#I hate foreshadowing that does pay off | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cerastes · 7 months

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I've seen people before saying that, in terms of presentation, NIKKE delivers it better than Arknights in telling what they want to tell. And I still see this occasionally whenever people start comparing stories in gacha games. Looking at your post, seems like that wasn't a lie at all.

Right, this is an interesting topic for me, so let me give my two cents on this.

I would say that statement is generally true. Nikke's main strengths are its presentation and knowing how to leverage its strengths in general, but let's focus on presentation: It's story is nothing to write home to (note that I am up to Chapter 18), neither are its events (on this regard, take me lightly, I've only read three), but what Nikke wants to say, you will very clearly understand. It's good at telling its story. Sometimes the localization will have Localization Moments (Chatterbox is described as female in the first cutscene he is mentioned, male every time afterwards; there's a lot of clearly literally translated little expressions that make no sense in the flow of the conversations), but overall, even though you're looking at a story that in a lot of ways you've seen a lot of times, its particularities stand out because Nikke tells them properly, concisely, and clearly. Characterization is consistent, and there's a good amount of care clearly put into both consistency and overarching important parts of the narrative; a favorite example of mine is how, in the tutorial, if you pay close attention, you can actually see Marian's eyes glow red during her reload animation, foreshadowing something pretty important that happens with her later.

So even if the story beats are not particularly good or intriguing -- and sometimes, outright terrible, like in Chapter 18 oh god I hate Chapter 18 -- you at least can tell with clarity what's going on and why it's going on.

Arknights has the yang to the yin here, somewhat: The stories on Arknights tend to range from okay to great, and AK events have a habit of going pretty damn hard, either as a whole or at least parts of them. Sometimes, however, they have a weakness, and this weakness is that the actual story telling can be dense. Density is often attributed to good writing, but the truth is, sometimes, the text isn't advanced, it's simply clumsy, and the prose in Arknights is decidedly clumsy. But when you actually untangle the spaghetti of clumsy prose, you find some strong story telling, strong characterization, and topics you don't often find discussed in video games, less so in gacha. You kinda have to work for it, basically.

Something Nikke does good is also that it keeps its relevant cast at any given story beat low, giving it more cohesion, or rather, making it easy to stay cohesive, because Arknights can handle larger casts pretty well sometimes, but I'll be frank, the current main story has so many literal whos to keep track of that I'm supposed to be invested in that I don't really bother. I'm sorry, but I can't really feel a damn thing about Outcast when she showed up for a few scenes and then got nuked off by a contrivance while fighting some faceless nobodies we are told we should fear.

But on the other hand, Nikke narrative, again, despite its strong delivery, is still built on a feeble base for the most part. I only think of a few characters I care about in Nikke, because a lot of the cast is just fluff and Obligatory Archetypes (bunny girls, school girls, maids, etc), whereas in Arknights, I care about a whole damn lot of them, even those without events, because their files and modules paint a very integral and intriguing picture of them. Even smaller scenes in Arknights sometimes can have a big emotional impact, due to its extensive and well crafted worldbuilding and its clever use of its elements in every event, something Nikke cannot claim, because worldbuilding in Nikke is almost non existent.

They both have their strengths, basically, and it's fascinating to me, a writer, to take a deeper look at them.

#arknights #nikke

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gold-rhine · 1 year

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Inazuma Rewrite Act Two

Please read part one before reading this. It will make no sense otherwise.

In part one I did setup for the vision hunt conflict, changed Raiden’s motivations, added Rebellion \ Resistance interaction and Teppei setup, added setups to the arcs to Ayaka and Yoimiya. And more!

In this installment:

Let’s Make Player Give A Fuck About Rebellion and Teppei

Kokomi Is Not An Idiot

Delusions Are Not The Aging Beach

Ayaka’s Arc Pay-off

and more!

All disclaimers from part one also apply, I’m not gonna copy paste them.

Raiden Shogun First Duel

I think we can keep the duel itself mostly unchanged. The cutscenes are pretty good and very cinematic, I don’t see reason to fix things which are not broke when there are already so many broken things

so, Traveler comes to Thoma’s rescue, gets taken to raiden’s plane of euthemia

also mb let’s cut i hate all minorities dialogue and instead like. open disobedience of the traveler to raiden shogun is i think enough to be used as a cause for the duel

The dialogue with raiden changes, we add banter with Traveler where traveler is like but you were pro-change before! and like cites some Transience things we talked about in the part 1.

Raiden gets mad in response, yells “Don’t you dare to mention her against me!” and that’s when she throws Traveler out of euthemia and prepares the boob nuke

yeah, it’s foreshadowing of Makoto reveal

then the cutscene is the same, Thoma chucks a spear in her face and escapes with the traveler

thoma goes into hiding, traveler goes to join rebellion. bc they’re already in contact with gorou, we skip meandering around and go straight to the goal

First battle

and we arrive directly to the battlefield

there are several problems with rebellion pacing and kokomi characterization, which i elaborated on before. Like, Kokomi in canon only has one battle, which she wins because she hired mercenaries with fatui money. which like! invalidates this whole thing and makes her naive enough to be duped by the bad guys. So we need a battle win which is decidedly due to Kokomi’s genius.

so like in canon, Kujou Sara demands rebellion give her the traveler. Teppei, whos also there, is like no, fuck off! he’s embarrassed to speak out of the order but determined.

Gorou of course gives a speech about not giving up comrades, the fight starts, we have cool battle animation blah blah, and then suddenly!! Kujou Sara has reinforcements coming from behind some cliffs, oh no!! Teppei yells there’s too much of them! We will be overrun! Close up of Gorou’s snarling face, eyes darting, ready to call retreat, close up of victoriously looking Sara, Tenryou reinforcements are running to the battle...

The water bubbles start rising up and Kokomi appears. She smiles at Gorou reassuringly and does some cool water animation. The hidden spring\waterfall bursts up with water and crushes into the reinforcements, washing them away. Rebellion rejoices, Kujou Sara curses and calls retreat.

i’ve seen people demand kokomi to have like a cool battle transforming into a dragon or smth bc of her origins and draconae constellation, but like this is missing the narrative pacing. the vishap origins only make sense after enkanomya where we learn about watatsumi history AND on the subversion of “oh its pink pastel kokomi who is smart and sweet :3”. Like we need to know her like that first, and THEN the dragon reveal will be cool and interesting.

Rebellion and Teppei overall setup

so, the Rebellion act wanted to accomplish too many things and didn’t structure them efficiently:

make you feel comradery with rebellion

make you like teppei

make you feel like a leader of your own squad, but like you EARNEd it, bc at first soldiers are distrustful and make you prove yourself

establish delusions and that delusions are bad bc teppei died, which is sad bc p.2

in canon it’s like - have one scene with teppei, do some useless fetch errands for rebels, have another scene with teppei, be assigned swordfish captain and have two quick scenes with two dudes you will not remember

so obviously no one gives a fuck with this kind of pacing

instead, we will combine all of this and more importantly, give it narrative throughline so it doesn’t feel so disconnected and erratic

traveler is already known to Gorou through resistance meet up, he vouches for them, and Kokomi immediately names Traveler as captain of swordfish 2

Teppei is here and he excitedly volunteers to join that squad too

Gorou is like hey its a high risk squad that’s deployed on front lines, and you don’t have combat experience like, at all

Paimon and Traveler step up to be like yeah its fine, we’ll look after him, teppei is like omg thanks you guys :3

turns out he has problems fitting in with the rebels. they are all great ppl, sure, but they are warriors bonded in fights for years and most of them are from watatsumi.

and he’s like a merchant or a clerk from narukami island. he feels like an outsider and a burden

but now the Traveler is here! they are already buddies from that resistance meet up and Traveler is an outsider too. They can stick together!

Swordfish II

So you go to meet up with your swordfish squad. You are greeted by a buff butch woman who is v no-nonsense and skeptical about your ability to be leader and another woman who is more friendly, but still kinda keeps distance and is snarky

their code names are Xena and Gabrielle for no reason other that we need buff female models like blacksmihs, hoyo. The point is that we need some memorable NPCs to represent swordfish, bc these two dudes that give you shit in canon for 3 second? I couldn’t remember them if my life depended on it

anyway, you learn that the previous captain just died and everyone loved and was very loyal to them, and now they are hostile to anyone who tries to take command.

So we do couple of battle to prove we’re strong blah blah, teppei is useless during a fight and Xena makes fun of him for this, and he’s super embarrassed

after that we walk around with teppei. Swordfishes camp is kinda shabby, they just took a bad hit. So we help the wounded, repair some tents, etc, but most important, Teppei uses expertise he’s got from his civilian job to solve problems

like he knows how to make a great painkiller potion bc he used to sell them. Or he gets an idea to use empty bags from used supplies to cover holes in tents, etc.

Point is, he contributes.

After all this, Xena and Gabrielle are walking around, and Gabrielle is like wow captain, did you do all these improvements, and Traveler is like yeah, but it was all Teppei’s solutions, and Xena doesn’t say anything, but you can see she’s surprised and appreciative that you’re not only strong in combat, but care for the squad

she nods over the campfire at teppei like “i guess you’re not so useless after all, narukami nerd”

he protests, everyone laughs, its Bonding Time

Kokomi is not an idiot\ Fatui

We’re summoned to go see Kokomi. She’s in deep thought. Rebellion is in dire situation, supplies are running out, she’s sure they will not be able to win another open confrontation, even with her strategic tricks

But there is a new development - she’s being offered a huge anonymous donation. With that money, she could hire mercs to help. But to accept money without knowing the source is too risky, it could be a trap or setup

so she asks us to investigate these mysterious benefactors. bc also there are some vague rumors about some way to get boost to power going around and thats very sus too

bc like no, I cannot get over supposed genius Kokomi just taking fatui’s help blindly and letting them spread delusions around

so we go to the quest to investigate clues, with the swordfishes, its our first srs mission as the captain.

its couple of fights, blah blah. we find some clues and then its the Leader Decision time.

like there are two camps and we need to strike both at the same time, or the other one will destroy evidence and run, but we don’t have enough manpower. traveler is like can take one camp by myself, and Xena at first is skeptical, but we’ve proven ourselves yesterday so she’s like okay I trust you, boss

everything goes well, both camps are taken and we find evidence that these donations are in fact, from fatui! and they are trying to spread delusions, which are bad and can kill you!

Delusions

I’m not a fan of Delusions working like the aging beach from that movie Old. Like first of all, if that’s how it worked, Childe should at this point look like this

and Diluc. And Signora. Like I get that these are like low quality delusions, so effect is worse, but you can’t be like wow Teppei turned 90 in 2 days and Diluc stayed babyfaced after 4 years.

second, how is that no one noticed Teppei aging 20 years after each fight. Like it had to happen in front of other soldiers.

And like, why change the mechanics at all?? You use delusion, you get burst of power and take huge hit to the health, that’s it. Low quality delusions take more out of your health, so people using them die faster. They don’t need to age faster at the same time.So that’s mechanics I’m using here.

Anyway, while swordfishes discuss delusions finding (and Xena loudly condemns them), camera shows Teppei being quiet, kinda sus and looking away

Kokomi Mini-Arc\ Swordfish Bonding

we go back and report to kokomi. She’s distraught. The battle is so soon and she doesn’t know what to do!

from pure strategic, emotionless perspective to win the battle she needs to take fatui’s money and close her eyes at some soldiers using delusions. She can trade their lives for the voctory

But as a Watatsumi leader who cares about her people she cannot do that!

Traveler comforts her, but leaves without any obvious decision made and with a heavy heart.

the night before battle, we gather at campfire with the swordfishes

everyone is kinda doom and gloom bc it’s obvious Rebellion doesn’t stand a chance

Traveler stands up and makes a motivational speech about fighting together, about how they’ve faced seemingly impossible odds before and prevailed, bc everyone worked together, like with Ossail fight

Xena suddenly stands up to support us, she’s like yeah, I didn’t believe in you before, but now I see you’re worth it, Captain!

everyone cheers, Xena punches Teppei into shoulder and he almost falls over like “Even this narukami nerd is not as bad as I thought haha!”

Final Rebellion Battle

So, cinematic cutscene. Sara on one side with obviously more soldiers. Kokomi and Gorou with rebellion on the other side. Traveler is with the Swordfishes and Teppei. Kokomi and Sara shjare some snappy banter.

mb there’s a duel, but only if combat designers can figure out way to make it cool. Traveler whacking NPC in a row who can do nothing back with a sword 5 times in a row like in canon is fucking boring. Mb incorporate like challenge with Inazuma mechanics like the thunder zoomies or smth.

the battle begins. Rebellions fights fiercely, close ups of our swordfishes.

Teppei is fighting Surprisingly Good For Him. Xena comments on this and he beams up

but the difference in numbers is too much. Rebellions starts being overwhelmed, and then!

Suddenly Beidou and the mercs join the battle! Kazuha is here too. Traveler looks worriedly at Kokomi, does this mean that she’s accepted Fatui’s bloody money??

But Kokomi smiles back. No, she’s had another trump up her sleeve

trail of snowflakes runs through the ground and suddenly, Ayaka appears on the battlefield.

animation cutscene plays, Ayaka is shown in the past, after Traveler leaves, feeling restless and trapped in the estate. She’s still reeling from Yoimiya’s words and the fact that she couldn’t even help Thoma herself. She feels powerless, a pretty helpless figurehead princess that she didn’t want to be

letter from Kokomi arrives, telling about Rebellion’s dire situation and asking if Ayaka can help

Ayaka is in turmoil, she wants to help so bad, but she can’t steal money from Yashiro commission, that’d be stealing from people of Inazuma!

She glances at her dancing fan and suddenly, a solution comes to her.

Looking determined, she goes to the Kamisato estate treasury and opens the chest of her parents’ inheritance

She sells some of her family heritage jewels and silks to get the money, deciding to use the same privilege that kept her trapped to finally help people

she also officially announces that she’ll be in religious solitude meditation ritual or smth and instead sneaks off and travels to Watatsumi

she’s wearing that carnival mask that hoyo puts on models when they want to do “disguise”. Listen, if Diluc doesn’t get recognized in this gay little mask, then it can work for Ayaka too

anyway, animation ends with Ayaka springing from the ground on the battlefield and starting her burst, which transitions to her in-game burst animation

Her burst shreds through Tenryou forces.

Ayaka freeze with Kokomi and Kazuha is one of the best meta teams. Sara realizes it’s fucking JOVER for this battle and calls retreat.

Teppei death \ Delusion factory

Rebellion overjoices, Traveler and the swordfishes hug or whatever our animation department can handle in celebration, when suddenly!

Teppei falls down! Everyone gathers around and see delusion roll over from his hand!

oh no! He says he secretly picked up delusion from the fatui camp we cleared during investigation. This is why he’s fought so well today.

We tell him that he shouldn’t have done it, the fool!

He says he wanted to be useful. He just wanted to finally be one of the rebels!

Xena sits down next to him and says “You were already one of us.”

He dies holding her hand, with all comrades all around, instead of alone behind a shed like a sick housecat

Gorou and Kokomi walk up.Kokomi says that this is exactly why she refused Fatui’s help, but this happening even to one of the soldiers is a tragedy

Traveler and Swordfishes of course demand revenge. But we don’t know where the delusions are coming from! we already cleared fatui camps we knew of, we just don’t have any new leads!

Kujou Sara who watched this scene from afar suddenly speaks up

She has intel about possible location of Fatui factory, that she didn’t have time to explore. It’s on Tenryuo territory, but she’s willing to let Traveler pass. Fatui betraying and harming Inazuma people like this is unacceptable to her, even if they are enemies for now.

We’re like but can we trust her?? What if she just captures us?

Kokomi has long eye contact with Sara. It’s very Yuri.

She finally says “No, we can trust Kujou Sara’s honor”

Sara only lets Traveler pass, so we have a scene of swordfishes wishing us luck and then we leave

Delusion factory quest goes the same. It’s okay, again, not fixing what’s not broke.

We confront Scara, he rants about mortals being bubbles, blah blah

The only dialogue change is when he bullshits about like oh, these mortals are weak and useless, of course they have to pay for power, Traveler argues that Teppei was already useful, he helped with the camp in a way others couldn’t, and he didn’t have to die to prove anything or “pay” for power

Otherwise it goes the same, Traveler passes out, Yae shows up to trade the gnosis

we’re moving to the Act 3!

PART 3

#rhine talks #genshin impact #inazuma ranting

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midlandslady · 2 months

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So let me say this:

Geeta Patel wrote season 1 episode 8. That was one of my fave episodes ever! Viserys wishing for one last dinner with the entire family (poor Daeron LOL), Viserys so weak and frail entering the throne room to defend his beloved daughter (*forever emotional*), Daemon running from his spot to help Viserys to get on the throne and putting the crown on his head was so beautiful, Daemon cutting Vaemond's head for calling Rhaenyra a whore (most sexy moment in the entire show), the dinner with the family when Viserys begged for them to put aside their hatred and resentment because he loved them all and wished for them to be happy after his death (cries).

Geeta Patel wrote season 2 episode 3. What did we get in episode 3? Young Rhaenyra calling Daemon as soon as he steps in Harrenhal, Daemon crying for seeing young Rhaenyra with baby Jaeherys (again one of my favourite scenes in the entire tv show), Daemon in front of the weirwood trees and Alys telling him he will die there (poetic foreshadowing), Rhaenyra trusting that Daemon will give them an army if they allow him more time. Rhaenyra talking to Alicent in the same spot where they used to be friends and console each other (beautiful parallel). This is what I remember from episode 3. Did something else happen? Probably, I don't remember. Not to say that I don't care because I don't hate the greens (just Criston Cole most days and Aemond although he also intrigues me). Even Aegon is a very pitiful person. I find the entire story very tragic. And this episode touched my heart.

What else is Geeta Patel going to write? Season 2 episode 8 (season finale!!!!) And you know what she said to the interviewer?

"The other thing I got to set up that of course will pay off later is Daemon arrives to Harrenhal, and this is a new chapter for Daemon. This is where he will shift. He will for the first time look within himself... Harrenhal is a metaphor for what's inside Daemon's heart. In Episode 2, Rhaenyra pushed him away, and Rhaenyra is the first person he's ever really let into his heart and let his guard down with, and when he did she hurt him in Episode 2. She basically told him he was worthless, and so now his armor is on as he enters Harrenhal, but truthfully within his heart, the armor is shattered. So that's where the setup starts, and it will keep evolving until we get to Episode 8."

What does this sound like to you? To me, it sounds like music to my ears. Daemon's arc will pay off later... as in he will become a better person? Recognize his mistakes? Understand that Rhaenyra was right and deserves better (arguably but I will get there in a later post) and reconcile with her? Oh my!

He let his guard down when he let Rhaenyra in his heart and she hurt him 🥺 (he deserved it, kind of, I don't know if he deserved to hear that at the time but he surely deserved to hear it at some point).

His armor is on when he enters Harrenhal but within his heart, the armor is shattered!!!! 😭*pain*

I have always said that Daemon is one of the people who feels more deeply everything but he wears an iron mask, he puts up walls so high and hides his feelings through violence so no one can see how much he is hurting on the inside. I relate with that and maybe that's why I always understood him, always tried to see him between the lines of what he says or how he acts.

More than anything I want him to do the right, he doesn't need to be good, he can be flawed as we all are, but I want him to become a better man. His arc will keep evolving until episode 8 so we will see more hallucinations and more craziness but then one of these hallucinations will make him "shift" and I desperately want to see which one and how it happens.

I don't know if any of you watched Once Upon a Time but Emma and Killian were another of my 3 main OTPs and from the moment I saw Killian/ Hook I also envisioned the potential to be a great man. And I felt the same with Daemon from the first moment (of course it's GoT, so everything is more barbaric and ruthless but the essence is there).

Just please I hope he doesn't make more serious mistakes, so far he's not learning much with the visions, he is still committing war crimes to innocent people ("Do your worst, ser Willem." "Some things the crown should not be seen doing" - seriously? As if it won't backfire right away -_-), still clinging to the "I am the better fit to rule".

But these next 2 episodes will be crucial.

My last warning: Alys, stay away from him!

#daemon x rhaenyra #daemyra #house of the dragon #daemon targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen #captain swan

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let-us-cultivate-our-garden · 10 months

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So I don’t know if you know of Doug Walker, but recently released his Disneycember review of The Owl House.

While he praised a majority of the show, he criticized the main villain, Belos, of how he was written.

Many of the comments tried to defend the writing of the villain.

Doug Walker..

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

Yes, I am very familiar with Doug Walker; I loved his stuff along with Channel Awesome years ago and then the allegations came out and fortunately, the other contributors on that channel moved onto bigger and better things. Meanwhile, Doug just stayed the same, so I don't watch his stuff anymore.

Any way, I think it's funny people are scrambling to defend Belos' writing because, despite my own personal opinions on Doug as a critic, I actually agree with him.

For a show that is ostensibly about subverting tropes and not judging a book by its cover, by showing how people can choose to change or not, etc. Belos is a throwback to an earlier era where the Big Bad had basic motivations and characterizations. And for a show like toh, that actually ends up hurting the narrative.

I have categorized the comments I found defending the writing and here are my responses to them:

Belos does have a deeper layer, you just have to look for it.

While a show can certainly foreshadow and provide little hints about a major character, eventually all of that setup will have to pay off somehow. There has to be a reveal both to reward the viewers that have been paying attention and to inform more casual viewers who may not have. Fans analyzing every little frame to extrapolate a major character's backstory only for that backstory to really not matter in the end despite it being set up for a season is just bad writing. full stop. [A viewer should also not have to look on social media for crucial information on a major character.]

It's also not clever that the show left so much room for interpretation on Belos; it just means that they didn't make a commitment to what was being set up and reduced his character to glib one-liners whenever we learn something interesting about him (Masha's "little bro was jealous of big bro" line and Papa Titan's whole spiel).

2. Belos would have been written better if the show had more time.

The Toh crew knew about the cancellation during production of Eda's Requiem and wrote all of 2B with it in mind. So they knew they were working on a time crunch but still introduced elements like the Collector when they should have spent the time wrapping up their story. The cancellation is not an excuse for sloppy writing.

3. Belos as a villain works more on a meta level.

So the argument here is that Belos is the antithesis to the BI; it's accepting and diverse while he is hateful and only accepts things that conform to his worldview. The characters in the story change and grow, while Belos does not. The problem here is that a villain can't only work on a meta level, it has to work on a narrative one as well.

If the BI is place that accepts weirdos then how did someone like Belos come to power? Oh, he lied his way to the top and created problems that never existed? That just makes your populace look dumb and easily manipulated. The BI being so accepting also undermines the threat credibility of the Emperor's Coven because why should we worry about them if they have no real influence over how the BI residents think or behave aside from when the plot needs them to?

Also, I strongly disagree with anyone who says that toh has a "people are complicated and choose to do good and bad" theme when all of the good characters can blame their bad actions on being manipulated or on circumstances outside of their control OR the narrative ignores/downplays anything bad they did (cough cough Amity and Lilith). Meanwhile, the villains are just shallow with basic motives and this is supposed to be a deep message about how Some People Are Just Bad.

If you're going to contrast why your good characters are capable of growth then you need to show why your villain does not. What is stopping them? How do they react if given a legitimate reason to change (that isn't a cheap jab at Steven Universe)? What is their justification for their actions?

Whatever the answer is, the narrative has to support it and not undermine it with a stupid joke.

4. Belos is so refreshing when every villain character is redeemed.

Watch more shows. If you think that every cartoon villain post-Steven Universe is being redeemed then you're incorrect. Redemption of a show or movie's Big Bad is still in the minority while the redemption of the main villain's lackey is a dime-a-dozen.

Ultimately, I think the problem with toh is that so many of its fans take its thematic statements at face value without ever really stopping to think about the execution of those themes and if they really work or not.

Belos just happens to embody this little trick that toh does: it claims to have bold and timely statements and important themes, but the structure and execution of the plot, character development, and world-building undermines any attempt at a consistent or coherent message.

#asks #long post #the owl house #toh critical #toh criticism #emperor belos #philip wittebane #doug walker #nostalgia critic #disneycember

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utilitycaster · 11 months

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In the course of a couple of conversations I think I have hit on some of the fandom weirdness this campaign, and it's notable because I realized it when it was my answer to both a question about why the fandom response to "Party of NPCs" was pretty negative at the time but I don't think it would be now; and someone pointing out to me how there was a sudden massive spike of enthusiasm for Ashton and Fearne as a ship without a particularly large corresponding boost in any sort of fan works.

I suspect that many of the people who came to C3 as their first CR campaign came through the avenue of shipping; either because Shadowgast and Beauyasha both broke containment to some extent; because of TLOVM (which as a scripted TV show where they know the relationships and how they shake out, there can be foreshadowing), or because of the influxes of people shipping Imogen and Laudna circa May and September 2022. This is in contrast to Campaigns 1 and 2, where a lot of the fanbase came via D&D fandom, fantasy fandom, voice acting fandom, and more general word of mouth. This time, people showed up to ship; of that segment of the fandom, shipping is a major if not the primary way in which they interact with fiction.

Here's the truth: this is a terrible campaign for shipping, and indeed, one of the worst shows for shipping I've seen in a while. This, to be clear, is not a critique of quality. It's merely an observation that this is a terrible campaign for shipping specifically, but a great one for many of the myriad other reasons why one might watch long-form actual play. It's plot-heavy, with a pretty intricate network of laid groundwork over eight years of storytelling, two past campaigns, and two miniseries finally paying off. It's been heavy on showing the unexplored corners of the world in Marquet, rural Issylra and the Shattered Teeth. It's taken risks with the typical D&D campaign structure and with party composition and splits, to varying degrees of success. It's allowed a revisiting of beloved NPCs and locations from the past. It's the lore campaign! It's extremely not the shipping campaign.

I think most people have picked up on that by now, even if it's only subconsciously, and so those who watch with the express intent of shipping, are grasping at the most tenuous of straws because that's pretty much what they have. Two canon ships and one noncanon but hinted-towards ship are with guest characters who are not present and so are necessarily very quiet. Chetney and Fearne is a lot of fun but it does not fit the usual shipping-above-all preferences of monogamous love to marriage/partnership to babies, plus Chetney is weird and old. (This has always been an issue with this mentality, incidentally; for all I think the popularity of Shadowgast is why some of these people are here, the fact of the matter is that many of the people who like Shadowgast like a completely foreign to canon concept operating under that name that erases the frequent long-distant nature and the almost certain lack of children and the deliberate choice to end the relationship amicably due to different needs.) However you may feel about Imogen and Laudna it is incontrovertible that there's been little to no movement in what is now a calendar quarter. And so: two people doing something that is not explicitly romantic while two other characters say "emperor and empress" is a paltry, miniscule - and I hate to use the word but no other will do - crumb; but it is a crumb to a starving populace.

In case my feelings aren't abundantly clear...I say let them eat cake. I enjoy ships and shipping! I enjoy seeing characters recognize themselves through the other and develop over time as they fall in love with another character; I enjoy seeing a deep romance unfold slowly so that I can savor it. But this campaign just doesn't really have that, and that's never been the most significant reason I watch, let alone the main one. I'd rather have no romantic relationships in a work than rushed ones that strain credibility or lack chemistry, and those who do want romance can either find other shows, or focus on transformative work. For those who came to Campaign 3 on the basis of rumors of the great romances in Campaigns 1 or 2, those are still there for you! And while I think we're too far in for a campaign-length romance, there are plenty of ways for the existing ships to become something more interesting. But I think this explains a lot of the weirder patterns in the fandom conversation as of late.

#cr tag

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victoria-vd · 2 months

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Information

Greetings. I am Victoria, a first-year honor student at Naranja-Uva Academy in the General Studies track. I use the pronouns "she" and "her".

I want to make it clear to you all that I am only here to facilitate communication between Hargrove and I in a more efficient manner than through her inbox. That being said, she has advised that I open my own inbox in order to redirect messages regarding me out of hers.

Aside from that, Hargrove has also recommended that I share my Pokemon team, as is customary for introductory posts.

- Indeedee - Armarouge - Hatterene - Espurr

Don't be annoying.

[OOC: More info under the cut!]

[Likes and follows come from @turtblurts-pkmnirl-hub]

—–

Blog Guidelines:

Though the mun is an adult, the character is still a minor, so please be mindful of how you interact! NO NSFW!

Pelipper Mail/Malice: OFF

Musharna Mail/Malice:OFF

Magic Anons: OFF ➥ These may be turned on in the future, but for now they will be remaining off to allow this to have more of an actual blog feel.

ANY kind of PKMN IRL blog can interact! Eeby Deebies, sapient/sentient pkmn, evil teams, canon characters, etc. ➥ Victoria does not give enough of a shit to care about the multiverse. She hardly speaks to anyone else as it is.

IN CHARACTER anon hate is fine! Keep in mind that I reserve the right to not answer all anon hate asks though! Especially if they are something I don’t feel comfortable answering!

Extra:

Victoria has an older brother named Jaime, his blog is @jaimemes!

Victoria is gonna be a lil bitch and a hater

—–

Tags

Story Arcs

Unforseen Consequences (Finished) -> After Jaime’s sister Victoria (@victoria-vd) gets into a heated argument with Esper ( @espers-n-espurrs ) online, she suddenly slips into a comatose state in the middle of a discussion with Jaime. She wakes up the next day but is furious to realize that her coma had been psychically induced, and she begins hunting for the psychic that caused it.

Multiversal Discovery (Finished) -> Maple (@yveltalreal) tries to create a second account for the bit, but realizes that she cannot see anyone on Rotomblr through that new account. The rest of the gang are quick to try this supposed glitch out for themselves only to obtain the same result. They all turn to Z, their resident tech whiz, for an explanation and discover the truth about the multiversal properties of Rotomblr.

Laid to Rest (Ongoing primarily on @victoria-vd) -> ???

General Tags

#jai posts -> Posts made by Jaime

#USERZ -> Posts made by Z

#sister tag -> Posts that mention or include Victoria

#jaime's ramblings -> really long informational posts written by Jaime

#jai rbs -> Jaime reblogging something

#reblogz -> Z reblogging something

#the mailbox -> Ask responses

Important Tags

#future sight-> Posts to pay attention to! These might provide clues or foreshadowing!!

#zecrets -> Z revealing secrets about her friends on the blog, prompted by anons. ➥ Access the ZECRET-LOG

#miracle eye -> Offscreen posts

#los horrores -> general high stakes tag

#blind spot -> blind spot signifies that this post is completely invisible to certain blogs linked to this one ( @aspens-dragons @espers-n-espurrs @yveltalreal @vulgrados-best @rock-n-rolycoly). ➥ If its tagged with a specific character, then only that one cannot see it. the rest would be able to. for example if another blog tagged “#blind spot: jaime” then Jaime specifically cannot see that post. Blind spot posts are completely free for anyone else, anonymous or otherwise, to engage with.

anyways. woe. jaime (and victoria!) be upon ye

#jai posts #pkmn irl

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irinanonyme · 1 year

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⚠️Skip and Loafer spoilers⚠️

You know I've been thinking about this for a while now but... isn't it hilarious how like, 50 to 60% of the reason why Mika decided to confess to Shima in the first place was because Mukai PISSED HER THE FUCK OFF. She felt SO bothered by how he saw her as just another dumb gossip girl so it made me think about how almost all of their interactions thus far have been exclusively off-screen. They've obviously been hanging out as a group since their first year so I'm wondering how distant/close they were before their current "relationship." I wonder if Mika felt so enraged not only because she was being called out for something she hates seeing in others but also because Mukai is actually someone she has hung out with for quite some time, whether they were that close or not it's not just a random dude she had never talked with.

Now I just wanna see how things will progress between them since they have "similar" insecurities.

Mukai -> Always hangs out with Shima thus girls always only flock to his friend, so much so that he can't tell anymore when a girl genuinely like HIM and is not there for Shima.

Mika -> Is worried about whether she's a lovable person and if someone will ever accept her with all of her flaws.

They have so much potential, and I feel like some of the roadblocks in their potential relationship have already been "foreshadowed". Like how Mika liked Shima first, so once she starts to like Mukai won't he feel like a rebound? Like a "second option" and that Mika will never like him as much as she liked Shima?

But he also saw how insecure and anxious she can get in critical moments and he really wanted to give her reassurance once he understood that she's really NOT confident. Not deep down. More than that, he now pays more attention to the kind of person she is and he feels guilty for the confrontation they had.

So from Mukai's POV, it's already pretty clear that there's a huge chance he'll fall for her. From Mika's side though, I'm not sure exactly what will make her like Mukai. He can obviously "give" her the reassurance she needs but it's not like she's seeking him in particular. It's not clear whether Mukai is even in her radar. (Though I really hope he is ahahah.) He called her out on her bullshit and is now on pretty friendly terms with her despite the dispute they had so maybe that's what will make Mika take an interest in him? It wouldn't be weird to think that Mika will fall for a guy who genuinely fell for her first, right? Since he knows how she really is.

Now the major difference here though, is that Mukai doesn't only see the bad in Mika (like she often does) but also the good so I imagine this is what sets him apart from the other guys she has met thus far. Who either have "no taste" for liking her like she thinks or who are simply not interested.

Anyway, I'm rambling aaaaaa those two are too cute and I'm really looking forward to their potential progression.

#skip and loafer #skip to loafer #mika egashira #tsukasa mukai #mika × mukai #mikamukai #skip and loafer spoilers

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xserpx · 5 months

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Finished The Blade Itself, and probably enjoyed it more this time around than I ever have. I've always hated him but Sult is actually a pretty great chessmaster type who seems to grasp more of the bigger picture than Glokta, at least at the start. I still think Pacey's voice for him makes him sound too silly, but if you look past that he's not nearly so fuddy-duddy. I look forward to returning to him in LAOK.

Jezal and Ardee are spectacular as always. I'll never not love the way Jezal ends up being the one swept off his feet.

This book has a lot of fantastic monologues ("I've fought in three campaigns", Forley's farewell, plus Jezal's chin which technically isn't a monologue but does live rent-free in my brain), and Ardee's is truly up there with the very best.

I really liked the description of the House of the Maker. Usually I don't give a shit because world-building meh, but paying attention to it more this time I think Joe captures the uncanny quality really well. It has a Midjourney-style impossibility to it, as well as that nauseating hyper detail. The bit where Glokta notices that they didn't go up any stairs is great, and I like how it kinda bonds Glokta & Jezal through their shared experience of something impossible to describe to anyone else.

In other news, the Bloody-Nine is fantastic. This isn't actually news. I did like how Vitari & Ferro were his main opponents and how it showed how hardcore they both are to even be able to face the B9 and survive.

And speaking of Ferro, she is so freaking great. I love how she's a comic relief character and also a horrible stray cat that wandered in, hissing at people, insulting them, no care for comfort or hygiene. To be that funny and prickly while also yearning make connections deep down, she is so good ❤️🥺.

And the freaking foreshadowing is so audacious.

10 seconds after meeting Jezal's father this happens:

‘We will talk later.’ [Bayaz] said it with a disturbing finality, as if it were a thing already arranged. Then he turned away and vanished smoothly into the crowds. Jezal’s father stared after him, ashen-faced now, as though he had seen a ghost.

‘Do you know him, father?’

‘I ...’

Then an interruption happens and that moment (and Jezal's father generally) is entirely forgotten about.

Also this:

High Justice Marovia, Glokta noticed, looked to be thoroughly enjoying himself. Almost as if he knows something we don’t.

Say one thing for the foreshadowing, say it isn't subtle!

Very good all round. Though I have now started BTAH and that first West chapter is so boring, especially compared to the similar first Gorst chapter in TH, which is also an exposition-heavy discussion of battle tactics amongst people we're not sure if we need to care about yet but Gorst's chapter still manages to have some decent character moments. My theory is that Ferro, Dogman & West are all at their best in TBI, whilst Glokta rules supreme in BTAH, and Jezal & Logen are what makes LAOK my favourite overall.

#the first law #the blade itself #it's so funny going back to it because they're all baby-faced cherubs compared to later books #save for maaaybe dogman #but i can kinda see where people are coming from about the whole 'b9 is supernatural' thing #logen is SO different (and better) in red country

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the-eeveekins · 10 months

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The 6th Day of G-Witch: Reflection in an Icy Eye

There's a lot of interesting foreshadowing in this episode. Aliya's fortune telling hints at the reveal of Eri and the Coven later in the series (I really wish the subs would get an update so it says "sibling" instead of "brother"). Elan is actually on the mark when he wonders if Suletta was born for the purpose of piloting a Gundam, although he's clearly off in regards to the specifics.

So, I get why Suletta acts the way she does in this episode, even if it annoys me, and it very much plays into the "lesbian going through comphet" read of her character that I subscribe to. I think it's natural she was drawn to the first guy who showed an interest in her and was nice to her, and whether it was romantic or not, she was almost definitely feeling pressured to pursue it between her own list and her friends pushing the romantic aspect of it. It's just a shame that, even though I think she was still largely unaware of Miorine’s true feelings for her, she was willing to disregard her wishes and her promise to pursue a "date" with him and agree to the duel if Elan won. Miorine had every right to be angry with her at the end.

I really hate the Guel comes to rescue Suletta moments in the show, but at least in this case, he pays for it. Suletta was right to be annoyed at both guys basically disregarding her wishes and dueling with her at stake

I love the Pharact, and I actually really like this duel. Guel performs well enough considering it's a Grunt vs. Gundam fight, he lasted longer than he did against Suletta (though only because the Pharact's Gund-Bits only disable), but ultimately Elan proves to be the superior pilot by using Guel's fighting style against him, something Guel didn't realize until it was too late.

#25 days of g witch #g witch #the witch from mercury #gundam #g witch spoilers

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wonderlandleighleigh · 1 year

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123 Thoughts while watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 1, episode 3: Because You Left

I l1. God I forgot we start on this flashback.

2. Fuck Joel Maisel, being shitty about Midge’s drink choice. “Yikes. We’ll work on that.” WHAT A HORRIBLE THING TO SAY TO ANOTHER PERSON!

3. I have so many thoughts on that one line. That maybe Midge WAS, at one point in her life, just maybe a little sweet, if a little rebellious, and Joel decided he was going to turn her into what he wanted out of a woman.

4. What he thought he wanted out of a woman.

5. And it.

6. Fucking.

7. Backfired.

8. Shoulda married Palmer.

9. He’s so fucking pushy and I hate it.

10. “You belong to Me” is their song. HEY LOOK MORE TERRIBLE CONTROLLING THINGS. Not only is it a little creepy to be like “I don’t know you that well but this is our song now.” But the title alone “You belong To Me” is fucked up.

11. I swear, if they get back together in season 5, I will rip my television off the wall and eat it.

12. “You’re destined for better things than this.” JOEL YOU ARE NOT BETTER THINGS. BETTER THINGS IS NOT YOU.

13. (Better things is Lenny’s dick.)

14. (Sorry, children)

15. I love that Midge helps the other jailbirds with the stains on their shirt. It’s such an unsettling conversation but Midge still wants to help.

16 She’s a naturally helpful person, turns out.

17. LOL Susie talking to Rose and being totally freaked out, and I love it. Truly. Barely anything scares Susie. But Rose. Rose flips her out. Love it.

18. Rose is a badass and I love it.

19. LENNY BAILED HER OUT LENNY BAILED HER OUT LENNY BAILED HER OUT!

20. “You’re not Susie.”

21. “Nope.”

22. These two idiots. I love them so much I’m gonna cry god dammit.

23. Wearing his jacket. He rushes to open the door for her.

24. Just fucking get married.

25. Susie is having a NIGHT. Between Rose and Lenny. She just. Can’t catch a break tonight.

26. They really did fail at making Lenny look...not hot. Luke Kirby is too handsome.

27. AND THEN HE INVITES HER TO HIS GIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGG.

28. Rose and her grapefruit. Gilmore Girls Richard vibes.

29. “When did Zelda get married?” lol foreshadowing maybe?

30. Oh Rose. Poor Rose. She’s being severe here, but she’s really worried about Midge. As much as she’s failed Midge in other ways (teaching her all of the toxic bod image bullshit forever), she really does try her best to be a good mother. And I think a lot of the time, she does succeed.

31. TMMM Rose and Lenny scene challenge I WANT IT.

32. I’m not going to get anything on my season 5 bucket list, I’m gonna have to write an entirely alternate season 5.

33. Again.

34. Abe is so clueless in season one. And he cares but he’s so absent. And he pays for it in season 2.

35. Ethan and the staring.

36. Poor Ethan. His dad up and fucks off, his mother is acting like a fucking fruitcake and he’s like four. He has no idea what’s happening. Of course he’s being a weirdo, WE ALL WOULD BE.

37. I do love Imogene, but she is so normcore in season 1.

38. Midge is so short. Imogene is SO SHORT.

39. “I brought it along on our second date. He was surprised.” LOL WE HAVIN BABIES ARCHIE GET USED TO IT.

40. Abe for fuck’s sake.

41. I know Rose and Abe want Midge to be settled and secure. I know. But Joel is not it. He is not it, and at this point even Midge knows that. She loses sight of that a few times, but like. JOEL IS NOT IT.

42. Oh Midge. That is. Too fancy for Kessler’s office.

43. We need more Kessler. GIVE US MORE KESLLER. GIVE US KESSLER DEFENDING LENNY.

44. LOL Susie on Midge’s tits. Just. The best.

45. “If you had just dressed for the meeting.” I love him.

46. Zelda’s notes. “You to be quiet.” I love it. I should start doing that lol.

47. Seconal is a hell of a drug man.

48. And also Rose is so weak-willed in this first season. Like maybe she’s being manipulative here with Abe but. It’s not a good look.

49. Midge is so proper in these early episodes.

50. HORSE FUCKER. lol

51. Midge just. She cannot keep her mouth shut. She cannot do it. And you know what? I wouldn’t be able to either. “Little lady.” Fuck that shit.

52. Thank you?

53. This judge is fucking awful.

54. Here we go.

55. Midge. Midge.

56. Aaand arrested again. Girl. Oh girl.

57. Ugh having to go to Joel. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it.

58. You fucked someone else and left, Dude. She doesn’t fucking trust you enough to tell you. Get used to it.

59. Abe looks...unhappy. To be at Maisel and Roth.

60. The music in this show makes me so happy.

61. Eater Island face lol.

62. One criticism of Moishe I totally agree with is how horrible it was for him to take back the apartment. His grandchildren were growing up in that apartment. Their safety and security should have come first. Not that Midge didn’t have anywhere to take them, Abe and Rose’s place is perfectly fine, and they spend plenty of time in Queens, once the Maisels move, but still. Those kids didn’t desserve to be jerked around that way, no matter how Midge and Joel (mostly Joel) were acting.

63. I never realized even back in the 50′s/60′s you had to pay for temple seats on high holy days. Fuck I’m so glad I never bothered with synagogue as an adult. As if life isn’t expensive enough.

64. Abe’s “My suits are good” shrug makes me happy. I know Tony Shalhoub isn’t Jewish, and as much as I wish they would have found someone who was...he does a good job of playing Abe as a Jewish man.

65. Kevin Pollack is a treasure.

66. THE 13 JEWS.

67. I also love Abe’s tie. It’s nice.

68. “Follow-through has never been in strong suit.” For. Fucking. Real.

69. I mean he came through with the money. That’s. Something.

70. God fuck. Poor Midge eating so much crow. I hate that for her. “After all. I am a woman.” Giiiiirl.

71. Fuck this Judge I hope he steps in dog shit every day forever.

72. UUGUGHGHEUOIERJLEJRLKEJ FUCK

73. Blind leading the blind. “It’s gonna work.”

74. Aw hugs. Gals bein’ pals (or girlfriends.)

75. Look, I can multiship with the best of them.

76. Mrs. Mouskowitz. Love her so much.

77. His plan is moving in with the dumb asshole girl he’s dating.

78. YES THE VANGUARD.

79. Lindsay and the threeeew!

80. AND LENNY! The Jewish and Goyish bit is so good. Listen to the original it’s so good.

81. Instant potatoes: SCARY GOYISH.

82. BOB BYHRE!

83. I love Lenny so much and we didn’t get enough of him in this show. We deserved more Lenny. I deserved more Lenny.

84. The bro vibes between them here are so good. They were always friends first and I just love that.

85. LOL Midge can hang. I love it so much.

86. Lenny is so tickled to be with Midge when she gets high for the first time. It’s adorable.

87. DO WE DO AN ACTIVITY?!

88. I think @theycallme-thejackal once wrote a fic where that activiy was a blowjob.

89. @theycallme-thejackal is the best.

90. Midge doesn’t carry pictures of her kids. I don’t know that my mom ever did either. My dad did I think, in his wallet.

91. AN ACTIVITY.

92. These stoned idiots trying to keep up with Midge good luck.

93. Whoseit’s got a head...the other’s got a...head.

94. Lenny’s genuine laugh there is so good. And he’s laughing at a parenting joke, because he’s probably thinking about Kitty and feeling the EXACT same way. “Are you fucking kidding? I don’t know what I’m doing holy shit!” I love that so much.

95. They’re not gonna get married. But they fucking should. Their connection is so good.

96. And maybe that’s delusional. I just love them.

97. Dear Midge: Some of us are just not moms. Trust me.

98. I want her to find out that Lenny is so boring at home.

99. Are those pretzels??

100. I tried to find the gif of Lenny’s face when she comes over to nom those pretzels and failed. It’s so good though.

101. also the face Lenny gives her when she walks over to sit down? I have been on the receiving end of that face from other people. I know it well. It’s happened.

102.We’re supposed to see the Friar’s Club in season 5. I dunno how that’s gonna go, but. I guess we’ll see.

103. I love Harry Drake. I hope we get a little more of him in season 5.

104. “Just be gentle.” Oh Lenny.

105. INVITED TO THE AFTERHOURS. GO MIDGE.

106. “You need me to be understanding or something?”

107. He’s so nice to her. The real Kitty Bruce has talked about how incredibly sweet her father was, and I love that we see shades of that in the show. He’s got a ton of problems, but there is so much kindness there.

108. And it’s in complete contrast to what we see from Joel in just a minute.

109. He gives her a joint as a lil gift. For later. Shit isn’t cheap. Kindness.

110. “WAIT WAS I SUPPOSED TO MAKE A PASS AT YOU?!” Love it.

111. Good job, Midge. You did good.

112. This flashback was in such a strange place. It felt really disjointed the first time I saw it. But again, it’s an interesting contrast between Lenny doing some light emotional lifting for Midge (The cab, the sympathy over her busted marriage, the joint, the parting joke to make her laugh) and Joel (letting Midge take care of him as usual).

113. Midge rollin’ up in the middle of the night, still a little buzzed. To this asshole.

114. And she liiiieeeesssss yessssss. Lie to him. He doesn’t deserve to know you got high with Lenny Bruce.

115. I’ve said this before. His “I don’t care what you needed the money for” is such crap. You SHOULD care. If you care about her, WHY DON’T YOU CARE?! Is it because you trust her? Or because you only care about yourself? I can’t tell.

116. “I’m thinking of giving it another go.” No sorry. No nothing. Just expecting to be let back into her life. Fuck’s sake.

117. Oh Abe.

118. Good for Midge telling him no. Because he fucked up and he’s not even fucking sorry. HE IS NOT SORRY! And she knows it. And he left.

119. Look at this piece of shit run away. Just. Not even an argument. Not even trying to change her mind. Just shakes his head and walks off like that piece of garbage he truly is.

120. Maybe that’s harsh. But he didn’t even try. Because he’s not sorry. He just wants to live comfortably again. He doesn’t care that he hurt her.

121. HE DOES NOT CARE THAT HE HURT MIDGE. Anyone who actually cared would not act like this.

122. And Abe finally understands just how terribly hurt Midge is. Though I’m not sure if that look on his face is because he’s hurting for her, or because his ploy to get them back together failed. Maybe both.

123. I love this episode. It is an al-time favorite. It establishes Midge and Lenny as friends with a new, but solid bond. It has some great Susie moments, and a great Midge set. Great stuff with Abe and Rose and Abe and Moishe. It’s so solid. I think it might be my favorite season 1 episode. <3

#The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel #Midge Maisel #Fictional Lenny Bruce #Joel is still the worst

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multifandommess0818 · 9 months

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So I finished reading Gwen and Art are Not in Love today, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've been trying to find it for weeks with no luck before my friend sent it to me for Christmas and I was so excited to finally get my hands on it and read it.

Spoilers below

Overall I really liked it, however it does fall prey to a very common troupe that I never like, and that's spending so little time with the couples being couples.

Like, I get that you have to set up your characters and their dynamics and all that, but Gabe and Art hardly spend any time together??? There are barely any scenes where neither of them are holding back, where they both fully want the other.

and i get it, okay? i get it. Gabe has a whole inner demon to deal with before he gets there, i just wish he had gotten there sooner.

I like to be able to enjoy my couples as couples. I hate the whole "they spend the entire book getting together and then we only see them together and happy at the very end" thing. You spend so much time and energy investing in this couple with very little pay off. Like, yes, I love the flirting and the almost kisses and the characters learning what they want as much as the next person, but where are the dates? where are the flowers, the kisses, the puppy love?

Gwen and Bridget don't suffer from this too badly. We do actually see them together (albeit not officially) far earlier than Gabe and Art. I still would have liked to see them get to know each other more, maybe have Gwen invite Bridget on those walks Gwen loves so much.

And, to be clear, this is NOT a failing on the book itself. There are so many books that do this. Most standalone romcoms do this. It is very much a common thing to do when you're telling a love story. I just hate it.

That rant over, what i DID love about the book:

Art and Gwen give off really big sibling energy and I love it. Their dynamic is very much "only I can insult you, anyone else who tries must die" and I love them for it. I love Art being a chaotic, meddling mess and pushing Gwen out of her comfort zone. I love sensible Gwen pushing Art to be more responsible for his own sake.

And I really, really loved Gabriel. I think his character could have been utilized more, but he's the levelheaded one out of the group, the one who has to think about the political side of things. I love his obsession with the history of his country and, despite not really wanting to be king, knowing that he will have to do it and if he has to do it, he might as well do it right. I love how much he cares, for Gwen, for Art, for his people. It's so genuine, and I just wish we'd seen more of him.

The found family in this book was just *chef's kiss* It's so fun to see all the different dynamics. Some I wish were expanded upon, like Gwen's and Agnes's, but you can really feel the care everyone has for each other.

And I like the bits of foreshadowing we get sprinkled throughout. It starts as soon as Arthur's father is all "tell me EVERYTHING that goes on" at the beginning. It's always fun to watch the pieces fall into place.

7/10, highly recommend.

#gwen and art are not in love

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netsage · 9 months

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my thoughts on the new HYUNA song drop and the various scenes in the song

1. Mizi rebels (no surprise), but interestingly, is being kissed multiple times by Hyuna to kind of drag her out of her discomfort/thoughts, some type of new ship or platonic relations??? (i’m not sure, but if that’s the case, im open to it, seems like an another great arc and more character development in one way or another)

2. Mizi’s hair was cut off, leaving behind past memories (that’s great! (she looks hot, im not complaining) question is, does this also mean she has moved past from her grievance for Sua?) (does this mean that possible romantic indication with Hyuna? if so, im happy for her for moving on, im sure Sua would too tbh…)

3. Hyuna has like defo a some sort of love hate relations with Luka, cuz he literally killed her brother (HE IS INSANE) (i officially dub him as like some scheming yandere with like manipulative tendencies, cuz she payed attention to him once and he goes like “give me more” anddddd she doesn’t cuz she needs to care for her sibling and he gets jealous and just starts a fight and so happens to “accidentally” push him or something and he’s dead. bro casually looks up to Hyuna and says “woops, i didn’t mean to” and from there on, she just feels absolutely rage and just thinks he’s insanely brainwashed in some way)

4. Hyuna’s group is bonkers and they all just flirt for fun (head canon she’s actually bi/les) anddddd she saved mizi cuz she saw her and was like “omg, my possible partner fr? i’ll give her everything (refer to the scene where Mizi and Hyuna fought like the alien bots or smth and like was infiltrating what i think was probs a base of some sort + like little hugs and kisses (those were so cute)), fuck you luka”

5. Ivan and Till is expect to fight in the next round… and slight foreshadowing, someone hits till’s face, does this possibly mean that he is eliminated in the next round????

6. (continuing from point 5!) but Ivan is said to have feelings for Till, so another possibility is that they try and do a duet, like what Sua and Mizi did. (will they be successful or end up the same fate as the both of them? tragic, but it may happen)

7. another scenario is the Ivan ends up the winner, and Hyuna and her gang comes and pull Till out from the situation (aka just like Luka and Mizi round), then it would be like crazy for Till to handle since Mizi would be there. (or alternatively, Mizi tries to convince Hyuna to save Till cuz Till is her friend (LMAO friend zone fr), and it worked, in which same shit goes down.) (but question is, if this case happens, will Ivan try and report the case and find Till? meaning which, he rebels more (ANOTHER REBEL IVAN ARC (just a teeny bit) ?) and eventually sneaks out to search for Till (his beloved lmao). )

8. but a possible scenario too in that round could be that Till gives up on singing and Ivan punches the absolute shit out of him to force him to sing (or vice versa cuz Till is mad that Ivan is just pitying him or that he’s just giving up so easily just so he can live)

9. OR ANOTHER SCENARIO (there’s so many im sorry😞) is that like Till don’t care (just like when he did in the round with some side character 😭😭), and then screws over Ivan, Ivan just goes like “i wish you the best my liege” and then explodes and Till just either “idc” or “what the fuck have i done”

10. WHAT IF TILL HAS LIKE LINGERING FEELINGS??? (i lowkey headcanon him as like bi but he has this one case of internalised homophobia, refer to like the cover they made with like ‘MY CLEMATIS’ ) cuz like Ivan tried saving him yk, so what if, like he comes to regret that afterwards (head canon, when he’s stressed he feels extremely nauseous to the point he puked like multiple times and got beat up for being like high maintenance, which would explain more about why he’s so feral dog angry at the aliens all the time) (and also cuz like they did like a lot of fucked up shit, any sane human would grow to hate them tbh, so it’s valid, but i like to think that it gives him more reason to want to rebel them even more out of more spite and just plain hatred for what they have done to like the contestants and Mizi (especially her))

11. also back to the topic of luka…. (i hate this man, but his song is so good 😠😠😠), will like he come and find Hyuna? like lowkey Luka and Hyuna interaction fr??? (probs like confrontation in a sense, and then one of them like goes feral or something cuz obvs someone is OBSESSED with like Hyuna 😞😞😞)

ALSO, referring back to point 5, Till gets eliminated and yk the whole “win or die” process, and Ivan just turns into the next Mizi (vengeance or smth) or he just mourns, and refuses to do anything more (REBEL ARC maybe)

another thing i would like to add on from point 3 is that i imagine the three of them just discussing ways to possibly get out of this situation alive, and just was blissfully happy for like awhile cuz they’re all together in this and up till the day Luka (the insane bastard) killed her brother, she actually admired him for like his skills (in terms of able to perform and stuff)

I MAY BE WRONG (but it’s my thoughts and i would like my fellow alien stage enjoyers to give me their insight too, cuz rn i’m just ranting about my little expectations 😞😞)

#alnst #alien stage #netsage’s rant #scenarios i wish were real but we would have to wait 😞#yes i made some headcannons about some characters and i may or may not have been projecting LMAO

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Text

Disc World bookclub thoughts- Monstrous Regiment

Pages 12-20

Okay @anna-neko … and all the other people that found me(tho I’ll be writing to Anna here)

Buckle up cause I actually read more, so there’s A LOT more text!

Before I start, I'm fully aware that the book's premise is that the whole regiment turns out to be women in disguised(except one being trans??? That happens at the end so I won't bring that up till I get there). But for ease of talking, I will he/him everyone until they've been she/her-ed. Plus, there are other characters, so I could accidentally she/her a man thinking they would be one of the undercover women. So yah, following the pronouns corresponding to where I am in the book.

I wrote everything on a notes app while listening/reading, and then organized it. So my "knowledge" will flip flop since different parts were written at different points of reading. Also I’m playing around with the best way to show quotes. Okay here are my thoughts loosely organized:

—Critiques—

Some critiques. I want to start of with them so that we can end on a high note. At first it was hard for me to get that there were scene changes happening. Most books usually leave large space b/w the paragraphs, but at least in this digital book, it just looks like a normal paragraph spacing. And the audio book doesn't indicate that there's a scene shift, so there were a couple of times that I got lost because I didn't realize there was a new scene. Though I think I finally got it down how he switches from scenes, so I should be fine.

Also while I do like that he just says stuff, for example, him introducing Polly’s guy name by writing, "At least, Polly climbed out of the window, but it was Oliver’s feet that landed lightly on the ground," instead of saying, "she decided to call herself Oliver Perks.” At times I do need a bit more guidance. I can pick up stuff with context, but, sometimes it threw me off. For example, with the igor, while I would've gotten it eventually, I just decided to google it, because I was too distracted being confused to actually pay attention to the dialogue if that makes sense???? So I mostly like how he seamlessly intergrates new info, but sometimes I do feel like I'm going in blind, or suffering for not knowing about the previous books. Tho I will say the vampire lore was intergrated well. It's nothing so bad that it ruins the book for me since it's mostly executed well.

Side tangent, but I actually started the book by listening to it, so I actually didn’t catch the Olly name until I got to this line, “…but Polly was known to all the ferrymen by sight and the guard would want to see her permit to travel, which Oliver Perks certainly didn’t have.” I like this line! I mostly like when he does it, but yah, I get confused sometimes.

Okay on to stuff my other thoughts!

Short quippy stuff

Hee hee foreshadowing!

There was no question of anyone getting undressed.

I love that her nickname is Ozzer

Don't cry challenge(impossible)

AAAAH SHE GOT CAUGHT.

Nothing quippy, just a funny line:

Ugh. I hate strappi I hate Strappi I hate Strappi. Me and the boys hate Strappi.

You said these books are very pop-cultury. I'll say these aged well because I don't think I've caught any pop culture reference(or maybe I have without realizing) and I still find the book funny and it makes sense to me. So uh yah, go Terry Pratchett I guess.

—Longer thoughts—

Am I viewing everything as an American, or is this a reference to don't ask, don't tell??? I don't think so cause nothing else about it is queer coded and also Terry Pratchett is British, so there would be no reason for him to talk about that. My brain just short-circuited because it's a military book and I'm American 🙃

Thoughts on Maladict—

Maladict carries around silver-gilt coffee engine (which icon behavior) so idk how allergic he is to silver. Is he lying about the silver allergy or does he just suck it up for some coffee (cause if he does, again King behavior). I think my fav soldier rn is Maladict (can you tell???). Polly think's she's cool, but he's the actually cool one. Love his whole "even though I'm sobre from humans, it doesn't mean I can't/won't seriously fuck you up." I love when writers explore ethical vampires/vampires blending in with humans (I really should read vampire books).

I think the whole black ribbon thing is cool! I think there's a book that follows a vampire??? If you're down(and it makes sense), I'd love to read one of the vampire books since I'm already so intrigued by vampire society! Obviously after I'm done with this book

Thoughts I wrote about Jackrum—

Damn Jackrum has to keep telling Strappi to ease on the racism.

I like how Sargent Jackrum asked Polly if she was fine with fighting Strappi. I knew that his whole "stop being racist" is more of a "WE NEED MEN" than him actually caring about fantasy racism™️, or that's how I saw it at first at least. But now, I think there's a genuine side of kindness to him. So I'm excited to see more of that (be it, seeing more of his softer side or being proven wrong).

ALSO WHILE WRITING IN POLLY’S SECTION, I REALIZED THAT JACKRUM PROBABLY KNOW SHE'S A WOMEN!!!! Oh shit, maybe corpol too???? Definitely Jackrum I think!

"What's that?" said the corporal. "My signature," said Polly… "You can read and write, too?" said the sergeant, glancing up at them and then back to her.

THEY GOT SURPRISED THAT SHE KNEW HOW TO READ AND WRITE (an abomination for women). Also... I might have gotten slightly spoiled trying to draw Jackrum. I didn't read anything but I saw girl fanart of him???? I mean, I guess he's also part of the troop, I thought it was just the soldiers. HE MIGHT BE MYSTERY PERSON!!!! Anyways, this is for future me to figure out… So that's probably why he's nice to her. NOW I'M EXCITED TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIM. Before I got to the scene where Polly fights, I drew this cause I thought it was funny, while being slightly out of character. But now, I think this not that out of character (I'll have to see). Anyways have this shitty little doodle.

Thoughts on Polly—

I was very slow to realize that Polly's from Borogravia. As for why Polly joined, Polly definitely doesn't believe the propaganda, so my best guess is that she's going to try and find Paul. Reading about her missing Paul absolutely broke my heart. Though it's very interesting how also she was raised.

Also I got so scared when she got caught even tho I knew it would happen eventually, just didn't think it would happen THIS early in the book! I knew the moment mysterious person gave Polly the sock. I find it funny how Polly was like, “damn I thought I was cool mysterious kid". Her inner monologue is pretty funny.

I didn't ask you for one, Polly thought, quite annoyed at being taken for being a frightened young lad when she was sure she'd come over as quite a cool, non-ruffled young lad.

Also I'm pretty sure mystery person is a girl, cause I know the permis of the book so it makes this line funny

"Why, is this the escutcheon of Her Grace the Duchess I see in front of me?" said the whisperer. "Well, it won't be in front of me for long. Beat it ... boy."

Wrote this section on mystery person before the realization 🧍🧍🧍. Now I don't know. AAAAAAAAH.

Also, I'm glad that Polly gave Strappi a taste of his own medicine. Tho Private Parts is kinda funny 🏃🏃🏃. Insert: "that's a good joke, a great joke even, but I'm gonna have to ask you to stop,” audio. Seriously tho, it's pretty cool how Polly's experiences from her childhood with her dad and the other soldiers has helped her to blend in at this point. She was funny when she was like:

"I'll try not to hurt him either, Sarge," said Polly, and then cursed herself for the idiot bravado. It must have been the socks talking.

I read it twice and listened to it a 3rd time, since I had to write this and I laughed each time. I can't believe I find this dick joke so funny, I'm truly an immature child. Also fuck man. The way Polly saw people die, or just the discussions of how wars fucks people up. I have nothing insightful to say. Just, man, war's rough (<- biggest understatement of the century).

Other Book thoughts—

One thing I wasn't expecting, was for the crew to be made up of so many fantasy™️ creatures. But that one is fully on me since the book is called monstrous regiment. I guess I was so focused on what I've heard about the book, that I just completely glazed pass that. I see that there is some fantasy racism™️, so hopefully that's done well. I'm not saying it's always bad, but a lot of time people try to do metaphors, but it falls apart (ex: monster=racism allegory, when one of the characters is literally Mexican (and is brown). I'm not naming the name of the show on purpose). I do think it can be done well when you take the more, "prejudice is a thing, this is how it would play out with these creatures," and you don't make it a one-to-one with any particular minority. I feel like that's a more productive criticism of bigotry that can be applied to minority groups. I mean, I think there can be some one-to-one allegories that make sense, but it needs to be done carefully. I hope I'm making sense. But so far, I don’t see anything that bothers me. Just have my guard up a bit.

—✨Deeper✨ Thoughts on the book—

I kinda alluded to this in the previous review but yah, it's very interesting how Terry Prachet writes about war. I mean, I'm only 18, so I won't pretend to know much about the world, but I think this book has very strong themes about the dangers of nationalism and what not. And obviously he exaggerates it in the book, but it can be applied to a lot of modern situations. Side tangent, but I'm not really a patriotic person. I'm glad that my country has provided me better opportunities than my parent’s country, but I've always seen being so patriotic to a fault very weird. Also, this is clearly a criticism of the monarchy. "God save the duchess" like, come on. Down to this religious fervor they treat the duchess with, that they pray to it. I feel weird commenting too much, since I'm not as connected/involved/know too much about the politics of the monarchy (I mean technically the US is an ex-British colony, but rn relationship b/w the US and the UK is way better than other countries with the UK). All I'll say is that I don't care how nice she was, she was a colonizer and the monarchy has and continues to harm people to this day. Also back to nationalism, I've always hated the whole "people from this country suck". Like maybe the government sucks but you can never ascribe what the country does to the people of said place.

Honestly I feel weird commenting on this book in general, because I have barely any religious experience, haven't been too exposed to war, nor am I British (I mean this more in respect of the whole monarchy thing). Also, even though I'm a woman, I haven't felt much sexism. Like no cat-calling, most of the people respect me. Besides, "normal sexism," aka unconscious bias stuff like, "strong men help me pick the heavy stuff,” I don't think I have had any notable experiences of sexism or have seriously felt it in my life. So I feel like I can't give any deep observation about sexism or religion besides, yup that sounds right! Same with any the politics about war than, yup nationalism bad! I'm really aware that I'm just an 18 yr old who doesn't know much cause young people think they know everything (I mean that gets thrown a lot to invalidate young activists but there is a kernel of truth of: less experience=less knowledge of the world). Basically, I am noticing deeper themes in the book, but don’t expect me to talk about these parts if the book too much, because I don’t think I have anything productive to add. I just feel super unqualified to comment on much of this, and like I could be wrong about 100 different things I just said.

Umm… with that being said,

—Some quotes that I thought were interesting but I can't articulate why rn—

"At Paul's insistence, she'd read the whole of 'From the Mothers of Borogravia!!' to him, including the bits about heroes and there being no greater good than to die for your country. She wished, now, she hadn't done that. Paul did what he was told. Unfortunately, he believed what he was told, too."

"Several copies of the pamphlet seemed to have reached every home, even so. It was very patriotic. That is, it talked about killing"

"She'd learned to read and write after a fashion because the inn was big and it was a business and things had to be tallied and recorded. Her mother had taught her to read, which was acceptable to Nuggan, and her father made sure that she learned how to write, which was not. A woman who could write was an Abomination Unto Nuggan, according to Father Jupe; anything she wrote would by definition be a lie."

"She'd be funny just as long as she was useless, and safe as long as she was funny." Ugh yah, some men get really threaten by women being better than them

Misc—

Thank goodness for the audio book. I love when authors write in the accents, I think it creates character and it's very creative... but I'm terrible at trying to understand what they're saying. I've been doing a mixture of audio book only, audio book plus text, and just reading text. Anyways, I was reading a line Strappi said where he was mocking Maladict and I literally couldn't understand it until I listened to that part later when I could use my headphones again.

"Private Bloodfnucker hnas a fnord, Fnargeant," he said accusingly.

This was the line btw. All hail audiobooks everyone 🧎🧎🧎

Also damn digital books and audio books help me actually pick up the book and it makes it a lot less intimidating. I like reading but, sometimes my brain views it as a chore. Like I used to start books, LIKE THEM, and then proceed to NOT finish them. I have been using audiobooks in the past but it was while reading the book, and almost never just the audiobook (unless I had didn't finish a chapter in time for class). But man, actually leaning into how my brain works makes it easier. Who would've thought! (Like I always forget how useful hearing the text it, even though I have been using this tip for years). So yah, even though I think I prefer the experience of physical books, I need to just let myself read the easiest ways to me. Audiobook only, has been nice since it takes the least amount energy, but it is the hardest for me to understand, especially if it gets too flowery/lore-y. So warning, I’ll miss small details because of this. I usually go back and skim the parts I did audio only, but I’ll still miss stuff.

Also, I'm using hoopla(and when the 21 days are up, my libby ver of the text should be available), but tip! If you like to annotate, download books on PDFs and annotate using the comments. Honestly, great with research papers too! I love to highlight with different colors and then you filter the annotations, amazing really. Obviously you can do this in irl books but I like that I can write more in the comment section thingy than in the margin of books.

But yah! I'm liking the book so far. I like how Terry Pratchett writes and I like Polly as a mc.

I will add alt text some other date cause I don't have the mental energy rn. If someone besides Anna find it and wants them, just @ me in the comment and I'll @ you when I finish this Also gonna add links to the previous and next review for better organization.

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