#not that. she is a tool. in the more slang way

[bookwyrminspiration]

truly have got to reread it again and see how it is! i think i read it for the first time probably somewhere in 2022 and it changed my entire life and i've ofc reread it several times since; to me it's very acod in the sense that you go forward to the next book and then something happens and you can never go back with the same knowledge you came in with--which is a common enough story trope, but it also is used to SUCH devastating effect!!! writing style wise the locked tomb has historically paved the way for probably some of the most detailed sensory fanart i have ever seen which is why i love it so much. it's SO vivid quil it's SO!!!! AGH in the same sense that i lose it over the sound design of the magnus archives the verbage and diction that muir uses in her writing is so wonderful. and obviously insane confusing things happen that genuinely do not make sense unless put in the Entire Context and that is very acod-esque, although they are perhaps more absurd and filled with memes for the fandom/web-cultured haha. i would have to like bring a magnifying glass to confirm the observations though! perhaps make more comparisons, one day! in the summer or something!

In the time since you sent this ask I have now read the entire locked tomb trilogy, conducted a survey on it, and wrote a 10 page group paper on it and religious trauma.

So now I can say: I concur! Obviously they're very different series, but the use of hindsight/retrospect is similar. You have these situations you understand in one way, but there's clearly more going on, and then you learn and everything you know is recontextualized. Relos Var is Rev'arric is Solan's brother is Kihrin's brother is the one who killed him, Gideon is dead is haunting Harrow by Harrow's design is Jod's tool of a daughter, etc.

Which, yes, a lot of stories use, but it doesn't always hit the same. And acod and tlt not only hit, it's a home run and also they've caved your skull in. twice.

And the depth of the worlds!! The confusion! Tamsyn Muir and Jenn Lyons said understanding the plot and knowing who the main character is is a privilege, not a right. And I've never been more in love.

That too! the conversations about relationships, as an aroace in a qpr, get me!! LOVE to see it

tlt is more memey (though acod does have cold clam broth), and acod is more sexual, but I get the comparison you were making and had it in the back of my head the whole time I was reading the series. i have another friend who's read tlt who may also read acod so in that case we can triple check with them :)

[oriley42]

Serious question but no need to answer if you don’t want to

I see a lot of talk about Amber’s portrayal being sexist in the show, but I’m not quite sure why? To me her motives always seemed really well-defined (high pressure = “I’m only worthy when I’m successful”) so she puts on this sharky mask with a feminine facade so she is feminine enough to get a certain amount of approval but never shows how much she cares (which could be used against her but also could be used to undermine her “oh you’re too soft”). I thought the show did an excellent job of showing a mask for her

But a lot of people talk about 00s sexism and how it impacts her characterization. The sexism… Is it that she gets called a cutthroat bitch? Or how her story revolves around a man after she leaves House’s team? Is it the fridging?

Any of those could be it I guess but it just sounds like you and others are talking about something a little more fundamental to her personhood so I thought I’d ask if I’m missing anything.

Very interesting question! I think you're getting at exactly the trickiness of the issue, which is that sexism always operates systemically. It's not that any key aspect of Amber's character "is" misogynist, it's that every aspect of her character is automatically filtered through a lens of sexism.

In today's world where "bitch" has been very de-clawed, turned into a more casual and way less gendered insult that's used without cruel intention in queer slang, I think it's hard to understand just how violent the term was--and was meant to be--in the aughts. House in canon is not calling Amber a bitch in a cute, almost self-deprecating, friendly way (though I think it's valid to re-write it that way in fic to defuse the term!). He is calling her a bitch to contain and belittle and dehumanize her. We see the term mobilized this way against Cuddy in 5 to 9 as well: calling a woman a bitch was an extremely powerful rhetorical tool to turn any dangerously competent, brilliant, threateningly accomplished woman back into a harmless, debased, controllable object. So, "CB" reflects how easily the fact that Amber is the "female House" gets turned against her--it doesn't mean she's an eccentric genius like him, it means she's an evil copycat who needs to be put down. And this kind of structural logic applies to her whole characterization--it doesn't matter that House does it all more frequently and worse, if she does it, it's unacceptable because she's a woman. (There are parallels here with how racism means that when Foreman acts like House, he also gets the axe instead of the narrative bending over backwards to make what he did alright.) That's why she was fired, after all!

And her death. Woof. Classic case of killing a woman for man-pain. Everything supposedly about her death is actually about how her violent destruction can be used to fuel Wilson and House's character arcs. The narrative is occasionally conscious of this, for example, Wilson saying "none of you even liked Amber" is an almost metatextual reminder of how cruelly she was disenfranchised in every way (including the sexism of her trying to "defect" to the men's team early on, having no female friends, because unlike House who has so many people orbiting him, she is truly alone). Comparing her death to Kutner's is instructive: Kutner gets a whole episode that's about characters desperately trying to know him better. They trace their relationships towards him. Amber, on the other hand, is nearly absent from her own death. The characters trace away from her and towards the way male characters feel (Wilson's loss, House's guilt). Amber becomes just an imagined figure of House's guilt. Even her ghost is not her own. (Though I think many fans do a more feminist read and reclaim the way she haunts the narrative--but imho that would be a negotiated if not fully oppositional reading, to use Stuart Hall's decoding/encoding terms.)

One easy way to see that gendered difference is in how the show refers to these characters after death. Kutner is always "Kutner," never just "House's dead fellow" or rarely "our dead colleague." Amber is often referred to as "Wilson's dead girlfriend." Kutner is his own person, Amber rhetorically gets reduced to an object belonging to a man.

In conclusion: sexism operates structurally, which can make it hard to identify! And one of the funny effects of contemporary fandom doing so much good work to un-fridge women and give marginalized female characters richer personalities and more chances to grow is that canon's intended message of sexism gets obscured. Which, is awesome? Keep up the good work! Let's make misogyny unintelligible 🎉

[novlr]

I’m just starting out with writing, and I really want my characters to feel different from each other. How do I make sure they have their own unique voices so my readers can tell them apart?

Experiment with character dialect

Dialect refers to the language people use when they speak: their accent, their slang, their regional or generational vernacular. When we think of “dialect”, we often think of things like “y’all” or “yer man” or “innit” — clichéd indications of place. You can definitely use these in your story, but also challenge yourself to go deeper.

Dialect can be a result of generational trends — you’ll notice that today’s teenagers don’t talk the same way their parents or grandparents do! Words fade in and out of fashion all the time. They can also be tied to a particular industry or subculture. When developing each character’s unique voice, consider what kind of slang or specialised language they might incorporate into the way they speak. 

Vary your characters’ syntax

Syntax has to do with the way we structure our sentences. Some characters will use only short, compact sentences, while others will ramble for miles. Some will always use grammatically correct language, while others will speak in fragments. 

A useful exercise is to write a conversation between two characters who use very different syntax in the way they talk. You can take their different approaches to the comical extreme until you get a sense of their different voices, and then dial it back and incorporate their individual syntaxes with more subtlety.  

Consider your characters’ word choices

There are very few true synonyms in the English language; each word has its own distinct connotation and tone. For example, one character might describe themselves as loquacious, while another describes them as a motormouth. Or, they might describe an authority figure as derisive, while the other character says they’re mean. 

The words a character lands on in any given situation can communicate a lot about how they see the world and themselves. 

Put your characters in moments of conflict

Conflict, tension, and suspense reveal who your characters really are. One character might become loud and aggressive, while another shuts down and speaks only in quiet monosyllables. Sometimes, a character’s voice contrasts the words they’re saying (you can communicate this through dialogue and action tags); for example, if a character says, “I’m not afraid!” in a strained, rattling voice, that belies their fear. 

As an exercise, try writing an argument between two of your characters and explore how the tension changes the way they speak. Then, you can incorporate this into your story.

Don’t neglect body language

On that note, a big part of a character’s distinct voice is the way they behave when they talk. You can convey this through action tags (“She hugged herself tight as she spoke”) or through descriptions surrounding the dialogue. 

Look at how your character holds themself — do they sprawl, taking command of the space, or do they try to make themself disappear? Do they only half-listen to the person talking to them, or do they make them feel like they’re the centre of the world? The way you communicate body language to the reader will inform the way they hear that character’s voice.

Read your work out loud

When you’ve finished the first draft of a story, it’s always a good idea to read your work out loud. This helps you catch any misused words, typos (the age of autocorrect is notorious for this), or inauthentic speech. You don’t have to let anyone hear you while you do this — it’s simply a tool for you as the writer to get a better sense of how your words come across on the page.

When you read, listen to each character’s dialogue and check to make sure it sounds true to that particular character. If you can’t tell the character voices apart, you may need to create a little more distinction through your revision process, using the tools we looked at above. 

Listen to character voices in the wild

A great way to develop your ear for character voices and get inspired along the way is to listen to the way real people talk. Go to a public park, a café, or a marketplace and stealthily absorb the language people use to express themselves. See if you can get a sense of what they’re thinking and feeling underneath their words. Then, you can incorporate elements of these experiences into your characters. 

Remember — human beings are unfathomably complex. Each is the epicentre of their own little universe, with all its dangers and joys. To create characters that readers will follow to the end, ensure that each one has a voice that’s unique and alive. 

[markantonys]

WoT Up had a new video which is of course take it with a grain of salt as with most of his videos however this one was super interesting. It's about the Choedan Kal and how supposedly in the show they're getting renamed to Sarkanen (which is a sa'angreal Demandred uses in River of Souls I guess?) and in s3, Moiraine finds one of them in Rhuidean and is sucked into using it outside of her control.

Which sounds very interesting but of course there's the Rand stans who are like "Here they go again taking things away from Rand and giving them to other characters!" Rand doesn't even use the Choedan Kal til Winter's Heart. Like calm down lol

Plus I definitely feel like like this will would be to show/foreshadow for the audience that they're dangerous to use for whenever they do the Cleansing. And even getting into the differences between Saidar and Saidin?

re: the name change. To avoid people on the show saying "chode" is my guess. Which is a slang term I didn't even know about until today 😂

thank you for bringing me the TLDR so i don't have to watch a 10-minute video for 2 sentences of "news" haha when it comes to WoT Up i'm taking it with a bucket of salt rather than just a grain, but that aside, let's engage with this hypothetical show change!

name change: no issue for me! lmao it's very true that the show might change some terms here and there to avoid running into slang that has developed in the time since the books came out. no discussions of the dark one's taint here!

if those rand stans had their way, he would be the only character in the entire show. yes moirane is likely transitioning into a more supporting role in s3 (just as she was less in the spotlight in s2 compared to s1), but she's still a main character and needs something to do besides just hanging around in the background giving rand advice. us getting to actually witness moiraine's rhuidean trip onscreen feels like a no-brainer, and her having a mini-adventure with a dangerous sa'angreal is a neat idea for giving her a good story beat! AND in doing so we get a preview of how dangerous sa'angreal can be for even a channeler as disciplined and highly trained as moiraine, which would be very useful for us to see. it's important to set up stakes & risks early on so that the audience will already be conscious of them when the time comes to challenge those stakes and take those risks!

and there's no reason for rand to already start acquiring a whole hoard of Surprise Tools To Help Us Later that he won't use for 3 more seasons lmao i'd entirely forgotten rhuidean even was where he got the choedan kal until it started coming up in s3 speculation discussions, because it's sooooo far removed from when he actually starts using them. and same for callandor ofc, where just because he didn't get it pre-waste doesn't mean it's cut from the show, maybe he's just going to get it later closer to when he actually needs it (i'd be surprised if the stone is cut since it was foreshadowed twice in s1, but i don't have a strong sense either way about callandor itself just yet).

i really like @butterflydm's idea that maybe callandor could be the only super-powerful male sa'angreal in the show, and rand's Dark Power Temptation is instead the true power rather than supernova levels of saidin via the choedan kal. so in this theory, maybe moiraine picks up the one and only super-powerful female sa'angreal in rhuidean which nynaeve eventually uses for the cleansing, and rand gets the one and only super-powerful male sa'angreal from the stone at a later date. now we're all geared up for the cleansing, we still get the "saidin & saidar teamwork" theme even if the 2 cleansing sa'angreal aren't twins of each other, callandor could still have its flaw but they could reason that it doesn't come into play in the cleansing since he's linked with a saidar channeler (ik it has to be 2 saidar channelers in the book version but we can finagle that) and oh, then that actually sets up a method for them to be able to figure out how to use callandor properly that isn't just "min, who has 0 knowledge of angreal or the power, supposedly figured it out offscreen from reading the wikipedia article on philosophy" haha if rand already did use it successfully once, it would be doable for min or whoever to compare his successful & unsuccessful uses and determine what the deciding factor is.

although maybe there's still a male sarkanen too in the show and rand finds it later in a different location! plenty of possibilities.

re: the differences between saidar and saidin, the show has already very clearly shown how different the channeling experience is for men and women and very clearly established that they are using 2 different halves of the one power. and it's done all this just using generic terms like "the male/female half of the source" to make it easier for show-onlys to learn and understand the magic system. so it's now well-positioned to start dropping in the official terminology saidar and saidin now that show-onlys are very solid on the gender-based magic system and will be less at risk for mixing up two very similar fantasy jargon words (i know it took ME a while to keep straight which was which of saidar & saidin when i started the books, and keeping track of fantasy jargon is even harder in an auditory medium imo). but even if they don't ever use the words saidar & saidin, i will not gaf because the show is so clearly following the book magic system and explaining it accurately to viewers even if it doesn't use the specific fantasy jargon terms for it.

i saw somebody say that cutting the pool of saidin at the eye was yet another example of the show diminishing the importance of rand & male channelers, and i was like...........the pool of saidin? the pool of saidin that is never seen or mentioned again after book 1? the pool of saidin that i'd argue doesn't even fit with the magic system RJ later established more firmly since i don't think it should be possible for there to exist a physical pool of tangible one power? THAT pool of saidin? lmao some people are just being so insane about the show ~diminishing rand~ and ~propping up women~

it always reminds me of that workplace study that found that when men & women each talk for 50% of the time in a meeting, the majority perception is that women dominated the conversation, whereas the perception of an equal conversation was one where men spoke for the majority and women the minority (i forget the exact percentages). this is kinda what we're seeing in the book-to-show translation. in my opinion, in the books, men dominated but the narrative purported it as men & women being equal and readers think so too (some even claim book!randland is a matriarchy which is absolutely laughable), whereas the show is trying to make it actually 50/50 and this is causing the perception that women are dominating and rand is getting shafted. i am now going to make this post unrebloggable because every time i state my personal opinion about the books not being perfectly feminist 100% of the time, somebody inevitably tries to come in and peer-review my personal opinion and booksplain to me how my personal opinion is incorrect lmao (@ everybody who insisted to my early-reader self that i was wrong to be mad about the girls not being ta'veren in the books and that it is actually anti-feminist & agency-reducing for them to be ta'veren in the show and i would understand that once i read farther - guess what, i read all the books and it did not change my opinion by a single iota!)

[lunar-system]

severance s2e5 liveblog

O&D deals dentists tools. is this the guy who gets stuff to export? why not show face? is he someone who we know is dead and is now a weird clone?

So reintegration is a gradual process. seems wise. and more gentle to the characters

Helena is getting therapy to "balance her tempers" wheeee they base even their medicie in their beliefs, fun

helena still sees helly as an animal though. sike.

"they're fucking animals" if they are then you helena are fucking an animal kajdfhgalkdfjhg

"we must give him her" helena's body, used by helly, without her consent. after helly has been kept there without helly's consent. this is both ways fucked up situation. helena has most of the power here, they are not equal in this, but even helena is now being forced into this.

Wait. WAIT.

has it been helena ALL THROUGHOUT THE SEASON??? If helly hasn't even seen the child assistant? Holy fuck.

So it was Helena's choice all along not to share who she was out there.

All the relationship-building Mark thought he had with Helly. Gone.

child assistant asks: "may I say a question" she is from the testing floor, isn't she.

"it makes them feel like people" so lumon's official stance is that innies are not people, right

irving's head watermelon is maybe the worst thing I've seen so far and that’s saying something

okay feels bad that mark shuts off but his trust was like SEVERY hurt by Helena. Everything he shared in confidence. She knows it all. He's angry, he's betrayed, he's hur, he's sad, he's mourning

oh milchick. the overly polite corporate slang that he has to frame his wish for solidarity with natalie.

"treat them as what they really are" not as "who" they really are. we're really homing in on the dehumanisation here.

if anyone's work around here is mysterious, it's irv the outie's work

i forgot it was burt shadowing hiiiiiim!!!! they're talking!!

They are both so much more bitter out here. there's none of the innocence their innies have. they've seen too much of the world.

[magewolf-the-artist]

Yeah so I decided to update Susan's ref sheet because oh my god it's so fucking ugly-

But yeah, I'm much more satisfied with this one because I've developed my style for drawing these fuckers a lot better and the pose radiates more personality.

Old ref: https://www.tumblr.com/magewolf-the-artist/743345425139040256/on-this-episode-of-walten-files-brainrot-heyyyyyy?source=share

Here's her bio with a couple add-ons:

Apparently she's British (Her accent is still a mystery to me but I've seen a couple people say this so ehhhh). So my headcanon is that her family immigrated to the US when she was four, so while she does have an accent, she doesn't really say any slang. Occasionally she might call someone a twit (affectionate) or a twat (derogatory), but that's about it.

At some point during her fun little maze adventure, the neck cables that held up the animatronic head snapped due to the constant pressure of Susan's broken ass neck forcing her head to loll to the side. While at the facility she found that she can use metal ties to hold the cables upright. She has to tighten them constantly though or else her vision will be forced into portrait mode

Ashley fixed the cable while she, Kevin, and Hilary were there and Susan is forever grateful to her

She probably accidently breaks it again through something stupid like bumping her head against the door frame or something and boy oh boy was she PISSED

On that topic, she tries her best to upkeep her and everyone else's bodies but there's only so much she can do with limited tools and slightly worse motor skills (imagine doing a task that requires very precise movements through winter gloves and you'll pretty much get the idea)

She refuses to repair Bon though and tells him to figure it out himself.

She's become way more snappy, short tempered, and easily frustrated after her death. Trauma, baby!

Susan kinda acts as a shoulder to vent to whenever anyone needs to talk. She can’t really offer much in response or comfort since A, she’s the type to push things away and compartmentalize, and B… well, she can’t exactly promise everything’s gonna be okay, now can she? Still, sometimes it’s nice to just talk

Some days though she just kinda… shuts down emotionally. Just kinda lays on the floor and can’t find any motivation to get up or do anything. Thinking about everything and nothing at the same time, staring blankly into space

Charles usually stays with her during these episodes and depending on the day, he either just sits with her quietly or rambles about random shit like he did when they were alive

Her sleep schedule was super fucked up when they all came to the facility because she was used to being up and around at night. It's gotten better but she still sometimes wakes up buttfuck early and has come to appreciate the serenity of the nights (RETCONNED)

Probably the most casual about her death, as opposed to Rosemary's crying and Charles desperately trying to change the subject

She walks with a very distinctive shuffle, something she picked up from her fun little maze adventure because the weird shuffle walk helped lessen the pain she put herself through and conserved energy. It used to be a lot more pronounced but it's faded slightly overtime

Usually hangs out with Charles

Is constantly exasperated by Charles' antics

To pass the time she either plays card games with Charles or organizes the tools in the maintenance closet

She tried to talk to Rosemary when they were first brought to the K-9 facility but only got silence in return. She's kinda just given up now and mostly leaves her alone

Is the most familiar with Bon's abilities and didn't even bother trying to escape the facility because she knew it was futile

Helps coach everyone but Rocket on how to move

When helping Ashley figure out to move she probably made an off-handed comment like, "if you think that's hard, imagine having to learn how to do this while being alive" and only realized Ashley had no context for that when she gave her a very confused and worried look

Hates Bon's guts and is usually annoyed/angry with him

She also hates Felix's guts, but everyone does so it's not anything special.

[planet-crait]

Episode 12!

I’m surprised Hazel reads romance novels given how young she is but the OG show also had romance so I guess it’s inline their (still not a fan of romance for such young kids but whatever) and it seems fishboy from the intro will finally show up!!

Aww they have a book club that’s cute. Lolz oh Hazel i understand the intense need to talk about your favorite things but let your friends be surprised come on!

Wait kids have dances so young? My first dance wasn’t until like middle school. Oh I get why that wouldn’t be fun for Hazel, being the only single person with all your friends being on dates sucks. Most dances me and my friends threw “anti” dances so we just hung out and watched Disney movies lolz. It was great. I am surprised though they didn’t tell Hazel they planned on going it just seemed I don’t know nice to let her know they had dates? Oh poor Kev, what did he do to be rejected so hard. And why would he be Hazels only option?

Oh huh not quite what I expected but makes sense lolz. Oh yeah okay for once they acknowledge Cosmo and Wanda should be hiding but actually have a good explanation for why they don’t. And it makes sense honestly but Hazel don’t tell him he’s a fictional character that might break him.

Uh Cosmo did you eat the bowl? Okay uh moving on. I think it’s cute Kennueth doesn’t understand coming slang it makes sense and is a funny moment. Wait why did he have to go to Fairy world to get an outfit? If they’re just magicing clothes on him. But awww he’s so sweet helping her dance.

Oh no poor Dev. He’s mean but no one deserves to be physically attacked. He’s a kid he says mean things but I wouldn’t want to see him like physically hurt. But why does he think Dev is duck worth? I don’t see the resemblance at all.

Oh that’s kind of cute Devs a fan of the same series Hazel is. Too bad he’s so mean and in denial but maybe this could help start them being kinder to each other? It’s clear Dev wants to be closer with Hazel with how obsessed he can get with her but doesn’t have the tools to like know how to go about befriending someone. Undoubtedly it’s a side affect of how his dad raised him. I know we don’t know yet he treats Dev so poorly but I know so it’s definitely affecting how I’m viewing him.

Lolz even the principle reads it? Not surprising she enjoys the villain most. Theirs nothing wrong with that of course people can freely enjoy the characters they like but this seems like a shorthand to further show how “bad” the principle is because “look she likes the bad guy so that makes her bad”. Liking a character doesn’t mean you condone their actions, their are lots of reasons people like “evil” characters weather it’s you enjoy seeing a person be unapologetically evil or like their backstory or how they got to where they are or think they work as a good foil for the main character. There isn’t a right or wrong way to enjoy a story as long as you aren’t being a jerk to people with what they like about the story.

Uh sorry I’ll get off of my soapbox lolz. Oh Hazel that was kind of mean. I get why she feels the way she does but like your friends wanted to go the the dance and you’re not being a good friend either.

Lolz oh Hazel I feel the pain of a prequel not being made in a language you can’t read lolz. Aww Dev getting all emotional with being forgiven and thinking duckworth would like it oh. (Does this play at all into maybe Dev not feeling loved or cared about by his dad?) oh dang it I want more Dev stuff lolz. I am so impatient.

Awww I like that they all apologized and all realized they made mistakes. It’s good to see when a more complex situation allows everyone to be wrong and not just one person. Wait are they just leaving him there? He literally didn’t do anything wrong.

Oh uh. Huh I thought they were going with the love of friends is just as strong as romantic love but uh I guess not. Poor guy. Oh. Uh. Oh. Well RIP I guess. That got dark fast.

Wait Hazel TODAY was weird but not the day your hair became SENTIENT?? This is too weird for you?? THIS? Like overall given the other episodes this is not nearly as weird as other stuff lolz.

Overall I really enjoyed this episode and didn’t have anything that stuck out to me. The wish and how it came about made sense, the episode was cute. And maybe Hazel and Dev can find common ground? Maybe? Probably not but I can wish lolz.

WAIT WAIT WAIT DO DUCKWORTH AND KENNUETH DATE? THEY SAID TRUE LOVE DO WE HAVE SOME REAL GAY REP HERE?? Okay the wiki doesn’t clear up anything but ima pretend they do lolz.

Onto the next one!!

[roipecheur]

hiiii! i've read some of your fanfics and was amazed by how good you do character voices!! if it's not too much, do you have any tips to share for any aspiring ficwriters out there who's interested in improving the accuracy/likeness of their voices? especially the way you navigate slang, diction, or the like. thank you again if you decide to answer this, and i aspire to write like you in the far future!! have a good day!

Ahhh thank you! This is a really sweet ask.

So, for character voices, I revisit canon whenever I think the voice I have is off or they're feeling stale. Going back to canon frequently when you're writing fic in general helps you get a better feeling for both what characters say and how they act. Characters also have certain 'rules' for how they speak, and it varies by situation.

Matt Murdock the lawyer is going to speak pretty damn formally when he's in the courtroom or in his office. Daredevil speaks rougher both in terms of tone and the words he uses, in part as a conscious choice Matt makes to hide his identity, and in part to fit the context of dispensing vigilante justice. Since he (in NMCU) grew up in a Catholic orphanage, I don't write him cursing that often. It's just not a habit he ever got into. Frank, on the other hand, was in the marines, where 'fucking' is just a word that comes before a noun. He speaks less formally, swears more often, and isn't grammatically correct. NMCU Elektra speaks British English, which is another dimension to consider, and she grew up rich. She speaks very proper, but she's also snarky, blunt, and will tell people what she thinks of them whether they like it or not.

In general, while "he would not fucking say that" can be a useful tool, it's not as useful as asking 1) what would it take for him to fucking say that, and 2) how would he fucking say that?

Like. It's fanfiction. You can make a character do and say anything and you can generally convince me and your readers as long as you put in the legwork to get there.

Say I want Slade Wilson to dress up as a catboy and go "nya!" He would normally never do that of his own volition. But if he accepted a contract on someone who's at a furry convention, and the man's on a time crunch? Out come the cat ears. Say I want Slade to tell Dick he loves him. This one, while less absurd on the surface, takes a lot more effort. Maybe Slade is manipulating Dick. Maybe he's being honest. Maybe, for the purposes of a particular fic, he wouldn't fucking say that, and he would show it instead. Slade in particular is a character where if his dialogue feels off, I try to make him say less. I reworked a scene once so he literally just gave Dick a look instead of speaking, and that said all it needed to.

In short, it helps me to write fic and dialogue by asking myself and the characters questions. How do they get from point A to point B? How does this work? What would it take to work in a believable situation for these two characters to be alone so they can act in ways and say things that wouldn't be possible around other people? What would it take for him to fucking say that?

Of course, what works for me might not necessarily work for everyone, but I hope that's a start, and I hope it helps you. The best way to get better at writing really is just to write. Play around, have fun, and you will get better over time 💖💖💖

[wandringaesthetic]

Man, I was going to write a thing about Taylor Swift but I lost what my point was pretty quickly. It was something like: I like Taylor Swift as an artist and not really as a cultural phenomenon. I especially like folklore but I always skipped over "The Last Great American Dynasty" and the more think about it, the more that song might be emblematic of the ways in which she sucks.

A large part of her appeal, including some of her appeal to me, is that she's relatable to middle and upper class white women. Neutral descriptor, no moral judgement , it is what it is. Surprisingly underserved market. The reason I started liking her initially was because the store I worked at in 2008 had CMT on in the background all the time and "Love Story" was one of two songs that played that were imo tolerable. Keep in mind that the bar is very low. Keep in mind that most (all?) of the women in popular music in my younger years were manufactured to greater or lesser extent. They had to be vetted. They had to be marketable, which means they had to be generically attractive. They had to be generically attractive before they had to be good singers and certainly far before any considerations over whether they had anything to say or any skill with which to say it, on the rare occasion that they were allowed to write their own music at all. Keep in mind. The bar is very low.

Not that she is NOT manufactured. Not that her image isn't tailored. She is a character but she wrote that character. She is still ultimately writing about the hopes, aspirations, desires, regrets, fears, etc of an actual human woman, and this gets her very far, because, as I said, the bar is on the floor.

(NOT that there aren't other/better female musicians/songwriters, but she's one of the only ones that's gotten this big)

And. This character. This viewpoint. Is ultimately the viewpoint of a very insecure upper class masquerading as middle class white woman. A person I relate to in some ways and not in others. And I could go extremely down a rabbit hole about the middle class not just as an income thing but as an aesthetic thing and about the psychology of taste. It is a response. It is a way of surviving. It ingests and uses the culture as a tool but it isn't the origin of anything in the culture. It will rock the boat only in acceptable ways. It is going to settle to room temperature. Not that she's never going to say anything someone will get mad at her about, but she's only going to say things that will poll well. She's going to use slang but not before your mom knows what that word means.

Anyway "The Last Great American Dynasty" seems to be about a woman who married an oil baron, he died and she inherited his fortune, and she threw lavish parties and was the subject of gossip. And this, along with her making some allusions to The Great Gatsby in Reputation and seeming to see it as aspirational....

She doesn't care about improving anything or changing the culture. She just wants to win at it.

[weerd1]

All right, I feel it’s time to dig into my new comfort show, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Let me say up front, I love this show, so if you’re looking for someone who’s been watching Star Trek since the ‘70s to gripe about new Trek, you won’t find it here. Is this show perfect? Of course not. Is it Deep Space Nine good? Not yet, but I see potential. Episode by episode look and a long chat after the break! THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!

What it DOES feel like is TOS. From the variety of genres used to tell stories, to some downright weird plot points, to some remarkable social commentary, this really feels like what would happen if they just made TOS now. I lament a bit that we have 10-episode seasons instead of enough in a season to allow for some MORE variety the way TOS had more than 25 episodes a season.

So how about visual continuity?

This show looks like the way I would see this universe when I read novels or played the RPG: effects have caught up with the way I brain painted the Blish adaptations or those early novels. It works for me.

What about character continuity?

Barring the fact the show has canonized the idea that even the “Prime” timeline can shift a bit due to the influences of time travel across the universes (which I love), I think the nuances this show brings do nothing but enhance my understanding of TOS. The Spock/Chapel moments now on TOS? Christine now asking Spock, “have you ever been in love?” in the episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” becomes a bit of gut punch! What does it mean to her when he begins to lose control due to Ponn Farr? Does she think he might be reverting back to the Spock of a decade before who chanced to unleash emotion?

Visually and character-wise, we have not changes but expansion. Honestly, most of these perceived “changes” reminds me of Gene Roddenberry taking the opportunity to enhance the Klingons when he had the budget in The Motion Picture. Did he care that the Klingons weren’t bumpy? Did he care to come up with a solution? He didn’t: He was a creator who now had more tools to work with. SNW does that.

My sole complaint, which honestly stretches across many modern shows, Trek and otherwise is about language. TOS and its progeny up until Enterprise used a more stolid, slang-free method of writing which to me added to the timeless nature of the show. When characters in modern Trek use modern vernacular it ties the episodes for me more to the present rather than allowing me to suspend my disbelief that this is the future. This is just my personal preference, and is certainly not something that torpedoes my love for the show or characters.

So, if you’re still with me, let’s get into the nitty gritty, each episode rated from 1 to 5 LLAPs. 🖖

SEASON ONE

“Strange New Worlds” 🖖🖖🖖🖖

After DISCO S2 gave us a Pike which made Spock’s actions in “The Menagerie” entirely plausible, we pick up here with him knowing his destiny and he’s having to work on that. As it plays out, we get some great explorations of what Star Trek and Starfleet within the universe is about. We also get a pretty pointed commentary on our present and what allowing politicians to appeal to and encourage the baser, xenophobic impulses of their constituencies leads to. Solid start, solid introduction of return and new characters, and wow is this show gorgeous.

“Children of the Comet” 🖖🖖🖖

A solid episode which feels a little long in places. However, showing Sam Kirk is this universe’s Guy Fleegman is terrific, and we get some great Uhura moments. Also, fly, Erica, fly!

“Ghosts of Illyria” 🖖🖖🖖🖖

About as TOS as you can get! Crewmembers trapped on a planet below as danger approaches, a strange disease threatening the crew. Plus, a couple of good character revelations that start threads which will continue well into Season 2.

“Memento Mori” 🖖🖖🖖✌️(That’s a half)

The beginnings of expanding on the Gorn while giving us more background on La’an Noonien Singh (whom I originally was none to happy that she was Khan’s descendant, but S2 really uses that beautifully). She’s a terrific character and this episode helps us know why. Also- see my comment above about making the Klingons “more” because you have the opportunity as SNW picks up the way ENT showed us the Gorn were more than just a slow moving dino allegory and kicks it into high gear.

“Spock Amok” 🖖🖖🖖

A very fun episode which continues to show us that TOS’s T’Pring was more than just a diabolical woman who dared mess with our heroes. Have greatly appreciated what they have done with her. Also, Enterprise Bingo!

“Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach” 🖖🖖🖖✌️

Credit here first of all for a very TOS title. Then a TNG style morality play, but one that does not end happily. Dig it.

“The Serene Squall” 🖖🖖✌️

The Orion pirate captain and Pike’s mutiny was a little too…well silly for me. However, Captain Angel and the Sybok name drop, plus Christine being badass? All in there. Also, this sets up some Spock/Chapel stuff for S2 and I dig all of that.

“The Elysian Kingdom” 🖖🖖✌️

Again fun, and a neat way to deal with M’Benga’s daughter storyline. A bit indulgent in places, but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves so much, and we get Christina Chong’s dog Runa. VERY TOS when it all comes down to it. Bonus points for the DS9 reference.

“All Those Who Wander” 🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖

Oh- the Gorn are warp capable Xenomorphs. How HORRIFYING. Also, some real stakes as we lose Hemmer, and Spock really starts his S2 arc here.

“A Quality of Mercy” 🖖🖖🖖🖖✌️

Terrific method of tying in some more TOS to contextualize the show, a modernized TWOK uniform, and a new Captain Kirk. I didn’t walk out convinced by Paul Wesley’s Kirk, but he wins me over early in S2. My real complain here is Ortegas falling into the role of the bigoted Styles from “Balance of Terror.” Did NOT seem like her style. Kudos to a bit of a cliffhanger, even if it does feel a little tacked on to the episode. Also, they missed a bet not having James Frain (DISCO’s Sarek) playing the Romulan Commander.

(Also, the show misses a bet not having Rebecca Romijn or Jess Bush voice the computer.)

Overall S1 is a solid start that ties itself plenty to what has gone before, without resorting to simple, overwrought nostalgia baiting to tell a story. Like some other recent Star Trek.

SEASON TWO

"The Broken Circle" 🖖🖖🖖🖖

Spock stealing the Enterprise on a semi regular basis is now in my canon, and I am grateful. Pelia, I am convinced, is actually Carol Kane’s character from “Taxi.” M’Benga rolling out the stimulants didn’t make a lot of sense to me on my first viewing, but in context with the season, this is actually setting up a really interesting—and dark—bit of character development.

“Ad Aspera per Aspera” 🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖

This. This is Star Trek. ‘Nuff said. (Ok, also, THOSE DRESS UNIFORMS!)

“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow “ 🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖

Here, HERE Paul Wesley’s Kirk wins me over, even if it is an alternate version. Earning money (and apparently a lot given the remarkably nice apartment they stay in) by playing CHESS, recognizing that La’an’s universe should stay because Sam’s alive, the slow seduction…yup, that’s Jim Kirk. Plus, This episode acknowledges that time is fluid, referencing how TOS tells us the Eugenics Wars SHOULD have been in 1992, but it keeps shifting. Elegant solution that opens so many doors to future stories. Also, baby KHAAAAAAAANNN!

“Among the Lotus Eaters” 🖖🖖🖖🖖

Nice callbacks to “The Cage,” yes. But this episode BELONGS to Erica Ortegas. “My name is Erica Ortegas and I👏🏻fly👏🏻the👏🏻ship!” And let’s add “thread the needle” to awesome starship tricks, shall we? Erica makes this good episode great.

“Charades” 🖖🖖🖖🖖

Vulcan shenanigans are back with a fully human Spock, and indeed, this one is funny. Ethan Peck’s comedy chops are great here, especially with Sam Kirk’s mess. Anson Mount delivers in the funny department too as Pike serves up Vulcan food. Very poignant stuff here for Christine though, and though I was initially, “oh no,” continuity-wise, I really ended up liking what this MEANS to what we saw on TOS.

“Lost in Translation” 🖖🖖🖖

A bit cliche, but a good Uhura episode, and though it seems like they're trying a little TOO hard to bring Kirk in, the Lt. Kirk/Ensign Uhura dynamic here is really good. The Jim/Sam thing also something I enjoyed. What makes this episode for me though is when Uhur figures out what's going on, Pike trusts her. Blows up a whole-ass mining station on the word of one Ensign. Go, Nyota!

"Those Old Scientists" 🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖

Just perfect. From the seemless merger of Lower Decks animated characters, to the meta commentary about "oddly specific references" and people talking "really slowly and quietly" this just works. Also ENT love! Uhura and Ortegas geeking out over Sato and Mayweather just made my day. So much fun, nothing could wipe the smile from my face! (Spoiler alert: The next episode will gut me.)

"Under the Cloak of War" 🖖🖖🖖🖖🖖

Holy crap. You thought DS9 played around with questionable moral decisions in a war setting, SNW here shows us they're not afraid to travel into Moore/Behr's space and take a whirl. The weirdness with M'Benga pays off here, and as a veteran myself they way this episode delves into our inability to provide the emotional context to what war does to us to someone without the same frame of reference? Fantastic. I was pretty uptight for most of this episode, because I felt it. I cried in places, was made uncomfortable in places, and what a set of reveals for both Christine and of course M'Benga as we see those flashbacks.

"Subspace Rhapsody"🖖🖖🖖

I WANT to give this one another LLAP, as I love musicals, and I love the fact they were bold enough to do one. The cast pulls off their numbers wonderfully, there's some great moments, especially between Jim and La'an (HE'S BACK???), and they conceit that makes this work is though a hair silly, pretty consistent with Trek and it's quantum/multiversal/anomaly episodes of times past. The only thing that doesn't work for me are the songs themselves. A couple are OK, but they just didn't stick with me. And I made sure I watched a couple of times, just to see if it was my mood. I can't help but compare this to Buffy The Vampire Slayer's "Once More With Feeling" though, and there are three songs from that I keep on my permanent playlist, and can sing pretty much the whole ep verbatim. This didn't make me want to do that; I just really enjoyed it. I wanted to love it. (Shout out though to the "Once More With Feeling" Easter Egg.)

"Hegemony" 🖖🖖🖖🖖

As soon as they gave Captain Batel a first name in the musical, I got worried, and sure enough these Gorn bring that to fruition. She's not dead yet, but she's in trouble, and this is a tight action episode. I appreciate that this new young Montgomery Scott is a) played by a Scot, and b) something of a mix between the Doohan and Pegg versions of the character. My only fear now is we have this cliffhanger, and between the writer's strike and modern TV's general refusal to follow seasonal schedules, we may be in for a far worse wait than the summer of 1990 left us with William Riker's "Fire."

So that's my take. Yes, there are missteps, or things that don't QUITE work, but if I want to compare this to the glory days of 90s Trek, we're only 20 episodes in, and already having a great time when TNG, DS9, and VOY all took at least a season or two of 24 episodes each to find their way. Sure, classic Trek all but hit it out of the gate, but again, we don't have but slightly more than 2/3 of their first season of episodes. We’re 20 episodes in and the worst ones are JUST good, there hasn’t been a bad one yet. SNW has found a way to be a prequel without suffering from their audience’s foreknowledge, and fit themselves firmly into Trek lore without just relying on playing Trek Trivia Madlibs to write their scripts (though Kirk KEEPS showing up!). I'm a little worried as I was really digging on DISCO for the first two seasons as well, and season 3 was a huge disappointment to me. Let's hope whenever we get back to this, they keep up the good work. I am more than ready to again boldly go.

[pumakaji64]

if you have any good resources for learning Mexican-Spanish dialect PLEASE share!! im mixed race and would be far more interested in learning spanish if it was the kind my dad grew up speaking yknow?

Oh hi-! I'll be real I'm not super fluent in Spanish- I wasn't taught it growing up and haven't started on any sort of like... actual education yet- nor do I have any like official resources I'm afraid... BUT I do have some advice!!!!!!!!

When my mother was learning English she told me that she listened to a lot of English music and it helped her a lot! I do a similar thing, I'll watch shows in Spanish, Spanish videos online, read Spanish text, or listen to music in Spanish and follow along using with English translations! It can be really intimidating at first, but I ended up picking up a lot of Spanish overtime this way! You hear or see certain words repeated enough and the meanings stick more and more!

Like for example recently I found a Spanish voice over of a show called The Haunting Hour that I used to watch when I was younger, and so since I already knew the general plot of the episodes I was able to follow along decently well even without subtitles! (Though I wouldn't start with that- they talk SUPER fast lol)

I also try to focus on the way things Sound when they are said and try to "parrot" them- I'll listen to words over and over until I can vocally copy the pronunciation. Even though I'm not completely fluent I've had people compliment my pronunciations saying they wouldn't have guessed that I'm not.

For Mexican dialects specifically look into Mexican shows or dubs, Mexican singers, works made by Mexicans, or Mexican creators online! I will say though to keep in mind Mexico is a big place and the Spanish spoken there has a LOT of different dialects!

This is kind of a "throwing yourself in the deep end" sort of technique so before doing that I'd get familiar with basic Spanish words and grammar- things like basic nouns, verbs, sentence structure- those sorts of things. Learning things like think, see, why, how, have, feel etc. help so much when you are just starting out.

Another really helpful tip is: speak to Spanish speakers!!! My mother is Honduran and she has been such a big help as she is the only fluent Spanish speaker in my immediate family! While we clash on our... opinions lol... regarding Mexican Spanish she's helped me understand it too since she's heard a lot of it from my dad's family. She's almost always the first person I turn to regarding any questions I have with Spanish.

I also have friends online who are fluent in Spanish too and they've also been great help! There's been many times where I've misused or misunderstood a phrase and they've been there to correct me LOL

Also don't feel afraid to look up things like unfamiliar words or phrases- that can be really helpful for stuff that can't be accurately translated into English! This won't be just the case with slang or really specific words either- a word translated a certain way in one context could be translated differently in another even something seemingly simple like "bueno" and it's conjugations.

I've tried language learning apps and stuff before and while I'm sure they work well for some people and would recommend trying some out I've just never fully gelled with those kind of tools. Though I will say the website Spanishdict.com has been a consistently big help for me! ... and to be fair I'm really bad at forming habits and sticking to those apps lol

And the biggest piece of advice I can give: Don't feel discouraged!!!

Learning a language is tough- but it's never too late to learn! I only started trying to seriously learn more Spanish like 3 years ago and every now and then I have to remind myself that I've come a long way since then!

... Also practice rolling your r's- it's the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth- fast fluttering motion- it'll be intimidating at first but keep practicing and you'll get it- and once you get it just know it's fine if it doesn't sound 'nautral' at first- the longer you do it the easier it becomes to roll r's without it sounding forced.

I hope that helps anon!!!!!!!!

[obraveyouth]

˖*°࿐  △ 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑪𝑬𝑳𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑰𝑶𝑼𝑺  ✶  𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙖  𝙖𝙣𝙙  𝙩𝙞𝙙𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙨  𝙞.

note:  an  overview  about  my  rendition  of  the  hero  of  twilight,  i  will  expand  further  on  these  concepts  in  the  future  but  this  is  just  to  serve  as  a  general  overview  on  how  i  write  link  :)

△ —  link  found  that  the  more  and  more  he  took  on  his  wolf  form,  the  more  it  seemed  that  the  abilities  tied  to  it  also  became  apart  of  his  mortal  being  as  well--he  can  understand  and  even  speak  to  the  animals  not  just  in  ordon  but  hyrule  overall…  the  goats  can  be  quite  chatty.  also,  he  still  has  the  sixth  sense  from  his  wolf  form,  though  it  can  be  a  bit  overwhelming  sometime,  causing  him  headaches.  when  in  human  form,  if  he  see's  a  stray  cat  or  dog  or  any  cute  cuddly  animal  really  link  will  pick  them  up  and  love  on  them--he  has  always  been  extremely  found  of  animals  but  even  moreso  now  as  he  feels  they  better  understand  him  than  people.

△ —  while  being  apart  of  the  destiny  tied  to  hyrule  and  the  three  golden  goddesses--he  doesn't  really  have  faith  in  the  religion  aspects  behind  it  (  kind  of  hard  to  believe  in  something  that  you  are  ):  with  this,  he'll  attend  meetings  at  hyrule  castle  as  the  hero  but  does  not  partake  in  the  political  discussions  regarding  the  kingdom  nor  give  opinions.  now,  depending  on  the  topic,  link  can  actually  be  a  bit  of  a  chatterbox  but  he  is  always  wary  of  damaging  the  image  of  'the  green  garb  he  wears/the  kingdom's  savior'  so  he  chooses  to  remain  silent  in  the  vast  majority  of  situations,  allowing  others  to  do  the  speaking.  plus,  he  still  views  himself  as  a  simple  country  boy  with  an  obvious  southern-slang  ridden  accent  and  isn't  the  most  proper  mannerisms  wise  outside  of  being  a  strong  fighter.

△ —  while  a  shepherd  /  farmhand  by  trade  link  is  actually  very  smart  in  a  plethora  of  intellectual  pursuits—if  not  playing  with  the  kids  in  ordon  or  working,  he  can  usually  be  found  at  home  with  his  head  stuck  in  a  book  on  a  variety  of  subjects,  his  favorites  being  those  of  magic  and  swordplay…because  of  this  he  was  able  to  put  a  lot  of  book  knowledge  into  actual  practice  during  his  journey,  shown  when  he  is  highly  adapt  at  using  the  various  tools  in  his  arsenal:  bombs,  boomerang,  bow,  ball  &  chain,  clawshot,  dominion  rod,  etcetc  (  though  as  the  inheritor  of  the  triforce  of  courage  i  believe  it  also  comes  with  the  past  knowledge  of  its  past  wielders  /  his  incarnations  ).

△ —  when  it  comes  to  lilia,  what  link  feels  for  her  is  not  romantic  in  anyway,  he  views  her  as  a  very  close  friend  (  even  moreso  as  his  sister  ):  she  helped  him  a  lot  when  he  first  came  to  ordon  as  a  young  child  with  his  parents  (  his  mother  was  frail  and  his  father  thought  the  peaceful  village  of  ordon  near  the  spirit  spring  would  do  her  health  better  ):  and  has  always  been  kindhearted,  he  admires  that  about  her—even  with  everything  destiny  has  tossed  his  way,  link  is  glad  she  was  apart  of  it.  even  if  at  times  the  things  she  says  can  make  him  flustered,  out  of  the  sheer  boldness.

△ —  now  regarding  the  hero  shade  (  the  hero  of  time  link  ):  the  two  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  actually  talking  (  in  additional  to  him  passing  onto  twi  the  seven  hidden  skills  ):  specifically  discussing  the  true  burdens  of  the  destiny  he  was  born  into  and  his  own  regards  as  the  legendary  one,  as  well  as  how  to  cope  with  the  whole  wolf  thing  (  as  shade  too  was  once  transfigured  not  of  his  own  digression  ):  the  relationship  is  even  greater  than  mentor  and  student,  but  a  grandfather  to  his  grandchild.  note:  if  you  play  'hero  of  time  link'  while  this  is  true  for  this  blog's  canon,  i  can  always  omit  it  in  threads  with  you,  if  you  have  a  different  version  of  the  hero  shade  and  his  relationship  to  twili.

△ —  you  will  rarely  find  link  out  during  the  day  (  he  is  a  before  sun  up  and  after  sunset  type  of  person  now  ):  having  become  a  strong  night  owl,  preferring  dusk-the  witching  hours  (  midnight  -  3am  ):  after  his  adventures  with  the  twilight  princess,  he  longs  to  see  it  again  and  while,  searching  for  a  way  to  see  midna  /  the  twilight  realm  again,  he  clings  to  the  brief  spans  of  time  when  it  seems  the  world  of  light  and  shadow  coexist.

△ —  link  has  frequent  nightmares,  leaving  him  in  a  constant  state  of  sleep  deprivation  (  if  it  goes  on  for  enough  days  ,  he'll  even  have  bits  of  psychosis  episodes  ):  and  perpetually  has  dark  bags  under  his  eyes.  while  link  knows  that  he  defeated  ganon  and  knows  zant  is  long  dead--he  cannot  help  but  worry  for  the  world  he  no  longer  as  access  too  as  well  as  the  future  fate  of  his  own.  to  get  rest  when  his  body  is  completely  exhausted  he  goes  to  any  light  spirit  spring,  the  waters  of  the  fairy  queen's  fountain,  or  the  scared  woods,  near  where  he  pulled  the  master  sword.

△ —  link  wishes  that  another  'soul  of  the  hero'  is  never  needed.  he  wants  to  spit  in  the  face  of  the  golden  goddesses  and  even  hylia  to  a  degree  (  from  what  has  been  told  to  him  from  zelda  about  her,  she's  as  bad  as  the  rest  but  not  as  much  ):  to  tell  them  the  next  time  they  need  a  hero  do  not  look  to  him  or  any  of  his  descendants.  his  talks  with  the  hero  shade  have  helped  a  lot  regarding  his  feelings  but  link's  unable  to  go  back  to  the  life  of  easygoing  peace  he  once  knew,  he  craves  adventure--even  if  also  terrified  by  the  notion  of  needing  to  save  the  world  again.

[nfr-reviews]

NFR Reviews #3: It

Released 1927 / Inducted 2001

Watch film here

In a meta moment, this film includes a scene where Elinor Glyn, author of the source material, cameos as herself and explains the thesis of the movie. “It” is a charisma people either possess or don’t–if you try too hard to reach it, you’ve already lost. It’s sex appeal, but more than that too, defined as self-confidence and lack of self-consciousness without tipping into emotional frostiness. The slang predates both Glyn’s novel and this movie, originating in the early 20th century, but the film brought the term to newfound heights of popularity.

The romantic comedy stars Betty Lou, a working-class department store worker who nonetheless lives in a “fashionable downtown suburb.” She finagles her way onto expensive clubs and yachts, cuts up plain dresses into party attire, and lays atop her boss’ desk, gaining access with sheer belief that she deserves to be in those spaces as much as those born to wealth. She uses the hapless and trying-too-hard Monty to further her romantic pursuit of department store boss Cyrus Waltham (Ironically, I found the former more entertaining than the actual male lead. Waltham is meant to be the straight man to Betty Lou’s brashness and humor, but he has little appeal besides being rich and powerful). 

The film hinges on the strength of lead actress Clara Bow’s performance. Like her character, she was born into poverty, living in a tenement slum before attaining fame by winning a magazine contest at 16. Audiences found her relatable and engaging due to her naturalistic acting style, energy, and comic timing. Unlike her character, her job consisted of a gargantuan amount of effort and not charisma alone. She was an established star when this film was released, acting in 15 different movies in 1925 alone. She was overworked by studios to the point of needing large amounts of pills to wake up in the morning and sleep at night. 

Even more than the idea of effortless charm, the fantasy the movie presents is being so irresistible that social barriers like class and gender break down to accommodate you. The “It” factor isn’t a party trick, it’s a tool. It’s true that the baby subplot is mostly used to set up a third-act miscommunication trope ubiquitous in romance media to this day. It’s still compelling to see Betty Lou put her reputation on the line to defend a friend who’s a single mother and successfully prevent her baby from being taken away. Hooking up with your boss is a terrible idea in real life, but Betty Lou succeeding in romancing a much wealthier man is another example of using her charisma and resourcefulness to rise above her station. 

Subsequent decades led to the meaning of It Girl changing for the worse, becoming another type of barrier. Shortly before retiring from acting at age 28, Bow herself rejected the term and wanted to be considered a serious actress instead. By the 1990s, there were expectations to be an It Girl: rich, skinny, conventionally attractive, socialite, famous for being famous. One socialite of that era, Tara Palmer-Tonkinson, valued “character and wit” over academic knowledge but struggled nonetheless with the media pigeonholing her as “beauty rather than brains.” She stayed out of politics, believing her place in the celebrity sphere to be strictly entertainment. The It Girl (and occasionally It Boy) reverberates through the decades, becoming attached to a myriad of different faces. While the label came with admiration and power, it imposed new limitations and implied a level of effortlessness that, in Bow’s case at least, hid the reality of studio exploitation. 

Sources

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/It_(film)

https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/it.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_girl

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20141222-who-was-the-original-it-girl

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38918918

[madisonhunn]

May 26- free Sunday to (mostly) myself

(Family)

There’s something so special about being constantly surrounded by the same 16 people, and surrounded by people in general. I feel like a lot of the work I’ve done in therapy in how to handle relationships has come to these moments. I am using those tools I’ve learned.

Because we came from an Utah school, a group of students went to the “local” (it was very much not close to where we are staying) Mormon church. They said they wanted to join me and my friends Ella and Jack at the flea market so we planned what time we went around them. Shocker to no one, but they didn’t go and didn’t tell us they weren’t going until we were leaving it. I knew they weren’t going when they didn’t text us to drop a pin. It was “too far” to go to, even though they ended up going to an orange grove that was five minutes from the market anyway? I don’t know.

So we ended up trying to go home. We had people cleaning our flat who didn’t allow us back inside so we walked around. We sat on the curb for a while and some of the church girls stumbled on us and they wanted to go to a park. I wanted to go shopping and they knew this. So when I stood up and sent them the pin that Jack had sent me (he went to scope it out to see if it was worth it) they asked why I wasn’t going.

I said, “just not what I wanted to do today” and I literally… got scoffed at. We all ended up walking in the same direction for a couple more minutes and only Ella turned to say goodbye to me. So that was fun and awesome and I went and had more fun without them!

I took the metro by myself which is something I was terrified of doing alone since I was positive I’d take myself the wrong way. I didn’t so that was nice. I just walked around and went into a bunch of different stores and treated myself. I bought my mom one of the shirts she likes from UNIQLO and got some hair accessories I needed since my bangs have been driving me wild. Dark hair + hair covering your forehead + the sun = dying.

I ended up taking too much time to go back before our group dinner. So I stuck around in the area, breezed by the pantheon, and walked to Miscellanea for dinner. Everyone else complained about their food after, but mine was good. Not overcooked and like almost no tomato sauce. Literally my ideal pizza. I had some good conversations with Laura, and David, and Alvaro.

I told David that I watched Fight Club kind of out of spite, and I really liked it. I told him it was kind of c***y (naughty slang word that’d require too much explaining so I’ll censor and apologize) and he laughed because 1. I’m right 2. He knows what the word means in the context I said 3. I’m right!!!!! I also learned he dislikes Baz Luhrmann movies too, so that’s validating. Headache films.

I don’t even want to dive into the LDS drama that occurred during the dinner. It’s just a bunch of the Mormon kids being sensitive about any commentary (can’t say anything about anything to them or else it’s a personal attack on their belief system) on the institutional decisions of a church organization they are a part of. They are blowing it way out of the water and one girl wants to contact the dean. She’s also upset that we have been focusing on Catholic art. Which makes me want to laugh.

1. We are covering hundreds and hundreds of years of religion and art and life here. Catholicism is the prevalent religion in Italy AND the biggest section of Christianity. It is engrained in the fabric of this country, it is a part of nearly everything we have seen.

2. She’s upset that we haven’t visited the LDS temple as part of our class curriculum, but the BYU students she met at church have. Well, USU is not a church school. It’s a state school and church and state are separated. Also, the temple was completed less than ten years ago so obviously our class isn’t going to go there. Maybe if we were in the Eastern/Midwest on a study “abroad” trip about religion in America, it’d make more sense to include it in the curriculum.

I feel sorry that she has been ruining her own experience by not understanding the content and context of what we are seeing and reading about for the classes she’s paying for and signed up for. She’s such a nice girl, and I think if she wasn’t so tunnel-visioned right now, she’d be enjoying herself more.

Anyway, I’m fine! Just really enjoying my headphones and the time I’m able to spend alone. My day walking around was really nice and I got some really cute new clothes. And a couple vampire movies to watch.

In order:

1. The Tiber! Imagine naming a baby Tiberius

2. Jack wearing his “skater” hat

3. Giant cat I need

4. I wanted this but had no cash

5. I found the Italian Diary of a Wimpy Kid!

6. Giolitti🥰🥰🥰 post dinner gossip sesh with a side of chocolate gelato

7. Came home to “clean” sheets. I don’t know. I just peeled them back and this was here. Legend has it that I’m still sleeping on it because the linen cabinet is locked. Legend is factual.

[unknownjpegs]

interficere te

The vampire stays mostly still—because it’s mostly dead. Or, more dead than vampires already are. Funny thing, that. Considering a vampire dead or not; they usually say dusted. ‘You dust that fucking vampire?’ ‘Dusted two upstairs.’ ‘Got its fucking dust on me.’ Laughter, amongst the human hunters over it, the general slang terminology for a dead vampire, dying vampire, what remains vampire. Lark doesn’t laugh, and he usually likes to think of them as dead. Dead fucking dead; because that means he’s killing them.

Likes killing them.

This vampire is close, because it was a lone rogue beast. And there was Lark and Benny, and vampires tended to underestimate the usefulness of a human partner when hunting down and systemically fucking killing their kind. Lark ins’t that old, in vampire years, either. So they tend to underestimate him too. That’s usually a little bit of fun. He can work with that, work off that, because they’re always cocky. Vampires are the closest thing to God’s among their food source, so they walk around like they already are.

Lark chews the gum in his mouth, blows a bubble until one silver capped fang pops it. Then he wraps it around a finger and gently puts it against the wall beside the vampire’s head. It’s staked there, half on the ground. Two through its wrists keeping it pinned, one through its knee to the ground. It’s other leg is gone, because Lark had pulled it off during the fight and the creature was not going to get that fixed without blood.

“I like killing old ones like you,” Lark says, conversationally, as he crouches in front of the vampire. It’s vaguely feminine, but half feral, so it’s features have started warping. It’s eyes are all black, no red, no white. It’s ears too have taken on elfin features, pointed and long and before Lark had used the back of a knife to smash its teeth in, they’d been spindly. Less like his fangs, more like puncturing tools. Old. Real old, couldn’t remember humanity anymore, kept slipping.

He thinks about the dead woman in the alley that they couldn’t have saved from this one. No finesse within the creature, it had simply dropped from the roof and mauled her. Lark thinks most would assume that’s why he has so little empathy for the vampire; past it’s prime. Needing to die. Probably suffering as much as it’s victims, because it’s lost touch with everything but the blood lust.

Lark slowly pushes the tip of the knife under the vampires jaw to make it look at him. They’d be assuming incorrectly, of course. Because, Lark would kill any of them. Whether they were changing from blood drunk disease, or one of those sweet eyed, docile things that feels bad every time it has to rip open a donated blood bag. Fuck ‘em all. Kill them. Let God sort that shit out.

“I like it,” Lark explains, slowly sliding the automatic knife until it’s closed. “Because all the ones you’ve made feel it, don’t they? When you die, they all hurt for a moment. Just a brief little—ah—and then you’re gone. But they all know. That big ripple effect of pain.” And Lark knew it was true, because sometimes he still felt Akari in the back of his head. She was a nestled presence there and always would be and sometimes he knew when she was afraid—sometimes he knew when she was in pain. Sometimes he wished it would just be one big pain and then she’d disappear forever.

That was real fucking mercy.

“Interficere te…Traitor…” the vampire wheezes out through it’s bloody mouth. Lark pats its shoulder and it’s head swivels there slowly, mouth opening and closing like it might try for one last meal before death.

“I don’t speak Latin.”

Then Lark stands. He slips the hood of his jacket up. The vampire’s head lazily turns his way, it’s chest rising and falling even though it doesn’t need oxygen anymore. Even now, when it’s half creature, there is something lingering inside it that was once human. That craves air when it’s scared. Lark lifts his gloved hand and listens to the engine come alive in the car behind him. The vampires big black eyes stare up at him as he steps to the side and gestures his hand forward.

The cars lights flick on and for a moment, the vampire is simply washed in two ochre colored beams of light from the old mustang. Lark can see dust motes in the air. The vampire is wearing an old black and white striped long sleeve shirt that is soaked in the womans blood. It looks at him, gasping in air hard and then the lights change from yellow to a blinding and horrible white. Although his back is to it and he is covered completely, he swears he feels the burn.

The vampire actually burns, though; erupts immediately into flames. It screams with its vocal chords fraying, a loud and horrific shriek that echoes in the dark alleyway. It thrashes against the stakes through it so hard that the knee pops and it almost gets itself free. But it’s only almost—and then it dies. In one puff of fire and ash, it crumbles away into nothing. The lingering smell of it’s death makes Lark’s nose curl, his lips peeling back, those silver capped fangs clicking together with his bottom teeth.

There’s a shiver over his entire body as Lark sways backward, eyes closing. He feels himself slipping away, turning into the in between of nothing. For a moment, he’s a physical entity inside the alleyway, in front of that dusted vampire and the dead woman only feet away. Then he’s incorporeal; absolutely nothing inside the blistering cold darkness of a slice between it all. Lark doesn’t know how he does it, or why he can, or what it means, just that—it’s very handy because he’s instantly inside the car, in the passenger seat, tossing his feet onto the dashboard.

“Holy fu-fuck!” Benny slams himself against the driver side door and makes Lark laugh. He jerks his hood down and slaps the button on the dash to switch the car lights back to their regular orange glow. “I told you I fu-fucking hate when you d-do that shit!” Lark see’s better in the dark, so he can make all of Benny’s anxious features out perfectly. Those big, terrified pale eyes and the half moon bite mark on his chin where something had tried to ruin him.

Sometimes, Lark likes looking at Benny; looking at all the places of him that got mangled with vampire use. Good reminder of why they find them and kill them. Traitor. It was a species worth betraying.

“That was wicked,” Lark replies and Benny’s face slips more at ease, his twitchy smile large and dimpling his left cheek. They’re grinning at each other then, because Lark’s smile takes over his face, fangs and all.

“Very fucking wicked,” the human agrees, lifting a fist. Lark responds in kind, knocking their wrists together before he glances into the back seat. “He sle-slept through all that. Headphones in.” Lark can hear the music—something bass heavy, electronic, fast paced, but still, Xavier lays in the back with his whole body crunched up.

His unconscious face is tilted slightly toward the seat, his breathing deep and heavy. Arms folded across his chest, almost protectively, while his long legs have to stay bent to allow for all of him. Xavier look’s picturesque like that; if not a little sick. Dark purples under his eyes, skin a bit paler than usual. Lark feels a savage twist in his chest (not his unbeating, dead heart, but somewhere) because, like Akari, sometimes Xavier is inside his head now too. He didn’t know if that was imagined, simply because he was the only human Lark had ever given blood too.

Like Benny’s thrall scars, Xavier is always a good reminder of why they all should die. He still remembers scooping Xavier’s limp body up, his silver fangs tearing into his own wrist to shove it to the mans mouth—he’d been a stranger then. Just a guy who was almost killed by a vampire, interrupted before it went too far. But Lark had felt how small and weak he’d been in that moment. Only human.

“He’s been tired a lot,” Lark ruminates, black brows pulled in to carve a wrinkle in his forehead.

“Bee-been busy,” Benny replies, making a fist and an obscene gesture. “Oh—oh fuck, h-hot vampire, use me like—like a fuc-fucking pin cushion, please.” The blond rolls his pale eyes in mild disgust. There’s a moment of silence between the two confidants to Xavier’s really awful secret. Then, “Wa-wanna scare him?”

“Fuck yeah.”

They share a laugh as Benny leans into the back seat. Lark braces himself up against the car door and together, they start rocking it.

“Xavier! Fuck, wake up! Xavier!”

“Oh fu-fuck, Xavier, they’re coming for m-me, man! The fucking vampires are c-coming for me!”

“Holy shit, Xavier, it’s fucking Dracula!”

“What the fuck?” Xavier’s entire body explodes with his long limbs, an immediate jump as he slams his head into the window and his feet into the other one. He scrambles onto his side, his hand snapping his pistol from his holster with eerie precision. “What the fuck?” He continues yelling, wide eyed and shocked, but there’s always that gleam underneath too. Lark notices, wonders if Benny does too; how quick this human is to actual violence can sometimes be jarring.

Instead of lingering on the thought, Lark dissolves into high pitched laughter. He kicks the dashboard hard in delight, slapping his own chest and laughing. Benny’s giggles are infectiously awful, snorting occasionally on one as he melts into the drivers seat. He’s gasping for air, laughing louder and louder. Like it’s that funny, when it’s arguably so fucking stupid.

There’s the smell of the dusted vampire still in the air.

Xavier lets the pistol dangle in his hand as he stares at them both.

“I should fucking kill you both,” he snaps, his cheeks going dark red. Lark feels the moment soiled for a minute, because saliva pools in his mouth at the image. He has to glance away and to the stakes in the wall. The only remaining part of the dead vampire. He’s still grinning, snorting through his nose, but he can’t look at that full faced flush Xavier gets when he’s mad.

“You mi-missed us use your thing. It worked, by the way.”

“Yeah?” Xavier slumps back into the seat, laying again as he tucks the gun into the holster. “I told you it would.”

“Little mechanic. Our sweet boy,” Lark jokes, leaning over the back to yank at Xavier’s shirt, reveal the tattoo of those exact words on his stomach. There’s a deep purple bruise on his hip bone that has too distinct of a puncture mark to be anything else. Explanations for their mechanics horrible sleep patterns. Xavier’s face goes red again, his hand yanking the shirt down as Lark falls back into the seat with a snorted laugh.

Benny cuts off conversation by turning the car over. Because he’s driving, and drivers rules dictate music choice, rap music blares immediately into the car. He peels away from the crime scene, rubber burning as they back out. Lark can hear, even over the music, the imperceptible sound of Xavier’s breathing stilling. Back to sleep, even with Ben’s horrible driving and the loud music.

Lark tucks a thumb up under his fang and stays quiet for the remainder of the drive home.

[honeybuddhaluv]

Information about the Main Characters

The Main Characters

The protagonist, MC, is a rebellious demon with a sinful past, meeting her demise in the 1990s. Gifted with the power of fire, she harbours a sharp and brash personality. Her sole focus is navigating through the annual Extermination, driven by a relentless desire to survive. Proficient in parkour, she manoeuvres effortlessly through challenges, all while indulging in the guilty pleasure of savouring junk foods.

Jumin Han the Overlord of Commerce is the successful leader of a large company that operates in various fields like fashion, banking, and pharmaceuticals. His company focuses on exports and avoids competing with small local businesses. Jumin is the oldest member of his group, and he is known for being serious, cautious, and logical. He is also fascinated by young slang and loves cats, especially his own. Although Jumin seems mature, he has a childlike way of speaking and sometimes doesn't notice simple things like the free soda that comes with takeout. Jumin is devoted to V and the project to help people redeem themselves. He also has a unique ability to make his weapons more powerful, which makes him a formidable force in both business and combat

V is a kind-hearted sinner demon named Jihuyn Kim devoted to Lilith. He was taught by his mother, a devout servant of Lilith, to help the people of Hell. After Lilith disappeared for seven years without any information, V decided to create a project to help sinners redeem themselves to reduce the number of annual exterminations. Despite being somewhat clumsy and impulsive, he opened his own hotel called the Mystic Hotel Messenger to provide a way for sinners to enter. One night, V met Rika, a seraphim angel, and fell in love with her at first sight. This was another reason why he created the project. V can create barriers that can be used for both offence and defence. These barriers can be used to trap specific targets or to protect them. They are a useful tool for both attacking and defending, depending on the situation.

Jaehee Kang aka Cherry Blitz, a sinner demon. Confident and fearless, she enjoys living on the edge. Always wearing a broad smile, she finds excitement in daring acts, including arson and other crimes. With a friendly and charismatic personality, she loves to party and believes in living carefree, even indulging in drugs. Easily swayed, she can be bribed into various activities. She mostly uses bombs as her weapon and her ability fits that. She can control the size of the explosion of her bomb.

Yoosung is a hellborn demon and the son of a hellborn Overlord named Bellerose the Overlord of Cannibalism. He's always full of energy, quick on his feet, and easily amused. Although easily distracted, he's also easily excited. Disliking messiness, he doesn't mind getting dirty and takes pleasure in cleaning up with a creepy charm. Surprisingly, he enjoys the chaos of a warzone, but when a camera is on him, he becomes camera-shy, entering a trance-like state until the recording is done. Yoosung dreams of becoming a vet and has a special bond with Jumin. He can control animals.

Zen (real name Hyun Ryu) is a sinner demon. He's bold and sarcastic, using wit to deflect criticism and avoid responsibility. Switching between playful and destructive, his humor is often crude, with a focus on dirty jokes. Stylish and excessively confident in public, he enjoys flirting and seeks attention for his looks and reputation in Hell. Despite being a bit narcissistic, he values acknowledgement of his talent over looks. Zen feels pressure from his boss. He never dare to look down on others. Zen's ability to shoot a massive scream

Saeran is also known by his alias Unknown or Ray. Saeran is also a helper of V with the hotel, Saeran is usually in charge of keeping things in order. Saeran is practical and careful, dedicating much of his time to supporting V's hotel vision and keeping him out of trouble. Tough yet kind-hearted, he's loyal to those he cares about but lacks patience and trust. Saeran reacts quickly and can be defensive, always ready to protect himself and his loved ones from potential threats. Saeran only remembers his name and that he likes ice cream, unable to recall any memories before meeting V.

Saeyoung is a seraphim angel from Heaven alongside Rika, mostly called by the name Luciel or 707 or just commonly Seven. He's lively, sweet, and friendly to almost everyone, treating people equally without judgment. Despite being an exorcist who has dealt with many sinner demons, Saeyoung believes in redemption and often spares them. He has a fondness for jokes, even though his sense of humour is not great. Additionally, Saeyoung is skilled at hacking. Saeyoung is worried about the disappearance of his brother, Saeran, who has been missing without any trace.

Rika is an seraphim angel. She appears kind and composed, caring for those around her, including demons. As the High Seraphim, she takes her role seriously, enforcing order among angels and maintaining civil behaviour. She meets V by chance in Hell and shares a mother-son bond with Saeyoung. She's equally concerned about Saeyoung's missing younger brother, Saeran .-. .. -.- .- / -... .- -. .. ... .... . -.. / ... .- . .-. .- -. / ..-. .-. --- -- / .... . .- ...- . -. / .- ..-. - . .-. / .... . / -.. .. ... -.-. --- ...- . .-. . -.. / .... . .-. / ... . -.-. .-. . -