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warsinmyhead · 1 year

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Rookie x Quartermaster: Tadashi and Jimin (Original Meme)

Dating:

Where was their first official date?

Germany after a mission. Shortly after the rookie agent pulled his "boss" into his room and kissed him, Tadashi asked about doing something together, given that Amelie wasn't around to interrupt and they didn't have to head back to Seoul HQ right away. Jimin eventually messaged Amelia from Germany's I.T. department and asked for good recommendations in the area. The pair probably did a more lowkey date since they got many quick service or casual places from Amelia, versus high end restaurants. That was fine for the pair as it was nice to unwind with drinks and bites away from the missions and prying eyes of their fellow agents and personnel.

What is their favorite date location?

I don't think there is one. Anywhere that isn't a mission or related to them nearly losing their lives. A more relaxed atmosphere without it being too ho hum.

How many dates before their first kiss?

0. Tadashi kissed Jimin after a mission they completed, realizing how jealous he got of a snooty socialite who was flirting heavily with Jimin thinking he was a cute valet/chauffeur she could poach. While it was a challenge to not break their covers, Tadashi managed to remain composed until they were safely behind closed doors of their hotel and took matters into his own hands.

Who asked who out first?

I think they said it at the same time after that kiss. Probably laughed a bit nervously and then Jimin made it clear that he did not want Tadashi to feel imposed, seeing as he was kind of a boss to Tadashi. The latter probably guided his lips back to his and said something about being very okay with this situation, quartermaster to agent relationship or not.

How many dates before they considered each other a couple?

I would guess 4-5 dates. Jimin doesn't want to assume anything and same with Tadashi too. I think maybe Tadashi would have let something slip if say another agent (Ex. Amelie) was teasing Jimin about almost hooking up with a socialite on the honeypot mission and Tadashi blurts out something to the effect of, "She can't have him, he's mine."

Friends:

How many mutual friends do they have?

5 – all from Kingsman in various branches.

Which one of their friends is most likely to get in between an argument between the ship?

Amelie or Briggs, maybe CJ (Agent Cham in Interrogation). But honestly I think the pair don't really fight per se. Amelie will quip that the two should just have hate sex and make-up (jokingly or seriously). Briggs and CJ are more likely to pull one of them aside to talk privately and explain things to the person they're speaking to in order to get the individual to see the light.

Which one has more friends?

Maybe Tadashi? Jimin lost connection with some of his college connections, due to the nature of his work or because they simply don't have anything in common anymore.

Which one has introduced the other to more people?

I'll give that equally to both. Jimin probably introduced more of the seasoned personnel at various Kingsman branches to Tadashi, while the latter maybe introduced the quartermaster to other people outside of work.

Did they start out as friends and made their way to a couple, or were they a couple almost right away?

It went from comical acquaintances, to figuring out they worked for the same company, and then working together when their divisions were very short-staffed. (Crawling under a table at a university and almost bumping into the seated quartermaster makes for quite the awkward, funny first meeting story when people ask.)

Arguments:

What do they argue about the most?

Maybe Tadashi giving into Amelie's light bullying of Jimin by calling him "Grandpa" or remarking he's a dinosaur trapped in the body of a 30 year old who get mistaken as a teenager all the time. As mentioned above, Jimin and Tadashi really don't fight per se, but in rare instances if Amelie and Tadashi push his buttons, Jimin might lose his cool and he'll lock himself in his office to calm down. Tadashi might come knocking and ask to talk it out, but it's better to let Jimin cool off and stew in private. Maybe there were times where Tadashi started to break protocol or character if someone not related to their mission (ex. another guest at the same event) starts showing interest in Jimin or Jimin having to play along with a guest's flirtations to keep the mission moving along and later they get annoyed at each other. (Tadashi because he doesn't like seeing other people running their hands all over his boss/boyfriend's body and Jimin for reminding the rookie to remain professional or risk all of them being captured or killed.)

How do they usually solve their disagreements?

They may give each other space to breathe for a moment. In very extreme cases, one may consult one of the individuals mentioned above for advice or to vent. Eventually they will meet face to face and talk calmly or find middle ground.

Do they argue a lot or not very often?

Not very often.

Who admits to being wrong more often?

Sex:

Who is more likely to initiate sex?

Great question, we haven't discussed that yet. I could see it going either way depending on the situation. Jimin isn't very forward, so maybe that will fall to Tadashi to make the first move or at least tell Ji to quit being a gentleman for once.

Do they prefer to do it in a bed, or do they prefer a chair, or perhaps the shower? Maybe other spots?

Bed is definitely more comfortable for both. I could see Tadashi cracking the joke that maybe the reenact their first meeting but somewhere that isn't the university library, but Jimin's concern is Tadashi hitting his head on the underside of the desk or table since he's a giant.

Do they practice any kind of bdsm in the bedroom at all and if so, what kinds?

Again, not sure. Jimin's not a kinky sort of guy, so at best, maybe some blindfolds and light bondage? (At best I'm talking maybe a Kingsman tie or something soft being used, not handcuffs or something that could cause chaffing or marks.)

Who’s usually more dominant in the bedroom?

I kind of vote Jimin in this case? He's not opposed to being the bottom at times but everyone should have talked it out and agreed they were comfortable with the arrangement.

Lights on or off?

Depends on whether they're caught up in the moment or not.

Do they share any kinks?

??? Again this hasn't been discussed yet.

Does either one have any kinks that they don’t have in common with the other?

Jimin is into ball worship – if you fondle his, that's a pretty surefire way to get the guy to consider going further. (Albeit I could be wrong about Tadashi sharing the same interest, but that's the main one I have.)

Have they ever had sex anywhere public before?

I think both are a little sheepish or nervous about being caught. Closest would be somewhere with some privacy at work.

Who would be most likely to suggest bringing in a third person and who would that person be?

Absolutely not to this. Tadashi has made it clear that if he's with Jimin, he sees Jimin as his only. Jimin's not a fan of adding more people since that can make someone feel uncomfortable or jealous.

Cuddling:

When are they most likely to cuddle?

Post sex, maybe after a long day at work if they happen to be together for some reason. If Jimin's flighting the company jet back after a mission, I could see Tadashi sitting up in the co-pilot seat and maybe leaning his head on Jimin some way – whether that be using the top of the quartermaster's head to rest his chin on top of or maybe awkwardly craning his neck to lean on the quartermaster's shoulder. Maybe if in the off chance Jimin is working late in his office, Tadashi will stop by with food for both of them and will occupy the extra chair in the office, before throwing his arms around the quartermaster and watching him.

Where is their favorite place to cuddle?

Somewhere private and quiet.

Who’s usually the big spoon?

Tadashi

Do they cuddle often?

Not yet – we will have to see when that happens.

Marriage:

Are they married? If not, is it something that could happen between them?

Not married. The discussion has come up yet. While Jimin's aunt and uncle aren't against same-sex marriage, his aunt might be a little confused about the arrangement and starting a family. (She's open to understanding though!)

If they are married, where did they get married at? If not married, what is their dream wedding location?

Again the discussion hasn't come up yet.

If married, who proposed to who? If not married, who would be more likely to propose to who?

Great question, I'm not sure. Maybe both had the same idea and got each other rings and once one of them plucked up the courage to ask, they both revealed they were carrying around rings for the other person.

If they are married, which one moved in with the other? If not married, who would be more likely to move in with the other?

Maybe Tadashi? If he was on loan for an extended period in Seoul though. Because Jimin is tied to Seoul's headquarters, it's unlikely he would move into Tadashi's place in Japan for more than a few nights.

Children:

Do they have kids? If not, would they consider having kids?

No kids. The conversation hasn't come up. Jimin isn't against the concept of it, but he knows with the nature of the business, one or both parents might not come home alive and he's hesitant to put any kids in that position.

How many kids do they have? If no kids, how many kids would they want to have?

Again, see above.

What are the children’s names? If no kids, what would they name their kids?

See first question in this section.

Random:

What are three random headcannons you have about the ship that are not related to romance or sex?

Jimin once shared with Amelie and Briggs that Tadashi was scouted during one of his early visits to Seoul after joining Kingsman in Japan. Before they started dating, the trio have a running joke about how many times each of the personnel have been scouted by talent agents for various entertainment companies. No physical money was put towards this due to anti-gambling laws in Korea, but Jimin was correct in assuming that Tadashi would get many more scouts trying to cast him for an entertainment company. (His early prediction was that at least 2-3 of the bigger companies would vie for Tadashi and he was correct – SM Entertainment, Starship Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and even HYBE passed Tadashi cards at some point during his time in Seoul.)

There was a point where Tadashi was sent to Germany to shadow Amelia from the I.T. department to learn some basic understanding of that side of the organization. He may or may not have asked Amelia who she knew that he met so far at Kingsman and innocently asked if they too had to shadow her around.

"You joined at a better time than I did or Ji," Briggs confessed when Tadashi was in NYC for a meet and greet with the US division. "When Ji first started, Arthur was this uptight asshole who couldn't be bothered to learn your birth name if it wasn't a Western one. He had this crap rule where all non-UK/US personnel had to have an English name too to go by when at one of those branches. Jimin was called Jim when we first met – the original Lancelot called him Slim Jim." "So I would have to have an English name too if I had been with Kingsman at that time?" Tadashi asked. "Hmm, I don't know what I would have chosen. Jimin to Jim makes sense I guess. Oh um, Briggs, was Jimin-sempai always the quartermaster?" "How much time do you have?"

Which one is more likely to suggest getting pets?

???

Which one eats more snack foods?

Tadashi? Jimin really doesn't snack.

What is their favorite movie to watch together?

The topic of movies hasn't come up yet. Let alone outside activities or interests.

What is their favorite tabletop game to play together?

Again, this hasn't come up in discussion yet.

What are your three absolute favorite things about this ship?

The somewhat comical height difference, given that Ji's only 5'8" and Tadashi's a giant.

The fact that the pair are a bit similar in terms of having family raise them to be good people and maybe they are bit shy or reserved, in a cute, slightly awkward way.

Despite Jimin being more senior in the organization, it's nice to have someone fresh that offers a new perspective on things and isn't broken or jaded like some of the other personnel around him.

What is one thing you don’t like about this ship?

Both work for different branches and don't always run into each other, unless someone is on loan to another division. Additionally, Merlin has had to be careful with both SK and Japan relations outside of Kingsman sometimes running a bit tense. For the most part, the people within Kingsman are civil and try to see past whatever biases or judgements their home countries may have about others. (There might be a few old-timers who are a bit biased toward their home country, but rarely have there been fights or inappropriate things said or referred to about feuding countries.)

If you had to rate this ship on a scale of 1-10, what would you give it?

8/10

@sovrumana

#sovrumana #[ Quartermaster and the New Guy: Tadashi x Jimin ]#[Kingsman Seoul]#[Kingsman Tokyo]#[ A Rookie Kingsman: Tadashi ]#[tw: mention of pre-V Day Kingsman]#[tw: talking ill of past leaders]#[tw: mention of country tensions]#[ OFF-LIMITS: 18+ ]#[tw: ball worship]#warsinmyhead

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pridewhatpride · 3 years

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omg pls talk more about GX rival shipping once the transfer students come

Dear anon, I love you for asking this of me, but I have to wonder if you want everyone who follows me to start hating me.

Long post coming up? You know it. I apologise to all Johan fans, he's great and I loved him and his deck as a child. Now I'm just salty because he's too perfect. Warning because this is a mess of unrequited feelings and it's an all around bad time if you ship anything in gx. I did mention I do not practice self care in a previous post of mine. Enjoy your pain c:

So here are my bad takes of the day, under the very handy cut!

You see, gx rivalshipping becomes a lot more complicated and angsty when the transfer students arrive. The dynamic changes. If there is a dynamic at all. I mean, imagine yourself in Manjoume's shoes. You've lowkey had a crush on this dumb guy who kind of ruined your life (but actually improved it and freed you from the restraints your family imposed on you), just to watch a handsome scandinavian dude who is a lot more muscular than you are and maybe a little bit nicer, maybe just waltz in and completely captivate said dumb guy's attention. Just when you had managed to admit your own feelings to yourself.

Johan comes in and steals the room, everybody loves him, he's good looking, charismatic, kind and has a magical exclusive shiny sparkling deck at his disposal that he uses as if it was the most natural thing in the world, like he hadn't received approval Pegasus himself on top of the duel spirits. And Judai clearly can't get enough of it, because he's always seeking him out, ever since the duel they had in front of everyone, and Manjoume finds that he's really annoyed by it. He wishes he'd been chosen for the demonstration, deluding himself into believing that if he'd won, Judai would have never started caring so damn much about Johan. But a part of him knows he would have probably lost and that even if he hadn't, Judai would have not cared about the outcome at all. It's nice to think that winning a card game can solve all your problems, but, while Manjoume has only ever experienced how much losing one can mess with your life goals, he isn't stupid enough to think that winning would grant him happiness. Not anymore. No well-thought-out strategy can rid him of his bad temper and his worthless pride.

The thing is, he can't really hate Johan, because nobody can hate Johan. He's just the perfect picture of everything Manjoume isn't and, going by everyone's reaction, the fact that 'everyone is unique in their own way and worthy of love' is absolute bullshit. There clearly is an objective better one of the two and Manjoume is very aware that he isn't it. And he'd probably begrundgingly be cool with it, after all he'd accepted that Jaden was braver than him, that Asuka was emotionally stronger and more resolute, that Daichi was smarter, not to mention how much plain better than him his fomer upperclassmen were. Forget about pros like Edo, whom Judai had stood on equal grounds with. But Judai is clearly playing favourites, too, hell, he hardly even acknowledges Manjoume.

He finds himself forcibly removed from his already shaky position as rival, because now Johan is there to take it up, on top of the titles of 'best friend' and 'emotional support and crutch' and 'maybe something else I'd really rather not know'.

Manjoume just generally hates it all. He might have changed and improved himself, but there is no saving him from the fact that some people were just better. That doesn't stop him from trying. But again he finds himself pitted against Judai, the irony of his fate never giving him a moment to rest. Manipulated and turned into the enemy of those he cares about, again.

A part of him despises how good it feels to learn that Johan has gone missing, but Judai is screaming like his arms have been torn off and while he hates that it's all for Johan, he hates that Judai is in pain even more. Judai had saved him before and it's only right for him to return the favour. So he insists on helping him on his stupidly risky plan to save Johan. And it's all to get the old Judai back.

...The rest, from Manjoume's perspective is a mess. His feelings of anger stem from the hatred he harbours towards himself and the bond between Judai and Johan. He'd been trying to help, he had, he sincerely had, but everything just swirled together and the next thing he knows is that he is shouting at Judai because it suddenly made sense to guilt trip him over the fact that he'd abandoned his friends, he'd abandoned him as soon as someone better had come into the picture. And it was Judai's fault for letting them- him believe that he cared when he didn't, when he couldn't have cared less, because clearly he had one priority only and that was Johan. They had come to help and it still wasn't being appreciated.

Disappearing is a relief, for a moment, but then he finds himself in another hellish place and he can't help but think that it's retribution for being so upset over something that has nothing to do with him. That's right. It's his own fault for making Judai, his only real friend (aside from Fubuki, sorry for breaking the immersion, but I love Fubuki), carry the burden of the stupid hopes that came with his feelings. Judai has no fault. Johan has no fault. It's his own for desiring something that would always be out of reach.

As he is tortured by his own thoughts and regrets in the other dimension, Manjoume silently wishes his words meant nothing to Judai, that he'd be spared the pain of betrayal. He wishes Judai can achieve his goal.

When Shou appears to him, he knows there is no time to waste. If he is alive, the others are, too. Judai would want to know that they are safe. So he asks Shou to carry his message, along with his good luck wish. He hopes it's enough to make up for his mistakes.

Next thing he knows, they are back at DA, Judai is nowhere to be seen. Manjoume mourns the loss of his first and only friend and curses himself for tarnishing that memory. (Judai's return and season 4 would be too much to cover, this was only Manjoume's pov and I might as well just rewrite the entire show at this point.)

So what about Judai?

I personally want to believe that he genuinely does like Manjoume at some point. But as much as it pains me to admit it, season 3 just wrote Manjoume off from the list of main characters and relegated him to 'he's your funny comic relief, nobody really gives a shit about what he thinks or feels, so why should you, the spectator who has grown to love him, care at all? Also here's his sticker that confirms that Judai going after Johan makes him really angry for some reason, make of that what you will c:' (fuck the writing staff, I'm not even sorry).

Judai is so clearly smitten with Johan. It seems to me that his refusal to accept Manjoume's help that one time on the cliff shows that Judai doesn't really understand the way Jun operates. He probably labeled him as just someone else who counted on him to be saved. And sure, Manjoume is saved by Judai in multiple occasions, but he doesn't ever really... ask for it? Or more importantly expect it. He doesn't get himself into situations he can't handle because Judai can save him anyways, the trouble just kind of happens at him and more often than not he's only involved by accident, because he happens to be close to Judai.

The problem still stands, as season 3 starts, Judai is very much burdened by everyone's expectations and Johan is a breath of fresh air and the only one Judai actually considers a friend and an equal. It's heartbreaking that he felt that alone.

They get their gay 'have we met somewhere before moment', they duel gaily, they homoerotically tell eachother how admirable the other is, they shamelessly flirt and whoohoo Judai has an unofficial boyfriend and who can blame him for concentrating on him along with wanting to escape the pressure his former gang unknowingly laid on him.

But yeah, Judai in season 3 has a one track mind and it's hard not to see it as romantic. Does he know it is? Maybe? I honestly don't know. I feel like Johan is the one of the two who is aware of the implications of their interactions. Which also kind of brings me to say... does Johan think that all of Judai's friends are horrible people? Because he never once comments on how Judai distances himself from them once he arrives. He probably thinks they were never good friends in the first place.

Judai probably excuses his attentions towards Johan with the fact that they are alike because they can see spirits, but then he rememebers that so can Manjoume and maybe he feels guilty for a second, but Johan cracks a joke and Judai laughs and thinks to himself that Manjoume is probably happy to have the peace and quiet he so often claimed to want.

Like... I think a part of him would get that tightness in his chest because it's like he's betrayed someone, but he knows he hasn't, because there isn't any actual mutual agreement he's going against. So he lets himself fall deeper into the comfort of Johan's presence. Johan is, to Judai, the ideal person. He is exactly who Judai wants to become. Judai admires him very deeply and strives to be more like him, but he falls gradually into despair as he learns, once Johan is gone, that no, he can't be like him, because Johan is so much better than him, and if he doesn't get him back soon he might even forget what he was like in the first place. Johan can't be erased, can't be forgotten. And Judai feels like he's vanishing already, so he throws himself into a wild interdimensional manhunt to save his hopes for the future.

Turns out that wanting to do good doens't always result in a good outcome. That's what Judai learns when Manjoume lashes out at him just seconds before disappearing. Along with the others, too. Judai doesn't even have the brain power to compute that some people are still there, that he can still save someone, because he realised then that he had focused so much on Johan that he'd completely overlooked the fact that while his friends relied on him a little too much, they hadn't meant any harm. And if he'd just told them, maybe they would have been fine, they could've cooperated- but Manjoume had told him that he was a traitor, that he'd doomed them with his irrational behaviour.

Manjoume's last words to him had been spoken with hatred and Judai realised only then that he had misread him entirely. He lets despair and self hatred take over as he realises that if he had managed to hurt the ones he cared about so easily, discarding them for the new good thing, he could just keep doing that. And it would stop hurting, eventually.

I like to think that Manjoume really does have an impact on the awakening of the Supreme King. Yeah, I know he only turns once Johan's death is mentioned, I know. I just suffer from abandonment issues and can't stand that Manjoume dying in front of him is more impactful to Judai than a guy who literally can't be trusted saying "Joke's on you, the one you're looking for is in another castle already dead."

So yeah. That's the angsty overview.

TL;DR Johan is an Adonis, Judai is smitten and Manjoume is very very heartbroken. But actually so is Judai. Because while being with Johan feels right, there's someone whose absence feels wrong, but he doesn't allow himself to dwell on it and everything goes to shit. All around a bad time for everyone and they'll have a lot of talking to do once they properly reconcile after graduation.

#blame anon not me #i advise you don't read this even if i spent actual hours on this #projection time #ygo #yugioh #ýgo gx #yugioh gx #judai yuki #yuki judai #jaden yuki #manjoume jun #jun manjoume #chazz princeton #gx rivalshipping #mentions of spiritshipping #like it's basically canon in the show no way around it #ulri doesn't like johan and it's time to get cancelled for it #enjoy your pain anon #i'm legit so fucking sorry

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darthskys · 3 years

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su’cuy! my name is dre (they/he/she) i’m 18+, & i obviously love star wars

PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW IF YOU ARE PARTICULAR ABOUT THE SW CONTENT YOU EXPOSE YOURSELF TO; I AM HERE TO LIVE IN MY LITTLE BUBBLE AND I RESPECT YOURS AS WELL, SO PLEASE DO NOT COME FOR ME, THANK YOU <3<3

(please be mindful if you are a minor or uncomfortable with sexual content; i include tws for sexual content & gore posts, however these are a rare occasion!)

here are some incentives either to follow or unfollow:

i follow/post content of:

- all trilogies, live action series, stand alone films, & animated series & films

- canon & legends novels & comics (i’m just a simple reader making my way through the legendsverse)

- canon & legends videogames

- other people’s sw ocs & fic recs; keep up the good work!

ships i absolutely cannot tolerate are:

- obikin

- obiqui

- anisoka

- maulsoka

- lukeleia or hanleialuke

- any clonecest

things i (even just lowkey and rarely) ship that i am obligated to warn you about, as i’ve seen them claimed to be controversial are:

- anidala

- obimaul

- reylo

- caltrilla

- dinluke

- codywan

- kylux

- benpoe

- vostress

- ahsokatan

the rest of the the ships i post about are relatively unchallenged in every way (i also ship some poly ships, so be aware of that and do not spread hate, ty!)

opinions of mine you might want to consider (AKA don’t @ me) are:

- anakin will always be the chosen one and no one else; he restored balance in his own way, and here’s my monologue about it

- the jedi didn’t deserve what they got and the empire is never right. sometimes they’re sexy, yeah, but not right

- the clones have a right to turn to the way of the mandalore

- din’s creed is not inherently cultist and your attempts to compare it to existing religions aren’t okay

- maul is redeemable. read legends. ben solo is also redeemable, but i’m hardly invested in his character anyway. galen’s redemption was too easy. barriss offee redemption when??

- i don’t think anakin actually caused padmé’s death, but hey, i’m a delusional romantic

- talk shit about rey and i block you — the sequel trilogy failed in the way it treated its characters, not because of rey skywalker; and here’s my monologue about that

- if you blame qui-gon or obi-wan for what happened, i legitimately hate you <3 also, the jedi were shit in several aspects but they also were not, and i have another monologue here on why some of you need to ease up

- she was a terror in the mandalorian, but i still like bo-katan. on the other hand, rose tico did nothing wrong and if i see you diss her i will block you. same goes for mace windu! we love a king (but that whole jango thing was mean, sir)

- i believe ben had a bad childhood and that therefore means han and leia were not compatible, but the unrealistic hopeless romantic in me refuses to accept that, so this is why i prefer to forget ben exists sometimes :’)

- reimagining characters (such as padmé) as poc will always always always be okay and encouraged

- cara dune is separate from her horrid actress, so can we please include cara? :’(

- luke is not a twink bottom. excuse you, he is a twunk switch...smh. also no shit talking about mara! like yeah we all know there is no way luke is straight, but we don’t put down queens

rarer pairs you might like to know that i ship (that i have not previously mentioned) are:

- lukelando

- hanlando

- barrissoka

- hanboba

- bobannec

- cobbbobafennec

- dincobb

- cararmorer

- mandomera

- lukewedge

- lukebiggs

- skybridger

- finnreypoe

- reyrose

- finnrey

- finnrose

- kenobane

- obianidala

- quinobi

- rexwalker

- kalluzeb

- revastila

- thrawnto

- droid husbands

- spiritassassin

- vaderdala

- zaynejarael

- ventrobi

- obivostress

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margridarnauds · 4 years

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Scattered Thoughts on Treason: The Musical

[warning for some critical discussion]

The Cold Hard Ground:

First song I listened to.

God, we’re getting DARK. This is seriously a mix between a villain song and a hero song, and I’m HERE for it.

This is the one I’m possibly most interested in, because it’s really making me wonder how they’re going to portray the plotters: Are we going to be seeing them as fanatics, or as heroes, or somewhere in-between? In this song, it looks like Catesby is a man broken by grief who turned to fanatical religion as a way of coping with his own suicidal tendencies.

“So TAKEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEEE. You won’t BREEEEEAAAAAK meeee, it’s too late to SAAAAAAAAVVVVEEEE MEEEEEE.”

GOD those final notes are going HARD.

At first, I thought that it was rather scattered, musically wise, but the more I listen to it, the more I think it’s brilliant because the music comes together by the end, as Catesby seems to calcify in his convictions.

I’ll be really curious to see how anyone but Hadley serves this, but a solid 80% of this song, at the moment, is built on his impressive performance. I’ll be really curious in knowing how the livestreams went.

Take Things To Our Own Hands:

Honestly, my favorite song on the album, probably one of them that I can best visualize on stage.

WE NEED TO THINK OF A WAAAAAY TO BRING THE WHOLE SHIP DOWN.

Favorite vocal moment: When all the conspirators’ voices join one another, and then the moment at the end where it sounds almost like a church’s choir.

I absolutely LOVE the slick folkish feel to this, paired with the driven pace, it’s like if “The Story Told” from Monte Cristo decided to go folk, I love it. It really has a feel that I don’t see many musicals going for (Hadestown being the closest, though it goes in a jazzier style than this) , and that’s something really in its favor. If the rest of the songs follow this level of quality and tone, this musical is going to be a really, really fun ride.

Also, it’s very interesting in terms of how, even though this is the conspirators’ “Pump Me Up” song, there’s this very DARK overtone to it, which makes sense given what they’re proposing. Their voices go increasingly hard, almost into a staccato, and I wonder how much of that is diction VS them showing how hardened and increasingly radicalized the conspirators are becoming.

That being said: “I once had influenza but now that’s all gone when things turned sour”?????????????????? I’m trying desperately to wrap my head around this lyric, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

The lyrics in this particular song are, admittedly, its weakest point: They tend to be very, very repetitive, but, in all honesty, it doesn’t really bother me - It works with that mood of the conspirators becoming radicalized.

I know that Hadley tends to get most of the kudos for this song, but the other conspirators (Waylon Jacobs, Oliver Savile and Emmanuel Kojo) deserve MASSIVE kudos for their performances, I’m seriously going to be looking into all of them after this.

The Day Elizabeth Died

I started off not really caring for this song, but I’ve really warmed to it.

I’m really curious about who the main singer in this song is supposed to be, because I feel like that will really change how I feel about the lyrics specifying that she had “An inch of makeup on her face”. If we’re supposed to view this from the perspective of a devoutly religious 17th century Catholic woman, I can understand it more than a Protestant woman, given that it really, really works with some misogynistic stereotypes about Elizabeth.

So, the singer’s apparently Anne Vaux, which makes sense. Okay, I’ll give them this one. A little period-accurate internalized misogyny can be good for the soul.

I LOVE Rebecca La Chance’s voice. It’s so wonderfully clear and strong, delicate, but with steel beneath it.

There’s something almost....wistful, melancholy, and isolated about this song? It strikes a very odd balance between being sympathetic to Elizabeth (some say she died of a broken heart) while condemning her reign.

ALSO. BEST VOCAL MOMENT ON THE ENTIRE ALBUM. “We mourned for her, she was our queen, and for 45 years, she had reigned supreme.” And then the conspirators coming on with “WE DID NOT MOOOOOURRRRN FOR HER. SHEWASOURCAPTOR.” I could, legitimately, listen to that bit alone on repeat, I’m actually obsessed with it. That odd, conflicted feeling between Elizabeth having been Queen for longer than most of England had been alive, providing a sense of stability, while also the very real persecution that English Catholics were under. This is the kind of nuance I really want to see the musical carry forward.

Blind Faith

I don’t really know what to say except that Martha Percy’s love for Thomas Percy is juxtaposed with Thomas Percy’s feelings for Catesby.

Literally.

That’s the song.

If this musical ever develops a fandom, there are going to be a hundred Catesby/Thomas fics, with James/Thomas being the darkhorse fic.

It’s hard to judge this one, simply because it’s much more conventional love song - It sounds similar to, for example, “That Would Be Enough”, if Alexander Hamiltpn decided to blow up George III instead of join the American Revolution. It’s a TWIST on the conventional love song, but it still follows similar beats.

But I DO love how their voices go together, the song really starts to shine when that happens.

That last “This path was MINE to choose, he has nothing to prove”, probably is the best vocal moment.

Overall, I don’t have MANY thoughts on this song in comparison to the others, but I can also see myself warming up to it over time.

The Promise

“His face is quite nice” It’s VERY obvious they’re going for a queer comic relief interpretation of James, which I honestly have mixed feelings about given that he is, clearly, going to be the one that our protagonists are trying to get rid of. There’s.....something about that, a bunch of presumably straight protagonists ganging up to kill a stereotypically portrayed gay man. I know that historically, James WAS, but.....I still don’t like how stereotypical they played this one. Someone could point to Herod from JCS but, in all fairness, Herod was written in the 1970s (and, tbh, given that the central relationship in the musical is Jesus and Judas, you could argue that the entire musical is very, very homoerotic, which makes it less glaring.) This is...well, I’ll have to see how the musical deals with it. I’m willing to give it a fair shake, but they might have set themselves up for danger here.

But Daniel Boys is, admittedly, serving this song on a silver platter.

Really, really going into the Spoiled Child Route here.

If it sounds like I’m disappointed with this song compared to the others, it’s because......yeah, I kind of am. Musically, it’s fine and a little catchy, lyrically, it’s fine, but that nuance I’d been seeing in the other songs goes out the window. James isn’t my favorite historical figure of all time (Bro basically set up the English Civil War), but there still HAD to be a better way to do him justice than this.

It doesn’t hurt that, unlike the other songs, which were demonstrably TREASON, this one is very much.....a JCS/Hamilton rip-off. Like, it’s very, very blatant.

Love the rising strings when Percy tells him that Elizabeth is dying, that sense of tension - It does remind me a little of something I heard in The Pirate Queen, but you know what? I’ll give it to them.

Lowkey obsessed with Oliver Saville’s eyebrow raise when he says “You could save England.”

The problem is that they’re leaning so hard into the comic route that, when James says that he’ll be a fair king, it really, really makes the Catholic nobility sound dumb as Hell to listen to him. Like “Yes, man who routinely, gleefully sings about cutting off people’s heads, I’ll listen to you!” I know they’re desperate but....come on.

But also. THAT HIGH NOTE. Daniel Boys really put 110% in there.

Overall, my takeaway is that this musical could either do very, very well or very, very badly, depending on how they play it. It’s hard to judge because the public only has access to 5 tracks (except for the lucky ducks who bought tickets to the stream, where they got access to 10) - It’s hard to judge a musical based off of 5 tracks, and a musical about the Gunpowder Plot with, say, a love song called “Blind Faith” almost sounds like something out of a parody, something destined to be one of those flops that go down in history. BUT, that being said, the musical has some very strong vocal performances and some really good music, when it keeps to its own mood and style instead of trying to go off of what other, more successful musicals have done. There’s some real, real promise in this musical, and I’ll be both anxious and excited to see how it all turns out (and if they ever offer a full purchase for the live recording......I’d honestly probably buy it.) It was a shame I found out about it so late in the game, because I’d have totally bought tickets to the stream if I had known earlier.

#treason the musical

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sureuncertainty · 4 years

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rant ahead, tw for mentions of dysphoria and misgendering, ask if you need anything more specific tagged!

i saw a comic or a tweet or something today about how ‘everyone hates parts of their body but you can’t change it so just get used to it and you’re still great!’ and it was lowkey really triggering for me bc it makes me feel like my dysphoria is just something i have to “get over” and that its just not liking myself and made me question whether it really IS dysphoria at all, or just a vague discomfort that i should just suck up and deal with

so much of my life, especially being partially closeted, is deciding when it’s worth changing things. when do i change my name? who do I ask to call me by my name and pronouns? I had a doctor’s appt today and got deadnamed and misgendered enough times that my heart was racing, but it wasn’t THAT bad so i just sucked it up bc i was too afraid to ask them to change my name and pronouns on my chart

it’s like how I get chronic headaches right? And when I feel a headache coming on, i always have to decide if I’m gonna take something for it or let it pass on it’s own. letting it pass on its own hurts more, but it could always be worse, so sometimes I don’t take anything bc i’d rather just suck it up and deal with it. sometimes the pain is so unbearable that i have to take something for it. it’s like that with being trans.... sometimes i HAVE to come out, sometimes I HAVE to advocate for myself bc the pain is unbearable. but most of the time i just suck it up and deal with it. i KNOW it’d be better for me if I did do something about it, but fear stops me from doing something. it’s not a perfect metaphor but i feel like it mostly sums up how i feel about it

i can never advocate for myself bc I feel like i have to meet some kind of threshhold of suffering before i can actually get help. and even though i know my doctor would be willing to do so, I know how shitty trans patients get treated, and I just don’t wanna rock the boat, i don’t wanna deal with it, i’d rather deal with the mild dysphoria than deal with potential medical trauma yknow?

and it’s just always weighing those things: what’s worth the discomfort? being misgendered by my family sucks but coming out to them sucks WAY more. being misgendered on facebook also sucks but so does being outed, and that’s worse, so it’s always a balancing act of what’s worth it

i want top surgery but it’s not worth it right now. it might not ever be. but that doesn’t mean i don’t deserve it. it doesn’t mean I don’t still deserve to be gendered correctly and called by my name. even if I’M the main thing stopping me from it. i’m out at work and still get misgendered constantly, but I still deserve to be made as comfortable as I can. and it sucks and it’s not fair that I have to be closeted, and might always be.

so many trans people talk about how they came out bc they had to, bc being closeted was too much for them, and that’s so valid, but bc that’s not my experience (altho it’s getting there, ngl) i’m okay just being out in the capacity that I am and sucking up and dealing with the dysphoria that comes from things that could change. but that makes me feel Not Trans Enough or if I was Really trans, I would HAVE to come out bc i’d basically die otherwise. i don’t think i’d die if i can’t ever fully live as myself, partially bc being nonbinary means i’ll NEVER be able to fully live as myself bc of how gendered everything in this society is. it’s always gonna be one or the other. and i just can’t win (no pun intended)

it’s hard when I feel like I can’t relate to a huge portion of the trans community bc of that. i can’t imagine what it’s like for trans folks with little to no dysphoria. bc mine’s only been getting worse the more I use my correct name and pronouns the more i absolutely hate the other ones.

anyway this is why i hate transmedicalism which literally prevents me from getting top surgery anyway. even though it’s a fairly chill procedure that would vastly improve my quality of life, I can’t get it because I”m not suffering “Enough” and that’s fucking bullshit.

i deserve to be comfortable, even if i’m not in excruciating pain.

it’s why i went ahead and took a tylenol for the minor headache i had this morning, bc sometimes it just only gets worse. i’m afraid of how much worse this is going to get

#dysphoria tw #putting this in some main tags if anyone can relate or wants to chat about it #it's a hard place to be in #trans #agender #nonbinary #dysphoria #rant #win rambles #nonbinary stuff #my dysphoria is getting worse and i don't know what to do about it #also pls doooooont r//e//b//lo/g

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dolphin-enthusiast · 5 years

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So I usually do this thing where I ask my friends to see something they just bought or that I like (it can really be whatever, clothes, accessories, food...I'm a goblin) and just say "thanks, now it's mine"(I give it back to them tho adgjk I'm no gremlin) and it gets some mixed reactions, how do you think Joseph, Caesar, Jotaro, Josuke, Kakyoin, Mista and Bruno would react to this?

Fucking superb shdhshs goblins u n i t e

Joseph:

- So there he was, wearing his brand new jacket in all of it's glory when you came along and oh so innocently asked him to hand it over.

- Him being his usual self he didn't think much of it and just gave it to you. You can only imagine his shocked face when you told him that he's never getting it back.

- He's an ass so expect him to tickle you until you surrender. That's like his first instinct, tickle the goblin until they give it back. Fucker won't even nicely ask you to give it back first. He'd take it from you with a dumb shit eating grin then fist bump the air in victory.

Caesar:

- He noticed you eyeing his headband so after you asked him if he could give it to you he immediately complied with a small smile.

- His eyes would widen then he'd just chuckle and shake his head once you'd claim it as your own. He'd play dirty and try to fluster you in an attempt to make you give it back.

- Sure he does ask you nicely to give it back....perhaps too nicely. This man has his own ways of flustering people so you wouldn't stand a chance. He'd graciously take it from you then thank you with a wink. The nerve of this guy...

Jotaro:

- He was lowkey proud of the brand new hat he just got. When you asked him to give it to you he just raised an eyebrow in confusion and handed it over to you without a word.

- His eyes would comically widen as his jaw would drop once you'd say it now belongs to you. The look of pure shock and confusion on his face would be priceless. Alas the great Jotaro Kujo was out of words for once.

- He'd tell you to give it back immediately (M E N A C I N G L Y). But even he couldn't help himself so he'd just crack a little smile at your antics. He couldn't get mad at you when you were being this cute.

Josuke:

- We all know this boi is REALLY into fashion and values his clothes alot. Especially his pins, they make the entire look of his modified uniform.

- He'd gladly hand you his pins with a smile and would tell you to take your time admiring them. But the moment you say that they now belong to you he's going to F L I P.

- He would stumble over his words and put dozens of questions at the same time like "WAITWHATDOYOUMEANTHEYBELONGTOYOUINEEDTHEMYOUCANTDOTHI-". When you give them back to him he's just gonna sigh in relief and blush while awkwardly apologizing for absolutely losing his shit 10 seconds earlier.

Kakyoin:

- Words cannot describe how much he loves his cherry earrings. He wears them 25/8 and values them more than he values any other article of clothing he has.

- He'd agree to let you have a closer look and would hand you one of them. But his composure would break once you claim the cute little cherry earring as your own.

- Puts his hand on his chest and tells you that one simply cannot do that. Its unnaceptable, it's a c r i m e. He'd visibly relax and sigh in relief when you give it back. Tells you to never do such a thing ever again or else he might just have a sheer heart attack on the spot.

Mista:

- So he just got a new pair of boots and he's loving every second of walking in them. Motherfucker is literally parading through the house, that's how excited he is.

- And you just happened to like them as well and asked him to let you try them on. He'd hand them to you then cheer you on as you'd walk in them.

- Immediately lets out an EEK when you say he's never getting them back again. Honestly he's Josuke 2.0, man would break composure and go crazy and stupid then beg you to give them back. He'd perk up when you'd hand them back to him and tell you that you gave him the scare of his life.

Bruno:

- He values his hair clips alot and never forgets to put them on. And you happened to find them absolutely cute so you asked him to hand them over for a bit.

- He'd hand them over to you then have a moment of mild shock when you claim them as your own. You completely caught him off guard this time.

- He wouldn't lose his composure but he'd just be surprised and ask you kindly to give them back. He's a man of manners after all. Would thank you just as kindly once he gets his precious hair clips back. He doesn't blame you though, he himself just loves these little accessories too much.

#jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #joseph joestar #caesar zeppeli #jotaro kujo #josuke higashikata #noriaki kakyoin #guido mista #bruno buccerati #jojo headcanons #headcanons #anon

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carriagelamp · 4 years

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April 2020 Book Review - Quarantine Brain Fry Edition

This month of quarantine was much more challenging for me that last March... I suppose because we’re really in the throws of it, and the “extended spring break” feel has worn off. Between general World Anxieties and the incredible challenges of trying to adapt my work into an online setting, my brain has been absolute mush -- and I have a feeling I’m not the only one. Most of my books this month are either very easy reads (comics and children’s novels) or rereads or both! Honestly, I’ve been playing a lot more Animal Crossing than I have been reading...

So the theme for this month of reading? Treat your brain to a rest, and go reread that favourite comic or picture book or graphic novel from when you were a kid. We don’t have libraries or book stores at the moment, so dig deep into your shelf for something you love that you haven’t touched in a while. Here’s what I read:

Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Mystery of the Grande Chateau

I’m going to start with best and most unexpected book that I read this month (although this is actually a New Book and not a reread, so maybe it’s a bad start). It’s a Hardy Boys parody novel, and yes it’s by the Game Grumps. The only reason I even found out it existed was because my brother heard about it and we decided that this would be our next Sibling Read Aloud. It made a great read aloud. I was rather skeptical at first, but it was genuinely very clever and very, very funny. There characters were fucking delightful, as they bumbled their way through the mystery, and we ended up accidentally reading almost half the book in one sitting because we couldn’t put it down once we got to endgame. If you like satire and Classic Youth Mystery then do yourself a favour and give this a go. I am desperate for a sequel.

ISHI: Simple Tips from a Solid Friend

A picture book that was recommended to some of the local elementary children who are dealing with isolation from school and their friends. Its beauty is in its simplicity. It shows Ishi, a very simple white stone, experience challenges that it must then find ways to cope with. Things like loneliness, feeling empty or scared, being sad... all things children (and adults, I very much appreciated this little story) may be experiencing. This is definitely a picture book, not a self-help book, but it’s still very encouraging and makes me want to go and create my own Ishi. There’s a reading of it is online, and if you’re feeling like having a solid stone friend reassure you, I would recommend going to listen to it!

Bone 1-5

So, the first in my long list of books that I reread: I’ve started rereading the Bone series for the first time in years. Hands down one of my all time favourite graphic novel series. If you haven’t read Bone, it’s a classic and one of the best example of American graphic novels imho. It’s about Fone Bone and his cousins who, after being driven out of Boneville by Phoney Bone’s money-grubbling stunts, have found themselves across a desert and in a strange, fantastical valley where nothing makes sense. The three of them get drawn into the strange mysteries and adventures of Thorn, her grandmother, and the village of Barrelhaven. Such a perfect blend of beautiful art, comedy and off-the-wall cartoon-level hijinks, as well as really intense, dark adventure and tension as the story unfolds.

Also created this sequence, which may be the funniest two panels ever drawn in a comic

Here Is Greenwood v1

A charming ‘90s manga from my stash that I decided to reread. Honestly one of my favourite feel-good mangas, because it’s such a simple, pure, good-hearted slice of life without some of the gimmicks that other manga use. It’s about Kazuya starting at an all-boys school partway into the year, and moving into the school’s dorms. The entire book is just about him being constantly pestered by the well-meaning characters that share the dorm with him. It’s just goofy and fun, and has the fantastic aesthetic of a good ‘90s manga. Also, it was one of those books that, while technically not ~queer~ was also ~queer enough~ for my deprived teenage soul.

Blood Of Elves

The fourth book of the Witcher series that I’ve finished. I’ll be honest, not my favourite. I really enjoyed the beginning, the whole espionage thing with Dandelion, and then Ciri with Geralt, the Kaer Morhen witchers, and Triss. That was all really fun. It felt like it dragged a lot more though after Ciri joined Yennefer... And yet I love Yennefer as a character, she is hilariously snide and clever and really sweet with Ciri. But it felt like a scene that could have been done in a couple chapters took up half the book. Maybe that’s just because, as I said, my brain was mush and I couldn’t deal with it. I have the next book and as soon as my brain doesn’t look like chicken noodle soup anymore I will be starting it!

The Mouse and the Motorcycle

You know I love a good animal adventure story, and this is one that I adored as a child. The story of Ralph, a young mouse living with his family in a rundown motel, and how he and a young human boy discover that they can understand each other through a shared passion for vehicles... in particular a red toy motorcycle. There’s just something heartwarming about Ralph racing around a motel on a tiny toy motorcycle that runs when he makes motorcycles noises. I’ll have to find the second one as soon as libraries are open again.

Kit: The Adventures of a Raccoon

Another animal adventure story from my childhood, although this one is more of a chapter book than a true novel. This is a book that I’ve been lowkey hunting for years and finally came across in a school library. It’s a more realistic look at what a raccoon’s life is like, from birth to adulthood. Rereading it, it’s not a particularly exciting book and wouldn’t have otherwise stood out to me, but there’s still something that calls to me. It’s very gentle and makes this raccoon’s growing and learning feel very soft and compassionate, even if there are tragedies and death.

A quick edit because it was only just now that I realized that this is a Canadian lit book! Always exciting to discover that a favourite is Canadian!

Calvin and Hobbes: Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat

Calvin and Hobbes, yet one more bullet to add to the list of Comfort Comics that I’ve pulled out to keep my mind entertained while I can’t quite process Proper Novels. I doubt there’s anything I can say about Calvin and Hobbes that hasn’t already been said. You’ve either read these books already, and are nodding along with me, or you haven’t and therefore are not a human being I can relate to.

Spy vs Spy

I dug out some of the old Spy vs Spy comics we had as kids. They’re basically falling to pieces, but it was fun -- like so many other books on this list -- to revisit something so familiar but which I haven’t looked at in years. These were a very odd experience to reread, because on one hand Spy vs Spy comics have such a simple, goofy premise it’s hard not to just grin and laugh while you read them, but also like... yup they sure are old and kinda ~problematique~ eh? Whatcha gonna do.

The Twisted Ones

The read aloud my brother and I did before Ghost Hunters, although we technically finished reading it at the very end of March, but too late for it to make that book roundup post. Look, I’m not going to defend myself here. Yes, I’ve read an obscene number of Five Nights at Freddy’s books. The first one of this series The Silver Eyes was honestly better than I would have expected. This sequel was not as good, unsurprisingly, but the main character is still so fucking bizarre, so different than the sort of protagonist I would normally expect from a series like this, that I can’t quite bring myself to stop reading them. And when I had a moment of Realization, about what might be in store for the third book, I genuinely screamed at my brother who was reading at the time. So yes. Somehow this youth horror is better than it has any right to be -- not good but better than it should be -- and yes I will be reading the third the second the libraries open again.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Another reread! This was a book I got as a birthday present when I was in... probably preschool? It’s a cross between a large picture book and a chapter book. It’s essentially a “novelization” of the original Disney movie, and it has such cute art to go along with it. Winnie the Pooh has always been a favourite of mine, and reading this old book was like a warm hug. Makes me want to see if I can get my VCR set up so I can watch that old movie again...

Frog and Toad Together

A friend found someone reading this book in a very asmr-style on youtube and recommended I listen because they found it super chill. And they were right! It is ridiculously chill. I’ve never read a Frog and Toad story before, but it’s really just a very cute old book that immediately launches you right back into grade one.

The BFG

This is my first time reading the BFG and it has all of Dahl’s usual charm and quirkiness. A young girl gets plucked out of an abusive orphanage by the Big Friendly Giant, who brings her to the terrifying Land Of Giants... all of which are bigger and crueller than the BFG, and who have an appetite for human flesh. It was quick and fun, and it’s always hard not to fall in love with Dahl’s sweet characters, especially this big eared, dream-catching giant.

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sole-cuore-amore-e-droga · 5 years

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Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta Croatia to Eurovision with a confused angel lad and his lowkey over-enthusiastic mentor

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Yeah, well, I definitely have hoped for this nation to finally finally bring back Dora as their national selection, as I myself have never really felt their internal entries since they abandoned it (well maybe except Nina from 2012 but even then by now I grew out of it softly). Not even Nina from 2016 which was tipped as a huge fan fave (though I’m so sorry for it getting completely lambasted in Eurovision, especially because of the poor clothing choice and Nina’s warbly notes here and there).

And they did! After like what, 7 solid years??? After the last Dora ending out with a disastrous end result and spawned a person to (more) stardom who even qualified a couple years back and this year he’s there to be a songwriter for his home country because of the Eurovision 2019 slogan inspiring him???? Well... yeah that happened. With having fought 15 other participants made up of familiar faces, up and coming starlets, the already legendary divas or just some people, he won as a songwriter for this next target of my review - the target that is aptly titled “The Dream” and is performed by a 19 year old up-and-coming pop star, Roko Blažević. Yep, Jacques Houdek won a NF but not with himself singing. Man did his magic game get stronger over the years since Dora 2011.

And interestingly enough, Jacques’s wizardry comes in with him being capable of selling chanceless music as something worth buying into. How can that happen???

Well, to be frank with you all, this song is not that bad, unlike everyone thinks it is. It feels like a low-rent musical ballad, sure, but it's not terribly composed or anything... well, I know I usually hate on those songs that like using mostly not the "verse - chorus - verse - chorus - bridge - chorus", but there are plenty of songs that mess with that structure that usually just omit the last two components (radio pop music) or don’t even need one, and they sound great. Here we have the omission of the last two components that more reminds me of “Grande amore” (I am not saying they’re comparable but still), as in, slow ballad in the F minor (”The Dream” even slaps a keychange on) that tries to sound majestic/dramatic, not very much so to be intense, just something theatrical I s’pose. And has a little too little time for another full verse so they just go to a bridge (and "Grande amore" had two long pre-choruses too?!?). I don’t hate this one, if I had to make a 2019 ranking this instant I’d put this in Top 30 somehow.

So what is there to be found that puts people off? They cannot be hating on Roko’s voice, which is really great for a young man like him. (In fact, God forbid I say one bad word about him, because some specific one on Twitter will have a beatdown with me because I dissed her hubby... so I’ll keep my mouth shut about any qualities of his :X) I guess it consists of several factors: 1) the song sounds dated; 2) the lyrics, especially in that chorus (I DREAM OF LOOOOOOVE, YOU DREAM OF LOOOOOOVE~ lol I actually dream of hatred, hatred will prevail >:) ); 3) the vocal volume is loud at parts; 4) the song is English-Croatian and somehow it should be sung in Croatian just to hide away the hideous understandable lyrics. My personal caveats are: 1) the song is too plodding and it shows a lot in that chorus with Roko holding his long notes (can we get tothe point FASTER?!); 2) the chorus lacks productional depth and maybe with a slight revamp (given Jacques wouldn’t be so stubborn about it!) it could have sounded the right amount of dramatic. If anything, I am GRATEFUL that it sounds more palatable than "My Friend", as THAT one was a joyful of cringey clichés tbh. The cheese became rotten and smelly and the sudden violin lead-in into the bridge still creeps me out. Goddamn it Jaq.

Not to mention Mr. Houdek is soooooo optimistic about his song, he finds everything in it perfect enough to not change it! Not the melody, not the language decisions, not the wings (did I tell you Roko wore wings on his NF performance??) - no! Did someone not tell him that Eurovision is rapidly evolving and his fantasies of coming top 3 with this song just better stay fantasies? Oh wait, it's the same man who once sang "dare to dream and make it real", of course he's stuck to his guns like super glue. Can't blame him, there were worse songs in top 3 over the years. Still though, the wings is a stupid idea. There should be something else involved if Jacques wants a performance to be memorable. Roko can't just stand there and only do what he's told to do by his guardian songwriter - granted he has to behave but still...

In the end, how would I summarize this tl;dr? I am one of a handful of folks who find this alright. There's a bigger minority who outright adores the song but I'm just there that likes this and nothing much more, honestly. Everything's just alright. Guess I'm sometimes soft enough to accept cheese, huh. But seriously, the mentoring behind the scenes... it's creepy to say the least. I'm happy Roko's having a helluva good time at least.

Approval factor: Oh I don't know with this one, statistically we can just go ahead and... try approving this? I’m not a huge fan of Croatian entries this decade, at least Slovenia redeemed themselves in my eyes last minute with “Sebi”, while even in my Croatian faves (they mostly are “Nebo” and “Crazy”, and I maaaaaybe like “Lighthouse” a bit too actually?) I see some negative qualities that completely overwhelm my liking for them. But since I legally find “The Dream” okay, I give this one a bit of a pass.

Follow-up factor: Sadly this kind of choice feels to me as a steady divedown in overall quality of what Croatia usually offers us. Well the decline was always on since “My Friend” followed up “Lighthouse” I suppose, or it's just so happens that Croatia sent the duds on this decade only in odd years ("Celebrate" was fun but tragic trash, "Mižerja" was pleasant I guess but everything here was miserable from the beginning and everyone still doesn’t get why “My Friend” qualified and “Crazy” didn’t). I like it though.

Qualification factor: I’d like to believe that this one can borderline sneak the fuck in to the finals for no reason other than Jacques knowing how to work things in his favour. Yes, I’m not writing this off completely. Although I still see some parts where this wouldn’t work out, it’s actually not 100% doomed... if anything, I at least don’t see it coming last in semi easily! It’s not as LAME as Iceland last year was. And it too was a basic love-peace-dreams message inserted into an older-timey-sounding singalong ballad and was given for a young singer that has a helluva lot of potential later ASIDE Eurovision. That is if they don't pretend Eurovision "ruined [their] careers, njeh!", of course. At least Roko can SANG live and maybe it will happen again that a singer's voice will make this surprisngly qualify over the song? We'll see. For now Jacques should just stay focused on how to make Roko's angel wings (sigh...) more memorable on stage in case the voice is not qualifying but the gimmicks are.

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

EMA 2019 at least had positive surprises all over for a NF this non-cared-about-by-me. Dora just... did not. Really. This NF did not interest me all that much song-quality-wise, and it even had SIX MORE SONGS than EMA!!! Crazy, huh?? But it’s okay, I can talk about the show to you if you want me to:

• From the Dora participants list announcement I was mostly excited to hear like two entries, and I'll mention both of them right away separately. And it's by two artists I've heard of before a lot! Though this first one kind of made me feel like I've been somewhat betrayed... enter Luka Nižetić who has got a nice vast catalogue of songs now - soft song(s), upbeat summer songs, and so on. And I kinda liked some of those songs of his I heard (if you're looking for recommendations, give "Vječno" a listen!), but “Brutalero”, his actual Dora 2019 entry was... on a whole different level. Dude, when was ripping off “Mi gente” ever useful?? It’s the year people were chasing after “Fuego” as the Latinesque bop to copy, not this! I hate it when people rehash annoying (but catchy) songs, and it’s certainly worse when they do it as their Eurovision NF entry. Brutal. And I actually remember hyping him before hearing the song, which is a bigger facepalm-worthy moment of mine. When will I ever learn?! ;( Thank God for the juries who served this song right. IDC if the revamp version of this made it any better, I’ll be fuming over this not being an inspired song. Oh and the comic book cartoon style made this brutally laughable to me, I said what I said. It might have entertained some kids though. So to summarise, Luka’s capable of having bops out, but “Brutalero” ain’t it, sis.

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• Well guess what - Friendship ended with LUKA, Now MANNTRA is my best friend! Hell yeah lol. Did I tell you I like rock music so much? So I really foresaw kind of liking Manntra's song “In the Shadows” and rooting for them based on me knowing their name (just like Luka but oop), and in fact I really did root for them in the end! I wish I supported them more than Luka instead. They’re bangin’. They’re blazin’. They’re pure awesomeness. Their costumes. THAT BREAKDOWN. Magic. Should’ve won, and if them winning were any forbidden because Croatia is just refusing to accept stuff I’d stan for, at least come second. Screw Luka, screw Lorena. Bring the rock music back. ^^

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• oh yeah and the others I guess. Well, if I had to recommend a few entries, here goes: if you’re nostalgic for old-timey early 2000′s bops (in the style of “Everyway That I Can”), you go and listen to the aforementioned Lorena Bućan‘s entry, “Tower of Babylon”. If you dreamed of one of the Femminem singers becoming a 60s retro artiste (actually you did not, that sounds very utter random), go check her project’s (Gelato Sisters) entry, “Back to That Swing”. If you’re here for THE QUEEN DOMENICA, go ahead, check out “Indigo”, the ultimate shopping mall background music anthem. My actual other favourite together with Manntra was Beta Sudar though, as “Don’t Give Up” as some really nice pop I guess. You see what I mean when I said that Dora this year did not interest me all that much song-quality-wise? Well ofc some songs were nice but that's all and too much 'just niceness' is slowly breaking me honestly. I would have gladly cancelled the NF and put Manntra through internally instead. Epic boys deserve an epic platform to showcase themselves, I don’t make the rules here.

Thankfully that's that out of the way, now I'm just going to wish this sweet little angel man all the best in Tel Aviv and not to be too upset if he flops. I know Jacques would be upset, but for that he shouldn't put Roko through a similar mind process also...

#eurovision 2019 #tel aviv 2019 reviews #croatia 2019 #roko blažević #the dream #croatia

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taz-writes · 6 years

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17 and 29. (:

17. are there any important symbols in your book? explain.

Everything comes in fours. 4 is a recurring arc number of mine, and it’s tied to literally everything, but most significantly Feilan’s four gods and four magical elements. Storm, Illusion, Darkness, and Light. The magic system has its own symbolic language but I’m gonna talk about 4 first.

4 is a perfect number. 4 is the number of balance and equilibrium, because 4 is the number of transformation and the cycle of existence. You have four seasons, four times of day, four phases of the moon, four deities, four elements, four stages of life, four Heralds, and four great Feian tribes (before the Irkatzi became part of Feilan, that’s its own complicated thing).

If you look carefully at my story, most things come in sets of 4. Groups of 3 are almost ALWAYS a sign that Something Is Wrong. There are 3 Ravenhart sisters. Each one of them is associated with something that should be part of a set of 4, and Something Is Wrong. They’re missing something. Book 1 features 3 magic necklace users. Those are tied to the magical elements, and there should be 4, and Something Is Wrong. The protagonists aren’t seeing the full picture. If you’re REALLY on top of the reading-Taz’s-symbolism game you can even predict future events based on which places and things and characters seem to represent the missing piece. Sometimes I’m really obvious about these, too.

I’m also really big on color symbolism (usually via the magical elements). The colors don’t really represent specific things per se, but most characters have an associated color that represents their presence in the plot. These are actually a lowkey in-universe thing, nicknamed totem colors, people are aware of them. When something is red, it’s affiliated with Kyrina. When something is blue, it’s associated with Sayara. When something is green or white, it’s probably evil. There are obviously exceptions, but I use color very deliberately most of the time. My main characters also have associated symbols, but those rarely make it into the text, because well.. it’s hard to do that in a text medium. But when I draw them you’ll almost always see their symbols worked in somehow!

For the record, since I haven’t talked about my sequels much yet, Melalina is a character who’s introduced in book 2. She’s part of the main protagonist team in book 2, and she’s also fairly important in book 3, and she’s the only happy character in this series and I love her for it.

29. are there any minor characters you want to talk about? what is their role?

Yes! I have a lot of minor/secondary characters, actually, although most of them don’t show up until later on… I’ve been trying to trim the cast lists in the series just because there are SO MANY main characters, it’s a lot for a reader to keep track of. In book 2 (titled The Queen of Feilan) there are 10 primary characters (the ones in the picture above), PLUS an assortment of secondary characters and villains, and it’s a lot. Book 1’s more focused on Sayara and her family, and after the end of book 2 there are a few individuals who are sidelined for one reason or another… I’m sorry Mel but you’re a mersprite and you can’t be in land battles… but it’s still a lot. Some of them might get cut.

Right now I kinda wanna talk about Indigo and Arum Ravenhart, just because they’re fun characters. Indy is a goofy flirt, Arum is an emo little shit, and they’re some of the only teenage male characters in the entire series right now. Indy and Arum are twins, and members of the Jaratran Ravenhart family, which is… an ENTIRELY different family than the regular Ravenhart family in the story. Lemme tangent about that for a minute b/c it’s important and I don’t want people getting the wrong impression.

So, the Ravenhart name is one of the oldest and most famous royal surnames in history, and their family is one of the oldest established families on the planet. Over the centuries, they’ve split into three separate branches—the Karatza Ravenharts, the Jaratran Ravenharts, and the Amarad Ravenharts. Violet and Lavender are Karatza Ravenharts, who are the “true” Ravenhart lineage with the most direct link back to their founding ancestor. Indy and Arum are Jaratran Ravenharts. Although they share Vi and Lavender’s surname, they actually aren’t closely related AT ALL—the last link between their families was several hundred years ago, and Violet’s more closely related to Kyrina than she is to Indy and Arum. (She has a great-great-something-aunt who married into the del Aphirs about 200-some years ago. Still not that closely related, especially considering that they’re royalty and royals are way more willing to inbreed than most.)

With that in mind, it’s a lot less awkward to introduce Indy and Arum as Violet’s lowkey love interests. Vi and her sisters are quite close with Indy and Arum and the other Jaratran Ravenharts, because Lilac thought it was a good idea to encourage positive relationships, and either of those boys would be a good marriage option for the gals once they’re old enough. Indy has a thing for Violet, but she finds him annoying and mocks him constantly. She in turn has a thing for Arum, because he plays the lyre and she thinks that’s hot, but Arum has a thing for Lavender, who is gay and has a crush on Arum’s cute cousin Dahlia, who has a thing for Violet, and… yeah you get the idea there’s like a love DODECAHEDRON of stupidity going on here. Aelia thinks it’s hilarious.

Indigo’s a huge flirt, who hits on everything that moves because he thinks that’s how you bond with people (and also he’s a horny teenage boy). But like also, he’s a surprisingly deep character once you get past the flirting. He’s annoying in book 2 because he’s comic relief, but he features in a spinoff side story I’ve planned as a really serious character. Being a man, he’s unable to inherit a royal title according to Irkatzi custom, but he serves as regent for his younger sister while she grows up and he’s quite good at it. He cares very deeply about others. He also stops being a pest when he gets an actual boyfriend and no longer feels compelled to flirt with everyone all the time.

Arum’s a little less thoroughly developed, mostly because he doesn’t actually appear on the page in The Queen of Feilan, he’s just referenced by other characters. He’s nice, though! He becomes a traveling bard as an adult and disappoints his entire family.

Thanks for asking!!! and double thanks if you actually read this entire giant infodump!! :D

#taz talks #feilan #indy is a disaster pan #he really grows up between queen of feilan and prophecy #emorawrites

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anais-mitchell · 6 years

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Hamilton Angelica Tour in Atlanta, 6/2/18 Evening

So, this was my first time EVER seeing Hamilton and being the extra person I am I had to document all my thoughts so I could remember everything I loved and share it with others! The cast was the full Angelica cast with Edred Utomi as Hamilton and Karli Dinardo as Peggy/Maria. Putting this review under a read more because it is LONG. If anyone has any specific questions about cast members or songs feel free to ask!

We were seated in left orchestra, and while there was no obstructed view there were moments where characters (often Eliza for some reason) were either blocked by someone else or had their back to us.

(I also credit the structure of these rambles to @fourteenacross whose Hamilton reviews are always so well thought out and insightful 💙)

Alexander Hamilton: I nearly passed out when I heard that first note. But this is just such a good introductory number, everyone played their parts very well. The staging is unique and beautiful and when the ensemble all sang together towards the end I felt it in my soul. The “me? I....” part was as striking as expected.

Aaron Burr, Sir: I could tell from the get-go Edred and Nicholas had awesome chemistry as Hamilton and Burr. The bursar lines were really funny. Edred seemed very deflated in his little “ha” after Burr’s advice. The squad introductions were predictably fun and Chris Lee’s dancing is a godsend.

My Shot: I lovedddd Edred in this song. He had so much energy with the squad and was very determined as Hamiton should be!!! Chris’s delivery of “anarchy” will never fail to crack me up, and Chaundre’s coat flip was awesome. Ruben got the crowd so pumped on the “rise up” bit which is one of my FAVORITE parts of the show. But my favorite part of this song was definitely Edred. He had a great little nervous “oh am I talking too loud?” and his “I imagine death” was so vulnerable and convincing. I loved seeing the sisters in the wings, I’m not sure if this was intentional but I almost saw Julia kinda staring longingly at Ham? Foreshadowing? Or me looking too much into things? Who knows?

The Story of Tonight: Edred and Ruben both have lovely singing voices which made this a 10/10 number. The camaraderie felt so real and it’s just such a sweet little number that I adore.

The Schuyler Sisters: All around so much fun. Karli’s Peggy wasn’t as pouty as some of my favorites but she was still very cute and got some laughs. Nicholas had a very funny delivery of “your daddy’s got money.” They all sounded amazing and had awesome energy!! But one of my favorite dumb details in this show is Eliza’s facial expressions during Angelica’s roast and downsides of being pretty far left, Burr was completely blocking Eliza from my frame of vision :(( still, overall great number and Sabrina especially slayed!

Farmer Refuted: Really funny. Edred’s Ham was so frustrated with this tiny guy because “he’s WRONG and I’m RIGHT and I need to SHOW HIM.” Lafayette distracting Burr in the back was a great detail as well.

You’ll Be Back: I thought this was done well, but honestly it might have been my least favorite king song of the show because he didn’t have many funny moments until the back half of the song. He did this growl on “and ever” that was hilarious, but to me the funniest part was the ensemble scurrying out SO QUICKLY when he called them and following his dance moves.

Redcoat transition got some audible gasps.

Right Hand Man: The beginning of this song where the Schuyler sisters and ensemble sing at the front of the stage then quickly run away is just one of my favorite little details of the show. Such captivating and almost haunting choreography. Carvens has AMAZING stage presence and such a powerful voice!! His Washington was so frustrated with everything and very authoritative. The cannon “BOOM”s were so loud in the theater and really brought you into the scene. Nicholas had a very funny delivery of “from a distance.” I loved loved loved the Schuyler sisters harmonizing in the wings as well.

A Winter’s Ball: This was the first of many moments where Nicholas used obviously fake cheeriness to cover up how annoyed Burr was with Hamilton to AMAZING effect. Chris looked so put out when Hamilton pushed him aside lmao. And I totally missed the faces of the guys towards the end bc I was watching Angelica and Eliza like YES THOSE ARE MY GIRLS. Whoops.

Helpless: Ahhh this was just so CUTE. You could actually hear Julia smiling through some lines, her Eliza was so smitten and pleading w Angelica. Edred and Julia had fantastic chemistry and you could so feel the love between them. Julia had a wonderfully “wtf” reaction to “Angelica tried to take a bite of me.” Also, I owe my life to all her riffs. She has such a lovely vibrant voice that reverberated through the theater so well.

Satisfied: This is my favorite song in the whole show and Sabrina did not disappoint. First of all, seeing the “rewind” bit live is SO COOL. I loved that Sabrina genuinely played it as feeling a real emotional and romantic connection to Hamilton but also was so protective of Eliza and knew she couldn’t have him. She was the perfect blend of Angelica’s stoicism and emotion. And oh god THE BRIDGE. That scene where it’s just Angelica, Eliza, and Hamilton on stage and Angelica looks absolutely gutted as she delivers the “at least...” part and Eliza has this huge smile.... ugh just rip my heart out. No fancy riffs in the end but she did it well. Sabrina’s ending was heartbreaking and the staging w Angelica totally alone on stage was :((( I want to hug her. Fun tidbit: when Eliza and Burr are dancing, Burr was doing this SUPER dorky dance I can’t even explain and Eliza had the funniest look on her face.

The Story of Tonight (Reprise): They were all v drunk and silly and I loved it. Literally any scene Lafayette was in, Chris Lee was doing all kinds of weird dance moves that cracked me up. When Laurens was teasing Burr about Theodosia, Mulligan came up behind Burr and did this huge exaggerated thrusting motion that had me DYING. Edred’s “oh shit” was everything. In the final few lines after Hamilton said “what are you waiting for?”, Nicholas did this little almost resentful laugh that was like, “you could never understand.” Such a great dichotomy between these two characters and the actors did it so well.

Wait For It: First of all, Nicholas has an incredible voice and great stage presence and he rocked this number. I was fully captivated. Also, he got some laughs on “I’m keeping the bed warm while her husband is away” and “Theodosia she’s mine” which I’ve never heard laughs on? However, he had a REALLY BAD line flub that made me cringe but he recovered well. In the bridge part, he lowkey started singing the lyrics to The Word Was Wide Enough and then had like 5 seconds of silence before catching it again YIKES. But he made up for it doubly by going SO HARD on the final chorus w amazing emotion and intensity. You so felt Burr’s philosophy and wanted to root for him so badly. Loved it.

Stay Alive: I absolutely loved the little bit with the Bullet just skirting over Hamilton at the beginning. Robbie Nicholson’s Charles Lee was SO ANNOYING. It was perfect. The instrumentals of this number are superb as well. I really enjoyed Eliza and Angelica's presence in the balcony as well, Julia riffed a little bit on the “stay alive”s and it sounded very good. The Lams moment at the end was subtle but definitely there.

Ten Duel Commandments: I just really enjoy the staging of this song and the use of the turntable. I know I keep talking about the minute deliveries of Nicholas’s Burr, but THEY WERE SO GOOD. His “can we agree that duels are dumb and immature?” and “okay so we’re doing this” were just comic gold.

Meet Me Inside: INTENSE. Carvens basically bellowed his first “meet me inside.” Edred was super argumentative and pissed up until “call me son one more time” where he realized he messed up. Carvens “go home” was very firm but not yelled or whispered.

That Would Be Enough: Julia is a star. This number was just all kinds of cute, she was super touchy and physically affectionate with him and they really tugged on my heartstrings. Also she had one of my favorite touches that Solea did where she holds her belly on “and we could be enough” and her final “enoughhhh” had such a nice vibrato. The ending pose warmed my heart. Such a touching little song.

Guns and Ships: I LOVE CHRIS LEE!!!! His rapping was very crisp even with the accent and he had hella energy. His Lafayette was so eager and energetic. Something you don’t see in bootlegs is how COOL the choreography of passing Washington’s letter to Hamilton is. The Hamliza goodbye was very sweet, Edred touched her belly and she looked very sad.

History Has Its Eyes On You: Carvens has such a captivating and strong singing voice. All the harmonies of the ensemble and the ensemble singing together were transcendent.

Yorktown: Hi again I still love Chris Lee. It felt really good to clap for “immigrants, we get the job done.” You could really feel Edred’s emotion on the part about Eliza and his energy throughout the number was amazing. Jennifer Geller was mesmerizing as the bullet and I adored her part with Ruben. Mulligan’s rap WENT HARD Chaundre really brought it. Also I would like to reiterate my love for Carvens his “not yet” was so powerful!!! That emphasis!! I have never felt more alive than when the entire ensemble was singing at the end and all the chants. Another hidden gem of this number: on the second “the world turned upside down,” I could CLEARLY hear Raven Thomas doing a lil riff and it was much appreciated I was kinda sad to not see her as a sister.

What Comes Next?: This was funny.

Dear Theodosia: Nicholas and Edred had gorgeous harmonies together. A lovely and simple number that worked so well with the two of them.

Laurens Interlude: OUCH. Between Hamilton, Laurens, Lafayette, and Mulligan I didn’t even know who to look at. Hamilton looked so gutted, he was gripping the chair and just seemed devastated. Laf and Herc were in the balcony reading the letters and Lafayette gave a little salute and Mulligan just took a drink. Ruben had a very mournful and sad delivery and the stare between him and Edred towards the end was just heart wrenching. They definitely played up Lams in this scene.

Non Stop: I seriously love this number. Edred and Nicholas play so well off of each other. Edred had awesome energy and totally internalized the whole persistence and blind determination of Hamilton in this number. I completely missed his little flourish on “I practically perfected it” tho FOR VALID REASON and that reason was Nicholas delivering the line “he’s just non stop” with the ensemble through gritted teeth and a fake ass smile which was PRICELESS. Nicholas’s “okay” after “you’re a better lawyer than me” was really high pitched and funny. After Hamilton left, Burr like chased him down during “I’ll keep all my plans close to my chest” and it seemed like Burr was just desperately trying to prove to Hamilton that MY WAY OF DOING THINGS IS JUST AS GOOD AS YOURS, one of many excellent little character moments Nicholas threw in bless him. Edred and Sabrina had excellent chemistry in that tiny bit, his long stare at her was painful. “The other 51!!!” was just as emphatic as I could have hoped for. Julia’s “Alexander... AlexANDER” was pissed and I loved it, the final 30 seconds were beautiful. Julia has amazing riffs that sound so clear even when the whole ensemble is singing. Edred’s last “I am not throwing away my shot!!” was so LOUD lmao what an amazing number though it was a perfect Act 1 closer.

What’d I Miss?: After seeing Act 1, I knew Chris’s Jefferson would just be above and beyond, and I was so not disappointed. @ontheupandupagain said something in her tags the other day that he has such a good singing voice in this song AND HE REALLY DOES, his voice is like silk. But the acting was just invariably hilarious. His best scenes as Jefferson were playing off of Chaundre’s Madison though. Chaundre coughed into his hand and then shook Chris’s hand with it and his face was just like, “what the fuck dude?” and I thought it was SO FUNNY. He also did so much crazy stuff with his extra af coat which I loved.

Cabinet Battle #1: This was highkey the funniest number in the show. Chris and Chaundre had so many tiny little flourishes that had me in stitches. Ex. Chris getting ALLL in Edred’s face, Chris dropping the mic and Chaundre trying to pick it up but fanning it like it was too hot, Chaundre being so offended by “getting high with the French” that he literally shoved an ensemble member out of their chair and had to fan himself, them delivering “you don’t have the votes” with dance moves in PERFECT synchronization. Ugh so good. Edred was really good in this too, his mimicking of Jefferson’s dance moves was hilarious and he went v hard in his bit. After Jefferson and Madison left, he was very indignant w Washington like “I’m right!!! Listen to me!!!”

Take a Break: Julia and Ruben were very cute. Philip was tapping his legs like a little kid while playing the piano which was very in character. I thought Ruben’s Philip rap was very good! He was nervous until like the last two lines and then had such a funny victorious run up the stairs. But again, left orchestra probs, Edred was totally blocking my view of Julia beatboxing :( And god bless Edred for having equal amounts of chemistry with both Sabrina and Julia. The “my dearest Angelica” hits you right in the heart and Sabrina was almost fearfully hopeful but then dismissed it right away. Julia and Sabrina had awesome harmonies, and the bit where Angelica tried to go after him and Eliza stops her will never not hurt me.

Say No To This: Edred was very actively narrating to the audience in the beginning so you could definitely tell everything Maria did was through his retelling. His first “show me how to say no to this” got laughs which was kinda weird. One part of his performance that was so unique was that his “fuuuuu-” was very exasperated and funny more than downright shocked and horrified. Karli definitely played Maria as more of a victim too, she looked so panicked during the middle bit. Her “stay” note was AWESOME. One bit that tugged at the heartstrings was after James Reynolds clipped his whip thing, she stared at Hamilton very longingly and it almost seemed like a cry for help. I really liked the way all of them did this number.

The Room Where It Happens: Okay so this was definitely the best performance of the whole show. Hands down. Nicholas ran the gamut of Burr’s emotions from frustration to anger to horror to unbridled ambition. I can’t even really comment on Chris, Chaundre, or Edred because of how captivating Nicholas was. One touch I really liked was when Jefferson and Madison were planning for the meeting, Burr was aggressively pointing at them to the audience like “look at them!!! look how corrupt they are!!!” But yeah he tore that ending up on Leslie and Josh levels. There was huge applause MIDWAY THROUGH THE ENDING. He went so so so hard, literally slamming on the floor in just an unhinged state of finally letting go of his calculated demeanor. Such a huge shift for Burr and a showstopper in every sense of the word. Ugh I have chills just remembering it.

Schuyler Defeated: “They don’t like you” was delivered to great effect. Burr was almost nagging Hamilton towards the end as Hamilton walked away. These two just really had endlessly great chemistry.

Cabinet Battle #2: Very good all around. They were both super frustrated, and all the typical funny lines were very funny. I think Edred could have gone a just a little bit harder on “you must be out of your goDDAMN MIND” but hey that’s a very minute complaint. Chris got all up in his face for “Daddy’s calling.”

Washington On Your Side: Jefferson’s “wtf” face when Burr shows up will never not amuse me. And Chaundre’s “which I wrote!” was so indignant. They were all very calculating through the whole number and the crescendo of the song pumped me up so hard. 11/10 guys.

One Last Time: This was my favorite number Carvens did by far. His Washington was very desperate to have let a good impact on his country but in a very different way than Hamilton is. Edred’s reactions to all the different bits, especially “Jefferson started it,” were great. And I’d be lying if I said the ending didn’t draw some tears to my eyes, Carvens has such a powerful voice and this song is so cathartic.

I Know Him: I enjoyed it. The lines that are usually funny were funny.

The Adams Administration: Nicholas almost broke because of the king bouncing, but he kept it together. The “sit down” bit was predictably very funny. i loved how conniving Jefferson, Burr, and Madison were at the end, especially how Chris said “let’s let him know, what we know.”

We Know: Hamilton was kinda dismissive when he first said “Secretary Jefferson” but slowly realized something was up by “what is this?” He was very frantic to discredit their accusations. Chris’s “my God” was so disgusted and he was on such a high horse it was HILARIOUS. It totally reminded me of Gina Linetti high horsing Amy in the Season 1 B99 Thanksgiving episode, it was that good. Also, Eliza and Philip in the balcony was a subtle but heartbreaking touch.

Hurricane: I would literally die for the staging, lighting, and choreography of this song. Some of the light changes just hit you straight in the heart and all the choreography with the ensemble holding the chairs is so good. As for the actual performance, I think Edred was the perfect balance between Lin’s quieter emotions and Michael’s almost rage like intense emotions. He got kinda choked up at the part about his mother which ouch. Edred just had a lovely voice too which really shone through in this song.

The Reynolds Pamphlet: This song is EXPLOSIVE live. Chris was so thrilled and Edred was so defensive. Philip was so upset seeing the pamphlet. And oh god, when Angelica showed up Hamilton was so relieved but she yanked away so quickly and she genuinely seemed pained to do so. She was so so hurt and angry, she almost looked on the verge of tears because she had sacrificed so much for him and Eliza and he just threw it away. She almost spit out “god I hope you’re satisfied” into his face and raised a finger in his face, it looked like she could hit him. Rather than staying in his face like Renee did, Sabrina was so angry she left right away. And the dancing in the middle of the stage was definitely the funniest thing the king did.

Burn: UGHHHHH MY HEART. First of all, Julia’s voice is just beautiful on its own. But she really brought the emotion in this. She was so devastated and betrayed, and the fact that she played Eliza as so utterly in love with Hamilton before just really fucked me up. She barely choked out the “I’m” after the long pause. Her ending was super angry though but it was all anger coming from real sadness and hurt. After her final line, she did this little choked sob that just put the nail in my coffin of love for Eliza. This whole song I was just fully engrossed and probably had my mouth just hanging wide open.

Blow Us All Away: I whispered “oh no” to my dad at the beginning of this. Ruben’s Philip was so confident and idealistic and the father/son scene just made you want to scream at Hamilton. Little observation, Eacker’s cape is so swooshy and the actor was playing around with it so much. But yeah this Eacker seemed so much older than Ruben’s Philip and there was a definite power imbalance. Ruben seemed really nervous right before :( and oh god, when he shot on seven my heart just dropped to my stomach because WHY IS THIS HAPPENING. The whole theater gasped.

Stay Alive (Reprise): :(((( Edred’s Hamilton was so panicked and desperate. You could tell he really internalized it when Philip said “I did exactly what you said Pop” and was horrified that this was partially his fault. And Julia just ran out with tears already in her eyes and it was just over for me. She was so motherly and you could tell this was just her worst fear of something bad happening to her son. Ruben didn’t expressly play it like he was dying but he definitely seemed terrified and in pain and didn’t have the Musical Theatre Death Smile which thank god. You could hear a pin drop when the heartbeat stopped, and Julia did a version of the scream that was more like a sob but wow I was in pain. And she yanked that hand away from Hamilton so quickly. It was like she felt he didn’t deserve to mourn with her.

It’s Quiet Uptown: My god, what an intimate and beautiful piece of theatre. I cried which was a given. But really, between Hamilton, Angelica, Eliza, and the ensemble, the grief is so raw and powerful. There are some staging bits I never noticed before, like the ensemble kneeling and doing the sign of the cross during the lines about church. Edred was SO CHOKED UP during some lines. You could just feel how much regret he felt and how he realized how much he’s messed up everything. His delivery of “and you would smile, and that would be enough” was particularly gut wrenching. Sabrina’s voice was beautiful and so sympathetic in this song too which just added to all the poignancy. And then UGH. When Julia’s Eliza took his hand she was just so tired and relieved and devastated. Edred was audibly sobbing (so was I.) This scene is just the perfect encapsulation of the unconditional love Hamilton and Eliza had for each other and Edred and Julia’s performance was just so :(((

The Election of 1800: Chris Lee dramatically saying “Can we get back to politics?” and Chaundre Hall-Broomfield saying “Please?” through tears is really just the best way to get an audience full of crying people to laugh. Burr was SO FAKE during this song I loved it. His reactions to the voters was priceless, and when he greeted Hamilton with “Alexander!” he had such a fake ass smile and exclamation with his arms spread out for a hug; it was GOLDEN. Edred was so emphatic when he said “Burr has none” and Nicholas seemed so personally betrayed. And of course, the ending was flawless. Burr was trying so hard to go back into his cheery public persona but Jefferson just wanted nothing to do with him.

Your Obedient Servant: Burr was LIVID at the beginning of this song. Nicholas had such a great buildup to his anger. The back and forth between the two was just so good through the whole song and they hit the comedic bits right on. But the actual challenge part was very “shit’s about to go down.”

Best of Wives, Best of Women: They were such a good Hamliza pair :( so soft, so in love, so pure.

The World Was Wide Enough: Both Nicholas and Edred were just on their A-game for this song. It seemed like Nicholas, for the first half, was really trying to justify to the audience that he was doing the right thing and that Hamilton was a bad person who deserved this. His “this man will not make an orphan of my daughter” was heart wrenching. And props to Jennifer Geller for being a fantastic Bullet, especially in this song. Edred’s monologue was so mesmerizing; every word was delivered with purpose and you really got the vibe that he just wanted more time. And I truly think that “rise up, Eliza!” and then “my love, take your time; I’ll see you on the other side” is one of the most emotionally impactful moments in the whole show. My heart just stopped. My heart also stopped on the shot because woww ouch. You could instantly feel Burr’s regret and just overall thought of “what did I just do?” Angelica and Eliza looked so sad when they came out. The final bit, with Burr alone in the middle of the stage and Hamilton looking down on him from the balcony, and then the light going out on Hamilton is just genius direction. Nicholas had a really dramatic pause on “for Hamilton and.... me.”

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: The instrumentals of this song alone make me tear up. Sabrina was so fierce coming out for her part and I loved it. And then was Julia came out as Eliza I was just a mess. “I live another 50 years” was delivered particularly well. She was so frantic trying to ensure she had done everything, and then there was that moment of beautiful clarity with the orphanage. God bless Julia K. Harriman and God bless Eliza Hamilton. The ending with Hamilton and Eliza was absolutely breathtaking and the perfect final moment of their love, and Julia’s gasp was everything.

Edred Utomi as Hamilton: I will admit, I was a little bummed to be missing Austin Scott as I’ve heard great things about him. But I was so impressed by Edred! He had killer chemistry with Julia, Sabrina, Nicholas, Ruben, Chris, Carvens, Karli and basically everyone with whom he interacted. His singing and rapping voices were both equally good. I did prefer his Act 2 to his Act 1 though as I think he was more comfortable and really thrived in some of the more emotional numbers i.e. It’s Quiet Uptown in which he absolutely destroyed me. I really have no complaints, he did everything a great Hamilton needs to do and was such a nice guy at stage door. I hope he gets a lot more opportunities to go on in the future and maybe even a principal role in a company.

Julia K. Harriman as Eliza: I was so excited to see Julia as she was amazing in First Burn and the audios I’ve heard of her. Her journey as Eliza was so heartbreaking because she was genuinely so in love with Hamilton and was so betrayed and sad by the events of Act 2 :( she was a very good mix of an angry Eliza and a sad Eliza but she conveyed her inner strength so well. I can’t even pick a favorite number for her because she wowed me in every song she sang. Plus, her voice is just out of this world and I would love to hear her do some recording in the future.

Nicholas Christopher as Burr: If you couldn’t tell from my review, his Burr was one of the best parts of the show. This role suits him perfectly and he was able really make you sympathize with Burr. It’s such a complex role to play and he did it with aplomb; he had a very distinct difference between Burr’s almost corny fake public persona and his inner ambition and drive. His final verse of Wait for It and his entire Room were religious experiences, plus he was so emotionally impactful in The World Was Wide Enough. I also loved that his Burr was so funny! Burr is usually not a comedic role but he had a much more subtle humor than the characters who are explicitly played for laughs and he had me cracking up. He had so many little moments of characterization that made the payoff in the end that much more worth it. He is now right up there with my all time favorite Burrs and I would kill to see him again.

Sabrina Sloan as Angelica: I knew of Sabrina before she was cast because of her run as Vanessa in ITH, and I was super excited as she was a Vanessa I really enjoyed. She so did not disappoint. I feel like the role of Angelica is being turned into a mostly “sassy” role and sassy can sometimes cross into bitchy or straight up unlikable, but Sabrina really made you feel all of Angelica’s emotions and that is exactly the kind of actress that my favorite character deserves. I obviously loved her in Satisfied because that song is the very thesis of Angelica as a character, but she was also so good in Reynolds Pamphlet and Take a Break. In the gran scheme of the play, Angelica does not get that much to do despite being one of the most well written and complex characters imo, but Sabrina forced you to be so invested in Angelica and feel her every feeling. I adored her.

Carvens Lissaint as Washington: Superb. For those of you who don’t know, Carvens used to tour as a poet before musical theatre and that honestly helped his performance so much. He knew exactly what words to emphasize to punch you right in the gut; his “not yet” was seriously so good how does one make two words so powerful. He has all the gravitas of CJack and has a very gospel-esque voice that he put to WORK in One Last Time. I was so thrilled to see him in this role and I can only wonder what his Burr and Laf/Jeff were like on Broadway.

Chris Lee as Lafayette/Jefferson: THE ACTUAL STAR OF THE SHOW. Listen I am a person who gets very annoyed by the emphasis of Jefferson as a character over the females and Burr in the fandom but god Chris Lee is a revelation I am so sad he is leaving but infinitely glad I was able to see him. Everything he did was so funny. In Act 1, if you looked in the background of any scene he was doing these little body roll dance moves and in Act 2 he just had this super jazzy and unbothered swagger when he walked which were both amazing. His singing is also super underrated as this is not a singing heavy part but he riffed all over the place in What’d I Miss and Story of Tonight. All of his little flourishes in the Cabinet Battles were just golden and he played so well off of Chaundre and Edred. Definitely my favorite Laf/Jeff so far.

Rubén J. Carbajal as Laurens/Philip: He has a man bun now! I enjoyed him more than I thought I would. I wasn’t particularly wowed by him in the bootleg but seeing him live was different. This role is really small but I think it can be one of the best parts of the show when really done well, and while I don’t think Ruben reached that level, he definitely didn’t fall into some of the tropes I really dislike for that character like the smiley death scene or the complete lack of chemistry between Laurens and Hamilton. (Seriously, the boy is 19 and dying I will never understand why some performers insist on making it seem like he’s all mature about it Philip should be TERRIFIED it irks me.)

Chaundre Hall-Broomfield as Mulligan/Madison: I thought he was awesome. His Mulligan was very brash and booming like Oak’s which I liked, and he went really hard during the Yorktown rap. His Madison was FANTASTIC against Chris’s Jefferson. He was such a sweet guy at the stage door too.

Karli Dinardo as Peggy/Maria: She was announced as an understudy right before the show started and she was good! She didn’t really wow me but it’s such a small part I was satisfied with what she did. I preferred her Maria to her Peggy because she was able to add some emotional nuance to the character. She has a really nice voice so that helped. It would have been cool to see Isa but I’m not disappointed, I thought Karli’s performance was super well done.

Peter Matthew Smith as King George III: Good! All King George’s blend together for me honestly but he was funny.

Ensemble: Every moment where the entire company sang together was heavenly and filled the theater so perfectly. The choreography of this whole show is just so great and they were all amazing dancers and added so much to every scene they were in. Appreciate ensemble 2kforever. Jennifer Geller was an excellent bullet and really drew your eye in every scene. Like I said before, Raven’s voice really stood out in some parts which I loved.

Stagedoor: It was kinda awkward because nobody really cheered or anything when the cast came out? But everyone was really nice. Julia, Chaundre, Karli, Edred, and Robbie Nicholson all came out and were super nice and took pictures. I was next to a little girl and they were all so sweet to her. Chaundre passed out flyers for their BCEFA event on Monday too which was cool. When Edred came out someone next to me said they cried and Edred was like “me too!” lol. But there was one girl next to me who was pushing and kept calling the male cast members “dad” and asking when Chris would come out which ugh. We left after Edred bc our ride was there and I think Chris came out after him bc I could hear cheering down the street rip.

If you’ve made it this far thanks for reading my rambles, I enjoyed it so much and couldn’t ask for a better first Hamilton cast! It went above my sky-high expectations and I cannot wait until I get another chance to see it, whenever in the future that may be.

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cosmosogler · 6 years

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hi guys. i really don’t feel good.

i started the day off great. i got dressed and took the dogs out for a walk- mom and my brother had said that eve won’t go for walks any more but i couldn’t get her to take the short route. she wanted to go all the way around the block. she was exhausted the rest of the day but it was good to see her wagging her tail and sniffing stuff.

i scanned in all the sketchbook pages and made myself some leftovers for lunch. i was getting the sketchbook pages uploaded when i noticed i had an email from the graduate coordinator. he wanted me to come to his office that afternoon- BUT HE HAD SENT THE EMAIL AT 3:30 PM!

i replied right away anyway and then he called me and told me all that stuff. i panicked for a long time. i still want to die... been thinking about it a lot... i sent an email to my group therapist since she’s already somewhat in on the situation, i wanted to know who i should contact and what kind of paperwork i need to keep my funding and maybe get my grade in stat mech raised. i can’t know that until wednesday though. i don’t know what everyone else got. i’m so terrified that everyone else got a b+ too in a fit of the professor’s “i don’t care any more” attitude since he’s retiring. if that’s the grade he gave everyone else too, then i have no case.

but... i haven’t even taken as many courses as everyone else. my grade average is built off 2 fewer classes than everyone else. they can’t... they can’t. they can’t do this. they can’t kick me out for having a disability.

i know i’m really bad at taking tests. i’m not delusional. but my grades improved! i was doing better! i don’t know what happened in stat mech! i even told the coordinator that i was NOT expecting that grade in the class. but he said it didn’t even matter, he wouldn’t restore my funding even if i did get back over the minimum.

i think that’s illegal...

i couldn’t find any information that backed up what he told me on the university’s web site.

i tried to draw but i wasn’t really feeling it... eventually i went to dinner with mom to see taylor and her mom. i forgot how much i kinda lowkey hate taylor’s mom. she and my mother were both calling mom’s coworkers “skanky” and then argued with me when i said “that’s an interesting word to use.”

i wasn’t very engaged with taylor... she offered to hang out with me tomorrow and i said no. then on the way home i asked if she wanted to get brunch. i don’t know if i’ll regret that or not. made the plans and found a restaurant and stuff already.

i thought about it a lot and i decided i should probably tell mom what’s happening. she might know better who to call about this, and she’s a lot more aggressive than i am. i decided not to tell her tonight because there’s nothing either of us can do right now. i’ll tell her in the morning, i guess. i still haven’t figured out how much of my situation i want to share. she doesn’t know i’m registered with the drc and only taking two courses at a time. she doesn’t know about my, like, crippling test anxiety i guess. i guess it’s that severe. it shot my em grade in the gut and my gpa bled out like it was some kind of action movie.

my wit isn’t exactly razor sharp today. sorry.

2.99. oh my god. why didn’t they round it up. it’s because i had a .66 in one of my grades there instead of a 2/3. i bet that’s it. should have been a round 3.

i’m retaking classical. they can’t DO this.

when i got home at 8 i started drawing and didn’t stop until 11:30. since my hands get so sweaty and smudge the page i had to work really fast. i finished about an entire page in 3 and a half hours. i REALLY didn’t want to do anything else at all. and i knew i couldn’t sit and think or else i was gonna get too upset to keep a straight face. so i drew a lot.

i’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow, i guess. i hope my group therapist gets back to me soon... i’d prefer to have her feedback and, like, any idea what to do before i tell mom anything. i can’t just verbally flail at her. i did that when i called the drc. i couldn’t even put a sentence together.

i promised harrison i wouldn’t, but i was seriously considering cleaning up my story notes to put in the comic’s queue... just in case i wasn’t around to tell the story any more, i mean... that way people would at least know what happens next and where the story was going.

isn’t it strange. people live their whole lives, doing stuff, all that time is so full, and then one day it all just... stops. sometimes randomly, for stupid reasons, like a car crash. all that work and time and thought leading up to an abrupt nonsense ending. i made it through everything so far, but... it doesn’t feel like i should have, if this is what was waiting on the other side. i know if my depression stays this bad, i’ll never be able to hold down a full time job... i’ll never be able to support myself... i don’t have any chances left. i don’t understand.

i know in my heart that this is unfair to me. i know that there’s reasons they made this decision, but i also still know that it couldn’t have been a legal decision. the coordinator talked about investments and returns. he told me i wasn’t likely to ever return the amount of investment the school had put in me. he told me i just don’t produce as much as my classmates and so they were cutting me off.

i don’t think those were the exact words. i was freaking out. i don’t remember exactly what he said. he did use the words “investment” and “returns.” like i’m some kind of money machine. i have depression! when was i EVER going to “produce” as much output as everyone else? i thought that wasn’t the point of school. it’s not supposed to be about... profit margins. it’s supposed to be about physics. i don’t understand.

i’m so... sad and angry. i’m angry at myself. i’m angry with the professor. i’m angry at everyone who ever told me not to worry, i’m angry at the second years who did worse than me grade wise (FAILED classes) and are still there with full support. i’m angry at everyone who told me that there’s no way i could get a b+ on the stat mech test.

i’m angry at everyone who told me they gave up and then got passing grades better than mine anyway. i’m angry that my classmates didn’t study and i studied for hours for a week straight and got worse grades than them. we were all depressed and burnt out. i’m not angry AT them. i’m really frustrated and i want to blame the administration but i know that i’m going to have to defend myself if i want to make a case for this, and i know that i can’t defend myself because i don’t think i deserve it. and it’ll be REALLY EASY for them to convince me that i’m not worth it. i’m weak... why is this happening to me?

#tw suicide #forgot to add that tag but here it is now

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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WandaVision Episode 5 Theories Explained

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This article contains WandaVision spoilers.

It’s very weird and more than a little thrilling to see some of the fan theories that we’ve previously collected actually play out on WandaVision, but of course there are still four episodes of Marvel’s rollercoaster spinoff series left to go, and this week we’re bringing you all the most compelling theories gaining traction online to help pass the time until the sixth episode drops.

At this point, many of the theories surrounding WandaVision’s bigger story are less outlandish. Every week a little more of the puzzle is revealed, and every week we get a little more background on what our central characters have been up to since the climax of Avengers: Endgame, which in turn brings us a lot closer to them.

Not only does this feel fairly organic, it’s also testament to how much we’re genuinely rooting for Wanda’s happiness now. We all want this to turn out well for her, and for her to be allowed to process her grief properly, even as things start to fall apart and the Westview cracks start to show.

Here are some of the biggest theories doing the rounds since episode 5 needle-dropped its MCU-breaking reveal…

Stark Warning

It didn’t take long for Marvel fans to uncover the origin of the ’80s drone tech Monica Rambeau managed to grab so that SWORD could penetrate The Hex in their attempt to reason with Wanda.

After being disabled and dragged outside the mystical forcefield, the drone was exposed as the product of Stark Industries – and if you recall Wanda’s emotional story of how she and Pietro were trapped waiting for a Stark bomb to go off when they were children (as recounted in Avengers: Age of Ultron), it’s no wonder she was so pissed to see a weaponized Stark drone appear in Westview.

It’s not massively surprising that Howard Stark and his team were working on that kinda drone tech in the ’80s, but how was Monica able to get hold of it so quickly? The answer appears clear – SWORD managed to keep a bunch of easily-accessible clout that has either been inherited through SHIELD or lifted from Tony’s warehoused tech.

What else do they have access to, and do they also have a new resource on hand inside SWORD – or at Stark Industries – who could end up being essential to the MCU?

well i think that's worth a look 👀👀#WandaVision pic.twitter.com/pbAvQEfMBF

— Phase Zero (@PhaseZeroCB) February 6, 2021

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 8

Engage Ultron

Is it possible that when Wanda snatched Vision’s body from SWORD and brought him back to life that she accidentally set in motion (or interrupted) a chain of events that would bring back Ultron?

There are a LOT of questions lingering about exactly what SWORD was doing with Vision’s body before Wanda hit the scene and disturbed their work. Were they really about to put him in storage as per his wishes, or were they lowkey doing some pretty dangerous experiments with the original Ultron tech Tony Stark built him with?

This theory is a work in progress for fans who aren’t really sure how Ultron could return without access to the Mind Stone. Still, there’s a solid reason that so many people are checking out James Spader’s IMDb page every week…

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 7

Quicksilvered

You can’t throw a stone online without hitting a theory about how notorious Marvel villain Mephisto will ultimately be unveiled as the real brains behind Westview’s manifestations, and many fans are deeply suspicious of Evan Peters’ arrival as Wanda’s twin brother “Pietro.”

Peters, who played ‘Peter’ Maximoff in the X-Men franchise, has seemingly been cast in WandaVision instead of the MCU’s original Quicksilver, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but does this really mean that realities are colliding and mutants are now here to stay?

Though it’s exciting to think that’s exactly what’s going down here, Pietro’s appearance in Westview feels hastily designed to derail both Wanda and Vision, and who might have a more vested interest in keeping this charade going other than Mephisto? He does absolutely love pretending to be dead people to manipulate Marvel superheroes and villains alike, and his Wrong Quicksilver guise might well keep us off the trail.

#WandaVision Basically the end of episode 5 pic.twitter.com/lND9tUN4yp

— where the stimmy reside. where the stimmy reside. (@Smilinjai) February 7, 2021

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 5

For the Children

Vision wants to know why Billy and Tommy are the only children in Westview, but if you’ve watched trailers that show us glimpses of WandaVision‘s upcoming Halloween episode – where Wanda and Vision finally get to wear their comics-accurate costumes – you may have noticed that Vision is surrounded by children trick-or-treating through the town.

It appears the “no children” situation is about to be fixed posthaste, but there are still indications that children are very much a liability inside The Hex. During episode 5, Agnes says that children can’t be controlled, and Wanda appears perplexed and a little infuriated that her own kids are immune to the effects of her powers.

Putting that aside, where have the children of Westview gone? And why have they been removed from the equation? Are they being held captive because they would see straight through Wanda’s perfect white picket fence life and be utterly terrified that their parents are acting weird as hell?

Some fans are wondering if there’s an even more nefarious reason for their disappearance – perhaps someone or something is using their lifeforce to grow powerful inside the womb of The Hex. A certain red-faced demon? Mmmaybe not, but there is some worrying Age of Ultron foreshadowing for Billy and Tommy’s sudden existence…

Scene that stuck out to me in AoU considering where we are at in WandaVision. from WANDAVISION

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 5

Recap Rewind

Are the “previously on WandaVision” recaps actually all part of the illusion? This meta theory began in earnest after episode 5’s recap when we saw a new version of Wanda explaining to Vision why Monica Rambeau had vanished.

When this scene played out at the end of episode 4, Wanda expelled Monica from The Hex and told her special red popsicle that ‘Geraldine’ was simply no longer around because “she had to rush home”, but in episode 5’s opening recap Wanda’s words had changed to “she doesn’t belong here.”

It’s worth noting that the show’s recaps are always introduced in Elizabeth Olsen’s voice, and this particular alteration is certainly very curious.

The way that Wanda says "Previously on Wandavision" gets a little more sober per episode.#Wandavision pic.twitter.com/CZIOSjWRs9

— Elizabeth Olsen Access (@LizzieContent) February 7, 2021

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 5

Hail Hayward

As soon as we clapped eyes on new SWORD director Tyler Hayward, we instinctively knew he was going to turn out to be a wrongun, and our fears were justified when he immediately hijacked Monica’s plan to reason with Wanda using an old Stark drone.

Yes, that git really strapped a missile to it and ordered his men to take the shot. He must have been snacking on the wrong local mushrooms when he came up with that plan – sir, Wanda Maximoff almost took down Thanos, are you for real?

So, is Hayward just a misguided military man with absolutely no concept of how powerful Wanda is or how quick her reflexes are, or was he deliberately trying to make her mad to destabilize the situation? Is he just another in a long line of confident, strong-jawed men who have risen to the top of government oversight organizations in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who later turn out to be working for HYDRA?

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 4

Get Stoned

The theory that all of this comes back to the Mind Stone has been around since the very first episode of WandaVision started streaming, but it’s only grown in popularity every time Vision has done something extraordinary in the show. It’s hard to argue with the notion that Vision’s head bling isn’t just for decoration here – he’s able to use the powers of the Mind Stone in Westview to expose the town’s secrets when Wanda isn’t around, ergo the stone itself might be a very real presence.

But if the infinity stone is here, how has it returned? As revealed in Avengers: Endgame, Thanos reduced his version of it down to the atomic level far away from Earth, and Cap took the stolen Scepter containing the Mind Stone to its rightful place in 2012, presumably to deliver it back into the hands of HYDRA, who would go on to perform experiments with it that enhanced Wanda and Pietro Maximoff before it was used to create Ultron and Vision. But did all go as planned or did the Mind Stone fall into the grasp of someone else, creating a branch reality that Wanda (or someone else) was able to exploit?

Another theory also posits that since destroying it at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Wanda has become the living embodiment of the Mind Stone, which is why her powers seem to have increased exponentially. Hmm.

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 2

Watch Next

The first time an episode of WandaVision finished and Disney+ suggested we watch Avengers: Age of Ultron, no one paid it too much attention. After the second, third, fourth, and fifth time it happened, it became an amusing meme on social media. But what if there’s a very good reason that Marvel is so keen for us to re-watch the film again 5+ years after its release?

Tons of people caught up in the intriguing events of the spinoff series are now choosing to go back and mine the Marvel blockbuster for clues, wondering if everything we really need to know about the truth of the story is right there for the taking.

We re-watched Age of Ultron ourselves, once in preparation for WandaVision and again halfway through to see if it changed the way we viewed the events of the movie. It definitely seems to have taken on a new depth, and the Avengers’ chatter about humanity’s doomed future rings clearer.

Thor’s random vision quest, where he skipped out on the plot to go take an underwater peek into the future, also feels more essential. Okay, yes, there’s Heimdall’s assertion that Thor would lead them all “into Hell” – another possible hint that Mephisto is on the horizon – but there’s also that dire warning from Thor upon his return.

He says he saw “a whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center, the Mind Stone.” Was this really a reflection of Ultron’s plans for it, or was it setting the stage for WandaVision‘s finale?

Watching the avengers age of ultron again, so my sister can understand #WandaVision. pic.twitter.com/l9HsgTKnu3

— shoot (@AgirlnamedShoot) February 7, 2021

Pinches of Paprika Out of Ten: 1

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Have you heard any juicy new theories about WandaVision after last week’s episode? Let us know in the comments.

The post WandaVision Episode 5 Theories Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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castielartandcomics · 7 years

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OKAY. THE TIME HAS COME FOR THIS POST TO BE MADE. Even if it will be just a bunch of projects and me talking about them, it’s something I’ve been willing to do since a lot of time, mostly for a bit of self-esteem and to let you know that I’m actually working on stuff.

Since this will be a long post with some pictures, everything is under the cut! >:3

Honestly, I could start with a list of all the reasons why I haven’t been posting much, but the main reasons are low self-esteem and little to no time to do my stuff. School has been killing me slowly in the latest times, so the main reason why I post so little it’s actually academic work, nothing more and nothing less. ... this being said, let’s begin from what is REALLY interesting. >:3c

Gastertale

First of all, YES, I’m still working on Gastertale! And I’m extremly sorry for the long gap between the pages: the next page IS done, I just need to add dialogues, but I still haven’t for the simple reason that I don’t want to publish it only to make you wait other three months for another page. Hopefully soon I’ll return to have a bit of time, and at this point I’ll make pages more often and way better. I’ve improved a lot in this months, and despite there will probably be a little gap of style too between one page and another, I think I’ll be able to give you something more! My objective when I’ll restart to post it is to make at least one page a week and give a bit of a regular schedule, but about regularity it’s something that we’ll have to see (again, academic work). But hey, at least I’ll try to make you wait less than three months for the next page! </3

Plus, to confirm that something IS actually done:

preview, WOHOO!!

Sonic Humanitymorph & Sonic Battle Remastered

Basically. I want to draw more Sonic, and I want to draw him with a purpose. It’s... kind of a long story, but I’ll make it short for you because I don’t want to annoy you with melancholic and dramatic stuff (?). In a few words, I want to build new memories with Sonic and company, since my first memories are... kind of lost. I literally grew up with him, yet I remember little to nothing about his stories and about me in that period, and it’s something that makes me suffer a bit. SO! I’d really love to build new memories and honour a hero I’m really fond to, and I’d love to make this with you all! Since I also noticed that you really like my human!Sonic characters, so-! /)u(\

So, basically, the ideas are: MORE human characters. I still have your suggestions, I simply didn’t have the time to think about them, but I will surely do it! I’d love to make a lot more of the characters, if not all of them! And together with it, also another thing inspired by @slightly-gay-pogohammer‘s adaptation of Rayman “I’m Only Human”, which consist in adaptations of some of my favourite Sonic’s games, but in human form. And with some basic differences of course. I’m already working on it - my idea is of comics (as you could imagine, since I’m writing this on my art blog) but with a “much faster” style that will let me publish pages with a pretty fast rate (gotta go fast). Basically, sketches, and my sketches are very clean so the result should be pretty good. I’m working on Sonic Battle (which name will be Sonic Battle Remastered), which... SOMEHOW is still one of my favourite games of ALL TIMES, but in the list there’s also Sonic Riders Zero Gravity. And for the otheeerrrssss... well. I’m open to suggestions? :3

Rick and Morty: Kattebel

Remember him?

Rick I-T2B2, my personal interpretation of Rick Sanchez. WELP, I made him with a story in mind - and I actually thought of this verse’s versions of Morty, Summer, Jerry and Beth, even if I still haven’t drwan them because, again, freaking academic work. I’m tired, guys. What I have in mind with them is telling the story via comics, but in a slightly different way. I have little images with them, nothing that can be considered a full episode “worth” of a classic comic adaptation, that I think would be pretty cool if done in the simplest way, like a series of images without the need of making a full page. ... I’m not sure if I explained myself correctly, but in two word: SIMPLER STUFF. I’d love to make them, mostly because it’s a little and fun way of exploring this verse and its dinamics more than with just drawings of the characters. After all, I do want to tell you stories, and I should start to actually do it FOR GOOD, even in the simplest of ways! ... despite... yes, I actually have a more complex comic with Rick I-T2B2, about the “origin” of the condition of him and Morty (and by reflection of the whole family). So I think you can expect something bigger here too, despite it will be a MUCH shorter comic!

DEPONIA LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW

[FINGERGUNS] LET’S TALK ABOUT DEPONIA. First objective: actually finish the games. I have them since... a lot, and I still haven’t finished them for-- well, you know by now. An objective is surely to finally play the last two chapters and cry my eyes out, but we’re here for art, so here’s my project with Deponia:

first, drawing it more. Like... a lot more. I have many little ideas for illustrations and many others for little sequences that I think are pretty funny that I’d LOVE to do. I just need to DO THEM. Also, I have a whole lyricstuck in my mind with the Deponia series, and I’d love to make it! Or at least try, I’m not used to lyricstuck. But they’re so good,, Then, I have two projects comic related: one is... little stories. Pretty much it. Something probably of no more than five-ten pages long per story, little missing moments that might be interesting. And angsty, maybe, probably, I’m not sure. The other is... adaptation. Yes, at this point you might have noticed that I love adaptations. It’s just a little idea, but I’ve always found (probably because I’m a comic artist tbh) that the Deponia games would be... really good in comic format. And mostly for training I thought, “hey, I might try some!”. An idea would be of making the whole series as a comic, but I’m not really sure I can do it - but I’m pretty sure I can make little parts of it! It’s a project I had in mind for quite some months by now, and I remembered about it some days ago since I was looking in my folders and...

a WIP was found. Ten points and a biscuit to whoever guesses the scene. This will probably be mostly training, unless things change or something very cool happens. I lowkey dream sometimes that they’ll hire me, but. It’s just a dream. On the other hand, I might open suggestions for scenes to adapt in the games! uvu ... when I’ll finish the games.

Left 4 Dead 2

Am I late?... naaah. You don’t even have idea of how many ideas I have for this fandom, and all in comic form, just to make my life easier. I have no idea of when I might make these, but will probably be sketchy, pencil stuff, and I will enjoy every moment of them. Boy, I love these characters. I want to tell stories with them,

Oxygen Not Included

I HAVE. A STORY IN MIND. And it will be long, angsty, harsh and tragic probably. I don’t have any WIP nor I can tell many details at the moment because,, I guess it would be spoiler? But, it will be an experiment and something that it’ll be interesting for me to try! All that is needed to understand is,, when I’ll be able to make it, honestly-

And for something less comic-y: references

Because I realized I often post sketches, but not actual references of my OCs. I mean fullbodies fully coloured, with palettes and objects and STUFF. It will be a pretty funny thing for me to do, because the versions I’ll give you of my OCs will be slightly different from the “final” version I’ll show you when I’ll be able to tell you their story - because YUP, I’m working on those too, but for now it’s still a very big work in progress, so I’m still not ready to show you stuff. ;3c But basically, an objective of mine is references. Make those darn characters references with nice palettes and cool stuff, so that you’ll actually have,, at least some more infos than a black and white sketch. ... and a good reference in case you want to draw them? I don’t know just,, dreaming a little bit,, I’ll make the references for the OCs I’ve published (so most probably the ones I’ve put and will put more on @mcmentics, because I’ll surely add someone else in there soon), and after making Leda’s reference sheet (because Gio requested him to be the first >:3c) I might put it “to the vote” to decide in which order make all the others. <3 ... or simply go and make them all with the order I want. I don’t know. Let’s see what the future will offer us. <3

And those other projects?

SECRETS (?) But actually, I have told you just the main projects I have. Some (many, actually) I’ll keep as a secret for now, some are just too vague to make a post about it. But, another project is surely to livestream more! Again, I’ll need to see when I’ll have some time, but as for now I’m starting to have some free moments for myself, and I’d love to share them with you! >:3

AAAAND okay, this post got really really long. </3 Sorry, I thought I would have been much faster, but I had so much to say, haha- I’m sorry if something isn’t explained very good, I’m a bit tired after waking up at 5am for academy (and it’s 10.30pm now so,,), but in case something interests you and you wish more infos, my inbox is always open!! <3

Have a wonderful day/afternoon/evening for now, and hopefully,, I’ll start to make something BIG soon! :D Thank you for reading! <3

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howlingmoonrise · 4 years

Text

Dear Yuletide Author

Hi! Thanks for signing up for Yuletide despite the hell year it’s been, I hope you have fun with your assignment!

I ramble a lot so everything is below the cut. Obviously you don’t have to follow any of this (though I hope you’ll respect my squicks) but hopefully this will help you out!

general things i like

so much pining. all the pining. pining everywhere plz.

continuing from above, PINING. i mean it. i prefer a thousand times over idiots in love who are having a hard time wrapping their minds around it than an already established relationship.

either gen or romantic is fine! what really does it for me is the development of the relationship, platonic or otherwise. it’s all about the growing intimacy and understanding and character dynamics and interactions and developing trust and finding kinship and growing respect for the other and subconsciously learning to lean on the other over anyone else and--

i love love love enemies-to-reluctant-allies-(to-maybe-friends?)-to-lovers and bickering pairs in general! it’s so much fun and it gives us so many opportunities for character and relationship developments okay i’m a slut for that shit

sticking to the original characterizations and the tone of canon is a definite plus!!!

“missing scenes” and “what if” canon-divergent situations are excellent, as are continuations from where canon left us depending on the fandom! more details on the sections for the respective fandoms i GUESS

casual intimacy is super fun, especially when adapted to the character dynamics. a bickering pair being casually comfortable adds a whole new depth to it, enemy dynamics makes is hilarious since the other half would have zero clue as to how to react, a pair that is already comfortable with each other that they do stuff without communicating is so intimate, mix and match however you like!

fun tropes i enjoy (a bit romance-leaning but if you’re not into that then some of these can probably be adapted): fake dating, accidentally got roped into x and shenanigans of all sorts keep happening, misunderstood confessions, groundhog day au, one or both the characters having stupid levels of denial while technically in a relationship and just not realizing it like What Do You Mean We’re Dating??, that sorta thing.

TROPE SUBVERSION ALL THE WAY!

general things i dislike

kidfics. babyfics. next gen fics. pregnancy fics, or even pregnancy discussed in the fic is a major squick of mine. the one exception i make for kidfics is for kids already existent in canon and even then it depends, but no babies or children otherwise please.

future fics/time skips in general, actually. what i enjoy is the relationship development, so huge time skips make me feel like we missed way too much

angst is... mrrmf. it really depends on how it’s done, but usually it feels like it’s angst for the sake of angst instead of giving the fic some actual meat. as a result of this, i’d pass at least on most content with major character death, sexual abuse, self-harm, gender/sexuality angst, the like. beyond that, feel free to go ahead!

hard AUs are a bit ugh to me. by this i mean AUs that rely heavily on setting, such as high school AUs, harry potter AUs, that sort of thing. i DO however enjoy stuff like soulmate AUs and alternate canon AUs, depending on the concept and on the fandom. more details in their own sections if you enjoy writing those!

i heavily dislike things involving cheating/infidelity, sickfics, and genderbending of any kind is a bit ehhhh for me, as are concepts such as ABO. hard pass on stuff like dysphoria and deep diving into mental illnesses and disorders, too.

script-based or roleplay fic is not really my preferred format, i really enjoy prose instead of nearly all dialogue!

stuff with bigotry in general, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc as well as discussions of it is a pass in general. it’s not a HUGE squick but i’d rather not see it if possible

discussions and thoughts on gender/sexuality. if you’re gonna make them gay/bi/etc, make them gay/bi/etc, no exploration of it added. delving into the psyche of it is a hard pass.

if you’re going for nsfw

kinks

moderate sadomasochism, uncommon forms of bondage (plants, stuck with strange substance or in awkward position, the shadows from p&tf as restraints, etc), choking/breathplay, xenophilia and tentacles/alien genitals (shadowplay in p&tf for example), moderate degradation, edging/desperation play, ladies topping and calling the shots, bloodplay/knifeplay, long hair dragging over skin, sharp nails/claws (charlotte la bouff, morticia), lowkey cannibalism imagery and hunger, biting, ladies stepping on body parts with their heels on

squicks

scat, vomit, praise kink, daddy/mommy or baby kink, vore, forced feminization, pet play, wound-fucking, abuse, abo, anything involving pregnancy at all

PRINCESS AND THE FROG

i am 100% aware this is a weird-ass pairing but gods, the possibilities. it has so much potential. there are few things i like quite as much as a villain and a good person developing a strange sort of kinship with each other >u> this doesn’t have to mean a romantic development, if it’s not your thing! as i said, for me it’s the building understanding and reluctant respect that i really love, far more than the actual romance.

ideas, ideas, ideas. i’m aware this is a rare relationship to either portray or ask for, so i’m gonna try to give some more concrete-ish ones for you to build up on if you have no clue as to how to approach this.

we could have canonverse with charlotte dealing with the shadowman in some other, unrelated matter while the main plot is occurring, making him feel somewhat guilty about the whole marriage plot with laurence-turned-naveen. cue introspection, or even an entirely different outcome.

or a post-canon sort of hades&persephone plot (please no actual hades and persephone au though), with charlotte curious despite herself and tempted to listen to a shadow/dead/whatever!dr facilier when she’s the only one that can hear him.

in a continuation from above, OR her being dragged Beneath with him in a freak accident and then charming him into helping her back to the surface/living world (very, veeeeery reluctantly on his part, at least at the start, he might have even be thinking of tricking her but then change his mind when the time comes to do it).

i think dr facilier wouldn’t be sure how to deal with charlotte’s particular brand of personality and good humour, and it’d throw him off his rhythm a lot - that sort of thing is always super fun to write.

soulmate au in canon would work pretty well, but with this pairing? you could even do a FULL AU, keeping only basic stuff like the shadowman thing to her normal bougie self; it’s one of her charms. (and their personalities, of course). stuff like charlotte thinking that she wants one thing (her prince-slash-one-true-love, etc) while keeping getting drawn to him time and time again could work on pretty much any era or setting. vice-versa for him, thinking he wants to be rid of her but coming to realize he’d actually miss her if she were to be gone. OR, charlotte deciding she wants this sullen manipulative bastard and manipulating HIM into taking her out and hanging out with her would be hilarious.

if you wanna do nsfw, i have only one major request: charlotte calling the shots/topping. i think this arrangement would be in character for both of them (dr facilier would prob also enjoy having someone else do all the work lol) considering her go-getter attitude, but keeping in mind his manipulative personality i’d be more comfortable if she had some control over what was happening. ASIDE FROM THAT, d’you know what would be fun? a little darkness, and by that i mean consider dr facilier’s shadow joining in on the fun. shadows would also be an interesting sort of constraint. also i know i said charlotte calling the shots, but she can be constrained by the shadows while being amused by it or being used to it (implying it’s not the first time that they’ve used it in bed play and that it’s therefore negotiated), or charlotte could team up with the shadow to do it to facilier instead. charlotte using her nails and facilier being a bit of a sub/masochist would be excellent!

(actually in general it’d be really fun if there was some complicity between charlotte and facilier’s shadow in general, nsfw or otherwise. the shadow being wrapped around her little finger is an excellent concept, especially if facilier isn’t too fond of her just yet OwO)

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

oh boy. let me just begin by saying that this really isn’t my usual kind of pairing, by sheer virtue of them being perfectly happy and established in canon. HOWEVER, they’re goth and they’re odd and they’re kinky and they’re delightful to watch interact (i’m familiar with the movie canon featuring anjelica and raúl and a few (few!) of the comics, so idk about other dynamics) and so they’ve managed to creep their way into my blackened little heart.

THAT BEING SAID, my absolute biggest wish for this fandom would be pre-relationship. i don’t mind if canon is twisted a bit for this, considering that they presumably met and proposed on the very same day, so it’s definitely a bit hard to work with. perhaps some shenanigans with the funeral itself? or gomez has a date/fiancée already and so there’s some juggling of priorities here while he’s absolutely falling over himself in order to continue looking at that gothic vision of a woman? or an old family feud, or them just being downright useless at knowing how to deal with proper romance (on morticia’s side, i’d imagine she’d only grow more stoic and be at a loss of what to say. on gomez’s side, it’s probably his first time being speechless, or he’s not speechless but he’s flirted so much in his life that he doesn’t know what to do with these actual literal feelings, what the hell is this and how does he show he actually means it this time??), or morticia has a long string of dead fiancés black widow-style (i think she and debbie would have gotten along great if given the chance okay), or a soulmate au where they don’t realize it’s each other right away, or morticia amusedly pretends to be dating gomez before they know each other to get him out of a bind, or they’re somehow roped into someone else’s shenanigans and don’t know how to react to each other (my money is on either ophelia or cousin itt putting them in a bind), the sky is the limit!

if you’re more comfortable writing established, however, casual intimacy or smut are the best! give me a moment of respite where they are just comfortable basking in each other’s presence, or when they’re separated for a moment at an event or something and the longing is burning all the way across them until they come back together again (y’know, in the good old way of the script). for smut, morticia being a mostly stoic dom maybe? (though yes, i know she’s very much into being tied up and tortured, i can’t really see her as a normal sub unless it’s really something languid and drawn-out - she doesn’t really read as someone who spends a lot of energy doing things others will do for her). they’re both definitely into pain and bondage too; morticia conflating arousal with hunger would also be really interesting to see (think praying mantis or lady spider who is actually very invested on not taking off her partner’s head, but who dreams of it all the same. gomez is, of course, very much into it). something lowkey macabre would be amazing.

things i’d like to see for this fandom in general are:

morticia being her stoic vampiric goddess of a self

gomez being completely twitterpatted for her as usual

burning sultry glares/staring across the room

overly passionate hand-kissing

creepy/gothic atmosphere

you know, like canon. (with non-existent or minimal kid existence, though)

references to horror stuff/general creepiness like sudden lightning, casual poisonings and dealings with death, dracula references, etc, like the movies would be super fun, as campy as possible! half the greatness of the movies come from these imho

MONSTROUS REGIMENT

i have a confession to make: it’s been a while since i last read it, and so i fear i won’t be as helpful in giving ideas/dynamics for this fandom as i was in the others.

i have one request - apart from what i’ve already rambled on about above - and that is for at least polly to be portrayed as female (or close enough, although not quite non-binary). to make it clearer: i usually see them both as female, even if not female-presenting (it’s funny because as i was writing this i actually kept writing about maladict as “he” so frankly it’s whatever, i definitely prefer “maladict” to “maladicta” at least in terms of names though) but chaffing to fit the roles that “female” comes along with, especially with maladict and the expectations for female vampires. i’d rather the fic not have gender or sexuality exploration, since like i said above i think it detracts from the meat of the stuff - if you want to see maladict as male, write him male with male pronouns (keeping the female vampire backstory if you’re keeping it canon, otherwise it wouldn’t really make sense). if you want to make her female, write her female with female pronouns. i’d pass on they/them pronouns though. i don’t particularly care either way outside of polly however, just don’t delve into the psyche/introspection of it please.

if you have different views on their genders and it would make you uncomfortable to write female polly or non-they/them maladict, then that’s fine with me as well! these are just my preferences, and i thought i’d elaborate on them since the fandom has many perspectives on this topic.

with that out of the way, on to more interesting stuff!

what’s good: their interactions. oh dear loki, their interactions. they have my favourite dynamic in the whole book, and they’re weirdly comfortable with each other (especially since polly lowkey threatens maladict after kicking the other dude in the nads, in my view that moment probably got his undead little heart skipping a beat (do vampires have beating hearts on discworld? i haven’t read enough discworld to remember this)) and they understand each other the best out of the rest of the squad. maladict teasing polly and pretending to be cool before polly catches on to him is absolutely hilarious, and i absolutely love maladict trying (and failing!! horribly!!) at being smooth. also polly blackmailing people left and right is absolutely fantastic.

as you can probably guess, i’d love some canon-verse interactions. perhaps alternate scenes or what-ifs of canon events, or even extra scenes during the ongoing plot of the book. OR, post-book, once they have their own squad of little lads and have to figure out how the hell to handle that, or shenanigans where they have some sort of mission or official event elsewhere and resolutely stick together because “if i have to deal with this then so do you”. or some hilarity with maladict desperately going after every coffee grain available so he doesn’t just bury his face on polly’s neck because she smells so good but that would be an awkward conversation to have and he’d rather die (again) than admit to that.

what else? AUs! feel free to completely tear apart the canon discworld, though i’d request polly remain her ass-kicking clever self and maladict an awkward vampire. maybe maladict has to deal with diaphanous underwired nightgowns. maybe polly has to deal with diaphanous underwired nightgowns. vampire politics? satirical awkward dracula au? maladict failing horribly at being a vampire (failing at being a female vampire or trying to pass at being a male vampire and failing at that, too)? they’re all great!

what matters to me is their banter and the way they keep falling into pace with each other, regardless of the way they begin. a good dose of sardonical pratchett-style humour would also be welcome ;)

thank you so much for staying with me this far! i hope you have a grand time this yuletide, and that you enjoy your own requested fic as well!

#yuletide 2020 #dear yuletide author #yuletide #howl rambles a lot

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