#probably not tbh her music is very tragic and beautiful

[bunnybeebitch]

now that Kenya Grace has released her EP maybe she will stop singing about her breakup and change topics...

[mostofthingsmostofthetime]

My thoughts on The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie

I don’t know if I liked it as much as the original films (maybe Mockingjay 1 & 2 as they are pretty emotionally draining), but I still enjoyed it.

I think where it fell a little flat for me is 1. The beginning was a bit slow (tbh I only really started getting interested when Lucy Gray stuck that snake down that girl’s dress & even then I enjoyed the story more when the setting changed from the Capitol to the district) 2. I knew Snow would survive 3. I’d already been spoiled online for a lot of stuff that happens & 4. while I know the director did his best to make Snow as “likeable” as he could for as long as possible, even before he started getting “a little too comfortable” with killing & snitching I didn’t find him as sympathetic as Katniss or Peeta (but that is probably again down to the fact that I know what he goes onto do & there’s no real way around that), this made engaging with him difficult for me.

The world is fascinating. Getting to see all the new locations we never had access to before as well as old locations now in a totally different light (for example district 12 which, while still clearly suffering, seemed like such a bustling industrial town compared to how it is in Katniss’s time). It might have a much more retro aesthetic but there's also just a more vibrant, natural, wild & lawless atmosphere to this movie compared to the others in the franchise. The whole scope of the film just felt more cinematic then I remember the others being yet also weirdly intimate. Maybe because it was one contained story & we knew the main character’s fate from the start. I also loved the title cards signifying the start of each section of the story like from the books & wished they'd done something similar for the other films. It just added a certain flair to the whole thing. Almost gave it the vibe of a tragic play.

The costuming was great. The bright red of the academy uniforms.  Flickerman’s snazzy suits. Snow’s dapper black & white outfit. Both peace keeper uniforms (despite one of them giving very ‘1930’s Germany’ vibes) looked great. Grandma might have been a bigot, but at least she was well dressed. Everything Dr Gaul wore (except the top that looked like a used tampon, lol) was exquisite. The main ladies of fashion, Tigris & Lucy Gray slayed. Our Future Capitol stylist looked like some regal yet exotic bird & Miss Survivor was giving Bohemian, country girl realness the entire time she was on screen. Even the extras were serving (like that random couple Snow walked past on his way to the reaping ceremony).

The music was amazing. Every song that played was fantastic (shout out to Olivia for her end credit contribution). The lyrics & instrumentation were beautiful & my god does Rachel Zegler have pipes! Anyone who says the singing scenes are cringy is just stupid like I’m sorry you can’t appreciate art. Also, the words ‘ballad’ & ‘songbirds’ are literally in the title. Plus, Lucy Gray is from the poorest district, so what exactly do those people want her to do in her free time? She can’t exactly hop on an X-box for a few hours. Not too mention that (as the offspring of someone who’s musically inclined) I can tell you, it’s completely realistic for a musician to use their craft to help them deal with trauma & Lucy Gray clearly had more than her fair share of that.

The Grandma'am helped to paint a sadly very realistic background for Snow. As who among us hasn’t met at least one delusional old person who thinks that their/their group’s suffering (regardless of the severity of it or the reason behind their former/newer status in society) means that no one else are deserving of even the tiniest shred of humanity & there are some people who are unlucky enough to not only be related to these people but be raised by them.

Hunter schafer as Tigris is clearly the superior Snow when it comes to things like empathy & overall mental stability but I do kind of wish they’d been more for her to do. Credit where credit is due though her & Tom did actually look like they could be related & I did buy their familial bond (which makes her appearance in Mockingjay so much sadder in hindsight).

Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom was a bit of a mix for me just due to his purpose as a character & the limit of film as a form of media. Like sure the audience know that Snow’s going to become an irredeemable monster in the end but without a window into his mind it really does just seem like the Dean is just out to get him & even when we find out why it seems kind of unfair. Like sure his dad sucked but haven’t the Games shown that blaming children for violence caused by others is unjust (& like ok he hates Coriolanus & probably the grandma but Tigris hadn’t done anything to deserve living in poverty, as she can’t control who she’s related to)? Plus, it felt like he could have at least tried taking Snow under his wing at some point to try to hinder Dr Gual’s influence. Saying all of that, though, Peter Dinklage is great at playing an addict with depression & the idea that some drunken rambling could lead to such long-lasting suffering is terrifying. Also its pretty realistic that living with that kind of guilt & in such a cruel environment for that long would make most people jaded & bitter, even if they did have good intentions.

Omg we finally get a Mayor family on screen & they’re assholes! Madge would be so disappointed 😭. It was interesting to see how harsh & overall “boot licky” the mayor & his family seemed compared to decades later, which makes sense as the war wasn’t that long ago for them so the dad probably felt more incentive to align himself with the Capitol as well as not feeling very connected to the district people as 12’s decline probably didn’t fully set in until they really started running low on coal & Snow became president (oh I just know he wanted to blow that district off the map 😆). I also wouldn’t put it past Billy to come up with some sob story of how he really does love Mayfair but wicked Lucy Gray is somehow preventing them from being together. Still no excuse to try to send her to her death twice in one week, though. Definitely not a girl’s girl.

Ok, so a liar. Cheat. Drunk & someone who hits women. Is there anything good about Billy Taupe? Also, trying to get your ex back, while your current girlfriend is literally standing right next to you? Dude, have some god damn back bone! You made a choice, now stick to it. Also, fumbling Lucy Gray, for a girl like that? What’s it like having no brains or taste? Well, too bad, coz you’re stuck with her forever now, lol.

Viola Davies, the actress that you are. What else is there to say? Dr Gaul is almost comic book levels of insane. Like she is how the Right see women in STEM, on crack! I don’t know what she did to get into character, but whatever it was, it worked.

Jason Schwartzman as Lucretius Flickerman is a very interesting addition to the story despite playing such a small & seemingly insignificant role. He is strange in how unthreatening he is while also extremely blasé about the abhorrent violence he witnesses that it’s as funny as it is disturbing. Making him come across as  more human yet harsher than his son, who at least pretends to care about the tributes (in a very Capitol way, obviously but still). There’s also a polish & confidence to Tucci’s performance that I think Schwartzman did a great job of avoiding copying (despite knowing what audiences were probably expecting) because not only are their characters in entirely different stages of their careers but the whole ethos of the Hunger Games is different in Snow’s youth than it is in Katniss’s. Caesar is a well established presenter & during his time, the games have always been a success (minus the year with the tundra) that the entire Capitol is invested in & seemingly in support of. On the other hand Lucretius had the unique task of not only coming into a job like this with zero experience (I mean imagine going from announcing the weather to presenting the fucking hunger games) but also there were no vibes to try to emulate let alone guidelines to follow because he truly was the first person to do this. On top of that, the "event" his presenting has been panned for years as both boring & unethical. Schwartzman brought a slightly awkward, experimental, yet try hard vibe (like a comedian who's desperate to get a laugh) that I think worked wonderfully for the character.

Tom Blyth's performance was great & he was visually perfect for a young Snow (the power of a good wig! Who knew lol). Even having the cool, analytical stare of Donald Sutherland, down pat. While his appearance was very Eminem during his peacekeeping days, his realisation in the cabin and subsequent breakdown in the woods were crazy. There was so much tension between him & Rachel in that scene that for a second, it literally felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. I could almost hear the record scratch for both of them, & all that building paranoia finally coming to a sudden crescendo in the way that it did? Pure cinema!

Josh Rivera, as Sejanus, was honestly a mix for me. Obviously, I agree with his morals, but his way of going about it did seem a little dumb. However I do think it’s pretty realistic that a teenager, especially a rich one, would be rather naive. Also I’ve heard that he’s smarter in the book & I think at times my frustration with him is more just down to the fact that I’m seeing him from Snow’s point of view. Meaning scenes that would be portrayed as noble in any other film instead come across as almost painfully inconvenient because the focus is always on how they affect Snow rather than the actual victims of the situation. Lastly, sorry, Snowjanus shippers, I just don’t see it (especially on Snow’s end), but whatever floats your boat.

Rachel Zegler played Lucy Gray with the perfect mix of natural charm & emotional vulnerability with clear pride in her culture & a refusal to let the world around her change who she is. Yet there was also an air of mystery & a subtle resilience to her that makes her potentially surviving out in the woods for years without being detected actually believable (though I don’t buy the theory that she went on to become president Coin). Definitely the highlight of the movie for me.

PS. I'd love to know what you think of my review in the comments/tags & am open to criticism (as long as it's respectful) just remember that I'm only talking about the movie so please don't reference anything spersific to the book.

[creativesplat]

💘, 🐳, ⛩️, 🙊?

💘, 🐳, ⛩️, 🙊

💘 MIPHLINK!!! Do I have to say it? Absolutely 110% Miphlink. Honestly they are a pairing that I love more than all the other ships I have ever shipped, and I come back to them whenever other hyper fixations fizzle out or I want something comforting. I love them both so much. AoC is one of my favourite zelda games for that reason. (BoTW too, but the tragic lovers vibe is so sad)

Skyward Sword Zelink, a little bit, I wasn’t head over heals for them, but SS Zelda reminded me a fair bit of Mipha (if Mipha had been brought up in a less dangerous time and with less royal duties they would have probably been more similar), so that was that! 

I really wish I shipped Revali with someone, because I love the birb because he is stupid and fun to draw, initially I was a pining Miphvali shipper, but like, I wasn’t a massive fan of that, so maybe ZelVali? Some people ship that, and I’ve got to say the Revali and Zelda talking scene is one of my favourite cutscenes in BoTW, not to mention Zelda’s dialogue to Revali; If not romantic, definitely platonic. 

Teba and Saki are the adorable birb parents so I quite like their couple dynamic? Im not really the biggest shipper outside of Miphlink tbh.  

🐳

I honestly have no idea? Probably a Hylian (boring answer sorry!), but maybe a Rito. I love the decoration styles, and bright colours, and also they live in a cool climate and I do not like hot weather. So maybe a rito. 

⛩️

I think my favourite dungeon would have to be the Ancient Cystern in SS, I just love how beautiful the whole thing is, with all the lotus-y patterns and the pinks and turquoises and the flowers and stuff. ITs just so dang beautiful!! I also really loved the Sandship Dungeon. I think in terms of play through that was my favourite from start to finish. Location is SO much harder. Aesthetically Satori Mountain, and Rito village, story-wise and where I spend my most time in BoTW Zora’s domain, I also Love the Zora’s domain and Rito Village music. Also sweet cozy little skyloft is so nice and permanent and homely. The great plateau is so nostalgic and I love that too… AAA I don’t think I can pick! In AoC it has to be Scero’s Supplies, I know you can’t really go there, but the merging of Zora and Hateno architecture is just so beautiful and I LOVE IT SO MUCH! 

🙊

Ohhh… Unpopular Zelda opinions… I have quite a few of those. Ok. Here we go. 

ToTK is AWUFUL. Hot dang it is the worst thing ever. It wasn’t even the story that made me stop playing. It was one line from an NPC in Rito Village. Molli wants to make elemental arrows, and has an idea for arrow inventions, that can freeze enemies! No way that’s so cool, except… that is literally one of the main things in the last game. You can buy elemental arrows from the shops. Like what the heck? At least explain to me why a very common commodity that EVERYONE but Particularly the people who’s job it is to look after Bows (Harth and Moli) know about and have access to is somethign they want to invent now. I hate is. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I ha- anyway. I despise whatever Lazy idiot decided that was the way to go. Who cares about lore? Not us apparently. I also have a massive problem with the imperialist mass-destruction weapon wearing zonai as well. And as a historian I just love BoTW so much better than ToTK. It treats its history with respect, and nuance, and good golly thats not how ruins from 10,000 years ago would work and o my word stop suspending my disbelief!?! 

Anyway. I could rant for far longer about far more things, but I’ll leave it at that. 

Way more unpopular, and Zelink shippers please ignore this: I think BoTW Zelink is creepy. The power dynamic is insanely bad (princess and her servant who literally cannot disobey her father), and the age gap is also awful (16 turned 17 for one day and “20 something” from the BoTW art book). 

Also, the women deserve better from that fandom. But that’s not news.

Thank you so much for the ask Stars!

[morningfears]

Okay but hear me out. 5sos as a 90s, East Bay punk band AU. 

[beckmessering]

take something that hasn’t been adapted into an opera, and tell us how you’d cast it if it was an opera

okkk so i'm reading madeline miller's the song of achilles atm (and i'm like. one evening away from finishing it but i'm literally too scared to because i feel like it'll rip me apart emotionally. oops)

and i feel like this would make a great opera because 1) ancient greek setting, epic, tragic, also very intimate and emotional, 2) gay (tumblr goes wild over the book. image an OPERA in which no one has to read into the subtext) 3) this needs really beautiful romantic orchestration, that's why

onto the casting! i don't rlly have specific ideas for which exact singers should sing the roles. if anyone else has read this book, please give ur opinions on who should sing this!! instead, i'll define the voices for each role.

achilles - that is a TENOR, ok. a nice one actually. but still a TENOR. he can literally not be anything else, sorry.

patroclus - anddd i'm not sure. he could be a very light/lyrical baritone. that would probably be so nice for duets with achilles. if his voice constantly stays just a little bit under achilles', vocal-range-wise, then that would support how the rest of ancient greece in the book perceives him. OR (bear with me here): he's a countertenor. tenor/alto duets are really hard to find, so i'm not sure if it's actually a good idea. it's just - i like the idea of patroclus, who is so often made to feel lesser and like a shadow in his youth and who's seen as part of achille's 'entourage' later by the rest of the world, and who's told that he's ugly and not good at anything, to have this elfin, soaring voice that's always audible, even over his lover's voice or a whole men's chorus. i feel like that would better signify what patroclus acutally means to achilles, rather than to the rest of ancient greece.

young achilles - you genuinely can't write this opera without their young versions and i do love that. a boy mezzo would be cool, i think.

young patroclus - a tiny boy soprano pls.

(how good that i don't have to actually write this opera and deal with casting and these vocal combinations)

chiron - fatherly bass fatherly bass fatherly bass

briseis - mezzo-soprano. idk she just has a mezzo feel to her. also, patroclus is the first one to make her feel more at ease, so it would be kinda fitting for them to 'speak the same language' ( = have a similar vocal range).

deidameia - we need someone for coloratura soprano antics here & it's you, girl

agamemnon - overdramatic baritone. if i'm being very specific, a heldenbariton please. he needs real vocal heft.

odysseus - also struggling a bit here but...he's just not a tenor. ok fine. baritone. he's got that wonderful baritonal quality of being *very* morally grey and you'll never know what you get when you interact with him. honestly, he reminds me a lot of a young wotan.

thetis - another difficult one. she's cold af and her voice has to be a little extreme. we already have (potentially) two adult altos, so a third would be a little much. (although it could fit.) i imagine the music radically changes whenever she appears (kinda like erda in das rheingold. except...far less enchanting). maybe she could be a very high soprano and the music becomes quiet and super dissonant and trance-like every time she appears. but tbh i think the tone of her voice would be much more important. it has to be very, very metallic and steely.

i think i've covered most relevant characters! again, if anyone read this book, feel free to add on your thoughts about the actual singers!

[theravennest]

Let’s Talk About Shang Chi...

I just got back from seeing Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. I had a great time with it. Just a lovely experience.

The fights were dope. The music was rocking. The actors’ performances really sold me on everything. I loved all the Xianxia elements. Y’all know fantasy worlds are my JAM!

But it was the characters that really drew me in. Every one of them were pitch perfect for me. The final act got a little jumbled, imo, but the characters and their dynamics were so good that it was enough for me to completely forgive and overlook the somewhat messy final battle. 

The story had a lot of heart. It was so personal and so anchored in real emotions. I highkey fell in love with all the main characters. I love their journeys and their complex  and grounded relationships with each other. I really liked the movie’s examination of grief, loss, and pain and the lengths people will go to in the wake of being overwhelmed by those feelings.

Let’s dig into it! This is gonna be a whole discombobulated mess, I just know it. lmao

***Spoilers below the cut!***

I really felt for Shang Chi, Xialing, and Wenwu struggling to figure out how to be a family again after they were all broken in different ways by the loss of Mama Ying Li. And each one of them trying in their own way to heal from it, some to extremely destructive degrees. 

How Wenwu treated his kids after being consumed by grief and violence was so utterly messed up but in two completely different ways. 

He treated Xialing like she was anathema, like she was literally nothing. Even when they were older and she had grown into an adult, he barely spoke to her in the entirety of the movie, could hardly even look at her. Partially because she looked like her mom and he retreated utterly from the pain of that, and partially because he constantly underestimated her in favor of her brother. This, of course, seeded the resentful tension between Xialing and Shang Chi from the start.

I’m a real sucker for sibling dynamics, as you all know. They’re my favorite types of family-oriented stories. (Side note, I really love the way the MCU has dedicated several stories to sibling relationships. It’s like my favorite thing in the MCU as a whole.)

I completely ate up the harsh and tricky relationship between Xialing and Shang Chi. Shang Chi completely let her down when they were kids, for her POV. (Not really his fault, he was a scared and traumatized 15 year old. Totally understandable.) But there is something to be said about the fact that she was also a child. A child dealing with her mom’s death too AND her dad’s aloofness. Then she was utterly abandoned by her brother. It’s no wonder she never quite forgives him, even though they mostly team up in the movie. They still have a lot to work out between them.

I really loved that she took on leadership of the Ten Rings at the end. The moment Shang Chi said she was “dismantling” their dad’s empire, I knew what was up. Though, the softy in me does hope that eventually they can find true reconciliation between them. I’m excited to see what we’ll see from her in future movies as a potential enemy of Shang Chi. It’ll be really interesting to see how Shang Chi tackles having to go up against his little sister.

And Shang Chi!!! OMG! Let’s talk Shang Chi and Wenwu now. When Wenwu drop kicked him into the ground and started the blame game for Mama Ying Li’s death like bro!!! I was so heated. He was 7 years old. A whole baby! She died because your thousand years of violence and conquering shit finally came home to roost. 

But that one line when Wenwu said Shang Chi’s 7 year old self “just stood there and watched” while his mom was killed actually revealed so much about Wenwu’s character. (The cutting way Tony Leung, a literal legend, delivered that was masterful, btw.) 

I actually think that it was the first time Wenwu has ever verbalized that he blamed Shang Chi for Ying Li’s death. Like maybe he’s always felt that way and all this time he was partially punishing Shang Chi for what he thinks of as a failure to protect or help the woman who meant so much to them.

Like, yes, he was training Shang Chi to take his place with him in the Ten Rings as an assassin but maybe he also wanted Shang Chi to kill his mom’s murderer as penance for letting her die in the first place.

Of course, it’s clear to see that Wenwu was absolutely shifting his own feelings of conflicting guilt onto his kids. Guilt that his past as a warlord is what got her killed. But also guilt that he put down the Ten Rings in the first place when if he had stayed a warlord, this never would have happened. But also the bone deep knowledge that if he hadn’t put down the Rings, Ying Li might never have stayed with him and loved him in the first place.

When Shang Chi threw it back at him that Ying Li probably wouldn’t love the person Wenwu had returned to, Wenwu looked so shook up. Phew! Perfect emoting from Tony Leung in that moment.

Honestly, Wenwu was having a very tragic and confusing time of it in this movie. Which is probably how that creature from beyond was able to find a crack in his psychic defenses and lure him to the gate. I had a lot of empathy for him even though I disagree so much with what he did to his kids, emotionally.

I really respect the fact that the movie never lost that sense of compassion for all of their feelings including Wenwu. I also respect that the movie really gave them space to grieve not just the loss of Ying Li but also the resulting dissolution of their happy family.

It’s just too bad that Wenwu’s grief made him push his kids away instead of pulling them closer. He completely emotionally abandoned them. A thousand years of power and supremacy yet he was broken because he never in that time fully learned how to process his emotions in a healthier way and his kids paid the price. They could’ve leaned on each other and on the love they found with Ying Li to help them get through but alas that’s the tragedy of the movie. 

I really wanted somehow for Shang Chi to make it through to his dad before he went too far to come back again. I genuinely did not want to see Wenwu die at the end. I wanted him to live and see Shang Chi’s changing dynamic with his father continue. I wanted to see him finally acknowledge his daughter as his true heir and see her accomplishments (dark though they will likely become considering the “softer” version of her is the one that ran an illegal fight club in Macao lmao).

Though I am happy Shang Chi got through to him enough at the end for Wenwu to save Shang Chi’s life, willingly pass the rings onto his son, and somewhat accept his own death after a thousand years of life. That was such a poignant moment between them. And I wonder if in that instant, Wenwu had the thought that in dying he’d at least see Ying Li again.

(Side note: I really hope his soul and the souls of everyone that got eaten were freed when Shang Chi killed the monster. I really want them to be able to move on to the next phase of existence. I really hope they weren’t destroyed after being eaten. I want Wenwu to reunite with Ying Li even in the afterlife, gotdamnit! Sue me, I’m a romantic.)

Let’s talk Simu Liu’s performance here for one second. He was incredible throughout. I completely bought into this strange but so real feeling that while he has a lot of anger towards his father, so much hurt, he also felt a lot of heartache and love for who Shang Chi wanted him to be. And the strange desire to want to help a man who emotionally scarred him so badly.

Simu really brought both sides of Shang Chi’s journey to life. Like, he was tying to find his own path, reconcile with the mistakes he’s made in the past (his sister, killing his mom’s murderer), and facing up against his father’s ideals and expectations. But there was also a side of Shang Chi’s journey that was about finally understand both his sister and his father’s point of views, and of learning/embracing his mother’s history. 

That moment by the lake when he revealed to Katy that he had actually killed the man who killed his mother. Whew boy! The emotions were so poignant. Simu Liu played it like *chef’s kiss* beautiful.

Speaking of character choices, I really rate this decision to have him actually go through with the assassination. It puts Shang Chi in an interesting position emotionally and somewhat morally. Instead of having his breaking point be him unable to kill as his father wishes, it’s instead the feeling of guilt and shame that he actually did kill the man.

I wonder if he felt a sense of satisfaction before the disgust and shame settled in. Because Shang Chi literally watched his mom die, he probably initially wanted to help his father hunt down the man because of that bit of dark need for vengeance. Until he got it, and felt ashamed to fully face his mother’s memory afterwards.

I’m interested to see how future Shang Chi movies and Simu will dig into and unpack that little bit of darkness these events instilled in the character.

Let’s talk Ying Li for a second here. This woman was incredible. An incredible martial artist, for sure, a mystical guardian and warrior...but she was also just an incredible person in general. Mama Ying Li was so self-assured, so steadfast in her convictions. She struck me as someone who knows exactly what she wants and is never afraid to reach for it.

Fala Chen portrayed her with such grace, warmth, and strength of character. It was extremely easy to see why Wenwu fell in love with her. She met Wenwu, a literal thousand year old warlord, and through shear strength of character led him to put down his weapons and his empire to make a home with her.

This man threw away his entire shadow army of assassins, threw away his whole plan to literally demolish her village in the pursuit of power...in order to play Dance Dance Revolution with her and their kids. (The highlight of their romance and the family flashbacks, for me, tbh.) 

And I know it’s not necessarily...positive BUT there is something...hmmmm, crunchy in the fact that Ying Li so completely altered Wenwu’s life by simply loving him that when she died he was willing to raze the whole world to get her back, damn the consequences.

Trying to properly explore toxic and negative turns in previously loving family dynamics is such a difficult task to take on. I really liked the complexity of the Xu family. All the actors really sold the family side of things. It was an almost tangible thing how much you could see how the love they felt had turned bitter and painful over the years.

The final battle was epic and mind blowing (There was a fucking DRAGON flying around for gods’ sake!) but I do wish it had stayed a little more grounded for longer in the beginning of it when the Ten Rings were fighting the Ta Lo warriors. I wanted to see more of that fight before they had the turn to becoming temporary allies against the soul suckers. It became a little too much of a CGI mash, for me, in some parts of it.

Still, the emotional beats held and the core of the story of this grieving family trying to hold on to the tatters of their world stayed consistent even through the final battle. I can forgive a lot because of the strong sense of character and connection there.

Plus, it’s a comic book movie. Spectacle is the name of the game and at least this one had cool fantasy beasts and dope fight choreo. 

Anyway, I’ve rambled enough. Let’s wrap it up here. Suffice it to say, I had a wonderful time with this movie. I’m ready for the next one!

[hella1975]

hi! laika anon here (i really couldve given u at least a little more warning tbh....laika is one of the few songs that has the power to make me cry no matter what mood im in) but music reccs!!- im gonna limit myself to 4 asks here because im REALLY tryna not be overwhelming/annoying.

ok so i def cannot promise anything with the same amount of gut punch that laika has but here are 5 songs that kind of tie into the animal theme-

gus the polar bear from central park (tragically hip): this is very much more rock type sound, but central theme is a captive bear who no longer frightens anyone, i really really love gord downies lyricism i think the man is brilliant tbh (if u vibe a little then "tired as fuck" and "ahead by a century" also hit)

peter the wildboy (ratboys): not about an animal per say but kind of like the way humans strip the beauty from things that are wild(?)

dead dogs (annie dirusso): this one is very much more laying all the cards in front of you. her dog is dead, shes praying and doesnt know why cause she doesnt think its gonna do anything, etc, etc. dirusso has a nice clear tone 2 her voice tho

putting the dog to sleep (the antlers): im not sure how much of this one is literally about putting a dog to sleep vs just metaphor but its pretty um uh its a cool song. yah.

space dog (tori amos): this is the most not fitting to the theme i'd say, its mostly just seemingly nonsense lyrics but i still find tori pretty compelling + yaknow- space dog

laika anon back for p2 of 4: songs about death in general warnings 4 big ouch :| (hope some of these r new 2 u!!)

matthew 25:21 (moutain goats): uhhh wow idk how he makes the like *im mostly talking barely singing not even really rhyming* thing work so well but boy does he ever- if u havnt heard it i dont wanna spoil anything but its so well structured(??) everything fits together so well-

seaweed (mount eerie): from an album about dealing with the loss of his wife it was between this one and real death- but i first heard this song and proceeded to sob for probably an hour.

casimir pulaski day (sufjan): ik fs uve heard this one, sufjan enjoys hurting feelings.

when i met death (right away great captain): less of a personal one, more just incredibly beautiful (imo) i cannot get over how he layers the vocals stg im like vibrating

ok laika anon second to last ask i PROMISE!! these songs are just ones i find powerful/moving imma include potential tws tho because there are some 4 sure

emotional anorexic (svavar knutur): a pretty apt painting of depression and how hard it can be to compare yourself to others, doesnt contain any language explicitly about eds

not an addict + my heart (k's choice): this band is two brothers (lead singer is trans masc) which is cool ASF, sam hadnt come out as trans during the run of most of if not all of k's choice, but you can pick up on the queer elements/themes in the music and its honestly just really beautiful stuff

me and a gun (tori amos): ok big cw here because this song is about tori's sa, its incredibly powerful- just her voice with no other backing music- honestly she is so- i dont really have words for it but i recommend listening to the song if you can

torn again (leonard cohen): cw mention of wrists in a potentially triggering way- i love lenny co- ik hes really not 4 everyone but imo this is him at his best.

nothing but heartache in your social life(gord downie): words words holy shit this man owned words- ide-

bonus picks: sun in my mouth björk, hollow life korn

laika anon LAST ASK WHOOOOO!!!! if u are ever looking to really make urself miserable- two projects i would recommend:

next to normal: you dont even have to watch the musical, pull up the genuis lyrics and read along- or dont tbh its still fuckin' POTENT. family unit made up of a mother, father, sister and an older brother only the mom can see- i have sobbed to this shit on at least 4 occaisons. not to mention the songs have such brilliant layering to them- my holy shit moment is always my psychopharmachologist and me- but i am the one guts the fck out of me

the secret path by gord downie- this is the story of a young boy who was stolen from his family during the (very long) period of time when canada forced its indigenous people into residential schools. downie's voice takes a little getting used to especially as he was pretty deep in the throes of cancer at this point- but god its truly a fucking soul destroying story- and one similar to so many others that have been covered up so effeciently by the canadian government-

laika anon i would like to start by saying that i have been listening to laika on repeat since you told me about it and i quite literally cannot get over it i think about it all the time it's rewritten my brain chemistry i am not okay at all.

thank you so much for these! your taste is exquisite and ive made a note to listen to all of these, but i also made a playlist for the whole laika/two-headed calf vibe and i used a lot of your recs as inspo, so thank you!

[runadamsrun]

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

Hmm.

So I’ll be writing all of this out, my thoughts and feelings. And talking about the anime too, and how it ties in with those thoughts/feelings, but it’s more so I can get my thoughts out somewhere and process them. I don’t really intend for this to be an anime review or anything. 

I actually just watched the series for the first time this week. Specifically... just this Wednesday (11/17). So at my school (well, technically the school district), we have a Thanksgiving break, where we basically get the whole week of Thanksgiving off. And so I plan on actually playing a movie before every break. The original plan was to watch Josee, the Tiger and the Fish for Thanksgiving break, Your Name for winter break, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas for spring break, and A Silent Voice for summer break. 

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) enough, I couldn’t find any online dubs for Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, and the subbed ones I could find had these incredibly small and illegible subtitles (not for me, but since I’m projecting the movie for the class to watch, the subs are pretty damn illegible). So I decided to instead watch I Want to Eat Your Pancreas with the class.

Y’know, it got me. It got me pretty damn good, actually. I... didn’t expect the movie to hit me so hard. I knew it was good, but I don’t think I even knew that it was a tragedy going in.

It got me for a lot of reasons. I’ll probably list out the less important reasons first, and then followed by the more important ones. Tbh though, I don’t even have my list of reasons as I’m typing this out right now. I’m coming up with them as I go. (For reference, all of my Tumblr posts are like, stream-of-consciousness.)

For one, the soundtrack. Oh my god. The background music playing when they’re reconciling in the rain (after the “house/room scene”), or when the fireworks are going off, or during the credits. But yeah, the main one that gets me is during the fireworks scene: “Himitsu” by sumika.

And I think the second one would be the title drops. When in the beginning, Sakura told Haruki she wants to eat his pancreas. Of course, this was in the context of how it was believed, in the past, that if you were ill and there was something wrong with one of your organs (e.g., liver, heart), you just had to eat another one to get better. But then the title drops later at the end when they... both “confess” to each other. There’s way more meaning attached, and more on this later, actually.

But I think the main reason why this anime hit me so hard is because of the topics that come up. Like, less-so themes, but moreso things the two talked about or said to each other. They’re just so... beautiful, and romantic, and tragic. They’re the main reasons why I’m bothering with this post, and talking about it, and... how I feel about it. For me, I guess the main draw of anime, any anime, and what makes certain ones rank so highly, are those hard-hitting scenes and dialogue and how well they’re done and align with my own thoughts/feelings. (Same with Your Name which I’ll talk about in the future. But also why SukaSuka and Beatless are both in my top 5.) So let’s talk about some of the major scenes that got me, that launched this movie to, not just my top 5, but top 3.

When the two ate yakiniku together, of course, there was a title drop there (when she said she doesn’t want to be cremated so he can eat her pancreas). But then she talked about how there’s a foreign religion that believes that when you eat someone, their soul lives on in you. And the way I read that, it’s... hm. It’s like she was proposing that he spend eternity with her. Which is incredibly romantic in my eyes.

And then in the rain, after the house/room scene, he said that they only happened across each other by chance in the hospital. She refuted this, saying that it wasn’t just a coincidence. That every decision they’ve made so far in their lives led to them meeting that very moment. She then said that it also wasn’t anything like fate, which initially threw me off. (Because that’d be the far more romantic right?) But she followed up by talking about how she chose to write in a notebook, how he liked books and chose to pick it up, and chose to stick with her for the short remainder of her life, all of which brought them together. In retrospect, this is far better, as it suggests that they had some degree of... I guess agency or control over their lives? And everything they did, everything single action they both did, was gradual steps that helped them meet each other.

Of course, the parts where they talked about wanting to be like the other person too. How the other person is so amazing, and how they could become like them. Haruki did this as he was waiting at Cafe Spring, and Sakura did this in her farewell letter. And they followed up with this by saying that they'd like to take a leaf out of the other's book. But Haruki didn’t say this. Instead, he deleted that text and sent another one expressing the same idea, but more... personal. And now it’s something that only the two of them can understand. Something special shared between them, and only between them, in the whole world. But I’ll quote Sakura. From her farewell letter:

You see, I wanted to tell you before I died. That I'd like to take a leaf out of your book. But I shouldn't be using an expression like that. It would be a shame to describe the relationship we have using normal, everyday words. So I came up with this. I know you might not like the idea, but I've decided: I want to eat your pancreas.

The words themselves, as I mentioned earlier, are a title drop. A major reason I really liked this anime. But just a really good title drop would only make me like the anime. The reason why I love this anime is because it’s moreso this concept of... a unique “idea” that’s shared between the two of them, and only the two of them. Somehow... that hits me. An insider thing that only two people in the world will understand.

But our relationship can't be described through simple terms like love or friendship, right?

Sakura also said this earlier, in her letter, and it kind of builds upon the previous ideas I’ve been touching on. Kind of. But the relationship they share, it’s something different. It’s not friendship, of course. But I’d say it’s more than love as well. It’s something that can’t be described using “normal, everyday words” (previous quote). It’s more of... meeting your... hm. Other half? Would this mean that they’re moreso twin flames as opposed to soulmates? I’m not sure, actually. But this concept... ugh. It’s so romantic. Because they’re meant, and made, for each other. Encouraging the other’s change. And growth.

I think this idea is kind of supported when Haruki talked about how, initially, they were like, “We’re complete opposites of each other!” But upon reflection:

You often said that we're not aligned. Not looking the same way. Well, of course not. We were always looking at each other.

Continuing from that exact quote, actually, and going onto my next idea, he then said:

I'm the one who... I lived my life just to meet you.

To meet you. I've made my choices in life for the sake of nothing else.

Because this is in response to what she said, also from her farewell letter:

I always thought I was just like any other of the hundreds of thousands of high school students out there, albeit one living a slightly shorter life than usual. But you cared for a [sic] uninteresting girl like me. You, who have no need for relationships like friendship or love, chose none other than me!

Perhaps I've spent 17 years waiting to be needed by you. Just like cherry blossoms wait for spring!

She also said this again when Haruki told her his name for the first time, and she realized that they were made for each other. (Name-wise, at the time.)

But this idea... this is the biggest one. The idea of a raison d’être. Why I loved HakoMari. Because it’s just so... beautiful and romantic. Living your life for the sake of someone else.

Life, and everything in life, is so ephemeral. So to spend the short life you have, to use it, for someone else, isn’t that just so... tragic and wonderful?

I think all of the reasons above, of course, are what led to I Want to Eat Your Pancreas smashing through my anime rankings and hitting the top 3. Because...

I think of Kale I guess. And maybe Emily back then even, who... well, you can look at that post. I guess a lot of these thoughts are why I was so... heartbroken then.

But Kale... maybe... everything we’ve both done was to meet each other? And our relationship is beyond both a friendship or any describable relationship? And that we’re only showing our other sides to the other person, and only to the other person? 

I don’t know. That’s why this anime gets me. I don’t know how things will turn out between us. And well... damn it. I really don’t know. And I can’t know, and I’ll have to wait and see.

But wouldn’t it be great? Maybe I’ve lived my whole life waiting for someone. For the future sake of someone. And while I don’t know how my relationship with Kale will turn out, or who I’ll meet in the future, wouldn’t it be so romantic if we both lived our lives just to meet the other person?

[brave-clarice]

“Clarice” Liveblog: Episodes 5 & 6

Since these are extraordinarily late, I tried to keep them more concise/focused than before. I’m sorry for how long it’s taken me to (almost) catch up. And to the handful of you who’ve enjoyed these and encouraged me to do them: thank you!

Episode 5, “Get Right With God”

the music at the beginning of this episode might just be in the maintenance guy’s headphones(!) but it was still a…Choice.

there’s something so tragic about watching Clarice be unable to use her legs… :’(

this whole scenario feels like a twisted parallel universe version of the end of Hannibal.

glad to see Ardelia finally has her priorities straight and is going to fight for her best friend! let’s forget her Episode 4 subplot ever happened.

good: the warrior finding a weapon even in the direst of circumstances!

bad: those damn moths are back. at least this time they might be drug-induced.

“she worked Bill alone” no, she didn’t. not really. (Hannibal: I’m right here.)

stop trying to make Likable Paul happen, it’s never going to happen!!!

I HATE the “Reesey” nickname, y’all. HATE. IT.

plus, we know that her dad called her “Baby”?

her father’s appearance doubles down on the end-of-Hannibal vibes...Not Sure If Want.

wow, Clarice is being literally tortured? thanks, I hate it!!!

really doubt that Clarice’s Pinto used to belong to her father (who drives a truck in the books??)... weird flex.

and how would she even have gotten it? her mother would either have driven that car into the ground out of necessity or else have sold it for the money the Starlings needed so desperately.

Pintos also weren’t super high-quality cars and were definitely not built to last ~20 years.

Clarice already being able to chat with her father whenever she needs to really undermines the therapy Hannibal will eventually give her, but…I guess they’ve already accepted they’ll never make it that far?

“you’re trying to get in my head” yeah, and she’s doing it, too–’cause she learned from the best!

“you get an answer, I get an answer, Felker.” she’s Hannibal’s girl all right.

this episode’s had flashes of brilliance before diving back into…whatever tf watching one of your favorite characters of all time being tortured is.

I really wanted Ardelia to say that no, but Clarice was like a sister to her.

it took FIVE episodes to get some lamb imagery, but we’ve been looking at moths for the entire season?!

oof, Clarice voicing her own insecurities about her childhood abandonment and using them to twist Felker’s arm...painful but smart.

HANNAH!!!

I would die 4 baby Clarice

after all that, Clarice is going to apologize to Ardelia about last week? this episode SUCKS.

Good: Clarice playing mind games with Felker like Hannibal did to her; Ardelia going to bat for her bestie, lamb flashbacks, baby Clarice, and HANNAH!

Bad: So much. Clarice being medically tortured multiple times, moth hallucinations, the several-years-premature (imo) Daddy-as-Guardian-Angel plot device, “Reesey”...did I mention Clarice getting repeatedly tortured?!

Ugly: Krendler backstory + making out with his wife. Ew.

Wow, this episode was a hot mess, and I kind of hated it. I loved Clarice’s really Hannibalesque approach to Felker, and I’m so thrilled that Hannah got mentioned at all (tho...did they need to be so heavy-handed with the helmet and gun and everything?) Also nice to see Ardelia behaving much more in-character. That said, it was sickening and imo totally unnecessary to further traumatize Clarice the way they did. To make her almost helpless.

Clarice, and by extension Rebecca Breeds (who is fantastic and deserves better), has been given very little range so far. She’s frequently been shown as miserable, afraid, desperate, traumatized, angry, resentful, but I also want to see her joyful, laughing, silly, relaxed...something else that will give her depth. Her life wasn’t miserable 24/7, 365. It was just unfulfilling. We got glimpses of this in the first two episodes. PLEASE bring it back!

And rn I’m questioning how Clarice’s career can possibly drag on for another six years after this. Her apparent PTSD is already interfering with her job performance as it is--this experience is only going to make it worse. Her “body count” in Hannibal was around five, iirc, and that was enough to slap her with the “Death Angel” moniker. In the show at least four people have died in close proximity to Clarice in the space of like...a week. How does she come back from that, even as the savior of Catherine Martin? It’s a PR nightmare for obth Clarice and the FBI.

They’ve also sort of forgotten that the Martins existed while continuing to flesh out Krendler’s (?!) character? It’s weird.

I almost don’t even want to watch Episode 6 after that. But here goes...

Episode 6, “How Does It Feel to Be So Beautiful?”

the freaking MOTHS again, I hate them!

frankly, yeah, Clarice should be on leave.

Clarice’s nondescript monochrome suits and constant ponytail are just so boring. in the book she’s described as never having to put effort into making her hair look good--so why is it always pulled back in this show?

I’m not sure it’s very in-character for Clarice, at this point in her career, to go over her boss’s head to get out of admin leave (one she really needs to take tbh) even for the sake of solving a case

lol what the actual hell @ AG Martin guilt-tripping Clarice, who was very recently tortured and almost died, for not calling Catherine back? Clarice is not Catherine’s therapist!

THIS is what my Vogue-reading heroine with burgeoning great taste wears for a night out? so disappointing.

never in my life did I think I’d be sitting through Krendler’s personal drama in a show ABOUT CLARICE STARLING.

her costume sucks and her hairstyle’s from years in the future, but dang does Clarice look gorgeous.

and I love thinking of her getting a taste of the luxury she’ll enjoy with Hannibal. :)

you know what? I think I was actually fine with them forgetting that the Martins were in this show.

whyyy is Krendler being made so sympathetic?!

now Catherine Martin “loved to sew” just like Frederica Bimmel? hmm. (tbf, maybe this is in the novel, and I’ve just forgotten.)

her gift for Clarice is sweet, though.

so beautiful, indeed

Christ on a cracker, that confrontation between the Martins was painful to watch (not a criticism). this show’s AG and her daughter are very much two of a kind in terms of emotional manipulation.

I stan one (1) doofus

now either Catherine’s gaslighting Clarice...or Clarice’s trauma (over BILL! again with this!) is so pervasive that it’s twisted her memories. either way, I hate it.

so Krendler’s lawyer is dirty and that’s why he’ll (probably) turn against Clarice? but WHY? why can’t Krendler just suck?

Good: Clarice looking gorgeous, Ardelia continuing to fight for Clarice, female characters in positions of authority everywhere

Bad: Clarice’s underwhelming costumes, Clarice’s primary/worst trauma apparently STILL being Buffalo Bill & having Clarice break down crying again (and NOT over what happened last week, which would tbh make a lot more sense).

Sad: Shaan’s backstory about his wife, everything involving Catherine

Ugly: Krendler subplot. Ugh.

I just don’t know how I feel about this installment. Wish I cared more about the overarching conspiracy plot, but I’m really only here for Clarice and Ardelia. And while no show can stand on the shoulders of a single character, for a show about Clarice, there seems to be quite a bit of screentime devoted to her bosses, Martin and Krendler, and even to her team members. And all without Clarice herself getting much character development. They don’t seem to be exploring much of her character other than her traumatic backstories, and I’m no longer very hopeful that she’ll be much more fleshed out in the last four episodes, either. It’s a bummer. I really think Rebecca could shine like Jodie did if she were given a chance.

Most of the scenes with the Martins were visceral and felt so real that it was hard to watch. That said...the AG Martin/Catherine content all strikes me as being somewhat detached from the rest of the show, as if the writers are making it up as they go along with no real end goal in mind.

Man...these two were rough going. Very little humor or warmth and absolutely no joy. Of course the source material is dark, so a somewhat dark crime drama is to be expected, but I really think the show needs a slightly less intense, bleak and (dare I say it?) unpleasant episode. But they writers have really dug themselves into a hole by zeroing in on Clarice’s PTSD. And unlike in Hannibal, there’s no love interest with whom she (and by extension, the audience) can flee her misery and pain. 

I'm cautiously optimistic about the rest of the season. A lot of the ingredients are there, and despite my many criticisms, it’s been great to spend time with a character I love. Fingers crossed that they finish strong!

[trensu]

Episode 43: The One where WWX is Soft for Children and Bunnies

we're still in the forbidden chamber

wwx has his detective cap on and is being clever

the lan bros are listening attentively as they should be

wwx: jgy is a sneaky conniving bastard blah blah he vandalizes evil music books blah blah

lots of boring plot talk basically

i'm sitting here like, *sigh* so pretty wwx so pretty

which is what i imagine lwj does all the time...

lol wwx goes to lxc and is like, no offense bro but jgy was a skilled spy during the war who was able to infiltrate and memorize wen ruohan's stuff in their secret chamber. invading this one would've been a piece of cake for him

and lxc is like well damn, guess i better test out all this evil music and see if it actually works

lxc: i'll just test the evil magic music on myself. yep. that way no one gets hurt and that couldn't possibly backfire on me at all

lwj: bro

lxc: bro. i gotta do this bro to clear my bae’s i mean friend's name

LOL lxc is like you all see jgy this way but i see him in a totally different way

YEAH WE KNOW, THAT'S THE PROBLEM

LOLOLOL OMG

lxc turns to gaze off into the middle distance and is like, the jgy in my heart is kind and benevolent blah blah

and behind him wwx crosses his arms and all but rolls his eyes LIKE DUDE YOU'RE COMING TO THE WRONG PERSON FOR SYMPATHY. I'M THE ONE THAT GOT KILLED FOR THINGS YOUR BF DID

oh this moment's interesting

lxc is like, can't you allow me to be cautious about making this decision? 

and lwj takes a step towards him, ready to speak but wwx grabs his upper arm and stops him with a shake of his head

the look lwj gives him just before that was like why are you stopping me?

but wwx knows this isn't something you can push

lwj trusts wwx's judgment and holds back whatever he was going to say

i'm curious as to what he WAS going to tell his brother tho

now lwj is leaving to talk to their uncle and lxc is like, sure i'll take your soulmate back to your room for you

WE'RE GONNA GET SOME BABY!LWJ FLASHBACKS SOON OMG

IT'S GONNA HURT

wwx: since lan zhan isn't here, i wanna ask you about something

lxc: tell me

wwx: what are the whipping scars on lan zhan?

lxc: you don't know?

AND THEIR SONG STARTS PLAYING

wwx: i asked him but he didn't wanna say, so i'm asking you

lxc: yeah, if he doesn't think it's necessary he'll probably never talk about it so i'll tell you instead of respecting my little brother's decisions about his personal life

AND OKAY I'M GLAD HE DID BC IT GIVES US WANGXIAN MOMENTS BUT STILL!! 

lxc: do you remember that one time when wn shot and killed your sister's husband?

on the one hand, HOW COULD HE FORGET but on the other hand, he forgets quite a lot of things actually...

lxc: after wq and the others turned themselves in...*cue flashback*

we're at the burial mounds, lwj is standing by himself before wwx's cave facing down a whole freaking squadron of cultivators

su she: *runs his mouth as if we actually care what he has to say*

lwj: *completely unfazed and expressionless* you are not qualified to speak to me

HELL FUCKING YEAH

WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE HOW EPIC THIS MOMENT IS

LOOK AT LWJ OWN THAT ICE PRINCE PERSONA TO STRIKE DOWN AN IMPUDENT ANT OF A PERSON

su she goes to draw his sword AS IF HE HAS ANY REAL CHANCE OF DEFEATING HANGUANG JUN IN A SWORD FIGHT

but jgy shows up with even MORE cultivators and then does that thing where he compliments the person inconveniencing him and takes control of the situation

jgy: oh hanguang jun is so honorable let's not search wwx's secret cave lab right now

BUT THE GREAT THING IS THAT LWJ DOESN'T EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE HIS PRESENCE

HE DOESN'T LOOK AT HIM OR SU SHE AT ALL

bc lwj is forever Better Than You.

fuck jgy

jgy: even if wwx is alive, the burial mounds is surrounded so there's no way he could come here without us noticing

he says this to lwj all mildly BUT YOU KNOW IT'S A THREAT

He bows (lwj STILL doesn't acknowledge him and it's GREAT) and walks away

then pauses (bc Drama) and is like oh, almost forgot, your uncle is waiting for you at the cloud recesses. And then he just leaves with all his cultivators

this is when lwj finally looks at jgy (or his back, at least since jgy is leaving)

We cut to the next scene that has lwj slamming the point of bichen in the the stone ground, arm bleeding

HE IS VISIBLY SWEATING AND TREMBLING

lxc: lwj made a mess and fought against everyone there

AND WE SEE LWJ FALL TO HIS KNEE, ONE ARM USING BICHEN AS SUPPORT WHILE THE OTHER RESTS ON THE GROUND

but the fall was gradual and jerky, like he was fighting it the whole way down. 

As if the only reason he fell is bc he's used up every ounce his strength and energy he had in his body

lxc: uncle burst into anger and took him back home, punishing him with 300 lashes and repenting in the cold pond cave for 3 years

we cut to the cloud recesses, camera shot from above making lwj, who is kneeling before his uncle and surrounded by disciples, look small AS ~THEIR SONG~ STARTS PLAYING ON THE CELLO 

his uncle orders them to start beating lwj

AND LWJ TAKES IT LIKE A CHAMP

he barely moves with each strike and MAN THAT DISCIPLE IS NOT HOLDING BACK

oooh, we see him do that fist clench thing which looks even more painful without bichen to grip tbh

dude lwj is clenching his jaw so hard. 

like, he refuses to cry out in pain and it's gotta hurt bc he's bleeding already

lqr: what is rule 52 of the lan clan?

lwj: do not befriend evil

NO HESITATION. SAID IN A STRONG FIRM VOICE

AS IF HE WASN'T CURRENTLY GETTING BEATEN WITH A NIGHTMARE STICK

and lqr is all you have forgotten the fundamental laws of our clan, how can you have the nerve to face your ancestors like this!!

BUT LWJ IS NOT HAVING THAT

HE'LL TAKE THE BEATING BUT HE'S GOING TO MAKE HIS POINT

lwj: i dare ask you, grandmaster, who is right? who is wrong? what is black? what is white?

Bc our boy has learned! He’s learned NUANCE and CRITICAL THINKING and the existence of GRAY AREAS

BC WTF IS THE POINT OF ALL OF THESE STUPID RULES IF THEY DON'T PROTECT THE INNOCENT AND DEFENSELESS?

Bc his soulmate was right all along and he didn’t stand by him when he needed him most and now his soulmate is gone. His soulmate is gone. He’s GONE.

I'M GONNA MAKE MYSELF CRY

lqr: perfect! that's my good student

he does not say this happily. he is in fact SHOUTING this VERY ANGRILY

and here i wanna say, hey lqr, what's that rule about excessive noise...?

cue lwj's fist clench again, which sounds just as painful as the beating tbh

lqr: wangji, you have disappointed me

NOT AS MUCH AS YOU AND YOUR DAMN RULE-BOOK HAVE DISAPPOINTED HIM, YOU JERK

and here we see an ACTUAL VISIBLE SCOWL on our beautiful hanguang jun's face as he continues to be beaten

HOW ANGRY AND TORN UP MUST HE BE TO ACTUALLY SCOWL LIKE THAT??

cut to lwj kneeling at the ice table thing in the cold pond cave, robed in white and face blank but somehow still projecting an aura of cold fury

probably bc the rulebook open in front of him says "eradicate evil, establish laws, and goodness will be everlasting" and he knows that’s bullshit now

but actually this scene is visually very beautiful. 

It’s all in misty shades of pale cold blue and white and everything’s spaced out in a way to emphasize how very very alone lwj is

cut back to the present with wwx and lxc

wwx grips his flute with both hands and looks down like he can't believe what he's hearing

lxc: when lwj was imprisoned i tried to persuade him...but he told me he considered you his confidant soulmate and believed in your integrity

wwx: why would he bother…?

his brow is furrowed and his voice is soft like he truly doesn't seem to understand why lwj would bother to do all that

and on the one hand i wanna scream IT'S BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU, YOU MORON

but on the other hand, everybody else in wwx's life, everyone else he loved, turned on him or died 

and he probably truly believes he deserved all that, and that he is undeserving of lwj's unwavering faith

and then i cry

lxc: do you know what this place is?

shot of the entrance to the silence room aka the jingshi aka lwj's room

wwx: i don't

lxc: it's where our mother lived

wwx is hanging off his every word

lxc: you might find it strange that the wife of the clan leader didn't live with her husband in the frigid chamber

with a name like that i wouldn't want to live there either...

lxc: you might know that our father used to isolate himself for years, not caring about anything...

Not even his sons, apparently!

wwx: i do

and he explains that his father isolated himself bc of his mother or whatever

lxc: this place was more of a prison than a home

It was his mother’s prison. When did he figure that out? Was it when HE WAS STILL A KID??

DID HE FEEL GUILTY FOR SPENDING TIME WITH HIS  MOTHER KNOWING SHE WAS LOCKED UP AGAINST HER WILL??

THE LAN FAM IS SO FUCKED UP OMG

now he's telling us the whole tragic love story

it was love at first sight, he says and wwx is like ah yes, a typical romance

and lxc is like, uh no, she didn't love him back and she murdered his teacher, idk why tho

lxc: but i guess it's all about right and wrong, love and hate

Which is a major theme of the whole show, tbh

OH DAMN

now he's telling wwx about how his dad took his mom to cloud recesses and married her against the clan's approval and that he told them that this was the person he would love for a lifetime, that “whoever tried to drive her out would have to go through him first"

DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR TO YOU, WWX?

RINGING ANY (WEDDING) BELLS?

DOES THIS REMIND YOU OF ANYTHING AT ALL, WWX?

"after the wedding my father built this house, and locked my mother up"

lxc says this all so calmly and gently, as if he were reading from a story book rather than reciting his immediate family's history

Which is probably a coping mechanism, tbh

this fam is so fucked up, have i mentioned?

lxc: do you understand why my father did all this?

wwx: *nod*

lxc: and do you think he did the right thing?

wwx: i don't know

well, i mean, he married her and locked her up against her will

granted she did murder someone but i get the feeling she probably had good reason to

and now he's telling wwx that they basically had no parents bc they were given off to others to raise them until they were old enough to attend their uncle's lessons

FLASHBACK TO BABY!LWJ READING TO HIS MAMA FROM A LAN CLAN BOOK

HE'S SO CUTE AND TINY AND HIS MAMA IS SO SOFT AND PRETTY. 

SHE LOOKS AT HIM WITH SUCH LOVE, AND RUNS HER HAND THROUGH HIS HAIR SO GENTLY

lxc makes a point here to say that their mother never complained about her imprisonment or how painful it must've been to be trapped like that

BC THEIR MAMA LOVED THEM

lxc: lwj never said anything, but i knew he looked forward to the day we visited mother every month

HOW AWFUL IS THAT, TO BE RESTRICTED TO ONE DAY A MONTH TO SPEND WITH SOMEONE YOU LOVE???

Lxc: he did (look forward to seeing mom). and so did i.

cut to baby lwj kneeling in the snow, all little and by himself IN FRONT OF THE JINGSHI, AKA HIS MOM’S PRISON AKA PROBABLY HIS FAVORITE PLACE IN ALL THE CLOUD RECESSES

lxc: one day, uncle told us that we didn't need to go there anymore. mother had gone.

I'M GONNA CRY

HE'S SO LITTLE AND SAD AND HE'S KNEELING SO STILL WITH HIS TINY HANDS IN HIS LAP

like even lqr is moved bc he goes and puts a hand on his shoulder

lxc: we were too young to understand what that meant.

lxc: no matter how others consoled us or how uncle scolded him, lwj still came here every month. he would sit on that porch and wait for someone to open the door.

I'M SOBBING

LWJ HAS SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE WAITING FOR THE PEOPLE HE LOVES

He’s kept himself still and stalwart ever since he was a kid so that if his loved one chose to come back, he’d still be there for them 

I'M HURTING SO MUCH

HE JUST WANTED THEM TO COME BACK AND THINK HE WAS WORTH STAYING FOR. 

GOD I HATE CRYING. I'M A SNOTTY MESS RN

Lxc: when we got older we realized that she would never come back. that no one would ever open the door for him. but he still came.

FUCK

GOD DAMN IT

STOP HURTING ME SO MUCH, WHAT THE HELL

lxc: lwj has always been stubborn since he was very young

lxc: back then, he watched you learn crafty tricks. he didn't say anything, but i knew...that the pain and confusion in his heart was the same as what he felt for our mother

MY GOD, JUST BEAT ME WITH THOSE NIGHTMARE STICKS INSTEAD. THAT WOULD HURT LESS THAN THIS.

wwx's eyes are all red-rimmed and his brow is all pinches and HE JUST SWALLOWED BACK THE LUMP IN HIS THROAT

THE SAME ONE I HAVE RIGHT NOW AS I CRY AND CRY AND CRY

and lxc is like, well, that's enough intense conversation for now, imma do a flute solo

~flute sounds~

and now he's like i tried to persuade lwj before but now that i'm in his shoes it turns out making a decision isn't actually easy to do?? who'd have thought?

oh here comes lwj, all straight-backed and regal as always but no jewelry in his hair! no topknot! he looks so different this way

AND HE HAS TWO JARS OF EMPEROR'S SMILE WITH HIM

AND ~THEIR SONG~ IS PLAYING AGAIN

oh, the way he holds it out to wwx, like an offering at an altar...

cut to inside the jingshi, we get to see him uncap one of the jars and pour a drink out for his soulmate. 

like, the camera is specifically focused on his hands

which, hey, i’ve seen the tags ppl, i know some of you are Into That so take the time to enjoy this

then we get a shot of all of him and he looks so so soft and exposed and vulnerable  here?? with his hair down in his own room, pouring a drink for his wei ying

it's beautiful

wwx walks in and watches as lwj starts to pour himself a cup of tea

THIS IS A LOT. 

~Their Song~ playing sweetly, no other sounds except the quiet clinks of the cups and teapot. And all of lwj’s actions are just...light

wwx: lan zhan…

GOD I JUST WANT TO SCREENCAP THIS WHOLE SCENE

the shot of lwj here, while he’s focused on pouring his tea. 

the way his head is angled and the wisps of his hair frame his face. 

he takes up a good portion of the screen without seeming domineering or forceful, just...peacefully existing in the space

and then we cut back to wwx's face, his mouth open as he takes a breath 

He wants to say something, anything, but you can see on his face that he can't make the words come

Like he doesn’t want to disturb the moment with whatever he was going to say, bc it’s a fragile moment

and then this brief literally-2-seconds shot of lwj to the right, sitting at the table 

the table is set up so beautifully with the jars of emperor's smile and their cups. and he's looking up and the lighting AND AHHHHHH

IT'S JUST A VERY BEAUTIFUL TWO SECONDS AND I'VE STARED AT IT FOR MUCH TOO LONG ALREADY

lwj: what?

and wwx can't even really return his gaze. he looks just as vulnerable here but, unlike lwj, he also looks awkward, like he’s nervous in his vulnerability same ,wwx, same

wwx tries to say thank you but it comes out stuttered and soft while lwj watches him patiently

wwx mumbles to himself "it's awkward to say it out loud" and his eyes flicker back and forth for a second as his mouth pinches, agitated 

BC IT IS MEGA AWKWARD

FEELINGS ARE AWKWARD

AND AS LOUD AND OBNOXIOUS WWX CAN BE, IT'S NEVER ABOUT HIS FEELINGS.

wwx: *clears throat* i mean...the burden on your brother's shoulders is tremendous

smooth transition, wwx, very smooth

but at least it allowed him the chance to sit at the table with lwj

wwx: after all, jgy is his sworn brother. if i were him...

he trails off awkwardly and it feels even MORE awkward bc the background music just ends suddenly and it's silent for us, the audience

lwj doesn't say anything and instead gently moves the cup of wine towards wwx.

once that's done he says "if there's evidence, my brother won't tolerate it."

but he doesn't look at wwx and his face is somber

wwx: that's true. he's got his principles

finally lwj looks at him

lwj: you didn't tell him.

wwx: tell him what?

lwj: about the flute on qiongqi way

wwx: you know about that?

lwj: i asked wen ning. he said he heard a second flute

wwx: i thought i was hearing things until nightless city *insert flashback here*

cut to next scene. wwx is standing just outside the jingshi doors with a jar in his hand as it snows

lwj steps up next to him and ~THEIR SONG~ STARTS PLAYING

they're still talking about the flute and how wwx is confident now that there was a second one used to frame him basically. he's quietly angry here.

lwj immediately says it was jgy but wwx responds with "maybe, maybe not"

lwj looks at him, "you don't want to know the answer?"

bc lwj does. he wants to know who framed his soulmate, causing the suffering that lead to his death

wwx: at first i really wanted to but now i just want to say, 'whatever. screw it!'

he says with a laugh and then takes a swig from his wine jar

wwx put down that wine jar, you've obviously had too much already.

wwx: lan zhan, i actually think whether i know the answer or not won't be of much importance for me. after all, in ppl's minds, the yiling patriarch did bad things. even if i expressed my grievances, people still won't trust me

and he smiles

MY POOR SUNSHINE BOY

He says, "Sometimes the world only needs an excuse or target that everyone can hate"

PAINFULLY TRUE

and then he says something along the lines that it doesn't matter, if he wasn't made the target, someone else would have been

BASICALLY HE'S JUST VERY DISILLUSIONED HERE 

THE WORLD SHOULD FEEL ASHAMED FOR DISAPPOINTING HIM

now we hear the sound of a guqin playing ~Their Song~

lwj at his guqin playing their song to soothe his soulmate

wwx: *voiceover* i was lonely back then. the few who believed in me were dead, wen ning, jyl. Luckily…

and here we get the crescendo of the opening theme as we cut to lwj. 

the voiceover changes from wwx to lwj

lwj: in this world, there is still someone who trust you

I'M HAVING A LOT OF FEELINGS RIGHT NOW

voiceover switches back to wwx and we get a shot of wwx watching lwj play

wwx: lan zhan, i toast to you. i'm glad to have one true friend

SO MANY FEELINGS

and then i get distracted as wwx does that thing where he pours wine into his mouth and spills half of it down his VERY INDECENTLY EXPOSED THROAT

shot of lwj thinking: for nothing else but a clean conscience

shot of wwx thinking: no matter how they slander me, i know i have a clean conscience

EVEN THEIR THOUGHTS ARE IN SYNC OMG

AND ~THEIR SONG~ IS STILL PLAYING BUT NOW IT'S THE GUQIN AND THE FLUTE COMING TOGETHER

wwx gazes tenderly at lwj and whispers: lan zhan. i'm sorry...and thank you

AND WE GET THE ACTORS’ VOCALS ADDED IN TO ~THEIR SONG~ AS LWJ LOOKS UP AND SEES WWX WATCHING HIM

AND I'M HAVING SO MANY FEELINGS

I WOULD LIKE TO GET DISTRACTED BY WWX'S INDECENTLY EXPOSED THROAT AGIAN PLZ

cut to the next day with lxc meditating and our boys hiding behind a privacy screen

lwj is in perfect posture, eyes closed and meditating calmly while wwx keeps listing to the side and jolting awake bc meditating IS FOR NERDS

lol except this time he lists to the opposite side and falls into lwj's shoulder with a cute little gasp

lwj gives him a look and wwx quickly arranges himself into a sloppy lotus pose

jgy walks in and our boys are immediately on alert peeking through the privacy screen 

(which actually isn't all that private. you can see through half of it??)

now we get a moment for lxc and jgy in which jgy returns the jade token and it’s, like, a Thing

BUT WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THEM

LET'S SEE OUR BOYS' REACTION TO WHAT JGY HAS TO SAY

wwx is watching lwj as jgy says something about how they don't have info on lwj and wwx yet and lwj closes his eyes against the news

i think he's upset he's placed his brother in this position...

now we're informed that there are active puppets in the burial mounds

lxc is like, well it can't be wwx bc he was stabbed

and jgy is like he's been stabbed before and controlled puppets alright then!

meanwhile wwx behind the screen scoffs and thinks "they think too highly of me"

also, like, jgy was trying to get lxc to give them up by saying how lwj would be safe bc of his great reputation

Honestly, it really just goes to show that these people don't actually care about your actions. they've made their assumptions and they'll stick to them no matter what and IT'S SUPER FRUSTRATING

plot talk plot talk sworn trio moment plot talk

now lxc is off to carp tower while our boys prepare for a field trip to the burial mounds

LIL APPLE AND THE BUNNIES!!

our boys are by a stream and there's bunnies all over the place and wwx is telling lil apple they're leaving

~THEIR SONG~ STARTS UP AGAIN

AHHHHHHHHH, LOOOK!!! THERE’S TEENY TINY SMILE ON LWJ'S FACE AS HE PUTS DOWN BICHEN TO PICK UP ONE OF THE BUNNIES

EVERYTHING IS ADORABLE

WWX GETS THAT LITTLE MISCHIEVOUS SMILE ON HIS FACE AS HE GOES TO POKE THE BUNNY

AND HE MAKES SILLY NOISES AT IT AND IS ALL INSULTED THAT THE BUNNY DOESN'T REACT

SO CUTE!!

wwx: see? they only like you *pout* they're only loyal to their owner

so lwj wordlessly hands over the bunny BC IF HIS SOULMATE WANTS BUNNIES, HIS SOULMATE IS GETTING BUNNIES

the bunny wriggles and wwx is like "don't try to run. you can never run away from me. stay here bunny!"

IT'S SO CUTE I'M GONNA DIE

HE'S JUST PETTING THE BUNNY ALL OVER AND USING A PLAYFUL VOICE WHILE TALKING TO IT AND EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL

Don’t be jealous of a bunny don’t be jealous of a bunny don’t be jealous of a bunny

wwx looks over to lwj: lan zhan, it's so strange. i know we're going on a dangerous mission but i don't feel scared at all

then he goes back to the bunny and wiggles it around SO CUTELY: do you think it's strange too? what do you think?

AND HE'S GOT THE BIGGEST SMILE

lwj: it's getting late. let's go

wwx: okay *pets bunny* little bunny, we're leaving~

THIS SHOW SHOULD ONLY EVER BE ABOUT BUNNIES, I'VE DECIDED

BUNNIES DON'T HURT ME 

now we cut to them at the entrance of the cloud recesses

lil apple is being stubborn and the bunnies are on the steps

wwx: they hate to see you go.

and wwx looks at lwj all playfully

wwx: i never thought that hanguang jun would be so popular among the little animals

and then he finishes with AN ADORABLE LITTLE POUT: bc i'm not

lwj: why not?

wwx: all little animals regardless of their habitat run when they see me. isn't that right lil apple? *proceeds to bully the donkey*

lwj: *walks off bc he does not condone animal abuse or smth*

wwx: wait for me hanguang jun!!

NOW WE'RE ON A DIRT PATH

LWJ IS HOLDING THE LIL APPLE'S LEAD WHILE WWX RIDES LIL APPLE

HE’S PLAYING HIS FLUTE AND THEN STARTS PLAYING ~THEIR SONG~!!!!

AND LWJ LOOKS TOWARDS HIM HIS EYES ALL TENDER AND FULL OF LOVE

WWX IS SMILING WHILE HE PLAYS

EVERYTHING IS STILL WONDERFUL

LWJ HAS ONE OF HIS ALMOST-SMILES ON HIS FACE

wwx: lan zhan, i wanna know, back in the murder turtle cave, what was the name of the song you sang to me?

lwj: why do you ask?

wwx: just tell me the name. i think i've figured out how you recognized me

wwx: tell me what song it is. who's the composer?

lwj: me

wwx: so you composed it?!

lwj: hm

wwx: what's the name then?

THIS IS SUCH A CAREFREE PLEASANT CONVERSATION AND I LOVE IT

lwj: what do you think?

wwx: you're asking my opinion?

he gets this huge smile on his face and giggles

wwx: i think i'll call it...

lwj: i'm thirsty, let's look for water

IT'S RUDE TO INTERRUPT LWJ

they find a random house and wwx proceeds to steal a melon

but they're interrupted so they hide like the CRIMINALS THEY ARE lol

and we see mr & mrs mianmian with little mianmian!!

mr mianmian is all if you run off again the yiling patriarch will eat you!

little mianmian is like I'M NOT SCARED, mama says the yiling patriarch doesn’t bully good people

and that's how mianmian and her husband and daughter get guaranteed invites to their future wedding

we cut to wwx and lwj 

wwx is nodding enthusiastically like THAT'S RIGHT, I DON'T HURT INNOCENT PEOPLE, IT'S ABOUT TIME THAT'S ACKNOWLEDGED

ohhhhh really liking how mianmian draws her sword and demands the criminals to show themselves

Lol, she's like WHO'S THERE? and wwx literally answers, UM, NO ONE??

lwj purses his lips like, really?? and comes out of hiding

Mianmian is shocked to find hanguang jun hiding on her property obvs, but is also excited to recognize wwx

wwx: *internally* why does this lady know me?? did she have a problem with me or did i provoke her??

then wwx recognizes her!! he's very excited about it!

and we end the episode on a high note there!!

We get to see the only functional, happy (and alive) marriage in the entire cultivation world!!

And yeah, we got our hearts torn out by kid!lwj but we were rewarded with soft domesticity AND bunnies right after!!!

Overall good quality wangxiantics

Return to Masterpost

[paradife-loft]

1&2 for general, ships, characters & story

General

1. If you had to join a sect, which would you join?

Ahahaha oh, oh no, the difficult question!!! *covers face*

Tbh I would. join the Lan sect and then be like, the most problematic Lan ever to Lan XD (”But James, don’t you have a reflexive fight me!!! response to rules and authority....?” yes maybe so shush now that’s why I said problematic.)

Like the thing is. I DO like being a nerd, and I DO like the idea of cultivating with music certainly moreso than with swords look I do not enjoy physical exertion a lot of the time, and I semi-regularly become full of emotion and start wailing to whoever’s nearby about wanting to live in somewhere as beautiful as the Cloud Recesses??? It is SO lovely there. Also the only other option I was considering, the Jiang, tbh gives me the impression that I would die miserably of humidity in Yunmeng sooooo :/

But also for real I am... a lot more chill with following rules when I agree with them about their purpose being to better you ethically and also to form a cohesive community, and I’ve chosen to adhere to them by my own will? Uhh, demonstrably lmao. But yeah I’d definitely still be Arguing about things and eating hot peppers in Caiyi town and playing the “it’s not really drinking if you neutralise the alcohol” game ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. Your three favorite characters?

*lies dramatically on the ground* How am I supposed to pick just threeeeee???

But ok, so, Jin Guangyao, and then *spins the roulette wheel for today’s picks* probably Lan Xichen and Wei Wuxian, averaged out?? But I have a lot of feelings about Everyone ;u;

Ships

1. What’s your OTP?

*chinhands* Surely we all know this by now :P

2. What’s your NOTP? Or any other ship you hate?

Uhhhhh hhhhhhh hahaha ngl I usually feel guilty talking about notps in public??? Probably bc often as not it’s more about “90% of the content I see in the fandom is relatively fluffy and/or mundane and/or lacking in meaty conflict and therefore bores me to tears” oops.

But I will say tbh that I have a pretty visceral unhappy NOPE reaction to LXC/NHS in. Probably 95% of contexts ever. Unless I feel particularly into reading, like, sex-as-self-harm fic on any given day, lmao.

Characters

1. If you could date any character from MDZS, who would you pick?

Lol, none of them.

2. If you had to kill a character, who would you kill?

Save a sex worker or POW, toss JGS off a cliff :) (predictable answer but hey) (I mean, this is distinct from an answer to “who would I kill at a point in the story prior to their actual death,” but. I would be remiss at existing if I didn’t take the opportunity to say I would kill JGS given the slightest excuse.)

Story

1. If you could make one major story change, what change would you make? Why?

Ahhhh, hell. Actually, you know what? I would slightly revamp Qin Su’s character to have her be aware of her parentage since roughly the same time as JGY is, and have them both separately keeping that a secret from one another for roughly the same reasons. She’s disturbed by the letter from Bicao simply because of the implications around someone wanting to make this knowledge public. (On the other hand: she DOES still ask JGY about how Rusong died, and IS still angry and horrified by the attitude he takes to that question and the implication that he was the one who orchestrated that death, because wtf just because his parents were siblings doesn’t mean he should have been anything other than a happy, perfectly loved, alive child??? Get a fucking grip!)

...And then I think. if she does still end up dying* then it’s probably gonna be directly NHS’s fault, in this context? Because “oh okay I was not expecting her to be chill with that, that’s an unpleasant surprise; well I still gotta ruin JGY’s marriage somehow SHRUG”. But on the other hand I really really don’t love all the women dying, so maybe instead he just reveals her complicity publicly and destroys her reputation and turns her into a pariah? :/ Which is still unpleasant but at least isn’t. death.

Anyway the reason why is like. Partially just aesthetic preferences!! I like “morally questionable power couple” much better than I like “evil dude and morally pure innocent victim wife”. (I in fact very much dislike the latter. Looking @ u, late Numenor.) And also partially - I very much like the additional resonance of “JGY underestimates he sweet and kind people around him and doesn’t notice that they can also have sneaky ruthless streaks” that this would add re: Huaisang? While also for that matter foreshadowing the Huaisang reveal?

And, yeah, a lot of other changes I would “like” to make, honestly fall more into the genre of “things I would like as fix-it fics” rather than changes I want to make to the base story, because so many of the pieces I’ve gone “augh but what if that were different!” are just. structurally important to MDZS’s tragic and other thematic elements. Messing with this aspect to Qin Su’s story doesn’t have to make the base plot non-tragic, but does improve on a few issues I have with e.g. morally polarised female characters who all die anyway.

2. Which character would you bring back to life?

!!???!!? when are we talking, here! in what fashion?

....okay, so for the sake of not making my head explode with potential options, I’m going to limit this to cases of characters who are 100% confirmed dead, being brought back either as a fierce corpse or via sacrifice-summon, generally within the main timeline of the story (i.e. not several decades post-canon).

And of that set under those conditions, I’m gonna pick Jiang Yanli. Look. I LOVE the possibilities of fierce corpse!Jiang Yanli. As a scenario it’s both incredibly fucked up but also the possibilities for really emotional reconciliation between all three Yunmeng siblings in the present timeline??? Logistically I think this would have to take place in a bookverse-style “LWJ carries WWX off to the burial mounds post-Nightless City battle” situation... so like, in a fit of practically qi-deviating rage-grief, WWX reanimates JYL’s corpse right as she dies, a la Wen Ning? and then part of what he’s doing, half out of his mind, during the missing time in the Burial Mounds is working on bringing her spiritual consciousness to put back in there.

........there’s definitely more logistics to be worked out, most notably “where is she during the intervening decade?” but. I love the idea of Jiang Cheng’s anger being not only “you killed my sister” but also “YOU TURNED MY SISTER INTO A FUCKING ZOMBIE”. I love the idea of, eventually, her being ACTUALLY PRESENT to express some of her own opinions and feelings on how WWX & JC fighting over her death (& fierce corpse status) is rly fucked up. make them deal with her as an actual person who’s inconvenient in her wants and needs and willingness to always extend a hand to others, not just a place to hang all their messy emotions on! give her eventually a chance to bond with Jin Ling, and the awkwardness and grief about how much of his life she missed, interspersed with “!!!!! I get to have this back! feelings!”

Because also just in general, I’d really love to have her around to interact with all the characters in their fucked-up “one timeskip later” iterations, and her perma-dying really just robs us of that chance and it’s very rude!

Bonus: holy fuck what would it be like for all her talents and skills and weaknesses to suddenly be completely reversed? Extremely physically strong and capable now! But more likely to scare people than charm them. Can she still, like, taste food properly? Who knows. But wouldn’t THAT be a juicy situation to explore for her! :O

[qjhughes]

State of grace - okay i’m liking it. It is a good start to the album. This is a very vibey song. Like i really think that this is one of the most… peaceful? songs that i have ever heard. Like it’s so slow and soft and i really like it. (jfc maybe i should say something besides the fact that i really like it. Like we get it <33) 

Red - OKAY THIS WILL BE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I FUCKING LOVE THIS SONG. THIS! WAS LIKE THE FIRST TAYLOR SONG THAT I KNEW WAS BY TAYLOR AND DIDN’T HEAR FROM THE RADIO FIRST! LIKE THIS SONG WAS THE SONG THAT WAS STUCK IN MY HEAD FOR M O N T H S LIKE I COULD HAVE WRITTEN YOU A 10 PAGE ESSAY ABOUT WHY THIS SONG WAS SO FUCKING PERFECT AND I DO NOT REGRET THAT AT ALL!!!! LIKE THIS SONG MADE ME FEEL SO MANY THINGS AND I DON’T EVEN FUCKING KNOW WHY!!!!!!!! LIKE THIS WAS JUST T H E SONG FOR ME!!!!!!! ALSO THIS MV IS MAKING ME REALIZE JUST HOW MUCH I MISS CONCERTS </3

Treacherous - alright it’s slower than the title would have led me to believe but it’s still really good. Like SHE’S really good and i think that’s just common knowledge at this point. I was just a little late to the party <3 anywho, the song! Very nice! I really do enjoy it! I’m just… not at my best so i cannot deal with putting fully comprehensive sentences together. But listen! My old best friend heather had this album and we listened to certain tracks every single day! So there will definitely be some screaming about quite a few! This album all but changed my perspective on music as a child like!!!!! This album was so important to me back then!!!! As it should have been!!!!

I knew you were trouble - oh baby!!!!!! This was one of those songs that EVERYONE screamed to!!!! I’d go to school and hear these girls screaming this song in homeroom and we’d all just join in!! And we put so much emotion into this song like we had someone that made us think like taylor did!!!!! And we’d pretend like we’d had our hearts broken when we hadn’t and god i wish that i could go back to those days!! Like dude this album was the good old days for me and i wish i could hear these songs for the first time again because jfc that was the life.

All too well - BITCHES I COULD WRITE A FUCKING BOOK ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!! LIKE THE EMOTION! THE FUCKING LYRICS! THE MUSIC! THE WAY THAT I CAN (AND HAVE) SCREAM THIS SONG AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WHEN I’M DRIVING HOME! THE WAY THAT THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SONGS THAT I HAVE LITERALLY EVER HEARD! LIKE I SIMPLY AM SO FUCKING IN LOVE WITH THIS SONG THAT I DON’T THINK ANYONE COULD CHANGE MY MIND ABOUT IT LIKE… EVER! JUST TO BREAK ME LIKE A PROMISE!!!!! MISS TAYLOR DID THAT!!!! SHE REALLY FUCKING STOLE MY ENTIRE LIFE WITH THIS SONG!!! SHE GAVE ME FIVE AND A HALF MINUTES OF PURE PERFECTION!!!!!! I’M SORRY FOR YELLING BUT!!!!! YEAH!!!!!

22 - dude this song was so fucking fun to scream to and as i am listening to it rn, i promise you that i am yelling it!!!! This song is so fucking fun!!!!!!! She really came out with this song and broke like… everything!!! Like even my mom would scream this in the car when it came on!!!

I almost do - okay so i was dancing and screaming in my room and now i’m just… laying here and like… not having the good vibes. The way that she can switch tracks so fast is amazing tbh. Like this is such a good song but putting it between two bops was kinda… awkward for my dance flow. Although i think it kinda works. I needed a break to breathe. Also like… i really like this song. It’s really nice and cute and the way she’s like… almost </3. 

We are never ever getting back together - oof the way that we really tried to act like we were bad bitches by pretending like some guy wanted us back and we were like…. Haha no <3 those were the good times!!!! God taylor really gave me my entire childhood and i didn’t even fucking realize it kjfhkjadhfkdf. She’s really THAT bitch huh? Anywho, great song!

Stay stay stay - gonna be honest here, the intro sounded like one of those ads that youtube gives you that absolutely makes no sense. Oooohhhhhh i like the repetition going on here!!!! It’s a good song. It’s really vibey and sounds like one of the songs that i could dance to or just get on shuffle and a smile instantly comes to my face, yk?

The last time - alright i’m liking the feature here. It’s not the happiest song, but i’m liking the contrast on the album between the upbeat and the somber songs. Hate to continuously out myself like this, but like… i’ll be crying to this at some point sooner rather than later.

Holy ground - this is really upbeat and i feel like there’s something really nice about it. Like it’s a good song but there’s something about the feeling that it gives me that makes me like it even more than i do just by hearing it. That makes absolutely no sense but oh well <3

Sad beautiful tragic - so this is definitely slower and more sad than the last song. Like i said before, i really like the contrast in the songs. This is a song that i’ll probably cry to but also, i feel like this is one of those songs that i could just sing because it’s pretty and i really like it and not only when i’m sad.

The lucky one - okay i like this song!! It’s nice and it’s like ‘they’ll tell you are, but can YOU say that you are?’ idk i really like it. My thoughts are literally not coherent enough for this and i continue to do it anyway <3 like i’m really here listening to this and just like…. Typing the FIRST things that come into my mind which probably isn’t the best idea but oh well. I really like this song.

Everything has changed - I USED TO CRY TO THIS SONG AND PRETEND LIKE I COULD RELATE TO HER AND HIM AND THAT’S SO FUNNY TO ME BECAUSE NOW I CAN AND IT’S SO MUCH MORE SAD NOW LIKE… I WAS SO STUPID BACK THEN <333 BUT LIKE YEAH, THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE SONGS THAT ARE LIKE!!!!! I KNOW IT’S PROBABLY CLICHE TO SCREAM ABOUT THIS SONG BUT LIKE!!!!!! IT’S SO GOOD AND THERE ARE SO. MANY. MEMORIES.!!!!!!!!

Starlight - oh that was a strong start!! No instrumental intro, just straight voice!! I like it!!! It’s really cute and i think that it’s one of those songs that i could just lightly listen to, like i could put it on in the background while i’m doing school work. But like also it’s one of those songs that i could dance to.

Begin again - okay i like how it’s slow and i like the music. It’s really nice. I like the way that it’s like… i can begin again. This is nice. I really like how everything’s like… he didn’t like that, but i do. And i’m doing great. And this is new, but nice. Idk maybe i’m just like… reading it wrong but i really like it, so that’s nice!!!!

[margridarnauds]

1789 for the fandom meme

the first character i ever fell in love with: O L Y M P E.

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: .....don’t @ me. But. Antoinette. 

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Used to LOVE Ronan/Olympe, then hated it, now I’m more neutral, leaning positive if it’s done well (on the condition that Lazare is not actively creepy - If he is, it’s a no.)

my ultimate favorite character™: Lazare. I’ve probably put more of me into him than anyone will ever fully know, including me. 

prettiest character: ...Goddamit, it’s CLOSE between Solène and Olympe, but...if it comes down to one...I do remember seeing French!Olympe and thinking “That’s the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in my life” (in a very straight way, because I was Straight.)

my most hated character: See, you might THINK Artois. Or French!Ramard. Or even Antoinette. But no. The answer is Polignac, not the least because the Toho implies that she knows a LOT more than she’s letting on about what Artois’ planning and she has the annoying habit of suggesting Olympe for dangerous errands.

my OTP: Lazare/Ronan; Solène/Olympe

my NOTP: I’ve warmed up a lot to Ronan/Olympe over the years, so I’m not going to say it. But I did once see, courtesy of the Japanese side of the fandom, Artois/Orléans crossover fanfiction. And promptly wanted to douse my eyes with bleach. I’m interested in the Chaos Cousins dynamic but. Not like. That. No. No. No. 

favorite episode:

saddest death: .....so, we know I’m in denial about The Ending We Don’t talk about, making it a shoe-in, but I kind of think that Ronan’s is sadder? Olympe’s death is tragic and unnecessary, but there isn’t that same PUNCH of seeing Solène break down. It’d be different if Papa du Puget was on stage when it happened, but as it is, it feels kind of empty. 

favorite season:

least favorite season:

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: I don’t really think there is anyone? Benefits of being in a small fandom. 

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Laz is canonically trash and yet. Tbh Miya Rurika had way too much fun as Artois in the Zuka version for me to entirely hate him. 

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Solène does NOT deserve literally anything that happens to her over the course of the musical.

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: Artois/Fersen. Yes. I hate myself too. And Artois/Necker. (It isn’t my FAULT that Miya Rurika’s Artois just....had no sense of personal space.) I don’t....ship Artois/Olympe in any way that can be defined but I am interested in a twisted AU where Olympe joins up with him in London, preferably with him dying via rat poison about a year or two later. Not something that I really think I would be up for writing, but I’ve been slowly trying to peer pressure convince @fallenidol-453 to write it for years. 

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Ronan/Camille, Ronan/Robespierre, Laz/Ramard (specifically Zuka/Toho Ramard - I am NOT sticking Laz with French!Ramard.)

[lucielovekj]

Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better.

Tagged by: @queenofnothing07 (thank you! I enjoy these) (under the cut since it’s kinda long)

Name/Nickname: Lucie

Gender: Woman? I guess? My gender is always a point of internal contention for me lmao

Star Sign: Aries 🔥

Height: 5'5 I THINK

Time: 8pm approximately

Birthday: 26th March 🌸

Favorite Bands: (OKAY I’m always super nervous to talk about music I like, because I know celebs generally suck, and I don’t follow or care about any of them I literally just care about music so...idk bare that in mind 😅) I listen to a lot of standard pop-punk bs like fall out boy, Panic! At the Disco, Paramore, All Time Low, P!nk, icon for hire, the occasional Bastille (sorry lol) if an emo teen would like it I’m probably into it. My fav band for a lot of my life is/was a small English band called The Hoosiers! I will listen to just about anything though, it’s very varied

Favorite Solo Artists: MARINA!! Melanie Martinez, I loved Emilie Autumn as a kid, and I enjoy the whole “half-written story” EP by Hailee Steinfeld, who I know nothing about but she’s apparently Emily Dickinson in Dickinson. I’m also loving Britney, both her music and just as a person

Song Stuck in My Head: Um.........the death note musical soundtrack. It was one of my weird quarantine discoveries. I’ve never even seen the anime.

Last Movie: Muppet Family Christmas (on Boxing Day)

Last Show: Currently watching last years Bake Off

When Did I Create This Blog: 4th of Jan 2014, apparently!

What Do I Post: um, I guess mostly disney, some Barbie, some MLP, some Avatar, and a decent amount of complaining (and gay shit)

Last Thing I Googled:...................Macklemore

Other Blogs: I have a Sims one, which I use to catalogue all the CC I’m using, and my art blog (obvs), and a scarcely used gay disney blog called sapphicdisney

Do I Get Asks: occasionally? Not really since I turned anon off because of that one anti-harlivy anon

Why I Chose My URL: WELL, back in my very early teens i was really into Emilie Autumn and gothic-Victorian-esque aesthetics, I changed how I spelt my name online and chose the “love” because I felt it had that kind of vibe...it still fits well bc I’m super into lovecore and honestly I just like how it looks (and the KJ is just my other 2 initials)

Following: 933 (so few???)

Followers: 1,561

Average Hours of Sleep: either 3 or 11 there’s no in-between

Lucky Number: 🤔🤔🤔 2

Instruments: none 😭 I’ve tried many times, but circumstance got in the way. As a kid I wanted to play piano (like Beth from Little Women lmao) but we couldn’t afford it. I love to sing tho! But I’m too shy to sing in front of people

What I’m Wearing: Christmas penguin pjs

Dream Job: Literally anything art related tbh! Although my goal pre-lockdown was working in a Morphe store, bc I have a love for fun eyeshadow

Dream Trip: Paris for as long as I want. I’ve been once, but only for a few days, and I want a few days just to look round the Louvre! And then the Disneyland!

Favorite Food: instant noodles & pizza

Nationality: White & English

Favorite Song: they change all the time so here’s a few current favs! Your Name Hurts by Hailee Steinfeld, Beautiful Trauma by P!nk, All You Wanna Do from Six the Musical, All Men Are Pigs by Studio Killers, Karma & To Be Human by Marina, Dangerous to Dream from Frozen Broadway. That was a lot sorry.

Last Book I Read: God it’s been a while...I read book 1 of Harley Quinn: Rebirth in October, but the last actual book I finished was Will my Cat Eat my Eyeballs by Caitlin Doughty (who I LOVE) which is a collection of questions and answers about death and dying 💕

Top Three Fictional Universes I’d Like To Live In: I used to desperately want to live in the Harry Potter universe but I’ve pretty much purged that from my life now. I guess I’d like to be a princess in a Disney universe or a classic Barbie movie. OR the DC universe where I could go full balls to the wall insane and have a whole supervillain theme that I use to cope with my tragic backstory.

As for tagging, I’d love to see any of my mutuals do this if you feel like it, but no obligation!

[daughterofluthien]

Rules: Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. Don’t cheat. Tag some people.

Tagged by @brambleberrycottage! Thank you!!

(a note: these are not necessarily my fave shows or anything, but they are the shows that are more on my mind than others :P)

Teen Wolf

Star Wars Rebels

Stargate: SG-1

Leverage

Parks & Recreation

Who is your favorite character in 2? Kanan Jarrus. He has a fantastic character arc, he’s a wonderful mentor and space dad, and he’s probably my fave Jedi (and character) in all of Star Wars. Sorry about it, Obi Wan 

Who is your least favorite character in 1? I mean, I don’t tend to focus on least favorite characters too often. However, I do generally have a vague desire to punch Theo in the face anytime he’s onscreen.... He’s slightly better in 6B with the (incredibly rushed) redemption arc and all that, but like. Also.

What is your favorite episode of 4? Oh man, that’s a really difficult question for this show, actually. But for sheer creativity and memorability, I’d probably say “The Rashomon Job.” That was one of the ones that really stuck in my from when I first watched the show, and it ended up being just as good as I remembered.

What is your favorite season of 5? Hmmm I wanna say either S3 or S5. The harvest festival arc in 3 is great, but all the Leslie/Ben stuff in S5? Beautiful and iconic.

Who is your favorite couple in 3? I was a Jack/Sam shipper way back in the day, and that honestly hasn’t changed.

Who is your favorite couple in 2? Kanan/Hera! They’re just... !!! They care about each other! They’re supportive! They just love each other so much and I have so many feelings

What is your favorite episode of 1? “Frayed” Like !!! The entirety of 3A up to this point has been building up to the idea of Scott being/becoming an Alpha, and, like, throughout the season we see him do little Alpha things -- being a leader, pretty much everything about his relationship w/ Isaac, etc. And then!! Then!! This is the episode where he actually starts to realize it! And where he actively chooses the leadership role!

And I’m sorry, I’m not done talking about this episode yet, because I honestly just have so many feelings?? And it’s got this one moment. One moment in particular. Which may be one of my favorite moments in the entire series. Like the whole set up is really good (it’s also one of the few TW eps where anachronic order actually worked), and there’s this whole moment in the middle where Scott and Isaac have to calm Boyd down and keep him from attacking Ethan, as Boyd thinks the Alpha Pack killed Derek. And then, at the end of the episode, Isaac (who did not get upset about Derek in the same way Boyd did) learns that Scott isn’t healing from the wound he got fighting the Alphas, and he just. Absolutely freaks out and attacks Ethan.

(The show directly parallels Boyd’s reaction about Derek to Isaac’s reaction about Scott, and !!!)

BUT THEN. Then Scott comes out. And he roars.

And it’s not technically a roar, but he yells Isaac’s name and it has power behind it. And everyone (including Boyd) notices.

But Isaac!! Isaac stops! He responds as if it was a roar! And I’m!! Gonna go!! Absolutely!! Feral!!!

Ahem.

Anywho that’s my fave episode of TW, and I really love my Alpha son

What is your favorite episode of 5? Oh man, I don’t actually remember a lot of specific favorite episodes, even though I know there’s a lot of eps that I really like... I’m thinking “Flu Season”? But also that’s just one among many very good episodes.

What is your favorite season of 2? I’m gonna say S4, actually. I thought the show had a really strong ending, and I love the final arcs of all the characters.

How long have you watched 1? So I started watching in... 2012 or 2013 I think? And then watched off and on through at least part of S4. Then I started a rewatch here in the year of our Lord 2020 and uh. Here we are :P

How did you become interested in 3? This was actually one of the first fandoms that tiny!Carolyn was ever involved in! My mom discovered it back in like... 2003 or something, decided it was not inappropriate for her barely nine-year-old daughter, and from then on we were both pretty much hooked. 

Who is your favorite actor in 4? Mmm frick, do I have to pick? Probably either Christian Kane or Aldis Hodge. But also Beth Riesgraf is fantastic, too, the whole show is just so delightful. 

Which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5? Okay okay okay. So. Rebels is definitely the tighter written and better show, imo, but also I’m having a ton of Teen Wolf feelings right now and I just care so much about this characters. So like, currently and tentatively, Teen Wolf? (Sorry P&R, I love you, but straight sitcoms are probably never going to be my pick, even though it is really good)

Which show have you seen more episodes of - 1 or 3? So like, this is really just a contest of how many episodes each show has, right? Since I can’t imagine picking a show for a game like this if I hadn’t seen all the eps? Anywho, seeing as Teen Wolf has 100 episodes and SG-1 has 213 episodes, I think SG-1 is the clear winner here.

If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be? So like, I wanna say Amy Palavi, the waitress in their Brewpub in S5? She doesn’t have a terribly intense life or tragic backstory, but she also gets to befriend and hang out with Parker -- along with some mild involvement in shenanigans -- so that seems ideal, honestly.

(And yes, I know she gets kidnapped in that one ep, but that works out all right in the end, so I’m still down.)

Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work? Weirdly, absolutely yes. I’ve actually read a few that were pretty good.

In fact, according to Word of God, Leverage and Stargate actually take place in the same universe? Apparently there were going to be a flashback gag with Eliot going through the gate as part of one of his many past jobs, but they weren’t able to do it, due to the sets already have been dismantled.

Pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple? Huh, oh man. I’m not usually much of rarepair person tbh. And like this is literally something I’m pulling out of absolutely nowhere and haven’t actually thought about before now. But maybe Sydney/Hayden? or Sydney/Lori?

Overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5? Y’know, I was gonna go with Stargate with this one, but actually the big storyarcs were never my favorite part of SG-1. Whereas P&R actually had some really good and emotionally compelling arcs. So I’m actually gonna go with Parks & Rec with this one.

Which has better theme music, 2 or 4? Neither of them really have much theme music to speak of, but if we’re just talking about music, then Rebels is the clear winner here. Like seriously, props to Kevin Kiner et al., it has some seriously fantastic musical cues. Heck, the score for the finale got nominated for an emmy.

Tagging @whitecatgraycatblackcat, @experimentaldata, and @darnitjack! Also, as always, feel free to do this if you feel so inclined, and please tag me and let me know!

[courier-sux]

Top 10 Female Characters

Rules: Name your top 10 favorite female characters from 10 different fandoms and then tag 10 people.

tagged by: @its-sixxers​​, thanks!

tagging: hrgh this is always the hardest part for me cause i never know who to tag!! @saddeniq​​ and @nihilnovesubsole​​ y’all are my go-tos, and anyone else who wants to do this: feel free to say i tagged you

This isn’t in any particular order - under a read more bc this is kinda long

1. Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)

When people ask me what my favorite video game of all time is, it’s a tie between Pokemon Platinum and Night in the Woods. I love the art style, the plot, the morals, the music, and I can absolutely relate to being a college dropout that struggles with mental health issues. Also Gregg rulez ok (him and Mae’s friendship is so good, they do a great job at capturing what it’s like to hang out with your best friend and be dumbasses together)

2. Jodariel (Pyre)

I still haven’t finished this game because I do what I always do which is: take a break and then forget to pick it back up for like a year. But I literally looked up if you could romance characters because I’m in love with Jodariel. She’s strong, determined to survive, and would do anything to protect her friends (and God help you if you’re her enemy).

I really need to go back and finish the game, though I think she was the second Nightwing I liberated, so she won’t be there when I return :’(

3. Red (Transistor)

Stealing this from Six because holy shit this game is beautiful and I love Red. Her relationship with Unknown makes me so sad ;_; The visuals in this game are gorgeous and the music is stunning, it makes me emotional just seeing/hearing either (and so did looking up art to put in). A mute singer mourning her lost bodyguard/lover that died to protect her so she keeps going to finish what was started?? And wears his jacket the whole time?? What’s not to love!! I cried my eyes out at the ending. 10/10 would be heartbroken again.

4. Sylvanas Windrunner (World of Warcraft)

I’ve loved Sylvanas ever since I read the Lich King novel. Her backstory is amazingly tragic and I think it’s fascinating when a character is twisted from good to very morally grey due to them losing their idealism (and she’s a badass for even surviving what Arthas put her through). She makes ethically terrible decisions and I love her for it.

I don’t love the direction that Blizzard is taking her in with Shadowlands, as I think they’re finally pushing her from morally grey to straight up evil (which I’m not into and I’m also still salty over how easily she defeated Bolvar but I’ll spare you my rant) but she’ll always be a great character.

5. The Silent (Slay the Spire)

This might be a strange choice simply because the Silent lives up to her name and has absolutely no dialogue, but I love her character design. Mysterious assassin that wears a skull as a mask and a big cloak is a design that I will never get tired of. Also, she kicks ass (even if I’m not very good at her).

6. D.Va/Hana Song (Overwatch)

Gamer girl of my heart. It’s refreshing to see a character who is both feminine and badass. I think part of why I love her is because I had a whole “I’m not like other girls, I play video games and hate pink” phase and D.Va just turns that on its head. A professional gamer turned war hero is pretty damn cool. I wish I was better at playing her.

6. Fiona (Tales From the Borderlands)

Fiona is a clever con-artist turned Vault seeker, and I love her personality and sense of humor. She definitely influenced Jackal’s design (fun fact, I played Fallout: New Vegas right after I finished TFTBL, and named my character Fiona.)

7. Citra/Scythe Anastasia (Scythe)

I love this book series. It’s a young adult novel that actually manages to introduce a plot that isn’t tired/overused and can actually make me care about yet another straight romance. It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but Citra is incredibly clever and manages to find loopholes in a strict rule system so that everyone wants to oust her but no one can get any dirt on her. And we all love that. [art source]

8. Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson)

I’m always a sucker for badass know-it-alls because that is probably the role I would take on if I was ever in a young adult novel. The Percy Jackson series was my absolute favorite as a kid/teen, and Annabeth will always be my fave character from it.

9. Nuru (Starbound/Wargroove)

I have more hours on Starbound than any other game in my Steam library, and the Floran are by far my favorite race from the series. I think a race of plant people that trick people into assuming they’re vegetarians before proceeding to eat them because they’re actually carnivores is incredible. Nuru is the Floran ambassador in Starbound, and she makes an appearance in Wargroove as well. She’s super fun and I would like my Starbound character to kiss her, thank you very much.

10. Jinx (League of Legends)

Yes, the truth is out. I used to play League of Legends. Like, a lot. And Jinx has been and always will be my favorite. What’s not to love about a girl who’s just a little (okay maybe more than a little) unhinged? She’s another Jackal influence. This was a tie between Jinx and Leona tbh (I call Leona my sun gf, I love her). League is one of those games where the female character designs are like “as a feminist, I am appalled. however, as a lesbian,”