#I like how it kind of looks like a screenshot of an actual canon scene from the show with subtitles on

[writerslingo]

My mom made this joke when I told her about Jay Johnston (Jimmy Pesto) getting arrested for being a part of the Jan. 6 insurrection. And then she proceeded to make this meme in further response, lmao

[yuurei20]

Is it true that Cater is a playboy? I've seen some people saying that he's a Playboy, but I'm not sure if its canon. Thanks!!

Hello hello! ^^ Thank you for this question!

This was also mentioned a little bit in response to an earlier question about Cater's habit of flirting with people, which includes a compilation of screenshots of what is probably the kind of scenes that people are thinking about when they talk about Cater being a playboy!

But I think this might depend on your definition of "playboy" 👀

As of this post, the only canonical romantic relationship we have heard of in the game (on EN 👀) is Ace and his ex-girlfriend!

If your definition of "playboy" is "someone who dates a lot of different people," then "playboy" does not apply to Cater, as far as we know :>

What we do know is this!

His family moved around a lot when he was a child so, at some point, he started intentionally keeping his interpersonal relationships shallow rather than try to forge meaningful connections:

"That's why I always tried to be on good terms with everyone, rather than forge strong bonds with a chosen few. Like a circus performer who has a grand old time with people from around the world, and then packs up and moves on."

While never stated outright, it is a common theory that this is why Cater keeps Trey at arm's length during Wish Upon a Star:

Trey is already his closest friend, so Cater might be keeping up a buffer zone of secrets like what his true wish for the Star Sending is so that they do not become any closer, and their inevitable parting will be less painful.

Lilia tries to encourage Cater, saying that, in deciding not to get too close to any one person he may be the wisest one there, but Cater is not convinced that Lilia can truly empathize:

"Lilia's developed cherished relationships while living in the same place his whole life. There's no way he could ever understand how helpless I feel."

Another thing we know about Cater is that he might be feeling the loss of one, specific friend in particular! He tells Silver that he remembers making a friend at a new school one time, only to immediately learn that he would be moving away again the next month.

It is interesting that he mentions this one friend in particular--were they the catalyst? Was that the point when he decided that he would never get close to another person? We do not know 👀

If you are seeing "playboy Cater" coming from the JP side of the fandom, it is possibly because his speech patterns are that of a チャラい character on JP!

I think "flirt" is a decent translation for チャラい? 🧐 (It was localized as "shallow" on EN, and is the reason why Eliza rejects Cater during the Phantom Bride event.)

They are characters that talk/look flashy, seem shallow, and tend to flirt with everyone equally rather than picking someone specific to pursue. (Orange hair is common but is not required ww)

This survey of 3,324 people voted the top three チャラい anime characters as Moroboshi Ataru (Urusei Yatsura), Saeba Ryo (City Hunter) and Lupin III, to give you an idea of the チャラい character archetype ^^

And a common theme of Twst is: appearances can be deceiving!

Vil and Lilia seem to suspect Cater of having "a morose side that the rest of us never see" hidden by his sunny disposition, but Cater claims otherwise 👀

Much like Epel appears delicate but is actually the opposite and Lilia appears young but is actually old, it is possible that Cater intentionally acts shallow while actually he has a complex inner world--he is flighty not because he is trying to attract people, but because he is trying to keep them away.

More here! ^^

・Cater's Inner Life ・Cater's Childhood

To the original question: I do not believe that we have heard about Cater having any relationships (romantic or otherwise) at all except for one single friend from pre-NRC, which might not qualify him as a "playboy"! ^^

[shychick-52]

I will never get over the injustice of the fact that we never got a mutual hug between Sofia and Cedric. Not once, in all the times she hugged him, has he ever hugged her back.

Not even in season 4 when he finally turned over a new leaf and truly accepted/embraced his friendship with her, and how much he cared about her.

In season 2's 'Winter's Gift', there was a deleted storyboard/scene where they would have actually shared a hug at the end after Sofia gave him the homemade wand case for Wassailia, (which he was canonically overjoyed and touched to receive in the actual episode, saying it was the best present he ever got; it would have made the mutual hug all the more precious and meaningful, a milestone in their relationship, showing how much he truly had come to cherish her friendship). But I can't see any logical reason it would have gotten cut for time, because I don't see how that would have taken up any time at all, especially if it was meant to take place during the sweet "Happy holidays, Mr. Cedric" / "Yes, well, it is happy, isn't it?" exchange right at the end. And I can't see why the Disney higher-ups would have disapproved it, because it would have shown even more growth in Cedric's character. And not only were we deprived of a mutual hug, but there was no hug at all in the actual episode (it would have been so sweet to at least have Sofia hug him).

Near the end of season 2's 'The Enchanted Feast', after Sofia and Cedric manage to defeat Miss Nettle together, Sofia hugs him. And... it's not totally obvious, because Sofia was kind of in the way of his arm, but it does look like he either gave her a one-armed hug or at least affectionately patted her on the back (either way, it's absolutely adorable, and I can't stop rewinding it to this part every time I watch this episode). In any case, it's the closest we got to a canon shared hug between them (and maybe it was one), so it's one of my favorite scenes in the series! I don't know how to make gifs, so I'll try to show it in this clip (it's at the 0:34 mark) and in a couple screenshots:

The only time he TRULY hugged her back wasn't even 100% canon! It took place at the end of that cute 'Rain, Rain, Go Away' nursery rhyme short on Disney Junior's Youtube channel:

Now, if only that's what we'd got at the end of the series finale ('Forever Royal') after she thanked him for saving her from the amulet!! But not only did she not hug him at all one last time, but it would have been a perfect opportunity for him to be the one to initiate a hug, showing even more of his incredible character development and their bond:

Sofia the First~Forever Royal~Cedric Returns Sofia's Amulet (youtube.com)

It also was a missed opportunity for them to share a mutual hug at the end of the first episode of season 4 'Day of the Sorcerers' after Cedric earnestly expressed his gratitude to Sofia for defending him and advocating for a second chance to Roland (during the scene where Cedric was still on his knees after pleading for forgiveness to Roland, and Sofia returns his wand after Roland agrees to reinstate him as royal sorcerer). It really was a missed opportunity, because that the was the episode where Cedric finally truly chose friendship with Sofia over his evil dreams. But again, there was no hug at all:

And another fantastic opportunity would have been in s4's 'In Cedric We Trust', after Cedric sacrificed his safety to save Sofia's life, nearly injuring him. ("I can't believe how you saved me like that! You could have gotten really hurt!" / "So could you, Sofia."). Once again, zero hug at all (but it was so adorable how he took her by the hands, at least):

I would certainly hope that if Sofia had hugged him in all those scenes, he would have finally hugged her back!!

And again, him finally being the one to first hug her would have been FRIGGING EVERYTHING.

@sweetmariihs2 @fantadym @bettathanyou @moonypears-blog @cedric-my-beloved

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

The double standard Zutara shippers have towards Mai vs Katara is absolutely icky. I saw a post a while ago (don’t remember the user) and screenshotted all the Mai can’t vs Katara can points. I’ll paste them here:

- Katara threatening Zuko if he dares to hurt Aang is a sign of reprimanded sexual tension, but Mai joking about Zuko never daring to break up with her again it's her being controlling.

- Katara screaming at Zuko that, to make her forgive him after he proved to have changed and be a better person to everyone else, he'll need to bring back her dead mother, as if 10 years old Zuko is responsible for Yon Ra killing Kya, is fair. Mai screaming at Zuko to leave her alone after he made a scene insulting her in front of a crowd is abusive, violent and toxic.

- Katara treating Zuko badly after he saved her from being crushed is legit and deserved. Mai slapping Zuko's hand away from her in two separate occasions because he wouldn't stop invading her boundaries after a highly emotional moment is harsh, undeserved and abusive.

- Zuko mocking Katara and telling her that he'll save her from the pirates is cute. Zuko being actually cute with his girlfriend is cringe and obviously something he didn't want to do.

- Katara splashing Zuko when he was kneeling down in the southern air temple episode is justified. Mai throwing a SHEET OF PAPER at him after he broke up with her and ghosted her is abusive and violent.

-Katara touching Zuko's scar in the catacombs to heal him is cute and a moment of trust. Mai touching Zuko's scar multiple times and him not being bothered by it in the slightest (even burying his scar in her hair) is a breech of trust and consent.

- Katara having many guys who have a crush on her throughout the series means she has rizz and that she's a catch. Mai having one boyfriend other than Zuko makes her a slut.

- Mai and Zuko being childhood friends to lovers is cringe and an overused trope, but then you'll go on the Zutara tag and find multiple fanarts of childhood friends Zutara AUs

- Katara establishing boundaries and making her stance on breeches of trust well known with multiple characters is good writing. Mai breaking up with Zuko after he lied to her multiple times means that she isn't worth sticking around, and is so selfish that she'll leave Zuko in a moment of need.

- Katara had three children while Mai only had Izumi, which means Katara is a better woman (yes, I've actually come across this kind of disgusting comment.)

- Zutarians claim that Katara is apparently reduced to a housewife and child bearer with no agency as Aang's wife (she is a well known master, wonderful healer AND politician as she made bloodbending illegal in canon), and would be better off as the fire lady (????), but at the same time Mai is nothing special because she is just the fire lord's wife while Katara is a master. Like, make it make sense. Being a fire lady is either "demeaning" for both or for neither.

+ Zutara fans making Izumi Zuko and Katara's daughter, and then proceeding to make a rant on how Mai is NOT Izumi's mom despite her looking exactly like Mai and Michi PLUS having "fountain" a significant name in Maiko's love story, in her name.

I’ve been silently reading all the anti zutara here and thought of sharing my piece. I would like to hear what you think too

God, the Izumi one pisses me off the most because:

1 - Neither Katara nor Zuko would EVER just refuse to raise or even acknowledge a child of theirs. Katara's whole trauma is about having to grow up too fast after her mother's death. Zuko's whole trauma is growing up with an abusive father that kicked him out of the house. They would NEVER abandon a child of theirs.

2 - Neither Katara nor Zuko would ever forgive a former partner if said partner had a kid with them and then abandoned said child, again, because of their own traumas.

But also HOLY SHIT, zutara's brand of "feminism" never ceases to shock me. "A better woman has more kids"? Seriously? And here I thought the worst take I'd ever see from them was "Zuko needs to marry a woman of a different race because his genes are bad, but he is one of the good ones, and Katara could fix his defective genetic that makes his kind more likely to be violent - no, I never heard the term 'eugenics', what's that?"

And yeah, funny how they're constantly going on and on about how being Fire Lady would totally "empower" Katara, but the second Mai is the one to marry Zuko, suddenly that role is oppressive and disrespectful towards a woman.

[fountainpenguin]

can i be honest im so intrigued by ur idea of a dev/trev/bev friendgroup even though you mentioned it maybe twice during ur liveposting

i know its mostly cuz they have basically the same name but i think its funny... saddest soppy wet-est kid in the school, some guy with hair in the ugliest shade of green and a girl who loves football and owns a talk show have something in common, somehow

I think we should go all the way and have a Trev, Dev, Bev, and Kev friend squad. And we can add the random kid who's listed on the kindness chart by the name Whatevs. Just call them The Evs.

It's so stupid, but I genuinely am shocked they all have rhyming names and they aren't a background squad. It is ridiculously funny to me that the vibe I get from Hazel's class is that the creators came up with a bunch of Ev names as their filler (with Dev specifically introducing Trev, Bev, and Kev to Hazel when she gets to school) and Dev himself fits this rhyming pattern.

Dev: Dad, I'm one of the youngest kids in my grade... did you just copy the names the other parents gave their children? Dale: Dale: Dale: No.

Even Devin rhymes with Kevin

I feel like Dev and Kev cross paths sometimes since Kev is a child model / the brand face for a popular soft drink. It also makes sense they wouldn't since being a child model and the son of a billionaire are two different things.

But of the people in Dev's class, it is astronomically funny to me that Dev looked at Trev and Bev and said "I want these regulars" and he doesn't seem particularly into hanging out with Kev.

Anyway, whatever this trio and/or quartet has going on cracks me up. I like that Dev and Trev both have a crush on Bev (Trev was distraught when they broke up in the finale due to Anti-Fairies magically setting Bev up with someone else).

Utterly fascinated that A New Wish canon is that Anti-Fairies don't have to follow Da Rules. Logically that makes total sense, but it's still interesting because we didn't see them pushing this angle in the OG series... but this somehow makes Timmy and Vicky unwishing each other's stuff - something godkids aren't supposed to be able to do iirc - that much funnier. Me, ever since I saw the episode: Why can Foop just tell Vicky that Timmy is a godkid? If he's her godparent, he's not allowed to do that; godkids have to cross paths on their own. Me now: Ahhh...... I understand...

I actually went back and watched, and Trev and Bev are definitely better friends with each other than either is with Dev. Trev and Bev are near each other in a lot of the background scenes. We don't really see them interacting, but they do seem to know each other and/or enjoy each other's company, so I thought it was funny when they were apparently dating (holding hands with hearts in eyes) in the finale.

Meanwhile, Dev rarely approaches either of them beyond being pulled into Hazel's Broadway show, where he's a back-up dancer, which isn't necessarily his choice (especially considering how happy he is in the song despite being a jerk in the other scenes... lmao).

- although he did give Bev double pudding when we know he was being super picky about whom he gave it to, which doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I think it's funny.

Oh, I was gonna post a screenshot but I can't because the red lighting on her pudding-slathered body in that scene sets off my hemophobia and that's even BEFORE the zombie stuff, lmao... Just trust me on this- she has a cup in each hand.

And we KNOW the only person she could've gotten the pudding from is Dev, who is confirmed to have hoarded all the pudding cups and was only giving them to people who impressed him. We even see him take one cup away from Jenkins after giving him two, so he was being SUPER picky.

Look at them... They are The Evs...

I just want them to be friends... They all have fun designs and personality... I think they should play on the playground or go to the movies.

sdkljfsd, Dev is the shortest one in this whole picture. Everyone in this class utterly dwarfs him. Which makes sense, because Hazel started school in this show at age 10 and Dev is 9 until the midpoint in Season 1. He's just a little guy...

Like... Does Trev KNOW Dev has a crush on Bev? I can totally imagine Dev watching them date and being like "Hey... wait a minute."

^ The face you make when you just find out your secret crush is dating your secret squish.

- I CANNOT get over the fact that Dev has a canon squish. He just wants to be Trev's friend so badly but he's too shy to talk to him... That's hilarious. I wish we would explore that, because that's not something you usually get to see explored in media. - ... I am lying. Winn is everyone's squish in this episode and that's also canon. Everyone likes Winn, AS THEY SHOULD. Winn is so friendly and kind, even (and especially) when people are nervous around them. - Dev stop having squishes on his entire class challenge (Impossible). - "Multiverse of Jenkins" except every time Hazel walks past Dev, he's head-in-hands-ing over a new person he wants to befriend but screwed up talking to.

Honestly, looking back on "Wellsington Hotellsington" makes me kind of sad because... it's obvious Dev is trying to make friends in the only way he really knows. He's being a brat and a braggart, but at least he was engaging in conversation. This is one of the only episodes (if not THE only) where he makes a real effort.

Tell us how it's really going, Mr. Many Times Bitten, Many Times Shy. Ahaha... he needs to improve himself.

I really like how we see Hazel have to work to make new friends at school and she puts effort in, so we see why people befriend her, and meanwhile Dev is just... consistently not interacting with people and then sitting around upset he has no friends. He is 9.

Anyway, I just think The Evs' dynamic would be funny to explore. It's got everything you need! Dev being the worst! Bev leading them into action, but mostly to soccer-football games! Trev being super supportive and friendly and kind! Those two dating while Dev third wheels and stares into the camera! Idk what Kev does!

I think Dev should just stand in the middle of all his squishes and say "oh no." This would be a 'fic that resolves absolutely nothing because he just vibrates slightly as sweatdrops roll down his face and he's scared to open his mouth, but I would find it funny.

They are just so silly (to me)...

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 11

oh my god

i had already guessed that Alec was lying (much like Jake did), but this was a really nice explanatory touch! Alec and Riya's friendship is, as usual, one of the season highlights for me.

would've been a lot more interesting if the campers could have chosen their own partners in one way or another, imo, but that would definitely eat up a lot of time in an already packed episode. plus, some pairings (like Connor and Riya) probably couldn't have happened this way, given how Riya wound up reacting to Connor.

"alright Fiore, here's how we prevent you from going home this week," one could say.

i was SO worried that Alec was going to have another confessional at some point being like "lol i was testing my acting skills on Fiore too" but he DIDN'T. which means this is CANON. THE ADOPTION IS BACK ON!!!!!!!!

okay, i actually love the decision to pair Hunter and Grett together here. both of them are the "very flawed but kinda mistreated partner of their appearances-obsessed date," so it makes sense that Hunter could give Grett a good perspective on this. also, is it just me, or did they rework Hunter's personality in this episode to be more like S2? i liked it.

i'm going to put every Fiore and Alec moment in this post and you can't stop me. i am initially thinking about them.

"joke's on you fucker i didn't teach her literally any of this. she's just built different."

as much as i enjoy Alec appreciating his daughter's sass, this does seem like a pretty radical heel turn from "i only voted Connor out of this game because it was what was best for him." i guess maybe spending time with Riya and the other villains has caused Alec to fall further off the deep end/forget about Connor's genuinely nice qualities...? or it's inconsistency between different writers, who knows.

i am 0% a jul(?) shipper, but, damn, the jul shippers were eating well this episode.

Yul is such an interesting little guy.

James flexing his character arc, we love to see it.

WHAT IS IT WITH THE CYAN WOMEN AND SECRETLY BEING JACKED????

society..... it's becoming more utopian........

see, this is why i didn't think Tess would be the one to return to the game.

Aiden is such a hater, i love him. but, overall, i agree with Lake. we're definitely sowing the seeds for a Jake redemption(/winner?) arc and a heroes' reunion.

Riya, finally finishing what she started in S2 of making the gays fall off cliffs.

villains are so fun. i love villains.

THE SOFT DAD SMILE IS BACK :D

ooh, nice callback.

this is an objectively funny screenshot. why does Alec yell like that

what a surprising outcome! (/s /lh)

:,) <3

i wish Aiden and James had more of an opportunity to talk during this episode :/ it's fine, though-- i think that James and Lake's characters were used more effectively this way.

they're getting back together after this trust me guys i'm disventure camp

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY

they truly are family now. i love it.

"not that bad" is a weird way to describe your would-be crush.

this will be a fun scene! idk which episode "Saturday" will be, though. both because idk how many days will pass in any given episode and also bc i don't recall which day today is in canon.

i do wonder what evil Gabby is doing here. i guess maybe it'll just be the side of Gabby that wants to run with the villains alliance for power vs the side that wants to follow Ellie's advice? that seems kind of weird. maybe it'll be more like the side that wants to go mad with power on the revenge quest vs Gabby's more rational and strategic side? either way, strange cliffhanger.

can't we just have everyone here... always... all the time...? no? okay :( well, it was still really nice to get the whole gang back together for this episode. i'll look forward to seeing them again in the finale.

and, hey, Connor's back in the game now! and he can't be eliminated next episode, at least. are there going to be three players with immunity...? that could get spicy. we'll see how the heroes and villains smack down when the next real elimination rolls around. back up to ten to nine again... see you next time!

[logicheartsoul]

This meta has been a few years coming, but recently inspired due to: 1) Sian (@siancore) mentioning and incorporating into her amazing fic End of the World the moment that this meta is about, and 2) talking to Mexi (@thatmexisaurusrex) about this and then when she made that "share your fave sambucky moments that are canon" post, I knew this needed to finally been written and have its own proper post.

(Also, to @elektraking who wanted to be pinged when I finally wrote this, I finally did it!)

This post is long and image heavy but I didn't want to put it all under a read more.

We all know this scene from Infinity War, it's been all over people's dashes and giffed and etc etc. We also know it's a pretty quick scene, not necessarily a blink and you miss it one, but because it moves pretty quickly. If you're not paying too much attention to everyone else in the background, things will slip by.

However, watching things in 4K can really make things interesting because 1) you can zoom in and 2) you can zoom in and see some pretty clear detail, like the fact Sam and Bucky are looking at each other during this entire scene.

You can see here that everyone present except Sam isn't really watching Steve and Bucky interact -- either they're blocked from of the camera (Rhodey, Ayo, Bruce) or they're not looking at them (Nat has her eyes closed, T'Challa is looking at the side).

Sam is clearly in Bucky's line of sight, even if Bucky is looking at Steve (because we know Steve is moving closer to him and is about to talk to him)

On zoom in, we can see Sam is not zoned out, this is a very focused look at what is happening in front of him.

The next moment is where Steve goes in for the hug, but during this hug, a couple of things happen: 1) Sam moves closer towards them a bit, 2) he and Bucky actually DO stare at each other over Steve's shoulder

And for more than a few moments. Sort of significant if you think about the fact that Sam and Bucky seem to communicate a lot with nonverbal looks between each other. (We see this a few times in Civil War, and then later in this movie, but that will be even more apparent as fact in Endgame and, of course, TFATWS.)

And perhaps this could be passed off as "looking at each other coz we're looking in the same direction" except for the fact that Bucky makes a deliberate look at Sam when we get the pan over to his face.

When Steve backs away from the hug, we see Sam is still looking at Bucky, so we can assume during the entire exchange when the camera goes towards Bucky, Sam is still doing that.

Which leads us to when the camera pans over to Bucky.

(Yeah, yeah the cropping on this is kinda weird for me, but I wanted to make sure you could see his face.)

Steve proceeds to ask Bucky how he's doing. And of course, Bucky gives some kind of cutesy quip that fills space and time before going to the next big plot thing.

It's very interesting that Bucky pauses right after saying "uh, not bad", but as indicated by the arrow I put in the gif, he's staring in the exact direction where Sam would be. Because if you notice in the screenshots before this moment, above, when Bucky and Steve break away from the hug, Sam is in Bucky's line of sight but somewhat to the side, the same direction as the glance in the gif.

Now, as we know, the others are barely watching Steve and Bucky's interaction except Sam, who's still watching with focused attention.

If you were standing where Sam is standing, watching all of this, hearing Steve asking Bucky, "how's it going" and he responds "uh, not bad," and pauses WHILE looking at a glance in your direction, most people would consider that a moment.

And why wouldn't it be a moment? No one else is paying attention to Bucky or Steve except Sam. Bucky and Sam have before this comment were looking at each other when Steve brings in Bucky to a hug. Hell, Bucky could have just said "for the end of the world" without looking sideways and the scene would've worked as intended.

Yet, he gives that glance, and has a smile as he says, "not bad". While looking at Sam. It's so quick, yet it says so much. And considering how we know it's canon for them to be able to speak volumes by just sharing glances at each other (hello Sam looking at Bucky during Endgame), why wouldn't that apply here too? Because the glance wasn't really needed if you think about it.

And of course, Bucky deflects with his "for the end of the world" coz 1) he doesn't want Steve to try to make more small talk and 2) world ending shit is happening, they do NOT have time to stand around, they need to coordinate and they're on a time table. Because we all know Steve, he would want to know the reason why Bucky is actually smiling probably one of the first genuine smiles he's given on screen since TWS.

Anyway, we all know the rest: the plot moves forward, Sam and Bucky end up standing close to each other to witness Thanos' forces trying to get through Wakanda's shields, and then they end up being blipped.

Still, while a short, quick moment, on closer inspection, a lot can be said. Another in a line of Sam and Bucky's "saying things with a look" moments, but an underappreciated one.

[eisforeidolon]

Hellers are twisting Jensen's words around because they don't like what he said,

"He doesn't think Cas's confession is something that needs to be solved. Cas said what he needed to say. It was a long time coming, it was heartfelt and beautiful. But there's nothing to solve. Dean took it in and then lost one of his closest allie and friend. The acceptance of that happened when Dean sat on the floor. He lost one of his brothers in arms and one of his closest people. When they come back, it just understood."

First, a sampling of posts with screenshots and links of some of the creative reinterpretations they're already self-soothing with, for context: [X][X][X]

It's bad enough now, because we already knew they were obsessed with cherry-picking things completely out of context and twisting themselves in knots to insist D/C, a totally real most epic romance ever was obviously happening off-screen the whole time. Because that's totally how storytelling works!🙄 So why wouldn't they insist Jensen saying Castiel's dying blather doesn't need a resolution means Dean already turned into the YA romance protagonist from their fanfic realized he was totes in lurve with the angel and reciprocated offscreen! See, no resolution needed! The thing is, though, I believe Purcon is one that has a stricter video policy so I expect this to end up even more broken-telephoned in a couple of months when there's no video to dispute whatever they're making up by that point, which I expect to be pretty wild.

What Jensen reportedly said fits exactly into what Castiel actually said in Misha & Beren's tapdancing on the line of legit queerbaiting the audience Castiel's goodbye speech. The whole climactic reason the Empty could come take the angel away was because he realized that just ~*feeling feelings*~, without having anything come of it, was enough. Regardless of whether you interpret those feelings as romantic love or the kind of all-encompassing self-sacrificing love the Winchesters have, feeling that way about somebody is happiness in itself (even if they don't feel that way about you). So yeah, whatever kind of love you read that to mean? There's nothing to inherently resolve there. Castiel put his feelings out in the universe, and Dean listened and moved on with his life. The thing that was "a long time coming" was Castiel's resolving his struggles as an angel living among humans trying to understand emotions and friendship. It's "clear text" that Castiel said I love you (whatever kind of love you interpret that to be).

Hellers are the only ones who desperately need there to have to be a resolution to that scene, because the only interpretation in which a followup would be necessary? Would be if Castiel's speech was romantic AND Dean also had romantic feelings. They can pretend they suddenly don't understand what a resolution is or that one magically (like the entire rest of their supposedly canon ship) happened off-screen so it'll be already happening in the revival as much as they want. It doesn't change what the scene actually was or what Jensen actually said, any more than the rest of their waffle ever has. They're just happily lying to themselves and each other all over again, setting themselves back up for more eternal disappointment. It's like a Peanuts comic strip, except they are both Charlie and Lucy with the show and creators as the football.

They want to crow about Jensen not explicitly saying the scene wasn't about romantic love somehow being him changing his mind (again), but that's absurd. He knows some people interpret Castiel's feelings as romantic and are very invested in the angel being a queer character. Putting aside whether what's in the text deserves that, going out of his way to tell them they're wrong about someone else's character? Would be a really bad look given the sensitivity of the topic. And he doesn't need to do it anyway, because whatever Castiel's ~*feelings*~ are, it says nothing about what Dean does or doesn't feel. Which he directly says is that Dean lost "one of his closest allies" "one of his best friends" "a brother in arms" "one of the closest people to him". It's pretty clear - if you don't tie yourself in knots pretending he's sending you secret signals about what he REALLY means if you only listen to half the words he said.

[black-flag-if]

What kind of story is it?

A motorsports IF. You're a formula driver. It's romance-focused and deals with drama and angst while going after what's really important to you.

Can I romance more than one RO?

Absolutely. Be as messy as you want or as loyal as you want. There will be a choice to lock in who you want to pursue, but for the start, it's up to you what you do.

Will there be consequences?

Yes! Some ROs will deal with it better than others.

If I choose to be friends with the ROs, can I get on their romance route later?

As of now, no. It would be nice to explore, but it's not a priority yet unless I see a good opening for it in the story.

Is there an enemy to lovers route?

I was thinking of doing one for Ryder's route but I haven't decided yet. It fits the character the best, but it's a WIP and I will just have to see how it presents itself later on. So maybe? Not sure yet. If there's a good opening, I would like to add it but it'll just depend on how much I have on my plate.

Is Lane canon?

I don't think any of the LIs are canon. This story works just fine with trying to improve MC and focus on themselves and their career. Take out all the ROs and it's still simply about MC finding their place. It is a romance story though so if you're simply here for the plot and don't want to deal with romance, it might not be as fun but do with your time what you will. I try not to push any of the ROs onto the player, so I hope Lane doesn't feel canon. The story makes sense with any branch. Lane comes up a lot, yes, but they're a big part of MC's past. You should not have any scenes with Lane nor should your MC think good of them unless you choose such options. If you simply want to be friends - they're friendly interactions. If you don't want anything to do with Lane, they should hardly make an appearance in the story except when needed and it won't be anything romantic. So, if you feel like you have too much of Lane, then maybe reconsider your choices. The most important one is if you say you still have feelings. That's telling the game you want to explore that part more so it'll offer romantic choices and a way to reconcile but you will still get a chance to choose what to do with it all.

Will there be jealousy/break-ups?

I get this one a lot. Not sure if that's a good thing or something you all want or are just afraid to explore, but yes, this game has all of that. It'll depend on the RO because not everyone is jealous, but expect some angst, arguments, breakups, etc.

Why is there no back or save button?

I am working on a save button for future update. Back button will still not be implemented simply because it will be a coding issue for this game.

There's a bigger chance for errors if I let you go back to fix something because some codes use a variable that tracks choices. An example is I sometimes use "history macro" and if you visit the passage more than once, the code won't work so you'll end up with missing information and it will fail to properly connect you to other passages.

When are updates?

I don't have a schedule. It's a WIP, it's a side project, so whenever I have time or energy to write, I do, and update at the end of every chapter.

Why am I not answering you?

I don't purposely avoid comments unless the messages are rude. If I don't answer, but you want an answer, please try again. I could have simply missed it. Send in with a username instead of anon so I can actually get back to you. If I have something to say or add to your comment, I usually do unless it's repetitive. If it's already answered in FAQ's, it's also another reason I might not answer from now on.

Find spelling, errors, or mistakes in general?

I appreciate people letting me know and yes, send them in, but PLEASE let me know WHERE. The sentence or screenshot will work fine just so I know where to look. If you just say there are mistakes, I have no idea where to look and will most likely stay that way until it comes up again. If you want a reply but not make it public, please give a note stating so and I won't post it publicly. Instead, I can just reply to you personally if you don't write as an anon. Thank you to everyone that sends the mistakes in, especially to some anons that take their time to write out every sentence where they saw a spelling mistake. I appreciate it and you make things loads easier.

[inkblackorchid]

I was gonna try to keep my mouth shut, but I can't. I just can't. I have to go on another Aki rant because I feel like I'm going to explode. It's about this scene:

This drives me insane and I'm putting this under a readmore. Expect incoherent screaming, all ye who enter here.

Ok. Ok. I have so many issues with this scene. Specifically, with the way it develops later, when Aki's busy trying to figure out how to save a child from being swept up by a storm:

And I just. Look, I think the fact that I already wrote a fic that basically completely turns Aki's reaction here on its head should basically tell you everything. But! But. Allow me to defend why I think this whole scene is one big heap of horseshit, with a bit of analysis of canon and actual evidence to back up my claims and shit.

The thing is, I have seen people give this scene a charitable read. I've seen people be happy for Aki to enjoy freedom from the psychic powers that have given her so much trouble in her life. And the thing is, if this were season one or season two Aki, I would be completely on board with that take. Unfortunately, this scene is preceded by the pre-WRGP arc. But more on that below.

Moreover, I can make an educated guess about what they were going for here (in terms of messaging, because this is a kids' show at the end of the day and messaging is something you have to be properly concerned with when it comes to these). I can imagine it running somewhere along the lines of "you don't need special powers to be a hero". Or even "you can grow past the hurt and/or the mistakes in your life and still become a good person or even a hero". And really, I wish I could believe that take. It's just. The writing simply doesn't add up. I wish it did, but it doesn't.

This is where we get back to the pre-WRGP arc. And not just that, actually, but the timeskip between the dark signers and pre-WRGP arc, too. Because the thing is, the last time we have seen Aki in anguish about her powers on-screen by the time the episodes above (108-109) arrive was during the DS arc, during the duel with her father, which happened during episodes 40-41. 40. to. 41. This was over sixty episodes ago at this point. And after that, that's it. As far as the DS arc is concerned, Aki's conflict about her powers is resolved the second she controls them for the first time when her father tries to interfere in her second duel against Yusei.

(Yeah, remember this moment? That was literally the last time we saw Aki in conflict with her powers.)

And I know some people would argue "but what about the dark signer duel with Misty?". And yes, I get it. Misty does accuse her of having murdered her brother with her powers and Aki gets incredibly (understandably) upset about it. But the thing is, we know that's fake, and during the duel, Aki knows that, too. She goes as far as insisting that there were no casualties at the duel where Misty thinks Toby died.

(Yes, I have screenshot proof for literally every dumb little thing in this show, why do you ask?)

It's only after Misty keeps pushing and backing her into a corner during their duel (and literally gaslighting her) that she begins to believe Misty's version of the events. Which is why this doesn't "count" as Aki being in conflict with her powers the way her second duel with Yusei does. At least not to me, feel free to debate me over this if you wanna.

Okay, but what am I driving at here? Fair question. Let me hop back to after the dark signers' defeat.

So, we know there's a half-year timeskip between the DS and the pre-WRGP arc (which was allegedly enough for NDC to connect the city and Satellite, deal with all the social issues that entailed, and also build a giant duel network, which I will never believe but I digress). Unfortunately, what exactly our main characters did during that timeskip is never addressed, it's just kind of there to segway immediately into the WRGP setup. So the only thing we can do is guess at what they got up to based on where they are as people by the time we get back to them during the start of the pre-WRGP arc. So where's Aki at when we see her again after the dark signers' defeat then?

Oh, she's attending duel academy again now! That's nice. So that probably means the student body isn't scared shitless of her anymore and she's not being ostracised anymore.

Wow, she's an exceptional student! That means she must be a really good duellist. So she got the hang of her powers, then?

...Ah.

Do you start to see my problem? Past the DS arc, we are not being given any indication that Aki is still struggling with her powers or still resents them or herself like she used to. You could be forgiven for thinking that she's healed in the meantime. She's fine. She has accepted herself and can now use her powers safely. Which makes her later claiming "she no longer needs that cursed power" a bit... hmmm. And another thing. The fact that she refers to it as "cursed" rubs me the wrong way. After the defeat of the dark signers, she literally never does that even a single time before the moment in the hospital during the storm. (I'd post all the screenshots to prove it here but for one, tumblr doesn't allow it, and for two, I hope you'll believe I did my due diligence without it.)

And it just irks me. If the powers are still a "curse" to Aki by episodes 108-109, why give us the moment above?

And why give us this moment, where she saves Sherry, Yusei, and herself with those powers?

And why give us this moment, where she literally uses her powers at a public event to protect people, and is evidently not cussed out as a witch for it? Neither of these moments do anything to indicate that Aki still hates her powers. They don't indicate that she sees them as a "beast of burden" or necessary evil of a sort, either. On the contrary, I don't think it would be too out there to claim all these moments make her look rather badass. Like a small celebration of "hey, now she can finally use these powers for cool and not evil things!".

Yet, somehow, we still end up with episodes 108-109, where the writers expect the audience to buy that Aki was secretly still hoping she might eventually be rid of these powers after all. And maybe this would be easier to swallow if there weren't also the fact that they later literally go back on it to add to this confusing mess. Because the thing is, we all know the finale scene after the three-way duel with Sherry where Aki protects them with her powers (which have suddenly reappeared, aha!) again and also finds out she can use these powers to heal. So not only is the framing of Aki suddenly being glad to have lost her powers extremely weird, it's also temporary anyway!

So my question is. What was the point. What was the point of all this if the writers ended up going back on it anyway? Because I want to believe there's a reasonable, charitable explanation that also makes sense with what they show us in terms of Aki's characterisation past the DS arc, but if there is, I cannot for the life of me find it. If anything, this whole thing feels like it completely contradicts itself.

First, they tie up Aki's conflict with her powers with a neat bow after she manages not to hurt her father anymore. Then, they launch into the pre-WRGP arc and blatantly tell us that she can now control them. No questions asked. Indisputable fact, and we get nothing that contradicts that, either. Then, we get a bunch of setup showing her using her powers, too, and what's more, we get other significant players in the cast taking notice of it, too, as though it might become relevant. Because Sherry isn't the only one who gets curious about Aki's powers.

(I will never understand how Placido's hood works together with his horn-thingies and have stopped trying at this point.)

The literal, central antagonists of season 3-4 also take notice of it. Like that means something. Like it'll come up again later. But, well. We know it doesn't.

Instead, she suddenly loses her powers out of nowhere (and we are never given a reason for it, either, which does nothing to make this writing decision seem anymore understandable). And, look. The thing that upsets me most about this isn't even the fact that it feels a little inconsistent with Aki's character post DS arc. If that were the only problem, I could still suspend my disbelief far enough to go along with the idea that she secretly still hated her powers quietly in the background and wanted them gone anyway. What really pisses me off is that it reeks of zero setup and knee-jerk decisions in the writing room ten miles against the wind. If they wanted us to believe Aki's glad to be rid of her powers, why give absolutely no indication that she's at odds with them past episode 41 anymore? Why let her state outright that she can now control them? Why show her on several occasions using them to her own and other people's benefit, the way a hero would? And if her powers are supposed to vanish and it's supposed to make sense, why is there no reason for it? They already used cyborg timetravel at that point, they could have literally come up with any nonsense related to that and it would have probably made at least more sense than just letting her powers vanish for no reason at all. Also, if the message behind all this is supposed to be either of the things I mentioned way above—if the idea the audience is supposed to be getting is either "you don't need special powers to be a hero" or "your past and/or your mistakes don't define you and you can heal and grow past them"—why reintroduce the powers, which, in this reading, would be a symbol of Aki's pain, of her mistakes and her dreaded past, at the very end, during the finale, then? It just doesn't add up, and it frustrates me to no end.

The writers wanted to make the moment Aki realises she can help people (well, one person, a child) without her powers seem triumphant so bad, but every time I watch it, it just completely falls flat for me. This isn't a triumph, this is a hot mess of bad writing decisions. All I'm saying is, if they wanted me to buy that Aki would be happy about losing her powers here, they were missing a hefty amount of setup and also shouldn't actually have given them back to her during the finale (no, not even as healing powers).

Moreover... I'll freely admit I also have a personal problem with this scene. I've seen this show and these episodes several times by now, and during my last rewatch and my current one, something about this scene has been creeping up on me, and I think I've figured out what that is now. So I talked about the possible message behind this scene already, and the reading I've given so far was fairly forgiving. But the thing is, there is another reading that has occurred to me that I can't unsee anymore. As much as you could make a valid case that this scene is trying to say that people don't need to be special to be heroes and save others, that past mistakes don't define us, and yadda yadda, there's also a much, much less pleasant way to interpret this scene: "You're better off if you don't stand out." And I'll freely admit, this interpretation probably occurs to me specifically because I was considered a "weird kid" at school, singled out by bullies, and avoided by "popular" kids (take a wild guess why I relate to Aki so much!). And over the years, you learn to downplay that "weirdness" because you become desperate to be accepted by someone, anyone. And given everything the show gives us about Aki's relationship with her powers, it'd make sense that this idea would be buried somewhere in her head, too. It's better not to stand out. Don't be weird. Sand down your edges so there's no chance people could get upset about them. You're better off being whatever everyone else considers "normal" than being whoever you are. It doesn't matter if this is a part of who you are, just become someone else. Someone who's easier to accept. Who's easier to love. You don't need your "weirdness".

You don't need this cursed power.

You know, the "cursed power" that Aki had from the beginning of the show, that was a part of her for years, and that the show didn't give any indication could vanish. The power that we were led to believe would just be there forever, because it was simply a part of Aki, not a conscious thing she (or the narrative) could choose. The power that we were, for all intents and purposes, led to believe she had mastered and maybe even accepted along the way. But sure, let's get rid of that. It's better if she's """normal""". And more convenient for the writers, too! After all, if she doesn't have powers anymore, they can't cause plotholes (of which the WRGP already has enough) and can't possibly give Aki any more badass moments, which makes it that much easier to sideline her. And let's package this weird, shittily set-up moment in a message about how she's better off without her powers anyway. She's happy! It makes complete sense that she's happy. She's finally normal like everyone else. Ignore the way people who might relate to the character could possibly interpret this moment differently. And ignore how none of the writing surrounding this moment makes sense.

...Sigh.

Okay, I think I've let off enough steam. I just. Yeah. I'm sorry, but I cannot for the life of me view this scene in a favourable way and watching it today made me want to chew glass tbh. My only solace is that they went back on this trainwreck writing decision in the finale. Which, really, just makes this whole mess really, really pointless, doesn't it?

For anyone who stuck around this long, thanks for reading. Sorry if this got extra-rant-y. Idk man, I just think “it’s worth the effort to accept yourself as you are, even with all the bits you might not like at first” would have been a better message than whatever this turned out to be.

[lixenn]

KHR reread

Chapter one

Doing the comment thing on canon because I wanna share my thoughts and you people can join my journey this way (also again I'm boooooored).

Tsuna, sweetie, babydoll... You're like what? 13 at the start of this story. You're in no way, shape or form an adult. You're a baby. If we want to be specific at this point in canon you're even a crybaby, so stop kidding yourself and taste the bullet it's for your own good.

---

HE SNORTED THE FUCKING BULLET OUT OF HIS HEAD???? WTF???!! IS THAT MANGA EXCLUSIVE I DON'T REMEMBER THAT FROM THE ANIME!!!

---

REBORN WEARS A FUCKING DIAPER????!!!

I'm learning all sorts of new stuff today... I don't know how to feel about that...

(btw sorry for the shitty picture quality, I'm literally just making screenshots of the manga panels)

---

Is Kyoko trying to kick Mochida's ass for naming her a prize to be won? ... Is that what this is? Probably not, but in my heart her friends are holding her back from laying into this sexist prick, because I'm a sucker for badass Kyoko.

Chapter 2

A Wild Gokudera appeared!!

---

Once again, I do not remember that the Dying Will bullet can be effective in other body parts as well. I mean, I do remember the Volleyball scene but I thought it was just a different kind of bullet, because Goldfishbrain.

Chapter 3

Holy shit, Gokudera before he gets whammied by Tsuna's kindness is... certainly something. (Someone get an iron we need to straigthen the frown his face before he gets winkles in his teens.)

---

...

Th-that's a lot of cigarettes you got there, hun. How about you reduce that a bit yes? Do it for your poor lungs and your wallet.

---

Showing your sub there Gokudera.

---

Okay so please correct me if I'm wrong, but where the cigerattes censored in the Anime? Not just the massive amount from the picture above but Gokudera smoking in general. Because I don't really remember him doing it in the Anime (again this might just be my goldfishbrain talking). Anyways, what I'm saying is that as long it's a reasonable amount of cigs (meaning 1 fucking cigarette Gokudera, please stop ruining your lungs for fucks sake!!) he actually looks pretty damn cool, with the smoke and all.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digi Dynamic Shipping Game

Send me two names among the following 12 and I’ll write a short analysis post about them:

Taichi Yagami | Yamato Ishida | Sora Takenouchi | Koushirou Izumi | Mimi Tachikawa | Jyou Kidou | Takeru Takaishi | Hikari Yagami | Daisuke Motomiya | Miyako Inoue | Iori Hida | Ken Ichijouji

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

Look, I've made the poll about these ship analysis posts in February 2024. And even though I had already seen The Beginning at this point, I am still entirely grateful that I took that long to get to this analysis, because I wouldn't have been able to take a screenshot like this. This is the first time that, through the course of me writing Digimon relationship meta, we got a significant boost towards a ship from official sources - and, dare I say it, they actually did a good job this time in my opinion?

But let's start at the beginning, shall we: Through the course of 02, Miyako's stance towards Ken changes drastically. At first, we see her gushing and swooning about him being that "smart and attractive" boy that is all over the media, as she is very prone to crushing on various people at the time. Then, upon finding out that Ken is the Digimon Kaiser, her view obviously changes to 180° - she curses him, gets, understandably, very heated up about the whole issue... And even when he tries to redeem himself after everything he has done, she is among those who struggle to accept him the most. She is torn, overthinks the whole situation a lot - but after seeing his actions and through the course of getting more chances to interact with him (and Hikari too), she grows more understanding, accepting. She still struggles to interact, awkwardly trying to engage in conversation, even though she may not feel very capable to do so - but as mentioned, she is actually trying and starts to discover more and more of his good sides.

Ken on the other hand, prior to his redemption arc, didn't really notice Miyako before - and only starts doing so while trying to repent for all his sins. He is often seen taken aback by her brash, loud attitude, unable to really respond to her, but, just like with the rest of the group, he is relieved to see her slowly but steadily accepting him.

As I haven't consistently watched 02 back to back for a while, I may have forgotten one or two scenes between them, but the overall verdict here AND up until Kizuna's events is: They are on good, friendly terms. We always knew more about Miyako's stance towards Ken than about Ken's stance towards Miyako - and yet, a good chunk of people, me included, still found themselves BAFFLED when 02's epilogue told us that these two eventually got married with three kids.

While it didn't feel completely out of place - we did know about Miyako's rollercoaster of feelings and her tendency to crush on people, including Ken, so there was some kind of subtext after all -, for the longest time, it didn't feel like the most plausible outcome after all this time. (Especially because one may argue that 02 used to push different relationships much harder, especially in regards to Ken's focus on Daisuke and Miyako's focus on Hikari. However, you gotta take that with a huge grain of salt, because Jogress compatibility was never meant to be equal to romantic compatibility.)

Digimon always had its fair share of problems with canon romantic relationship portrayal. There are certain ship teases and crushes that never went anywhere, there are official (or semi-official) relationships that didn't appear plausible... And then they decided to do something about Ken and Miyako.

In November 2023, The Beginning aired - and I don't exaggerate when I say that people who did ship Kenyako/Miyaken before absolutely rejoiced. And for absolutely valid reasons! Unlike before, the creators managed to capture the spirit of how 02 handled these two before - and it actually portrayed them in a believable way after all these years, while leaving them and the audience enough room to breathe. As pointed out in the post above (and in this one here), it wasn't exactly subtle, but it was still tastefully done without exactly hitting you on the head. What's the set-up, you may ask?

Through the course of the movie, Miyako is focused on Ken; to get his attention, to respond to what he is saying, to encourage him when he falters - and to actively flirt with him by the end of it. The girl who had such a hard time sorting out her feelings for this guy when they were still children/young teenagers seems to have come to terms with what she wants as an adult - and tries to pursue him now. In the meantime, she still acknowledges that Daisuke is playing a huge part in Ken's life, she even teases them a little about it... And it's all good-hearted, gentle and fun. Ken on the other hand, still seems to be a little oblivious and taken aback - but not exactly opposed to the attention. So the main takeaway here is: We're getting actual justification. We see them slowly but steadily working towards a potentially romantic relationship as they're already adults - and it's beautifully done, hands down.

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

Whether I think they'd work is still an entirely different story. Granted, we saw the course of the series now portraying Miyako as more of a career-oriented person, actively studying abroad and learning about other cultures - so we can be assured she won't JUST end up as a stay-home mom as depicted 24 years ago... And I think that is important because Miyako IS a person who, similarly to Mimi, cannot stay still, she needs to have goals to pursue. We also see that she IS into romance and her trying to get closer to Ken is, as mentioned, wonderfully depicted, because it absolutely fits her outgoing personality... However, it's still difficult to estimate how Ken plays into all this, because, on his behalf, we can only really guess how he feels.

To go into speculation mode again: Miyako and Daisuke actually have a lot of things in common, they're both loud and opinionated, they'll tell you when they don't like something, they're passionate about the things and people they like and may suffer from more or less elaborated inferiority complexes at times - and without trying to undermine Miyako's impact on Ken, you can absolutely see that Ken would have a point in actually liking Miyako back BECAUSE of Daisuke. Because without a doubt, Daisuke, as mentioned, must have had such a great impact on the person Ken grew into and chose to present himself as an adult... Long story short, Ken would not be Ken without Daisuke. And since Daisuke and Miyako have so much in common - you can see Ken has a type. He needs someone who pulls him out of his head, stopping him from overthinking too much. Miyako may be prone to overthinking too, whereas Daisuke just goes straight for what his heart tells him - but The Beginning!Miyako has learned to channel the overwhelmingly loud thoughts in her head. And that is something Ken is obviously VERY impressed and encouraged by. Probably even attracted to.

Again, I still believe the movie brilliantly depicted that dynamic between not only Ken and Miyako but also the role Daisuke plays for both of them, so... Yes, a part of me still thinks they would do brilliantly in a polyamorous relationship and I will stick to that - because these dorks need each other and play off of each other beautifully.

Either way, with or without Daisuke, you see Miyako and Ken being not only soft and supportive, but also both very career-driven as young adults. We have yet to see if Koushirou they manage to find a way to make gate-hopping work again, but I can see them trying to figure their relationship out through the course of the next years, finishing their studies, going on exploration dates, teaching each other languages and talk about coding and psychology and what-not... Ken will still be tied to very tight working schedules and there will most likely be arguments about prioritization - but that's also what Daisuke is there for to mediate between them. Hehe. And through all that, Miyako may eventually want to juggle the whole "career-woman with children" thing if they work out. I can see that for them, they just have to work on their prioritization - as mentioned!

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

Personally, I still believe Ken and Miyako should have been very clearly depicted as bisexual, both of them - but I am already glad that we got Daisuke acknowledged so heavily, that is more than I could have hoped for! I must admit that I have never been the biggest fan of Kenyako/Miyaken, simply because a.) I always wanted Daiken to be the first canonically confirmed mlm relationship in Digimon and b.) it always kinda felt a little one-sided on Miyako's behalf to me - but The Beginning really made me like their dynamic and the potential behind them there, so I can appreciate it a lot more by now. Again, my most preferred outcome would be an open poly-relationship with Daisuke, but I can absolutely appreciate the course this ship has taken at this point.

[oh-shtars]

Reach for the Stars! AU QnA:

(Part 2)

Part 1

May I give a reward to @wings-of-sapphire for completely being the cause of Part 2?

LMAO, thanks so much Sapphire! You’re the best ✨🥰

Onto the questions!!

1.) Are there any other ships you’re going to add? (Other than the given Ashueño and royal couple?)

Ashueño and the royal couple (Magnaya? Amnifico? Idk) are definitely there.

Other ships? Well, there is one but you’re going to have to wait and see to find out.

If you’re thinking Halzeema, no not really. Sorry guys 😅

They’re close friends and really fond of each other, but I’d like to put some QPR representation in the back too. As an ace person, I feel like these kinds of relationships need more recognition. :))

…….

2.) Are you adding any new characters in the story? Like for example, I’m adding Evangeline.

Not really?? I guess there would be some random citizens and maybe some mentions of the 7 teens parents, but they don’t really play a major part.

The already existing characters do play very different roles than they did in the canon movie. (For example, Sabino not being Asha’s paternal grandfather and is instead a close friend of Tomás during his time working in the castle.)

But other than that, there’s really nothing new that I know of.

………..

3.) If you could use one word to describe each of the characters of RFTS, what would they be?

Asha = Compassionate

Sueño = Fun-loving

Magnifico = Vengeful

Amaya = Ambitious

Valentino = Bold. Sometimes too bold for his own good.

……..

4.) How long do you predict your story to be? Have you plotted it all out yet or are you more of a “see where it takes you” writer?

Hmmmm, I don’t actually know. Looking at my outline, it looks like it’s going to be quite a long story. Maybe even novel-length. Plus, all the unplanned in-between scenes would add more to it.

Though, I doubt you’ll get bored reading it. I think-

Hopefully not. 😓

When writing, I prefer to really outline my planning because I would HATE to write myself in a corner and not know what happens next. Imagine restarting and rewriting your work T_T.

With a defined plan, I’d be confident enough to just write because I have a guide to follow right next to me :D

But dammit, the middle of the story and what happens in there is killing me.

I DON’T KNOW. AHHHHH HELP-

……..

5.) Is there a certain scene you’re super excited to write? What about one you’re dreading?

There is like one scene where Sueño really loses his sht and me, as the lovely author~, get to have the fun and satisfaction of knocking Mag’s pride down.

Muahahahaha-

I’m also pretty excited to write the “At All Costs” scene and the final battle because DAMN, something possessed me to make up pretty good ideas for them. But I’m also really looking forward to writing character dynamics and how fun it would be for them to interact with each other.

For scenes that I’m dreading to write?

The middle of everything. And.

The Middle.

Did I mention I’m stuck in the middle?

KCNEICJEOFKDKSKS THE FREAKING MIDDLE-

……

6.) How are you going to show the songs/lyrics changes to said songs?

I’ve actually already answered this same question with chillwildwave.

I’m writing them out similar to Anny’s, I guess. I’m no animator, so I can’t really show them visually. I would use gifs and my own drawings to visually show what’s going on though.

I would be either tweaking the lyrics of some of the canon songs or in some certain scenes, pretend there’s a song being sung there and just describe what’s going on.

I might also be using some already pre-existing Disney songs to set the vibe and reference what I’m going for.

Yeaaaaah, sorry I can’t write songs even if my life depends on it. 😭

………

7.) Do you have any sneak peaks you can give us?

Sneak peaks huh?

Hmmmmmmmmmm…..

Okay, maybe some screenshots of my outline and some quotes I wrote down.

Enjoy these random moments of Asha interacting with her family: ☺️

………..

8.) Do you have any voice actors chosen yet?

Actually, I’m pretty fine with the canon voice actors we have now. So they’ll just be voiced by the same people.

(Chris Pine and Ariana were good in their role, change my mind.)

Though I was thinking about this very fun thought on what Sueño might sound like if he could speak. Imagine that! :D

So far, I’ve really just headcanon Sueño’s voice similar to Adam Young, aka Owl City. I love listening to his songs and it’s funny, because I can REALLY envision Sueño singing these songs because it just…fits. ^^

“Shine Your Way” is a pretty cool duet that really fits Starsha in my opinion too. ✨✨

……..

9.) How are you exploring the world building of Rosas?

I’m not entirely sure what you mean with this question. I guess through the use of songs, dialogue and bits of flashbacks and examples of magic?

Sorry if I didn’t answer this right. 😅

………

10.) How much research do you do for your storyline?

*Remembers how I’ve spent around an hour to find a name for Sueño and how I’ve spent ages to find inspiration for the magic rules of this world and a monarch system that isn’t completely historically accurate but enough to make a bit of sense*

…..A normal amount. Why do you ask?

………

*holds hands up*

OKAY OKAY! I’M DRINKING! I’M DRINKING!! 🏃‍♂️💨

………

@annymation @gracebethartacc @emillyverse @uva124 @chillwildwave @tumblingdownthefoxden @spectator-zee @mythartist21

I’m still open to having a Part 3 if you guys are interested :))

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

I don’t believe in Canon Events, but I this theory on how they might work.

My idea is that if you jump to another universe and change stuff in that universe by your own doing! (Not helping, helping is a different case) so let me break it down even further.

Miguel went to a universe not of his own, and impersonated a dead version of himself. He wasn't supposed to change things there since it's not his home universe.

In Gwen’s universe. Gwen’s father quit the police force, so he’s not going to be a police captain. So that canon event is not going to happen.

Basically, canon events can be altered but they have to done by the Spider-Man/Spider-Woman in their original universe.

So with Miles situation, he can save his father and the universe would be fine but if someone like Peter B. saved him the universe would crash.

What do you think?

. . .

Okay, I had been staring at this question for days (make it two months now, fuck I am sorry.), unsure of how to answer, and not for the reasons you may like.

So, I kind of have two answers for this:

If this is for a story, fic/comic on your own? I think is a good idea! It works perfectly fine, and it could lead to some really interesting possibilities in the right hands.

Now, as for this being the explanation of why things are happening how are happening? ...Boy how I phrase this.

This is really, the thing that has been taking me so goddamn long to answer this question; and is honestly more my own fault than anything else, I can tell you that much.

So, here is the thing, is this plausible? Yes, it could be the case.

Here is the part that has been making me trip for 2 months: Why you believe this is the case?

Let me tell you guys something about me: I don't make long essays with screenshots and receipts because I'm some snotty asshole who thinks is smarter than everyone, is actually pretty much the opposite: I trust my own judgment so little I make long ass explanations with proof from the canon material, to show that I am not pulling things out of my ass because I would not assume anyone would believe me otherwise.

You are going in the right direction with this, you are looking at the problem, the different pieces, and trying to make sense of it. But what I am going with all of this, is to try to look into why you think this is the answer to this puzzle, instead of something else.

This reminds me to something I heard growing up, from edgy classmates who liked to be a contrarian "Who says g-d exist, instead of things happening because an invisible wizard is doing catastrophe happen across the globe in his Antarctic resident?"

As you can see this is an absurd example brought by some 11 yo kid who loved being a shit head, however it does bring up a valid point: You can't prove that wizard doesn't exist, but in exchange, he couldn't prove the wizard existed, either.

Something being plausible is not enough most of the time, even when people heard something plausible and believe it, is normally because they already had per-conceived notions that made them skew in that direction.

You asked for my opinion at the end of your post, so I am giving you my honest answer: I don't believe in Canon event, none of them, because the prime example of one going wrong has more holes than a gruyere cheese, and nothing in either movie has made me think they are real.

This is what I am asking from you: Do you think Canon Events can be true under certain circumstances? Why these circumstances, rather than them being fully nonsense, or working exactly as Miguel said they did? What was the reason you thought this works this way, and no other?

I am asking you this because there may be a logic only you can see, there may be a way to see these scenes, this story, on a way that makes your theory make more sense and be more cohesive than my arguments, I can fully think this is the case.

But you are the one with the theory, meaning you are the only one with the eyes able to see the rest of this thread. Maybe you subconsciously came up with this theory because there are parts of the movie that point on this direction.

So go for it, go down the rabbit hole and see what you find.

[dailyrimuru]

Day 18 - Oops.. (Rambling time about the Tensura game that released yesterday. If you didn't know Tensura had a new game, it wouldn't surprise me) Anyways, been playing the new Tensura game, it's good for what it is. There are many aspects of the game that are VERY similar to parts of the mobile game (not in bad ways, mind you) such as the city-building (which is slightly less customizable but since construction is instant its a bearable tradeoff), the skill upgrades (which have an actual tree this time rather than a weird circle), and the party system with 3 people going out with a supporter giving buffs and whatnot. I'm sure very few of this is original to just Tensura's games, but you can tell that they either took heavy inspiration from the elements of Isekai Memories, or Isekai Memories was a proto version of this game. Don't worry though, there are no gacha elements and no in-game purchases besides the future DLCs. At least not that I'm aware of. As for the story of the game, a lot of it follows canon but it does seem to spend more time in its own original story than Isekai Memories often did. However since I have yet to get to the Orc Lord yet (played it for 4+ hours, the added unique story is long) I don't know much of the full story. I don't even know how far into the game I am and I don't really wanna spoil myself either. While it does sometimes copy/paste screenshots from the anime like the mobile game does (c'mon guys), it does also sometimes reanimate some of the more important scenes which can actually look quite nice. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHY DID YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE OUT-OF-CUTSCENE TALKING SPRITES LOOK LIKE THAT. I WOULD'VE PREFERRED IT IF YOU JUST MADE THEM STILL IMAGES, WHY DID YOU MAKE THEIR MOUTHS MOVE LIKE ITS AN AI-LIPSYNCH?! HELL, IT MIGHT EVEN BE AI, I GENUINELY CAN'T TELL. I spam caps, but it's not that big of an issue once you learn to ignore it. It's just... why? Why did you even bother? Just make it still sprites at that point. As for the original characters, I do not care for this goblin, please stop making me fight him 5 times in a row I wanna learn about the otherworlder and build my McRimuru's. The game's unique otherworlder (or at least one of them as there seems to be two, in this case I'm talking about the girl) seems to have some interesting things going on, though it seems she's only now beginning to get her attention in the story, so I'm interested to see where it goes. The goblin, or bugbear as he technically is, is fine... I guess? His reasoning is kind of annoying... "To get revenge on the direwolves for killing goblins, I will kill everyone in this town... Which is made up of mostly goblins." Eventually it starts to make more sense as his goal becomes less getting revenge and more to just actually beat Rimuru after he gets his ass handed to him 5 times in a row (I'm not joking, you fight him like around five times with only one or two quests between each fight. To give the fights some credit, they've been some of the harder fights of the game, so I do appreciate the challenge. Just wish it was more spread out so I came to dread those infrequent but difficult fights instead of being like "Am I fighting him again? I'm fighting him again... alright, here we go."). Still though, I'm more interested in this otherworlder and this new nation they introduced than this goblin, though so far in the story the goblin has gotten most of the attention. Ofc the story is far from over, I've not finished the game yet, and from what I've seen before I got off for the night it seems the story is heading into an arc more focused on the Otherworlder and MAYBE this other nation, so I'm excited to see where they go with it.

[dragoncityinteriordesign]

I have joked before about how Guardian clearly just raided every prop and costume closet in the vicinity and hoped for the best, but I didn't actually expect to turn on the Lost Tomb (2015) and see the fraternal twin of Baby Ye Zun's terrible first mask.

(At first I thought it was the same mask, but looking at the screenshots side by side makes it clear, no, not quite. Still, you can see why it made me do a double-take.)

I mused earlier:

(I almost wonder if Baby Ye Zun’s mask wasn’t Take 1 of the Black Cloak Envoy mask, but when they put it on, the Brian de Palma vibes were just too much, so they went back to the Sculpey table.)

I'm revising that. My theory now goes like this:

There is only one Ghost King Mask. You know, that one.

The production team created it in black and silver, and except for a brief stint with matte paint, it stayed black and silver for the wide majority of the filming. Then it was time for Ye Zun to shine, so they spray-painted the whole thing gold, which is the kind of decision you can't really take back without a lot of effort. This was fine as they finished up filming in the three non-flashback places Ye Zun appears in the gold mask: the Haixing offices, that one little park, and the various Dixing soundstage sets. (The reason it's clear it didn't go the other way is that when we see it cut in half, the pieces are gold.)

And then they got to their mountain location and went, oh shit, we made this thing gold already, but we still need black masks: one for Baby Shen Wei, who can't exactly be the Black Cloak Envoy Except For That Gold Mask He Wears For Some Reason, and the other for Baby Ye Zun, who I guess has to have something on before he gets given the gold mask in a symbolic You're The Boss Now handover.

Back to the costume closet! Just grab the closest two you have on hand! So one came from the same batch the Lost Tomb used to make their questionable I am from ... history! flashbacks, and if I watched low-budget fantasy c-dramas long enough, I'd surely stumble across a version of the other one as well.

As for the why of their wearing masks at all, I'm pretty sure that the initial justification on the production end was half making Shen Wei plausibly unrecognizable to the SID crew, and half ensuring that no one could tell during the fight scenes that we don't actually have two Zhu Yilongs lying around.

But I'm still charmed by the canonical reason:

That's right, you fresh-faced angel. You're downright terrifying.