#to be honest for me this comes back to the whole 'succession is narratively a tragedy'. they've all come too far for a truly happy ending

[tomwambsmilk]

This might be my most Controversial post and if you're someone who's genuinely rooting for tom and greg to have their happily ever after in canon then you might not want to read past this point. Just to be perfectly clear I do love tomgreg in both their canon and fanon forms and absolutely no shade to the unironic requited tomgreg truthers, you're the backbone of this fandom and I love your work etc. But. I'm still skeptical of an actual romantic relationship going canon and even more cynical about it actually ending well so, uh. Dead Dove Do Not Eat and all that

I think that Tom being unable to make a really definitive bold choice is intimately related to why I think canonical tomgreg would end in acrimonious divorce (at least with how the characters are at the end of season 3… obviously character development is real and could hypothetically shift the equation). Tom is the literal human embodiment of that fable about the kid who reaches into the cookie jar and gets a huge handful of cookies but then his hand get stuck and he can’t pull it out and he starts crying until someone explains to him that if he lets go all but one he’ll be able to get it out. Except he’s never realized that last part and he’s so afraid of ending up with no cookies at all that he can’t let them go and instead crushes them into dust and tries to eat the crumbs and goes “this is what I wanted actually. This is fine. This is what normal well-adjusted people do and I am Happy.”

It’s deeply rooted in fear and that’s because Tom’s other fatal flaw is being a little bit of a coward. I say this with utmost affection but he’s always hedging his bets and trying to make the safest choice. This is not always a bad thing, but sometimes you do have to make the bold choice just to learn things about yourself. (Or simply because it's the Morally Right Thing To Do but uh. We don't need to get into that right now re: Tom). You have to make a choice and sacrifice something in the process and that’s how you learn what will make you happy and what won’t. Except Tom is so afraid of being unhappy and making the wrong choice that he can never let himself do that, and that’s why he doesn’t really know who he is and what he wants and instead lets himself be defined by societal images of wealth and privilege. He likes expensive things because that’s what he’s supposed to like. He wants to be CEO because that’s what he’s supposed to want. I think if he actually became CEO he would be miserable, in part because of what he’d need to sacrifice to get there but also because being CEO means being bold and taking risks and I think that’s actually his own personal version of hell.

That’s part of why I’m skeptical of tomgreg going canon because I think leaving Shiv for Greg would be an incredibly bold move and I don’t think Tom’s capable of that. Maybe if his marriage fell apart Tom would go for Greg, but then I think he’d very quickly find himself in a “grass is greener” situation. I don’t think he would really actively choose Greg, internally, so much as stumble into that relationship because Greg is there and Greg is the person he’s closest to, and eventually this would eat away at him. That’s NOT to say Tom wouldn’t have very genuine feelings for Greg, but I think stumbling right from his failed marriage into a relationship with Greg would set the whole thing up to crumble and collapse, especially once the weight of Tom’s emotional baggage sets in. There’s going to be a part of him asking himself “do I really love Greg or was he just convenient,” and rather than making the decision to really commit to Greg and see if the relationship can work he’ll start developing an emotional affair with someone else without even realizing what he's doing, because the problem with really making the decision to try and commit to Greg wholeheartedly is what if it ends up being Shiv all over again? What if he decides to be vulnerable with Greg and open up to him and give Greg his emotional fidelity and Greg ends up letting him down?

And because he's incapable of having an emotionally honest conversation he just starts tallying everything Greg does in some mental T-chart of "he loves me/he loves me not". Meanwhile, I do think Greg would be largely taken in, at least initially, by the idea that Tom threw everything away for him and when he realizes that Tom's marriage to Shiv was going to crumble into dust on its own merits anyway he's going to start feeling like a consolation prize and start pulling away and that's going to make the whole situation worse. When the relationship finally breaks down it will be acrimonious because both of them are going to feel upset and betrayed and misled. And that doesn't even begin to factor in Tom's uglier possessive and abusive tendencies and the pressure that remaining at Waystar would put on the relationship and whatever unresolved issues Greg still has around his gay homewrecking dad. Theoretically, they could go to therapy and start working through this shit and improve as people and make it work but tbh I think that they're far more likely to cannibalize each other first and not in a romantic way.

I would love to see it though. I really would. It would be an absolute nightmare but it would be amazing television and I would eat that shit up. Jesse Armstrong are you listening to me. Jesse Armstrong answer my calls

[tylered-up-in-blue]

Response to “The Magic Trick You Didn’t See” / The Coffee Theory

I, like many people in the Good Omens fandom, have already read the big essay “The Magic Trick You Didn’t see” –which blows up the coffee theory that’s been circulating on my twitter page to greater heights and big claims. I have some thoughts.

First of all: I think that the original essay has a few details wrong, essentially because it falls into a kind of utilitarian perspective with the whole magic show metaphor. The thing is –sometimes details which are left hanging, or themes which are shown to be important, don’t always tie up somewhere. Sometimes they’re there because they’re interesting, or poking at intrigue –trying to get you to notice and note down for later, rather than evidence of one ultimate solution that’ll be revealed as a holistic great plot. Also “I didn’t think the writing was good in this moment” isn’t very convincing to me, I’m sorry.

But –I do think that they were onto something. I hesitate to make any grand claims, like “Maggie isn’t real,” or “The Metatron is editing the book of life,” because -to be honest- I don’t trust myself to put my name to something as big as that, and I don’t want to erase my favourite thing about Good Omens: its whimsicality. But I will say that there are themes and notable elements which I think will be important later and hint at some larger fuckery (if you’ll excuse the OFMD reference) going on, so consider this a kind of rejigging of the theory to be a more thematic approach that lays out things I just thought were interesting under an more open-ended (or flip-floppy, depending on how you take it) idea:

Something was going on this season which will be revealed as a Heavenly plot to split Aziraphale and Crowley up by the end. It worked. And the person to reveal the greater plot will be Muriel.

I’ll write down first of all a list of things that have been introduced to the world of Good Omens which I think are important, and highlight why one of them sticks out to me. Then I’ll work on a thematic basis of what things are shown to be worth narrative focus/presuppose S3. The first two themes are very much commentary drawing on the essay I’m responding to, and the second two are more my own ideas –certainly the fourth.

Okay, so: there are introductions to the Good Omens-verse which are clearly there to expand our world for later use. I don’t know if all of these things will come up again, but by the end of this season we know:

There are Nazi (and possibly more) zombies running around London.

There is a gun in Aziraphale’s bookshop -in case it’s needed. 

Heaven is interested in keeping things quiet, and they will fiddle with memories to do so. Erased memories can be “stored” in things/creatures.

There is a thing called “The Book of Life” that if you’re written out of, you NEVER EXISTED. (It can be edited, too, presumably.)

Crowley is possibly the most powerful being in the show. “Half a tiny miracle” ends up being enough to resurrect someone 25 times over, and his attempt to stay calm after a little tiff with aziraphale results in draining the street of electricity. Also he created the entire universe. (coming back to amend this with the fact Neil said he got going just "that tiny corner of space" -but I still feel there is significant evidence to say he is very powerful:) )

I lay these out because they’re just good to have noted down, really, and because they’re definitely GOING to be important. ALSO because the last one makes sense for the greater aim to be breaking up the ineffable husbands. Emphasis on Crowley’s power –and for their shared power– sets up a REAL threat for what we KNOW will be the basis of s2: The Second Coming. If you’re Heaven, and you want the second attempt at an apocalypse to be successful, you’d be stupid to let the two celestial beings who were meddling in the whole averted-apocalypse ordeal last time to just be AROUND for it. Especially when one has the ability to stop time!!! You’ve GOT to break them up. 

Theme 1: Investigation (Muriel!)

Investigation is a fun little theme in s2: Aziraphale goes full detective mode. He loves the clues, he’s in his little trilby investigating. All the marketing was very investigative and invites the audience to pay close attention. And there are SO many little easter eggs. From The Colour of Magic appearing to Gabriel reading the first lines of Good Omens –even as small as a Terry Prattchet impersonator speaking over the tannoy in Hell, or the film in The Resurrectionist being chosen specifically to play because there’s a scene where Jimmy Stewart talks to a fly. 

So! Investigation is fun! It’s important. And my favourite part of the essay I’m responding to is definitely that about Muriel. I think that all this build up to the detective-vibe is going to cumulate in their s3 role. Essentially: I entirely agree that they are coded as the one to blow open this whole case in S3. The police costume and giving them The Crow Road are certainly suggestive–but more than anything, leaving them in charge of the bookshop (full of Aziraphale’s diaries and books and everything) props them up perfectly to earn the promo they got for s2. Because I’m not sure about you, but my mutuals and I were shocked that the NYCC scene (“hello hello hello, I’m a human police officer!”) didn’t happen until episode three. From the way the promo was going (character profiles, trailer etc.) I thought Muriel would be in s2 WAY more.

They also make a HUGE point of how Muriel is considered “nobody.” They say it themselves, they’re called “the dull one” by Metatron.

They set them up perfectly to solve this later.

Theme 2: Memories and Stories:

Memory! Another theme! –memory that can be tampered with, contained, erased and returned.

Heaven is willing to meddle with and erase memories if necessary. They are, then, SUBTLE.

There is no God narrator.

There is a statue immortalising a very real Gabriel (somehow/for some reason –Gabriel was also involved in its making?) 

My favourite part of season 2 was definitely the minisodes. The costumes, the settings –I was so surprised to find the horses and carts in ep 3 were CGI in the X-Ray! They look so good! I loved how every single flashback was incredibly vital and interesting to expand on Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship –that convo on the rock in ep 2? WOW. Stunned. Anyway, not to go on.

I completely disagree with the conviction that these were edited. I think that, to the contrary, these memories are (IF there’s something going on with temptation/persuasion (more on that later) and The Book of Life) are ENTIRELY real. And the reason for that is highlighted in the very essay: each memory is tied to a physical record of it happening. The Book of Job; the Polaroid in ‘41, and Aziraphale’s diaries. This is not to say that there aren’t still gaps: where was the “I’m sorry” dance of ‘41? If Aziraphale wasn’t drinking in 2500 BC then when did he start? Just little things like this.

This is the thing: stories, words, are vital. The challenge that they gave the guy who did Sherlock (I can’t remember his name I’m sorry!) –it’s talked about in the X-Ray– was to have words pop out in 4 different ways across S2. This a fun stylistic choice, but it also gives words narrative attention, so ties in with all this. Without God to narrate, narratives and accounts are left to the characters within the world. It’s fun and important both. So is the spelling stuff. Maggie can’t spell, neither can the demons. (She may be a demon herself –I’m not entirely convinced it’s this simple, tbh, but Aziraphale’s miracle not working on her in ep5 is definitely a red flag.) Anyway – it’s also interesting.

With all this, my idea that Heaven/Metatron had been planning the aziracrow divorce from the beginning might mean they’re tampering with The Book of Life –it also could mean that they’re ABOUT to do something weird with Aziraphale’s memories, or all these pieces are going to become very very helpful for Muriel’s investigation.

I really do wonder what this role of records, memories and narratives will come to, but I have a feeling it’ll bleed into s3.

Theme 3: Food

Crowley was the reason Aziraphale tried food in the first place. I just wanted to put that down because of course he was, but also it is deeply INSANE that he INTRODUCED AZIRAPHALE TO THE CONCEPT OF EATING. God, David was right. They really don't exist without each other.

This is kind of the point I make with food here: it’s a HUGE theme in s2, largely just to emphasise the fact that it’s powerful.

For some reason (jokey or otherwise) eccles cakes can “calm you down.”

Aziraphale becomes significantly bonded to Crowley by eating the Ox in ep2. Later, Crowley is “as strong as an Ox." –fun little echo.)

They drink the same wine as always in ‘41 –they share no wine in s2, just the sherry and whiskey respectively. They also don’t share a meal, which seems interesting. I personally think that it’s to do with consumption being a metaphor for queer desire, and the absence of it being a sign of C/A being on “their own side” in s2. Crowley abandons temptation as Aziraphale abandons attempts to “save” Crowley. –-Or it may mean something else!

Crowley drinks laudanum and it makes him go lala. It ALSO makes him turn tiny, then giant, and he does something kind –kind enough to get him dragged off to hell and tortured so badly that he’s asking for holy water as “insurance” 40 years later.

That fucking oatmilk almond coffee. Okay. So if food is powerful, this has weight. From the colour of it being weird against the background to the fact (to quote my dear friend Jey) “nobody fucking drinks almond syrup!!” –I’m sure you’ve see all this going around. Almonds are obviously very poison-coded, and considering the above point I smell something strange. (I don’t believe it was quite a case of drugging per say, but more metaphor: Aziraphale is being tempted. He’s being manipulated, and drawn back into the culty office world of heaven.)

So what we know here is that food is powerful. An important metaphor and force (especially for aziracrow.)

Theme 4: Resurrection

OKAY: so, this is the most original of my listing in these themes. I am so interested in this resurrection thing they’ve got going.

The Resurrectionist pub: where Gabriel and Beez come to their plan. We see that The Dirty Donkey is a lift to heaven (which NOT enough people are talking about) –so what about The Resurrectionist? What power does it hold as a space? Why is the legacy of Mr Dalrymple important?

Why did (wee) Morag’s eyes glow briefly? Is she a zombie now?

Zombies exist. We know this. They’re also tied to the concept of consumption, which is cool.

Heaven measures miracles by Lazarii.

Gabriel, in one of his flashes of prophecy, says: “there will come a tempest (...) the dead will rise from their graves and wander the earth once more.”

These are all cool. Thematically, it seems that being raised from the dead is going to be something big. I’m interested in this, considering that after Gabriel said the above mentioned prophecy my good friend Jey said “hold on, is this going to be about The Rapture?”

Now: we know that “668: Neighbour of the Beast” was supposed to be set in America. Whether it actually is or not, I don’t know, but I think that if it is about a second coming on American soil, The Rapture feels VERY pertinent. The dead are the first to rise and be with God in The Rapture, but all believers join them: and they join them permanently. In some versions, there is a period in which Christ rules the earth. All very fun and interesting prospects for s3!

Where this leaves us:

S2 is the “bridge” between 1 and 3, in Neil’s words. It’s the “romantic filling” of the sandwich.

I would argue that some seriously tough bread started with “oh Crowley, nothing lasts forever,” but hey ho, that’s the very ending of the season. I just want to talk about coded language/draw on what I’ve just said to talk about how we’re set up for the structures of s3:

Heaven is a CULT. A serious cult. From the (temptation) manipulation of the coffee, to the man at the pub calling Gabriel a “mason” –which I’m assuming he means freemason– to the frankly INSANE smile on Michael Sheen’s face as the credits roll (also sickening lighting there)– they are a big threatening cult, and that is going to be important. I think it’ll just get increasingly so.

FurFur and Shax have it OUT for the ineffable husbands. Like they are NOT fans. And they seem to also be buddies now so… not great news.

In The Scene </3 Crowley stops himself short of saying he’d like to spend eternity with Aziraphale, and instead asks him to “go off together,” just like s1 –I think their language is going to develop hugely in s3. It’ll go back to being the space they “carved out for themselves,” only further.

And finally: a bet. The last time we see Crowley, he’s in a car full of plants because he’s carrying “their side” away with him. I am willing to bet –not that this is a hottake or anything– that it’ll end, as it began: in a garden. S3 will end in the garden of their South Downs Cottage !!!

[ask-serendipity-sky]

May I ask your opinion on the concept of JK's photos? I have never felt so conflicted before, since the photos came out, jkkrs only see the copycat hyung, you are me I am you or even that Jk is sending a message and although at any other time I would also be like this, not this time The concept is clearly a copy and paste of Jm's and I just can't stop thinking about how badly the company treated and treats even Jm's debut, and now has the audacity to use part of his work to which he dedicated so much effort and time, and that it is so personal for him, with this I also want to say that I am NEVER going to blame JK, but I would like to hear the thought that this concept brought to them, and I feel bad because nobody among the Jkksr It seems to give importance to this and they treat it as if we were solos or anti, some say that it is the moment of Seven, of Jk, and they are right, but that does not mean that this is rare, and that if it had been the reverse, Jm would have been dragged back and forth to hell by now, sorry for this vent, but I needed to get it out

Hi anon,

Thank you for being honest. I agree.

To start, I wish people would stick to one narrative. Because just last week they were saying "Jk didn't write this song so it's not really him in it." "Bang PD just gave it to him. They are enforcing this western look on him." Blah blah all that. "We should wait for Jk's real music." All this just in case Jk ends up making out with Sohee. Lol

And today the narrative is "Omg. Jikook. This is a sign. He chose this on purpose."

So which one is it? Is Seven the commercialized song that Jk didn't pick and is merely a participant of or is Seven a song Jk will use to say stuff about Jimin?

I opened the weverse photos and saw the one photo that is an exact copy of Jimin's and closed that right away.

As a fan of Jimin, I can't support that. I value Jimin's artistic expression and integrity. His vision. How everything he did during FACE was an embodiment of who he is and what he was trying to tell us. No one can do what Jimin does. No one has gone through the stuff Jimin has gone through. Even if Jk was by his side, the only person who saved Jimin was Jimin. So seeing Jk with Jimin's concepts was an insult. Unless Jimin is in that song with Jk, Jk and Hybe shouldn't touch Jimin's story. And you know what, no. Even if Jimin was part of it, there are a 1000 concepts in the world, find another one and don't take away from Jimin's artistry.

The whole "I am you. You are me" is being overblown, in my opinion. If Jk wants to wear matching concepts, why didn't he wear matching outfits to Suga's concert or something that can't be commercialized?

Ugh. And jikookers. Seriously. When FACE photos came out, they attributed them to random Jk photos saying "I am you. You are me." And they do the same now. And they will do the same forever. Because people care more about the couple than the art!!!!

If Jimin was the maknae's copycat, he would have been dragged for being unoriginal and wanting to hang from Jk's success. I also doubt jikookers would even defend him because they would be too busy coming up with cute theories.

And I'm all for delulu, I am. And I also love finding the things that connect Jimin and Jk. But this is just not it for me.

As Jimin's fan, I am appalled and as Jk's fan, I'm dissapointed.

Thanks for sharing.

[triptychgardener]

I think the reason why Hiveswap's managed to... in a manner of speaking, narratively succeed for me where most other parts of postcanon often partially fail or fail entirely, is because its contributions to canon are A. Largely subtle and B. Inform parts of canon previously seen by adding nearly unseen, yet tastefully added, backstory.

I keep coming back, emotionally, to Beta Roxy. In the pictures we see of her, we see, well, just Roxy. Probably not older than 19. She's not the best babysitter in the world (and clearly still has a drinking problem) but she's trying, and seems to be pretty earnest with the lot she's been dealt. She's essentially been forced into a solitary caretaker position for these sweet kids by her surrogate father at a shockingly young age, all while dealing with Skaianet stuff behind the scenes.

It, then, informs Mom Lalonde's apparent emotional distance from Rose, when one thinks about the implications of what Hiveswap's story may end with. Obviously Joey's been given a doomsday imperative to return to Earth... but given that we don't see a trace of the kids in HS proper, I think it's probable to assume they've... gone missing to some extent (the tiny insane speculative part of my brain wonders if they were going to tie it into HS^2 and that's one of the reasons among many others for the significant delay.) And the idea of losing these two kids she clearly cares about, and then once again having motherhood forced upon her by needing to care for Rose... well it gives some context as to why she's like that.

And obviously, the contributions to Jake Harley are both subtle and utterly bonkers: there are implications that he travelled to (or at least knew about) Alternia. His wild, jetsetting, child-abandoning ways are given a very personal touch. And one wonders if he sequestered Jade on an island so she wouldn't fall prey to the fate that befell two of his other children. But, as I think it best is, information on him is partially speculative. Doubtless more will be added to the story as time goes on, but hell, even in the span of two (and let's be honest, mostly the first) Acts, it's managed to add some much to the humanity and backstory of the mysterious guardians.

I think this stands in direct contrast to other parts of postcanon. While it also functions by backfilling, the Skaianet Files gives very little actual character to work with, functioning as mostly a series of offensive jokes and dull attempts at alt-history. Learning that Jake Harley is actually Barack Obama's grandfather tells us nothing. Learning that Jane Egbert was horribly in love with Stan Laurel and had a one-night stand with him creating Dad Egbert (sorry for polluting your minds people who haven't read the SN Files. My recommendation is do not.) Even setting aside the horrid antisemitism, what it gives us is... nothing. The characters in these stories don't meaningfully represent the echoes that the guardians had on the story. Pesterquest also tries to backfill, and it gets some things right, but ultimately the quality of the whole thing is fairly inconsistent just due to the variety of writers brought on, so it'd be pointless here to discuss the project's success on it as a whole (though I personally find a lot of the chapters weak in that regard.)

I don't know if I have any conclusion to take from this, besides saying that Homestuck's always given characters like the Guardians a lot of space, which functioned both thematically and emotionally. It's partially a story about not really knowing who you parents are, of finding out later bits and pieces through their kid selves, but never getting the whole picture. It keeps you guessing, speculating about what Could have been, leaves ambiguity for things like Bro's abuse to be brought into full light later on. I think a subtle touch is the key, and a lot of postcanon has been anything but subtle.

[kaibutsushidousha]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/147063257436258305/1097535739035652136/rapidsave.com_the_grand_finale_of_all_my_maizono_antics-3y0resv18eua1.mp4

Thoughts on Sayaka Maizono?

Yes, Maizono has been one of my favorite characters for a whole decade now and almost certainly the one I spent the most time arguing with strangers online over and explaining to people who failed to understand her story. She's always been very dear to me and has been on my mind a lot this week specifically due to Tobyn's new video, Miss Crane coming to NA, and most of all due to the success of Oshi no Ko's anime.

I could talk about her in isolation but with the apropos timing of this ask, I'm far more inclined to talk about her in relation to Ai Hoshino. No one can deny the two are extremely similar. It's plain to see that they share a lot in appearance, profession, and on-stage personality, but the similarities go a bit deeper with their cunning approach to idol work and the driving loneliness that put them in the idol career in the first place. The two beautifully mix dream and disillusion, facing the ugliness of their roads with no sugarcoating and still holding the conviction that what lies ahead of it is worth it. Really, the only thing setting them apart is the teenage pregnancy and Maizono being smart while Ai is kinda dumb.

But beyond their personality and background, the two blue idols shine the most as golden examples of how to write a rich and complete character with minimal screentime. On this aspect, Ai is even more impressive because Maizono's writing resorts to portraying her as an extreme workaholic, so we feel we know all of her because we're shown the basket where she puts all of her eggs, while Ai goes beyond playing her part without such narrative tricks, she's straight up rejects the trick by showing Ai ambitiously distributing her time as both an idol and a mother.

Anyways, back on the Danganronpa track. As the first victim, Maizono has the immensely important role of setting the tone for the rest of the series. She gets this honest and natural charm when not backed against the wall, this tight backstory tied directly to her motive, this barely hidden cunningness playing into her comedy as much as it's played into her murder attempt, this complete agency even as a murder victim, and the sympathy the narrative offers even after the worst is exposed. Danganronpa takes every measure it can take to respect Maizono as a person and as a character, and it is because of that respect that the player could trust Danganronpa to be a narrative that doesn't treat its cast as a disposable row of suspects that don't need to be fleshed out. She is what makes you first realize that Danganronpa will be something special.

And from a final mystery perspective, that's the first key to suspect that there's something more about Junko's punishment that the player has yet to see.

Back to the Oshi no Ko side of things, you can see Ai play a similar role in building reader trust. Sure, her circumstances are different because Oshi no Ko wasn't planned as a revenge drama, but she's perfect as the avenged party in a revenge drama because we're made to know Ai very dearly. We connect to Aqua's relationship with Ai because we experienced the beginning, middle, and end of their bond. In hindsight, this kind of treatment feels almost mandatory for any self-respecting revenge story.

Anyways, both are fleshed out as a main character during their short run time, given a multifaceted narrative place and perspective, and never forgotten when they're gone. They never stop being a part of what makes the protagonist who they are. One thing that never fails to warm my heart is how all Danganronpa sequels make a point to show how Maizono was the most memorable part of the first game to Naegi.

Attachment 1: old "Why do you consider Sayaka sympathetic?" ask.

Attachment 2: my admin-imposed tag on an old Danganronpa-themed Telegram group.

[backjustforberena]

"But tomorrow the Hightowers land their first blow. They force you to your knees... And I must stand alone." I'm interested in an essay about this line if you feel like writing it, that scene made me go a little bit feral. It's something Shakespearian about most of Rhaenys' scenes

Ha! Well, I might not manage an essay as I'm writing this on my lunch break but I will totally go into it because I agree with you, it's a very Shakespearean line. And I think the fact that Eve Best has done a heck of a lot of Shakespeare and classical theatre feeds into the way she plays the character. I think she's spoken before about how it was the writing that initially drew her in. I find Rhaenys's whole position in the Green/Black conflict to be really interesting at this point in the narrative.

Rhaenys will side with the Blacks not out of any love for Rhaenyra. Whatever chance they had to have that sort of relationship will forever be clouded by her supposedly dead son and Rhaenyra's assumed involvement. This is something she has to rise above. In this episode, it's been six years since Laenor's murder. For six years that Rhaenys hasn't been able to have an honest conversation about her son's death. She can't accuse. She can't touch Rhaenyra over that because it's all supposition, all assumption. And even if she did accuse, what would that get her? What would it do? That's why the previous line: "did you not?" is also so powerful - because it shames Rhaenyra. It establishes her power. No matter the pleasantries she shows on behalf of her grandchildren, Rhaenys isn't stupid and she won't be treated as if she is a fool.

She will side with the Blacks for the sake of her grandchildren, for her husband's loyalties and for her own opinion on the succession. Rhaenyra is the true heir to the Iron Throne. That is what her cousin wanted, and what Rhaenys wants, which is why she's spent the past 8 episodes saying how difficult it will be once Viserys dies. Heck, she would not have betrothed Laenor to Rhaenyra if she thought Rhaenyra was going to be a loser from the start.

The Hightowers land their first blow.

I feel so bad for Rhaenys because she must be totally and utterly disappointed with Rhaenyra. Again, even just taking the whole Laenor stuff out of it, the way she just uses her position as heir. As the declared heir, something Rhaenys never got. She's been seeing the writing on the wall from the moment of that ceremony back in Episode 01. It will come to a fight. It will be one side against another. And here Rhaenyra is, only reacting, and reacting poorly. A proposal of marriage? Rhaenys's word to back the claim? That's what she believes will solve it all? No. She's a fool if she thinks so. It is a desperate choice. It's a woman with no allies trying to find one. The Hightowers would have landed that blow and who knows if that could have been a killing strike. Rhaenys knows it is a battle and that knives are already out... and here Rhaenyra is still struggling to figure out her scabbard works. The Hightowers have the power, they have the advantage, they are stronger right up until wildcard Viserys rocks up. And they are united. Rhaenyra is alone.

Rhaenys understands all of that. She's able to talk in those metaphors because she sees it all. She knows how it works. Rhaenyra doesn't. But it's interesting because you could still take this as a warning. It's Rhaenys warning Rhaenyra, just as she warns Vaemond at the top of the episode. It still gives an inkling as to her care and loyalty, even as she does not commit to taking arms.

They force you to your knees...

Both in terms of pleading and desperation, and, in the long game, to a place of subjugation (i.e kneeling to a ruler). Or also in terms of execution. All of those interpretations stand.

Power is such a currency in this show. Rhaenys has, over the years, had to sacrifice any power she might attain (Queen Who Never Was) and been held back by the limits of power afforded to her gender. She is currently caretaker ruler of Driftmark in the absence of Corlys. But she's not the head of a great house. She's not got a seat on the Small Council, she's not got anything in comparison to the other power players currently in King's Landing. She will, however, hold on to what she has and what she has is her pride, her life and her legacy. She won't bow down to Hightowers. Better in the back and standing than at the front with an axe at your neck.

The language also solidifies how multiple the Hightowers are and how alone Rhaenyra is. It's a lonely image, as is the next one...

And I must stand alone.

She's so alone. She's the eldest Targaryen that we know of. She's got no children. She's been apart from her husband for six years and, from the looks of things, has no friends or advisors. She can't call Daemon and his family her friends. She cannot rely on the Hightowers even if she wanted to. She cannot even rely on her own Driftmark kin such as Vaemond as they are quick to point out her power is only due to her husband and she will be cast aside as soon as Corlys dies.

She has Baela but Baela is just a girl. If Rhaenys were to stand with Rhaenyra at that moment, to admit to whatever and seal an alliance, that would gain her nothing. Rhaenyra would drag her down with her and Rhaenys will not be subjugated. Back Lucerys's claim? Why? What monstrous injustice would she be righting? What moral high ground would she claim? What good would it do her? No. She has had no friends, so she will be no friend.

The language is wonderful. It's not will or choose or should or have to. It's must. It's the most logical option. It's the safest. It's what her position has made of her. Flattery and half-hearted bargains won't change the winds now. I don't know what Rhaenys would have done in that Throne Room before Viserys came in, I really don't, but there is a reason that once he did, she played it gracefully and sweetly, invoked her Lord Husband and publically declared Rhaenyra's idea for a betrothal before the entire room.

She's a master at this. The entire subtext is Rhaenys's position and her power. It's her agency. It's her knowledge. It's her majesty. It's about choosing to stand independently in more ways than one.

[soapskneebrace]

bro grammarly literally has a built in thing now where you type in a prompt and it generates entire passages based on that i’m actually fucking sick. i’m also a visual artist and when i google very basic things to look for reference images FOR MY ART like upwards of 70% of it is ai generated bullshit it actually makes me want to kill myself

I know, it's really terrible. What I'm trying to find encouraging is how unified artists and writers are about how vehemently they all hate it, and in the case of generated writing how terrible that writing is. Hard to feel intimidated by something so bad it's not worth selling.

As for AI art--I'll be honest, I don't see the longevity. AI art cannot replace real artists, and I'm trying to be optimistic and envision a near future in which everyone sees just how little we can get from AI art. Because I think I can guess its use--companies will use AI to generate concept art and writing in order to cut costs for actual human creative work. But I think that that generated content will be so milquetoast that it cannot make a return on the investment put into it.

Think of all the amazing shows that are out right now, all the beautiful artwork and comics. The things that have a very purposeful style and tone, that speak to you in very personal ways. For me, it's The Bear and Succession--all elements of these shows, from the casting to the set design to the costuming to the dialogue and narrative, work together in ways that make the whole far more than the sum of their parts.

From what I've seen so far, AI can't do that. AI can identify basic narrative structure, can figure out how to replicate pixel and hue arrangement, but it can't make anything really meaningful. It can't identify shape languages and motifs that achieve emotional or didactic purpose. It can't speak to us in the ways we can speak to each other.

It also can't come up with anything new. AI only works when we give it something to regurgitate. There is no AI without real art and real writing. It can't produce anything original or interesting that someone else already came up with.

To offer you some practical help, I recommend SenshiStock and other stock artists for references, if it's poses you're looking for. You can also use model lookbooks or fashion ads, those can have some fun poses and perspectives. As for grammarly, there's not much you can do other than not use it.

And yeah, it's gonna be ass for a while. There's already a lot of human-made mediocre content out there that actually is making bank. But I want to have faith that our appetite for human connection will win out, and if not that, then at least we will eventually get so bored of AI's rehashed schlock that we'll go back to making stuff for each other again if only for the novelty.

[cosmics-beings]

Thank you for bringing that up because I am not a black person but the choice of making Megatron a slave and the way the fandom reacted to it in succession always made me really uncomfortable. Frankly, I found it ridiculous that to make an "interesting" narrative for Megatron, it relied heavily on using the trauma of BIPOC people in an unsatisfactory manner because it wasn't FOR them. Their narratives and their history were simply just transferred onto Megatron without much thought of the connotations

The fandom's tendency to favour/popularize something and make "continuity soup" (mix the lore, facts and characterizations), proceeding to enforce them onto other continuities also contributes heavily to this because it affects the view of other iterations. I enjoy Megatron as a character because I think he has a lot of untapped potential, but I cannot engage in almost any fan content of him because I heavily disagree with some of his portrayals and how his fans view him; and it ties back to his portrayal as a slave

Though iterations do not ultimately have a direct impact on each other (unless multiversal travel is involved), there's still a narrative that extends to all versions of a character. It's why people can react so negatively to one portrayal of a character, I don't like IDW1 Optimus Prime nor am I interested in analysing his "complexity." Optimus started off as a lower class character and he is slowly getting more privileged which I don't like, that's me enforcing my preference for G1 onto other continuities; I personally find it odd that Optimus "must" be given a position of power as a spokesperson but they choose to take away the fact that his original characterization had him as a marginalized person...

I like Earthspark Megatron and I think his characterization is handled better than TFP Megatron, whose character flaws I cannot differentiate on whether they're intentional or subpar writing... But there are still elements of Earthspark Megatron that makes me slightly wary due to the context of his slavery history in other continuities; despite the fact that his backstory in Earthspark is unconfirmed

TW discussions about slavery and abuse (for both megatron and starscream), some IDW and ES critical opinions as well.

This has been sitting in my ask for some time now, but I really REALLY agree. I’ve wanted to answer this for weeks and I’ve just been finding a way to do so. I’m gonna break this down and answer /agree with this the best I can.

Coming from someone with recent, traceable ancestry, and whose whole existence is because of slavery, I agree. And I think there needs to be HONEST discussion about why a lot of writers, who aren’t black or who aren’t familiar with slavery or don’t have ancestry tied to it, think that making someone a slave is an interesting narrative device, if they're just going to make them an abuser, a genocidal tyrant, etc., at the end. Because at that point, the narrative is just, shaming an abuse victim. Especially, in the case of Megatron, where it is not handled right and not everyone actually has the nuance to understand that or how problematic it is. The thing is that I actually like IDW Megatron, he is my favorite one. And next to him, is actually Earthspark Megatron.

My opinion however, is that we don’t really need anymore narratives where slaves rise against their oppressors and abusers, and become oppressors and abusers themselves. This isn’t just an issue with Megatron, but we also see it with characters in other popular media like…Hama and Jet, from Avatar or even Daenerys from Game of Thrones (and I use her loosely because while she was a slave turned into a dictator, her narrative also relied heavily on white saviorism. But that isn’t for here or there). Why is it needed? What does that tell victims and survivors of these things?

Another issue is that Megatron, despite how evil he IS, isn’t really ever painted as a victim before all of this. We've got his origin in IDW and a few more chapters in the LL, but we don't really get to see just how gritty it is. His narrative of slavery and abuse, because Megatron is an abuse victim is not actually highlighted in a way it should be imo, and the readers are mostly left to either have a vague idea of what he went through, or not understand how brutal it is. And slavery.is.brutal. it is one of the most violent and dehumanizing forms of abuse. And for the writers to not portray that shows it was something they didn’t really research or explain. And I will also come back to this later.

That narrative of an oppressed person, turning into an oppressor imo just perpetrates harmful ideas. And it takes real life issues, like slavery, colonization, violence, abuse, and ends up shaming the victims for their uprising. We don’t really need the whole “even someone who is hurt and tries to do better, can also hurt people. And they can be as bad as their oppressors” if it’s not written well, and if it’s not really adding anything positive to the struggle it’s trying to portray.

IDW Megatron ended up right where he started, but IMO worse. Yes, he got a family on the Lost Light, but the Lost Light was a prison sentence, with the understanding that he’d eventually be executed, or worse. He was still, by definition at the mercy of a prime when working with Rodimus, and even by extension Optimus. He still, at the end of his life had no power, agency or true autonomy. There was no way he, as a surrendered Decepticon, could have such privilege when he was aboard the Lost Light.

So while the Lost Light offers us a light hearted and even gut wrenching conclusion to Megatron’s story, it still rubs me the wrong way. He is still a slave, who the narrative decided to turn into a monster and abuser, and at the end of the day, he gets executed. That is just not comforting to me in the slightest.

I personally thought that ES would remedy that a bit, and it seemed to do so. The trope of slave turned into genocidal warlord, still existed but not only did we get to see him changing and redeeming himself, but we also got to see him making up to people he’d hurt. And his narrative, at least, from what we know, didn’t end in death.

But there are still aspects of ES that I don’t like, and with the recent Starscream episode, it’s confirmed that Megatron was still an abusive person (and lemme make it clear that i am HAPPY that starscream's abuse was finally taken seriously and not made a joke, but I still have critiques about how Megatrons' writing was handled, and those two opinions can co-exist T-T).

And this is where fandom in itself has kinda caused me to nope out because we have fans, wrt to both Megatron and Starscream not understanding the concept of a flawed victim and not really letting victims of abuse take accountability for what they’ve done wrong.

I’m seeing a lot of people saying they don’t like Megatron because of what he did…and saying that he is an abuser and that he deserves to be killed or that, he shouldn’t be redeemed in the show. Likewise, I see tons of people saying that it’s unfair to blame Starscream for how he hurt people, because it was a side affect of Megatron’s abuse, and therefore, he is blameless.

Remember earlier in this ask, I mentioned how Megatron’s own slavery and abuse wasn’t highlighted enough because the writers didn’t care? Well that’s what that is. And this is what I mean by fandoms cannot handle a flawed victim of abuse. Megatron is ALSO a victim of abuse, and his abuse is a reason he treated Starscream the way he did. This isn’t to take away from how Megatron treated Starscream at all, because I’ve talked enough on this blog about how he needs to be held accountable, to the point of being blocked and harassed. Megatron treated Starscream like absolute garbage and essentially made him a punching back in IDW and it SEEMS ES. That is something that shouldn't be igored and Megatron needs to be held accountable.

But my point is that if you are saying that Starscream shouldn’t be held accountable for his treatment of others (which is abusive!!) because of how Megatron treated him, then you’re also agreeing that Megatron cannot be held accountable for how he treated Starscream! Because Megatron's abusers caused him to abuse Starscream.

And that is bullshit.  And that is what I mean that fan spaces a.) don’t know that victism can be flawed and b.) the writers again, don’t have the emotional capacity or empathy to portray a victim of slavery as a survivor/traumatized person in an impactful and meaningful way.

Point a.) affects Starscream and Megatron. Because Megatron is seen as doing bad things, because the narrative again, doesn’t know how to write slave narratives. And because Megatron is bad and does bad things, this idea that he also a victim of abuse and that impacts how he treats other is not focused on at all. Likewise, Starscream is also abusive himself despite being a victim, because of shit that happened to him both because of Megatron and other things. But because fandoms don’t think abuse victims can be flawed and cause harm, a lot of fans do not actually allow Starscream to be flawed. A lot of fans attempt to act like he shouldn't be held accountable for the abuse he perpetrated and that's not true. Because that also doesn't allow him to grow and heal. Healing isn't always pretty and sometimes, it takes accountability but it's still healing.

Point b.) is the most important point because this ties back to the current conflict with both Earthspark and IDW Megatron. And that is the writers not having nuance or understanding to write a slave narrative where a revolutionary becomes corrupted. Because…at the end of the day, those narratives don’t need to exist. As an abuse victim, as a starscream fan, as a megatron fan, and as a Black person living in the South, I just do not think Megatron’s narrative in IDW AND Earthspark is given any sort of justice of nuance. And by the way a vast chunk of the ES Fandom acted, understandably, it just makes me angrier at the writers. And I would think, that for a show like Earthspark, that prioritizes Black people, and Black narratives, then a story such as slavery would be given proper care and nuance.

But that’s also an issue…the Black characters in ES aren’t written well, at all. They aren’t even characters, they are concepts and used as plot devices and are at large forgotten by the fandom. Which is disrespectful but we have writers that don’t actually understand the characters and narratives they are writing, again.

And we see it with Megatron for sure. I thought that ES would do better by him, but it didn’t, and the fandom discourse and lack of nuance and understanding SHOWS me that. Am I happy he’s getting redeemed – yes I am. Show wise. But what im not happy about is that, they have once again, chosen to go a slavery route (at least that is HEAVILY implied), but haven’t done enough to show or offer any type of empathy or actual, deep discussion about how that form of abuse deserves actual nuance. Even if we do see a redemption, it’s still not enough, especially if the writers—who write him wishy washy anyway—aren’t going to go all out and explain exactly why he became a Decepticon and the horrors of slavery.

This also isn’t to excuse him! Because I know that’s where this was going. Because as much as I love him, I can’t act like what he did is excusable despite his oppression. He was a genocidal tyrant, he became what he hated, he –as a victim of abuse, decided to take that abuse and trauma out on someone else. This isn’t excusing his actions.

It is more so, me wishing that ES handled things better, by earlier writing rather than dropping bits and pieces of a harmful IDW narrative, and not expanding in it in such a way that offered the fandom discussion points or allowed us to have nuance. It seems that, if you don’t have a personal relationship with slavery and the abusive dynamic, then you just don’t understand how bad it is.

And that was finally, my issue with IDW. For all Megatron changed at the end, and got better, he was still ultimately shamed, by the writing, for not wanting to be a victim of abuse anymore. The Lost Light was a bandaid on a very large, and unhealing wound.

The writers took a victim of violent abuse and instead of giving him agency and a good resolution, they made him worse than his oppressors. They made the people that oppress him, at the end of the day, treat him like a dog.

And I AM talking about Optimus here, since you brought him up. And that should also be a dynamic spoken about more. Optimus coming from a place of privilege, and being the ‘good’ one, the one who puts Megatron in his place, the one appointed by the gods to quite literally force the slave, who has turned corrupted, back into a bondage is just…I love Optimus, but that was not good writing. That wasn’t good writing at all. And it again, showed the lack of concern, empathy or understanding for handling a narrative like slavery.

If at the end of the day, your mission was to make a cop, turned prime (another oppressive group), throw and control the life of a slave who had, in the process of his revolution, lost his way…then idk you didn’t need to be writing his narrative in the first place. Because you don’t understand how harmful it is and how it’s not needed.

I don’t think the slave, turned into tyrant/abuser is needed. Especially since Megatron is an abuse victim, and by making him an evil warlord, the writers ended up shaming/punishing him for his abuse. But if it IS to be done, it needs to be done right. And for the longest time, I thought ES was doing it right but chile…

These recent fandom discussions have told me otherwise.

Do nawt get me started on TFP Megatron because that is another 5 pages of negativity.

Anyway, thank you so much for understanding.

At the end of the DAY, I DO love IDW megs the most, and I also love ES megatron. Because I wanted to see him turn good and find redemption if that was the route they chose to go. But idw fumbled, badly..like really badly. And ES, kinda did so with the writing as well. I know it’s an unpopular opinion to critique ES writing so I’ll keep it to a minimum. But similar to how the black and Asian characters in ES are more concepts, not characters, the writing for Megatron (and some other legacy characters) is off…it just doesn’t make enough sense to me.

But thank you so much and I am sorry it took so long to ask. If you have any more questions then please, throw them my way <3.

alll i can say at this point is thanks for reading, and if u liked this consider following my twitter &lt;3

[kaile-hultner]

I really hope you get help. After reading your magazine "article" on the new Harry Potter game it is extremely clear how hateful you are. The sociopath traits that you display when weighing the value of your friendship is terrifying. I think your magazine and writing career would have more of a take off if you just wrote about games and left the political narrative out of it. Not a bad writer at all. You just need to grow up and stop playing the victim card.

Typically I don't even answer asks like this, and if I do I mainly take a tone of mockery or derision, as is appropriate when a stranger barges in to shout some unsolicited bullshit in my direction. But this ask? It's fascinating enough to devote some attention to this evening. So let's talk about it.

So that we're all on the same page, here's the article anon brings up, from September 2022. I'd recommend taking some time to read it, but you don't have to for our purposes.

"I really hope you get help." Starting off with the implication that I am mentally ill? A real power move. Establishes your own humanity while whittling my own down just a little bit. Thank you so much for your pity; I'll be sure to seek therapy just because you've said this.

Okay, that was a bit too derisive. Let's bring it back a little.

---

"After reading your magazine 'article' on the new Harry Potter game it is extremely clear how hateful you are." Lmao let's start with the scare quotes around "article." Buddy, you know that "article" is just a basic non-colloquial descriptor for a post made on a website, right? If you had put scare quotes around "magazine" that would have made more sense. But anyway, this article makes it clear how hateful I am. I'm curious how that works, because I took great pains not to make purposefully inflammatory statements in the piece. The whole piece was essentially asking cis people to either have empathy for, and stand in solidarity with, their trans friends or be honest with themselves about why they prioritized their own comfort over those relationships.

If this qualifies somehow as "hate" then the only conclusion I can come to is that when it comes to cis allies, nothing is more important to them than their own feelings and comfort. If the mere suggestion not to buy a video game that funnels money into a transphobe's pockets goes too far, is "hateful," then what even is the point of having allies?

---

"The sociopath traits that you display when weighing the value of your friendship is terrifying." This sentence rules. Like it unironically fucking whips. I've been laughing at it for an hour. I ask (in the piece) for people to value their friends over material comforts like buying a single video game, and Anon here has twisted that into "the sociopath traits that (I) display when weighing the value of (my) friendship." I am so interested to know which evaluative tool you used to determine my sociopathy. I am desperate to learn which sociopath traits I'm even displaying here. Like, are you talking about the section where I describe performative allyship and performative friendship? Are you talking about the piece overall? Please send me a follow-up with clarification and the test results from the psych eval you did on me. I am positively dying to hear back from you on this.

---

"I think your magazine and writing career would have more of a take off if you just wrote about games and left the political narrative out of it." This makes a lot of assumptions about the reasons I write and what I view as "success" as a writer. But just to be clear, you were terrified of me and my apparent sociopathy just a sentence ago; why would you be giving me career advice? The priorities aren't prioritizing here.

At any rate, it might not be that big of a flex but I got two pieces in Bullet Points Monthly and four pieces in PC Gamer last year; that happened in great part because I generally don't leave the "political narrative" out of my writing. The editors I've worked with have worked with me because of my writing and not in spite of it. The work I do in No Escape is recognized because I am political. It's not for everyone, and if you don't like it, that's totally okay! But just to be very clear: being political has absolutely not hurt me so far, and based on how the year is going, I don't expect it to moving forward.

---

"Not a bad writer at all." Aww thank you bestie <3

"You just need to grow up and stop playing the victim card." LMAO. There it is. Again I have to note how far we've de-escalated from you calling me a sociopath three sentences ago. But anyway, this is by far not the first time someone has crawled into my inbox to say some shit like this. There are some Big Assumptions you're making about the position I'm writing from, but ultimately what this response comes down to every time I get it is that you don't want to think about anything political. Certainly not when it comes to your presumably favorite series of children's books, definitely not when it comes to video games. It makes you uncomfortable that your comfort objects exist in a political context at all. And like, I'm sorry for you, but if anyone needs to grow up here, it's not me.

---

At any rate: I can't wait to learn how I display terrifying sociopathic traits. That shit is genuinely so funny to me.

[nellie-elizabeth]

Bob's Burgers: Running Down a Gene (14x04)

Cute episode! I love Tina and Louise getting some sister bonding time in the subplot.

Cons:

Still banging that drum and hoping we'll get a school episode soon. At least we got the library in this one! Also, and I don't mean to harp on things that this episode isn't, instead of appreciating what it is, but... why no Halloween episode? This came out on October 29th!

Pros:

Gene's music aspirations are always so fun to see, I love that he's a blend of genuine talent with silly little kid explorations. The support his family shows him is always touching to me. That's a general theme with this show, that Bob might be exasperated or overwhelmed by the antics of his children, but he never stifles their dreams, either.

Louise and Tina's dream this episode? To catch an annoying cricket that has been chirping and keeping Linda and Bob awake. They set messy traps all over the house and try to lure the insect with an enticing lady companion, all for the promise of $10 (split between them) for their success. This plot thread serves to create another night-time based story to accompany Gene's lucid dream attempts, so we get the whole family up in the middle of the night due to various shenanigans.

The main plot stays focused on Gene. I really loved the way his journey through the dreaming happened. He failed at first, but eventually actually did succeed to getting back to the piano and writing the perfect song he'd originally dreamed about. But then it turns out the song is no good. He then writes a song about the experience of striving for something without being able to reach it, and that becomes the song he's really proud of. But one last narrative twist: he decides not to submit it to the contest, because it's actually too good for such a thing!

I love Gene's confidence, I love his perseverance, I love that he's such a weirdo and he doesn't even care. When I think about the characters in this show I think I often rank Gene below his sisters and parents in terms of who I most like to spend time with, but this episode was a reminder that he's also pretty dang cool!

I'll stop there. I feel like my reviews of this show always come down to, "aww, that was cute, I liked it", and to be honest, that's exactly what I'm always looking for from Bob's Burgers.

8/10

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

ok heres something im wondering you’re looking for asks:

ppl tend to assume that yoko was the prime person responsible for john cutting ties with his old friends (specifically paul) and that a reunion never occurred because she had a scheme and was controlling of him, ensuring he never received those messages, etc.

now im not particularly a yoko defender, but i just find this take really odd? idk to me it sounds like ppl just want to shift all the blame on this woman and absolve john of having anything to do with anything. almost like he didn’t have any agency with her which let’s be honest he would definitely be aware of when yoko would be scheming or what not, he wasn’t dumb and had said himself he knew how to “play the game.”

so while i don’t think he was out here doing a complex scheme to avoid his past, i think about the following things:

john on multiple occasions had spoken to yoko about feeling insecure, especially in the contex of lennon vs mccartney (ex. wondering why ppl mostly cover pauls songs, the story of the restaurant performer playing yesterday to him, ‘nobody hurt him more than paul’, etc.)

i think there’s something really to be said about how this lennon vs mccartney narrative really snowballed in the media outlets in the 70s and how much it probably affected him as someone who has dealt with insecurities and feelings of *identity his whole life. im sure yoko noticed this and they’ve of course talked about it, so as his wife of course she’d be taking his side and finding ways of “helping him through it”. we’re they the best ways, maybe not, but again, john wasn’t a child, he was cognizant of what was going on and was able to agree or disagree with choices.

*im talking about identity too because it literally went from lennon/mccartney to lennon vs mccartney within a short time and all of a sudden, everyone in the news outlets and the music world were pitting them against each other, when for basically 12 years, these two deeply identified with each other and the lennon/mccartney name (and side note please by no means am i suggesting mccartney wasn’t affected by this, that man literally went into depression when he realized it was over).

i really think during the 70s john wanted to separate himself from the legend (perhaps the myth in his eyes) and really make a name for himself, without the nagging feeling of “is this successful because of me or because of the legend of the Beatles and by extension of lennon/mccartney.” now, im not saying this man hated paul, but when you think about one instance when paul tried to re-establish a musical connection with him in the 70s (ie. inviting him to new orleans), john had then finally decided to go back to yoko, the coincidence is a bit uncanny. again, i don’t buy that it was fully a pure yoko scheme of her “finally deciding to let him come back home and it was miserable being without her” when these two were always talking on the phone during those two years. I’m also not saying John didn’t ponder over it, we have the account of art garfunkel and others where he’s asking them if they think it would be a good idea to record with Paul again. BUT, in the end, Lennon did make a choice. he went back with yoko.

it gets super complicated *and i think this is the reason we get so many polarizing views on this* when you consider that yes, john decided he didn’t want to collaborate with paul (just not yet at least), wanted to do his own thing and be successful in his own write (and in my opinion john definitely did create some amazing music without him), but at the same time, john loved and missed paul, and that’s full stop. you may not understand it, but sometimes there’s just no need to explain it, sometimes you just miss someone. there’s people we’re always going to love and there’s just no way of explaining it, we just do. and that shit really wreaks havoc in the mind, especially when as john once put it, their relationship and arguments were on full display for everyone to see, so your relationship to that person also gets warped through that lens of how others (in this case tens of thousands of ppl) see it and what they’re publishing. again, coming back to this idea of together= lennon/mccartney and apart= lennon vs. mccartney, when in reality, if it was just a regular relationship that wasn’t so publicized, it would have just been seen as apart= john and Paul, doing their own thing.

ok sorry, i realized i veered off topic a bit and went all over the place, but would appreciate to hear your thoughts on the matter. my thoughts aren’t fully fleshed out so i hope this made sense and didn’t sound like a complete blob of text. thanks & happy new year !

Hi anon, sorry for taking a few days to get back to you! I'm having trouble discerning a question from this message though I do acknowledge and for the most part agree with your points.

I have to say, I think talking about "agency" is a bit thorny. In a way, yes John made all these choices himself, but he was also influenced by many factors to make them, and Yoko was clearly a huge influence on his life. I don't necessarily condemn her (fully), I do think, as you say, she quite likely had her husband's interests at heart.

I think you're right in bringing up John's need for independence as an artist vs. his unconditional affection for Paul and how the media frenzy (which tbf he very much consciously fed into) complicated the situation for him.

Sorry, I do have a lot of thoughts about the subject, I think, but I'm sort of not sure which ones to go into right now. If you're still interested, feel free to send another ask, but like I said, for the most part I agree with your take!

[retphienix]

Oh my god my heart.

Just spent the whole talk smiling like a dork and nearly teared up in the middle there.

Futaba is undoubtedly one of my favorite characters both personality wise and because I love seeing someone overcome some INTENSELY heavy baggage and find True, Pure, Unfiltered joy with their new support system and just ;-;

Beautiful. Beautiful stuff.

Favorite character material right here.

Her confidant story was pretty strong in my opinion.

Like 70% of it is entirely focused on Futaba's anxieties and personal growth and I LOVE THE HELL outta that portion, and then 30% is a shockingly horrible tale about her old friend's living situation and us helping her out of it.

I'd argue the 30% wasn't my favorite but I don't have "too" much of a long winded complaint. (I lied, I found it fun to talk about and read-more'd it. I do recommend if you find the use of the PT as a form of personal reflection for the villains in each narrative and the devs varied success in conveying this 'properly' it's a fun little train of thought below!)

It left me uncomfortable hearing of parents forcing their child (a minor ofc) to take provocative photos to sell online, but it was supposed to make me uncomfortable. That's good!

The worst I can complain on is the too-easily-forgiven happy ending just felt bad, man. It's one of those narrative hooks they really should have given the respect and attention of a solid and honest consequence laden ending, but because it's supposed to be side content- hell it's supposed to be side content inside of side content as Futaba's friend isn't even a major portion of her confidant growth- they didn't grant it that.

So instead of tackling Kana's situation in a way that grants the villains of that story proper consequences and takes the time to ensure Kana is given a happy ending that, I don't know, doesn't involve still living with her parents, we just get the cookie cutter "And they had a change of heart and are good people now :)" ending.

That ending works for like 99% of the events in this game, truly it does! Because most of the requests and the like revolve around people falling into bad mindsets that can be forgiven and grown from in a day to a week's time. Most "bad people" we grant changes of heart are people who haven't done irreparable harm- they've done harm, 100%, but not irreparably. They can take the counseling-esque treatment the PT offer through their heart changing methods and come out of it capable of asking forgiveness and proving they deserve it through properly changing their ways going forward.

A thief can give back their score; A cheater can admit their doings and make it up to their victims; A bully can apologize and prove they mean it through earnest kindness.

This wasn't really one of those; It was much more like some of the major villains who bring intense harm to others and are granted not just a change of heart- but welcome the consequences of their actions to properly make up for what they initially put out in the world.

Like I ain't saying some bullshit "Shoulda gone to prison because arbitrarily locking people up makes things better :)" phrasing, though that's honestly a potential way to do just what I'm asking.

I'm saying this wasn't a simple "We're sorry" and fade to black scenario. It'd make more sense for the parents to relinquish guardianship to like a grandparent we're taught is kind-hearted or something. It's a touch weird- but it's also, undoubtedly, 100%, something I'm not supposed to dwell on, lmao.

To close I would like to share a couple tidbits and draw a parallel with another request that seemingly fulfills the same initial goals, but better.

Kana's request is called "Daughter's just a meal ticket". It implies the worst of the narrative is how her parent's are using her for money. To be honest that's okay, but I think it's worth pointing at as it carries a sense that the dehumanizing use is the focal point rather than exactly what she is being made to do for money. I do think it works in the context of avoiding having a painfully uncomfortable request title.

Hifumi's request is called "Upstaging the stage mother". It's a lot less clear on what the problem is but here's the thing. Hifumi's story IS ALSO about a parent using their child for money. It's ALSO about a parent devaluing their child's life and using them for personal gain.

It also has added narrative value as it has interesting reasoning for the initial desire's mutation. Whereas Kana's parent's are said to have just always been gamblers and then carelessly began abusing their child for gain, Hifumi's mother is said to have fallen into a spiral of self doubt after failing to meet her stardom dreams, so she's twisted the idea of giving her child the success she never had into a web of lies, disrespect, and a lack of empathy towards what Hifumi wishes to do with her life.

This isn't meant to be me saying "Hifumi has a great story and request!" it's me saying these are two requests about a parent or parents using their child for money, but only one of them makes sense for a change of heart to be a near immediate recovery to all involved.

Hifumi's mother realizing that what she is doing is wrong makes total sense in terms of everyone involved getting better and being happy shortly after!

Kana? Not so much.

Kana's parents suddenly realize what they did was wrong and Kana.... continues to live with her abusers? Sure they aren't that anymore, but that's just a weird "Happy Ending" compared to the much more acceptable Hifumi tale with a similar overarching 'crime'.

ANYWHO!

[thissugarcane]

qaf season 4 structural analysis

I am studying the structure of season 4 (all as part of my intention to rip it the HELL apart and stitch it back together in a quilt more pleasing to me, if not more happy), and you know what? it feels very much to be a three-act thing, at least where brian and justin's arcs are concerned. posibly where they're all concerned?

act one: 4x01 to 4x05

brian's arc: he's building kinnetik and learning (and willingly) accepting help for his business -- and also, he's building himself back up again brick by brick, redefining his position and place in his career.

justin's arc: he's actually the one NOT willing to accept help or support in Act 1, because he's dealing with PTSD from Darren's bashing and the pink posse

michael and ben: dealing with being foster parents mostly (and partly ben's book / jealousy over hollywood)

Deb: ? pretending she's actually ok with not being needed, when obvs she isn't? (aka vic and rodney)

lindsay: ?

mel: that case and letting go of being "everything"

emmett: sort of, thru 4x01 and such: learning to live without Ted and "on his own"? (by 4x05 he's moved into his new apartment)

ted: rehab, pt one, learning to accept he is an addict? and learning to accept help / that he has friends / that he can live post-addiction?

[I think Emmett and Ted's arc together, and maybe their individual ones, don't strictly follow the episode structure, because I think they go more 4x03 to 4x08 ish, like, they have two arcs mid and late season, rather than the whole thing. but emmett and ted's storyline together is ted's amends.]

act two: 4x06 to 4x10

brian's arc: in a nutshell? the cancer arc

Brian begins at the peak of his career success (4x06 starts with the kinnetik launch) but then finds out his health is failing and has to face his own mortality

brian is struggling through cancer (being physically imperfect, facing up to the fact that he's not 21 anymore and that he's lost something else that was fundamental to his identity (his dick)

by the end, he's let justin in and once more is accepting justin's help, and also by the end, he's able to be hard and has come out of it

justin: the hollywood arc, sort of not really

Justin sort of doesn't have a full arc in act two of season 4... the hollywood stuff is percolating, but it's a narrative plot for Ben and Michael and Ben's jealousy, not Justin

He's mostly supporting Brian

He's also being woo'ed by Hollywood and Brett, when no one else in his life is paying attention

NOTE TO SELF: Give justin this insecurity about his career arc in your fic, here, while Brian is RECOVERING from cancer. Tie it into him going back to school and to Kinnetik?

Arguably Justin is lost in Act 2, not sure of his place (brian lies to him, then brian throws him out, then brett calls, then then then)

michael and ben: the hollywood arc and ben's jealousy over michael's success (and then Anthony) - while Ben doesn't cheat and is honest, he isn't honest about how he's struggling with his own failure as Michael experiences success

debbie: vic's death, as well as everbody dealing with this obvs (her fight with vic is in 4x06 and his death is at the end of it)

ted: his feelings for blake coming to a head, basically? maybe? 4x06, then 07 is where blake says "we can't do this"

lindsay (and Mel): sam and that betrayal

Emmett: mostly a supporting character. until 4x09 when he meets Drew.

as Lindsay and Mel are falling apart, Ted and Emmett are reconciling

act three: 4x11 to 4x14 (maybe 5x01) - the liberty ride

Brian's arc: accepting what you can't change

Brian is once again struggling to accept he won't be able to "get better" or "go back", which culminates with him doing the liberty ride, lost, physically broken (literally) and feeling very much alone because Michael just got MARRIED and justin is in LA.

BUT. Brian, with the determination to do it FOR HIMSELF and also to GET BACK TO JUSTIN keeps going and is happy about it. michael supports him on that ride but his GOAL is to get back to justin, FOR HIS OWN SAKE

He also throws Pendergrast out (figuratively) and then fixes the ride himself, because he knows who he is in his career? and he can't go back to being who he was pre-3x14

the thing he has trouble accepting is that people move on -- michael did, does, and Brian by 4x13 has realized that he's lost him. by the end of 4x14 he's realized he's lost Justin, too.

justin's arc: hollywood. sort of

Justin is finding his feet and being excited about new career opportunities in LA and genuinely wanting to "spread his wings" so to speak, building a new self

after having a full act feeling "lost", arguably, he's onto "change the things you can" instead of "accept the things you can't".

he's pulling away from Brian as Brian's fighting to stand and survive (alone, because he has to do it alone)

emmett: has the drew thing, and deciding not to lie even if he loves drew, thing

ted: reconciles his friendship with emmett and realizes he's gotten the pieces of his life back that he wanted

ben and michael: choose to get married, support hunter, and be a family.

lindsay and mel: realise and choose to split up

deb: mostly a supporting character for the others now that she's forgiven herself over the fight with vic. supports brian while brian is depressed. supports michael and ben. has carl. etc.

[jan-michalczyk-portfolio]

My journey in The Fat Club project

The critical review of my film 

It must be admitted first that the final version of The Fat Club is very different from the initial ideas. The narrative structure’s change was caused by sudden and unexpected circumstances our group has met. To begin with, the main actor who agreed to play Michael resigned only a day before planned shooting. It was clear for us we didn’t have enough time to go through another casting process once again. The idea of making the film as his POV was born due to our difficult situation. At first I was rather sceptical towards it, I never really enjoyed films shot from someone’s POV. I thought they were tedious and awkward cinematography-wise and, finally, difficult to film. However the main theme of our film is Michael’s mental state, preventing him from having a clear, rational view on reality. We decided to play on it even more which almost in a hyperbolic manner would depict his struggles. Thus, the takes and storytelling are more chaotic, less coherent as he suffers from psychotic disorders as well. According to McGregor (2022) altering the point of view can have a profound impact on how the audience interprets the scene or character’s action.

When it comes to my critically reviewing the finished project, it took me some time to gain a distance. Being completely honest and true to myself, I’m satisfied with the portrayal of Michael’s insanity through chaotic and short shots. Arcena argues (2012, p.27) that the successful portrayal of psychosis in Clean, Shaven (1993) directed by Lodge Kerrigan was achieved through including typical for schizophrenia types of hallucinations and overall disorganised narrative. That allowed it to authentically depict the chaos of insanity, making its audience uncomfortable and sometimes confused. Our final edit made it look like even he didn’t know what was exactly happening – was there a ritual? How did he get back home? Nevertheless, I believe if the idea of shooting the story from Michael’s POV had been born earlier, the overall execution of our film would be more clear and more aesthetically refined. I, as the director and the screenwriter, had to focus much more on the events and its sequence in the final edit, so naturally I had less time to polish up the overall aesthetic attributes which I initially wished to include – electronic music, flashing unnerving images during Michael’s psychosis or brief hints about Michael’s past. 

What have I learnt from this project? 

The extensive amount of troubleshooting we have had during the whole production process has, once again, made me face the harsh reality of filmmaking. This however gave me numerous obstacles to be challenged with and helped me grow as a future professional screenwriter and director. 

The most important lesson I’ve learnt is to believe my own creative instincts. It’s easy to give up when things don’t go according to plan but I seemed to have forgotten about the charm of any creative industry. If something doesn’t work, there are millions of other solutions to my problem. The only limit there is, it’s my own creativity. Unlike in science, there are no wrong or right answers. Another equally important lesson is more a reminder than anything new. That is, organisation and communication. It’s fairly obvious but incredibly easy to get lost. Everyone in our crew is just a human being who deals with their own problems outside the university. However as a team we should always be there for each other as the film is a collective goal. It’s impossible to get on well with everyone all the time but respect is key. I often felt disrespected when some crew members didn’t respond to messages or didn’t engage much but fault was also on me. Did I voice my concerns properly? Not always. Did we have a meeting regarding strictly our issues? No, we preferred to blame it on lack of time, so tensions between the group members have had an impact on the film. 

Communication, mutual respect and thorough organisation are key to any successful production. 

Reflection on my role 

This project has shown me how challenging and difficult it is to hold two roles at the same time. However at the same time it allowed me to answer my biggest question – what am I really interested in? Now I know that it’s screenwriting. As much as I enjoyed having the final decision in creative choices on set, I still was more focused on storytelling. 

Directing is about executing the story, making it come to life but screenwriting is creating it from scratch. When the script was finished, it was very interesting to see others’ reactions and thoughts of the story which allowed me to gain new perspectives. Nevertheless I feel as if my directing didn’t focus enough on the complexity of psychosis which would enhance the tragism in Michael’s story. Referring to the views of Poseck (2006), Christopher Nolan in Memento (2000) used the theme of anterograde amnesia (difficulty to recall past events due to amnesia, trauma) as a storytelling technique. He wanted to force the audience to make an effort in order to understand the scheme of the plot. I regret I didn’t play on this trope more but left some scenes too confusing, in my opinion. 

My contribution in terms of professionalism, expertise and innovation 

The three years of my study taught me how to maintain a professional attitude during the production. With acquired skills I was able to stay in touch with actors, guide them through the script and give tips. I knew I had to maintain a positive atmosphere on set which would encourage others to give their best. For example, when working with the actor playing Old Michael I would chat with him during breaks. He turned out to be a highly experienced performer and listening to his story not only allowed me to build mutual respect but was also an interesting insight from the talent’s point of view. 

The knowledge of storytelling techniques helped with writing the script which conveyed the right content. I was able to focus on key themes in the story while keeping the short format. Also when watching favourite films I started to pay attention to certain aspects such as the way characters were introduced and how they later developed. 

Finally I learnt how to innovate already known themes and tropes according to my vision. For instance, Michael’s difficult internal problems weren’t heavily based on dialogues but expressed through chaotic reality from his POV. This depicts how incoherent the world can be if you suffer quietly, not truly knowing who you are. 

[novelconcepts]

2 8 9 19 63

Now that I'm back to a proper keyboard for the moment:

2 - talk about a notable time a narrative or character has looked you dead in the eyes and said “fuck your plan, here’s what we’re actually doing.”

The whole of my haunted house novel has been like this. I went in Knowing exactly what I was going to do with the plot, and that plot has been bashing me around the head with its own ideas ever since. Sort of why it's been frozen in place since July, actually.

I had a similar experience writing my Damie music AU, except I wrested control back along the way (I was incredibly concerned with how issues of consent would appear if I let the thing go where it seemed to wish). I'm pretty sure the whole story wound up a little weaker for it, but I made my choices, and I'm proud of the overall result.

8 - what’s your relationship with constructive criticism and feedback like? do you seek it out? how well do you take it?

I would absolutely love to be the kind of person who enjoyed and benefited from constructive criticism. Unfortunately, my skin is way thinner than I'd like, and I'm already incredibly harsh on myself when it comes to my writing--any unpleasant responses tend to take center stage in my head for months. I'm not yet at a mental health point where I could actively seek harsh critiques.

9 - in an ideal world where you’re already super successful and published, would you want to see a tv or movie adaptation of your work? why or why not?

I assume in an ideal world I would also have creative control to a degree over an adaptation, and that we would be in a world where TV wasn't treated as unceremoniously as it currently is, so: absolutely. I think most authors would kill to see their creations come to life to that degree. But only under circumstances where I had some power and could ensure the casting and scripts wouldn't totally botch the thing.

To be honest, when working on original novels, I absolutely have mental casts in place at least for the foundation of the story. To see that become reality would be a dream come true.

19 - what are some books or authors that influenced your style the most?

Neil Gaiman is the biggest one to come to mind. Also K.A. Applegate's overall plot arc for Animorphs (not so much her writing style) was hugely formative. The strength of the friendships portrayed in IT. And V.E. Schwab's style often feels like mine, though I don't think I found her early enough to call her an influence, per se--just an interesting coincidence.

63 - what’s the best insult you’ve read in a fic?

Oh, I have absolutely no idea.

[qcpolar]

Back to back drake snare

You done good but let’s be honest, saying you came from the bottom is just a bit disingenuous. This beat is pretty damn catchy, even if the feeling of the track is a lot more defensive than celebratory. I don’t think it’s saying anything necessarily, it’s just a nice trick that dimensionalizes the tracks and provides room for a switch up in tone/flow/narrative etc.Īidan: This is new to me. Kyle: I love the backpedaling production, too. The only place I recall hearing this effect on a Drake track before is at the end of “ Shut It Down” which was also produced by 40, but I could be missing something. Best hook on the record, hands down.Ĭayley: On a different note: has anyone noticed all of the rewinding/backwards sounds on a lot of the tracks? It’s in the very beginning of “Tuscan Leather”, a bit at 0:15 in “Furthest Thing”, “From Time” from 3:00 onwards… Is this 40’s current favourite thing to do, or do you think it has some significance? I can’t think of any explanations that aren’t completely cliché.

The sensitive Drake persona from his previous records is still in here before he changes it up, but it sets the tone for a more confident body of work. I mean, there’s tracks about his come-up on all his releases but this is the record where his whole attitude changed. Drake is on the rise and put out the record that shows him in a more confident place than before, and he makes sure to let us know he’s here to stay. For me it’s the song that ties Take Care and NWTS together, the opening lines say it all. Soraya: This is the one that resonated with me most during my first listens, and the one I keep going back to – the closest thing to perfect. lots of backtracking, soothing pianos, cloudy/dark atmospheres (aside from “Hold On We’re Going Home”), clear-cut vocals, and low-end bass. These two opening tracks are indicative of the production to come throughout the record. Kyle: “Furthest Thing” is one of my favourites, and it’s produced by Jake One, who’s responsible for Chance the Rapper’s “ Acid Rain”. A lot of people find Drake’s success-as-revenge motif relatable, myself included, and “Tuscan Leather” is packed with lines that resonate with those of us who privately consider our achievements a symbolic middle-finger to our critics. That Drake can fire shots while reciting the alphabet (“ aye B, I got your CD you get an E for effort“) is testament to rap music’s infinite ability to rephrase “I’m better than you’” into something that’s razor-sharp, quick-witted and fun to say out loud. I can’t fault the production, but it’s the lyrics of “Tuscan Leather” that have really given me something to think about. Sophie: Whitney Houston’s “ I Have Nothing” gets the chipmunk soul treatment from 40, who shines throughout NWTS but particularly on its intro – Drake says himself that he could “go a hour on this beat”. Lyrically, Drake, he sounds hungry, but sensitive thugs will be reaching for their tissues by the end. Noah Shebib is at his peak it’s just this whirlwind of hi-hats, bass, and colorful leads.

Panel: Jon Alcindor, Kyle Brayton, Soraya Brouwer, Aidan Hanratty, Sophie Kindreich, Cayley MacArthur, Jess Melia, Michelle Myers, Warren O’Neill & Sindhuja Shyam.