#I feel the need to say I DO LIKE PB! SHE'S AN INTERESTING CHARACTER!

[creadigol]

Can you continue hero x villain teacher hero?

Thank you so much for the request! This is actually one of my favorite prompts and it was one of my first writing prompt ideas ever, years back before I even had a Tumblr. Due to my love of this one, it kinda got away from me and I wrote a lot. Like a lot. Lol.

I hope y’all enjoy! 

Part 1 and Part 2 here! 

Hero’s very shitty day was taking a turn for the better. 

This morning Hero had woken quite late (due to the extended hero-ing from last night), skipped breakfast, tripped on the curb, spilled their cold coffee, lost their parking space to a visiting mother, and almost got disciplinary action for arriving three minutes past their classroom attendance slot. 

After hearing the ‘ooohs’ and ‘ahhhs’ of various fourth graders, all of whom watched the principal reem Hero out in the hallway; Hero had finally obtained a sense of control over the class just after lunch. Of course that was after one of the kids had accidentally spilled finger paint on Hero’s chair and didn’t feel the need to tell them until Hero found themselves with a neon pink ass. 

As it was, just after lunch was their history time and Hero, not feeling too great about standing in front of the kids looking this disheveled; nor wanting to show off the new color of their pants, simply opted to play two episodes of Liberty’s Kids while the students sat on the carpet. The ploy seemed to work as not one student strayed from the carpet or asked to go to the bathroom. Hero stayed at the classroom sink, located just behind their desk, and tried to clean themselves as much as possible with the children distracted. 

Hero couldn’t help themselves from laughing along with the kids as the characters in the show told jokes and got into trouble while learning about the creation of The United States. Hero had forgotten how enjoyable the PBS show was and felt very nostalgic as they remembered the show premiering back when they were a child. Some things never age, Hero thought. 

So, all in all, the shitty day was getting better. Perhaps after the show Hero would give the kids a break from memorizing the different kinds of rocks and do a fun science experiment instead. With Hero’s powers they were sure they could make the demonstration look very cool without outing themselves as a super. Maybe they could win back their ‘awesome teacher’ status in the eyes of the kids after it had taken such a hit this morning. 

“Not exactly in style, but I must admit you wear it well.” Hero jumped and turned. How had they not heard someone come in? 

“I’m sorry?” Hero addressed the unknown adult. They turned from the sink, suddenly very aware that they had been wiping their backside with a wet paper towel. Pink was on their hands and now the floor at the attempt…not to mention still on their ass. 

Hero very nearly froze at the sight of the intimidating man. If not for their hero training they surely would have. 

He was tall, tall and brawny, but not in the typical sort of way. The muscle in his physique was evident underneath the expensive Italian silk suit; but there was also a leanness to it, like a coiled spring that spoke of agility and readiness. Hero wasn’t sure why, but they instantly felt off kilter, instantly felt tense, like when they are about to face off against a criminal or a villain. 

“Your ah…” the man smirked and chuckled, “choice of presentation…or should I say style, on your…well…” 

“Oh,” Hero noted the visitors-pass around the man's neck and felt a little of the apprehension fade. Perhaps they were just on edge due to the circumstances the man saw them in. “Not exactly my choice. This is courtesy of a young aspiring artist. She’s just too young to  know where her canvas is.” 

The man laughed jovially, “What a kind way of putting it!”

Hero heard some of the children snicker to themselves from over on the carpet, evidently finding the new stranger and their painted teacher much more interesting than the Revolutionary War. Hero tilted to one side so as to see past the newcomer and give their students ‘the look’.

“Pay attention please,” Hero chided. “You never know…I may be inclined to give you a quiz on this at the end of the day.” 

A series of ‘awwwws’ followed their remark. 

“But if you pay attention now, I might be in too good of a mood to write a quiz…”

All the kids turned back to the television with such force Hero was surprised there was no neck damage. All except for one. 

“Daddy!” 

Oh god. 

“Why hello Maria,” the man stooped down and scooped up the child who had run over from her place on the carpet. He hugged her and then placed her back down. Her stature only reached just past his waste. 

Hero felt their blood go cold. 

Daddy…Maria…

Maria, the student who was first in their class in everything but English…Maria, the student who all the other students named most popular…Maria, the student who aspired to be a veterinarian one day because she loved the class rabbit so much…Maria, the student Villain was most concerned about…

Maria, the student who was the daughter of Supervillain. 

Shit. 

“Are you here to talk to Teacher?” She asked sweetly, her gaze never leaving her father. 

The man nodded, “I am, so you best be a good girl and go back to watching what Teacher has put on.” 

She scrunched her face up in a pout, “But you’re going to talk about me.” 

He nodded as if it made no difference, “I am.” 

“So you’re not supposed to talk about people when they aren't there.” She crossed her arms and gave him a look of determination. 

The man, no Supervillain, laughed. “Is that so?”

She nodded sagely, “Yes. Teacher said so.” 

Supervillain fixed his gaze on Hero. Hero clenched at the sopping, paint dripping paper towel in their hand. 

They knew this day would come. Of course they did. But they had somehow hoped it wouldn’t. Hero was under the impression that Supervillain was not that active in his child’s life. Parent-teacher conferences had always been with Maria’s mother, who had stated that she was happily divorced, and all open houses and concerts had been devoid of Maria’s father ever since she had enrolled at the school. 

When Villain had brought up who Maria was, Hero had already known. After all, they were well connected in the hero world. 

It wasn’t that Hero purposely got Maria in their class, in fact it was the opposite. Hero tried to keep their two lives as separate as possible, but that was just how the dice fell. Hero didn’t get to choose who was in their class and Maria had been assigned to them. 

It was how Villain had found out their secret identity in the first place, their research into Supervillian’s private life had led them straight to Hero. 

Hero had said it was a small world.

Villain had said they best be careful. 

“Really? Well, I guess you better leave me and Teacher alone so they can teach me lessons like that.” Supervillain smiled at Hero. 

Maria was not deterred. 

“No, you just want to talk about my report card. But you can’t, because it’s not parent teacher day.”

Supervillain laughed again and ruffled her hair. “Not all parents need to wait for parent teacher day to talk about their children. It’s a parent’s right to bring up concerns to their children’s teachers, isn’t that right Teacher?” 

Hero gave a hesitant smile, “Yes, of course it is. Though most call first.”

Hero looked down at Maria, “You go back to the show, Maria, Benjamin Franklin’s about to speak to the French Parliament. I know how much you like him. ” 

She looked at Hero with suspicion, though with a hint of apprehension at the idea of missing anything involving Benjamin Franklin. 

Hero smiled warmly at her, “You won’t understand the book I’m loaning you if you don’t know what he did in France for the revolution.” 

Maria’s eyes lit up, “I can take your book home?” 

Hero nodded, “But only if you promise to take care of it for me. Now off you go.” 

“I will!”

She turned to her father and gave him a quick hug before hurrying back to her spot on the rug. Hero almost laughed when they saw her place her head on her fists in an effort to concentrate more on the words Benjamin Franklin was speaking. 

“Nicely done. Though I can’t say I condone bribery,” Supervillain crossed his arms, but still held the smile from before. 

“Well, at least it’s enriching bribery. I told her two weeks ago I had a book at home about Benjamin Franklin and she’s been after it ever since. I guess now I’ll have to bring it in.” Hero found themselves slipping into their normal Teacher to parent tone, though they were sure the tension in their shoulders was noticeable. 

“We’ll make sure to get it back to you just as it was,” Supervillain leaned on the desk and looked down at Hero in a conspiratorial way. Hero tried not to think about how Supervillain was taller than them even while leaning. “Now about Maria’s last report card…”

“Mr….” Hero cut them off.

“Escole,” Supervillain filled in easily, though his eyes rose. “Maria has my last name.” 

“Mr. Escole,” Hero hoped their voice held more bravery than they felt. “I didn’t want to say this in front of your daughter, but this is rather unorthodox. If you wanted to speak about her grades you could have made an appointment for later in the evening or perhaps during their lunch time…”

“Yes, yes,” Supervillain waved them off, “I meant to stop in during lunch but work got ahead of me. I’m sure you know how it is…” Supervillain gave them an up-down, no doubt seeing the old coffee spill mixed with paint and the tear in Hero’s pant leg from when they tripped earlier. “Some days are just chaotic.” 

“I know but…” Hero stopped at Supervillain’s raised hand.

“My darling Maria is too precious to be put on the wayside because of work, don’t you agree?” 

“Of course, but as I said…” In an instant Supervillain was in their face. Their tall body leaned over the desk as though there was no barrier between them. 

“I am a very busy man Teacher, so I’ll get right to the point. I don’t make appointments, people make them with me. When it comes to my daughter, I honestly don’t care whether you’re on lunch or in the middle of a lecture, I’ll be here and when I’m here we will talk. And when we talk, I expect you to listen and do what I want. Is that clear?” 

By the time Supervillain was done, not only was he only an inch away from Hero’s face, but his hand had found its way to Hero’s arm. The grip was tight and bruising, making Hero’s hand that held the pink paper towel shake. 

Every part of Hero wanted to fight, to get themselves out of Supervillain’s hands, but a stronger part of them was hyper aware of the children. They couldn’t fight here. They couldn’t do anything to endanger the children. 

“What do you want to talk about Mr. Escole?” Hero asked in a shaking whisper. 

Supervillain smiled, “Maria was right. You are smart.” 

Supervillain lounged on the desk and pulled on Hero’s arm to bring them down closer. “That new repairman that’s been hanging around…what’s their name?” 

Hero looked them in the eyes with confusion, though in their mind they started panicking. 

Good god, did he know about Villain? 

“I thought you wanted to talk about Maria’s English grade?” Hero spoke. 

“I know you’ll do what you need to with that. I’m not concerned about her grades. What I am concerned with is her account of her teacher being buddy-buddy with a new repairman. One that seems to do the majority of their work only in this classroom.” Supervillain narrowed their eyes at Hero’s large ones. 

“I don’t know what you mean…” Hero stumbled when a hand gripped their throat. Not tight, but plenty threatening. They hoped to god that the children were absorbed in the show. 

“Are you saying my daughter is a liar? That there is no repairman? Now, now Teacher, remember what Maria said? Can’t be talking about her while she’s not here.” 

“I,” Hero breathed raggedly. They couldn’t let this escalate with the children so close. “Every school has repairmen. I…I don’t know what you want.” 

Supervillain squeezed a bit tighter as he stared directly into Hero’s eyes. It took all of their willpower not to look away. What if Supervillain recognized them? They used to think their costume was foolproof, but after Villain had figured it out…now Hero wasn’t so sure. 

“Are all repairmen so attentive?” 

“I don’t know. They come and do their job.” I’m more focused on the kids, Hero almost said, but stopped. They didn’t want Supervillains attention turning the children right at this moment. 

“Nothing out of the ordinary?” Supervillain’s grip on their arm was so tight it felt like it was going to break. Hero suppressed their whimper.

“Not that I’ve seen.” They shook. 

“Then why are they here so often?” 

Hero blinked away tears of pain. “The classroom was in disrepair. It has been for a while. I thought we finally had the funds to fix everything,” They lied. 

“Why no funds?” Supervillain tilted his head. 

 Hero brought their hand up to grip Supervillain’s wrist by their neck when it got tighter. It only made Supervillain shake them. 

“Why no funds?” He asked again.

“I…I’m not sure,” Hero wheezed. “I think the city cut the money during the recession.” 

The hand got tighter. Hero started to see spots. Oh god, did Supervillain see right through them? 

Hero was pulled so close that they were nose to nose with Supervillain. Hero could smell his breath and feel every puff of air that came from his nose. The way Supervillain had positioned himself perfectly blocked what was happening from the children. At least there was that. 

“I want that repairmen gone. Immediately.” He paused, his gaze unwavering, “I expect you not to tell anyone of this encounter. If you do…well Maria will be upset, but there are always other teachers. She’ll get over it.”

Supervillain unceremoniously pushed Hero away. Hero collided onto their wooden swivel chair making the whole thing topple backwards. The crash called attention from all the children. 

“Teacher!”

“Oh no!”

“Teacher are you okay?” 

“What happened Teacher?” 

Supervillain gave a fake look of shock and placed their hand over their heart. “Oh my! Kids, it seems Teacher slipped and fell. Better make sure they’re alright.” 

It was through a throng of worried children that Hero saw Supervillain slip out of the room with a pat of goodbye to his daughter. 

Hero assured the kids that they were okay, just a few bruises. 

“That’s why we never leave water on the floor,” Hero said with a smile. “It was my own doing.” 

All the students laughed at Hero’s rare klutzy moment and were more than delighted when Hero told them they could eat snacks and watch Liberty’s Kids for the rest of the day, no quiz required. 

Once they were settled once again, Hero put their head down on the desk and tried to slow their breathing. 

They had only just got their heart-beat back down when they heard one of the kids approach their desk talking. 

“Teacher slipped and fell. It was after the mean man whispered at them. Now Teacher doesn’t feel so good.” 

“Mean man?” Asked another voice. 

Shit. Not now! Why are they here now? They already practically fixed everything in the school. 

“It was Maria’s dad, but we all call him the mean-man because he didn’t help Teacher up when they fell down.”  

“Maria’s dad?” The shuffling stopped at Hero’s desk. “And Teacher fell after they talked?” 

“Uh-huh.” 

“Well, you better get back to the show. I think Washington’s about to cross the Delaware. Don’t worry, I’ll check on Teacher.” 

“Okay! Thanks Repairman!”

There was silence. Hero could feel Villain’s eyes staring into as they kept their head down on the desk. 

“Hero,” Villain whispered. “What happened?” 

At first Hero said nothing, then, 

“Are any of the kids around?” Came Hero’s muffle reply. 

“Nope, they’re all eating cookies on the rug.” Hero felt the air change as Villain bent down closer. Unlike with Supervillain, Hero didn’t feel threatened at all. “Why?” 

“I don’t want them to see. It’s sure to have set in now.” 

Villain placed a hand on Hero’s shoulder, “What’s set in?” Hero could hear the urgency in their voice. “Phillip said Maria’s dad was here…”

“Supervillain was here.” Hero confirmed. “And,” Hero lifted their head. Villain sucked in a breath as they saw the dark bruising along Hero’s neck and the mark on their forehead from when they hit the ground. “We had a talk.” 

…

…

…

“I’m going to kill him.” 

@crow-with-a-typewriter @stevihj @waterflower20

[fennelrabbit]

Now that people have had time to watch and think about the miniseries, can we agree that Fionna and Cake was really bad, or at least disappointing?

I'm very happy to hear some different opinions if anyone wants to try and change my mind, but now I've had some time to digest what I watched, I can still say my bad feelings on the episodes are exactly the same.

I haven't been able to mention Fionna and Cake's characterisation much, so I'll try and make a bulleted list (read more)

° Cake didn't grow or have to change at all during the miniseries. She was selfish and never had to face any consequences for her choices. Her relationship with Fionna is not wholesome and friendly like Jake is to Finn, but more parasitic. Fionna does things for Cake, and in return Cake doesn't abandon her. Cake still helps Fionna in fights and doesn't want her to get hurt, however Cake doesn't really appreciate Fionna and all that she does for her.

It's particularly bad that Cake isn't very bothered by the fact that the trade-in for a magical world is Simon's sanity, which is another moment of selfishness. This scene is never addressed later, which unintentionally implies that if someone isn't benefitting Cake, she doesn't want to care about them anymore.

° Fionna was also poorly handled. Although the show tries to say that it won't treat Fionna in a sexist way by swapping her skirt for shorts, a large part of Fionna's story still revolves around romance and her relationships with men (platonic or romantic). In fact, there's a pretty substantial lack of female characters (barring Fionna) that have any stage presence or do anything meaningful in the story. The episode with apocalypse PB and Marcy was a refreshing addition, with an interesting conflict between the two women, but it's a shame that they couldn't be included in the larger conflict, as characters can jump across the universe and the story would've really benefitted from their inclusion.

Fionna's character started pretty strongly, introducing her boredom and apathy towards her life (that being a capitalist nightmare of endless job hunting just to pay for rent), but didn't do enough to develop this plotline. It's true that having Fionna stay in Ooo wouldn't push her to grow as a person - Fionna needs to find a way to find happiness in the life that she's given.

However, much like Simon was sent back to his shitty life and basically ordered by the narrative to 'get over it' and 'stop being sad', nothing changes in Fionna's original world. Fionna is sent back to the same old world, with the same old problems, and nothing is really resolved. No solutions are presented to Fionna inside of FionnaWorld, even though her situation is very difficult and not something that can just be fixed with 'life's not so bad'. Fionna should've found a way to experience the thrill of adventure in her world, in a way that wouldn't endanger everyone around her.

° Bringing the farmworld characters to FionnaWorld in the end was a total cop-out, and should've resulted in damaging the multiverse. They did not need to be there.

° Fionna and Cake causing things to glitch around them (damaging the multiverse???) was never resolved or followed up on after Act 1. It's like the story forgot that plot point, which really lowered the stakes.

° Scarab was a weak villain. Though his first episode had a strong introduction, he was very undeveloped, and came across as more of a comedic pest than an actual threat. The final fight between Fionna and Scarab were laughably boring, and I never felt like the characters were in danger at all. One of the weakest finales the show's ever done.

° Rip to Betty, folks. You'd think we'd finally get some backstory on her character beyond being "Simon's gf/love interest", but no. We know she has a mum, I guess? And that she's impulsive. Betty has officially been fridged by the narrative THREE TIMES, and will now forever remain as Simon's dead/absent girlfriend. This is very sad, and not to mention, very anti feminist. We will never know who Betty is outside of Simon.

(She doesn't even get to have a real conversation with Simon as Golbetty. She has a couple of sentences, and then gets on the stupid bus. Betty literally has no voice in the story).

°The dialogue was very weak. I don't have much to say here really, the dialogue was just very basic and badly paced. Subtext doesn't exist in this story. At some point, one of Finn's children literally blurts out that their dead mum made their soup. Very subtle exposition, guys.

° I don't like how Fionna and Cake treated Simon at all. The entire time they were both self centered and very annoying, and their relationship with Simon wasn't developed that much. When Simon described Fionna and Cake as his "friends", it wasn't believable in the slightest. They have no chemistry or real connection as a group.

Well, that's all I could remember for now.

Anyway, feel happy to share your thoughts Adventure Time fans, I'd be happy to hear it!

[theprinceandthewitch]

I'm definitely kicking the hornets nest with this one but I always thought it was weird how Marcelines "fallen hero" characterization wasn't really utilized... like at all throughout the show.

Marceline is mostly defined by these characters: Simon, her father, The Vampire King and Princess Bubblegum, with PB and Simon taking the forefront.

Which I thought was weird since PB isn't defined by her relationship with Marceline or any other character. PB gets to exist outside of bubbline and other characters while Marceline doesn't.

And... I honestly dont know why that is, other than the writers just don't like Marceline as much as Princess Bubblegum. I don't think they hate her, but they would rather write PB episodes than Marceline episodes. PB is a more interesting and fun character to write for them. They also need to keep up the illusion she's just as bad as Princess Bubblegum by... not actually making Marceline as bad as Princess Bubblegum. Or really doing anything with Marceline other than using her to develop Simon, making her a depressed goth baddie, or creating Bubbline ship fuel.

Yes, I still will not forgive the show for straight up saying Bubblegums shirt [the one Marceline gave her] held more sentimental value than Hambo. Ah yes... the shirt Bubblegums ex gave her holds sooo much more sentimental value compared to the doll Marcelines beloved father figure gave her when she was literally a defenseless child in a post apocalyptic wasteland.

Can ya tell which character they like more?

Anyways...

People usually reference "It Came from The Nightosphere" as evidence of Marceline being as bad as PB but: She didn't summon her father to Ooo - Finn did. Therefore, that was FINN'S mess to clean up and not Marcelines.

The only time she really goes out of her way to mess with people is when she's being an asshole to Finn and Jake in earlier seasons.

Oh right, and using Finn to get back at PB that one time. But other than that - Marcy hasn't done anything thats puts her on par with a dictator.

Unlike PB who will literally gaslight a lemon child into cleaning up a mess she created... or how she would rather kill an entire squad of sentient robot guards for being too violent rather than like... idk... train them to become less violent... Or how literally anything that comes from PB's DNA turns out to be straight up evil... Or how she will perform child friendly lobotomies on her people while having the audacity to say how some people are just built different...

The point is Marcy is definitely not a "good" person, but she's not on that "literal fascist with a god complex" type of shit like PB is.

Another way they maintain this illusion is by separating Marceline and Finn, because if they got more episodes together then you'd have to address Marcelines "fallen hero" characterization. They're not going to address this part of Marcelines character because they were having a grand time making PB into a fascist. So they can't make Marceline anymore sympathetic than she already is. Remember, Marceline is supposed to be as monstrous as PB is.

This is why Marcy doesn't have any episodes with Finn post "Into the Nightosphere" and why we don't get any Finn and Marcy episodes until... [checks notes] Stakes... and even then those arent Finn and Marcy episodes. Like they only time we see them hang out together is when they make a cameo in Dark Purple.

I'm not counting Bad Little Boy as a Finn and Marcy episode because it's more of a Marceline introspection episode focusing on her feelings for Finn.

But yeah i think this show is funny for completely neglecting to make Marcy just as bad as PB is. Ah yes, she is just as PB because Marcy... [checks notes] has depression. Being depressed makes ya just as bad as a dictator dont cha know...

It's also funny how they want me to think Bubblegum isn't as bad as Ashe even though theyre literally the same character - they're both ancient beings with god complexes LMAO.

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

So this is mostly a Choices blog but some of you know that I've recently started playing Romance Club as well because 1) there are some really good books on RC, 2) the art, and 3) to compare both apps. I could probably make this a series(?) to compare and contrast the two but here's one of the main things I've noticed playing both apps:

The Difference in Pacing

Background: The clear reason for this is because of how the books are set up. On Choices, each completed book is approx. 16 chapters (like a movie) while on RC, the book is typically 3 seasons with around 10-12 episodes (like a tv show). So a book like Open Heart, for instance, would be 3 seasons under one title instead of 3 separate books since they occur within a close period. This is different from a series like Heaven's Secret, which has two separate books that span ten years apart.

I bring this up because I assume this difference explains why the pacing in both apps is so different. I can use Blades II, Kindred, Theodora, and DALS as an example.

I've brought this up already, but one of my biggest gripes with Blades II was the very odd pacing. The beginning of the book (in my opinion) took longer than necessary to start the plot and there was a little too much filler with less time to focus on new lore the themes ate tho and I'm grateful we got another book.

Kindred has a similar issue. The concept of a witch book was cool and they had a good plot, but 16 chapters weren't enough to explore everything they wanted to with the book. The ending was rushed and it felt way too easy to defeat the Wraith King. Do I still love this book? Yes. Do I think the authors did well with the amount of time they were given? Also yes. But the rushed plot does make it hard to recommend it since PB is capable of handling a lot of plot (RE: Blades I).

On the other hand, Theodora has 3 seasons and the whole immortality arc (the premise of the book) wasn't explained until near the end of S2. We had an entire season to explore the character and at least half of a second season to explore her life after she realized she was immortal but without knowing why (human -> immortal -> realizing how she became immortal and starts controlling her power). As a result, it becomes easier to get attached to her since we spent more time getting to know her still one of my favorite MCs.

Dracula: A Love Story still can't believe it has 4 seasons spent an entire season before revealing Vlad's identity even though it's in the title. In comparison, PB would have done three chapters of leaving MC in the dark before revealing who Vlad is with the rest of the book being allotted to helping him. I get that we needed to see all the visions and stuff but personally, I feel like I was more invested in Lale and would have read an entire book about her, Aslan, and Vlad. I swear I don't hate DALS please don't be offended lol.

Am I saying I prefer RC to Choices? Not necessarily, I have problems with RC too mostly regarding representation, and I also know it wouldn't be fair to compare the apps since they are set up differently. I just thought this was something interesting to point out.

[jakesuit0]

Too Young Review

“Too Young” finally follows up on the newly deaged Princess Bubblegum, something fans were dying to see after no glimpses of her in the past four episodes. This would have been a more thematically appropriate season premiere, but I do like the building anticipation for the followup. The question of how this new dynamic would alter the status quo of the series going forward hung over our heads. Turns out: not at all. At least not in an obvious way.

Even putting aside the romance aspect, it’s just great to see Finn finally hanging out with someone his own age, something we never get enough of. He’s always hanging out with his older brother, and his other best friends are hundreds of years older than him. As Finn says at the beginning, he can just be himself. I like Finn stepping out to get moral support from Jake. His encouragement of Finn’s pursuit of Bubblegum is finally appropriate! Finn is a little nervous, this is probably his first ever date. But, he is overall pretty comfortable, as there’s still a strong familiarity between Finn and PB. There’s also no pussyfooting around between the two, they are very upfront with their feelings. PB already knows how Finn feels, and she basically tells Finn that he’s hot after he drinks her serum. He admits to not bathing, so it’s a good thing that BMO gets Finn on a bathing schedule by “Holly Jolly Secrets Part 1.” It’s interesting that Finn first asks if she’s trying to make herself 18 again. Part of him thinks this is all too good to be true.  

Not really sure how much I need to introduce him, but Lemongrab! He’s probably the tenth most prominent character in the series, and one of the most well known characters, period. He wasn’t given much of a personality in the outline. Tom Herpich and especially Jesse Monyihan, the storyboarders for this episode, really created Lemongrab. They succeeded in making such a distinct character, and with Justin Roiland bringing him to life with some of the best voice acting of the series so far, he was basically guaranteed to become a recurring character. (I know there’s a massive elephant in the room that I’m avoiding, but it’s just not pertinent to this review. It will be addressed when I get to “Prismo the Wishmaster” and morals will be condemned!) Lemongrab’s very screamy, but he does it in such an alien way that he’s not annoying. He’s introduced with his iconic “unacceptable” catchphrase, which is pretty great and has been memed to death. He was originally going to be PB’s uncle (I assume it would have straight up been Gumbald, albeit in a very different incarnation, since he was mentioned in “Susan Strong”). I’m very glad they didn’t go that direction. They were dangerously close to ruining much of the direction they’ll take PB’s character in. 

Lemongrab is now technically the rightful ruler due to PB’s deaging. I assume Bubblegum created Lemongrab with the intention of wanting an heir, and that stuck in Candy Kingdom law. Similarly to my take on “Hot Diggity Doom”, I don’t think Princess Bubblegum actually cares about the legal technicality, especially since she started creating the kingdom when she was a kid. She just wanted to delay the inevitable. She might also have more respect for the rules as a less jaded thirteen year old. 

The flashback establishes that she created Lemongrab. It’s the first hint that PB created all the candy people, but it could still just be assumed that Lemongrab was an exception. The implications of PB creating life aren’t explored here, but this establishes a trait for her that will be explored a ton. We don’t know exactly when she created him, but it’s implied that it happened a long time ago, possibly hundreds of years ago. My theory is it happened before the flashbacks seen in “The Vault”. PB was used to making candy people dumb on purpose, probably straight up using dum dum juice. It’d make sense to not want her heir to be incompetent, so she’d need a different formula, especially since she isn’t using parts of the mother gum like she did with Gumbald, Lolly, and Chicle. This caused the experiment to “go wrong”. The reason I think it’s before “The Vault”, is because we see a young Peppermint Butler in it, who I don’t think was created with dum dum juice. She must have perfected the formula by then. Pep wasn’t intended to be an heir, as she’s still trying in “Goliad”, but she’ll eventually realize he fits the bill. Calling Lemongrab her “first” experiment to go wrong, is a straight up continuity error due to the Uncle Gumbald backstory. It’s also hard to believe that she didn’t have any other experiments go wrong. I think my theory could recontextualize the line to mean it’s the first one of her experiments with her new formula to go wrong, but it’s a little handwavey. As if this flashback didn’t already have enough interesting implications, we see that PB still has her memories. This raises the question of if she still has the same experiences, is her relationship with Finn still problematic? I argue that it isn’t. She behaves like a child in her new state. Her brain, just like the rest of her body, has less candy biomass, and is the brain of a child. She’s seeing her memories through the lens of a kid. 

Finn and Bonnie try to solve their problems like kids would for once, with pranks. Their relationship is so pure and adorable. Bonnie cuddling up to Finn on the castle roof is one of the most wholesome moments ever in Adventure Time and Finn looks so incredibly happy. It really captures the innocence of a young child’s first romance, and it stands apart from the awkwardness that defines his relationship with Flame Princess and the maturity that comes with his dynamic with Huntress Wizard. At the same time, Lemongrab gets more defined as he tries to laugh and have fun with the pranks after Peppermint Butler’s explanation. He wants to fit in with others, but he just doesn’t see the world in a neurotypical way, so it comes off as forced and awkward, like his bobbing head laughter.

Peppermint Butler tells Lemongrab that food comes from Mars. It’s a weird lore detail that isn’t ever explained, but is referenced again. It’d make sense for a world of talking animals and talking food to get food from an outside source, but there’s plenty of examples of them eating food from Ooo. I’ll assume that industrialized food comes from Mars, and this is considered more civilized. Lemongrab eating the spiced food is a great sequence, and causes him too much pain for him to just laugh off.

Princess Bubblegum finally decides it's time to stop delaying what she knows is inevitable: becoming 18 again. Finn’s upset, but has the ability to recognize the greater good enough to swallow those feelings. This whole experience was more of a well needed break for PB, than a true commitment to a new permanent identity, just like a later arc she’ll have. But unlike later, she doesn’t change the way she conducts her life through learning from this ordeal. Many fans don’t think this episode works with PB’s portrayal in the rest of the series, but I disagree. She sacrifices her happiness for her people, which will be explored as a character flaw later down the line that ends up backfiring for her kingdom anyway. She views having fun as something mainly for children, and work as something that must consume adults. There is no middle ground for her. The pain this causes PB just makes her double down on work as a distraction. Some of that analysis is based on future episodes, but a lot of it can be taken away from just “Too Young”. It’s great to finally get an episode that focuses on fleshing out Princess Bubblegum’s deeper feelings and motivations. It’s really the only episode in the first three seasons with that accomplishment. 

Princess Bubblegum says she needs her lab equipment to engineer more candy flesh, an even bigger hint that she created the candy people. I love the scene of her citizens giving PB parts of themselves. They recognize how selfless Bubblegum is, and sacrifice pieces of themselves like she does for them. Finn uses the power of love to catalyze the re-aging process. He gets to return Princess Bubblegum’s favor in “Mortal Folly” with the like-like sweater! It’s cheesy but it’s such a perfect resolution. Princess Bubblegum’s goodbye to Finn is heartbreaking, and it’s really tragic, especially after seeing how happy they were together. They hug and Finn has his first kiss. It’s a really special moment, and it really should be his only kiss with Princess Bubblegum. Fuck you “Wizard Battle” for taking away a little bit of what makes this moment so special and tragic. 

Bubblegum turns back and is pretty cold to Finn, but I love the contrast of her just saying “‘scuse me Finn” and how much taller she is than Finn. She’s also cold to Lemongrab, calling him a butt, which is even more problematic given the fact she’s responsible for him. The next moment is soooo important. Finn comes on to PB, which I can’t even condemn him for this time given the circumstances, and PB immediately shuts him down. She takes the crush slightly more seriously than just innocent puppy love. I love how awkward Finn asking if she wants to hug more is, really highlighting how this relationship does not work with this age difference. She responds by not humoring him finally, saying “that was like 5 years ago” and “you really gotta move on.” People have criticized Bubblegum for being too cold to Finn. I do understand calling those comments, and her joking about the situation, insensitive. It comes across to Finn like the relationship they had means nothing to her now. I really don’t think it meant nothing to her, as we’ll see by her subtle changes in behavior and a line she has in “Burning Low.”  But, I’m sure it was hurtful and confusing for Finn. I still can’t really blame PB for how she responded. She definitely could have been more sensitive about it, while still clearly turning him down. But, it’s an awkward situation. She was still trying to be kind about it, even if the joking manner came off as hurtful, and she’s very clear in her rejection which is good. She still doesn’t know the true extent of Finn’s feelings.

Season two’s cliffhanger being immediately reversed in one episode is a controversial decision. It’s the first example of one of the biggest criticisms leveled against the series, not committing to interesting status quo changes. Turning Bonnie back to 18 is a decision I 100% support. Yes, it’s sad how much of a more entertaining character young PB is compared to the regular state of her character so far. But, essentially replacing the most boring character of the main cast with an entirely different character would feel like such a lame solution to a problem the series has. Working on making her a more engaging character is the correct path. The path they take Bubblegum on is my favorite aspect of the series, so I’m glad this didn’t stick. It’s just unfortunate that it takes another season for that to happen. It makes reversing back to the status quo more questionable. Also, we can’t lose Hynden Walch! To be fair, restoring the status quo after only one episode is the aspect of this that’s more contentious. I wouldn’t have been opposed to seeing young PB in a few more episodes, but I don’t really see what more could have been done. I think “Too Young” fully explores everything interesting that can come out of this plotline: her relationship with Finn and how Princess Bubblegum acts differently at this age. This also isn’t entirely a reset. Not only does this episode color Princess Bubblegum’s character moving forward, it also sets a clear new dynamic for Finn and Bubblegum. She stops humoring his advancements (except for “Wizard Battle”, but again, fuck that episode). It’s the first of many times “everything stays, but it still changes” is applicable. We’ll see how long that ends up being a good excuse moving forward though. 

Finn calls Jake and he gives Finn some pretty bad advice if you take it as him still telling Finn to keep pursuing PB! To be fair, he doesn’t yet know that Bubblegum is an adult again. But Finn tells him that he got dumped. You could also interpret Jake’s advice as being persistent in finding love in general, not necessarily referring to Bubblegum specifically. His speech was intended to be important and to foreshadow the rest of the series, but I’m not sure if this really panned out. He does defeat a demon lord (whether it refers to Hunson, Ke-Oth, The Lich, or evil in general). Finn definitely warps through several worlds (“Puhoy”, “Crossover”, “Beyond the Grotto”, etc). Walking up the wizard steps could foreshadow Huntress Wizard, even though it’s unclear if they ever get in a committed relationship. The magic key and water world don’t really come to pass, unless you wanna say “President Porpoise is Missing!” I’m probably taking it too literally. I think it’s true meaning is to just be persistent in finding love despite all the obstacles. I think that’s what Jake’s means, so I like the speech. The episode ends with Finn looking at Bubblegum up above. It seems like Finn takes it as advice to keep pursuing PB specifically, as we see in upcoming episodes. A lot of fans took it this way, thinking Finn will just have to wait until he becomes 18 to get with PB. With him aging throughout the series, that does seem like a plausible endgame. But there’s obviously problematic implications with that. The series ends up going in a different direction and doesn’t make romance a central part of Finn’s final arc, so this speech really doesn’t end up feeling as important as it was set out to be. 

This is a really iconic episode with a super memorable story and introduction of a major character, and it’s one of my favorites so far. It’s essentially a what if scenario, the one time we see what Finn and PB could be like as a couple. The one time Finn gets to live out his greatest desire. I’m not a Fubblegum shipper, but I’m glad the shippers get this episode. Shipping them outside this episode is weird, but I’m fully on board with their relationship here. I guess I’ll end with some controversy. You can’t tell me Princess Bubblegum didn’t have real feelings for Finn in this one. I totally interpret her as bi just because of this episode. 

Grade: A

[mary-fantg]

Thoughts on PB

Хочу отставить некоторые свои мысли здесь, потому что очень хочется их высказать, пока у меня острая фаза впечатления от просмотра сериала. Надеюсь моя горечь со временем уляжется, потому что я сама не могу себе объяснить почему увиденное так затронуло моё сердце, ведь я уже довольно взрослая тётенька, последний раз я так расстраивалась из-за фильма наверно когда была подростком. 

It's a shame that the plot turned out this way in s3. I'm talking about Grace, of course. I understand and fully agree with SK that, according to the whole logic of things and justice, we must pay for all our actions in life. That is why Thomas Shelby should not be happy, and not only he, all Shelbys are deeply unhappy people, as far as their personal human happiness is concerned (be it Polly, Arthur, Ada, John and even Michael). but! due to commercial considerations, the script was so compressed that it does not fit into my head, to lead a couple to a reunion for so long (s1, s2), to create an intrigue about who will be the bride (although, as for me, everything was so obvious that it was not worth it, but more on that below), to gain a huge audience fans of the T/G pair (yes, I hope that we are still the majority) and stop this literally in 2 episodes. It's just like a face on the asphalt! Well, why not let us look at them at least a few more episodes in the season to better understand their relationship, the character of Grace in a new role for us, when she can be herself, and not the “bartender from s1”, to get to know her biography better. That's something I'll never forgive SK. The actors managed to create such amazing chemistry on the screen that their shared scenes gave me goosebumps personally, I can look at these two forever! In parallel, it was quite possible to run a story about Tommy's machinations with the Russians, but without all this dirt, orgies, humiliating scenes with tattoos under the testicles, sex in front of icons. This is already some kind of sick imagination of the author, IMO.

In general, this is what hurts the most, the fact that they did not allow you to enjoy the couple properly, but interrupted everything in the most interesting place.

МЭЙ. 

 I must say right away that I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, this union also has fans. But in my opinion, their storyline was also hasty, hasty, sex made me feel embarrassed, there was a feeling that people were trying very hard to portray passion, but at the same time they were terribly embarrassed and did not experience what they needed to show, because of this I was embarrassed to watch them. Maybe it was awkward for the actors to play it with each other, I do not know, but I did not believe what I saw on the screen, I'm sorry. And this whole scene with a kiss in e6s2, when T. tells her that he will definitely find her, in my opinion, absolutely does not fit with T.'s actions in the previous series, where he goes to her far away (I do not know how foreign friends will understand my phrase, it is unlikely that the translator will translate it correctly), in general It's a long way to say they need to stop. Although at that moment he already knows that Grace will most likely sail away (“who is she?”- “the one that will sail away soon"). And apparently understands that despite this, he still wants her and will think about how to solve it. It is quite obvious that this was invented on the fly in order to increase the degree of intrigue for the next season. But how many broken hearts have appeared among the fans of this potential couple.

GRACE'S MARRIAGE. 

I don't know, everything seems to be logical. She and Tommy are not together, the chances are 0, we need to move on, Grace is smart and beautiful, of course she easily arranges her personal life, gets married. And I understand her like a woman when you don't order your heart, no matter how good your husband is, but Tommy lives there and there's nothing you can do about it, she's such a love, you won't run away, you won't hide. There is also infertility in marriage, everything is not happy. Of course, I understand her desire to see Thomas in order to close this hellstatt for herself, if everything went well with him, then you need to move on, you won't be nice by force. Anyway, I think this was her last attempt to talk to Tommy.  And then we all know, again this chemistry on the screen blew my blood, an amazing acting duo, guys, I believe them every time I see them together 😄

And then I again did not have enough dialogue in the script, why did they not tell each other about their feelings, why did they answer the question “why did you come here today?” The answer was that the doctor thinks it's about me. It's not that I still love you, Tommy. Because of this, so much hatred later descended on Grace from fans of the series, because her behavior was interpreted as greed, a desire to get pregnant, etc. But we understand that this is not why she came.

I don't know, I didn't understand the depth of their dialogue. Her gaze of course screamed that she still loved, as did his gaze and tenderness too.

As a result, it is logical that Thomas assumed that she was “still working undercover”, since she came out to him again, at such a tense moment between him and Campbell and did not really say anything about her feelings.

Of course, this is my question for the script, not for Grace.

ЛИЗЗИ. 

I will not talk much about her, this character is unpleasant to me, I will not hide that I am glad that the script did not come up with a great love for them with Tommy, everything is logical, logical and honest in my opinion. She got what she had to, given her selfish nature, and the arrogance that she invented for herself, believing that she had “grabbed” Tommy and wiped the nose of the rest of his ladies. To be honest, it was unpleasant for me to watch the s5 and s6. Firstly, the behavior of all the characters seemed somehow feigned in s5 (especially Polly and Lizzie), overly pretentious, even grotesque. Finding out at a family meeting why Tommy told Polly something, and not Lizzie, looked like a caricature, considering what kind of relationship between T and L we see further throughout the season.

But what do I want to point out. 

I was very pleased that Lizzie treats Charlie warmly, because it's hard to imagine how lonely this child is, especially in s6. I think that was the main reason Thomas married Lizzie, Charlie needed a family, a mother and a little sister. Thanks a lot for that, because she agreed to take Charlie with her, even though he is the child of Tommy and another woman who always stood between them. This is an act!

Moreover, in S6, when Ruby got sick, when she died, my heart was torn by the sight of Lizzie. I felt so humanly sorry for her that I wanted to hug her and cry together. She went through all this in absolute solitude. Tommy didn't even hug her on the porch of the hospital when she told him that Ruby had died. It was terrible! He was completely cold to her, absolutely. Of course, Thomas's complete inner death is also shown here, he “seems to see everything on the screen.“ In general, it's a difficult season and Lizzie paid off all her debts in full, I'm very sorry for her.

Result.

Thanks to everyone who reads this, I really wanted to speak out, because all this has been spinning in my head for several weeks after watching PB.

I will be glad to receive feedback and any opinion on all this.

[theoriginaltortuga]

Thoughts and opinions on Connor and Devon through the it lives series 

warning: long post, very rambly, and spoilers abound

So this might go in headcanon territory but ill try to keep it general for this post

ILITW:

I’ll admit connor was like the fourth LI i romanced after i started playing it lives and even then it was only because i had a specific playthrough i wanted. I don’t know how other people do it, but i changed my MCs personalities and appearances based on what i wanted their ending and final nerve score to be. So Devon Hernandez, my sole survivor, needed to be kind of a prick, or at least have severe foot in mouth syndrome, while maintaining the highest nerve he could and dating Connor was the best for that

But alas I fell hard for this character i previously skipped a lot of dialogue for. Connor is a wannabe bad boy in the best possible way, he’s got the leather jacket, the cool car, and the fighting skills, all while being “forbidden” by being Stacy’s brother. (won’t lie i was expecting a slight conflict from that even if it was just in flavor text, but im not mad that she was cool with it)  

the banter between him and Devon really worked for me, and i loved how even outside of the romance specific scenes there was still acknowledgment of the relationship (whether thats a failing on pb’s part or done because he’s technically on screen less than the others im not sure) 

More on personality, Connor is interested but not pushy, acts like he’s “not too good” while being too good at all times, a caring person and a fun one, an affectionate boyfriend and doesn’t put up with people’s shit. I realized i actually cared about him the second he offered to take Devon to a diner with burgers the size of their face

Main Route (connor and MC live, all their friends are dead) : 

Jumping through time to ilw and him and Devon are horndogs living together in a cabin and scarring their friends with their sex life, which was a direction i wasn’t expecting but one i loved anyway. Again all the small acknowledgements of their relationship killed me and pet names are always a win. Connor evolved from background character and “The Love Interest” to a semi-main badass. 

One thing i loved about it lives within is that all the characters from the previous books felt like themselves in a way that’s hard to explain but basically you just bought that these were the exact same characters and the fact that it was a completely different writer never crossed my mind

There is a kind of maturity in Connor and Devon’s relationship that is nice to see because they have been together 4 years, while still staying true to the versions of them we first met

This route ended with Connor proposing to Devon and getting them their beautiful house with the porch swing and several dog children and I loved the final moments of happiness in their otherwise kind of heartbreaking story

Good Route (connor and MC live, everyone lived):

Basically the same as above, though I will say I love the idea that the whole memorial Stacy knew exactly what was about to go down and I may or may not nudge aside the idea that Devon let their friendships fall to shit and their all like bridesmaids or groomsmen, its not that them falling apart again is unrealistic or bad, it just makes me kind of sad so I ignore it in my own hc

Bad Route (connor and noah live, everyone else died and then so does Connor):

The one i just finished playing and all the interactions between Connor and Redfield!MC were so sweet and i loved them but it always held that kind of bittersweet feeling.

I played with Noah also being into Devon which was also painful, but the line “i suspected for a while now” made me laugh because all i can imagine is an internal montage of Noah being annoyed at Connor and Devon’s affection and constantly looking at Devon with heart eyes and Connor just like “wow i should’ve clocked that like last year” 

i have a lot to say on the Devon being comforted scene that i will save for the hc post but the call back to “too good” was *chefs kiss*

And towards the end realization that Connor was a horror, the accidental hope i gave the crew, and then Connor’s horrific (in the best possible way) death was so wonderfully written. You know when you read something so good that you just have to do a couple laps around the room? That was me. 

Rowan flung Connor into the fucking ceiling and the description of his blood dripping onto them and Devon was just so gnarly. Devon has lost everything, watched most of the people they loved be brutally murdered before their very eyes, and is lashing out while also being sort of aware that its not really Rowans fault which speaks a lot to their character but it hurt so freakin much

and don’t even get me started on the graveyard scene and the parallels with the other Redfield!MC graveyard scene, metal rose and all. I mentioned it before but my Devon in this route is just burnt out on love and friendship and people in a way that i’ll get into more in a hc post but yeah he’s not finding love again and i don’t think he’d ever want to

In conclusion, i love connor and devon together and I thank the og ilitw writers for writing their relationship and the ilw writers for making it even better and tearing my heart apart along with Connor’s and Devon’s in very different ways

[shopcat]

i think pb's most "unfavourable" episode that most people cite as a reason for her being a horrible person is usually the cooler which is interesting to me bc i think a key part of that episode is it's meant to be complicated and flame princess is meant to be there as a deliberate figurehead of this tumultuous kingdom but ultimately being sort of brash 15 year old girl under a lot of pressure as well who doesn't really know what to do. and in contrast pb is a 800 year old ruler and creator of her own kingdom. it is not a filler episode meant to showcase someone's villainry it is a deliberate and thought out narrative to showcase something significant. and it's meant to SHOW how unaware pb is and how far she will go to protect her kingdom against what she perceives as a threat (which is an entirely founded thing as well ... fp's brother wants to literally destroy the candy kingdom + fp herself obviously wouldn't but pb knows she is again a brash teenager doing HER best as well + the implication of the fire giants being used is that they'll create a "new" flame kingdom which COULD very well threaten other kingdoms) and the end of the episode is also meant to show that she's not TRYING to be unreasonable.

like her turning off the cameras she used to monitor people once and for all is significant and the following episode she literally says she's trying to calm down and not be such a control freak. she exhibits this character growth and SHOWCASES it IN SHOW and people who don't understand that are head in the sand style stupid and genuinely i think want to feel sooo smart for being like "everyone knows the REAL villain of adventure time was princess bubblegum" but they just sound like silly. bc she's not that's the entire point. you don't have to like everything she's ever done or said without being like that + you don't have to like her at ALL without taking it out on parts of the show's narrative that you clearly just don't understand. it's okay :)

pb is a deeply complex character who raised herself and was alone for years. she never had anyone TO teach and help her and the one time she did attempt to create a family they literally tried to murder her. she taught herself everything she knows and knew from that that she has to rely on herself and what she can create and has done so for 800 years bc she never had anything else, and she has a deep unwavering LOVE for her kingdom who she regards as her true family. the banana guards literally call her mom. literally all she wants to ever do is protect them and her acknowledging her own need to be in control and overcoming it is LITERALLY a part of her narrative arc that goes hand in hand with her breakup and getting back together with marceline !!! she is incredibly literal and analytical and thinks the answer to everything is science and can be carefully calculated and relied on unlike other people or magic or whatever else that comes up against it and that is PART of her character as a realistic bedding and foundation. time and again this comes up and she is working through and around it and OTHER PEOPLE are also seeing her side of things and what she perceives and they're coming to a healthy medium that is !!! the point !!!

i think people willingly bending over backwards to acknowledge the complexity of say simon's story but REFUSING to even say the words "maybe pb is just a complex character but she's not a villain OR evil" without frothing at the mouth is fucking weird. i think you just literally hate women sorry like. i've seen people literally acuse her of being a replacement/robot in the earlier seasons because she was so sweet like 😭 that's insane. she is a deeply nice sweet person she is literally made of candy... there's a point to that too. her being kind of silly at times either doesn't contradict her intelligence or aptitude to rule in such an unbridgeable way that it must therefore be "manipulation" or just someone entirely different PLEASE...

also ppl who say she's creepy/cold/robotic/scary or some variation of that bc of the way she speaks and reacts to things in episodes is insane and ultimately a cruel way of thinking even if you didn't think she was like autistically coded deliberately or not. someone exhibiting certain traits and acting in a certain way should never be "proof" of their secretly horrible nature if the proof you're using is steeped in ableist sentiment. i think her unwavering faith in science is really cool and i think a character being able to frustrate you a little is also cool and i still love her deeply. adventure time is cool bc the characters do feel and act like real people and us reacting to that is natural + the entire foundation of what it is to experience a story. :)

[fantomette22]

I know how to make Laurence even worse, listen:

Okay so, I think Laurence only condoned Logarius and Executioners to do Cainhurst massacre AFTER Maria's suic1de, because he knew darn well she'd cause a problem in his plan to eliminate Vilebloods (and get Umbilical Cord from Annalise). But what if!!!!!

What if Laurence COULD absolutely see Maria's suic1dal urges coming... and he LET that happen. He LET those feelings fester and bloom, he LET the doctors (Micolash maybe?????) go too hard on Adeline with experiments and cause her to give out, he LET Gehrman, the one person that could have helped to be oblivious about Maria's mental state..... pulling strings from the shadows - or not doing anything - in the ways that'd push her towards the edge, so the "problem" removes itself

Sorry, I had to share this because everyone else should suffer with me, lol. Have a good day 👍

Oh my...the ANGST !!!!!! 😭 the drama!!! LAURENCE WHY !?

Can you stop screwing people's life (and your own)... FOR 5 MINS !!!!!

Ok thanks for the ask, thanks to it I will take the occasion to finally share my headcanons about how I see their relationship across the years >:) (main headcanon, fic verse if you prefer).

So i already explain, (i think), but for me, Laurence is an extremely nuanced character. I mean by this that i don’t think he’s the ultimate devil yet but i don’t think he’s just an only poor mew mew misguided guy either, who was trap in smt out of his control. Nah for me he’s kinda a mixt/ more nuanced character who evolve a lot during his life.

So now i will share my headcanons with his relationship with Maria. Not many people talk about it and most of the takes i see are well not mine. But we don’t have much in canon so i can understand it’s tricky to imagined. But! Maria ended working at the research hall right ? (That she was in charge or under the doctors is another pb) but that mean that well there’s a connection. She joined and fight for the Healing church too! And worked with them! Hide the biggest secrets of them and Byrgenwerth! It’s not nothing! It’s s huge!

So i think at first their relationship was quite great at first! Then it spiraled down…

Let’s cut it with Byrgenwerth time, the hunter/early church era and post fishing hamlet so it’s simpler (respectively the 3fics i try to planned xD)

Byrgenwerth :

So Maria was a student here and Laurence basically one of her teachers. He’s a chill, cool and young teacher, Maria like him and think his classes are the most interesting.

Laurence had quite a harsh time on his first years studying at Byrgen so he try to be attentive to the need of his students. (He always check on Caryll, Rom etc or ask like Gehrman to check and tell him if he noticed smt weird)

Maria who don’t really have much friends at the beginning and is really often alone remind him a lot of himself at first.

But yeah funniest shit how Gehrman become close acquaintance with Maria almost the exact same way he become close acquaintance with Laurence all this years ago xD (i won’t say more about it but Laurence was quite surprised)

So anyway times pass it’s going smoothly and all the Byrgen gang hang around each other more and more (outside class too)

Maria and Caryll are still amazed that Laurence was the coolest bio and theology teacher because of what he could do when drunk xD that man was crazy (spoiler he got more serious but he become worse lol)

Also Laurence maybe accidentally save her life by giving her a free blood vial 💀(Willem don’t agree with that but he doesn’t need to know lol and hey it helped)

And later when blood was stolen from Cainhurst and Maria was completely clueless and confused he advocated for her with Gehrman. (+ advocate to cainhurst so she could stay with them + let’s be real it was first to get money to emancipate himself from Byrgen xD)

---

So a bit later when the first hunts begins? (Or a bit before idk).

Well before Laurence became a grand Vicar with tons of responsibility they all pass times as friends ! Like this yeah xD)

He gave her a freaking chalice for her exploit in the labyrinth and a blood transfusion wow!

Also i think he converted her to religion. (Or at least their religion)

Ok Let me explain. I don’t think Cainhurst are super religious? I think they’re closer to the 2.0 pthumerians. You know before the great ones were their leaders/ gods. Then they disappear and the pthumerians crown leader of their own : aka pthumerians queens and all. I think cainhurst is similar in that sense, at first. And i need to show how Laurence managed to got so many followers !

Maria’s a pyromancer and he learnt about it at some point. Quite funny how he found out even if he was suspicious of smt xD)

Maria hate that aspect of her bc she don’t want to be like the shadow of Yharnam and use her blood to hurt and kill people because smn told her to (aka royal family) she always resent that aspect of her.

Laurence think it’s incredible, that it’s a gift from the great ones! But That she could use how she want, if she want. She could used it to protect the great ones they’re looking for instead ! It’s way closer and prefer that.

That’s a big part on why she joined the healing church.

Also Laurence is this good religious figure that people follow and look for validation and the church was the guardian of the hunters after all.

---

So after the hamlet… when everything went down…

Laurence became to change even more after that. Even after he became vicar maybe he got a lil messiah complex + begin to dissociate with lot of things & people but it got worst.

Especially after our lil group loose smn quite important to them… Laurence loose it and instead of « oh maybe we should stop or be more careful so it won’t happen again » he’s like : « ok we need to make sacrifice to ascend. Let’s do it » he was one of most affected by it but… in a bad way he completely dissociated and was more and more antipathetic. He was already ok with sacrificing you know sick people, who are gonna turned into a beast anyway but a friend? Oh well… he decided he won’t go back.

While Maria spiraled more and more down…he always had reassuring words but at some points and didn’t work greatly. And her, who never question the church really begin to wonder if everything worth it. What if what they’re doing is bad and useless? + she begin to cause trouble and confront Laurence about it. He was really annoyed… at some points he even ask Gehrman to do smt about it. Anything he wanted so she would chilled out and calmed down… the hunter was really confused 💀(and freaking tired too)

So Maria and Laurence relationship become more complicated.

About the Vilebloods too… first they were allies and before Maria died they ended up fighting each others. She had to stop them in front of the grand cathedral from fighting 💀 so not good either… relations were really tense… but the massacre happened 10-20y later in my timeline so

Then what happened happened… Maria killed herself and reasearch hall was a huge mess in part bc of this. (Patients revolt and a part were already dead)

Laurence was quite shock… really. And confused. But other feel sadder of course. But he was still touched by it. A bit. It remind him that they might make the sacrifce to loose close ones. But then he needed to clean all this big messes and send a letter to cainhurst That was not a good time for him either. Still he move on. Not like one of his friends… (another story)

So there. Hope i don’t forget anything but it’s a good summary for now.

[paragonrobits]

i remember a thing that really annoyed the hell out of me about Bubbline back in the day is that PB and Marceline’s dynamic was chiefly interesting because you had two characters with very subversive characterizations once you analyzed them to their core: an energetic mad scientist beneath the veneer of being a pink and pretty classic princess, and below that, a massive ruthless streak underscoring the need to do what Must Be Done, in the face of an uncaring world that inevitably erodes and ends all things, combined with a character that focuses extremely heavily on responsibility, including the ugly side of that.

On the other hand, a vampire person (who was a half-demon/eldritch THING before that, but lets not quibble) who comes off as a cool and badass rock star underneath a veneer of being threatening and scary; chip that off, and its clear she’s sweet underneath, and just says scary stuff in the gentlest way you possibly can. PB is pink and pretty and cold as steel, and Marceline ACTS cold because she’s too burned out on loss, but the slightest bit of connection immediately makes her go through the pain all over again. She shies away from the world because she’s just so DONE with it hurting her, over and over, and there’s a clear pattern of her retreating from grief and loss, a microcosm of the world’s cycle of death and rebirth...

And yet when the shippers overwhelmingly went to it, they ignored what made them stick out in favor of a fairly generic ‘pretty pink princess and badass goth lady’, ignoring everything of what made them distinctive in favor of a pretty tired dynamic that doesn’t even fit them at all.

(It’s times like this I am forced to confront that I am probablly aromantic because of the mixture of disgust and pointlessness i feel at the concept in and of itself, and I can’t help but think that that sounds so... boring. Reducing genuinely interesting characters into yet another pairing of Submissive Pink Girl and Dommy Goth Girl. And half the time they didn’t even get into how PB is a sapient mass of gum in the approximate shape of a humanoid or how Marceline’s human-like appearance is more force of habit than actual biological necessity.)

[gutsfics]

Tobias should have been a canon LI. Where is the Open Heart Book 3 rewrite that the we need? If someone ever kickstarts this project ILW style, I will be the first to donate. I was rereading the series. I got to Book 3 and I had to stop. The characters deserved better. The series deserved so much better. The Open Heart fandom deserved better. There was so much more that PB could have done with the characters if they cared about the player experience. OH was one of Pixelberry's best series and they let it die in the most disappointing way possible. Anyone who is willing to give the story a better ending deserves the Choices fandom's support. It's been ages since we have had a real romance arc on this app.

im fine w Tobias not being a canon LI as i personally headcanon him as aromantic & have him in a queerplatonic relationship w my LOA mc, Reigan, but like other than that HUGE agree

and now i'm gonna use this ask as a reason to talk about what all i would change of book 3 lmao thank u <3

so first of all, there's really no reason for Harper to be part of the diagnostics team besides "whoah oh noeses Ethan is talking with his ex whoopsie oopsie i hope he doesn't fall back in love with her!!!!!1!!111!!!" (which goes nowhere, iirc MC doesn't ever talk really to him about their jealousy) and a few nice friendship moments between her and MC when Tobias and Ethan are being dumb at each other (like when you can choose to side w either E or T during an argument OR ask Harper if she wants to get coffee- i genuinely love that part so much). so i would change it so that instead of the opening on the diagnostics team being because Baz is leaving (which also had no reason to happen), but because Ethan took too long to find a replacement for June

imo it would have been more interesting if Bloom had used Ethan taking the whole 3-month closure of Edenbrook to decide on a new team member as an excuse to try and get more hands on with the DT. so like right after Ethan, Baz and MC sit down the first day back he should have just showed up w Tobias & made that new rule about voting on cases. i did like the feud between Bloom and Ethan though, the writers just majorly dropped the ball there. and kept dropping it the whole book.

I'd also remove all of the parts where the MC just straight up ditches work to go play with their friends. it felt so wrong that the MC fought so hard to get to the place where they're at just for them to blow of work every five seconds bc Jackie and Sienna want to go shopping or Bryce wants to drive a fancy car or whatever. or i'd like change it so it happens on days off or after their shift is over.

+ the diamond scene in ch1 where MC and their friends are enjoying all of the amenities that Bloom added for employees, I would have loved the option to be more wary of them, a lot of them seemed like a distraction, like the video games in the breakroom

like imagine ur surgeon being late to ur life-saving surgery bc they were too busy playing mario kart or whatever

i would say there should have been another Big Important Disaster but honestly Rafael has already been through enough with the first two book's Big Disasters being somewhat focused on him

also the fuckin uuuuuuh. patient suing Ethan over medical malpractice plotline?

100% should have been Ethan's fault.

having Naveen actually be the one who did it feels kinda.... racist??? a little bit????? like god forbid PB's Specialest White Boy do something wrong and face the consequences for it

i have more qualms with this book but i am gonna be honest: i straight up do not remember most of the book. it was such a nothing end to such a good series

i did like being able to do that team building exercise w jackie's group. Dr Gary Garison, my beloved, i'm so glad i got to see you for one single scene this whole book

[randomnameless]

NGL it's amusing when I see Edelstans complain about other black eagle fans (who also love Edelgard and Hubert) because they refer to Edelgard and Hubert as antiheros and villain protagonists.

they basically be like "NO! they aren't antiheros they are HEROS! they are morally correct and good because everything they do is JUSTIFIED. yes its war of conquest but its necessary because dragons and church bad! therefore they are MORALLY GOOD! why can't these other BE fans see that !"

But like ??? There's no issue with liking a antihero or villain protagonist character who has flaws and is morally questionable. Why deny themselves that joy and choose to restrict themselves to morally good characters at all??

Fans DO NOT need to purify or moralize Edelgards character to justify themselves for liking her. No one needs to defend themselves for liking a character when they exist literally for entertainment. They can just enjoy her character as she is instead of wasting time using extreme mental gymnastics to claim she's a morally good and justified hero.

The other side is when edelstans truly believe Edelgard is correct and believe her imperialist wars of conquest is justifiable , that allying with TWSITD and being complicit in their crimes was necessary and therefore good, that violence IS the answer. If this is the case then maybe they only view her as morally good and heroic because they agree with her methods??

Like, hey I'm a good person, I'm morally correct and I agree with Edelgard (and Hubert's) choices! Surely this MUST mean her choices are good, morally correct, and justifiable! Since I agree with it then this means she IS a good and morally correct character! She is a HERO!

Anywaysss I thought the discourse between BE fans was interesting so I thought I'd share haha

Oh,

No pbs anon!

It was to be expected though, when a certain group of fans aggro on everyone about their HC and their opinion being "better" than everyone else's, everyone is on their hit list - it doesn't matter what or who you like, the only thing that matters is if you like what they like and how they like it.

Sure, at times, I also sigh at people saying they appreciate a character I also like, but have a, uh, very different opinion and take on that character's characterisation that it makes me wonder if they like the character, or their headcanon of said character, or are just trolling, idk.

But hey, don't like don't read - even if in this case, it's more don't like don't be an ass.

Still, I feel bad for people who genuinely try to have a civil discussion about Supreme Leader (and Hubert), either they're biased against because a lot of the fandom is so tired of the constant influx of "devoted fans" barging in uninvited and forgetting to remove their shoes in their spaces, or worse, they attract those "devoted fans" and every discussions spirals down to "theocratic fascisto-absolute monarchy and State of Quo and Revolution = Feudalism is the name of the ice cream I had 15 seconds ago".

I'm waiting for Jugdral Echoes to find kindred Hilda fans, only to realise they will make some olympic level acrobatics to absolve her of any "bad thing" and find a way to say Bobby and Mary - the two 5 years old running away from her - were criminals who had to die to usher a new society.

[silver-rings-and-rabbits]

Open Heart Second Year, chapter 12

It’s too soon. I’ve always thought the jump from attack to memorial was too quick. There was still so many characters we didn’t see during chapter 11 (Naveen, Harper, Zaid, Ines, Esme) and we needed a chapter just to absorb everything that happened.

My personal hc was that Raf could go home as long as he had someone looking after him. He had Juliana, but MC’s roommates would all be working long hours so he ended up staying in hospital a bit longer.

I know in reality PB couldn’t be bothered to rewrite this small detail.

Juliana ❤️ I miss my grandma…

One of Ethan’s diamond scenes prompts you to help him fix a relationship, and if you’re romancing him, it suggests you can restart your own. Rafael gets a similar prompt for his chapter 12 scene but the prompt to rekindle an old flame appears whether you’re romancing him or not.

Just another dialogue point that doesn’t change and therefore doesn’t make sense, or at least sounds weird on his path. For example:

(That’s an interesting way to describe a break-up). It makes sense on his romance path…but why would a friendly MC grow apart from him? On my Ethan playthrough I believed my MC was really happy for Raf and Sora and invited them both out when the group met up. There’s certain dialogues I now won’t take for Raf’s platonic route to avoid these, but it’s pretty rubbish if it wasn’t intended to be romantic. At least PB had the foresight to change the dialogue during the kissing scene.

So are you ❤️ (he’s right though)

Matthew, you’re going to a funeral. Stop looking hot.

“Just like that”. Astute observation, PB.

And the whole scene of the wake. Every single time, my mind replaces Danny and Bobby with Rafael and I wonder whether the memorial would have been very different or would it still feel rushed and uncaring? Only half the friend group were given funeral outfits for gods sake.

And PB did it again:

Not letting me visit my own love interest. And this was after the rewrites. Why couldn’t MC go back to Rafael?? I don’t even care that they wouldn’t have sex, they needed to spend time together. After a book full of two Ethan scenes per chapter, you suddenly can’t do that?? Bullshit.

And to think…we were a few days away from this being Rafael’s funeral.

(I chose Jackie, again because it made sense with her and Matthew living together, but the choices are either awkwardly navigating flirty dialogue or leaving her crying that it should have been her funeral.)

There’s mentions of Elijah really struggling through the service, something he’s been to too many of, and it’s never mentioned again. We don’t get to catch up with Bryce at all unless we choose him at the end. And Jackie will tell you about how much she hates the person she sees in the mirror, only to never bring it up again.

On Ethan’s romance path, he gets extra dialogue at the beginning AND during the memorial.

My thoughts at this point:

This whole situation was handled so gracelessly. It doesn’t get the build-up it deserves, and the aftermath is treated like an obligation to get through. As I mentioned before, the character who actually gets all the emotion is the character who was never in danger (Ethan). But we don’t have the time or money to give everyone else the same, so rather than spreading their resources between the LIs, PB wrote dialogue in a weird halfway spot: awkward if you’re not romancing them, not deep enough and now cheapened if you are romancing them.

And then we know MC goes back to the hospital before they’re ready and absolutely nothing comes from it.

The characters faced something deeply traumatic that would have killed them, but the funeral is then rushed, characters aren’t looked after, and then before you can say ‘free healthcare’ we’re back at the diagnostics team like nothing happened because apparently nothing is more important than Ethan and MC.

Mature and emotional storyline my ass. The attack was put in to knock off a LI for shock value and nothing more.

[eclipsewxtch]

HIII it's me the person who asked about Griffin last time... so your answer made me read the chapters again, to see if I can connect the points for griffins past (I'm very curious) this is parts of the chapters which I think it's important or tell something about Griffy:

WARNING IT'S GOING TO BE LONG, AND I MAY BE GOING DELUSIONAL OR SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE!!

And Griff— you’re,” Finney holds in a laugh but fails miserably, “Dylan Knox.”“Dylan Knox?” Griffin groans, “That ship was salt in the wound.” Okay, Donna definitely had too much fun with the names if she put it outright for Griffin like this. Dylan Knox? That’s fucking hilarious.

I'm going to tell the truth and say that I didn't understand the joke (embarrassing ik). So I'm taking as some form of inside joke between they that we as the readers don't know of. In my delusions it's a movie reference to the character Eric Knox who !SPOILER! sleeps with Dylan and later is revealed to be the villain. Maybe something happened like this in the past? That's why the joke. Or because he rants (simps cough cough) to much about Paperboy?

Griffin always seemed to take a morbid sort of interest in watching Finney impale himself with a slim needle, if only to avoid doing whatever he needed to do at that present moment. He doesn’t know exactly what Griffin is fascinated by, considering Griffin is scared to death of being injected with literally anything, not necessarily needles but of the unknown substances, which is funny considering Griffin got a degree in sticking unknown substances in corpses.

“I had a bad acid trip once when I was, like, seventeen.” Griffin admits, “Shit was horrible. So, no. No hard drugs. Weed is for me, y’know? Relaxing

Maybe this is some clues to his past and how he acted when he was younger. Like using hard drugs at 17 is a poor life choice, and assuming were talking about heroine or shit, the experience must have been WIDE to make Griff fears needles and say no more to drugs.

“I don’t like pompous assholes.” Griffin corrects, “I don’t like being treated like a servant, because I’m not servant. But, I get paid, so I work and I live with it.”

(about this one I just think it's worth mentioning because this is the 3th/2th time that Griffin notes not liking rich people more about this later)

“Do you like him?” “Why, jealous?” “Don’t be ridiculous,” Paperboy scoffs, “What would I be jealous about?” “Well don’t. He supposedly likes me.” Griffin rolls his eyes, “I don’t think he really does. I think he likes that I’m pretty. I think he likes that I don’t fall over him like our coworkers. I think he likes the chase.” “You think you aren’t worth the chase?” “I think he’ll get tired when it’s over and done with. I think he’ll see the reward and wonder what the point was.” Griffin tells Paperboy, feeling a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders as he can confide in this man without fear, “That’s what I think.” “I think he may surprise you. You’re extraordinary, Dylan Knox.” Griffin doesn’t believe that.

I also think it's interesting because Griffin's always questioning Billy's intentions to whether he truly likes him, and I think PB makes a good question "Why do you think you aren't worth the chase?" Idk how to explain, but I feel like someone who is supose to be as confident as Griffin shouldn't really care about Billy's snark and comments. He also sometimes sounds kinda insecure or bothered by things that shouldn't really matter. I also think is kinda asshol'ish of Griff to just discard automatically Billy's feelings as unserious or some form of puppy love.

He also says 2 different time things like "you can't" to Billy when he tells him his feelings or-

Griffin has the strangest urge to just— And he won’t. He won’t do it. He can’t do it, it’s already weird enough he’s letting it go this far and he’s just… He can’t do it.

to himself. I'm not saying that he's like insecure or faking, I'm just saying that he just isn't as secure as he thinks he is. And I'm sensing some trust issues and (to a lesser extend) maybe abandonment issues.

Griffin can hold his liquor well but hates drinking in public spaces, where it’s not safe and too open, on the off-chance he gets too inebriated to protect himself or anyone he loves. But he doesn’t get drunk easily, so it’s best when he does this kind of thing, especially in a bar-like setting.

Maybe in the past he lost someone he loved or got through some form of traumatic experience where he felt uncapable, trapped or vulnerable.

According to the voices in my head, Charlie's Angel's movie and the quotes that I showed you...

Griffin probably grew up poor or in a bad environment, maybe just like Dylan he lost his mother when he was young and had to take care of himself alone, never meting his father. Maybe he joined a gang or got involved with bad people who made influenced him to taking drugs. And that's when Charlie enters the picture rescuing him from the bad environment because be saw some potential on him, and that's why they're close and Griffin is so loyal to him, because he saved him, took care of him and trained him when no one else did.

OR which for me makes things more interesting his dad was a drug dealer, or someone involved in the other side. And that's how he first got introduced to drugs, his repetitive "a good dealer never samples his own product" makes me believe that maybe his dad did, and that's the story behind his bad acid trip. Anyways, his dad eventually goes to prison and that's how he met Charlie (?), who takes him under his wing. (Or this could be just like how Dylan meet Charlie in the movie)

That part of the dad drug dealer made me think of Griffin as Little Misfortune (the game) lol

Maybe his mom still died early, maybe she was killed in front of him (cruel and very traumatizing I know) when he was drunk or high and that's why he's warrior of drinking in public spaces. I don't know. Maybe he and possibly his family was betrayed by someone they trusted and that's why the trust issues. Idk or maybe he's just naturally suspicious of people, which I would believe, Griffin is like a cat.

The movie and the wiki of Charlie's Angel was important to make this theory and I could say more and elaborate more. But anyways, maybe there's other motive other than personality-wise to why Griffin was chosen as Dylan. Let's wait and see. It's to early for me to be making bold assumptions but here am I.

Sorry for taking your time, you can tell me if I missed completely what you are going for, this is more of a draft theory. I'm okay with spoilers or hints, and if you want I can maybe send another ask talking about my theories regarding Evan and Griffin's relationship. Love you.

ah i love asks! firstly, don’t apologize for sending this, i love reading theories and i’m open to u sending more if u want!

secondly, ur so close! griffin did grow up poor, and his mom did die while he was young. everything else was close but not quite there, but i’m so happy u picked up on like majority of the hints!! it always makes me happy when people pick up what i’m putting down n analyze stuff <33 so thank you!!

[choices-binglebonkus]

I haven't caught up with TPA since like late December, but I've been rereading your post about 10 Rights and Wrongs with TPA and I wanna add my thoughts on it. I'll mainly only comment on stuff that I have something to say about. These may be subject to change when I complete the book.

Soundtrack

Agreed with you, it's absolutely brilliant. It has a James Bond vibe that I like, and even ignoring that it's just really well-composed. I love the adventurous intro theme especially, as well as the steamy scene track– I will happily listen to those on repeat and never get tired.

Outfits

Agreed on that too, I didn't vibe with majority of the f!MC outfits besides the default ones but they still did do a good job making them look good for the most part.

I definitely hate the fem MC having a crop top as the cold outfit. I wouldn't mind it as much if they did the same with m!MC; it'd still be impractical, but like, either give both of them crop tops or neither of them crop tops. Enough with the "must be sexy because woman" outfits, goddammit.

Speaking of shitty outfit gendering, I also hate that m!MC's "sexy underwear" equivalent to fem MC's lingerie is a goddamn robe and boxers. The robe is admittedly nice and has a "luxurious evening" vibe that I like, but come the fuck on, stop playing it safe and basic with the m!MC and m!LI outfits all the damn time.

Vivian

I'm very mixed on her. On her own, I quite enjoy her as a character. She's fun, she's got some good lines, and she doesn't really come off as obnoxious.

But in the story, she just feels weirdly out-of-place in it? Perhaps because I've associated TPA as being the Choices' edition of a James Bond adventure, so it does feel unusual to have one of the main characters be a quirky nerd type. But hey, that does make TPA a little more unique.

But while I haven't caught up, I know others said that missions and tasks are way too easy with her being present, hence the lack of stakes.

Hookups

I didn't play any actual dirty-30 hookup scenes, but I did enjoy the buildup scenes to them and I'm sad we haven't gotten other hookup opportunities. Especially since I played as wlm, where the dynamics were very different from how PB usually writes their average wlm romance. I am forever here for male Lou swooning over f!MC being heroic and male Alexis's femme-fatale-esque persona. I found them way more interesting than the majority of MC and Agent Grey's dynamic. Speaking of which...

LI

One thing that is nice about the romance is that MC is the one who is more experienced in GAIA while Agent Grey is the new member. Honestly it's very refreshing (especially as wlm) considering how often PB's romance involves MC being the newbie and LI being the boss/teacher/celebrity/etc.

But character wise? Agent Grey doesn't work as an LI. Or at least not a main/single LI. It's It feels like they're only the LI by virtue of being MC's work partner. I'd rather Agent Grey have just been... still our work partner, but also as a casual hookup option like Alexis and Lou rather than our romance interest.

Possibly controversial opinion, I think a book that is just "no romance, only casual hookups" would be something unique for PB to write (granted the hookups don't take over the entire story). PB needs a break from writing romance and it shows.

GOC/Pronouns

A lot of people said this one "actually feels like it was written with male MC in mind for once". I have a lot of issues with that statement due to the fact a lot of the fandom's takes on what counts as "female coding" can be very dubious.

Regardless, even if this was written with mlw in mind, I've still been finding it very enjoyable and made sense (dare I say better and more unique) in a wlm route.

Any actual gender coding errors I've seen or heard about are very minimal. Though I will say that it made me want to sob to see male Agent Grey's swimsuit described as a "swimsuit that hugs his hips" despite his swimsuit in question being boring swimtrunks and a basic-AF open beach shirt rather than, yknow, a swimsuit that actually hugs his hips.

And that's about all I've got for now.

Thanks for your insights anon!

[demon-of-side-quest-hell]

Gonna probably make the roleswap thing before curse of Calavecna. So here's my notes about it that I wanna say about that.

Rhymini sweep (I'm SORRY to all you Juvini fans, but also episode 30 has me fucked UP with that Rhyme interaction and I need to write a world .)

Hahaha, remember in the notes the last time I talked about it I said I wanted to make Gigi a God, mere days before episode 23 released? Yeah, we're going full steam ahead on that and because of that, I wanna make it clear, Gigi is probably gonna seen slightly out of character, but that's kind of a necessity with taking the direction I'm going. In my interpretation, episode 23 implies alot about the nature of Gigi prior to meeting Cody & Crew, she's a bully for one, and also she's likely alot more proactive and provocative. I kinda wanna make her God form a gaming headset so Rhyme fucking seethes about Gigi taking such a similar form to what SHE wanted.

In this I wanna reintroduce or remix alot of ideas from pre-release stuff, and so with that I've actually landed on PB's initial starting place. He's just straight up the same guy as in the base game, but he just got ascended sometime recently before the game started, it'll be left vague as to how, but it will be stated that he betrayed some cool kid and that he wasn't ascended via a God candidate. With that, Cody and PB actually knew each other before the events of the story since they both worked at lil greasers together until PB ascended, and PB's place in the world will be rough, Cool Kids think he stole someone else's place and losers think he's too cool to hang with.

Technically a continuation of the last thought but I I'm unsure of how Skatepizza will be there if at all, the ways I could do it are all each interesting, but I don't know if I even want to have that be a "build-up", People deserve to relish in a bit of Skatepizza stuff, I might just have it be "complicated" due to them being opposite statuses now.

I know Juvie's the one everyone thinks is the epitome of "Fuck The Rules And Fuck The People In Power" but that's really not how I see Juvie, Juvie likes to independently be rebellious, Juvie doesn't seem to have any intentions of existing outside the system in which they actually live until they're genuinely confronted with that choice by someone they know, and so, like Daniel in the base game, Juvie is maybe the most stuck in their ways about stuff, except Juvie wants to help push losers up towards ascending through any means necessary so, you can probably see what happened with PB.

Speaking of Pre-release ideas and people being anti-god, Holden! Holden is going the be the most Anti-God person but in the very background, waiting for his moment. As "The Coolest Loser", he's able to slip into cool kid spaces so long as no one inspects him too closely, and he uses that to his advantage, he often will sneak in and take things from cool kids or get info he shouldn't have. He and Juvie often work together to get losers ascended and cool kids descended, but he wants to spark outrage in the losers and sympathy in the cool kids, whereas Juvie just sees it as "justice".

G-ma is still overbearing and corrects Cody on everything, trying to make him "perfect", but she is more clearly trying to actually help him since she's not trying to prevent him from turning into a loser but help him turn into a cool kid. Think more like Aunt Nat and the other pizza family. Mini's allowed to do whatever she wants in G-ma's eyes, since she's already cool, which is a good mirror to PB, who's now allowed to do whatever but feels even more confined and restricted.