#the writing was so genuine and good guys

[onceuponaroast]

Alright so I just want everyone to know I saw the new DnD movie last night and it SLAPPED

It was so funny, the characters were well written, and it had some beautiful practical effects. I know enough about DnD to understand some of the in-jokes and nuances, but background info isn't necessary to enjoy it. Also the costumes and set design were gorgeous.

I went in expected some Marvel overly CGI'd quipfest but was so pleasantly blown away by an absolute masterpiece. It was so FUN!

I cannot recommend this movie enough, especially if you enjoy DnD or just like watching actors having so much fun. 10000/10

[bruciemilf]

Somebody tell me if this is a bad take, or if my love for Bruce is causing my objective brain to glitch, but-- something about advertising Batman, a hero who's very popular for being good with children, for being NURTURING with children, a bad father kinda defeats the whole purpose of what he's supposed to represent.

Batman is a protector; He protects people the world (and especially law enforcement) does not care about. That's literally the point of him.

Something about marketing " you can be incredibly violent to people you care about! And Its fine, because you care about them even if you abuse them, and that's what matters!" towards people, but especially men and young boys, is REALLY fucked up to me.

[mothric]

mob psycho 100 has impressed me on multiple counts but one thing that keeps standing out to me is the way Mob fills the role of Shonen Hero.

I love me a classic shonen protag. I love the hinata shoyos and the ash ketchums and the gokus, the spunky go-getters who are a little rough around the edges but want to be The Best at the Thing, or Save the World, or Win the Championship. I also love the protags who are reluctantly shoved into the role of Hero and must stumble their way into accepting it, whether or not they actually wanted it at first.

Mob isn't any of those. he doesn't start out as a bundle of boundless energy and optimism. his goal is not to be a hero or to subvert the trope by Resisting the Call. in fact, in the beginning, there isn't a Call. there is no Grand Quest for him to set out on. he's just... a kid, who happens to have psychic powers, and his goal is just to figure out who he is and what he wants and where his place is in the world. that's his hero's journey, really.

Mob doesn't come prepackaged with ambition; he has to work to unearth it. he has to figure out that he has any agency in the first place, and then use that agency to figure out what he wants. he has to handpick his own goals, and he has to choose growth. and he does choose growth, over and over. that in itself is a heroic feat. man, there are whole adults who won't do the internal work this kid does to figure himself out and adapt to new information! we constantly see him meet people who act and think so differently from him, and really think about the things they say and do, and learn something valuable in the process. we continually see him waking up to various aspects of himself, and clarifying his convictions, and adapting the ways he moves through the world, and taking on a more solid shape as a person. we continually see him choosing.

his growth is so organic, and natural, and marked by an increasing sense of self-possession, that by the time he gets to do Big Impressive Heroic Shonen Things, it feels earned. Mob Shigeo Kageyama has come into himself, and he must face some truly terrifying things, but he reaches out to meet them with both hands because he's already learned to meet his own personal challenges and the people in his life in the same way.

Mob doesn't start out as a Shonen Hero, but by the end of season 2 he IS one, because he earned it. he chose it, worked for it, grew into it, and it looks incredible on him.

[franklyimissparis]

analysing mclennon feels like being an academic and pouring over historical texts and connecting the dots between passages because you basically are doing exactly that

[agoraphopia]

Yandere Xiao as an idea devastates me to my very core. I think the self loathing he’d experience would be near debilitating.

There’s the concern for your safety paired with such intense longing he knows he shouldn’t allow to fester. Yet he indulges in checking up on you, in itching that ever present paranoia that whispers imagery of you down dead in a ditch somewhere.

At the end of the day, it’s all excuses and Xiao isn’t oblivious, especially not when his feet are weighed down heavily as he watches over your sleeping form, carefully scrutinising the rise and fall of your chest.

Is that a breath?

…

…That one definitely was, but just in case, let’s watch for another.

…

That next was a bit shallow, perhaps a trick of the eye? He needs to see another to placate the fear of losing you.

It’s a cycle that continually plagues him some nights right into near dawn’s rising.

Staying away eats at him like he were at the mercy of a swarm of locusts that conjure up ill fated deaths that could easily befall mortals such as yourself.

Yet the guilt that manifests whenever he’s nearby is on equal levels of excruciating.

On his own, non Yandere Xiao already deems himself as unworthy of harbouring such inappropriate feelings when he sees himself as little more than a weapon.

In Yandere form? That sentiment is doubled.

However, if you were to be gravelly injured, it’d be enough to incite a knee jerk reaction where you’re locked away in a serenitea teapot of his own he personally attained in that ‘just in case’ fantasy he, in his best efforts, seldom dwelled upon.

Even if you loved him back, I think he’d struggle to believe you. The same can be said for Non Yandere Xiao. Except with Yandere Xiao, he reasons it to be a lie, a method of manipulation you’re attempting at employing. If not, then it’s false, a fake love birthed from pity (something he innately despises, but markedly doesn’t blame you for in the slightest, only himself as always) for his extremities that lead him down such a dark road.

It would take a lot for him to believe otherwise.

[redwinterroses]

[part one] [part two] [part three]

Jimmy woke to the muzzle of a rifle nudging under his chin.

Blinking furiously, he followed the line of the gun up to its wielder: a stocky man with a bushy black beard and eyes like two ice chips. 

A sardonic smile played around the man’s mouth. “Well,” he said. “Want to explain why I got a couple’a burglars sleepin’ on my floor?”

“I—” Jimmy’s mouth was dry with sleep. The bright morning sun streaming in the windows made his eyes water and—the morning sun. He cursed himself for falling asleep. “I’m Jimmy. Ah—Tango said you wouldn’t mind—I mean, if you’re Cub?” It came out as a question, and he swallowed against the cold iron nuzzling his throat.

“Tango?” the man’s eyes flicked over to where Tango—damn him—was still softly snoring, his derby settled over his face. The muzzle of the rifle retreated a little bit, and the man kicked Tango’s foot.

With an indignant exclamation, Tango came awake, his hat falling to the side.

“Hey!” he spluttered. “What’s the big—oh. Mornin’, Cubby.”

“Tango.” Cub withdrew the rifle and held it loose at his side. “Seriously? You could have knocked, man. I’ve got spare rooms.”

Tango sat up, gesturing at the rifle. “Sure, but I know better than to bang on a door in the middle of the night when Ol’ Faithful might see me before my good buddy Cub.”

“Fair enough, fair enough.” Cub stood back, and let the rifle hang loose at his side. His eyes narrowed. “Back to my first question. Why do I have a couple’a burglars sleeping on my floor—besides the fact that they didn’t want to wake me up in the middle of the night?”

Tango groaned and got to his feet, stretching mightily. Jimmy, eyeing that rifle dubiously, sat up as well and tried to work the cricks out of his neck. 

“Train robbery,” Tango said. “Just south of here. Greysides gang cottoned onto me and had someone waiting for me when I tried to catch a ride back to Tumbleton.”

Cub whistled appreciatively. “Greysides, huh? Bad bunch.”

“We need to send a telegraph, actually,” Tango said. “Assuming Chef’s awake this early?”

“Man’s up before dawn most days,” Cub said. He nodded toward the door. “Who’re you planning to wire, though? Those pillagers’ll be gone long before any law gets there.”

“They stopped the train,” Tango said. “I’ll wire ahead to Tumbleton and if they haven’t arrived someone will have to go and find the engine—or whatever’s left of it. I doubt they killed anyone but they might have scuppered the works.”

Cub nodded, then pulled a tin out from under the counter. “Coffee? I can have it brewed by the time you’re back.”

“Cubby, I could kiss you.”

“I’ll pass, thanks.”

Tango turned to Jimmy. “Wait here—I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

And with that, he jogged out the door and vanished into the morning sun.

To his dismay, Jimmy felt a twinge—a pang of something in his chest that tugged after Tango. He resisted easily, for now, but that confirmed his suspicions: his curse had officially latched on to the bounty hunter.

He barely kept himself from swearing.

“You’re from Spawnheart?” 

The question was so abrupt that it made Jimmy start. He turned to find Cub regarding him with an unreadable expression. The saloon owner stared at him, and Jimmy shifted uncomfortably, feeling as if he were being measured and weighed, and that Cub wasn’t impressed with what he saw.

“I… yeah, I am,” he said. He clambered to his feet and started packing his bedroll. Glancing back at Cub, he raised a self-deprecating eyebrow. “Is it that obvious?”

Cub shrugged. “I grew up there myself, actually. And it’s a pretty obvious guess—you’re not from around here, you were on a train heading toward new-gen…” he tilted his head thoughtfully. “You look familiar.”

Jimmy tensed. “...Yeah?”

Cub’s eyes were fixed on him, his expression entirely neutral. “Maybe. What did you say your last name was?”

“I didn’t.” Jimmy wondered how fast he could make it to the door—though where he thought he’d go after that he hadn’t the foggiest—before Cub lifted the rifle at his side. He shifted his weight, and Cub’s hand twitched a hair on the gun—

And then the man smiled, relaxing. “Fair enough, fair enough,” Cub said, his voice amiable. “A guy’s entitled to his secrets on the frontier. Sometimes they’re the most valuable thing you’ve got.”

Still wary, Jimmy buckled the leather strap around his bedroll, his attention never leaving Cub. He felt like he was facing down another creeper, and he couldn’t figure out why this one hadn’t exploded yet.

He held the bedroll aloft. “You, ah… you mind if I toss this back in the ender chest?”

Cub plonked the rifle down on the bartop and gestured for Jimmy to go around behind. “Be my guest,” he said. “Again, I guess.”

Jimmy stepped behind the counter, dropped the roll into the void-space of the ender chest and let the lid fall shut. “I can pay. For using your floor last night.”

Cub shook his head. “Nah, no worries, friend.” He jerked a thumb toward the door. “Just do me a favor and keep an eye on that knucklehead, and we’ll call it even.”

Like I’ve got any choice at this point. “Yeah,” Jimmy said. “Sure.”

Pulling out one of the barstools with his foot, Cub sat, and leaned forward, resting both arms on the bartop. All the suspicious tension seemed to have gone out of him, though Jimmy was still wary of those sharp eyes. “So,” Cub drawled. “What are you hoping to find out in new-gen? Gold? Adventure? Wide open spaces?”

“All the above, I guess.” Jimmy moved to one of the tables nearer the door and sank into one of the wooden chairs. It creaked slightly under his weight. “Mostly just… something far away. Find a little valley, build a farm. Maybe breed some horses—I’ve always liked horses.” Even as he said it, the dream took shape in his mind’s eye: a long, low cabin, cozy on the inside, with a barn full of bright-eyed horses and their hay-scented warmth. 

He brushed away the vision, stowing it away to consider later. After he’d gotten rid of his unwitting partner. “How do you know Tango? If you don’t mind my asking.”

Cub grinned—and unlike every other time, this smile was missing that predatory edge. This smile was genuine, and it took Jimmy a little by surprise.

“Oh, Tango and I go way back,” Cub said. “He’s been out here even longer than me, but when my first crew came out to new-gen he and a few others gave us a hand. We’ve all spread out over the years, but we keep in touch.” Steepling his fingers in front of his face, he raised his eyebrows. “How do you know Tango of the Tek variety?”

“Tek variety?” Jimmy shook his head. “I just met him last night. He… I think he saved my life? But he also made me jump off a train so I’m not exactly sure where that stands.”

The tugging sensation in his chest told him exactly where “that” stood, but he wasn’t about to explain that to the man who had woken him up with a weapon and apparently had a long history with Tango. Didn’t seem wise.

“That’s Tango all over.” Cub sat back and slapped the counter. “Well, if it’s new-gen you’re heading for, you could do worse than hanging around Tango for a bit. See if he’ll take you as far as Tumbleton—that’s about as far out as civilization goes at this point.”

Jimmy nodded noncommittally, and watched as Cub got up and retrieved his rifle. He slung its leather strap over one shoulder and stowed the weapon comfortably across his back, then gave Jimmy an evaluating glance. 

“Feel free to hang out in here until Tango gets back,” Cub said. He jerked his thumb toward the door. “I’ve got a few errands to run before the bar opens this afternoon. Alternatively… there’s a couple bottles of water under the counter and a spare ender chest you’re welcome to. Tango’s down on the east side of town so if you head west you can probably get a few miles out before he figures it out.”

Blinking, Jimmy fought the urge to reach for his pistol—or to bolt for the door.

“Ah…” he managed, “Why—what makes you think I would—”

“Boots.” Cub pointed at his feet. “You were asleep with your boots on. Maybe you’re just weird about it, but in my experience a man who sleeps with his boots on is a man on the move. Or on the run. And I’ll be honest with you, Jimmy—” he put an odd emphasis on the name, as if he knew there was something Jimmy was hiding. “I’m not sure I’m too keen on my buddy Tango takin’ up with someone on the run.”

There was no cold muzzle at Jimmy’s chin as there had been when he woke, but Cub’s expression was as emotionless as a bullet. 

Jimmy found himself shaking his head. “I’m not on the run,” he said, aware that he didn’t sound convincing, even to his own ears. The door, with its long rectangle of golden sunshine, seemed to pull at him—get out, get away, don’t make this mistake again. The allure of the open frontier, with no connections and no risks, was heady in its promise of freedom. 

But the far-more-tangible tug in his chest that told him Tango was already on his way back, and he wouldn’t get far enough to avoid the man chasing after him. And he would chase, Jimmy was sure of it.

Casting a glance toward the window, Jimmy cursed his bad luck—and apparent inability to wake up early. 

“I’m not on the run,” he said again, and the words were more sure this time. “And I’ll do whatever I can to keep harm from coming to your friend.” He looked at Cub, hoping the man could see the sincerity in his face. “Honestly, I can promise you that.”

Cub pursed his lips, then gave a sharp nod. “Good enough.”

As he said it, footsteps tapped on the floorboards outside, and the door swung open to let in a burst of fresh morning air and the smell of dust and sage. 

“Jimmy!” Tango said, striding into the room. “I feel like I owe you a ride to Tumbleton after getting your train burglefied. You ride?”

Jimmy stood. “You got us horses?”

“Well… no.” Tango said. “Chef had a package he needed mailed to Tumbleton anyway, so he’s loaning us a couple of his mules.”

Cub laughed, and gave Jimmy a friendly slap on the shoulder that was maybe just a little too hard. “Good luck, fellas,” he said. “You’ll need it.”

And with that, he sauntered out of the saloon. Jimmy watched him go and then looked at Tango, frowning.

“Tango, why would he say that?”

Tango laughed, and rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck. “Oh, no reason, no reason,” he said unconvincingly. He gestured at the door.

“Let’s hit the road.”

[crehador]

completely forgot to say in my other post but TIME SKIP AKIYAMA HELLO?????? bonding with the future father-in-law already i'm absolutely obsessed with this

[stealingyourbones]

Gotta love when folks write Superman incredibly anti-clone even though he had good reason in the beginning to Not Like Superboy (HES A WINDOW INTO WHAT CLARK WOULD HAVE BEEN WITHOUT THE KENTS) and decide that forever on he’ll be spiteful towards clones even though he literally Does Not Care if you’re a clone unless you’re Superboy.

[anonymocha]

Bluepoch gave us the gift of barely-subtext tragic sapphic-centric media do NOT throw that away.

Context regarding PJSK and Undertale under cut.

Project Sekai cast is dominated by female characters but mlm is more popular, meanwhile Undertale has canon wlw rep and oh my god they’re at the bottom. I have nothing against these fandoms or media (I’m literally currently/was in them) but yeah. I just HOPE r99 doesn’t end up in a similar state.

[yellowocaballero]

Continuing the JJK posting: Gojo is such a mystifying character.

Action show where swinging out the gate you introduce a character who is so incredibly powerful you then have to, before every fight, establish why Gojo can't just show up and fix the problem in seconds. His existence weakens the stakes of everything. The rest of the show you are backflipping ridding yourself of him. He jobs two major bad guys off the gate and every subsequent extensive fight with them feels like cleaning up his leftovers. Put him in a box, he's ruining the game balance. So absolutely broken. As a writer it makes your job so difficult, but it's also the entire point of him. "Hey I want to write the single most badass character of all time who can do the most insane shit but I will also engage with that", rock on king.

I think he's most interesting when understood as somebody who is fundamentally alien and removed from ordinary human thought processes. In his world there is absolutely nothing he cannot do, and the thought 'maybe I can't do something' just doesn't occur to him. He is capable of doing whatever he wants and of killing anybody who tries to stop him from doing what he wants. If he is not doing something, it is because he does not want to do it. If he wants to do something (kill all of his superiors) and he's not doing it, it's because he doesn't think it's the most effective route towards what he has decided to do. I think this informs the majority of his actions (and, importantly, what he doesn't do)(murder). I think he's reasoned out that you should have a general reason to do things, and it feels like sheer luck that he places value and meaning in human life, and as such you shouldn't kill them without a strong reason. Watching the flashback arc, if I hadn't seen a) JJK and b) Naruto and you asked me which shitty teen became a law abiding school teacher and which became a mass murderer I would have guessed the wrong ones.

Anyway, the way I like to think of him, he's a raging narcissist with a god complex to match. Horrifically, he's actually a good teacher, but he is also a teacher as an ego/'raising my child army' thing. He would be the kind of mother who is a good mother but lowkey had kids also as an ego/unconditional love/lots of attention/'surely my child will worship me' thing. Gets randomly into new hobbies, obsesses over them, gorges himself on the novelty factor, before dropping them in a week once he gets too good at them. Rinse and repeat. The only hobby that does not eventually grow boring is annoying people, so it's his only hobby. Geto told him age 15 that he'll never have any friends if he keeps on casually reminding people that they live on his sufferance, so he developed another back-up hobby more conducive for friendship of helping people forget that they live on his sufferance. This has convinced him that he's a god of subterfuge, intrigue, and trickery. Does eat women out, but is convinced that this makes him God's gift to women, and is actually pretty terrible in bed because his partner's desires never even occur to him. Is convinced he's as good at sex as he is everything else. Sex is actually the one thing he's bad at, but he's not ready to hear that.

In S1 he overall left me with the general impression that his entire idea of how high school worked was sourced from anime, and as such decided that being a teacher involved nothing but field trips, sports games, beach episodes, sports festivals, etc. Did not know how the classroom component worked so he skips it. Jossed, but also left me convinced that it would be very funny if he was an immortal 150-whatever years old and had founded the high school himself out of, you guessed it, an ego thing, and never once properly learned how high schools worked and just arbitrarily made his own aging students the new principals so he could continue engaging in training the kids who are too Misfit (TM) to get apprenticeships and living his fun slice of life anime life and raising a child army of kids who will worship him any day now. Annnyyyy day now. Any day now.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

One thing that TotK does constantly but really doesn't land for me when compared to BotW is that every NPC loves Zelda so much.

She is the sweetest, and she loves animals and is the very best at them, and she goes to every major landmark to spend time there and also she teaches the people secrets about the lands they have always lived in and they're like woow thanks zelda incredible I'll change my entire ways because you were just SO enlightening (Lurelin + Gerudo Town feeling particularly questionable here for obvious reasons), and she's so wise and beloved and talented --to the point that nobody (beyond the Zora King) even dares to question her actions when she starts acting off.

(Yunobo please stop letting her walk all over you, like it's alarming that you understand she basically brainwashed you and your entire race, and you're still running after her like a lost puppy for an explanation that will surely make everything make sense instead of, like, punting her into the sun? I know it's the eeeevil zelda, but that this situation could even remotely begin to happen feels... so offputting.)

In BotW, the rare mentions of Zelda worked because 1) she was an ancient figure and the modern hylians knew very little about her and would build her up as a legendary figure accordingly, 2) she was literally giving her life for them (I mean she kind of still does here but people do not know that or cannot infer that in any way --which is its own sort of problem), 3) she was extremely hard on herself, felt like a failure and... kind of was one (and she was given shit for it).

(also in BotW we are in a post-Hyrule kingdom world, while here we're living its re-foundation, and so it feels very... convenient that they excavate a previous version of their perfect kingdom to boister up the hylian claim upon the lands also --but that's beyond the topic)

So for anyone to give her grace and compassion in BotW, while a little eyeroll worthy at times, was endearing and made sense. None of this was her fault; she may have extreme power, but she didn't directly yield it --her imperfections the byproduct of a stressful situation every champion was being forced into due to the tides of fate. Also the king was criticized for being a little ruthless and asking too much of his subjects, including his own daughter. There was solidarity between you and everyone else at the same level.

But here? I don't know, it feels like the entire kingdom is terrified that the sheikah secret police will drag them back in the Bottom of the Well if they breathe wrong when talking about their beloved princess, it's so unsettling. I liked BotW Zelda, but... I don't know, I'm literally more comfortable around fake Zelda than the real one. Fake Zelda feels more like a real person that she does.

[mrbluesummers-moved]

I'm too tired to write the full Essay™, but someone said in the tags that Stampede took away Knives' fear and it made me realize that the core issue I have with Trigun Stampede is the fact that the characters lack the emotional depth of Trigun Maximum. Like, I'm enjoying Stampede, and it's emotional, but Knives and Vash especially have had their emotional complexity watered down in comparison to the manga.

In the manga, they were as much at war with themselves as they were with each other and world around them. Knives was expressive, animated, and always playing up the megalomaniac god complex in public, but in private he was exhausted and scared and even expressed guilt towards his sisters for being careless in how he orchestrated the fall. Vash was an upbeat pacifist who was constantly fighting his own urge to take the "easy" way out and kill to solve problems.

It's what made the manga so heartbreaking. Neither of them were entirely right, but neither of them were entirely wrong. Knives shouldn't try a genocide, but he was also a deeply traumatized child who was shown how cruel humans could be to plants. Vash should try to do as much good in the world as he can, but holding onto the ideals of pacifism in a hostile environment does more harm than good and he learns that when he's finally pushed to the point where he has to choose between killing and saving someone important to him.

I don't think it's impossible for Stampede to recover in Season 2, but the foundations aren't great. Changing Nai to being cold as child seems like such a small change, but Knives starting out as the optimist who loved humanity is so central to that internal conflict... I don't know. Maybe they'll come back to the point of Rem being important to Knives and make use of the fact that he intended for her to survive and that might save it. We'll have to see.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

some Sharpie Sillies i scribbled to cope with the compulsory heterosexuality i was just forced to watch. it was painful

[gingermintpepper]

drop the link on that fic of Zeus being a good dad?

Absolutely my friend!

As you can see, it's called Trials of Fatherhood by the lovely @z-eusie and in-between my agonies and right now, she's actually updated the fic and now the Apollo chapter is live!! Everyone should go read this fic, actually! It's a wonderful little compilation of moments that allow for showing both the ugliness and beauty of the gods when taken from a nuanced, compassionate perspective and it's always been one of my favourites to go back to every now and then just because of how fond I am of it. I'm especially fond of the Athena and Dionysus chapters myself but I hope everyone finds their favourite one. <33

[h-didanart]

And as promised, here they are! Movement notes for the Sunrise Arc Theatre AU! First off, because they’re like my favorite character or something, the Blood Twins!

Known for being incredibly close to one another, these two tend to twirl and circle each other whenever they perform together, it’s one of the things that got them their roles to begin with, alongside the fluidity of their movement and the way they convey emotions through their body language. They have fun when they perform together, that much was clear since the very beginning, they bring a dangerously fun vibe to the stage with their blurry red twirls and fuzzy bluish spins.

To best exemplify their teamwork let’s take a look at their “solo” songs

From the First October Takeover arc, the Dismemberment Song was Hunter and Harvest’s singing debut, used by the lore in Bloodmoon and Eclipse’s battle. During the first verse and chorus only one twin will be around but by the second both red menaces will be on stage. They circle and taunt Eclipse (played by Tabby), dodging most of his attacks and tag teaming him until they “fuse back together” which means that one of them sneaked into the background and will exit stage soon.

However there was an exception to that line of events, the very first performance of this arc, wherein it had been agreed that instead of having Hunter grab a hidden scythe prop, Harvest herself would shapeshift into the scythe. Despite the rehearsals and in spite of both twin’s slow realization of how taxing a choreography this song was, they went fully with this plan, ending up in what is now the official recording of the play. And it looked cool. It did not feel as cool, however, once the adrenaline of the performance wore off and both twins found themselves extremely exhausted. When asked they both said that it was worth it but neither would ever do that again.

Quite the introduction by all means, and certainly one of their favorite performances, but there’s another song the twins like more. And it couldn’t be any more different than their introduction

End of year 2023, post Takeover, the Bloodmoons find themselves at odds with one another after being reunited, but they aren’t the type to part for long and soon enough find themselves sorting out their disagreement in More Than Anything. Hunter and Harvest spin around quite a lot in the last third of this heart wrenching duet, in contrast to them staying the furthest apart they’ve been when both are on stage at once during the first third of the song. Tho unlike their first song, they don’t have difficulties in the choreography here, spinning around comes naturally to them, it’s the emotional escalation of the song that proved to be tricky.

Specifically for Hunter. He’d end up crying after basically every rehearsal, needing about five minutes to compose himself, so when the actual performance came around, it took all his willpower to not break out into sobs onstage. Harvest for her part hadn’t cried during rehearsals, if anything her voice would get quieter, an indication that she was getting emotional, but not much else. Until it was time for the first performance, and to everyone’s (including Harvest) surprise, she did cry. How those two managed to finish the song with an extraordinary amount of not many voice cracks is beyond everyone.

Still, even with such a reaction from them both, this stands as their favorite song to perform together.

Now on the other side of the coin, we have the times when the twins aren’t moving in their usual ways. They don’t twirl, don’t spin, you can barely tell they’re there or they stick out awkwardly. The Hallucination Bloodmoons and Bloodmoon II are the clearest cases of this.

The change can be appreciated more during the non-song parts of the play, however if enough attention is paid, the change in behavior can also be seen in their performances.

Following Sun around and observing him from the background, the Hallucinations act nothing like the physical Bloodmoon.

Barely show any emotion, and barely move at all, having to act as the Hallucinations was a very tough job for the twins, not moving around just isn’t natural for them. We suppose that adds to the uncanniness of the characters.

Jigsaw and Bloodmoon’s duet, Battle of the Bands, showed the first signs of the dissonance between the so called brothers. At some points it appeared as if Bloodmoon was trying to copy and predict Jigsaw’s movements, movements that wouldn’t be usual of the bloodthirsty killer, even bumping into Jigsaw at a failed attempt at a spin once.

Funny thing it is that Ruin and Hunter actually have great chemistry on stage. It was their idea to have it appear as if Bloodmoon was trying to improvise their movements since they weren’t connecting with Jigsaw’s. Foreshadowing, said Ruin when asked.

And speaking of foreshadowing, we’d be damned not to mention one of the most pivotal moments in the killing duo’s arc.

Placed in the middle of the arc, Ruin’s iconic rendition of You’ll be Back is a fan favorite, whether the admiration comes from the singing talent or the charm put into it, no one can deny just how fun this song is to listen to. Unless you’re Bloodmoon and it’s your 5073rd time listening to it.

From the beginning, Bloodmoon is not thrilled about this one. Refusing to get up or even look at Jigsaw, they comedically timed the extra pause the Brit took before the iconic lyric dropped, still clearly not wanting anything to do with it. Soon enough they are dragged out of their seat and are made to dance by Jigsaw, but for once they don’t seem to be having fun. There’s a turn on Bloodmoon’s behavior when Jigsaw gets aggressive for a second during the second half of the song, they appear weirded out, put off, maybe even a bit scared, they had previously made excuses for they supposed brother’s behavior, but were they really sure they didn’t mean it at all? By the time Jigsaw is carrying them, Bloodmoon turns to the audience, an unclear expression on their face. The virus turns it around them once more however, by invoking some of the usual dance moves of the twins, spinning Hunter around but not themselves.

Even without the earlier context of the plot, the choreography makes it clear that there’s a really big conflict boiling in the background, even with the funny lyrics and cheeky mannerisms of the Virus. An odd mix of comedy and uncomfortableness this one is. Very fun to perform for the actors though, Ruin having memorized the song by heart and Hunter often finding it extremely difficult to not move alongside the rhythm.

Something worth noting about this one should be the many attempts it took for Ruin to be able to correctly carry Hunter. There were many times where the smaller bot slipped to the floor or when both animatronics fell at once. They still refused to change the move, both claiming that it was important to the character’s arcs.

And now with enough context for the Blood Twins’ movement, let us look at some other of their performances!

Playing the part of the Hyenas in Be Prepared, Harvest is poked in the forehead by Moon (playing KillCode). Quite the comedic scene on a song about the arc’s villains teaming up

Having a couple seconds to spare, we see Hunter goofing off a bit right before getting wheeled on stage for the scene of Bloodmoon falling into their coma. How he manages to go from a goofy mood to kinda-technically-dying in so little time is a mystery

Another of the Hallucination’s appearances, this time more resembling of a ghost, Harvest can be spotted in the background all throughout It’s Quiet Uptown. Her stoic demeanor is turned to a sort of compassion during this song, just another of the things in this performance that are meant to make any who see it cry

Hunter can be seen during some parts of Right Hand Man, though you’d be luckier to try and spot his voice amongst the backing vocals. Honestly though, that whole scene is a bit of a mess so you can be spared for missing his appearance

The Crescent family’s song, I’ve Got a Dream, is chock full of small moments of characterization for all members. Whether it’s Stars reading out Queso’s lyrics for him as he signs, the collective “children” rolling their eyes at KC’s mention of romance, Flare fetching everyone’s props, or Harvest pushing Monty offstage, there’s not a second where nothing is happening on stage

Both the twins (playing the Hallucinations) are seen on stage alongside Flare (playing Eclipse II possessing them) and Sun, clapping their hands and stomping their feet in unison with the music. It doesn’t come off as a surprise that the twins can act in unison, but it doesn’t remove the creepy aspect of seeing their silent frames stare at Sun as he moves around, movements perfectly coordinated

The argument between Jigsaw and Bloodmoon II is one of the most important points in the Takeover, being what fully places Bloodmoon’s allegiance with the Celestials. Hunter manages to deliver with his short but very powerful performance of Someone Gets Hurt Reprise, his vocal range fully shining through

A late addition to the musical but something deemed lighthearted and important enough to put in, Bloodmoon I’s bizarre way of coming out to her family. Harvest was very excited when getting the news she’d be performing this song, being one of her favorites ever, she and her fellow cast members went all out on the choreography, and to say it was spectacular would be an understatement

[teagrammy]

Just saw a (recommended) post cross my dash hoping Colin is going to be more upset about Pen “writing bad things about herself” than the actual tangible things she’s done to people… be fucking for real please