#the i miss you i hate you dichotomy is real

[romanroyrabies]

something something disco elysium and the way we mythologize people who aren’t in our lives anymore because it’s easier to rationalize that way… dora isn’t dolores dei, she’s not a saint and not a war criminal, she’s human and that means she’s messy and imperfect and turning her into dolores dei is a coping mechanism for harry but at the same time it’s preventing him from truly being able to move on…

[emoangel44]

i think the thing that makes people mischaracterize and completely miss the point of chara is that theyre written to be two very different things concurrently that dont really mesh together.

from what we know concretely about chara as a character, they were a very mentally ill child and complicated person who simultaneously hurt and helped people around them, who held both a lot of love and hate in their heart. they are fairly vague but also have specific character traits such as liking chocolate and filling up water glasses to the brim to maximize efficiency. they take speaking patterns from toriel and an interest in gardening from asgore. if you believe in the narrachara theory, they even have a character arc that changes depending on the route you take. they are inarguably a character who haunts the narrative due to their decisions in life having lead to tragedy that shapes the very plot of the game inextricably; and arguably a character that haunts the narrative and shapes the story much more literally in being a conscious force and companion that accompanies our journey.

at the same time, chara isnt treated as a character at all and is instead a meta-narrative device meant to act as an in-universe player stand-in. in this way chara isnt actually a person with character traits, but a vehicle for toby to provide commentary about the people who play video games. they are a concept that represents the state of thoughtless exp grinding. in the no mercy route their main purpose is to be a reflection of you and your mindset, even more directly than flowey. the reason theyre named after you is because, for a number of aspects in the game, they are supposed to be you; with no notable separation like there is with frisk.

this problem also heavily applies to frisk, for who there is an effort to separate their identity from yours at the end of the pacifist route but who still ends up with no real character traits of their own. people compensate for this by using black-and-white thinking; which results both in assigning frisk and chara a sort of "good-and-evil" dichotomy leading to their early fan interpretations, and in thinking that frisk and chara can only be either fully fleshed out characters or mindless player inserts leading to people favouring option one and basically ignoring the player as a concept except to occasionally use it as a generic big bad.

i think toby prioritized meta-textual implications over actual textual characterization for the human characters in undertale. this left chara as a character feeling unclear, unfocused, and incongruent due to them trying to be several things at once with no real through-line; and frisk as a character feeling practically non-existent outside of being a vessel. there are effectively two different charas in undertale, the character and the plot device, which makes it hard to talk about them as one consistent whole. i think this is why in tobys second game hes been putting such a focus on kris as a character and their separation from the player, as to improve on what he didnt properly touch on in undertale.

[talktolwt]

I would like to focus on the music chosen for Hob Gadling's 80s sequence.

I'm extremely late to the world of The Sandman (finally binged it two weeks ago after my mother had been begging me to watch it with her and now I'm more obsessed than her) Bottom line: I'm unbelievably glad I finally watched this beautiful piece of television.

I have yet to read the comics but as for the first season, I have to say, without a doubt, my favorite episode is Chapter 6: The Sound of Her Wings. Death's 20-min segment is a beauty unto itself, but I'll be focusing on Hob's segment today. Specifically, his 80s scenes.

Considering I'm so late to this fandom and exploring all of its wondrous details and themes, excuse me if this has already been noted. I've been thinking about these details over and over but I need to get it out there in the Sandman world and hear everyone else's thoughts.

*Also excuse the terrible photos - Netflix doesn't let you screenshot and I was too lazy to get another app to let me bypass it. Please bear with my photos of my laptop screen.*

There are three songs that play throughout this sequence.

#1 - "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals

I accidentally deleted half my post mid-writing this but here I go again.

As we can see, after the breakup scene, we open up on Hob Gadling (he looks amazing in his 80s look, by the way) and this song plays.

Here are the lyrics:

I mean - where do I even start LMAO.

*Let me just give another note - regardless if you ship Dreamling romantically or not, I will be merely analyzing these lyrics as they are and how they convey Hob's feelings for Dream in general. But, I mean, the songs are THERE, the text is THERE. So do with that what you will.*

This will go for the following two songs as well, but these songs are placed with meaningful intention. Each of these offer a unique lens and dive into Hob's feelings.

I won't be annoying and over-explain anything, but the lyrics are clear I feel:

"She drives me crazy" - cough

"Things you do don't seem real" - in Hob's view, Dream literally is an enigma. Hob has no idea the capacities, the limits, and even the name of this being he meets every century.

"This waiting 'round's killing me" - well.

"Everything you say is lies" - now I wouldn't say particularly lies, but Dream does keep and omit things from Hob. Understandably, Hob would find himself in a confused limbo with Dream.

Here's the kicker:

"I won't make it on my own/No one likes to be alone." - HELLO. I mean, if this isn't the core message and pinnacle of Dream and Hob's lesson to immortality.

As Death mentions earlier in the episode, around 18:10, "Most of us will be glad for the company of a friend."

I feel I could go on forever and ever about the beauty of this episode and how well The Sound of Her Wings and Men of Good Fortune intertwine. They beautifully complement each other as stories lamenting the dichotomy of life and death, and the joys of humanity.

But essentially, Death reteaches Dream how beautiful humans can truly be, and in this pivotal moment, she says this zinger of a line. The camera was initially on Death but for THIS line, it cuts to Dream.

BECAUSE - poor Dream is definitely in need a friend.

Which is then shown to the audience by the 30-min long Hob Gadling sequence that ensues, and we see Dream's aversion to needing someone, to needing a friend.

But I digress - back to the song, and that one line about not wanting to be alone.

That is such a poignant line, because as much as Dream felt alone and needed company, so does Hob? An immortal, constantly seeing the death of others around him, his companions and family long gone, he needs someone.

Considering this 80s sequence ruminates so heavily on post-breakup feelings, Hob is missing Dream dearly. His constant in life.

I'm rambling too much, onto the next one!

#2 - "Shattered Dreams" by Johnny Hates Jazz

Time skip to perhaps a few hours later, who knows. We see Hob still waiting for Dream, alone in the pub.

Hm.

Literally what else could I say. I'm being slapped in the face with pining and angst and longing.

Here are the lyrics:

Some noteworthy lyrics:

"So much for your promises/They died the day you let me go" - this breakup man

"Caught up in a web of lies" - another lie motif

"I thought it was you/Who would stand by my side" - the theme of Dream and Hob being constants in each other's lives

"Shattered dreams" - I could scream. The title of the song. SHATTERED. DREAMS. giggling rn.

"Woke up to reality" - I think that's a very interesting line toeing between the constant references of the Waking and the Dreaming

Basically, I've been noting these evident similarities within the songs to align themselves to Dream and Hob's situation, and it's clear that the director/writers chose these songs with intent of it paralleling Dreamling.

So that makes it even more insane when lines like "From this empty heart" are meant to parallel Hob. Like.

Okay, last song.

#3 - "Keep On Moving" by Soul II Soul

This song plays as the night progresses. It's late, it's clear Dream isn't showing up, and Hob is feeling pretty final about that, and perhaps he's accepted it at this point. Dream isn't coming.

So this is where he speaks to the bartender and that scene ensues.

Here are the lyrics:

The themes of time and clocks are super prevalent within this song, and again it's once more clear how heavily this reflects and represents Hob.

Noteworthy lyrics:

"Why do people choose to live their lives this way?" - I think this also uniquely touches on the general aspect of humanity and one's reason to live/love life. Dream battles with his confusion/slight disappointment for humanity at the beginning, as he asks Death, "Why would any sensible creature crave an eternity of this?" And then Hob helps Dream realize why there's so much to live for. (24:30)

"I know the time will come today/The time will come one day"

"Walking alone in my own way" - Again this idea of walking alone and needing company.

"You'll be in my life, my life always" - Dream and Hob being constants again.

This all goes to say - Hob cares. He cares for Dream.

And I just think that's very beautiful. The magnitude with which Dream's absence means to him and how much their friendship/companionship both means to each of them. I just think their connection is a beautiful thing that I love seeing and rewatching. Wonderfully, these songs give the audience even more layered insight into this connection.

This was super long, and I apologize if I went on some tangents. But I also just couldn't help it, The Sandman is so incredibly rich in its storytelling and its connections and dynamics that I had to write this all down. I also just very much appreciate the amount of care and detail that goes into every aspect of television, and needle drops such as these three songs are no exception.

Thank you for sticking with me through this! Can't wait for season 2!

[otterskin]

Does you actllty like odin because I thought everyone hated him.

...Why would people hate him? I struggle to understand that, even now. I have my theories, which I've spoken off in other places.

I think, and I don't like to say this, because there are certainly takes that aren't, but in general, that opinion is very juvenile. There's a desire to want to 'defend and protect' people from him, which betrays a lack of understanding of the dynamics in the films, and a tendency to side with children over adults, even grown children, and to see older people as symbolic of institutional power, as well as parental power, over them, and therefore a yoke that needs throwing off. There's a childish 'shut up, DAD!' to the criticism. More seriously, the desire to paint him as abusive reminds me of the problem of people confusing conflict for abuse, something that's a major issue in online spaces and real life. Outrage and extremism are rewarded and sought after, so everything is heightened. In that lens, a father who tried to do right by his children but who was in a unique circumstance because of his desire to challenge the status quo and fated enmity of two warrring peoples, a king who can't put the needs of his children over the suffering of his people and risk to his kingdom, now becomes a monster who delights in playing favourites and abusing them for kicks. It's disheartening.

There's precious little sympathy for characters like him, especially in this genre. Superhero fare is pretty black and white, and even characters like Loki rest pretty firmly in the 'good' side of that. But Odin is that rare character who not only doesn't play by that simple dichotomy, he doesn't get to live in a world so neatly divided. It's part of his isolation from the others. So usually, people see the gray and decide he must not be 'good', and if he's not 'good', he must be 'bad'.

The films have little time to explore him or his motivations or how he chooses to navigate his murky situation, and it's all the worse because he's a secretive person who actively disguises his motivations and goals. He's a minor character in screen time, but looms large over the plot and other characters' motivations, so most of what we see of him is what other people tell us he is. Most of which is, of course, untrue. That's the Odin that lives in their heads, and not the actual man, who is the rare character in the MCU you actually have to watch and pay attention to to understand. In universe, no-one bothers to do that - they are content with the version they've created to hate. So the audience thinks that version is also the real one, because it's easier to understand and categorize.

I love Odin, in mythology, and in the MCU. He's a much kinder person in the MCU for sure! But I'm glad that, even in a fairly straightforward world, they gave Odin no clear answers. He remains contradictory and deeply flawed, a thoroughly miserable person but with something compelling him to try and change the destined end of the world. How could I not love someone like that? How could people who say they like Loki not like a character who is so similar?

I get depressed when I encounter Odin haters. I feel like they've completely misunderstood and missed out on a fundamental part of the story, and I worry that if their sentiments infect the actual MCU, it will besmirch the efforts of those who came before and the humane story I fell in love with. Odin was not intended to be a bad parent or a bad person, and I don't think he is. He is intended to be someone that people IN UNIVERSE see as a full villain or as a full hero, but he is neither. He is a person who was faced with difficult choices, and he chose to do some radical things that many others of his kind would never do. He paved the way for a better future and better choices for others by defying the prejudices and traditions of his people, but because he was a trailblazer, he did not have the benefit of learning from others' examples, like Thor and Loki have because of him.

Comparing him to Thanos or other actually abusive parents is repellant. Never once have I seen anyone who claims to hate him actually engage with the character as depicted, nor how they would cut through the Gordian Knot of compromises the character had to contend with. They handwave away the moral questions as 'actually super easy to solve', which is something I abhor in fiction (it's also why I deeply dislike Spider-Man: NWH, which handwaves away the motivations and tragedies of villains from previous series). No, nothing was easy to solve about the choices presented to Odin, and I think the character had both logical and emotional rationale for his choices. He actually made pretty bold and forward-thinking plans, they just all tend to suffer from his fatal flaw - he thinks about them as logical, but they're really motivated by emotion that he keeps at arm's length, which leads to him showing vulnerability and being punished for it.

This is something that goes by so fast in the films, but I loved it because it is such a fundamentally male experience. Odin is someone being crushed under pretty much every expectation of masculinity, from man to warrior to father to husband to king, and whenever he tries to show regret, fallibility or vulnerability, the other characters find it disturbing and swiftly reject him, forcing him back into the performance and the misery that comes with it.

Odin may ponder what is the correct decision, but does not mistake that for what is the most moral decision. He is someone who is both logical and emotional but who hasn't integrated those two halves of himself together very well.

If you hate the character, I'd be happy to talk about it. It is okay to just not like characters! Including gray ones. But for me, I can really think about Odin, and I like that he can't be easily written up for a bland Fandom page that requires everything be spelled out or it 'doesn't count'. He exists in the between spaces of the story, and it is a very sad and lonely tale.

TL;DR : He's a complicated man in a simple story. In the Squid Game of Sugar Cookie, he got the Umbrella. I am sad that such a fundamental character to the foundation of the THOR franchise's quality and themes is so misunderstood and unappreciated by this fandom. I don't think you can love this franchise and not have some care for Odin.

[bittersweetresilience]

sentitwins fic recs

running in the shadow by @wackus-bonkus-maximus (3,062 words)

Félix doesn’t miss the soul bond between him and Adrien until it’s gone.

La nuit, tous les chats sont gris by @ninadove (3,847 words)

In which the Cat Miraculous grants Adrien much needed freedom — even if he's not the one wielding it.

Everything I did (I did for you) by @ninadove (3,667 words)

He would have stayed there forever, if he could. This was how it was always supposed to be: the two of them together, united by something stronger than blood — stronger than magic. Adrien knew he was stalling, crushed by the enormity of the truth. He just needed a few seconds more. “I think your father has the Peacock Miraculous,” he finally whispered. “And I’m going to take it back.”

lose it in the morning by @bittersweetresilience (2,173 words)

Adrien feels it when Félix’s ring cracks. He doesn’t remember it afterward.

no one listens to the dead by @bittersweetresilience (857 words)

When Félix and Adrien switch places, they also switch homes.

mirror image by @wackus-bonkus-maximus (3,573 words, ongoing)

The voice in Adrien’s head is strangely familiar. It also tells him the truth (when no one else will).

Brave, Truthful, and Unselfish by @ninadove, @bittersweetresilience, @paracosmicat, @luckychatons, @trishacollins, @redundant-lava (4,436 words)

Someday, you will be a real boy... but monsters are always so much more interesting. Five times Félix lied to Adrien and one time he didn't.

Kitten-sitting by @kekepuaa (10,444 words)

Babysitter Marinette!AU. If there's anything in this world that Felix Agreste despises, it's liars and big brothers who never keep their promises. // It seemed unlikely that Felix would ever feel happy again, but his big brother said it’d be okay. And if Adrien promised that everything would be okay, then Felix had no doubts that they’d make it through this.

Found by @trishacollins (40,237 words)

Chat Noir and Ladybug need to tie up some loose ends. Unfortunately, one of those ends is Felix.

dichotomy by @cutie-patoo-t (10,223 words, ongoing)

Adrien was just getting used to the new normal in his home, until his extended family shows up to visit, and bring with them more change than he is ready to handle. Meanwhile, Felix is less than thrilled about the impromptu vacation, and wants to pass the time living as quietly as possible to avoid getting involved with any more heroes or villains alike. He learns the hard way that it's not up to him.

I know there's been pain this year (But it's time to let it go) by @ninadove (7,003 words)

“What? Nooo! Adrien doesn’t hate Christmas.” “Are you absolutely certain? What was he like last year?” “Well, he —” Marinette furrowed her brow, scanning her own memories. Of course she was absolutely certain. At least, she thought she was.

Guarden by @clawsoutspotsoff (1,709 words)

There's a sound behind him, and Felix grabs his arm, wrenching him around. "Adrien, we have to go," he says, urgently. The color is starting to come back to his face, but he still looks panicked. "He can't find us down here." Felix puts his hand on the base of the coffin, and the metal cover slides shut again, returning it to the way they found it.

Blueberry passion fruit by @ninadove, @paracosmicat (2,511 words, ongoing)

He walked up to the counter, because he could not think of anything else to do. For all those times he had rehearsed their reunion, he had failed to consider the most obvious scenario: Adrien might want to run away once more.

fruit filled garden maze by @moonieratty (1,093 words)

A look into Félix' home-life in childhood.

nothing ever stops you leaving by @bittersweetresilience (2,591 words)

Adrien initiates a réunion.

metempsychosis by @bittersweetresilience (4,935 words)

Félix is always watching Adrien die.

Shadow Strike by @ninadove, @paracosmicat (39,334 words, ongoing)

“We have to get the brooch back,” Adrien said, his voice cracking. “So he can’t do this to anyone else.” His lack of hesitation took Felix by surprise. When he finally looked back at him, there was something new in his eyes - something that vaguely resembled hope. Or what if the kids actually shared basic plot info with each other for once?

Matter of Luck by @wackus-bonkus-maximus (14,833 words, ongoing)

When Chat Noir activates the curse of the Black Cat Miraculous, he must get a kiss from Ladybug to break the spell. If only they weren't sworn enemies, he might have better luck. An “enemies” AU, but fun :) featuring the PV kiss plot

a mannequin lamenting to a statue by orphan_account (716 words)

you’re a sentimonster and you’re a sentimonster and you’re a sentimonster are there anymore senitmonsters i should know about? (chat noir meow)

(feligami fic recs) (félix fic recs)

[findafight]

Let’s get dangerous! 3, 9, 13, 17 and 19.

Choose Violence ask game oh. you really are being dangerous lol

9. worst part of canon

not enough time to actually build character development and dynamics and flesh things out more, so it's all monster plot all the time instead of them planning and plotting and processing and bonding in tiny moments. i miss 20-24 episode seasons I miss "filler" episodes. we deserve a ST beach episode...

also dustin and steve both being made comic relief and Dustin's trauma and steve's injuries being ignored.... bubba should see a physician his gonna get sepsis :(

13. worst blorbofication

ooooof. Eddie probably. people keep trying to make him cool or suave or whatever and that's simple not the case. I know in my heart that boy has crawled up a river bank on all fours talking like golum. He is a loser. He is not cool. That's okay and good actually. We need more unsmooth people representation, and Eddie is just a scared little guy!

often too it happens that they just make him...not be brash or kind of a jerk? When he is! It's okay you're blorbo doesn't have to be someone you would have been friends with in highschool! He was loud and walked on tables and made fun of people! He was sort of mean! he wasn't perfect or always nice and kind. He's a weirdo who is sometimes cruel and that's okay he can totally get better!!

I think part of it is that a portion of the fandom has bought into the false dichotomy that the show tries to press on us of jocks vs nerds and that they are enemies or something and that nerds are always or almost always on the side of the good, and jocks are not. So because Eddie is a nerd and made fun of jocks, he is therefore someone that is often right, even if her messes up sometimes but it's okay because he's a nerd, whereas (usually) Steve has to play perpetual make up for the crime of messing up and being a dick when he was sixteen while also playing and enjoying sports. and it's like please!!! I'm tired of this!!! stop hating on sports and thinking people who like them have some moral failing they must make up for just because you don't know what a batting average is or whatever! (and he should have apologized to Lucas)

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

More fics should let characters be actually angry at being hurt or wronged. Let them rage! especially Lucas! I want him to be able to express his hurt and upset about how all his friends but Steve and Robin abandoned him and played the finale without him! Only Erica brought it up to him, I want MORE apologies to Lucas!!

on that note let Steve be angry when wronged too! let him be upset and not quietly accept an apology let him lay out why he was hurt and angry!

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

I have nothing I'm really ashamed of in fandom? on occasion I love a good whump fic or a fic that is sometimes. Very mean about certain character/s lol. Though st has got me writing some steamy pieces which I wasn't really expecting! haha

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

(there are so many bad takes floating around which to choose... I guess here's two, saved for last) once saw someone say max abused b!lly by drugging him in s2 and i just had to sit there like......brother WHAT are you talking about. You mean the 13yo girl watching her 17 y/o step brother continue to beat an unconcious 17 y/o and used the sedative to stop him?? One time? To stop him killing someone in front of her and her friends? Someone who had protected them twice that night? From her brother whom she was scared of??? Who had demonstrated abusive behaviour towards her??? Who she had to threaten to stop trying to hurt her or her friends? That one was fucking WILD I can't believe it's real. What the hell.

Also i know it was probably just light a hearted shippy thing but I saw one that was so much a take as it was an au but it had robin lie in the starcourt bathroom by saying she had a crush on tammy instead of Nancy and I was so mad at not only the defiling of the Sacred Stobin Scene, but also that it then means their entire friendship is based on a lie and it would be such a betrayal? (it wouldn't make sense at all anyways [to me] but also) Like. She'd have been lying to her best friend, her soulmate, her person she wants to combine with, for months not just about a crush but about the very moment of vulnerability that cemented their platonic love for each other!! I don't see how you can like robin or steve or their friendship and do that? it's not even about not liking rnce, I'd be mad about it if it was about any other ship too, it's about loving stobin most. idk it feels so icky to me

[postguiltypleasures]

My Peak TV Journey *The Other Two*

While it was on, few shows were as deliriously funny as The Other Two. It was a slow burn of a showbiz satire mixed with family sitcom. I miss it already. But I have to acknowledge that right before the final episode The Hollywood Reporter broke a story on complaints to HR about series creators Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. HR investigated and dismissed the claims. Most likely this just means they did not reach their extremely high standard of what would make it a hostile work environment. It doesn’t mean the events did not happen. I’ve seen some posts since then about how this is a sign that Kelly and Schneider are the real life Carey and Brooke Dubek. There is some truth to this. I don’t know how to process how it affects my feelings about the show. And the news brought out a lot of feelings. 

While watching the first two seasons, I noticed that the seasons started out more sad than funny then became zanier and funnier in a way that is really grounded in that sad base. The final season went in the opposite direction, starting in screwball, manic comedy and then slowly getting into the dark, sad base. It was pretty dark. The season showed worst of Carey and Brooke, and it was necessary. I loved it, it hurt. 

Brooke’s plot about wanting to switch careers to something that would “do good” was painfully relatable. It was particularly sharp about how people get lazy in their responsibilities when they have the assurance that the project they are working on will “do good.” Of course this was spurred on by Brooke’s combined jealousy of her fiancé, Lance and feeling unworthy of him. And while watching her do a variety of awful things to prove either that she really is good, and/or that he’s not as good as he seems, I often thought that she didn’t deserve him. I admire how much her portrayer, Heléne York, was willing to go for something that ugly. In the end, I cheered their reconciliation because I love their dynamic at their best, not that I think they’re good together. And while they were broken up she dated a couples of billionaires and it was a great encapsulation of why hating billionaires is so fun and necessary now. 

In the first two seasons Cary spent so much energy on his career and sexual frustrations, but this season proved that finally getting some success isn’t going to make him better. This was embodied by his new boyfriend Lucas Lamber Moy, an actor who was always in character and for that reason was frequently unable to have sex. Lucas’s roles in everything from a Love, Simon spin-off, to a Hallmark Christmas movie and an incomprehensible and interminable Broadway play that is apparently about AIDS. Lucas alternately frustrated and excited Carey. It leads to revelation about even professional success isn’t going fix what broke in Carey. He over invests in Lucas, a person he can’t really know, while destroying his relationship with his best friend Curtis Paltrow. (I was surprised that there was so much Curtis in this season as his actor, Brandon Scott Jones, is one of the regulars on CBS’s Ghosts. I assumed he’d be available less because of that commitment. As a side note, I did enjoy when Carey’s actor, Drew Tarver, guest stared on Ghosts as a local cult leader.) In the mean time his plot gets the best satire of the show business. His advancing career includes his voice role as Globby, the “gay icon” in a Disney franchise and his reoccurring role in a CBS procedural, Emily Overruled. The latter plot, while funny, made the later allegations against the creators unsurprising to me. It set up something of a false dichotomy, where you can either have a stable, 9-5 set, making a show now one really watched, or making something exciting, that people will really care about, but must make allowances for people behaving in more erratic fashions. Arguably, the end of Lucas’s story tempers this thesis, but not enough. It was a wild ride that at some point involved a chorus of gay men in diapers driving maniacally to get to high school reunions while singing a variation of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”. I laughed a lot. 

Brooke and Carey reaching their lows was also rough on their mother Pat, who was experiencing isolation on multiple fronts. It was poignant and often absurd. Pat’s portrayers Molly Shannon a treasure. Pat may not actually be as good a mother as she wants to be seen as. She put Chase in an exploitative situation. She’s bad with boundaries. But her surreal experience of fame, and inability to return to her previous life was a great journey. I’m kind of sad she and Streeter didn’t end up together. I find Ken Marino weirdly endearing, and they were cute together. But she did need better boundaries between her work and personal lives. 

The youngest Dubek, Chase, aka ChaseDreams played by Case Walker without any guile, was not in much of the final season. But he was always a peripheral character for a story his viral success kicked off. The first season included some great ridiculous songs and ended with the revelation that he could not really sing. Since then much of his plot has been about his management (including his sister Brooke) gets him non singing jobs while avoiding telling him why he couldn’t sing. There was some humor in this, but as a lover of comedy songs, I wish there were more ChaseDreams songs. (I’d even take more in universe songs not by ChaseDreams like the “Jesus Fucking Slays” one from season two.) Chase has generally been less of a character than a vehicle for jokes about talent management and Hollywood’s current direction. (Or really, their pre-strike direction.) Over the course of the season Chase became more aware of the reality of his situation, but he never really rebelled against it. How could he? All his possible rebellions have been pre-scripted by management.

As ChaseDreams main director, Shuli, played by Wanda Sykes, often did bad, but she always had a point and did it competently. She considered Chase’s music so bad that she created Q. QAnon is awful in the real world, but the idea that QAnon started to distract from a bad album is hilarious. But Shuli’s bigger impact is as Brooke’s reluctant mentor, showing her the ropes and not having time for her bull. She didn’t have much of an arc, but she was always fun to watch.

While wrapping up I just need to say that this show was beautifully shot and staged. In scenes like Carey and Lucas’s first date at an indoor pool and Chase falling in love at first sight in a way that parodied the Baz Lerhman film William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, part of me was just bowled over by how good looking it was. The series ended in a way that was appropriate for its characters, and I wouldn’t want what I heard of the behind the scenes situation to continue, but I’m going to miss it. 

[model-theory]

Presumably, you're a PhD student in Mathematics (?). I graduated undergrad in 2018 with a B.A. in Math(s) and a B.S. in CS. I miss analysis classes more than anything :'(

If so, where are you on the (pure, applied) interval (I know it's not that simple lol)? Know what your thesis topic will be?

I'm hopefully starting a Master's program in Fall 2023 after five years in industry, and I expect I'll want to do a PhD, but we'll see; six more years of school not making real money is a tough pill to swallow.

Have you found that your passion for the subject has made the process tolerable (or better)?

I am indeed a PhD student. The pure-applied dichotomy might be made up but I'm probably in some of the least made up parts of the pure end, doing set theory and model theory. I don't know for sure what my thesis topic will be, but it seems likely that it will involve cardinal characteristics.

I do miss a bit of the old undergraduate analysis that I took, though I miss the parts where it turned into calculus less (though from a completely different angle to, say, applied calculus).

I hope you enjoy your masters. Hopefully you'll be able to find a studentship for your PhD and not need to support yourself too much during that time.

I'm in the UK, where typical PhDs are only 3-4 years, and I was awarded a studentship to fund my time here, so I've not had to worry about finances.¹ I know of some people in the department who are having to split their time between work and research, but it seems like they'd hate to give up the maths. It's not just sitting around with a pencil, there's the feeling of being surrounded by the mathematically mature, the seminars, the conferences, the complaining about marking. It's something that I would miss dearly.

¹I do some paid teaching & marking work, but I don't need to to get by. I mostly use it to fund my Magic: the Gathering hobby.

[leseigneurdufeu]

Why did you hate Titanic?

It's not historically accurate. Not even counting my father's "hey that car only came out two years after the wreck" comments, many characters were not who they had been historically, I don't remember much but I have read at some point an article about Cameron being sued by the descendants of one of the guys because he had been a hero that night and many survivors wrote in their journals that they owed him their lives or something and in the movie he was a coward who killed two people to get out of the boat or something? Can't remember exactly but it's about the gist of it.

*sparkle emoji but i'm on desktop* sexual liberation! *same* this girl is so GREAT for ditching her whole family to go sleep with a guy she's known for two days top.

on that note, the general nudity and sex. I can get why it would be a very strong message to send to the fiancé that she's been drawn naked by her lover but a) they didn't have to show it onscreen, like Kate Winslet naked and all, I get showing the drawing if needed b) the whole "no no he was a real artist we didn't hook up when i came back naked he painted me" -> cue to the scene where he draws her and then they go out and hook up in someone's car (like wtf, gross, unsanitary, not your car, etc) c) kinda devaluates real nude painting (have a friend in art school who did some it's all about professionalism not a kink or foreplay like in the movie!)

the general message of "the poor people are happy, funny and nice VS the rich people are stuffy, snoby people who are unhappy, sexists pigs EXCEPT for this one new rich woman who is funny and nice but also challenges norms at every turn because otherwise she can't be a good person". At least that's how i perceived it.

to get back to my 2), because I feel like I need to expand on that one: the plot could have been good except instead of having a real choice between conformism, marrying a fiancé who is neat and nice but there's no passion and running away with the wandering artist, she has no real choice because the fiancé is the devil in the flesh or almost, he blackmails her family, he beats her up, he's got shady dealings with shady people (the heart of the ocean? can't remember if it's mentionned in the movie but this shit is a FRENCH national treasure stolen during the revolution of 1789-1790's and which was not found ever again so this guy has shady dealings) and he doesn't hesitate to try to kill Jake. So really despite all of Jake's flaws (like idk not being able to provide a future for her, being full of himself -but he's poor so it's ok! yay!- being a cheater and a liar, etc) she doesn't have a choice. And even where she could have had one (like... again, not sleeping with him after knowing him for two days, not using him to make her family rage, etc) the plot just makes her into no better than her.

On the note of the heart of the ocean, it is to french treasure hunters what bigfoot is to cryptozoologist. It's exactly as if Nessie had broken the hull instead of an iceberg and then it was never adressed again. Idk it just makes me vibrate in madness.

i mean yeah the whole plot, the nudity, french jewels reappearing out of thin air, the rich vs poor manichean dichotomy, did i mention the fact there are two actors (Theoden and the guy from the Flash) in there so it kinda broke the immersion but that's not on Cameron...

Oh, yeah, I remember.

The freaking "could they have both hold on to the door" debate?

It doesn't have any reason to happen.

Because Jake could have been on the door and rescued without a problem if Miss Rose here had not left the lifeboat where she was already seated to stay with him. Her stupidity (which, yeah, youth and all but when it has such consequences on the plot and it's not even adressed seems like they just didn't notice when they wrote it) costs the life of her lover!

The only way it would have been redeemed to me is if she really suffered the consequences after that. But we just learn that she leaves her family behind without telling them she's still alivle (which... fine, they're not the best. but still...) and fast forward eighty years, she still has the gem so we don't know how she had the money to live on her own after cutting ties with everyone? the big bad guy just kills himself in an unrelated accident 15 years later, and everyone dies death that are either stupid (killing oneself or again the fucking DOOR) or anticlimactic (of old age in someone else's boat, and to quote downton abbey to die in someone else's house you've got to seriously lack manners)

Also I don't like diCaprio's face in his young phase. I had a highschool friend who was always hyping him and all and I was like "meh he's not that good looking" and so idk maybe he's got a beautiful face no one could resist and that's why everyone's so stupid or enamoured or both around him in the movie but it really didn't work on me.

[cloudcountry]

Djkfgnd I’ll keep your nicknaming advice in mind!! I think I’ll stick with the nickname Swordfish for Loop!Reader then,, And if you don’t mind,, I am going to go on another Loop!Reader ramble 🤧 

But before that!! I need to mention Yuuya Kuroki again real quick- You remember how he’s the light novel iteration of Yuu and that he gives off the vibes of a wet cat? I need to share this snippet from the novel including him- It’s both funny and a bit sad to me- (again… Yuuya needs a hug-)

Riddle's eyes glared fiercely at Yuuya, who was deathly pale from watching them fight. “You there!”

“Yes!” Yuuya answered, albeit very, very loudly.

"What a fine mess you've made, not only arriving at the ceremony exceedingly late, but also setting alight our Mirror Chamber!" It was absolutely breathtaking how that powerful voice didn’t match his petite frame. Even with his back against the wall, Yuuya could barely stand up straight. "But beyond all of that, for the criminal offense of violating one of the Queen of Hearts' rules! Don't tell me you aren't familiar with Article 23?"

"Uhm. H-Hearts...? Whose rules again?"

"Excuse me…? I can hardly believe what I'm hearing. You've truly not a clue about Article 23 of the Decrees of the Queen of Hearts: ‘One shan't bring a cat with them to a celebration’?”

 “N-no. Not at all.”

"Unbelievable. What a stunning lack of quality education."

“My mistake!”

Thin, blue veins appeared on Riddle’s forehead, his expression furious enough to make one’s blood curdle. The honesty of a statement like “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard it” was bound to get him in worse trouble.

Riddle coldly asserted himself once more to Yuuya, who was ready to prostrate himself at the drop of a hat.

And yes, I can’t wait for the angst of the fic!! >:D Tbh, I sort of wanted a dichotomy between how dark and tragic the loop concept is and how chipper and lively Loop!Reader is,, 

But speaking of Loop!Reader!! I wanted to talk about her a little more! I’ve kept talking about how outgoing and energetic she is, but she’s also really expressive as well. If she’s not careful, her emotions can get the best of her. But!! If you become her friend, then she will absolutely rant about stuff to you, whether it be her interests or her frustrations. Whenever she gets into a rant, or wants to rant, she can be,, a bit dramatic-:

Loop!Reader: *flings open the doors of Azul’s office* I officially hate my life! *throws herself onto a nearby couch* *she can lie on it, just as long as her shoes don’t touch the fabric*

Azul: *puts pen down and sighs* What’s the matter, (Name)?

Loop!Reader: Everything! Oh my God, okay, so— *proceeds to go into a long rant* *Azul then probably offers her a contract to ‘help’ her* *she immediately then says no*

Loop!Reader, gushing about how attractive and great this person is: He’s so handsome and sweet!! I’d love to date him!

Azul, doesn’t know she’s talking about a fictional character: *kinda dying on the inside* Is that so? :)

Dramatics aside, she also likes giving nicknames to her friends (as seen in the last post)! For example, before her best friend Rosalie went missing, she often called her ‘Rosie,’ and ‘Rosa.’ I can see her calling Malleus ‘Mal-mal’ once he reveals his name- Her nicknames are a bit unconventional, but they have a certain charm to them- Oh, speaking of nicknames! You know how Vil calls everyone a potato and whatnot? Loop!Reader calls him a prune in retaliation. Vil’s not a fan.

Vil: Spudling Prefect. :|

Loop!Reader: Prune Schoenheit. :|

She’s also pretty physically affectionate, even with her friends. She likes giving them hugs, pulling them by the arm/hand to guide them somewhere, holding on to them when she’s shaking with laughter, etc. And this probably has the potential of sending a person who likes her (*cough* I’m mainly looking at Azul and Riddle) into a spiral- She will back off if you asked her to, though!

Azul: (Is there really such a thing as platonic cuddling? Platonic holding hands? How do I know if it’s actually platonic or not? How do I deal with her affection? I can’t just sit there like a brick wall. Does she like the cologne I wear? She’s always hanging all over me, what does that mean?)

Loop!Reader: >:D Hey, hey, hug time!

Azul: *Azul_Ashengrotto.exe has stopped working*

*cough* I like thinking of Azul and Loop!Reader’s dynamic as the ‘Overthinker x Overly Affectionate’ trope- And yes, the Azul loving genes are very clear in this post 🧍‍♂️

Oh, and!! I’m gonna add an OC to the fic as well >:D And also,, have these random dialogue things for the heck of it-:

Floyd, running after Loop!Reader: Swordfiiish!

Loop!Reader: *RUNNING FOR HER LIFE* NO, NO, NO

Floyd: Just one squeeze!!

Loop!Reader: NO SQUEEZE! THAT’S YOUR WAY OF SAYING YOU’RE GONNA SNAP MY SPINE IN HALF!

Azul, watching them run around the Mostro Lounge: 🧍‍♂️ 

Jamil: I’m just saying, a whole planet can’t define your personality.

Loop!Reader: That is sooo Virgo of you.

Loop!Reader: Top ten hot things to do with the girls this summer!

Loop!Reader, pulls out wood: *looks at Ace* Number three, crucify the ginger.

Jackdaw Anon 🐦

HELP THIS IS SO LONG BUT IT SOUNDS SO COOL AJSFDHGSAD wet cat character supremayc tbh theyre my favorite genre of characters wahwahwahawhwahwah

DO NOT CALL VIL A PRUNE HES GORGEOUS HELLO /lh

loop!reader soudns pretty relatable tbh ^^

[gokupowers]

I love your Euphoria AU!! What kind of relationship dynamics are there between the characters? [like, the kids, the trolls, etc]

OH GOD.. SOOOOO MANY. SO MANY OPTIONS..

john and dave - will they wont they "no homo" besties with SOO many issues

karkat and dave - karkat thinks "i can fix him", dave thinks "i can make him worse" . but genuinely Dave = Nate and Jules, karkat = rue kinda.

Dave and sollux are unlikely friends (like Maddy and Jules) cuz they're both just chill dudes (sollux is more chill than Dave obviously)

eridan and sollux - eventual besties? bros? sollux is instrumental to eridan's semi-redemption arc

terezi and vriska - the worst couple you know. they make each other worse (lovingly)

karkat and john - "yes john i used to have a crush on you. yes im dating your best friend now grow up i moved on"

terezi and karkat - 'we are exes and now i see you moved on with your gay partners were we beards for each other??'

it goes on... and on...

also gonna use this as an opportunity to dump about the au:

nepeta info:

a mix of bear Grylls and Barbie Ferreira in euphoria

car crash causes meulin's deafness and nepeta goes missing for a month or two;

shes rescued by a woodsy hermit, but nepeta refuses to say her name, some kinda autism trauma thing/selective mute

so she just lives w a hermit in the woods for like a month before they can track down her actual name and shit

but she learns survival skills there and it changes her perception of people

being nursed back to health by a stranger seeing her family mutilated or dead etc etc. scary but it impacts that shit in her brain

which is how we get furry nepeta... but she's not as open about it in real life because omfg

she's just a chronically online girl who loves survivalism

terezi info (didnt finish writing this):

Before Terezi knew her ABC’s, she knew the words “guilty” and “innocent.”

It’s what she based her life off, hours spent in the courtroom, a live audience to dichotomy. You either did the crime or you didn’t. It was a simple yes or no question. 

Growing up, she found that the world was full of criminals and civillians, the ones who committed the gruesome crimes she’d heard her mother recite back at the perpetrators, a laundry list of violence and psychopathy. There were two types of people: and her mom was the one who enforced that.

Terezi spent a lot of time looking up at her mother on trial, her mother campaigning for the DA’s office, her mother boasting the highest conviction rate in the state. 

Episode 5 outlining:

EPIOSDE 5: TEREZI AND ARADIA

Terezi Pyrope

Daughter of the district attorney 

show should start w terezi and vriska already having been cruel to each other (the arm and eyes thing) and then they forgive each other and are buddy buddy. and THEN terexi betrays her

sells her out, tells her mom about the drugs, maybe vriskas mom abuses her and terezis like enough is enough and reports it to the DA)

Vriska gets into a shoot out/almost dies and terezi spirals in self hate/guilt

Begins dating gamzee, doing drugs

Aradia comes back (cliffhanger of the episode)

Vriska tavros aradia sollux terezi revenge cycle

afaik in the comic it goes vriska power tripping and going to far n making tavros fly —> tavros paralyzed —> aradia revenge by ghost of vriskas victims harassment —> vriska controls sollux to kill aradia —> terezi machinates to get doc scratch to explode vriskas cue ball and she loses an eye and an arm —> vriska blinds terezi

Vriska: single mom with history of dead husbands dealeress, aranea annoying assistant

Sollux’s dads are a raytheon type company ceo, and a stay at home dad. Cambridge analytica style, they’re doing some things that would be a violation of the patriot act. Vriska finds out, and uses it as blackmail for her mom. 

mituna at college in boston with latula

Aradia is raised by a single mother, who works for doc scratch (who works for HIC). Shes relatively low level but highly valued (refuses to get too deep into the scheme), aradia is on a scholarship but is more middle class than poor.

Handmaid is competing with Mindfang for HIC favor, mindfang fucked up a drug deal, so she wants aradia’s mom out of the way

mindfang is a distributor/fence shes looking for a distribution deal but handmaid raised issues with it

HIC; ex olympian turned savant business woman. She’s a eugenicist (eridan and equius’ parents kiss ass) & meenah/feferi are concieved through sperm donors selected for their genes

Tavros’ dad is a political dissident/whistle blower/activist who fled the country edward snowden style, so he was raised by his nanny (fairybull) and talks to his dad through encrypted video calls 

Summoner leaks the equivalent of the pentagon papers/gets HIC in hot water, so in retaliation vriska’s mom has vriska hurt tavros 

Vriska lures tavros to the roof under the guise of a love confession, and pushes him off it

In retaliation, terezi gets into a fight with vriska, which leads to 

Vriskas actions aren't forced by her mom; her mom Implies These are problems and has always encouraged vriska to be hands on. Vriska takes the initiative. 

[dawningfairytale]

(livebloggy) thoughts about the studio versions of eurovision 2023 songs on spotify (don't judge me). also if i say something has "energy" or "vibes" it is almost always neutral/positive.

aijā: the instrumental fooled me into thinking this would be far more upbeat and Quirky. then the melody came in and it's slower than my personal liking. uh, sir are you okay? i do like the strong pulse with subdivisions, i hope that's right terms. i like the ending "please don't wake up" (ig that's the bridge) and the stripped down ending (i do mean ending this time) in latvian.

dance (our own party): i liked it until the verse lyrics came on. AND I LOVE THE INSTRUMENTALS THOSE ARE REALLY BOPPING. the chorus is neat!!!! the verse seems like dichotomy. but not in the best way. idk. i'm really enjoying like the whole song aside from verse 1. apart from that section it's great! also i acknowledge that when i write in this post format my bitchiness and criticism grows three sizes so yk

who the hell is edgar?: is it cringy? MAYBE but it's fun OH THE CHANT DAMN. like the music, even though it's upbeat and electro, suits the vibe of possession and horror. even without the chant (though that was sick). which the last song was missing in the first verse. look. early favourite tbh. thanks austria! (the 'who the hell is edgar?' at the end took me out tho ngl)

breaking my heart: it's not bad. it's cute! it reminds me of something i would do warmups to in dance class!! (not a bad thing at all). the texture drop and tight harmonies is done really well. if you described this to me i'd probably expect to hate it but i'm vibing!

so far when i looked up which country each entry was from i wasn't super surprised. idk what that says but i'm saying it.

tattoo: i know this is loreen. thing is i didn't get the hype for euphoria so we'll see. it reminds me of something? oh it's kinda got greatest showman vibes in the chorus. not really in the verse but. also the pre-chorus does remind me a little of church music (like hillsong music). instrumental reminds me of the slow part of love is blind (lithuania 2012). i think people will probably really like this, i think it's mid.

because of you: i have listened to this one before, admittedly. just dance energy. again reminds me of warmups when i did dance as an extracurricular. the lyrics aren't for me, but if they're inspired by a real person, then that's cute for them!!! i just hope they don't make the staging really basic tbh

heart of steel: i like how it's going hard on the minor key. some villain energy. which i respect and endorse wholeheartedly. like it's chill, but evil, and i think that's what we all need to embody a little bit. also reminds me of 'don't get sad, get even' in vigilante shit. idk where i was expecting to come from, but this is very cool, ukraine!!

carpe diem: i like how it starts a lot, less how it builds. OOOO GUITAR OOOOO. i am a child, but that's besides the point.

d.g.t (on and off): i can't really describe it?? it's very rocking for such a slow song, i love the snapping and the rhythm. the high parts, less so, but it really depends on how it's performed. 6/8 my beloved. my beloved. mmmmmmm dynamic interest mmmmmmm. i am not one to wish different from the high notes but uh, not my fave part of the song rn (then again i generally prefer songs sung lower)

ai coração: OOOO THE PIANO RUN LIKE IN SHREK 2. it's so danceable but non in a generic edm way oh i am in love i love her voice ohohohohoh. thank you portugal this shall be in my top.

power: GIRL WHERE WAS THE INTRO. uh very hillsong. idk what to tell you it just gives strong christian music vibes at the start. the electro undertones minimises it but still. STILL. not even just the music the metaphors too.

stay: it's too slow for my liking. it's not bad, it's just. that sort of song. parts of this are familiar, from other eurovision songs. the chorus gives very 'we are the world! world peace!' energy. not my favourite, but if you like it, i'm happy for you!!

eaea: i have listened to this before!!! i think it's neat!!! the vibes are immaculate!!! thank you spain!!! (don't love it as much as slomo but that was the top of my spotify wrapped so yk)

samo mi se spava: it's giving the 2005 dcom minutemen. no i will not elaborate.

blood and glitter: is this... rap rock?? contrast?? it's giving some form of campiness ig?? I LOVE IT. THE VARIETY. GERMANY?? damn nice work germany!!

we are one: it's a little to 'simple happiness' for my taste? but at least it's happy and uplifting!!! i don't love it but i respect it!! it does however remind me of the australian Classic 'for we are one but we are many, and from all the lands on earth we coMe'. i sang that song for like 4 years before knowing the lyrics. like damn i was really rather no thoughts head empty when i was 5. yeah ireland i'm not shocked.

cha cha cha: giving uno energy?? very high energy!! actually add this to a get psyched mix bc this slapsssssss. wooooooooo

mama šč: hey i don't get it i think it's doing A Lot!! but i'm really keen to the staging, and it's bopping

tell me more: it's very sweet and cute. like if it's this sort of slow song it can manipulate me. even if there's non-mischa bachinski rap (seeeee, rtc mutuals, i can slip the references in there!!!)

bridges: reminds me of a matter of time from 2018?? it feels very soft and a little angsty but not in the way i like?? the lyrics, while so valid, aren't what i wanna listen to to live my best life yk?

break a broken heart: ooooo i love the rhythm of this one!! dare i say believer vibes? also the disney channel movie zombies? i know this sounds bad but i'm genuinely thoroughly enjoying it!!! vibes king

what they say: it's sad deep in a way that doesn't particularly mesh with me, unfortunately. although 'i got too much on my plate' eyo same man

evidemment: feels very epic and very french. OH A DANCE BEAT OH. we're vibing now perry the platypus!

solo: it's very upbeat beach vibes. look i just really like it. it's so slay girlboss, you know???

i wrote a song: hmmmmm at least someone's taking alexander rybak's advice!!! not my personal cup of tea musically (not much melodic interest and too staccato for me) or lyrically (since i'm translating catullus, i'm not in the mood for scorned lovers who decide to write verses about how they're getting their revenge. but i don't dislike this artist!! i do hate catullus)

soarele si luna: PASHA PARFENI!!!!! i'm really enjoying this one!!!! (not as much as his 2012 entry, but i had 11 years to fall in love with that one, it'll take time, and they're very different)

due vite: not my thing, and that's okay!!

watergun: it's not my kind of ballad, i hope this person is okay!!

duje: i love the strong pulse with the native language and the violin runs and how it says hyped!!!

my sister's crown: women supporting women. i'm not the biggest fan of the english lyrics or the melody in the verse BUT THE CHORUS SLAPS like majorly so. i don't love the soft ethereal it gets in the english chorus but when it changes languages i do. i think this is a hint that i don't love music in english as much

COMPARE THE MEERKAT AD WOOOOOOOOOO I FUCKING LOVE COMPARE THE MEERKAT (it's a real website you can go to btw)

promise: my country :) i've listened to this one already. i find it rather repetitive in the verses (particularly the first one), the music is fine!! certainly not my least favourite of our entries!!! i really like the music in "cross my heart til the sun turns red in the sunrise" (possibly aided by the brevity of it) and also when they absolutely fucking rock out in the instrumental

burning daylight: i personally don't love it, it reminds me of like 2013 indie stuff. also, to be nitpicky, there's one specific lyric that is the sorta thing that i know pisses me off so. yeah. didn't Help.

queen of kings: yeah this one was an early favourite of mine i've already listened to it. it just musically gives me dark fantasy vibes and energises me, you know?? very disappointed the studio version doesn't include the italian and latin chanting, but it's still like a great song to run to (i don't run). i was a little concerned about if she'd be able to pull of the vocals live (based only on the studio version) but when i watched her melodi grand prix version she fucking slayed

unicorn: i love the epic intro, it was kinda too much of a drop for me when the singer came in. pre-chorus feels a bit basic (***for my tastes) or is it the chorus idk but it reminds me of the circus climax of madagascar 3. the phenonamal part is a bop, and i really do like the ending part!!! the first half just wasn't my taste as much (aside from that beginning instrumentation)

if it's not on spotify, i wasn't bothered to listen to it (but ofc i will eventually!!). honestly this feels like a pretty good year (to meeeee) but not the highest quality ballads/slow songs (i know there's a difference, but for the sake of eurovision, no there's not)

[piermanwalter]

Science fiction of every era always expresses the creators’ thoughts and anxieties about new technology and social change, but it can be hard to notice aspects of a time period that you are currently part of. Here are some character archetypes I think will be seen as emblematic of early 21st century scifi in the future.

Eldritch Capitalist

Reginald Hargreeves from Umbrella Academy, Samur Maykr from Doom Eternal

This character initially appears as a scummy billionaire but is later revealed to be an atrocious tentacle creature. The Eldritch Capitalist causes great suffering by empowering regular people to unknowingly pursue their esoteric goals.

The Eldritch Capitalist is very similar to the traditional vampire, as a person of untouchable social status who turns out to be an awful monster. However, as aristocracy becomes less and less relevant, a new character type is needed to represent newer forms of social power.

I think the Eldritch Capitalist was made by creators to cope with being granted tremendous amounts of money, resources, and audience by massive corporations and social media algorithms they can barely comprehend.

Giant Hips Robot

Shockwave from Transformers, General Kalani from Star Wars

This robot is male, has giant hips, and holds a position of high and indisputable authority within his organisation. It’s not mandatory for the Giant Hips Robot to also have massive boobs, but it’s pretty common.

Giant Hips Robots are usually antagonistic, but in the cool and charismatic way that makes them have lots of fans who unironically believe they did nothing wrong. In settings where everyone is embroiled in backstabbing power struggles, the Giant Hips Robot is never the target.

The media containing Giant Hips Robots and fanbase of said media may contain a lot of hateful and misogynistic themes and dialogue, but the Giant Hips Robot is never the target.

A growing public acceptance of gender nonconformity leads to stereotypically feminine features being used to make male characters look hefty and powerful, yet they still are not allowed to be heroic.

Makeup-wearing Jawless Robot

Iggy from Ergo Proxy, Unnamed Trailer Model from Cyberpunk 2077

This robot wears makeup and doesn’t have a jaw. A lot can be said about the jaw in modern chad/incel discourse, but I personally believe the Makeup-wearing Jawless Robot intentionally evokes cars with missing front bumpers.

The Makeup-wearing Jawless Robot can be heroic, antagonistic, or unimportant to the plot, but it always embodies some form of social decay, whether by promoting an unsustainable image-focused consumerist culture, or just being treated as gross and weird.

The Makeup-wearing Jawless Robot can be seen as the opposite of the Giant Hips Robot, representing gender nonconformity as disturbing weakness and a futile attempt to be seen as a “real person”. 

This leads to a very sad dichotomy:  To make a gender-non-conforming robot acceptable by popular media standards, it can either super awesome and cool but must be evil, or it can be good and kind but also disgusting and morally corrupt. Hopefully popular scifi of the future will be able to escape these trends.

[2-curious-cups]

20/10/2023

I arrived Mx yesterday. I finally got the flu I had been waiting for since the last days in Berlín, lol (1). It is very mild though, but it came in the exact moment I stepped into my parents place, like my body only allowed itself to be sick until then.

NYC was very inspiring, as always... dangerously inspiring. The first day I went to a Halloween party and the last day I went to a Halloween party, the days inbetween I spent in the Atlantic Highlands, a little town opposite from the city, 30 min across the bay by ferri, with a beautiful sight of the skyline. Mostly calm. After I arrived I had great conversations with my parents about ny and the future of my career, they are always super supportive of my incredibly errant improvisations and I am so greatful for that. I went directly to sleep afterwards. I didn't get very good sleep, I had some crazy dreams last night. It was super realistic, we were in Berlin, it was deep summer, you had a gathering and invited your closest friends, Cora and Sofia and me and... Mac DeMarco? Yes, apparently you were dating this Canadian singer and I was very jealous, lol (2). I pretended I didn't care and went into the bathroom, I saw myself in the mirror and realized three little pieces of my body were missing, one from my head, the tip of my left little finger and the tip of my right little toe. In a second dream, in which you weren't really present, I recieived a text from you and I thought to myself "great timing, right after I dreamt about her". I woke up in the morning, turned on my phone and I saw the texts you sent today. Maybe the oniric text and the real texts came at the same time? I'll never know.

It's probably wierd that I am talking so openly about this dreams, but honestly Idc, lol (3). I don't have a lot to loose and posting from this social media gives me the illusion of privacy.

I miss you so much, I think about you all the time. And there is some bittersweetness to it (hence the salty rat / sweet mouse dichotomy). I am happy to have you on my mind but it is also crazy to think I am so far away from you. Although, to be honest, this is a feeling i get with you often. Is this just a phase that challenges my attachment patterns and will ultimately derive into a better version of myself that knows how to love freely and fairly? Or is this bitterness an intrinsic quality of our interaction and I'm damned? Am I overthinking? Yes. Is that the reason why our conversations always go meta? Probably. How many layers of meta-conversation are being reached by asking this question right now? Maybe like 4. You know how the world hates bitcoin guys? Cause they are always talking about the same shit. Sometimes I feel like that but with meta-conversations instead of bitcoin. I hope you are not getting bored like I would if I heard someone talking about bitcoin, lol (4). We should really invest in that shit, btw. I do believe the future of economy is heading towards digital money. I mean, it's kind of already like that, somehow. Except in Berlin. I am perfectly aware of how much I am drifting right now and I have the chance to edit this text but I won't, that'll make this text more similar to talking in person with me, lol (5).

In the end it's always a pleasure to have you on my mind. It's always worth it. It's always warm. It's always fun.

Tell me about school, tell me if you have taken another pole lesson. Tell me whatever you feel like, just please do not feel compromised to reply to every little obsessive thought or question written here. Small replies, big replies, no reply, meta talk, small talk, no talk, long text, short text, no text. Just whatever comes out of your heart at the moment.

:)

yours,

-av

xoxo

[sasquapossum]

(Composed elsewhere on the topic of going car-free; presented here without further comment.)

Of course it helps that I live in Copenhagen

This is the real crux of the problem. It's relatively easy to go car-free if one lives in a real, live city and never engages in activities that require transporting significant amounts of gear into more remote places - hiking and camping, canoeing and kayaking, skiing and snowboarding. More can be done, certainly, but it's entirely feasible.

Unfortunately, here in the US, there are too many people already not living in cities. When you see those figures saying a majority of people live in cities, they mean that percentage live in metro areas including suburbs and parts of cities that are more like the suburbs than like the dense core. For example, I used to live in Detroit, where there used to be large tracts of single-family homes requiring a significant hike to anything else but a church or school. That's less true now, but only because the city has been depopulated, not made more walkable in any useful sense. Public transportation was crap then and is probably worse now.

Lots of people are "stranded" in suburbs where even the town center - if there even is one, and often miles away for some - is dead after 5pm. The already-at-capacity cities can't accommodate them. Not all at once. Yes, there will always be some who can run away from the problems where they grew up (forfeiting the ability to influence zoning or any other policy) but a more general transition will require a huge amount of demolition and reconstruction. That's disruptive, expensive, and carries its own massive environmental cost. It will take decades, and it will also require people who stay to fight the NIMBYs and change the policies that keep things the way they are.

That's why the "I hate your car" rhetoric is so unhelpful. Especially from people who never made their own decision to live in a city (leveraging their parents' decision) and/or who ride bikes purely for sport or recreation and yet still try to claim the super-environmentalist mantle. I know many actual bike commuters and kudos to them, but I also see plenty of people transporting their $10K bikes on top of their cars several miles to the starting point for their recreational rides. Dumping on suburban dwellers, without distinction, is dumping on those who are transit-poor, and no better than dumping on those who are poor in other ways. It's just elitist sneering.

If we really want to solve this problem, we need to do two things. One is to increase the livability of the cities we already have, e.g. with better pedestrian/biking and mass transit infrastructure plus more affordable medium-density housing. The other, I think larger, effort needs to go into changing the suburbs in place to be more environmentally benign. For example, imagine the typical mall or office park converted into a village center with everything you need for day to day living - e.g. grocery and hardware stores as well as clothes and jewelry and luggage. Replace the massive parking lots and six-lane highways with a bus lane, a separate bike lane, medium-density housing, and some park land. Now you have an actual functioning village, with far less disruption and environmental cost than a wholesale move to the city. For all the talk about the "missing middle" in building sizes, I think it's a shame that the missing middle in community sizes tends to be overlooked. We don't need more people living in dense urban cores, with their own characteristic costs and problems. We need more - and more human centered - villages and towns. It's the dichotomy between super high density and super low density that we need to smash.

[clonehub]

I just think it's weird to have a show focused entirely on a group of people that has little to no moral compass or moral opposition to a fascist empire slaughtering thousands of people? Im not saying nobody on tbb thought the empire was wrong for killing the Jedi, but the bad batch also had 0 attachment to the Jedi, and they had 0 attachment to the Republic. they were fighting i guess because "that's what we were made to do", but all clones are made to fight. at least the "regs" that they deride so much added moral stakes to it and understood that the Separatists were evil. Rex, also without a chip, understood that the empire was also evil.

I may be missing something. But there's like no moral interest to the bad batch as a story. omega doesn't really cover the lack of general concern tbb has for the State of the World. every other character we've seen on TV thus far does.

i guess maybe its a combo of a lack of strong moral stakes and like a lack of political connection? the government that housed and fed you and made you has suddenly turned into a fascist empire that commits genocide, restricts the movements of citizens while surveilling them, and is okay with the extrajudicial killing of a) children and b) civilians. I might have to rewatch but I also remember some blurb or description or interview saying Hunter/TBB had no real attachment to the republic? or no interest in the politics of it?

(sidebar: i hate the "you either do Real Things like fight or you worry about ~politics~" dichotomy that so many people in star wars push? politics isn't some Foreign Weird Pseudo Intellectual pile of garbage [although sometimes it's like that] but considering how politics is why these guys were even created in the first place. idk it would be nice to see at least one Fighter Character not turn their noses up at politics and government. why are you loud and proud about the fact that you're missing the fundamentals of why you're doing what you're doing. it's giving Jock versus Nerd)