#this is what you get instead of another silly analysis post

[graniteknight]

Clay looks like he would he the shortest team member after s4 mostly because;

1. they were literally a walking granite monster for like.. 7 1/2 episodes or something and as far as I’m aware granite doesn’t grow?

2. comical, let him be short but strong enough to kick you painfully in the balls.

He’s like the shortest.. but he’s also the scary dog of the team.

[thedevotionaltour]

i wish i could like garak more than i do when im not seeing him on my television screen because i do think he is actually an interesting and compelling character however i hate his fanbase actually no more than anything i hate gar.as.hir fanbase where then all he becomes is ship fodder and is just. the way they talk about him is so annoying and boring and stupid and shippy that i'm truly convinced i just hate garak until i see him on my screen and go fuuuuuuck he's really neat and i'm fascinated by who he is. but his fans especially those who are like mostly his fan only for shipping and refuse to separate him from julian (i also hate the julian fan side of this too and i think it definitely turned me away from loving julian as much as i did initially which is very sad because he was one of my favorites on the show and now i barely think about him ever when or feel little when i see him on screen) are just so. infuriating. anyways the reason i wrote this out was because i was going to say it is with a heavy heart i must say i think matt would be quite compelled by garak (due to his enjoyment of spy stories as has been mentioned before). and then i got sad about going why do i have to lead up to that with a heavy heart. because see im not doing it with the annoying fondness im doing it with a disappointed shame. which isnt fair bc garak is funny as fuck. anyways

[asherashedwings]

Hey chat, remember when I did that one charting pattern analysis on Pico and Darnell?

Well I'm doing that again. But with EVERY FNF CHARACTER.

Girlfriend

Girlfriend, shocker, doesn't really have a pattern. This is mainly due to her being featured in only one song, and it's the tutorial. If we ever get any action from her in the future, then maybe we can find something then, but for now: no pattern.

Daddy Dearest & Mommy Mearest

Okay, so they do have a pattern, and it's a shared pattern. I mean, makes sense, since they're kind of a package duo. It's kinda hard for me to explain, but they have patterns that tend to focus on the left and right notes?? If that makes sense. Good examples I can think of are Satin Panties, High, and Cocoa. Mearest more so than Dearest, but Dearest's base charts are also rather simple due to his week being so early. BUT! These patterns are apparent in his Erect songs! Namely Bopeebo. But yeah, patterns that are left and right note focused. Which -- and I don't know if this is just a coincidence or not -- seems rather fitting given the colors of those notes: red and purple.

Spooky Kids

Another set of characters that don't really have a set pattern that I can distinguish. Although, I do find that rather fitting for them. Their lack of pattern matches their rather chaotic nature that's displayed in their show. They're just silly unpredictable guys.

Monster

Okay, so Monster is just already so different from everyone else that it's just hard to hold him to the same standard. But he does have his own patterns! Namely a LOT of hold notes. Which makes sense due to the lingering nature of his songs. He's slow and eerie, so of course his charting would reflect that

Pico

Okay, so I've covered Pico before. He does a lot of back and forth patterns. .... I could turn this into a super complex character analysis that is completely just my brainrot talking but I don't know if I should go there. I'm going there. Okay, so Pico's entire character in FNF revolves around him going back on the various jobs he's been given to protect Boyfriend and Girlfriend. Week 3? Backing out of his job to rap with BF instead. Week 7? Denying his mission yet again to save BF and GF. He's constantly going back and forth between his job and his morals. And it's not always clear which is the correct option. This same logic can also be applied to Weekend 1, except it's not him choosing BF and GF over his job -- it's him choosing them over his friends: Darnell and Nene. His character is just a constant cycle of back and forths.

Senpai

Okay, so this fucker was the reason I first wanted to make a full analysis on all the characters. So, this guy I noticed, uses a lot of trail notes. And in my brain it does tie into his character and. Like. The only way that I can explain it is like. You know those videos of people arguing with misogynists, and the misogynist keeps cutting off the other person before they can make their point, and keep repeating the same thing over and over again cuz they think that's how arguments work? That's the same vibe I get from Senpai's trail notes. It feels like he's just. Repeating the same things over and over again cuz he thinks he's making a point. And just going on and on so BF can’t speak Idk. If that makes sense.

Tankman

Tankman uses a lot of stairs. I had no idea what to make an analysis out of here, so to quote the wise words of @braveboiart ; "He's a bitch and I hate stairs." ACTUALLY! That is half right. Came up with this while replaying Week 7 for this post. Tankman is explicitly shown to be able to break the fourth wall, so it is entirely possible that in Ugh and Guns, he is purposefully using an egregious amount of stairs to just. Be a pain in the ass. This would also perfectly explain his switch up in Stress. He's taking BF and the player a little bit more seriously, so he starts to be a bit more genuine. Also, I would like to point out that he also uses back and forths a ton. Tankdad canon. ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE NOTE OF A LIL DETAIL I NOTICED WHEN PLAYING PICO ERECT

Pico Erect shares charting from Stress. Realistically, this is likely just a lil reference to Stress since Pico made in appearance in that song but FUCK YOU, TANKDAD CANON.

Darnell

Okay, so I've already gone in depth on Darnell, so this is mostly gonna be me repeating myself. Good to have everything in one place, yknow? Darnell has a progression of charting throughout Weekend 1. In Darnell, he starts out almost identical to Pico's charting, before slowly transition to his trail and double heavy charting through Lit Up and 2Hot. My analysis of this was the idea that he starts out the week mocking Pico; making fun of the fact that Pico chose to rap battle BF instead of killing him. But as the week progresses, he gets more into it and starts having fun with it, slipping into his own style.

And last but not least

Boyfriend

Okay, so, surprise surprise: Boyfriend doesn't really have a pattern. But it's not cuz he just repeats everyone! There's actually a lot of moments where he freestyles, namely in the Erect tracks. But when analyzing those bits, there isn't really any set pattern. Which makes sense! BF is a go with the flow kinda guy. The charting he uses depends on what the moment calls for; what will outshine his opponent the most. I mean, his charting kinda needs to be versatile, given the variety of his challengers. So yea.

Uhhh... Hope y'all enjoyed my analyses. I'm gonna go pass out now (It is 4:36am at the time of writing this rn)

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

I loved your analysis of the Romeo and Juliet reference in Taylors song it was such a perfect example of why people praise her songwriting so much without realising how hollow it is. I also especially loved how when someone commented that they didn’t have a large enough vocab to understand your post, you actually responded really nicely and offered to explain! It’s such a bare minimum thing but so rare to see on the Internet where people often just ignore such comments or become pretentious. Anyway, definitely earned a follow because your posts seem really cool and I hope you do more song analysis posts, whether they’re praising or critiquing music.

Hello! Apologies for taking so long to get back to you! I’ve been in middle of moving (and it’s taking up much of my time ahaha). I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed my Romeo and Juliet post. I love that play- mostly because of its sly, subversive nature and social reform thematic purpose. I remember reading it in High School and how that was one of the first times I was consciously aware of the power literature holds to shift culture and move public consciousness towards progressive ideologies. Remarkable. For that reason, Swift’s repeated misunderstanding, and blatant, purposeful ignorance surrounding the plays, has always frustrated me.  

I will be returning to the topic to write about the infamous “Love Story” (2009), and I’m also going to debunk a couple of her other literary references like The Scarlett Letter one. Also, I will be posting something about her bastardization of Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca” (1938) because she over-simplified the thematic point of the book and made it seem silly, and frivolous, instead of the hard-hitting social reform literature that it is. Much of my frustration with Swift stems from her use of literary genius, and the way she twists these stories into empty- ego-driven narratives that singularly focus on break-ups or centering her aspirations towards praising hetero-patriarchal standards in her music.  

I’m fucking over it- Y'all.  

She has this way of taking literary references, some of the most famous and important works in history, and remaking it into something dull, derivative and nonsensical. She incinerates the plotlines and erases the methodology of the literary work through demeaning the intrinsic social reform efforts of the works themselves. For instance, with my post on her work and the reference to “Romeo and Juliet” I mention how Swift purposely leaves out, or negates, Shakespeare intentional social reform phenomenological base to the line “O be some other name/ What’s in a name?” Shakespeare himself is clearly drawing attention to the ways in which people often judge not by the content of our characters but by shallow intonation of our names and station in society. He is using these lines, and the two characters, to show how hypocritical and judgmental it is to uphold petty difference over the ideal of believing in the prospects of human connection. Shakespeare was a radical in his day- he pulled no punches to criticizing the aristocracy or the values of post-feudal hierarchal institutions.  

Swift took such an intentional aspect of his work, his social reform efforts, and purposely divorced it from the line. Thus, remaking, rewording, it into her line, which was a silly, and self-centered, petulant line about how people really should have been nicer to her because she’s a good girl. It’s so fucking stupid- imagine trying to remake Shakespeare without understanding Shakespeare. I cannot abide- now that I’m grown, and no longer a child, who could mindlessly listen to her bastardization of important literary work- I simply must speak up. It’s important because, I think, that her purposeful misuse of the work- making it devoid of social reform- says a lot about her intentions as a person. She’s not the activist people think she is- she's just another pseudo-intellectual grifter.  

Anyway, I’m glad you found something worthwhile in that post- and I hope you’ve enjoyed some of my other posts since then. I admit that I sometimes venture into posting mere opinion- but for my more serious posts I will stick to interrogation of her work through literary invocation. It’s just what I know best.  

If anyone has any questions about my posts- or confusions about my vocabulary use- I am happy to chat and answer questions! I really meant it when I told that person that I would be happy to re-explain using some different words. Sometimes- I get carried away and slip into “academic jargon” but that’s not what I want my blog to devolve into. I want to share information with people who perhaps have not studied literature- or English. I wouldn’t judge anyone just for having a question or being confused about a certain word. I, myself, make a habit of studying other languages- besides English- and that does wonders for keeping me humble about my own knowledge of English. Haha. :) I do not express myself nearly so well in French or German- so it becomes much easier for me to empathize with those who have a hard time expressing themselves with language too. Language is hard- learning is even more difficult. But what a wonderful, rewarding venture it is to ask a question and learn something new!  

I encourage people’s curiosity- truly.  

And yes- I will certainly be posting about other artists as well. Haha, now that I feel comfortable doing so- I will have some fun with it :)  

Thank you for writing in- I am sending you well-wishes and good vibes.  

[olderthannetfic]

Re: ‘most big fandoms are dominated by male characters so there’s less f/f’ - I think the conclusion that there’s so much more m/m and m/f out there because media with big fandoms include fewer women as characters and we are ‘just writing about the characters [we] connect with in the media [we] enjoy’ removes some of the agency involved in how we choose the media that we potentially end up fannishly enjoying. Yes, if there were more characters who are women in media with huge existing fandoms, we might see more f/f, but I think that many of us gravitate toward new media (and if we click with that new media, then new fandoms) based on our established interests from prior media/fandoms. I’ve been in online fandom in various capacities for over 20 years and in the first decade of my fannish ‘career’ I largely shipped m/m and wrote m/m. I was therefore, unsurprisingly, often drawn toward new media with m/m potential.

About a decade ago my personal interests began to shift and I found myself more drawn toward women characters and f/f. If I’m interested in women and f/f, I’m not going to keep focusing on new-to-me media with a whole slew of men and a couple women who barely interact. I’m keeping an eye out for media with several prominent female characters, media with lots of women, media with f/f potential. Luckily, that isn’t as hard to find across a variety of genres and formats as it used to be. It doesn’t always click — I enjoyed watching She-Ra and Ahsoka, for instance, and saw the f/f potential, but neither were id matches that sparked fannish creativity for me personally — but if I’m not checking out media with women and am instead continuing to watch/read/play media where the characters are largely men, then yeah, I’m going to get frustrated by the lack of f/f i those fandoms pretty quickly. That’s on me though, not on the fandom at large. If I’m not looking at what’s out there, trying to find the media that hits those iddy places and sparks the fannishness I crave, then am I really that interested in f/f in the first place? I don’t think fandom ‘hates women’, but I do think a lot of fandom just isn’t that fannishly interested in women for a plethora of reasons, and that’s fine! I do wish we could just admit that though.

There’s also…look, there are assholes in every corner of fandom. There are plenty of people out there who write posts that criticize unrealistic m/m smut, but that doesn’t seem to drive away the m/m fans from writing that super unrealistic m/m smut they want to read. Why then do a few jerks criticizing what they believe to be unrealistic f/f smut get blamed for driving people away from f/f? Did you really want to write that f/f smut to begin with? It’s okay if you didn’t really want to write it! But also, there is fantastically unrealistic f/f smut out there on ao3 with an appreciative audience. Unrealistic smut always has its place.

--

Yuuup.

I do think the few loud jerks on whatever topic have a disproportionate effect on things that people are already insecure about or that there's already less content about. Criticism from inside the house also seems to hit harder than from outside, for various definitions thereof. But I agree that there are bullies or just loud assholes everywhere, and it doesn't stop the juggernaut ships and fandoms. I think "the meanies made me not write f/f" is not a good analysis of the overall trend even if some specific people really did get bullied quite badly.

I do see people acting surprised that they don't like any f/f, yet not checking out media with multiple female leads. This is silly and we should move away from this along with ditching "There are no interesting female characters".

But another pattern I see is that, for the most part, really big fic fandoms come from things a ton of people consumed in the world overall. (The reverse isn't necessarily true: something can have mass mainstream popularity and no fic.) So even aside from willful blindness on the part of individual fans or personal reactions to gender, the overall lopsidedness of media does still matter for the big meta discussions that look at the ratio of stuff on AO3. If someone isn't really into small fandoms, they're going to have to go where the crowd is already going.

The top fandoms, according to tag search, are these (counts are different from current AO3 works if you click through, but they seem inflated by roughly similar amounts):

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling ‎(664365)

Marvel Cinematic Universe ‎(389476)

방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS ‎(289493)

Original Work ‎(273412)

Marvel ‎(233004)

Teen Wolf (TV) ‎(219504)

Haikyuu!! ‎(215127)

The Avengers (Marvel Movies) ‎(208509)

原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game) ‎(207259)

Star Wars - All Media Types ‎(188548)

Sherlock (TV) ‎(169092)

Batman - All Media Types ‎(137281)

Captain America (Movies) ‎(118954)

Minecraft (Video Game) ‎(117892)

Stranger Things (TV 2016) ‎(117489)

Video Blogging RPF ‎(110169)

Voltron: Legendary Defender ‎(105117)

Miraculous Ladybug ‎(104003)

Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan ‎(103914)

魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù ‎(101819)

文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs ‎(95606)

Merlin (TV) ‎(88893)

僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga) ‎(86484)

NCT (Band) ‎(85868)

Dream SMP ‎(83222)

Stray Kids (Band) ‎(82711)

One Direction (Band) ‎(79490)

呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Manga) ‎(78975)

Homestuck ‎(77676)

Game of Thrones (TV) ‎(77361)

Good Omens (TV) ‎(76805)

陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) ‎(73444)

DCU ‎(71054)

ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure ‎(70648)

Undertale (Video Game) ‎(68959)

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin ‎(67854)

Star Trek ‎(67221)

Doctor Who ‎(65172)

Doctor Who (2005) ‎(65166)

呪術廻戦 | Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime) ‎(65109)

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett ‎(63727)

Once Upon a Time (TV) ‎(62211)

Avatar: The Last Airbender ‎(61743)

Hetalia: Axis Powers ‎(61343)

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy ‎(59581)

Iron Man (Movies) ‎(59158)

EXO (Band) ‎(58948)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types ‎(58055)

Hannibal (TV) ‎(56796)

Thor (Movies) ‎(56604)

I'm seeing some truly gargantuan franchises and their network of metatags, top Weekly Shounen Jump manga that are mega bestsellers far, far beyond how much any shojo manga sells in Japan, some of the biggest musical groups and most popular youtubers in the world, etc.

Some of these do seem a lot more popular with the AO3 crowd than the world in general, of course. It's not an exact 1:1 causal relationship between media's audience/impact and how much fic writers care or how much fic writers on AO3 care. It's certainly possible for fandom to make fetch happen with a relatively less popular canon; it's just not the default and not driving the big overall numbers.

I look at The Untamed and (often mistagged) MDZS) being on this list and I think of all those hot fanvids for f/f Chinese dramas.

I keep seeing fans watch one, go "Okay, I have got to watch that next!" only to be disappointed that the canon is a handful of 5-minute episodes, not some epic 50-episode thing like the censored m/m ones and the bromance ones and the het ones get. They want The Untamed-but-with-ladies, not the reality of those canons. I suppose there are some nominally-straight series with two female leads and not a heavy focus on a het romance with just a single female lead, but the one I'm thinking of was reportedly godawful and the people who saw potential between the women had no interest in writing fic about it.

Do any of those f/f c-novels have good translations? That's not what brings the big fic crowds (it's the adaptations that do that), but maybe I should try reading a few. I just keep getting turned off of Chinese webnovels in general by dodgy translations.

[yumeka-sxf]

A chronological analysis on Twilight and Yor - Part 9

*This is part of an ongoing post series. If you missed the Introduction/Part 1, click here*

----------

Disclaimer:

This post discusses an episode in which the chronology of the anime differs significantly compared to the manga: in the manga, Yor's "bullet-in-the-butt" date with Loid occurs much earlier, sometime after Yuri's first visit but before Bond's introduction. This makes it their first date in the manga, before their date at the bar. The anime changed it to much later in the series, even altering it slightly so Bond is included. Since I'm prioritizing the manga chronology for this post series, I will be basing my analysis on that.

---

Twilight and Yor's first date episode is where we see the extent of what I mentioned before where Twilight has become much more prone to lose his cool when it comes to his (fake) family versus anyone else. He misinterprets Yor's scowl and immediate retreat to her room as her being upset with him. He doesn't even hide his shocked expression as he panics about how he's been asking too much of her lately and that's why she's upset.

As one dating activity after another fails, he frets about how his plan was a failure and he should have done more research. All his reactions in this chapter go back to another thing I mentioned before where he rarely blames others when things in his missions go wrong, especially when it comes to Yor and Anya. Rather than be angry at Yor for being seemingly unappreciative of all the fun activities he put together, he instead blames himself! (which is actually something Yor would do…maybe her imposter syndrome is rubbing off on him!)

This is one reason why Twilight and Yor stand out as a couple – they never display any ill will towards each other. For most other (future) couples, especially in anime/manga, at least one of them is often very brashly in denial about their feelings for the other, to the point of always bantering with or even openly insulting them…a standard example of "you always hurt the one you love." Of course, one could argue that the reason Twilight and Yor are always nice to each other is because it's in their own best interests to remain a (fake) happy family. But as I discussed before, even if Twilight has to constantly lie to others to get what he wants, there's no reason he'd have to lie in his own thoughts. And yet, in all these cases – when drunk Yor almost beat him up at the castle, when her training resulted in Anya getting a tonitrus, and now, when she's seemingly ungrateful for all the nice places he took her to for their date, he still doesn't get upset with her.

Has he been like this with other women he's faked relationships with? At this point in the series, we've only gotten a short glimpse of one of these relationships in the very first episode. But in that case, he's certainly not against insulting his fake partner if he feels it's justified, since we see him passive aggressively tell Karen off before breaking up with her. Of course, this could only be because he no longer needed Karen and so he didn't have to hide his dislike for her anymore. It's hard to say exactly how Twilight's relationship with Yor compares to other women, but what can be said is that he seems more likely to lose his composure when Yor or Anya are in distress than anything else on his missions.

Similar to the Berlint Aqualand visit, this chapter is peak Spy x Family humor where Twilight, Yor, and/or other characters around them have to hide something, so they lie about it, which causes others to humorously misinterpret their actions, which then causes them to misinterpret their misinterpretation…and all the while Anya knows exactly what's going on and thinks they're oh so silly (but she'll do everything she can to help them keep up their silly facade!) In Twilight's case, he wrongly thinks Yor is upset with him and he has to cheer her up. But on Yor's side, she thinks it's a learning experience where Loid is trying to teach her how to be a proper wife to keep up their charade.

Considering all that we know about Yor and her low self-image, it makes sense that she would never think he would ask her on a date because he genuinely liked her. As always, she only sees herself as a means to someone else's end. On the other hand, if Yor had asked Twilight out, he would probably assume that she had feelings for him. But, as we'll see later on during their date at the bar, due to him being the way he is, his reaction to that knowledge would be completely amiss.

When Yor has a reprieve from her injury, she's able to finally express her appreciation to Loid for all he did that night. She admits that she never had much time for fun since she was always busy taking care of Yuri, so doing all these activities with him meant a lot to her. We then get another "softly emphasized" scene (more so in the manga) from Loid's POV of her smiling sincerely at him as she tells him she'd like to go on a date again sometime. He smiles back and says he'd like that too.

Does he truly feel that way, or is he just saying that because he knows it's what she wants to hear? Like many other similar instances, it's debatable if Twilight is speaking what he truly feels or because it's "for the mission." But as I've mentioned before, Endo does give us subtle hints when he wants to show that Twilight is genuinely feeling something about what's going on around him, whether it's by adding an extra panel that focuses on his expression changing, or in this case, giving us a "softly emphasized" scene of another character from his perspective, along with a "..." in his dialogue before he responds. But whether "for the mission" was the only driver behind Twilight's response or not, it's clear at this point in the series that spending time with Yor is not something he dislikes (especially if he doesn't think she's upset with him the whole time!) Also, despite his comment about not understanding women in the last scene, he obviously hasn't given up on his dating abilities, since he'll ask Yor on another date not too long later.

Continue to Part 10 ->

<- Return to Part 8

[chongoblog]

FUCK IT IM GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE PRESTIGE (2006) WHICH IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE EVER

Okay this was originally just gonna be a silly addition to a shitpost but I'm dedicating a whole ass post so I can gush about The Prestige (2006), which is my favorite movie of all time.

Before I go into it, here's what it's about. Some of you may be familiar with the plot of The Prestige, but for those of you who aren't, do not be alarmed, the summary that you're about to read is considered safe. And any spoilers are after the read more.

The Prestige is a movie directed by Christopher Nolan, who also did Memento, Inception, and Dark Knight, which are all also incredible, but I'll save rambles on those for a later day or for a white guy who makes film-based video essays on Youtube. The story revolves around two rival magicians played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, leading to it being called "Batman vs. Wolverine: Magic Edition ft. David Bowie". Oh yeah also David Bowie is in this as Nikola Tesla. The movie opens with a magic show that ends with the death of Wolverine, with Batman being the primary suspect. The story is framed as Batman reading through Wolverine's diary in jail as they attempt to learn one another's tricks.

Just like any magic show, learning the secret to the tricks reframes parts of the movie, so I'm putting the actual analysis behind this spoiler cut. If you haven't seen The Prestige yourself, PLEASE find a way to watch it. I can't recommend it enough.

Okay, now that the noobs are gone, I'm gonna refer to them by Angier and Borden instead of Wolverine and Batman. And now that you know the twist because you TOTALLY didn't open the read more without watching it, we'll call the surviving Borden twin "Fallon", since the difference between the two twins is a very big part of the movie.

Before I go into anything I'm gonna say this miscellaneous thing because I literally just realized it after loving this movie for YEARS. This story contains the feud of two visionaries who constantly sabotaged and stole from one another while they tried to do amazing things in their field, and such a feud led to some significant violence. But anyway, enough talking about Tesla and Edison, let's get onto the actual story of Angier and Borden. (As snarky as that comparison was, it really adds to the speeches Tesla gives Angier, along with the parallel between cats and birds but thats a whole other rant)

One thing I adore about the movie is that it addresses a theme of sacrifice in exchange for spectacle. Sacrifices had to be made in order to put on a show. Borden obviously knew this perfectly well, since he was actively playing out that sacrifice. But Angier was obsessed with discovering a way to bypass that sacrifice. You can see this with how Borden's far less bothered by killing birds while Angier has Cutter create contraptions to save the birds. Angier begins to understand the sacrifice while using a double, but even the sacrifice of being under the stage while the audience applauds is too much for him. In the end, Angier DOES sacrifice, but also doesn't. His sacrifice isn't half of his life in the way Borden/Fallon's is (with each one living half of a life), but living half of the life by way of Russian Roulette (with entering the machine either killing him or letting him live his full life). Ironically the "die or live a full life" thing comes back for the Borden/Fallon combo in the end.

And you could be forgiven for thinking that perhaps since Angier is attempting to find a way to create spectacle without harm, he's in the right here. After all, in the end, the only thing he's truly sacrificing is himself. While Borden/Fallon's lifelong sacrifice had a dramatic impact on Sally and Olivia (the two main characters who truly did nothing wrong and did not deserve this), if Angier just did this trick and called it a day, it wouldn't hurt anyone except his own clones, which seemed to accept the coin flip. But the other aspect of Angier (and to a somewhat lesser extent Borden, and to an WAY LESSER extent Fallon) is obsession with being the best. And in terms of that particular theme, I think that the film says all it needs to about that.

I'm sure I could go on, but I've spent the last few days adding more and more to this draft so I figure I should just let it go into the world. I love this movie so so much you guys.....

[mysterypigeon]

once and for all, what does that mean?

There’s a lot of Crane Wives songs that are obviously connected to others. Scars and Never Love an Anchor are the real fallout of something that happened to Emilee and what she wishes that person had felt, Icarus and How To Rest repeat “It’s okay, it’s okay” at the beginning and end of their album. Glacier House feeds directly into Tongues and Teeth, but Back To The Ground features a very similar howl and both songs work as pairs to Tongues and Teeth. Notably, most of these songs are off The Fool In Her Wedding Gown.

CONSIDER: Steady, Steady and Once and For All.

(Disclaimer: I do think Once and For All is about someone who can’t bring themselves to leave their partner. Silly analysis below. I’m also going to refer to the characters as S and O. I can’t keep saying “the singer”.)

Steady, Steady is a song about feeling trapped by marriage and asking your partner to leave everything behind to live a wilder life with you. The singer eventually offers to get married if her partner promises not to be trapped by tradition, and by the final chorus she gives up on them.

Once and For All features a number of lyrics about a drawn-out conflict, being left in the dust, and trying to let your partner go.

“I tried it your way, you tried it mine” is a simple example of conflict. The first verse establishes this fight and the singer’s eventual resistance.

The second verse is really fun to apply to Steady, Steady’s story. O sings that they tried to fight for the relationship for S, but when O’s love grew restrictive to their partner and O decided they did actually want to get married, S pulled away and broke O’s heart. The second half of this verse, “Remember, you're the one that gave up when my blood runs dry You could still carry me away but you'd leave me here to die”, echoes the language in Steady, Steady, where the singer promises to run and chase her dreams down. She begs her partner to keep up but does ultimately give up on them when they won’t follow.

“You could still carry me away” seems a little contradictory in this framing, but O could be asking S to bring them away from the “battlefield” they’re suffering on- instead, S picks her dreams over them.

Verse three! This is fairly simple, too- O is feeling torn apart by the loss of their love and her sudden departure. Applying the story of Steady, Steady, O seems conflicted over whether or not to leave, and used to plan it with S. The suffocating tradition that S is freeing herself from is the same that O is left to drown in.

THE BRIDGE!!! This is the entire reason I made this post. Stick with me.

“Once and for all, what does that mean? It’s a promise I’m making that I don’t actually believe.”

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC AFTER “believe”!!! It sounds hauntingly like the faster parts of Steady, Steady. (To me, at least. I just listened to it another fifteen times and I may be making things up.) Back to the lyrics.

At this point, O is trying to get over S, and close the door on their love. They’ve tried so many times. But a part of them is still wishing they were running free with S, like they planned. And another part is wishing she had stayed and married them.

do uh. do you see the vision

[pokelolmc]

The Ultimate Enemy is a Disappointment (and How I'd Fix It) (Part 1)

A couple years back, I started analysing a list of DP episodes I thought had missed potential--and my analysis on TUE got SO big I made it its own thing. I rewrote it to death and could never settle on something concise enough, so I abandoned it. But I'm BACK baby. I can't remember where it is now, but I came across a poll on whether Reign Storm or TUE is the better special and the discourse reignited my passion for this analysis, and gave me motivation to trim off some of the fat.

Don't get me wrong, at the end of the day I do like this episode--or at least its ideas. I really liked the episode the less I thought about it, but now I see issue after issue in its execution. Hence, the "disappointment": it could've been great, but it missed the mark. This won't just be a one-sided roast of TUE, though. I have a ton of cool ideas for how to rewrite plot holes or fill in the gaps. The best roasts are constructive! (Though I would be rewriting it in a more mature fashion compared to canon's writing--keep that in mind).

Part 2 is now up: you can find it here.

So here we go: Part 1--the general plot contrivances/contradictions unrelated to Dan's character or the time travel system.

The episode introduced taking off the Time Medallions as a way to immediately return to one’s native time period, but then forgot this late into the second act.

Technically this plot hole involves time travel devices, but I'm counting it as a plot hole by character decisions.

The episode gives no explicit rules on lag time between removing the medallion and returning home, but it takes only one to two seconds to return Skulktech to the future after they dropped theirs, and it had to have been instant for Sam and Tucker to return to the past in time to escape rubble falling from FentonWorks (which was only roughly two to three stories high, not counting the Ops Centre).

Danny should’ve been sent back almost instantly when Dan took his medallion off—which would’ve completely defeated the purpose of Dan’s attempt to trap Danny there in the first place.

If they wanted to keep the plot point, they could’ve just had Dan grab the medallion and turn it intangible while it’s still around Danny’s neck…and that’s assuming that making it intangible while Danny’s still tangible doesn’t count as “removal”. That’s it. He never needed to remove it to begin with.

2. The Nasty Sauce explosion just…sucks. In my opinion, it’s too silly for the tone the episode’s trying to go for (and as a cause of major character death), and it wrecks the worldbuilding.

I tried to put it in way more verbose ways in my previous drafts, but I found another post somewhere on tumblr that did what I couldn’t—say it in three words:

“It’s just stupid.”

Assuming that semi-realistic laws exist in-place in the Danny Phantom universe (so it’s BASICALLY similar to ours) the Nasty Burger shouldn’t have been able to stay in business without a LOT of red tape, cover-ups and NDA’s. They had an explosive substance on premises, being taken care of by unqualified, minimum-wage part-timers instead of trained chemical safety specialists. Forget handling it, they shouldn’t have even had it in the first place! If they got it by going UNDER the law and covering everything up, then one of their employees shouldn’t have been able to just CONFESS to it at a public school assembly.

It also sounds ridiculous that a “certain combination of secret herbs and spices” could catastrophically combust in the first place. They could’ve made the explosion ghost-powered/altered; they could’ve made it not the sauce itself, but a pressure issue with its containment vats; they could’ve made it a gas leak or malfunction of cooking equipment starting a fire, or something. They could’ve made the explosion a Fenton invention at their home (where the whole family had reason to be at once, and Mr Lancer could hold the parent-teacher conference there like in Teacher of the Year). They've used more serious threats of explosion in previous episodes (like the Ecto-Filtrator in Million Dollar Ghost).

And instead they decided “Yep! This commonly sold and digested sauce is a dangerous explosive, and even a small handout serving is enough to blow clean through a wall when it’s heated up!” This is how we're going to kill all of the main characters' loved ones to send him on a villain arc!

Like what?

Nowhere else after TUE did the show acknowledge the Nasty Sauce in worldbuilding. There were no consequences of its risk being publicly revealed, nor did it ever pose a hazard again. It’s understandable, given the show’s episodic nature. Bu at least in The Ultimate Enemy itself, they should've thought about how it affected most of the previous episodes.

During his fight with Boxed Lunch, one of Danny's ectoblasts to a sauce packet demolishes an entire section of wall in the Nasty Burger. So how hadn’t any ghost fights ignited any Nasty Sauce before—or damaged the main vat, god forbid—and caused an explosion already?

If the sauce was always a part of the Nasty Burger’s recipe, then the entire restaurant was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off since season one, and nothing short of a miracle could explain why it hadn’t happened before.

3. This episode committed character assassination of Mr Lancer, for the sake of setting up stakes in the plot. And contradicted his personality changes in previous episodes (such as “Teacher of the Year”).

Mr Lancer, in my opinion, is the character done the single dirtiest in the episode. It warps his entire character around the plot, and turns him into a contrived mouthpiece for how important the CAT is. It leaves him even more malicious and mean-spirited than his behaviour in the first episode of the entire show—leaving him even worse than he started.

He didn’t have much character development, but there were some more positive changes happening in his personality as later episodes occurred. He started out as a selfish, corrupt authority figure (think Mystery Meat, Fright Night and other S1 episodes where he deliberately lets the jocks off the hook for their behaviour), but unwittingly acts in favour of the main characters in “Fanning the Flames”—although ineffective and easily taken down by Ember.

By the time of “Teacher of the Year”, we finally got a glimpse into his (albeit scant) ideology as a teacher around helping his students succeed, and his concern for Danny’s failing grades.

It even revealed his personal interest in Doomed, which gave him more in common with Danny and Tucker and humanised him in way a few other episodes hadn’t. Season two even demonstrated his (albeit brief) willingness to stand up and defend his students from a ghost attack in “Memory Blank”. Lancer, for a brief period of time, became more than just his job, book title swears and his frustration with rebellious students.  

We're talking about the teacher who, in the early 2000s, kept a picture of himself crossdressing at school to convince his students to try their best with a "story about his sister".

The Ultimate Enemy, however, took Mr Lancer’s humanity towards the students—particularly Danny—and flipped it all on its head. It turned him into an elitist, mean-spirited asshole who verbally attacked his students (past and present) based on their performances on this single. Fucking. Test.

They made Mr. “there is no cheat code in school, or in life” Lancer into a cruel enforcer of the hamfisted and childish importance of the CAT. Actual “get rich vs dead-end, minimum-wage job” propaganda.

(Teacher of the Year)

And... one season later:

(that sure sounds like a cheat code in life to me)

To add insult to injury, TUE used Lancer’s death as the butt of a joke directly after spending the majority treating him like a total asshole—following up character assassination with literal assassination , and excluding him from the rest of the explosion victims in their memorial.

It feels to me, that it'd make more sense for Mr Lancer to be sceptical of the importance of the CAT based on TOTY. Replace him in the assembly with Principal Ishiyama or something. A stickler-for-the-rules school administrator looking to boost the school's image by pressuring kids on a standardised test? That ABSOLUTELY makes sense.

Mr Lancer could still be seen as a threat (or someone Danny can't reach out to for help), but in the department of simply being an authority figure Danny's used to dodging around with his ghost activities. Someone who'd still enforce consequences for Danny getting caught cheating. Someone who'd get his parents involved. He's the closest thing Danny could have to any level of support at Casper High, and Danny could think he's even lost THAT.

4. The way Danny got the CAT answers was contrived, and broke the previously established rules of ghost intangibility.

To cut a long story short, Boxed Lunch’s fight with Danny shouldn’t have gotten the test answers stuck to Danny’s back. Danny immediately turned intangible in anticipation of the explosion, and was thrown outside the Nasty Burger and through Mr. Lancer’s briefcase before turning tangible again.

That didn’t make sense; the series previously established that ghosts (in this case, halfas) were physically unaffected by explosions when intangible. “Million-Dollar Ghost” even demonstrated it when Vlad escaped his castle’s explosion in the same manner, and was left completely unmoved from his position at ground zero. The sauce packet explosion shouldn’t have even moved Danny out of place, let alone flung him out of the building (especially not compared to Vlad and an Ecto-filtrator explosion).

On top of that, the test answers couldn’t have gotten stuck to his back while he passed through the suitcase, as Danny was intangible and the answers sheet was solid. Even if it were possible for already intangible ghosts to grab onto tangible objects and bring them into intangibility, that’d certainly require conscious intention that Danny didn’t have in the episode.  The test answers got stuck to his back by sheer accident on his part. Bringing other objects into tangibility always previously involved a tangible ghost grabbing hold of other tangible people/objects and consciously willing them intangible together. Ergo, he should’ve simply passed through the suitcase and its contents all at once—go to the other side, pass go, do not collect CAT cheat sheet.

The solution for this one is pretty simple—just remove the scene entirely. Not only does it break the lore, but it’s entirely pointless and redundant (more on that later when I talk about Clockwork—giving Danny the answers was his idea, and it was a terrible one). Instead, it would’ve been much more compelling if Danny stole the answers on purpose with his ghost powers—being put under so much pressure to succeed that he felt like he had to forgo his morals and use his powers to cheat.

[sunnysideaeggs]

hi it’s sunny, back with episode 7 analysis 🥰✨ read if you like, long post and all that. have a great day loves!

i really like the embroidery of sunfyre and meleys side by side, who’s the man with the sword, criston?

take a shot every time rhaenyra reminds the characters that ‘she’s queen’ 🤡🤡🤡 anyone that says they’re king is no true king or whatever tywin said

orwyle and alicent gossiping, alexa play girl so confusing by charli xcx

she gave everything and it wasn’t enough, because viserys never intended for her blood to matter and not aemond doesn’t care about her words

when will otto bring his cats? :( the rats are out of control

aemond continues to undo everything aegon did, including the naming of his kingsguard. can’t be plotting against the king when his friends are around.

jasper and larys, two bad bitches plotting together. battle of brains and curls.

funny that the woman with three bastards forgot that people have bastards lol. idk if they did that to make her naive or what

somehow rhae twists her life-long privilege to have bastards and not end up dead as a affront on poor her, so disenfranchised and helpless :( lmao

it irks me that daemon is called ‘king consort’ instead of ‘prince consort’. how am i supposed to trust this show as politically accurate if they don’t even use the proper title

where is oscar’s regent? do they think that kids and teens were really commanding armies? robb is an exception not the rule

finally some politicking in the black side. that kid is so cat and i love him already lol.

the king is in pain :( orwyle ily but chiropractic treatment needs to wait for a bit.

larys just barging in, i have two thoughts: 1) nobody respects the king’s orders and does whatever they want, 2) larys thought aegon was being killed and interrupted it.

also who tf is that kingsguard that just stands by instead of helping the king? smh must be an aemond plant

didn’t the grand maester had nurses or something that could be helping? also the kingsguard could but aemond just replaced egg’s friends with his own loyalists

there is no way in hell that they’re letting alicent just go on a camping trip in the woods alone, just after the riot of the sept. wtf?

not jace being butchered so his mother can look good 💀 he was the one with the idea, now he’s classist? be fr

he raises good points though

ooooh finally some exploration on jace! rhaenyra didn’t think shit about politics when she got involved with harwin, they both thought with the pants not about what issues would it cause to jace

bruh hugh son of saera? are we supposed to believe that she ended up in a flea bottom brothel instead of a luxurious pleasure house in lys?

lmao the dragon keepers unionizing against andals. no songs for vermithor? do the dragons just accept commands from any targaryen or is rhae rhae special?

rhaenyra in front of the mouth of a bronze dragon is peak foreshadowing lol (if they butcher it i will riot)

that poor first guy, he had obvious burn scars and was scared yet tried to claim a dragon and got killed. he might’ve done better with another dragon but he didn’t get to pick hmm?

leaving smallfolk to die, so fun!

i like to think that this scene is what makes hugh betray the blacks later. he learned that the queen he supported didn’t care about his kind so why should he care about hers

aemond is hot. i hate him but he’s hot.

bruh the three dragons together look kinda silly but go off ig

i don’t think they will be able to convey the dance with only one season more

they’re probably doing it because after the reviews of s2 hbo doesn’t want more money wasted in a fanfic

HELAENA RIDING INTO BATTLE LETS GOOO!

i am so impressionable lol

[cerealandchoccymilk]

Trigun Bookclub: Trigun Vol.1, Chapter #02

previous | all | next

Continuation of my Trigun annotation for the book club. I'm doing a deep-read of the Japanese original print (reread) and Overhaul 1.0 (first read) side-by-side, and writing down everything I notice from small details, version differences, translation differences, etc. (and being gay about the characters <3 always important)

Here are the beloved non-analysis sillies...

And the rest is under the cut. read my notes boy!!

[link for if the images aren't in horizontal rows]

The second page has an error - 悪夢 was probably misread as 悪魔 ("happen" and "awaken" are also the same kanji). It should be "Then, the nightmare occurred." It's really cool that this still works really well considering...y'know (not saying for the first-time readers ;) )

I just love how that drawing of Vash is so cool and serious...

...and then you turn the page and he's in the most pathetic cunty pussy-out pose you've ever seen. Easily one of my favorite panels. Also made a math question for funsies. sorry to anyone who got high school flashbacks, but I absolutely loved trigonometry lmao. I could do this forever.

A little pun(?) that may or may not be intentional - In Japanese, someone with a bounty on their head is called 賞金首, lit. "bounty neck" ("neck" sometimes signifies the entire head). The locals call out for the bounty-neck right as Vash hurt his neck lol

I love how creepy Vash moves sometimes. absolute cryptid

This is entirely a Japanese-only detail, but I really loved how Vash said バヤイ (bayai) in the sobbing in French line, because my mom also says that instead of 場合 (baai) when she's being silly lmao. Also, it's notable that in Japanese, Vash says フランセ語 ("Francé-go," where "go" is the suffix for languages) which may be either another miles->iles/double-dollar situation, or just him speaking silly like バヤイ.

Also, the line after that would more accurately be "How am I supposed to deal with all these locals?"

Here, the "Really?" is actually Meryl saying something like "I'll give you a hint."

Meryl tends to be the one responsible for the braincell in fanworks but it's important to remember that she absolutely is dumb too (affectionate).

I'm so glad I wrote that reminder about Meryl's speech, but I don't think I'll be able to do it justice here when I have so much more to talk about. I'll have to write another post later, so I'll link it when it's done. The gist is that she talks like a stereotypical high-class anime girl, and the trope is from how a similar demographic in Meiji-era Japan actually spoke.

The boy's pussy faces the world yet again. I love all the faces he makes!! look at him!!!!!!!!!!! he's so cute

The text on the board here was very messy and squished, but it says something like "Vash the Stampede Absolute Capture Task Force Headquarters." Honestly don't know how to fit all that into the board though so uh good luck on that for 2.0... Also dear god Vash has so much energy... He's just been running for 3 hours straight...!!

Fun fact: the equivalent idiom to "fight fire with fire" in Japanese is "use poison on poison."

Love how Nebraska is just like "no we didn't jailbreak, we just let ourselves out :/"

Translation error for Milly and the chairman - Milly is saying "Why do things keep getting worse and worse!?" and the chairman is mumbling "What's the deal with you two..."

Showing some love for his pretty pretty eyes..........(gives him so many smooches in my head)("i can imagine anything" image)(can't add it because i reached the 30 image limit)

The "Freeze!" is actually untranslated, just re-typed to match the surrounding font. Also, that panel is the first time Vash's antennae is shown bent!! It goes back up immediately after that though.

Fun fact #2. Vash says ara ara. if you even care.

This line never fails to hit me hard. They're all desperate mothers and sisters, and they're taking on the bad role because nothing's more important than their dear children. (reminds me of a certain someone...)

I've seen someone mention this before, but Trimax definitely adjusted the number of plants. Fifty!?!? Also, in Japanese, "plants" and "died" were in quotations.

I love the gun pull in the right panel. Vash obviously definitely doesn't intend on shooting, but is rather showing off his skill and resolve as an intimidation tactic to throw the girls off-guard.

God this entire spread is just so RAW.... (here's the post that's mentioned in blue. it just reminded me)

Some more hypes and sillies. The impact that "KISS MY ASS!!" had on my first read was phenomenal!! It's so silly!! and cool!!!

And then there's this!! Another favorite part of mine. Vash's antennae are bent again! They kind of alternate between straight and bent from here.

The green writing about the onomatopoea are more of just a translation note rather than a suggestion. I can't think of any good beckoning noises in English :V

And finally, Milly calls "Mr. Bomb" "Bomb-kun" in Japanese which I think yall would enjoy lol. And happy strangling her saturday tuesday.

The Japanese version of the annotations are in the reblogs, if anyone wants them.

I have Chapter #03 mostly ready, so I'll probably post it tomorrow morning and try to speedrun the rest of the chapters because this is taking longer than I expected!! God there's just so much to say!! (Also gotta remember to write about Meryl's speech!!)

And thank yall so much for the feedback on the Chapters #00-01 post!! I didn't know so many people were interested in such small details!! Love (and peace) yall 🫶🤞

[galaxyzone]

Little Hope MBTI character analysis

A little while ago, I made this post where I typed all of the DPA characters as their possible MBTI types. I enjoyed thinking about it, so I thought I would go ahead and share my analysis for each of the characters!😊

Starting with the Little Hope characters because @delurkr expressed interest, so thank you!😊 Currently working on the MoM characters, so I will also post those as soon as I'm done❤

Here are my analysis posts for all the games!

All analysis under the cut bc it's kinda long lol

Andrew (INFJ): Andrew was one of the easiest DPA characters for me to type. INFJs are the "Advocate" or the "Counselor." Both INFJs and ENFJs typically fill the role of the group mediator, due to their combination of Introverted Intuition (Ni) and Extroverted Feeling (Fe). For INFJs, Ni is their primary cognitive function, which essentially relates to their desire to figure things out. They find themselves in their own head very often, trying to make sense of various concepts or ideas. We see this with Andrew, as he spends the majority of the game trying to figure out what's going on and how they're connected with their doubles from the past. Fe is INFJ's secondary cognitive function, which relates to the "mediator" or "counselor" aspect of their personality type. Andrew pleads for the other characters to stop their fighting when it's clear to him that the arguing is not helping them figure out what's going on. Finally, INFJs essentially have a "chameleon" personality, which enables them to get along with almost any type of personality. We also see this with Andrew, as he's the only character who gets along pretty well with every other character. At the same time, unfortunately, this can also make it hard for them to really know who they truly are, and it can also make it harder for other people to understand the INFJ as well as the INFJ understands others. I personally believe I am an INFJ myself and I related a lot to Andrew tbh, so I feel pretty good about this typing haha

Taylor (ENFP): ENFPs are the "Campaigner" or the "Champion." An ENFP's primary function is Extroverted Intuition, which Taylor certainly exhibits with her consistent desire to see if there's another path or another way to go about things, for example. Ne also has a tendency to want to focus on big picture stuff, rather than small details. Taylor recognizes that the town of Little Hope sucks and has some bad mojo going on, and she's more interested in simply getting out than she is in determining just why it sucks. I also believe her Ne is the reason she wanted to stay at the bus instead of going further into the town, because she had a feeling that the town was bad news. Speaking of feelings, an ENFP's secondary function is Introverted Feeling, which Taylor definitely exhibits when she opens up to Daniel about finally feeling like part of the group. She talks about what does and what doesn't feel right to her, which is a big indicator of Fi. Fi users have strong beliefs and base their morals off of what they feel is right or wrong, rather than basing them off of what other people feel is right or wrong. Taylor knows how she feels about the town and she is willing to fight on behalf of her feelings & beliefs, which we see her do when she argues with John about it. ENFPs are also very spirited, high-energy people, just like Taylor. They can be a little silly and they're not afraid to be themselves, as they often have their own ways of doing things. I feel pretty good about typing Taylor as a spirited ENFP!

Daniel (ESFP): I went back and forth on Daniel, but I feel good about typing him as ESFP. ESFPs are the "Entertainer" or the "Performer." An ESFP's primary function is Extroverted Sensing, which relates to seeking out experiences and simply wanting to do things, even if it's just for the sake of doing them. Upon Daniel & Taylor being returned to the group through the fog, Daniel immediately has to go back through the fog to see if it happens again. He doesn't stop to think about it, he just does it because he doesn't want to waste any time pondering what just happened. When you think about the scientific method, the step of hypothesizing comes before the actual experimentation; but not for Se users- they always skip right to the actual experiment so they can reach their conclusion faster. Daniel also doesn't hesitate to reach for the little girl hiding in the playground, and there are also a few other instances where he acts immediately. Similar to ENFPs, an ESFP's secondary function is also Introverted Feeling. When Taylor objects to Angela about the idea of Daniel being her boyfriend, Daniel immediately takes it personally, believing that Taylor doesn't want to think of him that way. He seeks reassurance from her, and it's interesting to see 2 secondary Fi users try to reassure each other throughout the game. Similar to Taylor, Daniel knows how he feels about the town and about what's happening to their doubles, and he is also willing to fight for his own beliefs.

Angela (ISTJ): ISTJs are the "Logistician" or the "Inspector." An ISTJ's primary function is Introverted Sensing, which relates to simply observing facts and taking things for what they are. Si is different from Se in that, while Se users just want to do things, Si users tend to watch things and make their judgments based off of what they observe. Angela acknowledging the fact that her demon only started pursuing her once her double was executed is an example of Si. She doesn't need to analyze why the demon chased her after her double was drowned, it's enough for her to understand that your double dies = a demon tries to kill you. ISTJs are very fact-oriented due to their Si. An ISTJ's secondary function is Extroverted Thinking, which typically lends itself well to administrative or leadership roles. This could be why Angela criticizes John's leadership and his inability to make decisions- because her Te would arguably make her a better leader, and it can sometimes frustrate Te users when they have to follow someone who doesn't lead with the same decisiveness. An ISTJ's primary Si mixed with their secondary Te can also cause them to make blunt observations about people, which is similar to how Angela outright refers to Daniel as Taylor's boyfriend upon observing that the 2 of them seem to like spending so much time together. All in all, Angela is a very practical ISTJ character who isn't afraid to say things like they are and she doesn't want to mess around.

John (ENTP): John was definitely one of the hardest DPA characters for me to type, as I'm still going back & forth on him tbh. He's definitely a T type, but I don't believe he's a J type, as xxTJs are typically more assertive & sure of their decisions, which we know is something John struggles with. I also believe he's an intuitive rather than a sensor, so that narrows it to xNTP. Here's where it gets tricky: choosing between INTP & ENTP isn't as simple as figuring out whether he's more introverted or extroverted. The question is whether his primary function is Extroverted Intuition or Introverted Thinking. I can definitely see him being an ENTP, as they are known for "playing Devil's Advocate," which John arguably does by accusing Mary of being the source of evil within Little Hope. ENTPs are the "Debater" or the "Visionary." ENTPs like to question almost anything and everything as a way to learn more about the world in which they live. They will never back down from an intellectual challenge, and they're also not afraid to question other people on their ideas or points of view. We can see John do this, as he's not afraid to disagree with the other characters when they give their opinion on what's going on. He challenges Taylor on her desire to wait at the bus, he challenges Andrew on his stance of trying to defend Mary, etc. His primary Ne mixes with his secondary Ti to think outside the box and work to discover other possibilities that make sense to him & what he believes to be true. He humors Taylor & Daniel about their claim that the fog led them back to the group, he proposes the idea to Andrew to burn the poppet they find in the museum in case it's the source of the evil, he tries to think of any possible ways that they can help their doubles from the past. I think I feel good saying he's an ENTP!

[problematicbyler]

my question with a lot of the takes that i’ve seen where they want to draw a line somewhere, whether that be at fantasizing or specificity or the takes being boring is like,, do they not read smut? ik some people don’t and that’s obviously fine like don’t read something if you don’t want to read it. but i feel like ive seen a lot of people say “stop having weird boring takes and actually write a fic instead of just fantasizing about it” and i think that’s such a strange take because something tells me not one of those people would be happier having more explicit fics saturate ao3. to me a lot of this feels like people are personally uncomfy with more nsfw content (which again is Obviously fine everyone has their own limits which should be respected and i don’t think anyone who just is saying nah it’s not for me and not making it a moral issue should be called puritans especially cuz sex can be a really sensitive topic for some people and i think those people generally understand the nuances a lot better than others who are throwing out allegations) and want their discomfort validated or maybe just want to understand it more themselves so they jump to one of these limitations. they don’t want to say they’re completely uncomfortable with sex because they’re probably not!! there’s just something that specifically seems to irk them about this situation and they want to publicize that in a way that makes them and anyone else who sees their take feel like they are objectively right and not being mean or against sex. i bet some of them have read smut (for other fandoms or even for byler) and maybe even enjoyed it but maybe felt icky or guilty and they want to justify that and not feel like they’re the weird ones or too sensitive or like kink shaming. i also bet some of them haven’t read any smut and don’t understand that it’s not all self insert (not that there’s anything wrong with that but tbh ive seen none of that on ao3 for byler and ive seen a lot of takes saying people want to have sec with teens and are making self insert fantasies about it when ive seen actually zero evidence of anyone doing that) and that it’s mostly using these characters who we love and project onto as vessels to explore different scenarios (emotional and physical) in a safe place that anyone who knows what they don’t like and knows how to read tags on ao3 won’t be negatively affected by.

(i also just want to say that the take that it’s boring and lazy content is so silly considering head cannons are literally the backbone of any fandom like we are all here to put them in situations we don’t already see them in in canon and “fantasize” about how they would react (except for people might use the word “think” or “speculate” when referring to non explicit head cannons) and also the fact that there’s a non explicit polls account that doesn’t get any flack for posting polls with the same level of frivolousness (not a bad thing, i like them too) and those are allowed to be just good old fun but once you add sex to the mix suddenly everyone only wants content that is serious and exclusively canon relevant)

yes!!!! being uncomfy with smut is fine!!!! but moralizing it and shaming people who do like smut is not fine!!!! all we are asking is for people to mind their own business and take control of curating their online experiences instead of taking it out on people for making content they don't like!!!

and yes!!! why are headcanons considered gross sexualized fantasies? like to me so much of sex is psychological so when i'm talking about kinks or who likes x thing more or what their sexual dynamic is like.... to me that's just another level of analysis and examining the character.

nothing further to add because i 100000000% agree to all of the above. thank you for the message!

[trobedgirldads]

Hey, I'm working on my Cooliver fic. Do you have a list of episodes that are best to rewatch to get their personalities and dynamics?

okay first of all i’m honored that you thought to ask me. second of all, i’m sorry i took forever to reply but i realized i didn’t have a list so i put one together lol

the otto motto (s1 e18) is the first time the idea of oliver being gay is mentioned

the walk (s1 e 20) is sooo important for cooper. first time we see his real personality instead of just his cool kid facade. also iirc this is the first appearance of “move on to your next point”

boo-who? (s2 e5) is pretty good for early oliver. it’s got his sass, some insecurities, a touch of scheming and ofc his iconic scream. cooper’s not in it tho.

blondetourage (s2 e11) is so iconic for them. the sneakers, the phone scheme. “i’m already riding bitch on your vespa.”

all coupled up (s2 e17) is their first big fight, so if you’re writing a fight/argument this is a good one. also some good cooper & katie moments.

it’s hard to say goodbye (s2 e19) is another one without cooper, but if you’re writing sad oliver this is such a good reference; he’s really well written and acted in this episode. the cgi tears take me out tho 😭😭

here we go again (s3 e2) has them work through conflicts and like resolve a fight without intervention from katie/greg. i love them <3. absolutely banger episode for each of them individually, and them as a duo.

enemies: an otto story (s3 e4) has a good oliver scheme, and he gets cooper in on it. cooper talking about tagging along to boarding school with him makes me feel things.

trust me (s3 e5) is the absolutely iconic scooby-doo halloween costumes/making out practice episode that every cooliver writer has written about. i think it’s the first time cooper is seriously brought into the whole “oliver might be gay” bit, but i might be wrong about that (i know cooper’s mentioned the first time it’s ever brought up, but i think this is the first time he really seems like a piece of the puzzle)

body image (s3 e6) again, no cooper, but very good for insecure oliver

mo’ money, mo’ problems (s3 e13) is also so iconic in my brain. idk how genuinely important it is to either of their development, but it means a lot to me. i can’t remember who it was, but someone on here posted a really good analysis of cooper in this episode and how he’s lying to try to get oliver to not go to the party, which could be useful depending what you’re writing. also this is the first time cooper calls katie and greg mom and dad :(

insta-friends (s3 e16) is another big fight for them, and also some serious cooper daddy/mommy issues. this one isn’t super helpful for individual oliver, but it’s great for individual cooper and their dynamic when they’re mad at each other

field trippin’ (s3 e20) is a much sillier, fluffier episode than a lot of what i have on this list. silly lil scheme gone wrong. cooper’s really only in the first like half of this one tho

a mom’s parade (s3 e22) ok so hot take i don’t really like this episode that much… you can do you is very queer coded tho so it’s going on the list lol

girls’ night out (s4 e6) is just so awesome. oliver’s really sweet towards the end, and it’s bcuz of cooper. cooliver/triplor double date mention!!! tiny touch of cooper angst. greg implying that cooper holds a similar role in the family to trip. just all of it is so perfectly cooliver. this is one of their best episodes imo

hip to be square (s4 e9) is the i love you episode!!!!!!!!!!!! them fighting and then saying they love each other!!!!!!!!!!! so interesting for their dynamic!!!

a very english scandal (s4 e14) is the one where the whole school thinks oliver is gay. the one time cooper denies being oliver’s boyfriend. overall very gay episode.

all is fair in love and war reenactment (s4 e17) is a good one for them supporting each other, but not enabling each other’s shitty behavior. really good for their dynamic, and cooper’s got some good layers in this episode

senior prank (s4 e18) ohhhhh they’re such big brothers in this one i love it so much. if you wanna write them as parents this might be a decent reference. also, not cooliver related but franklin is just so iconic in this.

vacation! (s4 e19) i’ve said it before and ill say it again: this episode feels more like a cooliver fic than an actual episode. so good for both of them as individuals, their dynamic as a couple, and how cooper fits into the otto family as a whole.

prom (s4 e20) is another one that i think is good for oliver as an individual and their relationship as a pair. also big brother cooper crumbs!! (they’re very small but they’re there and they’re important to me 😌)

graduation (s5 e1) is ofc so good if you’re writing some angst. seeing how they deal with issues involving them that seem out of their control. also more cooper fitting into the family as a whole <3

psych (s5 e2) is really good for later-seasons oliver and his need for validation. also supportive bf cooper :)

coupling (s5 e3) is the episode i show ppl if i want to get them into the show bcuz it gives such a good overview of all of the characters and their relationships with each other. more cooliver fighting if you need references for that. the couple coding in this episode is so intense.

kids these days (s5 e5) is sooooo good for their dynamic bcuz it really shows how they support each other without enabling each other. i love cooper so much in this episode. “our family” <3

mother’s little helper (s5 e6) is pretty good. shows off that no matter how much they’ve grown, they’re still just dumb teenage boys.

encourage, discourage (s5 e8) is soooo good for cooper fitting into the family as a whole.

the heist (s5 e9) chef cooper origin!!!!! oliver being a supportive bf!!! i love them!!!

getting frank with the ottos (s5 e10) is a big turning point in their relationship. once again, supportive bf oliver!! they’re so cute.

the election (s5 e13) i feel like their dynamic is a little bit weird in this episode (oliver’s like weirdly chill abt once again being confronted w the idea of cooper moving, but ig it’s bcuz he has his own stuff going on) but it’s so good for sad cooper/daddy issues cooper. this is definitely a huge one for cooper angst references

okok so this is a really big list. obvs i don’t know what the plot of your fic is or when it’s set, so some of these might be much more helpful than others depending what you’re writing. these are just my suggestions of the ones that stand out as important for them as individuals and as a duo. hope this is helpful!!!! i’m excited to read your fic if/when you post it :)

[kerubimcrepin]

Liveblog 7: episode 4

Sorry for the long wait. First I had finals in uni, then I spent a week drinking and replaying disco elysium after celebrating new years eve, sooo yeah. But, for now, until the exams, I am back.

Let's begin! :)

Joris is so quick to find him and look at what he's doing. I love how dedicated he is to it. Kerubim is just... immediately tired.

Glad to know my fic's characterization of him being tired of Joris's questions the second they're asked is still holding true.

Very well said for the guy whose house even, after cleaning, is a major death hazard. But ok.

I LOVE YOU JORIS. I won't read too much into this, because there really isn't much here, but really, Joris knows how to manipulate Keke.

Manipulating adults is kinda THE thing kids have to learn. He's very good at this.

To come back to the past post's Lou Divorce Theorising, it's important to note that both of them were equally unhinged and prone to breaking up with one another. A very deep and meaningful relationship.

We will see later what he means by "It's not my fault I have fans," in the depictions of his relationship with her that aren't censored by him being the storyteller.

AKA the fact that mostly, it means him cheating on her. Lol. I'll talk about it during one of the most important episodes of this entire show.

Anyway,

The thing is that, despite how awful they are together, he really does love her.

He can't really stop playing the role of the macho playboy who gets all the chicks, even for love, because that's his entire self-esteem, but it doesn't mean the love isn't there.

(Something-something, I will elaborate on the role of masculinity in Kerubim's story, and how it worsens his already bad, uh... mental everything. But that's a talk for not-the-literal-fourth-episode-of-the-show.)

When he thinks about her, he thinks about her silliness first and foremost, instead of her looks. Even after they part ways, he blames himself for decades. And that's love.

To be fair to him, Lou can't stop manipulating & stringing him along herself. Neither of them is a very good person.

As I've said, thats a very, uh, deep and meaningful relationship they have here.

God, I really, really love the art style of this show.

"My very own puppy-girl was catomized" that's a whole ass new sentence that's never been said before.

ANOTHER character analysis moment: What really bothers Kerubim the most isn't saving his lover, but being The Hero, especially to her. And I really think it says a lot about him, even if he does love her.

He just immediately starts congratulating himself on being a good boy, and asking her if she also thinks he's a good boy. His self-esteem is so, so bad.

Another theme of the show that is introduced early on is luck, and Kerubim's relationship with it.

I think Ecaflip just got tired of watching Keke suffer, honestly.

She only likes him on her own terms. When she gets to make him feel indebted, or lucky, but not as if she were a damsel and he were her savior.

It makes their relationship sort of one-sided, but it's far from the thing that is most toxic about it.

Let me be pretentious about this for a second, since this shot composition WAS chosen by someone, and put into the show on purpose.

The whole shot, including the two of them, is blue: the color of being non-confrontational, stagnant, and predictable. It can mean honesty and deceit, being unforgiving or free, and most of all, it is a color that often represents sadness and loss.

They are walking on water here, which is the first thing that one might notice. I will not reference the bible, in a cartoon analysis, but it does conjure up connotations of being at one's prime, and having the strength to do anything.

In comparison to the clouds which surround them, they seem like giants, walking through the sea, which conveys well how his youth must have felt — the whole world is on a platter, and his strength was larger than life.

But the storm clouds surrounding them above and below, in turn, just seem even more giant and looming.

It also brings to mind the connotations of the saying "to have one's head in the clouds." Absentminded, unknowing of the facts of the whole situation.

Overall, this shot puts their relationship well: They were young, beautiful and capable together, travelling the whole world, — but in the end, their bond is marked by sadness, because they were never willing to address their faults in time, and it drove them apart.

And most importantly, the colors disappear when she slaps him, so in a way, it is a very romanticized view on things.

Pretentious tangent over.

This is our first clue in the show that Kerubim might lie and change the stories he tells, but it is also our clue to take what we are shown seriously regardless.

True, everything shown might be in-universe fiction, but despite Kerubim's narration, we get to see exactly what happened here. So it's best to just take things as they are presented, but with a small grain of salt.

There's something to be said about the way they are both walking towards more of these storm clouds, or the way she is walking to the left (in cultures with languages that go from left to right, characters walking to the left often symbolizes moving towards the past and stagnating), with him running after her, but eh. I think I may just be reading a lot into it.

It is still fun though, no?

This whole show, in a way, he is chasing the past, telling stories of their lost love. And in a way, he'll always be chasing after her, no matter how doomed their relationship was.

Though it's a very bleak depiction, compared to one that will follow later in the show.

...Perhaps, judging from some concept art, he'll keep chasing her that way, even centuries after she stops living. But that remains to be seen, if Waven takes us there.

If that's the case, it just adds a layer of tragedy to their relationship.

Even if she never left him, they wouldn't be able to live together forever. She was mortal. He is not.

And that's all there is to say on the matter, I suppose.

(This is a small edit from future me: Kerubim can't stop talking about Indie and Lou in Dofus MMO, even though it happens 200 years after the show. Which is depressing. But I'm still waiting for him to talk about them in Waven, to decide just how depressing this all is.)

[runnning-outof-time]

So I’m a few hours removed from my Oppenheimer viewing experience, and if I had to sum the movie up in three words they’d be: intense, moving, and WOW.

I’ve got a bit more to say about it, but I’ll put it under the cut so as to avoid spoilers:

Ok so first off I want to say that I’m really not the best at film typed analysis…I’m rather just a fan who enjoys movies and then just wants to have chats about them, so I’m not going to be the one to analyze the characters/the aspects shown in the film…instead I’m just going to comment on the elements/parts that stuck with me. I hope that’s alright with y’all - please don’t come for me. With that being said…here we go (sorry for the rambles to come - this turned into a long post y’all):

I loved how it was sequenced and shot - the whole cutting back to Strauss in his hearing and seeing what’s happening there and then focusing on Oppenheimer’s life, and the hearing that he also went through, made the film more exciting to me … it’s like we’d be getting these pieces of information through a formal lense and then we’d get to see it play out how it happened. And then the big reveal of how Strauss was actually related in regards to Oppenheimer was amazingly done as well - it was cool to see the shift in the story once that information was given to the viewer as well.

Speaking of Strauss - RDJ acted his ass off in this film. My mom said that she didn’t even recognize him, and tbh I wouldn’t have either had I not known he was in the film prior to seeing it. He portrayed Strauss in such a clever way…I felt like his intentions behind the great scheme of things really went unknown until the information came out that he was one of the major actors behind Oppenheimer getting his clearances revoked. And like I said, it felt like the whole energy of the film shifted once this knowledge came out and he handled that beautifully.

Cillian was amazing…of course. He really made the role look easy. And I know that’s silly of me to say because we all know that it was the furthest thing from it, but I think that that’s just a testament to how great of an actor Cillian is - he makes these intense rolls just look easy. I compared this performance to Leo in The Revenant in an ask a few days ago and I honestly stand behind that — this movie wouldn’t be half of what it came out to be if there had been any other person in the main role. Cillian carried this movie, and he did it with the utmost grace. My mom and I were talking about it just a bit ago and she brought up the great point that there were only maybe a handful of scenes that he wasn’t in…and in the scenes that he was in, you could really feel the weight of his performance. I’d honestly be shocked if he doesn’t get any nominations for this - I’m not sure if there could be as perfect of a storm as this role was for him.

The ending held the most weight for me, I think … it was so cool to finally see what he and Einstein were actually speaking about at the pond (another amazing choice in structure) and oh boy did that conversation rock me — those words are so true, especially in the scope of history and how people are remembered/legacies play out. It was a stark and honestly perfect ending for the film.

Also another thing that I just couldn’t get out of my mind was how human the movie was. Like it’s so cool to see how people reacted to certain things and it’s one of the most fascinating ways to look at history — take the Trinity Test for example (which by the way…damn. Wow) their initial reaction to it being successful was to cheer because during that time it meant that the US was going to be back on top with the arms race and now hold this power to essentially bring the fighting to an explosive end. But looking back on what came out of that successful test, the mood really isn’t as cheerful and exuberant. Same thing with the rallie after the bombs were dropped — there was much revelation because of how the war turned out and not much care for the carnage that had occurred due to that event happening. It’s not only until the years roll on and history gets written that we start to look at the other viewpoints and how each and every side reacted to/was effected by such events. I think the movie did an excellent job at showing how human people are - how they’re quick to react with their own thoughts and agenda first before considering it all … and I liked how the shift in Oppenheimer’s views became apparent once news of the bomb being dropped came out - it was clear that the real life effects of it were at the forefront in his mind and he was already grappling with it.

One more thing I just have to point out is the ladies in the film - Florence and Emily did amazing at portraying Jean and Kitty!! Even though Flo’s part was small, you really felt the impact of her scenes (even if she was naked in nearly all of them) - you can so clearly see the impact Jean had on Oppenheimer’s life just from those few scenes. And then Emily and her portrayal of Kitty was so well done, espeically in the later scenes, specifically the one where she was being questioned — I was like damn, you go girl!! Their relationship was so, so interesting to see and I think that Cillian and Emily did amazing at showing it. I also just had to think of Lauren ( @emotionalcadaver ) ‘s response to those commenting saying that Kitty had no arc — you’re absolutely right in saying that it’s perfectly fine that she didn’t because she’s a REAL PERSON … this is how this woman lived and reacted to the events she was placed into. She was one of the stand out characters in the movie for me partly because she didn’t show growth…she stayed stagnant and then responded to things thrown at her, much like a real person would.

Welp…I said that I’d ramble on about this - I’m really sorry for having made you read an actual essay, and if you’ve made it this far down, I really commend you for doing so. This was one of the best films I’ve seen in a while (it’s immediately going right up there with The Revenant and 1917) and it’s certainly the first that I’ve written this kind of a response to. I honestly would have been happy with watching another two hours of it, and it really didn’t feel like three hours passed by - that’s how good it was.

I’d love to hear what y’all thought of it if you saw it, and you’re absolutely amazing if you’ve read down this far — thanks for coming to my Ted Talk, I guess.