#that’s not how trickster gods work narratively

[wyllapproves]

“Solas would kill Lavellan” this and “solas would never kill her!!” that.

It doesn’t matter. He is fully intent on destroying her world so the question is: does he go back and save her in the end or does he let the world burn with her on it and feel sorry for himself while he does it?

[milder-manners]

Which challenge was your favorite from Dream? (I'd say bar manhunt but maybe it's actually not your n°1)

I personnaly really liked the random item challenge and the death swap

- V

(Manhunt is def my n1, don't worry I'm pretty standard)

My non-manhunt favorites change pretty often but at the moment ...

THESE TWO!!!

Minecraft Random Item Challenge VS 2 Hunters my Beloved!!

Like you V, I fricking love this video. The Drama, the unintentional thematic items, the situational comedy, (the story fic potential)!!

The video starts off with pretty standard stakes, Sapnap and George vs Dream. An unfair match, but no one’s upset, the audience knows how easily Dream can turn the tables if the circumstances turn juuust right. And despite what the title says, Dream is a Hunter like Sapnap and George. They all only have one life, and are fighting to the death.

But then, not even 5 min in, the power levels get completely skewed. George and Sapnap both receive diamond weapons and George gets a diamond chestplate, and Dream gets his iconic turtle helmet. Suddenly, the fight becomes a chase, and Dream has to run for his life until a new item spawns in to even the tides. (He finds a ruined portal underwater, and inside its chest is a flint and steel.)

Dream then gets some good armor and a trident, and the dynamics change once again.

The video kind of takes a turn for the comedic here. It’s a 2v1, yet Dream becomes the aggressor. He’s starts initiating fights, the one who chases down Sapnap and George with his dozen tridents, and it’s the duo who begins running off, building up a tower to get away. And this goes on even when George gets netherite boots and chest plates, and Sapnap gets an elytra and rockets; they still mostly engage in guerrilla tactics to basically harass Dream. Dream literally begins yelling at them to come here and fight him.

And that tickles me so much because this is basically a culmination of how the manhunts conditioned George and Sapnap to treat Dream; a guy who’ll prevail against all odds.

And this over precaution is what ultimately does them in in the end. It gave Dream enough time and space to prepare a TNT trap that kills them all.

Man, it’s such a fun video. I didn’t even mention all the little moments between everyone, like “OH GEORGE” “IT’S OH SAPNAP!”, “You have better stuff than us” “Pff—how?”, “George, I know you can’t drive but you need to do a u-turn baby”; and how the items eventually gained a theme with each hunter, creating a pseudo narrative of a sky spirit and rock/metal spirit harassing a sea spirit. It’s such a good mix of tense competition, and silly fun.

Minecraft Hostage Simulator

Another 2v1 video but also a muffinteers video! This one is such a classic for me, I genuinely hope they revisit this one.

The gradual development of Bad becoming a complete menace. The long trek of the horn passing between George and Sapnap and eventually to Bad. That hilarious point in the Nether where the two beat the shit out of Bad while he hangs off the cliff as retaliation. Dream embracing his inner trickster archetype, setting a deal with Bad with specific conditions to loophole around them. Sapnap and George pulling off that incredible boat trick and snatching Bad from Dream. Dream getting murdered by dolphins, a complete turnaround from their usual grace. The dynamic shifting midway in the video to a 3v1 when the Hunters decide to work together to Get Bad.

And that epic fight/chase after the Nether!!! Oh My God!!

The improvisation, the lying, the music with the chase, the buildup of tension from the editing! The sudden introduction of the reason behind Bad being a hostage was that he’s a sacrifice to feed the dragon?!?! Chefs kiss. Incredible ten out of ten.

Again, I hope this video comes back but with a way for Bad to win. He was literally the star of this show.

[group-dynamic]

Script Doctoring(?) Doctor Who Season 1

Here’s how I would fix the thematic and mystery box issues of this season of Doctor Who while keeping almost everything else the same.

This season would refocus on the thematic tension between Ruby with her desire to find her birth mother and the Doctor’s avoidance of finding Susan. By adding a few choice moments in the Tardis at the beginning and end of certain episodes where Ruby tries to convince the Doctor that finding Susan is important, you would add some really nice character development and even tension to Ruby and the Doctor’s relationship and get to more explicitly explore and discuss some of the big thematic ideas that this season ostensibly centered around like family and fear of abandonment /rejection.

I also think that having the god of death in this season doesn’t make much sense in terms of the themes, so I would probably swap out Sutekh for the Trickster as many others suggested. With the Trickster, you could have the narrative-manipulating, story-changing surrounding Ruby make a lot more sense in universe. This could then better match with the idea that Russell already had: that we imbue things with importance and can thus rewrite our own narratives. Imagine Ruby as central to the finale because her desire to rewrite the false narrative in a positive way could directly counter the negative attempts to rewrite the narrative by the Trickster. Thus, she’s still just an ordinary person as RTD intended, but she is learning to overcome her fear of rejection and abandonment by fixing the negative story that both her own mind and the Trickster have written about her life as she knows she is worthy of love, there’s nothing inherently wrong with her, etc. (A great opportunity to make Carla‘s inclusion narratively significant, too, as she actively contributes to this!)

This would also make the moment where the Doctor cautions Ruby against reconnecting with her birth mother a more meaningful emotional payoff, because Ruby isn’t afraid to try reconnecting with her mother and it goes so well despite the Doctor’s own fears. This could serve as a turning point for the Doctor as he realizes that getting over your fear of rejection can lead you to new avenues for happiness and connection.

Then, instead of having a sorrowful “the doctor is always alone” ending to the season, have the last line of this season be the music swelling triumphantly and the doctor declaring that, yes, he’s going to go find Susan. This would show the actual impact that Ruby had on him and allow his character to go through some growth rather than end up where they’ve always been. (Plus, what a fun teaser to leave the audience on haha.)

You could then spend the second season, (which was ordered at the same time as season 1) on the Doctor trying to track down any clues of where Susan is. So, the season-long arc would become the doctor looking for Susan, but getting sidetracked in the typical adventure of the week.

NOW you can justify Sutekh as the big bad for this second season. If the doctor is actively looking for Susan, it makes a lot more sense that Sutekh would use her to lure the Doctor in and more devastating when it’s revealed Susan Triad isn’t her. Thematically, this works because the Doctor claims to have never reconnected with Susan before because they were terrified that they would either hurt Susan or she would already be dead, so the big bad being death this time around would haunt him: The Doctor is too late and it’s all his fault.

In terms of the “I am life, and you are death” theme, this also makes a lot more sense within a context of actively trying to find Susan, because the doctor is so afraid that he brings death, but the fact that Susan exists at all (and perhaps he finds her or some evidence of her life) in addition to the amazing family he’s built across time and space rallying around him (like Ruby, Mel, Kate, and Rose which justifies a unit based episode AND the memory Tardis as the Doctor’s equivalent of Carla’s wall of photos of her foster kids) is proof that he isn’t a “harbinger of death.” That all of us defeat death when we choose love and support for ourselves and offer it to others. Self indulgently, I would love a conversation between the Doctor and Cherry about family and found family, too. Imagine how wonderfully thematic it would be if this ordinary woman gave the doctor what he needed physically and spiritually to save the day: grandmother to grandfather. Heck, maybe she is the one who gives him the spoon. A teaspoon in fact :).

So anyway, those are the big changes that I think you could make and leave literally everything else the same to get a better emotional payoff and prevent the audience from feeling a little robbed by the mystery boxes.

[busyxfangirling]

The second season is honestly becoming increasingly harder to watch because what are they trying to do?

The show is titled Loki but he feels like a side character is his own show, I know many MANY things are happening but literally Loki is not the central figure driving the story.

My expectations were low but I did not know Disney could do this much worse!!!!

What the FUCK was episode 3 with the Miss Minutes thing and weird little Ravonna/Victor attempt???

Marvel is just getting worse and worse with what they're putting out, I want the character or even narrative driven stories back where people were well fleshed out, had consistency and their actions made sense to who there were!!! This feels like just trying to sell shock value because you know you have a base of consumers who will stay to see what happens to their favourite character.

They are absolutely ignoring all the material they have available to them to work with! This Loki has only experienced things till the Avengers movie, there is so much character deep dive they could do! What is the point of giving them their own show and then not talking about them at all??

I'll come to the queer things later cause boy do I have a list for that, but first of all, Loki is not a new character in any capacity??? He has been loved and is arguably the biggest fan favourite since his introduction, the amount of theories about him and what people would like to see is very well known!! Right in front of them is his still unclear feelings in his adoption, about being a Jotun, loosing his family and the complicated relationships with them. I can see they are acknowledging his God of Mischief status a little bit but!! Trickster!! Let us see him be a wild card properly!! Not in the sense of betraying his new TVA family - that's what it is and you can fight me on that- but being chaotic!! Yes, using his magic like with Brad!! SHOW ME HE IS A GOD!!!

The worst thing is how lost everyone feels, like I'm not talking about the whole free will conundrum everyone is going through, that is spectacular! Unfortunately it is not coming across, we literally don't get to hear any of the characters talk about what they think of it. There was the key lime pie moment but no follow up to what that is for Loki? It's just one crisis after another, maybe rehash some of what has already happened, bring back the seriousness of this!! The entire multiverse is at stake but we'll make it look like whimsical wishy-washy stuff??!??!!!

Don't get me wrong, I am LOVING the time travel aspect of it, where it looks like Loki/Mobius are on cute dates. But then make it real, the fucking queerbaiting is ridiculous. The throw-away comment in season one about looking being bi was just that and nothing else. And I'm not saying this cause aww they look cute together! But also cause the development of their relationship has been as such!! They have been very dependent on each other and that's not being addressed at all.

I know there are multiple posts about a possible betrayal and my fear is that they're going to try to use that to basically change everything about the characters again, a lot of OOC based on the fact that oh yeah they're going through an existential crises so it makes sense.

Sylkie made barely any sense to me even apart from the whole selfcest issue- they just imposed a the structure of what a straight relationship should be where there was barely any chemistry. S1 E3 had them as really good chaotic siblings/twins and then adding the romantic tones to that really ruined it. Trying to bring it back, possibly, is just weird cause so far they want very different things. These people just don't align together, stop forcing them to? The fact that they refuse to even talk about that kiss shows that they are keeping it open and not just acknowledging that "hey, we don't want the same things in life and I'm happy for you, you matter a lot to me but a romantic relationship is not happening. Also cause you know, we're the same person, lol."

Sylvie as a character is also very confusing rn, there is honestly no need for her to keep coming back in this way??? I'm going to reserve further opinions because half the season is left but I dont expect anything to really get better.

[sabakos]

hi sabaki. why does emily wilson's odyssey translation suck

Okay so, while Wilson's translation is very "readable" and praised as such, it suffers from poor prosody and frequently truncates the meaning of the Greek in the name of fitting the count of the meter.

This claims to be a verse translation in iambic pentameter, and it just isn't that - while the lines do have ten syllables, they rarely scan, and are barely ever even iambic.

A few representative examples chosen at random from some of my favorite parts of the original:

(Book I lines 344-348)

Sullen Telemachus said, “Mother, no, you must not criticize the loyal bard for singing as it pleases him to sing. Poets are not to blame for how things are; Zeus is; he gives to each as is his will.

(Book X, lines 465-473)

We did as she had said. Then every day for a whole year we feasted there on meat and sweet strong wine. But when the year was over, when months had waned and seasons turned, and each long day had passed its course, my loyal men called me and said, ‘Be guided by the gods. Now it is time to think of our own country, if you are fated to survive and reach your high-roofed house and your forefathers’ land.’

(Book XXIII, lines 232-240)

This made him want to cry. He held his love, his faithful wife, and wept. As welcome as the land to swimmers, when Poseidon wrecks their ship at sea and breaks it with great waves and driving winds; a few escape the sea and reach the shore, their skin all caked with brine. Grateful to be alive, they crawl to land. So glad she was to see her own dear husband, and her white arms would not let go his neck.

None of this is unreadable, and though I could go into the meaning of some of the lines and nitpick at some inaccuracies, I'm not sure my arguments would be convincing anyway, since Wilson is a classics professor and I'm not! But I hope these examples at least show that it's shoddy poetic work, and frequently veers into bathos and triviality even in these moments of heightened emotion.

Speaking of bathos, she also named the book divisions for some reason, which is just plain weird - they aren't even original to the text! Why bother? They vary from boring, such as "11 - The Dead" to baffling, such as "13 - Two Tricksters." I guess Athena is supposed to be a "trickster" also? Haha. There's much where we're supposed to appreciate Wilson's cleverness, which is... grating to say the least.

And on the subject of tricksters, despite this being held up as one of her great achievements, I don't think that "complicated" is a particularly good translation for "polytropos" - which is often rendered "many-turns." This is mostly a matter of bad English rather than bad Greek - the word "complicated" just simply does not communicate to me someone with many tricks up their sleeve! It's a bad epithet. I am in a relationship with my epic poem and it's complicated, etc.

There's also the manner of the narrative that Wilson sold to PR agencies about how, as the first woman translator, she essentially claims that all of the previous (male) translators had unconscious sexist biases, and that her translations are more correct. This largely requires swallowing the claim that as a woman she's somehow immune to subconscious biases, which I'm not willing to accept. Again, I could go into detail about how her "feminist" translations distort the meaning in the face of legitimate scholarly interpretation (such as Helen's "bitchface" etc.) but I suspect getting into the weeds of this wouldn't be value positive. But I hope that in 2023 moreso than 2017 more people are willing to raise an eyebrow at this ludicrous claim on principle.

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

OKAY. OKAY. WINTERS FAMILY TORMENT NEXUS. as i've said before this is all REALLY vague rough outlines bc i wanted to bounce it all back n forth with u. but. what i have:

>winters family (mark & ashe & fridged mom/wife) live in a location hit by the simurgh

>mark is at work when she arrives. something horrific happens at home. maybe his wife is injured or hurt, but not killed. ashe (7/8/9) triggers. whatever his powers are, they. do Not help heal his mom. in fact the opposite.

>mark tears back home asap instead of leaving as soon as he hears her song, actively choosing to stay in her effect zone for his family. finds newly triggered baby ashe & the rest of that scene.

>theyve spent too long in the affected zone to be allowed to go free, especially since ashe triggered from it. mark nukes his whole past life & ashe's to escape without undergoing all the protocols. he spends ages doing shit work to support him & ashe bc theyre both legally dead, ends up working for overlord, manages to get enough of a fake past to get through cauldron background checks & get powers? it'll pay so much better than the grunt work he's doing now & he has to support ashe (powered)(legally dead)(would probably be executed if anyone Found Out)....

anyway to me the trickster is like. the endgame of this specific simurgh rube goldberg. somehow it doesn't end horrifically, for once! but it gets. bad. the fact that they're simurgh survivors is always looming over their heads. its why mark fucking freaks out when ashe joins the wards. literally have nothing more specific than this though u gotta help me put meat on these bones!!!!! STOP "being responsible" and "doing work" and stuff START thinking incessantly abt nhw ashe!!!!! i don't even know his powers bc i have no clue how he triggered!!!! augh. god. them..... mods torture that blonde man in the most narratively satisfying and fucked up way possible!!!!

QUIT YOUR JOB JOIN MY EMO WARDS !!!!!!!!!!!!! god dude god dude I'm gonna be thinking about this all fucking DAY . who needs to be responsible and have a job. not me!!!! FUCK !!!!!!!! dude im just. thinking abt mark being at work getting the notice to evacuate and starting to hear the song and. bc it's important to me that he's a little bit of a coward. it takes him longer than he will ever admit to decide to go back to his family. he definitely hesitates and hates himself for it because. what if he had gotten there 10 minutes earlier! who fucking knows! he never will!!

god man I'm just thinking about. that scene where they're in the hospital waiting to hear back about noelle and the person (ai?) at the desk is giving them the rundown of all the containment procedures and handing them paperwork and asking them if they can pay for the medical care. how fucked up would that be to hear after you're in the midst of losing everything. mark winters the universes most hated man. I looooooove the satisfaction in thinking about that snap decision where he goes from "relatively normal if a little emotionally repressed but otherwise does his best suburban dad" to "my wife is dead and my son is fucked up and there's this fucking sound in my head that won't go away I'm about to erase everything and break several laws in order to get us out of here" and how that eventually leads into. supervillain. it's just soooooooo. sickos haha yessss the downfall of this fucking miserable blonde guy. when do you think he consciously made that choice. he heard "you're never going to get out of here and live a normal life again" do you think he just . sat with that for a while. ashe unresponsive either due to shock or fear or the trauma of triggering/whatever his powers are and mark just has to sit there. by himself. like what the fuck am I gonna do now. auaghghghghhhh I need 2 make him so miserable forever. fuck that guy i hate his ass (<< me when I lie)

I THINK . I NEED TO SIT FOR A WHILE AND FINISH THESE NEXT COUPLE CHAPTERS AND PROCESS A LITTLE MORE BEFORE I MAKE A SOLID DECISION ON ASHES POWERS. but you knowwwww it's gonna be some fucked up horror shit. it has to be. it has to be something fucked up enough that mark forbids him from using his powers and keeps him . at home isolated for his own good. but not TOO fucked that he wouldn't be able to join the wards.

actually speaking of. HOW THE FUCK DOES HE JOIN THE WARDS. I know mark basically fucking erased their whole identity and everything but. there's noooo way the prt would let this kid join them. right?????? right????. how the hell would that even be a possibility with all the precautions in place for simurgh survivors. THEY EXPLODED THAT ONE CAPE GUYS HEAD BECAUSE HE STAYED IN PROXIMITY FOR A LITTLE BIT TOO LONG. maybe it's unofficial. maybe he never Officially joins them but he sneaks out while mark is gone and meets the boys somewhere and they become friends out of costume first. and then they learn about his powers and ashe is like "I can help!" and helps them like. as a rogue or something. but hes never registered as an official cape. is this anything. im thinking about him so much what the fuuuuuck have we done. what have we done !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[superectojazzmage]

Of everything that happens in the new issue of Immortal Thor, this scene stands out the most to me as something I feel will be one of the most important scenes of both the issue and the run as a whole.

In the very beginning of gods, of Earth, of humanity, of stories, among the very first incarnations of the archetypes that Thor and Loki embody - the mighty warrior and the devious trickster - see each other and immediately get into a fight out of sheer revulsion of everything their twin stands for.

Good vs evil. Light vs dark. Order vs chaos. Brawn vs brain. Control vs freedom. Life vs death. Fate vs choice. Peace vs war. Mundanity vs magic. Law vs crime. Creation vs destruction. Love vs hate. And many more. Clashing opposites, battling for supremacy. A cycle of violence and debate passed down the generations, from father to son, mentor to student, predecessor to successor, and so on. Brother waging battle against brother just to prove a point, to fulfill their role in the story. An ideological blood feud applied to archetypes and titles and narratives. Trickling all the way down into it's present expression... Thor and Loki.

Already it's clear that cycles of this sort are going to be a very large theme of Immortal Thor. The concept of recurrences and stories being retold over the years have been talked about a lot by the narrator. The comic goes to great lengths to draw attention to how Thor and his cast and, by extension, their own world in the form of comics are falling into patterns that transcend through time. And I feel that's going to be the crux of a great deal of the plot.

Loki hates the cycle. In their roles as both the goddess of stories and the god of mischief, they abhor stagnation and repetition. They want to be free of the roles "assigned" by the narrative. They want to be free of the debate, the never-ending battle of good and evil that ha destroyed their family time and again. Thor would want to be free of it too, if he realized he were part of it. But he struggles to do so. He's a rock in the sea of time. A god among mortals, a child of two worlds watching in confusion and grief as his human friends age and change and die around him while his divine brothers and sisters continue to stay the same. In this, they are trying to do what Gaea wanted to do but couldn't; to break the cycle.

Toranos and Utgard-Loki don't want to break the cycle. They ARE the cycle. Embodiments of the sins of the forefathers carrying down to their children. Representations of the archetypes of Thors and Lokis at their absolute worst, shorn of all true depth and compassion and true belief in their aspects in favor of continuing the godforsaken argument. Shades of the old festering in the blood of the young, infesting them with their baggage, holding them back from growing better, and lashing out at them when the new generations fail to meet the standards of the elders. And they may not even realize they're doing so.

This isn't the first time this theme has come up in Al Ewing's work.

Immortal Hulk presents the conflict between the Hulk and his archenemy, the Leader, as a similar generational feud. Both in a literal familial sense (the Banner and Sterns families being divided and warring after Robert and Samuel Sterns turn on each other) and a larger ideological sense (people using the power of gamma for good or ill, going all the way to the first Hulk being born from a leader's selfish desire to misuse magic as a tool of conquest). Sometimes the thoughtful man is the hero, sometimes the brute is. But they always fight. Senselessly and pointlessly. And the Green Door and the horror it brings was only stopped... by breaking the cycle. By defying it. By Hulk choosing to never sink to Leader's level, or those of his predecessors, and instead choose to forgive.

And Ewing makes clear cycles and wars spanning centuries like this are common in the Marvel Universe. The Eternity Mask is passed down generations of men and women, always fighting for freedom against those who would deny it. Nick Fury passes his name and identity and role onto his son. There's always an Ant Man, inheriting their predecessor's problems, and there's always an Ultron, trying to claim dominion. Arakko and Krakoa alike are divided between those who hold to the old ways and those who seek new ways. Ebony and Ivory Kings do their work, from within and without. On and on, the wheels turn.

It even goes back to the very beginning. To prior multiverses. All tracing back to the first super battle, the first superhero and first supervillain - Lifebringer-One and Anti-All, the cosmic knight and the entropic dragon - fighting for the fate of the nascent world.

Effectively, Ewing views and represents the narratives of superhero comics as we know them, as a sort of repeating song. The metatextual commentary is that all this has happened before and will happen again, because humanity will always dream of heroes battling monsters. There will always be a knight and a dragon. A warrior and a trickster. A superhero and a supervillain.

But he also acknowledges how this can go too far. How comics can fall into stagnating loops of repeating stories and stall status quos. Spider-Men being denied their stories because editors want to live in nostalgia instead of the now. X-Men getting their progress towards coexistence undone because writers can't handle change.

And this is all what Immortal Thor is about and will be about. The struggle for balance between opposites and extremes. Cyclical narratives and worlds. Ideas and stories being inherited and passed on. And all of it a commentary on comic books themselves and their history and role in culture.

It's brilliant stuff.

[absolutebl]

Hi there! I've just returned from a two-week holiday (as I'm writing this I'm actually still driving back home, but I want to get on top of it lmao), so I would like to defer to your knowledge:

could you pretty please provide me with an update on what series ended/started while I was away? I have a vague idea, but I don't want to miss out on the things that didn't get as much promo and are therefore not on my mdl.

if you can, my watchlist will be forever thankful!!

July Report: BL that Stopped & Started & Is worth Your time

Ended July 2023

Step By Step

This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one.

This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk. And that authenticity added tension to the narrative and character development (how novel). Now that might be because it has western source material, or it might be because it is actually kind of old-fashioned (it’s been years since I worked as an office grunt). I also really enjoyed the brothers’ relationship, and kinda wished they hadn’t attempted (and failed) to give said brother his own side BL. That one flaw made it a 9/10 for me.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

La Pluie

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL.

By activating + examining the soulmates trope this show is challenging a foundation of romance: the idea that there is one person meant to be your one romantic partner all your life. This means that we, as viewers, spend much of the show worried about it having a happy ending, and that’s the source of both its brilliance and tension: would the narrative have the strength to truly challenge its own romantic core? But, ultimately, all this elevated complexity was executed in a somewhat shaky manner with the narrative derailing into some serious pacing issues and characters manipulated by miscommunication.

However, with good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn a 9/10. I enjoyed it even as it made me think, so despite its flaws:

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Started July 2023 & Looking GOOD

Jun & Jun

Korea Thurs Viki 8 eps

THANK YOU BL GODS. It is so good. Like everything I want in the world. I’m incandescently happy with this show.

It’s office set,

it’s an ex idol,

everyone is pretty as peaches,

and it’s all about remembering somebody’s smell!

I could not be more delighted.

Laws of Attraction

Thai Sat iQIYI 8 eps

(Icky picked it up but they are serving it in a complicated way that may require a VPN.)

Stars the pair from To Sir With Love with the same production team. IT’S SO GOOD. A morally corrupted trickster lawyer with a tragic past, sad eyes, and a beautiful smile that he uses like a weapon. Meets paladin martial arts instructor from other side of the tracks (who is out, at least to his baby sister).

Corrupt police.

Spoiled rich kid evil.

Ambitious politician.

Tragic death.

Terrible subs.*

This show is very like Manner of Death but so far it is a much better/tighter story (there's a Devil Judge aura happening). It’s NOT BL but it is fucking phenomenal. And you should watch it. Not wait to binge it. WATCH IT.

On a global scale this might be the best thing currently airing featuring gay romantic leads. Its really fucking good. It’s Lawless Lawyer but more complex character motivation and gay af. Fuck yes please and thank you. FINALLY.

Triggers for violence, beatings, death & torture depicted on screen. Like MoD they are not holding back. 

(* A lot of the familial names they are using are not gendered in Thai but translated as such, like “nephew”. This one is gonna go down a lot easier if you know some Thai.)

ALSO:

Stay By My Side - Taiwan Fri Gaga 10 eps

Hidden Agenda that isn’t hidden - Thailand Sun GMMTV YouTube 12 eps

Low Frequency - Thailand Sat iQIYI 8 eps

Started But You Can Probably Wait IMHO

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI)

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki)

Wedding Plan (Weds YT & iQIYI) it's mame so A trash watch is happening! 

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga)

Hope this is what you wanted.

[atamascolily]

TBF S4 Speculation: We Could Be Immortal

Urobuchi has said in interviews that Thunderbolt Fantasy Season 4 is going to dig into Shang and Lin's backstories. I'm of two minds on this--on the one hand, I live for juicy details about my faves, gimme all ya got. On the other hand, one thing I genuinely like about TBF is how much remains mysterious and open into interpretation. Character backstories can be challenging, and up until this point, they haven't been necessary for the narrative--I think Urobuchi is a talented enough writer to pull off a satisfying reveal that ties into everything else, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous... and curious.

Because I love speculating, and because there's still a month and a half before S4 starts airing, I'm going to write out my thoughts for the hell of it.

I first came across the "Shang is a fallen god" theory from @jafndaegur's fic "Just A Guy With A Sword" and it's intrigued me ever since. A past history as a martial god of some sort would not only explain Shang's unique skill set, it would also explain why collecting magical swords and preventing misuse of them is so uniquely personal--as a way of atoning for the suffering and destruction he's undoubtedly been privy to in that kind of privileged position. Not to mention that Shang's decision to reject his destiny/role and do his own thing as a (mostly) ordinary human being feels so in-character for him.

I like this idea because it makes Shang, and his emphasis on appreciating everyday life becomes even more poignant and meaningful as a result. It fits into the series' larger themes of the responsible use of power and an emphasis on free will and choice over destiny and fate. Plus, it would delightfully recontextualize the entire series, from Lin Xue Ya's wry comment at their first meeting that Shang has no respect for the divine to Shang's conversation with Bai Lian, an ordinary person who was mistaken for an immortal. Not to mention a contrast with whatever Huo Shi Ming Huang has planned--unknown for now, but almost certainly related to acquiring cosmic power(s). Up to this point, we've only had humans and demons, but there's no reason why Urobuchi couldn't up the stakes even more by introducing beings with entirely new power levels, just like he did with the introduction of the Sorcerous Sword Index at the end of S1.

(Also, as a bonus, this would be a backstory for Shang that wouldn't involve fridging his family or anyone else he cared about; we've had quite enough of that already, thank you very much.)

On a meta level, becoming an all-powerful divinity has been a running theme throughout Urobuchi's prior works, so the idea of someone starting out as a god and then giving it up seems like a logical evolution of the idea, as well as a fun twist. I could totally see him doing it here.

I've suspected for a long time that Lin Xue Ya might not be fully human--his lack of canonical birthday (when even the immortal demons have them!), his incredible genre-savviness, etc, etc, all point to someone who isn't what he seems to be, on top of his general sketchiness. (Depending on how seriously you take the epilogue to Bewitching Melody of the West, it also seems like he has knowledge that he shouldn't otherwise have, again pointing to him as a meta-narrator and authorial stand-in.) As a trickster figure, he echoes the kitsune of Japanese legend (who can take on human form in many stories), and the main Pili series has a bunch of dragons with human forms. [A recent social media post for this year's Dragon Boat Festival also put Lin Xue Ya in the role of Bai Suzhen, the famous "White Snake" of legend who took on human form and fell in love, so, uh, there's that.] Lin Xue Ya's backstory also involves him giving up and turning away from the path of the sword, which in turn could mean that he also gave up on other things as well when he became a wandering thief and rogue whose sole purpose in life is his own personal amusement.

Previously, my one stumbling block with this theory was that Lin and Shang are both opposites and equals in every sense of the word. This is, for instance, the reason why Lin also has to be a Secret Sword Master at the end of Season 1, because Shang is one. In order for them to contrast each other most effectively, they have to be on the same level. Thus, if Lin Xue Ya isn't or wasn't human, then Shang also has to be the same level of being in order for this symmetry to be maintained. Having Shang be a fallen god would satisfy this requirement and then some.

Given that the ending of the series is most likely Shang and Lin walking off into the sunset together as their journey continues, this backstory would also mean they were and have always been timeless and archetypal, with no beginning or end, and the symmetry is also pleasing to me.

Is this where the story is actually going? I have no idea, but this is certainly plausible and I look forward to finding out!

[yells-of-the-not-so-danged]

Loki 2019 review (spoilers!)

The children of eternity seemed interesting, I love Frösti 💖, HATED LOKI'S STREET WARE but I could see them wearing that if they thought it was funny U_U, and I REALLY liked the battle against the King of Nightmares I thought it was cleverly done and the idea of Nightmare going to the Christian heaven is REALLY FUNNY.

What I don't quiet get is the need for a *new* godly label. In Vote Loki, which was before War of Realms, they were already God of Stories and, while they were still trying to figure out what that meant, they seemed comfortable enough. But now that they have regained the memories that Loki 4 storied away so they could become *this* Loki (this comes from Defenders: Beyond, which was written AFTER this comic series if i remember right) they seem boggled? Like, after they heard their ending from "The Book of Loki" they seemed discontent but mainly resigned, which, yeah fate supposedly authored that book but YOU'RE the GOD of STORIES! You don't like that ending? REWRITE IT! Since when did you let fate slow you down? Wasn't it supposedly you "fate" to become God of Evil and always play the villain? Remember when you didn't want to and luckily had a friend in your hour of need to help give you strength to say "FUCK THAT!" ?

Like, this

{ Thor: Loki, don't you see what a GIFT this is? We've broken free of the cycle of Ragnarok! You and I, together! Your slate is CLEAN! You are the God of Evil no longer! Nor mischief! Nor chaos!

Loki: Nor stories, I imagine. As Odin's MAGIC BOOKS would have MY story be over already. Thor, if I am none of these things, then what AM I?! }

This I don't get, I don't understand. Like, you can have more than one ending if you want babe, I don't see how that's not within your power. Make that book a choose your own adventure book. Why not? Why can't you? Why would having an end already written make you NOT THE GOD OF STORIES STILL????

It feels very much that the writer was like, "i acknowledge the character development that came before... but i wanna try my own thing so whether or not it makes sense I'm going to make it happen"

At the end when Loki was telling Verity (Verity!!💖💖💖 YAY!!) about what he remembers of Cowboy Days™️, she reveals that all the notes she took became true sooo...?? Despite Loki labeling themself as God of Outcasts and such, there's still very much some God of Stories going on. But due to that comic being the LAST ONE, we don't get to know where that plot thread was going. If I were to guess how the story would have/could have gone I would say that maybe at the end Loki would realize that God of ___ doesn't really work for them since they are never just ONE THING so they just start going as " Mischievous Loki" or "Loki the mischievous". The only labels/universal truths that define them is that they are a trickster and shape-shifter, and they do/are whatever they want.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Due to it obviously being cut off early before it could tie up the narrative strings it was only just beginning to put down, it felt half-baked. But, for what we got, I thought it was promising, and at the very least entertaining.

anyway, that's my thoughts, sorry if it's organized a bit weird this was mainly steam-of-conscious.

[templeofoccultpractices]

29-Dutchess Astaroth

Enn:Tasa alora foren Astaroth

Other Names: Ashtaroth, Ashtarot, Ashtoreth, Astarot

(Astarte is another name, though often thought to be a separate entity, potentially Ishtar.)

The Twenty-ninth Spirit is Duke/Dutchess Astaroth. A spirit of divination/scrying, love, and friendship. He appears in the form of an hurtful angel riding on an Infernal beast like a dragon, and carrying in his right hand a viper. He is ghostly pale in color, something like a corpse with blackened eyes – no pupils. He gives true answers of things past, present, and to come, and can discover all secrets. He will declare wittingly how the spirits fell, if desired, and the reason of his own fall. He can make men wonderfully knowing in all liberal sciences. He rules 40 Legions of spirits.

Astarte

Astarte/Ἀστάρτη, is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess ʿAṯtart. ʿAṯtart was the Northwest Semitic equivalent of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar.

In the Baʿal Epic of Ugarit, Ashtart is one of the allies of the eponymous hero. With the help of Anat she stops him from attacking the messengers who deliver the demands of Yam and later assists him in the battle against the sea god, possibly "exhorting him to complete the task" during it. It's a matter of academic debate if they were also viewed as consorts. Their close relation is highlighted by the epithet "face of Baal" or "of the name of Baal."

A different narrative, so-called "Myth of Astarte the huntress" casts Ashtart herself as the protagonist, and seemingly deals both with her role as a goddess of the hunt stalking game in the steppe, and with her possible relationship with Baal.

Call upon Duke/Dutchess Astaroth for

⬩Answers on the past, present, or future

⬩Divination and scrying

⬩Discovery of secrets

⬩Liberal sciences

⬩Love and friendship and finding them

⬩War and hunting

⬩Ask him what else he's willing to work with you on⬩

⊱•━━━━━━⊰In Ritual⊱━━━━━•⊰

Enn:

Sigil:Posted above

Plant:Laurel

Incense:Sandalwood

⬩Green candles or objects

⬩Ask Duke Astaroth what he likes⬩

⬩It is important to learn protections before trying to work with any spirits. You can get tricksters and parasites if you don't.

Cleansings- cleaning your space of negative energies. You can burn herbs or incense for this.

Banishings- forcing negative energies out of your space. The lesser banishing ritual is one of the most commonly used.

Warding- wards keep negative energy out of your space. Amulets, sigils and talismans do this.

Set up a your space and do a cleanse and banishing. Have wards up in your home. Meditation is to calm yourself and get your mind ready. The sigil (symbol) is what you draw on paper. The enn is what you chant or say to call forth the spirit.⬩

[spagyricqueen]

Fun thoughts and details

So, I like lore. I love Forgotten Realms. I have a shelf dedicated to adventure modules and game books spanning back to AD&D 2nd ed. I've been in this thing for a while. I played the original Baldur's Gate games when they were new. And Icewind Dale. Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2.

I fell in love with everyone's favorite pale elf. Admittedly, not because of his vampirism (although, sure, I liked it. It was a fun detail). I love elves. (I just think they're neat). I have a thing for white haired characters with youthful visages. It's a mystery, truly. I think I'm beginning to understand that my attraction to Astarion beyond his vampirism might put me in the minority. That's okay. I know I'm not alone in this, at least.

He's interesting. I love his growth as a character. His ability to work through his demons, show genuine and unexpected compassion, and remain delightfully sarcastic and hilarious.

All this to say that when I approach the writing of my ridiculously long fic, I meticulously keep in mind the world Astarion lives in, as if I were a DM running a Forgotten Realms campaign. I ask questions about the distances between locations, the topography, the climate, the socio-economic structure of different cities, history, alliances, enemies, religions, ecology. I subscribed to Ed Greenwood's (creator of the Forgotten Realms setting) YouTube channel and joined his discord, just to have more resources for information. I have the wiki open constantly (I really want to insert flumphs somewhere in the story - they deserve more recognition. Especially the cloisters, they seem cute). And hey, I may get a few things wrong here in there, as many DMs do, and that's okay too. If it works for the story, who cares?

As much as I love fun head canons, my brain screeches with, "But would that exist in Faerûn? Is that how it works?" and proceed to look up medieval/historical equivalents. Keeping in mind, too, that it's a magical world, where gods exist and they are flawed.

I keep a separate file open so that I can copy/paste words that have stresses in them, even!

Selûne

Faerûn

Ancunín

I like words.

Because I take so much time with such details, I have also gone ahead and rolled up a character sheet for Astarion in my narrative. While he is now mortal, he remains an arcane trickster rogue at level 12. In my story, he's blind, so he occasionally has a disadvantage to attack rolls and his perception (which is rather high) is limited to sound, touch, and smell. However, because of his adaptations, he's cleverly learned to use the Darkness spell to his advantage.

Starting at 4th level (subsequently 8th, 10th, and 12th), he got an ability score increase, plus a dual wielding feat (I flubbed this for story reasons). I used the level 1 character sheet that came with the deluxe edition of the game, and used those as his base stats (ignoring that there were probably already applied modifiers).

Here are the new stats I gave him.

STR: 8 (-1)

DEX: 19 (+4)

CON: 14 (+2)

INT: 17 (+3)

WIS: 15 (+2)

CHA: 13 (+1)

Based on these stats, in my narrative, Astarion has an improved memory (INT) out of necessity, and has become more measured in his decisions (WIS) as a result of his condition, forcing him to think through his actions with caution. His spells are limited to those that don't require line of sight (except I did have him blindly shoot a fire bolt at a barrel during those Underdark shenanigans because PLOT). And he can't use ranged weapons. But I think he's still a very interesting rogue.

Yes, this is a long post to explain how Astarion has grown as a person in my story. Because I am nerd.

[theminecraftbee]

5 and 18 for fic askgame! :)

just answered 18, so for 5...

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

THIS IS ACTUALLY HARD. the obvious answer is magical girl scar because i am not good at really long marathon type fics and i would need that to be SO LONG to actually do everything i want to do with it. actually, that's how a lot of similar aus go - if i cannot condense the fic idea down to a Single Narrative Throughline, then i have trouble writing the fic, no matter how much i really really want to. i'm best at fics that have a defined plot with a beginning, middle, and end! even my more like, emotions-based fics that don't have a major plot driving through them so much as a character arc driving them tend to follow a narrative structure like that. so when, say, i'm like "what if superhero au", i need to come up with a single throughline plot for it, otherwise it falls apart into the ether.

uh anyway some other examples include:

original form of evil x apocalypse au. please don't ask for details it's been like three years just know that at one point it existed, i gave up on it, parts of it were subsumed into stuffed bird.

a few of my dsmp ideas got jossed before they really got off the ground and then i fell out of wanting to write dsmp. i am still VERY fond of the one where techno is an old god that was sealed away on a farm and tommy, fresh out of being banished, accidentally unseals him and Things Ensue, but it both doesn't actually work with basically anything dsmp did AFTER the pogtopia arc (shoutout, for example, to phil, who was a dead legendary trickster god) and would require i have more dsmp writing energy, which if i get back i am spending on a different techno fic.

there are several lab aus i'm unlikely to write. ONE DAY i'll write that id fic that is "oh this guy is a lab experiment and must ESCAPE" but every time i sit down to try i just. don't get anywhere. so the previous ideas are probably scrapped,

basically any au i've posted on the blog in detail and have not said the words "i am writing this" about probably won't be written because i get coy about stuff i'm actually in the process of writing lol.

[ghostjunksickness]

The Medium Character Analysis at long last!

Oh man this one was slippery one.

The Medium is a shape shifter both physically and narratively, and is very difficult to pin down as a character.

Luckily, we can catch glimpses of what’s going under the surface through a few of the characters, mainly Aiden, Nowe, Ghost/Jan and briefly Erich.

Starting with Aiden, I don’t think it’s an accident the cyclops is our first “medium” for the Medium. Ghost definitely screwed Aiden up in his attempt to help him, but I have a very specific theory of what was driving him so crazy. Rereading that chapter, I strongly believe Aiden was already living an analogous life style to that of the Medium. All he cared about was eating, and Aiden’s inner monologue / possibly the Medium themself chastised him for squandering his second chance. I think Ghost, in attempting to break the deal, accidentally put a bit of the Medium into Aiden. My evidence for which is the following:

The presentation and transition of the word bubbles.

The physical mutation going on i.e. extra pupils and the blood grappling hook.

The knowledge of what Vahn’s tattoos are and finding them irritating (more on that later.

And, ya know. The sudden urge to eat people.

Which if this is true, tells us a little more about what being the Medium is like. We already knew they liked eating people. But whereas before I thought they were doing out of spite towards their mom the Crane Women (permanently taking away the mortals she loves so much), dude might not even have a choice in the matter. The Medium also probably lives a very solitary life much like Aiden. Their only long lasting companions are the Crane Woman, with whom they have mommy issues, and Huko, with whom they have everything-else issues. While that sort of isolation shouldn’t (and doesn’t appear to) be bad for a normal Immortal, the Medium isn’t an Immortal. They’re an immortal Mortal.

(Thanks mom)

And Mortals kind of need a certain level of physical and psychological maintenance to be functional or happy. Which I somewhat doubt the Crane Woman thought of let alone provided.

While it’s been moved around, there’s a brief interaction between the Medium as Hadar and Erich that tells us a lot about the Mediums mental state. Both of them are creations with some sort of obvious tell that they are something else. The Medium seems to project their own upset feelings onto Erich, but when Erich tries to reach out, the Medium freaks a bit. The Medium has had untold eons to learn how to read people and play the stage as needed. The Medium loves to act as wacky over the top characters but doesn’t seem to know how to be a person.

Which brings me to the big part: The Mediums relationship with Nowe!

When I made my first theory on the comic, I thought Nowe got the Mediums character nailed from the get-go. A cosmic loan shark, a trickster that’s three steps ahead and already knows what you’ll do next. And then I reread the comic with a fine toothed comb and formed a new theory:

Nowe and the Medium have one thing in common and it’s that they both suck at their jobs.

To be fair to the Medium, I haven’t really been given any examples of what normal successful deal is supposed to look like.

We’ve got:

Aiden, who’s deal was broken by the Ghost.

Trigger, who made a deal to fix a problem I’m pretty sure the Medium honest to god caused by accident.

And Nowe, whose first deal had to be nullified because while the Medium is powerful, they sure as shit aren’t omnipotent in their current state.

Which following up on that last point, we haven’t seen much of what a normal deal entails but I can’t imagine the Medium getting dressed up in a maid outfit and baking Trigger muffins. A significant part of this analysis was just working out why the Medium is so kind and supportive to Nowe. The deals been struck, they technically don’t need to do more than what they’ve already promised. If Nowe can’t deliver then that’s on him and the Medium gets a snack. Except, this time the Medium wants the agreed upon outcome of the deal. With Aiden, what the Medium wanted was to eat him, but they need to go through a whole song and dance first to get there. Being paid back as much as they give is normally a net zero gain for the Medium. They want to eat people so they want people to fail their deals.

The deal with Nowe is different because this is probably one of the few, if not first times the Medium has ever wanted something from somebody. The Medium is asking for help in the only way they know how (or maybe even can). I don’t imagine this is a familiar predicament for them so the Medium is being extremely kind to Nowe because technically, Nowe is doing something incredibly kind for the Medium. And the Medium gets a Snack.

Lastly there’s Ghost/Jan, whose in the iris of this mess.

If I had to guess on how the Medium actually lost their heart, they probably gave it to Jan thinking it would “release them from their mortal bindings” before later realizing “oh shit I actually need that”.

My reasoning here is that every flashback we see of the Medium depicts them in bandage like bindings, placed there by Hoku. Ghost is perpetually wrapped in bandages himself (just realized we never got pronouns for them, was/were maybe?) and is presumably the test subject aka sacrifice used to make contact with the Medium. Jan took the Medium’s heart and bindings but also took a good chunk of their power to.

When Dr. Yaromir said Vahns brands were the key, I think he was right but for the wrong reasons. It was Hilo’s powers that locked the Medium, it’d likely be the same power to unlock the bindings now on Jan.

TLDR: the Medium is a hungry theater kid with mother issues and struggles with introspection

This was a blast to read, thank you so much for all your thoughts!! Being the Medium is a strange predicament for something as you said, an immortal mortal. There’s pain points in being in the middle of these omnipotent beings that cannot possibly understand the agony that comes with having a human heart and when it suddenly disappears. When that particularly desperate mortal comes along with just enough power and drive to do just about anything… You don’t let him go!

[sillymickel]

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[kerwinthefrog]

OOC Post:

I'm running a SPN blog for writing class, and I'm covering 4 topics. I haven't fleshed them out yet, but I have a basic overview.

1. Chuck lost his soul

2. Crowley and Rowena's relationship

3. The character assassination of Lucifer

4. Chuck booting Gabriel from the story

Here's what I have so far:

---

Gabriel was a minor antagonist pretending to be an entity called The Trickster. After being revealed as Gabriel, he died. Later when he was revealed to be alive and getting tortured in Hell, he sacrificed himself to save the boys. Many speculate that Chuck intentionally excluded Gabriel from the narrative because he cared too much about Cas and the Winchesters, interfering with his narrative. Gabriel was the wild card. He went MIA, leaving Heaven to live among humans. Unlike Chuck, Lucifer, Michael, and Raphael, Gabriel adored humanity. And he especially loved the Winchesters (had a crush on Sam). There are numerous episodes where he tries steering them away from what Chuck wanted, especially when it came to Lucifer. Gabriel was a danger to Chuck's narrative as his true self. So Chuck wrote him as The Trickster and regulated him to a "character" that only came into their lives three times at that point in the narrative. But then the Winchesters uncovered his identity, so Chuck was forced to allow him to be Archangel Gabriel. The devoted youngest son that searched endlessly after God "vanished". That's why Gabriel dies a few episodes after the reveal. Chuck needed Gabriel gone, as he'd already started convincing Cas and the brothers not to kill Lucifer.

---

Ok, so a big trigger for the brothers turning on Chuck is they find out all their trauma and stuff was purposely caused for Chuck's "entertainment" because he sees humanity as toys and characters for his "story”. When they suddenly made Chuck a villain with zero hints or foreshadowing, making his personality do a 180. So in Supernatural, you can lose your soul and live. Sam, Jack, and Crowley are examples. When you lose your emotions and sense of right and wrong (All three were able to recover their souls in various ways). During the fight against Amara, Chuck refused to kill his twin. She had no such reservations and destroyed him. This left Chuck powerless and slowly dying (the fucking SUN was going out because of this). Amara made amends and restored his power and they took a vacation to learn to get along (didn't work). The theory states that after Amara hit him so hard, she destroyed Chuck's soul.

---

He had a really cool redemption arc/antihero plot line until the writers fucked him up. Lucifer low key good dad for Jack until the character assassination. Lucifer wasn't evil until he took the Mark of Cain to help Chuck seal away his twin sister Amara (The Darkness), then he got infected and turned. He also felt Chuck loved Adam and Eve more than him. Michael and Chuck locked him in a Cage in Super Hell. The Winchesters released him and all he did was fight with Michael so hard the world was almost destroyed (but I count that as both Michael and Lucifer's fault). He got out again using Cas as a vessel (Casifer) because he was needed to seal away Amara again. He had a really good talk with Chuck about how he took the Mark for Chuck and Chuck just locked him away once the Mark changed him. Then he gave Cas his body back and possessed the President so he could lose his virginity and have Jack. Crowley and Cas died trapping him on a destroyed earth in another dimension so he couldn't see Jack. Lucifer literally gives up his Grace and goes through Hell to get to Jack. Jack actually really liked him when they met on Apocalypse World, and Lucifer helped get everyone back onto the good earth. But the Winchesters trapped him there again and lied to Jack saying he died. From then on the writers ruined both Lucifer and Chuck and the finale.