO THE ACTUAL BB HOUSE SO KNOW THAT!

The idol I helped hunt for, spent 45 minutes one that jigsaw dog puzzle for, is gone. I stayed up til 1am and Abbey and Amanda stayed up til 2am ish based on the chat. This stinks worse than... something that stinks r e a l l y bad. (That was lame bc I'm Tired ok)

WHAT THE FUCK LIKEEEE HOW AM I VOTING OUT THIS TRIBAL!!?!??! no one is talking game to me. I'm sorta alienating myself by not talking to mo or ruthie but like they can try to me too like wtf. i wanna get ruthie out the most bc i backstabbed her at that challenge but that was obviously needed so i was safe. but anyways like why isn't anyone trying!!! I'm gonna try to play harder soon to make a move bc this clearly is gonna be me if I'm left in the dark like this. idk how to make a target of someone i barely know.

yeah i sersiouly don't like amanda lynn whatsoever and its annoying me sooooo much like strictly in a game way that she has so much control it feels like. i liked her in the beginning but then i WOKE TF UP!!!! like francie stop being her doormat and also me n micahel are trying to get ruthie out to send some shots amanda's way! don't fuck with us amanda i swear to goD!!! and i can't wait to expose her ass with this alliance reward!!! atm thats who i think is running the game and I'm pretty sure I'm right

yup this is sketchy i can't when francie just said "it isn't separate tribes anymore" like yup me or michael aren't going home. and it seems everyone on my tribe has flipped to the other tribe LIKE YOU ALL CANT DO THAT LOLOLOL ONE OF YOU IS GOING TO BE LEFT OUT. there has too be this big ass alliance and idk who it is !!!!! no one is giving anything up and idk where a crack is at all.

yup its evident from the captains pick list that me n micahel being picked last wasn't good at all!!!!!!!!!! soo I'm going to maybe to talk to micahel about getting mo n ruthie on our side or something idk

i think theres an alliance with francie amanda abbey emily n ruthie but once again just speculation

ok i might suck at this game but i definitely wanna go out with a bang rn but honestly also i wouldn't mind voting for michael if thats what i have v to do to stay in

Honestly I've been trying to play nice with these people but I'm just exposing people now in chats because literallly me and Gwen are at the bottom of this tribe

Prepare for possible explosion in red tribal chat

Honestly me and Gwen are at the bottom of this tribal right now. We are spilling everyone's tea to each other Francie,Emily,mo,and other girl who I forget her name and I'm too lazy to look it up are all coming to us in individual chats and talking shit about one another like :/ y'all have some ugly personalities, but me and Gwen are desperate to stay

I don't understand how people are literally so blind by Emily's game. Emily and Amanda & myself gbut I don't wanna be that bit*h) have played the best games so far and I haven't been doing the best to hide my tracks I guess. People just do whatever Amanda says some reason, but Amanda does whatever I tell her to do so it's weird. Anyways Emily is a rat and lies to everyone saying she's (insert alliance here) strong, but she's not. She just flops over to wherever the power is. Which is a strategy and she's probably going to outlast me so werk I guess, but she has so many premade alliances in this game that she's not a newbie like she says she is

I'm just gonna submit my thoughts on these people here: Ali T: he's nice, but easily manipulated, I don't really have thoughts on him. Amanda G: I literally know nothing of this person, I haven't talked to them once but honestly she's gonna go far probably because I highly suspect she has a premade alliance. Amanda Lyn: I thought I wasn't gonna like her when I first started, but I've actually grown to like her but like girlll she does the most when it comes to the immunities. Emily, myself and her are playing the bet games I feel right now but tbh they've probably done a better job at hiding their tracks then I have, and put more effort than I do. Bryce/Will ( because they are literally the same person in this game playing the same game): honestly Bryce is my pick to be in the final 3 but I wouldn't be surprised if will was there too. They literally have done nothing in this game and are just floating their way to the end. They just flop to wherever the power is. Boring gameplay. Emily: honestly I would argue she's playing the best game right now, she has misted everyone into doing whatever she wants, but it's not like it's hard since literally only 3 people are actually Playing an actual game here. Everyone else is just playing scared and floating to wherever the power is. Literally she has two premade alliances in this game so it's just stupid. She won't win but she has the best resume right now. Francie: doormat and a waste of a casting Gwen: honestly she's so genuinely nice and the only person I enjoy talking to in this game, I want her to win but she won't because she's not set up to win. She'll be taken out next if I'm taken out this time. Mo: idk anything about this person but I just don't like them for some reason. They just seem extra. Ruthie: I have no real thoughts on her, I forget she exists and she's a final 2 with Amanda Lynn. Another waste of a casting Zabbey: I literally didn't even know this person was in the game until I was looking at the merged tribe list.

IM SO DONE, SOMONE FOUND THE IDOL EMILY JUST TOLD ME, also this tribal is gonna be explosive, Emily told me that shes voting off Gwen and Michael is going off at her, francie is playing a good game tho

I'm honestly too old for this game, this is gonna be my first and last one of these gmes, unless I get asked for all stars then hmu

So I'm one of the 6 going to tribal today and I'm a tad nervous. I'm happy that I have Francie, Ruthie and Emily with me but when there's half of the players going to tribal and then another half of us watching our decisions whilst still in the game. The consequences could be really bad.

This would be a great confessional to have recorded because I just have so much to say but I look absolutely horrendous so I'm not going to make you suffer through that.

So the gist of this round, I hate it. I'm going to tribal tonight and I knew for a fact I wanted to vote with Francie. Francie did not seem to want to vote with the original Salao tribe members even though they were more than willing to do so. I was unsure about how Francie was planning on voting which was why I didn't want to make plans with Gwen and Michael last night. Now, that has come to bite me in the ass because now that I ACTUALLY want to vote out Ruthie and vote with Gwen and Michael, MICHAEL WANTS TO TARGET ME! And honestly, the last thing I want to do is scramble right now! I don't know what to do! I feel like I can't message him because then he'll know I'm getting word from everyone that he's spreading things around that I'm dangerous and all this stuff. And like, smart of him for figuring it out. I don't think many other people have. But if I can just get Francie, Amanda Lynn, and Ali to get my name out of Michael's head, I think I'll be fine. Francie won't vote against me and I know that like 90%. Michael, Gwen, Ruthie, and Mo, however: wildcards! I haven't talked to Ruthie at all and Mo and I have talked no game. I have wanted to vote with Gwen and Michael from the moment they messaged us last night but I was unsure because of FRANCIE! I think I might be safe tonight, but I'm truly not sure. I think the pros and cons of voting out all of these different people are like all over the place, but I'll try to figure them out.

Voting out Michael pros: one less person targeting me. Voting out Michael cons: he could expose me in his last words, Ali is close to him and I get information from Ali, it would further confirm his theory about me being a mastermind. (HONESTLY, THIS BOY IS NEVER ACTIVE BUT NOW THAT HE IS HE DECIDES TO TARGET ME? NOT CUTE!) Voting out Ruthie pros: I prove to Michael that I'm loyal, I get out someone I have not spoken to at all. Voting out Ruthie cons: Voting with Michael could result in me getting voted out. I just got out of a call with Francie and we discussed a plan. I am going to get her to suggest to Michael that this tribal be a test of my loyalties. I told her to tell Michael that she thinks I'm going to vote with them. If the votes end up being 4-2, then I voted with them and I can be trusted. If the votes are 3-3, then they can vote me out in a revote. I'm hoping Michael agrees to this plan, votes out Ruthie, and I can prove a bit of my allegiance to him. Even though I have none. I just don't want him throwing my name around like this is some baseball game??? PLEASE leave me alone, dearest Michael! I am probably going to stress cry over this tribal. I don't want to leave. And then I won't be able to talk to Amanda G or Bryce and I DON'T WANT THAT! I'm like severely in danger because of this stupid twist (Just to clarify, it's not stupid, I'm just sad about how it's affecting me.).

Michael honestly was not on my radar at all before this round. But BOY he is now. I know I can't vote him out this round because that would probably put a bigger target on my back. And I know I can't call him out. I'm not messy like that. And that would ruin my allies' games too. But the moment I get the chance to vote him out, he's gone. My biggest fear is that Michael and Gwen sway Ruthie and Mo to their side and vote me out like that. That would suck for me. That would suck for Francie too. Especially because she's planning on voting for someone who was close-ish with.

Also, Michael claimed to Francie that I was in a pre-made alliance with Toph which is bullshit! If I had known how cracked that boy was BEFORE the game I would've voted him out first. How rude of Michael to assume I'm silly like that. I still love Toph, don't get me wrong. But :0

I'm trying to get more information from Ali. I think Michael will tell Ali his final plans for this tribal and Ali can then tell me. If Michael wants to vote with me, then good. If Michael decides to get Mo and Ruthie on his side and vote me out, then I will have to beg Amanda G for her idol. If she gives it to me and I play it, I'll claim that's what I won in the auction. That'll be my lame excuse. But it'll keep me a bit safer for another round? Who knows I DON'T KNOW! That's a bad plan. I won't do that. But I just DON'T WANT TO GO HOME!!!!

I'm just waiting for Amanda G to come online so I can talk to her about this whole situation. I'm very worried and her idol would very much come in handy right now? But I also don't think I'll have to use it if Ali and Francie can protect me enough. AHHHHH! I also feel shitty making Francie low key blindside Ruthie but like... Oopsie. I just wish I wasn't about to be chopped up and served for dinner right about now. Who wants to die? Emily does!

I have a strong feeling that a lot of people are going to be bitter or mad towards me once they read these confessions and realize what was going on... let's just hope nobody gets bitter while we're still playing though :) An idol and a fake idol? Loving this concept. Using the fake idol to turn everyone on overly paranoid people? Even better. And the best? Having people just give me information without me even having to ask for it. This game is fun.

Hopefully this works. It took forever to upload https://youtu.be/cfD5n6MlLkU Basically I'm voting Gwen and so are a few others. Girl tried to play us like a fiddle but she didn't tune us properly.

So much tea has been spilt and I'm SO overwhelmed! I think things are looking up possibly! Gwen messaged Mo and Ruthie and told them that she used her alliance reader on me and revealed that I am a part of five alliances. I believed this for a hot minute (Because we all know I'm in like ? a lot of alliances?), but then I realized that Gwen messaged me just a bit earlier saying that she used her alliance revealer on RUTHIE and that SHE was a part of five alliances! WOW! I think we caught Gwen and Michael! HMMMMMMM! Also, Gwen is wrong about the number of alliances. I'm probably in like ten alliances. Oopsie.

So now Francie, Ruthie, Mo, and I will be voting for Gwen at this tribal :-) Ruthie and I are comparing notes and OH MY GOD Gwen T R U L Y dragged me through the mud. She and Michael are totally right about me orchestrating Nayeli's tribal. And they totally found me out. But I have ties with the right people, I suppose, and I think I have the votes to stay this round. AHHHH???????

I think my favorite part about this is that Gwen and Michael are, in fact, correct in their assuming I orchestrated stuff and that I have a good social game. And I recognize that this is going to probably make my target even bigger, but I need Michael or Gwen out. And soon. I don't think Gwen is going to end up going after Amanda Lynn until I'm gone. So I'm going to make sure Gwen leaves before I do? And Michael has been talking the most shit to Francie, Ali, and Amanda Lynn about me. Mo told me he thinks Michael will go next. And that sounds good to me.

I need to stay a bit under the radar for these coming tribals? I'm worried that the Nayeli tribal really put a huge target on my back. And I was prepared to live with the consequences but now I want to Die™ because Michael and Gwen have me between a rock and a hard place. I need to see what I can do.

Gwen and Michael are trying to get my girl out. Oh no, boo boo. You tried, and you're going to fail! Emily and I are making a plan to save Emily and to get Gwen out. I think it's best for our game to get Michael out because he's the one saying this shit, but as long as it's one of them I'm fine. Get heckedt, guys :).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T5rIKz4G4Gc

Okay so I forgot to send in a confessional this round so I'm using speech to text to make sure that I get in all my thoughts before the deadline. Hopefully autocorrect loves me today. Anyway we merged! I'm so excited to be back with Emily and Abby and Ali! So we did a reward challenge which wound up being not a reward Challenge and half the tribe is immune and I'm part of the half that is immune so woo! Unfortunately Francie and Emily are part of the tribe that has to go to tribal. Boo. I'm hoping that everything turns out okay and that both my girls make it out alive. I promise hosts I will make a more detailed confessional later tonight. It's just been a really short round and I have not had too much time. :-)

As tribal looms closer, I'm getting more and more nervous. I want to help Emily out and give her the idol, but it's the Espirito idol. I think she's going to be safe so I wouldn't give it to her this round. I would give it to her in a round where I knew she would go home, but she was never on Espirito. If I feel in danger and don't want to use my idol, I'm giving my idol to Bryce because he's been on Espirito pre-swap and post-swap.

I can't wait for this idol maneuver. I have a real merge idol (1), a fake idol from the auction that I've re-labeled "merge idol" (2), and a fake idol that's a picture of a feather from google labeled "auction idol" (3). So the plan is to give someone the "merge idol" which is really just #2, get them to trust me with that and possibly watch them crash and burn if they try to use it, then later on have someone (probably Abbey) fake a betrayal of me by giving them #3 saying "Will trusted me with this, but use it to get him out" or something like that making them feel comfortable while actually just setting them up to be voted out a la Randy in Gabon. And of course, I'll save the real idol for myself when I need it most. But oh boy this is gonna be a good one if I can pull it off. And if y'all are reading this and I got voted out before I could do any of this, I'm just a big fool but hey at least I'm going for the gold here. And Amanda G's idol? We'll do something about that soon enough :)

https://survivorazores.tumblr.com/post/163965445583/tribal-council-9-pelatao

LAST WORDS: practically i had a lot of fun i really did end liking ali toward the end surprisingly! i love my main bitches nayeli & michael rip :**. anyways if these people know whats good for them they'll 1. start targeting strong social players and not like ... ppl with no social power in this game lol 2. start doing shit with the jury !!!! like i hope they do know that you cant just blindside everyone and not try to at least have ppl who like you on the jury.... 3. making the voting more interesting i think this season has been almost entirely unanimous (yes that 3-2-2 vote is included in that). anyways back to me, my final words are watch out I'm totally returning for villains season or all stars! bye bye silly bitches :***

Gwen becomes the (in theory...) first member of the jury

#imthegreatergood #episodes

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