#I need to rewatch like the last 5 minutes or whatever

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Are You Sure?! - Episode 7 Observations

9.5/10 ☆

Something clicked for me in the latest AYS?! episode. After years of following these two people and getting excited for any interaction or information regarding them, it was now perhaps the first time when watching them felt like not witnessing something special. Oh, I know how this sounds, but it's not what you think and I will explain.

When I say it didn't feel special I meant that nothing felt like a novelty. You know how shocked and excited we all became when Jimin called Jungkook during a birthday wlive? Or the collective metaphorical screaming on social media every time one would get close into the other one's space in some behind the scenes clip? That reaction for me was also a result of having to see that in a larger context in which jikook were not always the main focus.

Now with AYS?! and seven episodes in, I'm used to basically everything. The evening and morning routine, the soft talking, the flirting, the playfighting, the way they eat together. The nakedness and all the tattoos on display. I've developed a tolerance to it. And episode 7 really helped in cementing that. Yeah, they're half naked in a hot spring. Of course they are. They're brushing their teeth and do their morning skincare routine together. Of course they are. Jungkook buys the snacks and Jimin is in charge of feeding him. Of course. They laugh at the same things and everything is funny when they're together. Of course they do. They're playfighting again? Why would anyone be surprised at this point?

And I love that we got here. It's everything I wanted without ever thinking that it could be possible. It is extremely satisfying and fun to watch them. It has always been, but AYS?! was an open window into their lives together in a way that it hadn't happened before.

Sapporo is a special segment for many reasons. And as much as it's fun to see them have a good time, the impending military enlistment looms like a shadow over their trip. Jungkook is the one who seems intentional in talking about it in a way that makes light of the situation, while Jimin is more on the silent side.

But all this inevitably made me think of a downside. Because how am I suppose to go back to waiting for an aknowledged look while Jimin and Jungkook would sit at opposite ends in an interview setting? Or not doing a wlive together? Getting minimal interactions because there's 5 other people there? It would feel like something is not right. Jimin and Jungkook come in a package and they do everything together. They laugh and never get bored together. Jungkook cooks for Jimin while Jimin fills the exact needed space and purpose in that kitchen. Jimin can talk about learning to snowboard with Jungkook's friends and that conversation to remain between them and no one else. They can take showers together and then act like stupid boys in some endurance contest in the freezing water and it's their own thing and theirs only.

AYS?! Sapporo is bittersweet. For Jimin and Jungkook because as much fun they have, they know that their remaining time of freedom is getting to a close. Snow is beautiful there and they are together, but in a few weeks whatever sentiment that might evoke will be in the back of their minds when their reality will be completely different. That's why making those last minute memories together was so important. And they knew that and Jungkook felt the need to say it out loud. Like a constant reminder of how special those few days were.

And it's bittersweet for me too. While there's always the option of rewatching, who knows when such an opportunity (and privilege) will arise once again? Maybe never. Maybe AYS?! will be the first and last time to be able to take a peak through that window at their life...

[piglet26]

Top Five Reylo Scenes

Before I start I do want to add why Reylo means so much to me. Recently I went through a really deep depression and part of what pulled me out of it was Reylo. I was able to write essays and do analysis about this OTP. Rewatching the films and focusing on theirs scenes helped get my mind off of some pretty deep stuff. I was also able to receive love and connection through the Reylo community. It's meant a lot to me! Also, I know that Tumblr is very supportive to anyone going through a tough time and directing people to self help lines. If you are going through a time that is really dark or challenging I Love You in Reylo.

Now my top three scenes is tough cause I love them all, but if I had to focus on an order to the game I'd say........

5 " You Need a Teacher"

“There’s a history in Star Wars of the attraction between the light and dark…”

Truth be told I'm surprised this scenes ranked as high as it did with me because I do not like that she beat him. The more I thought about it I realized why I did want to rank it. There is something raw and dirty about them here. The look of sheer amazement he gives her after that lightsaber flew to her was everything. The force theme beginning to play. Then when she lit the lightsaber and he was like "oh, you wanna duel? ok, let's duel then." The moment they found the force together with their faces beautifully lit up. It really is great.

There is nothing violent really about their fight, like I don't fear for their lives. Resembling the scene where Kylo Ren said could “take whatever he wants” and “Don’t be afraid, I feel it too” while looking at her lips. The chemistry took me by complete surprise and I shifted in my seat uncertainly watching this the first time. Surely I shouldn’t like a murderer and a villain with Rey, but I couldn’t help it. This very chemistry, though probably amounting to less than ten minutes of actual interaction between each other, leaves the audience with a hungry desire for more.

Reylo and Anidala could be mirrors of each other with Anakin falling to the Dark Side because of his selfish love for Padme and Kylo coming back to the Light because of his selfless love for Rey.

When Kylo is with Rey, he is calmer, and calculating. For Kylo, the seduction is to the Light. However, when Rey first searches out the Force with her feelings, she immediately ends up in the Dark Side, and is unafraid to take what she wants from it. In battle, she is furious, screaming and bent on destruction. As I mentioned above, Anidala and Reylo could be the Force’s attempts at balancing itself. Where Anidala was destined to fail, Reylo is destined to prevail and finally balance the Force.

4 "You'll turn........I'll help you"

“The Abduction,” the song in TFA when the “bridal carry” happens, has a very similar ascending line of notes to a recurring theme in Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet overture.

I love everything about this. The infamous elevator scene. Reylo once again dominates the screen in The Last Jedi, easily rendering Finn’s growing romance with Rose bland and tedious in comparison. Rian Johnson is a Reylo stan so I stan him. This is the first time Rey and Kylo are physically side by side since she tried to kill him in the forest on Star killer Base. It's the most sexually charged body language! They spiffed up for one another. She’s changed her clothes, put on makeup and decided to leave her hair down. His hair is freshly washed with a spritz.

“Ben” She’s using his real name now and like in every scene with her now he's calm. He hates his name, but when she says it he hears her. She's appealing to his true nature, or, what she believes it to be. It's possessive as well. He is HER Ben. The way he tried not to have a reaction to her until she said his name. He's trying to stay blank and not give away what he intends to do, but none the less has a reaction to her.

Rian Johnson basically confirmed that Kylo / Ben wanted to kiss Rey in the elevator scene. It’s canon so I am prepared to fight. Not to mention, Johnson tells us that Adam Driver, as Kylo / Ben, seriously considered kissing Rey in this scene. He is, indeed, staring at her lips in the elevator with the most intense eye contact.

Reylo speaks to me, and many others, on a spiritual level. Like many stories of both maiden and monster, Reylo shows us what it means to be a heroine. A heroine reaches her hand out to monsters and says: you deserve love and compassion, no matter the mistakes you’ve made. We're in a movement where women are tired of "fixing" men and I'm here for it. I honestly think that's why so many woman found it difficult that Reylo is not soft and sweet.

3 ........Ben?"

Adam Driver says Kylo Ren can’t help but harbor admiration for Daisy Ridley’s Rey in the Last Jedi. “I think there’s something familiar there, as well as something to be feared, or something… that he (Kylo) can’t quite place.”

Let me go ahead and say that I'm going to cheat.... I'm including the novelization in this because that mixed with novel is what gives me life. TROS brought such mixed Reylo emotions. We got great stuff! In small doses *eye roll* In the novel. She was glad to see him. Glad to be with him in this moment. It was the greatest gift she could have given him. His heart was full as Rey reached for his face, let her fingers linger against his cheek. And then, wonder of wonders, she leaned forward and kissed him.

The way Rey sits in wonder...... never mind she was borderline dead..... Ben is there, really there and she's just staring in wonder. Ben is looking at her in painful awe and relief. They are both almost child-like in their affection. The way Rey hesitates, after years alone, it takes her a moment to work up the courage for her first kiss. Ben just lets her take her time. The way he waits patiently for her to work up the courage and then the moment the kiss, he pulls her to him like she is the air he breathes for his first kiss. Oh! The smiles. Seriously?! Ben and Rey are happy! There was fireworks, champagne and pussy power! Rey’s hand. Ben gave his very life essence to Rey because his love is that absolute.

And let’s not forget the novelization of TLJ had this quote “They will never have to be alone again”.

Now this is where things get messy as hell. Adam was on the set of Tatooine..... but as they cut that ending. Daisy stated regarding the ending “the crew was shaken in a way I had not seen before. and I thought, ‘my god if this is people’s immediate reaction when the scene isn’t even ready, imagine what it will be like to see it in the movies, with the John Williams soundtrack and all that." When Ben faded into the force...... no one felt anything for a moment then there was just confusion and disappointment. You cannot nor will you ever have me believing that this janky ending was the real deal.

2 "Join Me.......... Please"

“He (Kylo) sensed his and Rey’s destinies were intertwined, but how?......"

The Throne Room Proposal! Kylo premeditated in the purest Sith way regarding the murdering of his Master for his bae. Then he gives Rey a furious speech on killing the past in a bid to win her over and fulfill his dark Queen fantasy. “You come from nothing, you’re nothing—but not to me,” Kylo tells Rey, in one of the most beautifully twisted declarations of love ever uttered in a family blockbuster, before quietly pleading with her to join him like he’s the most desperately lonely person in the universe. The duo’s visions of their future together—Rey sees Kylo turning to the Light, and Kylo witnesses Rey joining him in the Dark. However, upon Snoke’s death, the bond still stands. Kylo offers Rey a place at his side and his hand in marriage, but it is the proposal of an awkward boy, grasping desperately at a relationship he has only begun to understand.

And you can see it in her face, that she’s torn, there is a part of her that wants to take his hand, not to rule the galaxy, that’s not her ambition, but to simply stay with someone who truly understands her as well. But it’s the ‘please’ Adam Driver showed that Julliard education with that one word. Both actors just brough it. You can see how far they've come and yet still so far away from each other.

1 "You're Not Alone.......Neither are You"

“When Rey feels rejected by Luke Skywalker, who also sees parallels between the power in her and the abilities of his estranged nephew, the old Jedi master inadvertently pushes the two towards each other.”

You knew it was coming. In TLJ, Kylo is at his most sympathetic and tempting; Rey at her most understanding. Both are outcasts because of their power, they are both lonely, whispering to each other comfortingly “you’re not alone” and “neither are you.” Kylo sees more in Rey than she does within herself. He also challenges her as an equal. Ben ultimately encourages her to not only expand her mind, but in embrace her womanhood. It is no wonder that Rey goes to him. After experiencing Luke and his failings as a master and failing to find the answer's she's been looking for....... Rey ends up relating to Kylo. Kylo, for once, has put the whole of misery and life lessons into something productive.

When we find them alone in a dark hut, slowly lean towards each other, and very hesitantly touch hands in a scene fraught with romantic tension. Notably, the Force music plays during the scene, signaling their relationship’s importance. A tear crawls down Rey’s face as the two connect and understand each other on a level so deep that it is reminiscent of sex, and causes Luke Skywalker to pull the ultimate Dad move and blow up the hut.

As Rey and Kylo develop their bond we see the force attempting to balance itself. Yin and Yang....... the imagery littered throughout the sequel trilogy is drawn heavily from those belief systems. We see continuous parallel shots with Rey and Ben to represent this duality. Both are presented in contrasting surroundings that represent the duality of the masculine and the feminine. In many shots half of their figure is bathed in light and the other half is bathed in the darkness.

This connection is as spiritual as it is romantic. As Jason Fry explained, romance is merely the analog we have in the living force for this deep spiritual bond.

[constellationguy]

Another perspective

Episode five

"Text: regular talking

'Text': regular thinking

"Text": Saiki talking telepathically

'Text': Saiki thinking

Previous episode

ATTENTION! You might want to rewatch episode five of The Disastrous Life of Saiki K before reading to fully understand the events.

Summary: Episode 5 in L/N Y/N's perspective.

It is 4:00pm at PK Academy and everyone is trying to go home, Y/N was no exception. However Y/N had to do some homework in the library so they stuck around a couple extra minutes to finish it before going home.

While Y/N was in the library they heard Takahashi calling out for Saiki. ‘Why the hell is he looking for Kusuo? He’s probably already left by now to catch that show he was talking about,’ they thought. They didn’t pay it much thought though and soon left the library to go home.

Just as Y/N reached the shoe lockers they heard Kaido scream. “AAAAAAAAA”

“What’s wrong Kaido?” Teruhashi asked.

“A ghost just lifted up the locker I was hiding in! No wait, it wasn’t a ghost it was dark reunion!”

“Slow down! Nothing you’re saying is making sense,” Teruhashi said trying to understand him.

“HOLD ON ILL SAVE YOOOUUU,” Hairo screamed, running back into the building.

“What happened?! I heard a scream!”

“It’s Dark Reunion! They’ve found my hiding spot!”

“Oh… okay ya.” “Of course,” Hairo and Teruhashi said unimpressed.

“Finally heading home Saiki?” Toritsuka asked.

‘Saiki?,” Y/N thought. They were on the other side so wouldn’t be able to see him but they didn’t hear Saiki approaching earlier.

“I’ll walk with you pal!”

“You idiot!”

“AH THERE HE IS!” Teruhashi, Kaido, and Hairo said, finally seeing Saiki.

‘Oh man, I feel bad for Kusuo, but it’s not like I can do anything about it. It’d probably draw to much attention. I know he won’t be to pleased with me ignoring this but he’ll get over it right?’ Y/N thought feeling a little guilty.

“Saiki! I need to repay your favor!”

“Our teacher asked me to give these to you!”

“I have a layer now!”

“You’re not busy are you?” They asked in unison.

‘Sorry Kusuo….’ Y/N thought as they quietly left, not drawing the group’s attention.

—————————————————————————

“Listen up guys, today’s about one thing. US BEING NUMBER ONE!” “LETS DO IT!”

“CLASS THREE GO!” “YAAAA”

“Sports day, so annoying.”

“You’re just saying that cause you suck at sports.”

“SHUT UP!”

Y/N had to agree with Kaido. It’s not like they didn’t like sports or they were bad at them, sports day was just a gaggle of activities that didn’t hold much value to them. Shouldn’t “sports day” be about actual sports anyway?

“Yo Saiki, hey! You pumped?”

“I’m the opposite of pumped.” Saiki replied plainly.

“And Nendo, you’re a fit guy! I expect big things out there from you too!”

“That’s right, you’re not beating me this time.”

“We’re all on the same team,” Saiki said exasperated.

“And Kaido, my man!….. just do whatever it is you can do. I’m sure you’re gonna try really hard.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

While Hairo was talking about the other teams Y/N couldn’t be bothered to pay attention. They really didn’t think winning sports day should be that deep.

“Our first event! Boys hundred meter dash!”

‘Ooo, Kusuo’s up first! This should be fun.” Y/N thought while pushing to the front of the class to get a better look at the race.

“Saiki you got third!”

“Why is everyone so excited?”

“All the other racers are on the track a field team. And the forth place guy has a school sprint record!”

By Saiki’s expression, Y/N could tell he didn’t take that into account. “Truly remarkable,” Y/N snickered.

“Not bad buddy! But I am pretty sure I could smoke you one on one, oh that guys running.” Nendo trailed off.

“Kaido’s running?”

Y/N knew this was a bad choice but they also knew seeing Kaido get absolute last place would be funny.

In the three legged race Sawakita was running along side Teruhashi. It turned out to be more of a carry but it was still entertaining, creepy maybe, but entertaining.

“Scavenger hunt race? I wonder which of us is doing that.”

“You are.” Saiki replied annoyed.

“ITS MINE I WIN! I GOT THE PAPER!” Nendo celebrated.

“Now go find what’s on that paper.” The intercom announced.

“AAAAAA! Here, let me have this!” Nendo said after running towards class 3’s group.

“Ya sure!”

“No not the racket! This, thanks!” Nendo then took one of Saiki’s limiters off his head. Y/N didn’t notice this so the couldn’t prepare for Saiki falling down and taking them with him.

“SAIKI!” The whole class screamed.

“Nendo what did you do?!” Y/N asked Nendo as they sat up and sat Saiki’s head in their lap.

“I just took his hair clip,” Nendo replied, looking at it then set it into Y/N’s out stretched hand.

‘Damn, I haven’t done this in a while, but fuck it, we ball,’ Y/N then went for it and stuck Kusuo’s limiter back into his scull.

Shortly after putting it back, Saiki regained consciousness and shot up into a sitting position.

“Are you feeling okay? We were worried,” Kaido said crouching down to talk to Saiki.

“You fainted when Nendo took that thing out of your head so Y/N put it back.” Saiki was looking around rather shocked like he was making sure everything was okay.

“You scared me.” Y/N said while they suddenly hugged Saiki’s shoulders. They held that position for a moment before letting go and asking Saiki a question. “Are you alright? You still don’t look to good.” Y/N asked while putting the back of their had to Saiki’s forehead.

Saiki let it stay there for a second, then shakily took Y/N’s wrist to bring it away from away from his head but didn’t really give them a complete answer, staying in his thoughts for a moment before getting up.

“Woah, I almost lost my buddy.” When the intercom announced that class three came in last place Nendo wasn’t too bothered by it. “Nothing I could have done about that one guy, huh, when your best buddy passes out there are more important things than sports day. We’ll get the next one.”

“He passed out because of you!” Y/N couldn’t really tell who said that cause they were still in the ground, but they assumed it was Takahashi.

“Hey are you alright?” Hairo asked Y/N while helping them up.

“Ya, I’m not injured. No harm, no foul right?” Y/N said trying to sound half hearted but they still came off a bit shaken.

“And that’s it for our morning events, time for lunch!”

“Well pal, it’s time for food.”

“Where’d Saiki go? SAIKI? WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Y/N could hear Nendo yelling but choose to ignore it in favor of following Saiki.

“I’m not feeling so hot. It doesn’t matter that it was only out for a second, it’s still causing me all sorts of problems.” Saiki commented to Y/N.

“Alright that’s it. If you keep that up, you’re going to break those chopsticks, give them here.”

“Why?” Saiki asked.

“Kusuo Saiki, give me the damn chopsticks.” Y/N said sternly, Saiki chose to comply. “You’re still really shaky and you really need these calories to recover.”

Y/N then grabbed an edamame with the chopsticks and brought it close to Saiki’s mouth. Saiki made a face for a second then put the edamame in his mouth. “What are you, my mother?” Saiki asked all snarky.

“Aw what? Don’t like the idea of me being your mommy?” Y/N said teasing back then they both broke out laughing.

“No but seriously, my body isn’t listening to me, I need to go home.”

“Saiki?! We playing hide and seek?”

“Well that’s my cue.” Saiki tried to teleport but it clearly didn’t work as he stay there as Nendo rounded the corner.

“Hello? Huh, doing some private stretching? Hey you alright? Maybe you should go home early.”

“Sorry you’re sick bro.”

“You need help getting home?”

“Oh no. His parents are here, I’ll just take Kusuo to them so they can head home together, but thanks for the offer. I’ll be back in a moment.” Y/N interrupted the group of guys trying to talk to Saiki.

Kusuo could only thank Y/N silently as they walked to meet his parents.

“Hey mom, hey dad. Kusuo needs to go home. He’s not feeling to well.” Y/N told Saiki’s parents. They’ve been a family friend for a long time so they called his parents mom and dad as well.

“Oh okay, we can take him home. How about you come with us, I’m sure Ku would like to company.” Kurumi replied.

Y/N looked to Saiki, he only shrugged in response. “I’m sure in Kusuo-ese that means, yes I’d love for you to come, so I’ll just take our head bands back to the class and we can head out.” Y/N said before patting Saiki on the back and taking both their headbands back.

“Hey, turns out I’m also headed out. Sorry I also have to leave. The Saiki’s are my neighbors so they are gonna sign me out so I can help take care of Kusuo.” Y/N told Hairo and handed him the headbands.

“Of course. No worries at all. We’ll just have to work extra hard and we’ll win this. For Saiki!” “YAAA”

Y/N then ran back to the Saiki’s and went home with them.

When they got home Y/N helped Saiki get to his room upstairs. “You go change out of your gym uniform and I’ll be back with my famous healing soup in about thirty minutes, alright?” Saiki nodded in response as Y/N closed his door.

Kurumi and Y/N made the soup together and got to talking.

“Honestly Y/N, thank you for taking care of little Ku. I know he doesn’t show it often but I know he really appreciates it.” Kurumi told Y/N.

“It’s no problem really. I need to pay back all the times he helped me out when we were little anyway. He’s been there for me ever since we were born, it’s only fair that I can be there for him when I can.” Y/N replied sentimentally.

“Aww,” Kurumi cooed as she hugged Y/N. “Well the soup’s almost ready, how about you go change while it finishes.” Kurumi said as she whipped her tears.

Y/N went over to their house to change, then quickly came back to serve Kusuo the soup.

“Knock knock. Still awake in there? Hey, how are you doing?” Y/N said gently while opening Kusuo’s door.

“Not the best but a little better,” Saiki replied.

“Well, finish this then take a nap. That should help you feel better.” Y/N said while putting the soup on Saiki’s table.

“Why are you still acting like my mom?” Kusuo asked laughing lightly.

“Someone you actually listen to has to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. And besides you don’t hate it do you?” Y/N teased.

“Whatever you say.” Saiki said, smiling very lightly.

“Okay well, finish that then get to bed. I’m going to go pack you some of the soup for your lunch tomorrow,” Y/N said while getting up.

“I’ll see you when you wake up ya?”

“Ya,” Saiki replied warmly, a little sleepy even. Y/N then closed the door to Saiki’s room.

The the next day when Saiki and Y/N came back to class, Saiki’s closer friends had buzz cuts.

“So uh, how did this happen?” Y/N asked Hairo. “Well it all started when….” “Woah! What kinda soup is that? It’s smells good. Did your mom make it? What’s in it? Tell me about it!” Nendo bombarded Saiki with questions about his lunch.

“Non of your business.” Saiki said while starting to eat his soup.

—————————————————————————

“Alright everyone, today we are having a safety drill.” Hairo announced to the class.

“I don’t need a drill, I’ll be fine.”

“Nendo. You need to take this seriously, imagine this rooms on fire, way hot flames are everywhere, the smoke makes impossible to see let alone breathe. So what then? You got an escape plan? How will you know what decision to make if you don’t participate in this drill?! Preparation is the key to survival!”

‘He’s as hot and smothering as a fire,’ ‘Ya, I see that now.’ Y/N and Saiki thought towards each other.

“So when the alarm goes off, follow my lead and evacuate to the court yard.” “Okay.”

“Here’s an easy way to remember the correct procedure in an emergency.” Hairo said while weighting S O S on the board.

“What’s sos? I know what that stands for! Save Our Selves. SOS!”

“Ya that’s the plans but that’s not-”

“If it’s not that how about Someone! Over here! Save me!”

“Hehe, each one of your guess is dumber than the last one.”

“Alright do you know what it means smart guy?!”

“Of course I do. Obviously it stands for Scorching Oblivion Smackdown…. Hehe, I’m joking. It stands for Slow, Orderly, and Silent right,”

“Yup you got it. Now everyone just remember those simple rules and we’ll ace this drill!”

“The first floor science lab is on fire. Please evacuate.”

“That alarm sound always makes me so nervous,”

“I’m with Teruhashi, it’s so jarring. I know fires most likely won’t ever happen but still, the thought is kinda scary,” Y/N thought aloud.

“Stay calm everyone Open your bag and get your Safety hood, stand in like after that in order of student number.”

“Where’s my hood.” “Oh crap I think I left it at home.”

“Seriously?! If this was an actual fire Obviously you’d be Smoldering ashes!”

“Oh I can’t seem to find my safety hood.” Said Teruhashi.

“Oh come on not you too!”

“Use my hood!” “No use mine!” “Use mine!”

“But if I take all of yours then you’ll die!”

“She’s right! This is not a safe plan!”

“Sacrifice” “Ourselves to” “Save her”

“Oh okay,” Hairo said awkwardly.

“Okay, let’s move out.”

“Hold on, I forgot my phone.”

“Stop Takahashi. Out of line is to dangerous. Stay in place!”

‘What’s with the SOS obsession?’

“Stop it guys, Obviously it’s not the time to Stupid fights.”

“Okay gang we’re almost down- AAAAAA! Stop everyone! Our path leading out! Shuddered before us!”

“Seriously?” “Oh come on!” “Screw it we’d be dead.”

“Hey, isn’t this the first floor science lab that we are supposed to avoid cause it’s “on fire”” Y/N air quoted.

“They are testing to see how well payed attention, clearly our class leader didn’t pay attention to the announcement.”

“Stay calm. Obviously there’s a Solution to get outside. Yes that’s it! I understand why they locked us in. They’re testing our physical strength, ya that’s the only explanation! We don’t have to send out an SOS if we can overcome obstacles by ourselves! Which means to get out we must break down that shudder!”

“Alright let’s break it down boys!!!” “AAAAAAAA”

‘Is it too late to leave the pack and go to the court yard by ourselves?’

‘In a real fire they’d be the first to die.”

“So you wrenched open a metal shudder and ran out the front door? I see. WHY WOULD YOU ANIMALS BREAK OUR BEE SHUDDER, WE LITERALLY INSTALED IT LAST WEEK LOSERS! So what are you gonna do? Obviously you’re idiots, Shudders are expensive to fix!!”

“WE’RE SORRY!”

“This school doesn’t even need to bother with emergency drills, after all… So long as I’m here Ordeals like fires Simply won’t happen.”

“As punishment you’re all getting buzz cuts.”

—————————————————————————

Next episode: in progress

[toomanywatchers]

Why I Love Travel Season’s Editing Style:

Okokok- I already made a post stating my love for Travel Season after my first initial watch-through of the first two episodes, but I have more to say. Last night, I could not stop rewatching these episodes. Possibly because I am just over the moon seeing Steven, Andrew, and Adam back in action in a show created 100% by them, and where they are allowed to make it their way- BUT there is another reason I could not stop watching it. All do in part of the editing style.

As a self-taught (and soon to be academically-taught) video editor, my favorite thing when watching digital media is seeing what techniques and styles creators use to convey an overall concept to their videos/shows. Some of the more detail-oriented editing I see in today's climate of internet content comes from Watcher's shows. For instance, Mystery Files with the corkboard graphics. Are You Scared of the hand-drawn art from illustrators Mollie Ong and Rafael Mejia. Dish Granted with the use of circle cutouts and white negative spaces. Weird Wonderful World with its cartoon sound effects and stylistic graphics/music to fit whatever atmosphere the boys are in. Puppet History with the motion graphics being put within the confines of the puppet theatre and just everything that goes into the post-production process of the lore events of that show. I could go on, but I might end up writing a whole novel in the process.

Plus, this is about Travel Season... so let's talk about Travel Season.

I was barely 5 minutes into the first episode when I realized just how different Travel Season stands out against anything Watcher has ever created. The overall vibes of the show are calm, peaceful, comforting, and relaxed. The whole show feels like I am watching an old family home video made in the 90s with a camcorder. This style of content that isn't constantly moving at a fast pace and in your face would not perform well in the YouTube algorithm, and I am glad that Watcher was able to launch their own platform to make shows like Travel Season because gosh, this is the kind of content I miss. Oversaturation and pleasing the algorithm can only go a long way as a creative, trust me.

Anywho- back to editing. I am going to point out just some of my favorite editing details that were showcased in the first two episodes of Travel Season. Starting off with probably my favorite scene from both episodes:

This small clip highlights many of my favorite details of the post-production of Travel Season. The first detail I brought up in my previous post involves The Brick aka the camera. The concept of The Brick ties in with what Meredith, Watcher's Development Coordinator, said in Pod Watcher episode #23 about physical hobbies. Something that we can create in a physical sense that does not belong to a digital realm ala the internet/social media. The idea of having a functional prop with The Brick can tie a whole show aesthetic together, but in this case, The Brick also aids in the post-production allowing the team to make smooth-flowing transitions. What I mean is sometimes, especially with a show like Travel Season where they cover many different locations/activities in one video, finding a perfect, easy-flowing transition can be difficult. Jump cuts can be useful in certain cases to hit a comedic mark or shock the viewer, but that is not the overall vibe of Travel Season. The pictures taken on The Brick from their work tripe an easily organized B-roll for harder transition points and simple things such as finding Seoul provide space for much-needed voiceovers for context.

Another editing point that is provided in this clip is the audio. Watcher has never missed the mark regarding audio choices and the addition of sound effects in their work. Sometimes people think that when editing, the editor finds a song that fits and slaps it on the timeline, but here showcases the idea of editing for the environment. What really stuck out to me is the jump cut to the location and using an effect like Lowpass on the audio to make the audience feel as though they are truly standing outside of this nightclub-esk restaurant. Then it jumps to the audio back to normal with Steven dancing as Andrew browses then back to Lowpass edit as they introduce this next location. It's just such a subtle touch that had me all giddy because small details as this audio editing elevate the scene to another level. Showing that Watcher was trying to make you feel like you are there with the boys on their travels. A true immersion effect that I just love.

Also to Adam and Annie who were both camera operators, your b-roll is absolutely superb and adds to the overall vibe of Travel Season.

The last point of editing I want to bring up as it's on the top of my head are these moments:

When they use a frame hold and then change the aspect ratio for a transition. I just find it such a charming technique in video editing. Plus I feel like this transition fits in with the whole "taking photos" approach because in a way the changing of the ratio on a frame hold is like taking a snapshot of that frame like a picture.

I just... I just love it, okay?

Honestly, I could go on and on about every little detail of this show and how they decided to overall produce it, but like I said- novel.

Watcher just puts so much love and care into all the shows they make. Even when it comes to the last process of video production which is editing the episodes together. I have not seen many channels put this much thought into the specificity of their videos like Watcher. This is why I gravitate towards them so much they care about the little things in the shows they create.

Moral of the story: I am in love with Travel Season and with Watcher as a whole.

thank you for listening to my ted talk aka my nerdy ramblings

[gibblegabber]

guys i really don’t think i can make it further than this

VI: YEA!!! YEAAAAAAA!!! ok I didn’t realize til rewatching it but it wasn’t the fourth one it’s the SIXTH one that’s my favorite. by far. this movie slaps. the concept is good. cera’s um… cousins? are so cute. and then they’re not in the next movie for some FUCKING reason. the lone dinosaur song is SOOOOOO GOOOOOD. it was my fav as a kid and i used to change the lyrics to whatever my obsession of the week was. like i think one week my favorite pokemon was articuno so i sang “the lone articuno”. kids’ brains are weird especially mine. anyways. I really think they nailed the plot here. pacing good (which they normally suck at), saurus rock breaking and causing bad luck was a neat concept, doc(?) saving littlefoot a bunch of times, the whole like…here’s the superhero idea but for dinos in a world long before superheroes idk man I liked it. it’s good. 12/10

VII: aaaaaand this one sucked so bad I couldn’t even watch it. six came out in 1998 this one came out in 2000 and the difference is INSANE. same director but doesn’t feel like it. pacing garbage. petri needs to shut up for 5 seconds ffs. the villains and conflict are obvious. the start and title of the movie sets you up to be interested in the rock and they only really get back to the rock in the last 10 minutes. they are a little self aware here like they poke fun at ducky’s speech patterns and stuff. music absolutely abysmal. I’m sorry but HOW do you go from an absolute banger to this. AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED AT THE END. WERE THEY ALIENS???? WHAT— maybe I missed something bc I spent the movie on my phone I was so bored. but WTF. 2/10

don’t stand by I don’t wanna watch anymore but my husband peeked at future plots and says I HAVE to watch until at least the 10th movie

[dainslavenderhaze]

I thought ch 262 would answer my questions (and it did to some extent) but that and the Volume 27 cover just gave me more food for thought 🤡

JJK MANGA SPOILERS

Hoping Gege gets well soon so he can traumatize us more 🥰

Okay, now moving on.

□ Kenjaku □

Starting with the volume 27 cover. Like I said in the previous post, I don't think it's really the end of Kenjaku. Atleast not so easily. For a mastermind who had planned everything since God knows what era, his death was really...underwhelming. Or maybe it's just me and my lore enthusiasm trying to dig deep. But the question is - Will Kenjaku really die before even witnessing the great merger? Something he has been plotting since a long time?

In the volume 27 the smiley face on Takaba's belt is similar to the ones in the background. Except, the faces in the background have stitches running across their forehead. Now, I know this volume contains the entire Takaba vs Kenjaku fight and that could be one of the reasons why the background looks the way it does.

But it could also mean Kenjaku might take over Takaba next. Remember volume 23 cover? Yuki was on it with no signs of Tengen or Choso or Kenjaku. And if the theory about the brain not really being Kenjaku is correct, then it makes sense he could take over someone else even now. Though the only issue here is we don't know whether Takaba was really dead in that chapter or what. (Bro looked like he was napping 😭)

Considering how Kenjaku's imagination runs, I personally think he could make great use of such CT. As Kenjaku himself once said while thinking of the merger - "I feel like a toddler holding a crayon with a blank sheet of paper." And it was mentioned I think? That Takaba's CT can oppose Gojo's.

Also, we haven't seen Kenjaku's original form yet. Or what happened to his body? Is it destroyed? Or it's kept somewhere like Sukuna's? I mean, Gege might draw his original form in this volume since it's apparently Kenjaku's last fight. But who knows? Only time will tell when the volume releases.

I was thinking of the theory about Sukuna. That defeating his reincarnated form wouldn't be enough to kill him. But he needs to be defeated in his innate domain too. [Innate Domain - the place where Sukuna made a binding vow with Yuji and revived him back in S1E6]

Kenjaku is sort of a formless entity. And with the whole body and soul thing, how is he maintaining his CT after all these years if his body has been disposed off? Even Sukuna's body was mummified (by Tengen or Kenjaku? We don't know) even though he split his soul into 20 parts. And lastly, Sukuna even consumed the mummified head to make up for the last finger.

What if the condition to kill Kenjaku is different? And simply killing his 'brain' or 'CT' isn't enough. Killing his original body along with whatever he's body hopping with is the way. And I'm saying it only because I was rewatching the Yuji and Nobara vs Mahito fight. Where Nobara used resonance on Mahito's clone and the damage was taken by Mahito's original self first and then the damage (sort of reflected back? For the lack of better term) was taken by the clone. I mean if something like this happened, it will set up Nobara's return. Considering that Mahito fight was her last. [Call it copium 💀 but many believed Todo would lose his CT after what happened in Shibuya but look at him now]

It sounds plausible but still idk. We don't know shit about Kenjaku's CT. Gege could literally make anything out of him if he wants or just let him stay dead without even witnessing the merger.

☆ Yuta ☆

262 was a short chapter and we already know what happened. Yuta has chances of living beyond those 5 minutes. And like I said in the previous post, the stitches across his forehead seem to be a part of binding vow that comes with Kenjaku's CT. When Gojo died, his left hand was cut off. But in this chapter, after Yuta took over, the left hand has no marks or signs of stitches. The only place they are? On the forehead. Since the stitches or marks are part of a binding vow that comes with Kenjaku's CT. Just look at his arms below 👇🏻

There's also the thing with Yuta not knowing Sukuna could activate Domain Amplification while using Domain Expansion considering he's in Gojo's body and he should've gotten Gojo's memories about it since Sukuna used it while fighting Gojo too. But I won't go into it. I guess I just saw too many interpretations of this scene that now I feel lazy to even give my input lol.

The final panel of the chapter was Rika holding Yuta's body and crying. And Yuta's body was apparently sutured back. Along with his head I guess? They even put his shoes on and combed his hair 💀 but his ring still remained on his right hand and the status of his left hand remains unknown (or maybe it's just because the art looks rough) 👇🏻

The Kenjaku like marks are not present on Yuta's forehead even though the top of his head looks attached.

Now, the question is -

1) If Yuta already Kenjaku'd into Gojo's body and was fine with staying in his body after the 5 minutes, then why did they stitch Yuta's body back? Going as far as putting his shoes on too?

2) If they stitched his head after the lobotomy, then what's inside Yuta's head? I doubt they'd leave it empty. So did they put Gojo's brain in there?

3) If the ring is on Yuta's body and Rika is fully manifested, then how did Yuta even do it in the first place after getting in Gojo's body?

We know that Yuta needs Rika to use the copied techniques. But I personally thought we'd see the ring on Yutaru's left hand with how it was hidden in the last chapter.

So what is Rika bound to? We know the real Rika Orimoto passed away last year and the one we see now is just a husk. Is the husk a cursed spirit? Or is it a shikigami? So far she has been referred to as an external storage mechanism by Yuta himself and Yuki.

But what would happen if Yuta were to lose that external storage?

That might be the answer to Yuta's survival. With the amount of binding vows we've seen Sukuna making in this fight, it won't be to unusual if Yuta made one too. And I'm talking the kind of binding vow that includes a sacrifice like Yorozu's. The ring is the medium for Yuta to connect to Rika and use his 'copy' CT 👇🏻

What if Yuta sacrificed his ring and Rika and gained her powers? That is, he can use his CT himself without the need of an external aid. Or it's Rika who sacrifices herself or merges with Yuta and he gains the powers? Can Yuta really use all the copied techniques by himself? There's a catch to that as Yuki stated about using multiple CTs 👇🏻

If Yuta is the PC and Rika, the external hard drive, what about removing said hard drive from the equation? And expanding the storage of the PC itself. Would it not work? Of course one can't manually just expand their brain capacity, but what about refreshing his brain through constant RCT? Like Gojo did? It also ties in with how Gojo can come back.

Lmao I yapped too much. I'm ending this post here. Once again, who knows if I'll make another post regarding the last line or not? 🤡

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

20 Fic Writer Quesions

First, thank you @singeart and @mytardisisparked for tagging me!. I did a set of these last year and it was fun to see how my answers have changed since then!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

61

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

1.6 million and counting!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Trek Voyager

Star Trek Prodigy

Sailor Moon

Harry Potter

Madam Secretary

Ive debated writing SwanQueen for a long time but by the time I had the energy and time to write, I'd lost interest in the show. I might rewatch and come back to it one day...

I have thought about writing Wynonna Earp or Tamora Pierce universe fanfiction but have yet to get an idea that grabs me. I like to find things i want to fix and it's hard when the source material is perfection.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Parent Trap (305)

Sailor Moon H Order of the Phoenix (289)

Sailor Moon H Half Blood Prince (222)

Eden's Deception (167)

Out of Reach (150)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! although if I'm busy or feeling down it can take me a while. Sometimes I forget.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I still think What Even is 3 Minutes takes the cake. Or I'll be Your First if You'll be my Last

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I Heard the Comm on Christmas Morn and Parent Trap

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Unfortunately I've gotten hate on fics since I started writing them... and it's become just something I expect to happen. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it confuses me. Sometimes it makes me sad. It really depends...

The memorable haters:

There was the delightful Fanfiction.net reviewer who got pissed i was "making everybody gay" (that was funny actually). I forget if they were the same person who flamed me when Mcgonagall and Hooch kissed under some mistletoe. I digress. They thought queering up the canon was like sinful or whatever. I was delighted to disagree and make the story even queerer.

Another person cussed me out for magically restraining Sailor Plutos time travel powers so my plot would work and for making her have feelings about it. aparently mad the senshi were not all powerful deus exmachinas who never feel feelings... That one stung. That was the reason I left FFN.

Hate because in Sailor Moon H, Harry Potter was not the main character.

Hate that I made a magic bio baby for the magical lesbians. (I can't have a biobaby with my wife irl, can't I at least let the fantasy girlies have one!)

Hate for including C/7 in a story

...I wouldn't call it hate for the fic but I have had an uncomfortable amount of commenters who hate on Chakotay any time I have him involved with Seven / don't have him grovel to Kathryn / really any time I let him advocate for how he's been hurt... at first comments like this stressed me out because i worried i had not written the character sufficiently sympathetic. But then Parent Trap breached containment and I got enough comments to be able to see I had definitely written the character fine... it was just that some people were always just rooting for a "Chakotay falls over himself to apologize to Janeway for not immediately dating her" storyline that... I'm not sorry 😅 I'm never going to write that. The older I get the more I feel like both of J/C just need therapy! They've been through so much trauma. Their feelings are valid (yes, even for other people).

Parent Trap breaching containment also meant that when I hit an irl rut and couldnt get in the writing headspace for a bit, a bunch of - sincerely, well meaning - fans got into their heads to start a commenting campaign to get me to update. I heard about it and panicked (i had bad experiences that year of getting people who only commented "update soon" and those conversely stressed me out and made me not want to write - I love fic writing for the conversations and community... so it made me feel like readers thought i was just a content vending machine). so just the thought of potentially getting an avalanche of guests, well meaning or not, begging me to update made me lock commenting until the fic was done. I wound up deciding after that that since "update soon" requests were becoming a lot more frequent that I'd consider before posting whether getting them would hurt my ability to finish. So most of the time now if I know a fic is going to reach a bigger potential community, I don't start posting it until it's almost done. That has had some upsides! (Im less dependent on positive feedback for motivation now!) and some downsides (no one comments on my fics with their theories anymore) but on a whole, a good decision.

Immediately after finishing Parent Trap I wrote Fever and got this amazing guest comment from someone who said (paraphrasing cuz i'm too busy to go find it) "Youre better than this. how dare you write this filth. J/C are better than this" that one had me laughing for days. But the comment did prompt me to create a second account later when I wrote a tentacle fic. At the time I worried i'd get a ton of similar flame comments from people who were subscribed to my main for other types of fic... but I am even feeling like that's unnecessary now. I write what I write! Yes, some of it is really dirty, weird smut. I'm not sorry.

Currently any time I post a Threshold AU fic an anon drops into my comments section in order to call me "Sick" and "Deranged"... they make me so sad I don't even make a quippy reply. I just delete them. I write that universe for my own wish fulfillment... Someday (soon, hopefully) I'm gonna have kids. And I am going to have to have conversations with them about who their biological dad is. Why they look like one mom and not the other, whether their non bio family love them even if theyre not blood related. I might have a kid who feels different from everyone else because they're queer or they're neurodivergent or they're some new alienating feeling I am totally unprepared for. and I'll need to help them navigate that.. Writing about hybrid salamander kids getting raised in a blended family is FUN. But more importantly... it helps me practice those situations. It comforts me to know that if the characters can figure this out in the AU then I can figure this out in real life! What the hell is sick and deranged about that!?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I write all sorts of smut. I post the stuff that doesn't totally mortify me once i've gotten out of whatever mood had me writing the smut in the first place.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I have exactly two crossovers to my name: Sailor Delta and Sailor Moon H. I think on the basis of word count alone Sailor Moon H (>500,000) is definitely the craziest.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I consider the unlicensed use of the AO3 archive for ChatGPT and similar LLMs theft. (and there are several court cases pending that are also seeking to address whether it is legally theft as it pertains to published fiction and newspapers). The canon creators of the fandoms I write for aren't allowed to make money by using uncredited ideas pulled from my fanfiction (just like I am not allowed to make money from writing fic with their copyrighted settings and characters) and i continue to be apalled that ChatGPT and other LLMs think they can get away with using others copyrighted ideas without permission. Especially that they can take advantage of people who cant profit off their own work.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

No but i would be open to it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Once with @magdalenejaneway, once with @jellybeansarecool and once with @trekflower and all three were fantastic!

Most of what I write for Threshold AU is also increasingly collaborated on a great deal by the AU creators and a few other folks. It's been going for over 2 years now and doing that more and more has enabled us all to drop more references to previous fics and to create a more cohesive body of fic for the AU. in general its just been so fun and fulfilling to make these stories with other people who are as invested in the characters as me and it just fills me with joy. I'm really grateful for you guys.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

On the one hand J/C have inspired over 50 fics, But on the other I have also been loving Sailor Moon and those ships since before I knew what fandom or shipping were. And really the only reason J/C inspire more fic is that all the sailor moon characters got a happy ending.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I never want to give up on a WIP...

but I am in knots about what all to do with Out of Reach.

Out of Reach is a St:Prodigy S1 AU where Chakotay has amnesia and doesn't remember anything from his time on Voyager, all the while he and Kathryn are in a situationship with a baby.

There's two questions I never figured out how to answer: 1. Does he get his memories back. If so, how much and what enables it. and 2: Do he and Kathryn stay together?

On the memories front. saying he never recovers seems unfair to the character. But saying he magically does thanks to 24th century science feels cheap and disrespectful - to the reality of real memory loss and to the plot that built up so much tension around this. Saying he gets back some or more over time is more realistic, but left me uncertain of where exactly to end the story. Tying his retrieval of memories to Kathryn also tied me up in knots. On the one hand they're in love and thats romantic. on the other hand the optics of his recovery totally dependent on one person is icky.

I also found the baby really annoying to have there by the end - I still think he's cuteeee i really do!!! - it's just... he makes the "we should stay together and try to figure this out" answer a bit too convenient 😅. and he complicates Kathryns reluctance to restart their relationship. The more she resists, the more callous she seems (deliberately not trying to patch things up with her kid's father) when i really just want to focus on her fears that Chakotay would be happier without her and that even if they restart their romance, she might lose him again on a future mission. It's ironic because i originally created the baby to ensure she wouldnt just run away from her fears. And now hes contributing to my difficulty ending the fic...

Actually the more I think on it, my real problem is I could write my way out of this, but I cant do it in only one or two chapters and that makes me feel tired. i was sorta hoping to wrap that fic up. 😅🙈

16. What are your writing strengths?

Imagery has always been a strength for me. But i think I'm also getting really good at action scenes too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oneshots.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Only if it was information i wanted the reader to understand but not the POV character.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

W.I.T.C.H way back when I was 15.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Universe to Mend - I even have a few sequel or companion novel ideas to come after it.

This has gone on a while... 😅 - thank you for tagging me and letting me ramble! i'll tag anyone else who wants to answer! have at it.

[nygmobblepot-trash]

I rewatched the scene where Ed saves Martin and I have to talk about it.

So did Ed or Riddler have any knowledge of Martin before this? Or did Oswald come to him in a panic begging for help?

Oswald: "Ed! Ed! I need you! They took Martin and you need to get him back!"

Ed: "...Who the hell is Martin and why do you care about them?"

Oswald: "Oh I guess you never met him. He's a child I met at an orphanage and I'm teaching him... things."

Riddler: "Nice. Better to learn things at a young age"

Ed: "Oh good you're teaching children to become criminals now. Riddler is on board with it so now you know how awful that is."

Oswald: "Okay you can argue with me on how to raise our kid later!"

Ed: "...our?"

Oswald: "Semantics! Go!"

Ed walks out the door and Oswald quickly follows a moment late when he realizes he forgot some important information: "Ed he's doesn't speak... out loud. He uses a note book to write or draw."

Ed: "Mute, Oswald. The word you are looking for is mute."

Then we have the scene in question. How and when the hell did Ed get ahold of Martin's note book? If he could get to the notebook without being seen why couldn't he just take Martin away? Like the kid always has his notebook so even if Ed waited till the kid was alone to take it the kid would see him. Do you think he snuck in while everyone was sleeping that morning and he was about to take Martin with him but Riddler was like "no this isn't extra enough" and they bickered for a good 5 minutes until Ed was like "Fine! Just shut the hell up!" Writes the instructions in the journal and peaces out. Then goes back to Oswald and tells him not to ask questions and he needs a bazooka or whatever the hell. Oswald is like "what the fuck but okay. Just don't hurt Martin." Then this fucker waits all morning for Martin to flip the page and see his instructions. He waits with binoculars watching the kitchen window waiting for him to turn the gas on. Once Martin does he waits a couple of minutes and hopes Martin reads the final note. And boom.

Oh and why I say Ed is control here is there are 0 riddles or even a note of who pulled the stunt. The explosion is the only extreme part which I do believe was Riddler's idea. He took the time to tell the kid to plug his ears. That's good ol' eddie. Then we get the best fucking part ever...

So these two have never met. Ed knows he has to explain who he is and hopefully not scare the poor kid. So what does this mother fucker go with as his opening line?

Ed walks out of the smoke. "Uncle Penguin sent me to get you." Stretches out his hand to help Martin up and gestures to the door with his head. "Come on let's get icecream."

What was the line of thinking here?

"Hmm well Oswald seemed the adopt this kid. So maybe I could go with..."

'Daddy Oswald wanted me to come get you.'

"No no I can't go with that."

'I'm a friend of Oswald's. I'm here to save you.'

"Nope. That's just a plain lie."

'Uncle Oswald.'

"Too formal."

Riddler: "What about Penguin!"

"What if he's still scared?"

Riddler: "I could teach him some riddles and the proper way to shoot a gun."

"You and Oswald should have nothing to do with children. Now look you wasted too much time, he just turned on the gas!"

Then the whole time he is getting to Martin he's trying to think what children like. In the last second it comes to him.

"Come one let's get ice cream."

'You're so smart, Ed :)'

Also I have no clue what was going on with everyone else during this time but I want to believe Gordon and Bullock just happened to walk by the icecream shop.

Bullock freezes suddenly.

Jim: "Harv?"

Bullock: "I think I'm losing it Jim. I swear I just saw Nygma having icecream."

Jim: "Why would Nygma be eating icecream?"

Harvey going back to the window: "I know what I saw Jim!"

Jim following him: "Huh. Would you look at that? Isn't that the kid that Oswald has been taking care of for Ms. Falcone?"

Bullock: "Shouldn't we do something?"

Gordon: "And deal with Oswald? No thanks."

Bullock: "...yeah and I don't like the way Ed is looking at us."

[cosmos-dot-semicolon]

Your turn for a Ninjago question!

Which season's your favourite?

Hmm. I suck at picking favourites. It's made worse by the fact it's been a while since I've rewatched anything but season 1. So uh, I guess I'll answer this question backwards from worst to best. Have a very rambly, vaguely ordered list :)

I never watched much past S10 - the move to 11 minute episodes was really jarring and only seemed to work well for that one bit of lore for Wu and Garmadon in Crystallised. Which is great, but it's not the actual story, so :/

You've already seen my hatred for the Oni trilogy. Really all I wanted to add there is that I count it as one season, because it has the same plot structure as a regular season, but stretched out over a year for god knows why. I remember making remarks back in the day that it straight up felt like season 4 but longer and edgier, down to the bait-and-switch love interest and end-of-season war.

Hands Of Time I think is generally glossed over in the fandom, and understandably so. I remember they made jokes about iPhones and also captured Borg and there were snakes or whatever. It promised we were going to explore Kai and Nya's family dynamic and then. I'm sure they did something there? Wu's sacrifice was memorable, but absolutely nothing else was. It felt like the new writers were given a script for what Ninjago was known for, but never actually watched the show.

Season 6 I think had a good initial impact on me because of its sky pirate aesthetic but the longer it went on... Eugh. You Already Know

Season 3 I remember, but only for Zane's sacrifice and Garmadon's moments. There were really good character moments in there, but overall there wasn't much going on.

So that strikes it down to 1, 2, 4, and 5.

4. I think 2 comes last by default. I don't dislike it and find a fair bit of it fun, but they really did sap most of Lloyd's personality once he got aged up. There are filler episodes (which are fun, but still), and a second half of the season that drags on until the final fight that everybody was waiting for.

I think Garmadon had some really good moments in here, both funny and dramatic (and especially with Misako). But I think that's still eclipsed by season 1's setup of him. I've drawn fanart of it before but Misako could've been one of the funniest character premises the series had and it's a shame her character was never capitalised on.

3. Possession, as cool as some of the character moments are, is a season I think I liked as a kid mainly because of its ghost aesthetic. Which is amazing, for the record. The art directors were absolutely on point there, and the atmosphere of places like the caves, the washed-up town of Stix, and the sheer scale of the final battle are still burned into my brain.

Character-wise, it's quite nice in showing Kai's loyalty and caring towards Lloyd, and great in that it actually gave Nya a proper character arc. But a lot of the exploration of other characters feels more like... lip service? Cole is a fantastic leader and willing to sacrifice himself for the team, and now might have to deal with being a ghost. Zane sometimes has to deal with things beyond his control as a robot. Wu's carelessness as a mentor actually got one of his students killed back in the day.

What do we do with that? I don't know. I might be overlooking things but the fact these aren't truly followed up with always felt off to me. I want to say Morro himself is sort of representative of this, but I'd need another post and a rewatch to detail my thoughts on him properly.

1. I don't think I want to decide between them: season 4 and season 1.

Tournament of Elements had practically everything I wanted from Ninjago back in the day. It's got some really heartfelt dialogue about the team having broken up after season 3 (as short as that is), it's focused on the more interesting of the two Senseis, it's got espionage and revolution and this whole grand hotel to have ridiculous fights in.

It's not as laser-focused on adding to the ninja's characters as other seasons, but in lieu of that you get a lot of expansion on what we already had, and the best written plot in the entire show.

Like you know something is up with Chen from the very beginning, and so do the ninja, but you have to keep pushing on just to see what happened with Zane. I kept expecting the plot to follow a clear structure and get boring or drag out the mystery of what was going on, but they just kept switching it up whenever I thought things were going perfectly.

You thought the whole team would make through the tournament? Nope! But Cole did find Zane! Holy shit! You thought uniting the elemental masters would be easy? Nope, one of them's a fucking spy. She's literally the main villain's daughter! You thought this'd just be about Chen stealing everybody's elements? Nope, he wants to revive the long dead and conquer the world. Have fun fighting a war!

It's genuinely fascinating how much the plot evolves over the season's runtime, with everybody doing their own separate things. Not every twist works, but the writers clearly put some amount of thought into all of them, and it makes me love the season despite some of its, well, 'culturally insensitive' plot points, as Pythor might say.

Season 1's strengths lie with its characterisation instead of the story, but I still like it for largely the same reasons as season 4.

What really drew me back into Ninjago out of all the action shows back in the day was that instead of just being another 'dumb action show for boys,' it was about a bunch of friends growing and learning as they prepared to grow up. The ninja have to deal with things kids know intimately: absent parents, self esteem issues stemming from your social status, self-centeredness vs being a normal person, discovering your own heritage, feeling excluded, and coming out.

The side characters are also all fantastic. Pythor's delightfully smarmy as a villain. Garmadon's both the most dramatic theatre kid you've ever seen and the sweetest father to Lloyd. Even Lloyd had a lot to do back here! This is the only time I've seen a sad white(-coded) boy villain work out, because he's a child looking for friends. He's genre savvy due to him being Garmadon's son, and smart in suggesting that the ninja steal back the fangblades from Pythor, but he's also still like, 7.

And while the season doesn't have as strong a plot as season 4, I still think small things like the fangblades being stolen from both sides and having the ostensive 'villain' defeat the Great Devourer were fantastic ideas within the constraints of a very structured story.

[berestweys]

hi!

i’ve been away from this beloved hellscape for the most part for like a month. life is just so busy! the queue has been chugging along but tumblr has been more like stop by for 5 minutes, see a post and put it in drafts to tag later, never actually get it tagged, come back 3 days later and drop 2 more reblogs into drafts, fail to add anything to the queue, rinse and repeat. my drafts folder usually has 5-10 posts in it. right now? 206. help.

a few fandom highlights of the last month:

darlingest squishface leader sunggyu had a comeback and he remains the singer i need at least one dozen more albums from. never stop singing gyu

gyu’s album continues infinite’s streak of having THE best album intros. no one does mood-setting like they do

my hobgoblin son lee taemin and i both celebrated birthdays this week

shinee had an incredible comeback. so many show wins! i’ve listened to basically nothing else in the car for weeks

the behind the scenes making of HARD hheeeeeuuuuggghhhhh LEE JINKI’S VOICE

infinite, my always and forever boys, announced their first comeback in 5 years 

i repeat INFINITE IS HAVING A COMEBACK. i haven’t been this excited in AGES 

CUE FIREWORKS 

CUE SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP. RAINBOWS. KITTENS. SPARKLES.

sky and prapai from lita got married yesterday! and apparently i’m going to watch yet another mame show as a result because nuea is adorable and feels the same way i do about gyms. (also yiwa is hilarious like what is this about for you, girl??) sure why not! i’m here for a good time, not an unproblematic time

i became mutuals with a few more kinnporsche friends (hello!!!) and i remain so happy at all the posting kp fans are still doing a year after the show aired. such a funny and clever group of people. might be time for my third rewatch.

i’m almost always on desktop and apparently there are awful dashboard changes coming my way? i have not been hit with it yet but am currently making burnt offerings to the xkit gods so whatever nonsense happens i’ll be able to fix it immediately.

[hotdadlicense]

hmmm top 5 shows, top 5 animals aaaaand top 5 scenes from any show/movie

loren please..... i lve you.

top five SHOWS.

the walking dead - ................. like it has to be said. i'm so sorry. it didn't even really go 'bad' for me like it did lose me for a hot minute or two there originally but like. when i rewatched i was like no actually i love it here. i love this hot mess. and i tragically fucking do. could really do with bringing certain characters back etc or just dissappearing some storylines but like. i do fucking love it.

breaking bad - i didnt even KNOW what i was in for i was just like this'll be fine this'll be chill. and then my life changed forever y'know.

it's always sunny in philadelphia - my go-to show to have on in the background, to have on when im sick, to have on when i need a laugh, to have on when im feeling miserable, to have on when i just wanna feel like Myself. can probably quote like. every episode by this point.

black sails - literally don't even need to explain this one. bs is already tumblr critically acclaimed. if i could go back in time and watch the season two last two episodes for the first time all over again, i would in a heartbeat. the girl that existed in my bedroom when watching those eps? never seen her before and i'll never be her again.

911 - listen. it TRULY is tv show of all time. u KNOW this i know you know this. u can't put eddie diaz in a tv show and not have it change the lives of millions.

top fIVE animals.

SHARKS. sharks sharks sharks sharks sharks all types all kinds theyre all my children

foxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please the fennec fox my BABY

long maned wolf.

dogs!

snakes. also HOW is your snake btw i miss them

top 5 scenes!

lets revisit black sails again and say season two finale as a whole? but also the 'in the light there is discovery' forest speech in the series finale............................i get chills like every time. WAIT ALSO 'my name is John Silver. and i've got a Long Fucking Memory.' INSANE acting also idk if this is really technically 'top five scenes' worthy but uknow that line where flints like 'where else would you wake up in the morning and matter?' @ silver??? yeah it ingrained itself into my brain and now whenever my brains having a bad day and being a bitch, it just repeats that line over and over to myself. again i dont know if that makes it a top five thing but boy oh bOY it sure made an impact !

iasip mac finds his pride when mac does the dance and franks crying and is like 'i get it. i get it now.' maybe its cos i feel like there is just a 00.01% chance of my parents ever accepting me and im projecting or whatever but that scene? every fucking time im like........ crying lol

my brain is one big jumble for the walking dead and i just can't pin down one scene? so i'm just gonna take a cop out and say that part where daryl and merle are in the woods huntin when they split off in s3 or whatever after they reunite and daryls got his crossbow simply becos i still remember watching it with my mum and her being like 'oh look at daryls Arms. he's really got Muscles.' and i was like. scandalised. in a Good way. and now everytime i see him in that scene i'm like justin beiber tweet i love Arm.

that scene in breaking bad where jesses in hospital after hank beats the shit outta him in the rv and walt visits him in hospital and jesse has that breakdown in 3.07? jesse pinkman crying in a hospital bed bruised and beaten saying 'i am not turning down the money, i am turning down you.' when he's yelling 'i have NOTHING. NO ONE.' ??????????????? scene of all scenes. wait also the peek-a-boo kid scene in s2

stuggling to think of a last one uh maybe in the seventh fast and furious movie when see you again plays at the end and they're all on the beach and then dom and brian are racing except you know its not paul walker and u know its CGI or whatever and ???? i still cry over that sorry

[driluth]

hi it's been a minute

i have officially deleted my public tw*tter account, even before its "downfall" it just became too anxiety inducing and ultimately felt like a lot of people were being meanspirited and i simply do not have the energy for it!! fandom twitter, for whatever reason, is just so draining and i cannot keep up with all the hype for every new tv show that comes out lmao. it is also insane how much time i have without it.

i've read 50 books this year, and have currently listened to 40 something albums?? i'd like to make a list of my top 5 for both categories but i'm too sleepy for that rn. and i have a few more albums to listen to first!!

oddly i have not watched that many movies this year but it's probably bc i've spent so much time watching twd (11 seasons) and the spinoffs!! truly it is one of my favorite show of all time and rewatching it has been a very emotional journey.

it's funny bc back in 2020, she-ra was the only thing i'd watch on repeat bc i needed something lighter and happier and now my current fixation is one of the darkest tv shows of all time. (it's called range.) but as dark as it gets i'd argue that a lot of it IS about the love and hope that's still in the world. it's characters choosing to be kind to each other and doing whatever it takes to fight for each other bc that group of people love each other so much!! (wish it wasn't As dark tho and there are definitely some creative choices i would have handled differently but that's for another post, maybe. i have too many thoughts about that show i nearly made a side blog for it but i am too lazy for that haha.)

i moved in w one of my oldest friends and we live next to a lot of deer and it just such a peaceful and quiet place. i have a new job that still gives me plenty of time to write which i am so so excited about bc i have so much to do both in terms of original content and fanfiction!! (tho who knows how long that will last bc $$ wise i might need to take on a second job or find something else but it is Rough out there i'm just grateful to be employed at all)

i do have some catra/adora fics in the works (one goes soooo hard but i'm probably gonna save it for something special like valentine's day or something) but admittedly some of what i'm the most excited about is twd fic, was not expecting daryl/connie to have my whole heart but here we are. they currently have less than 150 fics on ao3 and it's a crime.

the book i started writing last year i want to turn into a screenplay and i have a new book i'm drafting and every day i am so excited to sit down and write for it these characters are everything 2 me. can't wait to share them one day!! got some very fucked up lesbians as i should!!

anyways, i've had a lot more space to myself and have been able to do a lot of reflecting. i feel older, i feel confident in what i'm doing, and i mostly feel grateful. i feel very grateful to live this life i have created for myself, grateful to live close to my friends and close to my family and close to my favorite area in my city!! and as many problems as there are w this site i am grateful for this lil space on the internet!! been through many different stages of my life on here and it's nice to have something consistent.

lots of love to you all 💕 

[apocalyptichearts]

hi yes i definitely love your edits, will literally get the songs stuck in my head at 3am and open up tiktok (and blind myself) to watch them on loop. don’t be surprised if you randomly get gifted a work one day bc it’s probably me basing it off one of your song edits ;P

i have a lot of maydaisy thoughts so apologies in advance if this is a mess and very adhd-riddled but these are my song recs:

1. when god made you my mother by riley roth

when god made you my mother

he knew who i’d need

when he picked you from the others

he could already see

that you would be my hero

and everything i wanna be

when god made you my mother

he was being good to me

2. i get to love you by ruelle

i can’t believe it’s true

i get to love you

it’s the best thing i’ll ever do

i get to love you

it’s a promise i’m making to you

whatever may come

your heart i will choose

forever i’m yours

forever i do

(tbh using this in my long fic but would love to see an edit with this too!!)

3. right here by ashes remain

i will show you the way back home

never leave you all alone

i will stay until the morning comes

i’ll show you how to live again

and heal the brokenness within

let me love you when you come undone

4. my love, my life (mamma mia 2)

my love, my life

are the words i try to find,

my love, my life

but i know i don't possess you

with all my heart, god bless you

you will be my love and my life

you’re my one and only

and

in the now and beyond

nothing and no one can break this bond

5. the ones who dream by victoria carbol

literally just. the whole thing.

6. true colours (either version but anna kendrick & justin timberlake might be better vibe-wise)

i see your true colours

and that's why i love you

so don't be afraid to let them show

your true colours are beautiful

like a rainbow

and

can't remember when

i last saw you laughing

if this world makes you crazy

and you've taken all you can bear

just call me up

‘cause i will always be there

7. golden sky by jessica jung

pretty much the whole thing but if i may be so bold as to shine the spotlight on:

you’ll never know behind my smile

i wanna tell you you’re my golden sky

and

today, today, today

i’ll be thanking you for being by my side

every minute, second, forever

you’ll be a part of me till the end of time

in my golden sky

you’re my shining light

pls don’t feel pressured like you have to use these; i’m just highkey bursting with maydaisy thoughts and also very mad my fic won’t write itself so i just kinda needed an outlet ahdjksks

thank you for all ur hard work with your edits and your ao3 oneshots tho!! they are reread and rewatched many times by yours truly <3

ahh thank you sm, audios are a pain to find and this makes it sm easier!! <3

[mach-speed-extra]

I made this because I lost a bet

If I won, my friend would’ve had to make a Tumblr account and write superwholock crossover fanfiction. If I lost (which is what happened based on the title), I had to go over Lily Orchard’s simple writing tips. Then we did double or nothing, where if I won he’d have to double the length of the fic (from 15 to 30 pages) and if he won, I’d have to make a second post talking about High Guardian Spice. For context, the bet was on who won a game of Mario Kart on the Switch played with the leg strap and motion controls

So I’ll begin with Lily Orchard’s writing tips. At least I get to add my own thoughts to this. I am writing this introductory paragraph before looking at her writing tips, so I don’t know how much I’ll agree or disagree (also I didn’t know anything about her until a few minutes ago when I did a quick Google search and if what I read was true, then what the fuck). At least I’ll be (probably) shitting on her. Also, it seems the original thread was deleted (or Twitter just sucks) but the tips were recorded on google docs which is what I’ll be using

Written after I finished: I didn’t need to add “(probably)” in the last paragraph

tw: rape mention

1. Don’t worry about spoilers: There is some truth to this in that good stories are still enjoyable on rewatch/ reread, but certain things are more enjoyable the first time. Reading a murder mystery is fundamentally different the second time because it goes from using the pieces to find a solution to analyzing how the pieces actually led to it. It’s like solving a math problem vs seeing someone else do it and following it step by step

2. The middle is the best time to put couples together: I don’t give a shit about romance in fiction. At best, a relationship is believable and developed enough that it serves as character motivation. As someone who has never tried (and likely never will) to put romance in his stories, couples usually get together off screen before the story starts. I then build the relationship like I would a close friendship or family bond, where the point of the couple is to have characters that care deeply about someone else

3. Friends to lovers is better than enemies to lovers: Refer to the point above. Also, fandom jokes about Negan slipping his dick down Rick’s throat and being thanked for it (actual line from The Walking Dead) are fucking great and one of the best things about the later parts of that show

4. Abuse victims healing does not equal redemption arc: I agree that they’re not synonymous, but she uses Zuko as an example which kinda defeats her point. Whatever the cause of a character being evil, a redemption arc is a character arc that leads to them no longer being evil. I don’t understand what she’s getting at

5. Heroes refusing to kill villains is bad: I’ll be using Rick Grimes as an example again. One consistent thing with Rick is that outside of times when his sanity is questionable, he’ll avoid killing villains if possible. He’ll do it if he has to, but that scene where he tells the Governor and his forces that if they stand down, he’ll happily take them in to his community is a perfect example of it (followed by them opening fire and all of the Governor’s men dying except for the one that stood down). Now, there is a difference between not killing and not punishing, but Lily doesn’t make that distinction

6. Lesbian enemies to lovers present in one scene in the finale sucks: I agree with this. She then says it’s “fetishized abuse and violence.” It certainly is sometimes, but I would not say this is an inherent (or even general) thing

7. Revealing information on Twitter instead of the story itself is bad: Depends. Hiro Morita revealing character ages on Twitter? Fine, because the actual ages aren’t relevant to the story. Just Kidding Rowling going on Twitter to say wizards shit their pants? What the fuck. Character birthdays being revealed in outside media (tie-in guide book, spinoff video games, etc) is fine if its not relevant to the story. Not revealing important information in the work itself sucks, but I don’t see it done often enough to warrant this take

8. If a character kills more than 10,000 people they’re not redeemable: Kill count is relevant to redeeming villains, but not the sole factor. This varies from person to person, but I say the most important thing is whether the villain is willing to put in the work to be redeemed. Do they put one foot forward and say “I’m gonna make this right?” I’d also factor in the cause of the killing (mind control or demonic possession for example). Were they aware of what they were doing? I wouldn’t say the titular protagonist from Ender’s Game is irredeemable because of his kill count when he didn’t know he was actually killing anyone. And 10k seems like such an arbitrary number but I’ll assume she just means “a metric fuck ton of people”

9. Tip 8 does not apply to characters if their villainy was character assassination: Huh? I genuinely don’t know what she’s trying to say here

10. Everything in a story is a decision made by the creator and justifying problematic elements with worldbuilding doesn’t work: At face value she’s right. Considering who it’s coming from I doubt her examples are good, but she does have a point

11. Don’t pair adults with minors: I have 2 things to say about this. The first is that Lily Orchard is not the right person to talk about this. The second is that it assumes all pairings are meant to be liked by the audience. Lolita wasn’t written with the intent of making readers like the romance. Toxic relationships exist in fiction for more reasons than I can count, and this tip is reducing fictional relationships to such a narrow, simplistic narrative purpose that it shouldn’t be said by anyone that ever took a literature class in high school

12. Don’t sexualize teenagers: I could be pedantic and say “um akshually nineteen year olds are fine,” but that would be worthless. Now, there are ways to make sexualized teenagers work, but it’s rare enough to see it pulled off well that I will give Lily a pass here. (As for how to do it well, that’s for another day but basically, teenagers fuck irl, and realistic depiction does not mean glamorization, though glamorization happens more often than it should. Also, don’t actually cast minors for fucks sake you pedo-ass fuckers behind Cuties)

13. Don’t use “actually a 6000 year old demon” to justify point 12: I don’t have much to say here that wasn’t said in the last few points. But the idea of an adult that looks like a child and faces issues specific to that context is an interesting story premise (ex: a 25 year old who magically reverses her body’s age on accident but not her mind and has to navigate her adult life while everyone treats her like a child)

14. Metaphors for queer characters is inferior to actually having queer characters: Depends on the story’s setting. A story set in Los Angeles in 2030 likely wouldn’t have queer character treated the same way as in 1930, so unless you do some worldbuilding to explain what cultural shifts happened until 2030, it’s not something you can realistically show. Then, a metaphor works better. Alternatively, a setting where queer characters are accepted but the metaphor is not (or vice versa) which serves to point out how arbitrary the distinction between “acceptable” and “unacceptable” minorities is

15. Confining queer representation to non-humans in a story where humans exist sucks: If I have a story about a bigoted human group that flies off into space to establish their own world (kinda like a metaphor for the Puritans) and they meet an alien race where queer people are accepted, it makes sense to confine queer representation to the aliens. I admit that premise is specific enough to not apply to many scenarios, but it shows how this rule can be easily broken with a scenario I came up with within 2 minutes of reading the tip

16. Fuck having the only gay man in your story be a “faupish diva:” I am currently writing a story about a guy that got a reputation for being extremely violent and decided to play into it because he’d rather have people be scared and stay away from him than deal with their shit. It’s fairly easy to make a gay character that actively plays into certain stereotypes because it prevents him from dealing with other people’s shit. All that you need is a setting where gay characters are kinda accepted but not fully (which isn’t that hard to make)

17. Fuck having the only lesbian be abusive, angry, and have a codependent relationship with the protagonist: Doesn’t the codependent relationship require at least 2 lesbian to be present in the work? Also, refer back to point 16

18. Fuck having the only enby be a non-human shapeshifter: Refer back to point 15 about a setting where [group] isn’t accepted by humans but is by other non-human societies

19. Fuck having the only autistic character be an “ethically-challenged number fetishist:” Refer back to point 16

20. Fuck having the only black character play into the “scary black man” trope: Refer back to point 16

21. Fuck having the only woman get barely any screen time and just be fetishized: I’d expand this to say “any character” rather than “only woman,” because this applies everywhere. It being the only woman is bad, but just because there are multiple women it doesn’t make much better

22. Fuck having the only trans woman be a drag queen: How many times will I say “refer back to point 16?” Also, a society that accepts gender nonconformity only as a performance (viewing gnc identities as characters the actors play) isn’t that hard to come up with

23. Fuck making a woman kiss her abuser: Me when villains to evil things [surprised Pikachu face]. Also, “acting like I’m in love with my abuser to keep up appearances in a setting where I’ll be demonized for stepping out of line so I force myself to throw away my dignity for survival” isn’t a bad protagonist idea

24. Fuck sidelining every poc character to focus on a white guy’s redemption arc: At face value it makes sense but how often does this happen to warrant an entry? I’m actually asking since redemption arcs happen for characters that were antagonists so it’d mean sidelining the protagonists which I don’t see very often

25. Fuck justifying horny designs with “sexual agency” and refer back to point 10: What? I’ll refer to one of my own stories, where a woman actively sexualizes herself after realizing that letting go of society’s notions of sex makes life in general more enjoyable. The entire point of it is exploring the possibility of a “sinful” life while maintaining morality, and how it’s very much possible. This argument also assumes the only reason to include horny designs is to get off to it, ignoring the fact that the exploration of human sexuality is an actual thing fiction can do

26. Fuck justifying horny designs by saying “I’m horny:” This isn’t even about writing

27. Don’t worry about planning. No writer actually plans everything: I literally do. I create what I call “the encyclopedia” where I list out everything. Every character, their relevant information, relationships, etc. It also includes things like maps of cities (real or fictional), the layout of buildings, the make and model (and mods when applicable) of the main character’s car, and more. Not every writer does this, but many do (and if you make it up as you go along, please review it because it’s likely an unpolished first draft that needs revising)

28. Don’t try to be Avatar: I don’t even know what this means. Now, I take inspiration from other works. Every writer does. Just don’t try to replicate someone else’s work. Every writer has their own style, and combing your own style with your inspiration is what makes a work good

29. Low stakes interpersonal conflict is more engaging than high stakes: Why not do both? An interpersonal conflict that escalates until it becomes high-stakes isn’t exactly a rarity. Now I’m gonna plug in a JoJo reference and say that Jonathan and Dio’s relationship in part 1 is a perfect example of what I mentioned. And I can look at The Walking Dead and say that the interpersonal conflict involving Maggie and Negan in season 11 is nowhere near as engaging as the Saviors arc from the second half of season 6 to the season 8 finale. That’s because the interpersonal conflict mainly stagnated and we spent a lot of time with the conflict neither escalating nor deescalating, while the tides of the Savior War were constantly changing and there were many moving parts

30. Choose either comedy or drama and stick to it: You can have both a comedic episode and a serious episode as long as you set up the plot well enough. It’s really not a problem. Going back to JoJo, the episodes with Boingo are comedic, but the Vanilla Ice fight certainly isn’t. Or for a more condensed moment, Lisa Lisa’s backwards cigarette. We see Caesar die, Joseph cry, and Lisa Lisa light a cigarette stoically. Joseph then points out she has it backwards, prompting a light chuckle from the audience before we collectively go “oh” at the realization that she’s so distraught she can’t even light a cigarette properly

31. Don’t overdo it on worldbuilding: I understand that pulling away from the action to focus on worldbuilding can be boring. I also tend to include a glossary of fictional terms at the end of my stories detailing the information that isn’t relevant to the story itself (ex: the sci-fi story has a spaceship. The glossary goes over the history of the design and its notable uses)

32. Characters come before anything else: Well written characters push the plot forward in interesting and engaging ways. A well written plot forces the characters into situations that either cause them to progress or give us (the audience) more insight into a character. Characters are dependent on the narrative elements around them to function

33. The protagonist should not be a vessel for the antagonist to hog the story: I’m not sure what she means by this. She mentions villain protagonists but I don’t see what she means by “a vessel for the antagonist.” I guess it’s about sidelining the protagonist in favor of the antagonist? Even then, a protagonist being used to make the antagonist more interesting isn’t bad

34. Fuck not having perspective shifts: I don’t know if she means characters (which is easily countered through first-person stories like memoirs, diaries, etc) or if she means thematic perspective (which is countered by the fact that static protagonists who change those around them exist and aren’t inherently bad)

35. Writers, and not story boarders, should write: Yeah, and the actors should act, the director should direct, and the sound designers should design sound. She’s not wrong, but this advice is completely worthless

36. Fuck will-they won’t-they: Agree, but I give negative 2 shits about romance anyways

37. Making a romance tropes gay doesn’t improve it: I’ve never seen anyone say it makes it better

38. “We need more lesbian noncon” is a bad take: Huh? I don’t see the point in this piece of advice. Is this an actual thing that is common enough to include here?

39. Fuck women who fetishize abuse in media: Relationships are narrative tools that don’t have any inherent morality to them. I admit fans can be annoying as hell, but that’s not something the creator should be concerned about (unless it’s your job and that’s how you pay rent)

40. Don’t listen to abuse fetishists: I’ll take this a step further. Ask yourself why do you write. I write for myself, for the catharsis of exploring different parts of the human experience. If someone doesn’t want to read that, they don’t have to, but I won’t stop writing. If you write to engage an audience, then you do what you can to engage the audience. It comes down to purpose (writing as a hobby for myself vs writing as a job and you need to sell books vs writing as a hobby to share with the world). Some purposes let you alienate readers. Others don’t

41. Never write rape victims as villains: I made a villain protagonist who was a rape victim. His story is that he tracked down the woman who raped him and killed her, but realized that didn’t cause his trauma to go away. So he doubles down and starts murdering anyone who he suspects of being a rapist (even when there’s no evidence other than a hunch). Is there an issue with this? Because I find the idea of a victim who becomes a villain due to the lack of a proper support system to be more about the failures of our system than about the villain himself

42. If straight men hate a character but lesbians love them, they’re a great character: Not writing advice and also pulled out of her ass

43. Fire any writers who have a certain take on Infinity Train: I never watched Infinity Train so I can’t respond

44. Solve love triangles with polyamory: Or don’t have love triangles if you can’t make them work

45. If a male character is called a simp for respecting women, they’re great: Refer back to point 42

46. Disregard “Mary Sue” criticism: The term “Mary Sue” is so loosely defined that criticism using it is about as useful as “it was bad.” Still not writing advice. I have made attempts at defining “Mary Sue” but eventually came to the conclusion that writing a paragraph explaining why a particular character is bad is better than using a vaguely defined buzzword

47. Emotional vulnerability doesn’t make a female character antifeminist: Do people really claim otherwise? She’s not wrong, but I don’t think this needs to be said (but I don’t use Twitter so idk)

48. Goblins are inherently anti-Semitic: I took all of 10 seconds to come up with a subversion of it. Picture a fantasy world where Jews are discriminated against and goblins exist, with anti-goblin groups comparing goblins to Jews (which then raises questions with Jewish discrimination and how it’s so acceptable in the setting that the characters don’t bat an eye because they’re used to it). This idea can be expanded upon to other groups. Using a real life example, “transgenderism is a mental illness” is rooted not only in transphobia, but also in ableism, and this story idea lets you tackle multiple forms of bigotry at once

49. Making bigoted tropes “work well” is missing the point: Metacommentary on bigoted tropes isn’t missing the point. It’s literally pointing out the issues with them in the first place, while often showing how/why these tropes can be seen in reality (whether it be selection bias, a self-fulfilling prediction, or otherwise). Most bigoted tropes can appear to be true irl on the surface, and being able to look at what makes the bigotry superficially convincing while pointing out its deeper flaws that aren’t immediately visible is certainly not a bad thing

50. Writing a relationship around a particular dynamic or trope is bad: She’s right but only if you confine yourself to that trope or dynamic. It can be used as a springboard for something great. Understanding established tropes and playing around with it is what led to Don Quijote

51. Don’t tone police criticism: Not writing advice

52. Don’t tell your fandom to stop fighting: Not writing advice

53. Don’t say every headcanon is valid: I’ll do you one better. Never interact with your fandom. Most of it is probably shit. Also not writing advice

54. Speak up against toxic people in your fandom: Refer back to point 53

55. Forget about fanservice: Agree. Just fucking write and ignore what readers think (assuming it’s a hobby and not your income. If it’s your income write whatever pays the bills)

56. If your fandom is dominated by shipping, it means your character dynamics are the most interesting part: Don’t look at your fandom. Ever. Fuck your fandom

57. If there’s “too much negativity,” there’s a root cause for it: Again, fuck your fandom

58. Cancel culture isn’t real: Didn’t Johnny Depp lose roles because of false allegations? And, reiterating this yet again, fuck your fandom. Also not writing advice

59. Own up to mistakes and don’t make excuses: Fuck your fandom. Actually. Ignore their existence. Also not writing advice

60. Forced diversity isn’t real criticism: Outside of historical context, forced diversity is a meaningless term. And yet again, fuck your fandom

61. Never include reclaimed slurs: My faggot ass made a character who always says “my faggot ass” and the story was better for it. “I dragged my faggot ass to the middle of bumfuck nowhere" is a good line of dialogue because of how it reflects the character and his views on things

62. Oppressed groups fighting back aren’t villains: They’ve been heroes in a thousand stories and villains in a thousand others. This is such a broad concept that you can have them fall anywhere on the hero-villain spectrum and make it work. What about an oppressed group being taken advantage of through misinformation telling them they’re fighting against their oppressors and not for them? That’s a cool idea I might use

63. Heroes who don’t kill being indirectly responsible for future villain acts is an interesting story idea: It is interesting but based on the previous 62 tips, I would not trust her to write it

64. Fuck not having poc in a fantasy work: Every element that deviated from the real world needs worldbuilding. Anything that doesn’t have worldbuilding tied to it should align with reality, so by all means include poc in historical periods they weren’t in. Just say “alternate history migration,” but address it. As a bonus, a vague fictional migration that isn’t detailed enough to be put under real scrutiny will, at worst, amount to nothing, and at best make readers appreciate your fantasy world a little bit more. If it’s a completely different setting from reality (like the galaxy in Star Wars) you don’t even need to address it. So outside of historical contexts, Lily is right here

65: Sexual tension and chemistry are not the only things in a relationship: Agree. The primary factor in a fictional relationship is what each character is willing to do for the other (which makes “my partner’s safety/ happiness/ etc” into a character motive)

66. Best potential romantic partner is the best friend: Hard disagree. Friendships irl aren’t “romance waiting to happen,” Platonic relationships exist, and both in my works and irl are some of the strongest I’ve had (granted, my stories lack romance so I don’t have the best sample)

67. “I don’t want the character to be defined by relationships” is stupid: When your character only exists in relation to others that’s not a character. That’s an extension of other characters. What is their relationship with themselves? That question should come first. Then you ask about relationships with others. Put simply, I, as a person, am not merely “[my dad’s name]’s son,” or “[my brother]’s brother.” I am those things, but those descriptors don’t define me

68. If you don’t want a character remembered by a romantic subplot, don’t make it the finale: If you dedicated time to a subplot and don’t want it to be greatly remembered, don’t include it in the first place

69. Slow burn doesn’t mean taking forever to get together: Refer all the way back to point 36

70. Sexual awakening is not a character arc: Hard disagree on the basis that, going back to point 25 where I mention one of my stories, a woman’s sexual awakening being the catalyst to break free from societal ideas to become a happier person is a character arc

71. Fuck boob armor: Boob armor is stupid from a practical perspective, but a character saying “I use it because I like the look” is a good enough justification for its inclusion. And in some ways it adds realism because if I could wear boob armor irl I certainly would

72. Bow and arrow are strength weapons, not dexterity weapons: True, even if not very relevant for writing as a whole. But I will say, Soul Knight’s 40m Long Blade requires more strength to wield than most bows

73. Avoid tokenism by having multiple characters: If you need a band-aid solution for tokenism, your story has deeper issues

74. Increase diversity by only one having straight, one white, and one cis character (or one character that’s all three): If you need this tip for diversity, your story has deeper issues

75. Don’t be afraid of failure and backlash: I agree. Fuck your fandom

76. Poc and queer characters can exist without the story talking about bigotry: She’s right, but this is one of those basic things that I wouldn’t call writing advice

77. Wanting the audience to have fun is good: If you write as a job, yes. As a hobby, you choose why you want to write. Personally, I don’t think about the audience at all when writing, but that’s just me

78. Slice of life is more popular than action/ adventure: Look up the wikipedia list for top grossing movies of all time. And for best selling manga of all time. This is blatantly wrong and also not writing advice

79. Don’t cram every idea into your story: Agree, and it’s a genuinely good tip for beginner writers

80. D&D alignment charts don’t work outside of D&D: Any game will simplify it’s character creation for the sake of being playable. It’s not just D&D. Though alignment charts aren’t bad as long as they’re paired with more things to make the character

81. Fuck Rocky Horror Picture Show: I don’t know enough about the creator of it to confirm nor deny her claims that it was made by a terf. Either way, not writing advice

82. Don’t call queer character queer: My faggot ass is queer, and when I make a queer ass faggot character, their faggot ass is also queer. Get over it

83. Rape is unforgivable: Irl? Definitely. In fiction? Write your world with its rules. What are the laws in it? Social norms? How do characters feel about it? If we have a dystopian world where rape isn’t considered bad and a character engages in it because they’ve been told their whole life it was ok to do, how accountable should we hold the rapist vs the system? That’s yet another cool story idea that explores how we should address large cultural issues and hoe responsible any one individual is for reinforcing the system. And if you can’t blame any individual, who do you hold accountable?

84. Sex scenes are unnecessary: Going back to the woman with the sexual awakening, the sex scenes are important. It’s her indulging in so many things she were taught were wrong and realizing how much happier she feels afterwards while also growing spiteful of the people who spent years keeping her down

85. Vulnerability is not a character flaw: Who ever said it was?

86. “Peak tv” means “addiction-fueled misery porn:” Huh? What? Also not writing advice

87. Addiction-fueled storytelling relies on keeping audiences hooked on what happens next: Audiences only care about what happens next when they’re invested in the story already. The Walking Dead lost a fuck ton of viewers after the season 7 opener, despite it starting off one of the storylines that relies the most on twists and turns in the series. Viewers cut their losses

88. Game of Thrones and Steven Universe were only as long as they were because of sunk-cost fallacy: Not writing advice and also pulled out of her ass

89. Continuity isn’t the most important thing: Consistency matters. Consistency is what keeps the illusion that is a story from shattering in front of our eyes. We know fiction is fake, but we’re happy to pretend it’s real while we read, watch, or play it. But we can only pretend as long as consistency is present

90. “Too political” isn’t real criticism: Agree, but this goes back to fuck your fandom

91. Little Mermaid and Cinderella are more feminist than Beauty and the Beast: Not writing advice, and I don’t have any of these movies in my recent memory so I can’t comment on this unless I rewatch them

92. Change a trans character’s pronouns the moment they realize they’re trans: Not a bad idea, but not the only one that works. First-person narration for example is a notable exception. One other exception in my works includes a trans woman who the narrator refers to with she/her pronouns in scenes when she’s alone but uses he/him pronouns in public until she comes out and the narrator switches to exclusively using she/her

93. You don’t have to justify story decisions unless it’s harmful or bigoted: This is true assuming writing isn’t your job. I still justify every story decision because I want everything to have an underlying reason, but that’s just my style

94. Vampires and werewolves aren’t queer-coded and work better as metaphors for the aristocracy: You can make vampires and werewolves anything-coded and with some effort make it work fairly well

95. Some of the best stories were written out of spite: True, but not writing advice. The Divine Comedy (specifically Inferno) is just Dante going “ha, I’ve portrayed you as the soyjack and me as the Chad” except “soyjack” is replaced by “damned soul punished in hell.” Don Quixote is Cervantes doing the equivalent of shitting on the MCU nowadays. But spite alone won’t make writing good. Both Dante and Cervantes are masterful writers whose greatness comes from a number of factors, not only spite

96. No government system is inherently good or bad: In fiction, I agree. Any decent writer can make any system good or bad within a story. She uses irl examples but that’d be getting into my political beliefs of inherently bad government systems and that’s not what we’re here for

97. Lesbian being on good terms with ex boyfriend from before coming out is a cute trope: Yeah, it can be. Again, any decent writer can make this cute, creepy, happy, terrifying, etc.

98. There is functionally no difference between a close platonic and a romantic relationship: I won’t go into detail about my love life, but hell no. Touch some fucking grass

99. Normalize friends saying “I love you:” This can work when done by a skilled writer

100. If you write a 100-tweet long writing advice (debatable) thread, go outside and touch grass: I swear I didn’t read this before writing my response to point 98

Conclusion: Lily Orchard either lacks critical thinking skills or assumes her audience does. Either way, don’t take her advice. If this is the best she can do, she’d fail any literature class I took in high school. She should learn Spanish if she hasn’t already and meet my 12th grade Spanish literature teacher. She’d fail the class but she’d hopefully learn something

[stereax]

WHAT A WIN! What a showing by the stars. That said, Carolina is not a team that will allow getting walked on again. This shift in momentum is kinda reminiscent of game 6 against the Rags, Devils let the game get away from them but came back to completely dominate game 7. Much to improve still for the Devils, but an impressive trouncing all the same. Can’t allow 3 shorties or not score on 4 minutes of 5 on 3.

Carolina’s weakness is in goal clearly and the Devils need to take advantage while playing a much cleaner, tighter game defensively (their 3-0 win against Carolina was their best, most complete game during the reg season IMO). I think Akira Akira should get the start. VV looked shakier than Jack when they drafted Luke. I don’t hate 11-7 but whatever they decide, Luke’s earned a spot in the lineup. Brendan Smith, I apologize for being a hater.

I’m going to rewatch all 8 goals on repeat until game 4.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Those are my comeback boys. Made Andersen AND Kochetkov look like SIEVES last night.

Yeah. The shorties... no bueno. VV, you can't give up THREE of those. Akira should get the start but Lindy's probably gonna ride VV until he loses. Not a bad thing but. Ya know. Akira Akira... 11/7 works well for us, I think.

Which reminds me - I was reading that in both the Rags and Canes series, the first two games, the opponent did a fuck ton of "full ice forechecking" which isn't sustainable over a seven game series - "it was big jokes and laughs on the bench for them the first two games now they are sucking wind and look shocked just like the rags did" , "now their confidence is gone". Do you think Carolina can adjust?

[ryupioupiou]

Personal thought...

With this movement of countless live actions remakes, from Disney or any other studios, I feel there is a disregard for animation in general. (Captain obvious here)

Sure, some Live actions could bring more to the franchise because it can explore some aspect and all that...

But seriously, animation gives yiu a freedom that even live action movies NEED CGI which is animation.

I just watched Kung Fu Panda and just the moment of the death of Master Oogway, how could you do that without CGI? It doesn't make any sense.

A lot of people say animation is for kids. I disagree so much. Even my uncle says it. Yes, there is animation aimed at kids. But most is for everyone.

That's what I love. A movie you watched as a kid, you will understand it like a kid. We are limited and lack insight. We don't have much experience at life when we are kids. When we rewatch as an adult, you feel like... you just... didn't watch the same movie.

My main example of that is Disney's The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. As a kid, to me Frollo was a mean old man who wanted the girl. I didn't pay much attention to anything else. How DARK it really is. How could I? I was like 5 when it got out, and I stopped watching it at like ...10.

When I was in college, my best friend and I were like "let's watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (last time he watched was as a kid as well).

At the end of it, we were flabbergasted. We didn't feel like we watched the same movie. Seriously. We love History. Reality of the movie slapped us hard.

As adults, you understand a movie differently and animation is just a medium. And oh boy can be understood many ways.

And a lot of people assume that's just for kids just because it's for a general audience...

But animation is also for adults, even out of the general rating. Just for animes, how many are nothing but pure violence, gore, and.. well, downright NOT safe for work?

Let's not talk about Sausage party? When best friend and I watched it, we were like

" how sounds funny let's watch it!"

*5 minutes in*

" that's for kids?"

* 10 minutes in*

"I doubt that's for kids"

15 minutes in

" definitely not for kids"

The end

"What. The. HELL. Did we just watch?! "

"We confirm, this is not for kids"

(We watched it 3 times more afterwards. Yes, we are stupid. I never said I had common sense).

That's just an example. Imagine a live action of this? That would be p*rn. Then again, just a medium.

That's what I love about animation. You can do whatever you want. You can imagine an entire WORLD and be able to create it. Mostly the way you want. You can have absolute control over your characters appearance, quircks, expression that you cannot have perfectly with an actor.

You can tell awesome stories. And I have a deep. Deep. DEEP respect for all those people who brings this world to life.

Live action of the same franchise is... meh. You can improve or change the general story and explore aspects of it, true, but how to capture the exact same emotion of a character? How to recreate the same general emotion? The same humor?

I am not specifically talking about the HTTYD live action coming up. I am talking in general.

I just think it's. .. not a waste of time but a waste of ressources in the sense that the huge amount of money and different ressources it takes to make them could be used for a new story of something else.

It undermines the huge work the animators and their teams busted their butts for, just saying "animation is for kids". A lot of adults love animation. Some prefer live action, true, but a lpt love animation. It's just different, and just as valid. But LA remakes are sending the message that "nope look ahaha so much better with real actors".

And it works. People have the right to be excited about them. I have no problem with that, but personally, i don't like the idea. And I mean, all of them. There is no live action I can say I enjoyed enough to watch a second time. Because it feels flat. Bland. Bleh.

However, I am Not saying making animated version of a movie is automaticalmy good or bad, i feel the same way about it. I am not a fan.

I know there is a live action of The Little Mermaid coming up, i saw the teaser, I was like "okay cool. Meh". Maybe some could be remade into live action, but just...

Leave animation alone.

It is a perfectly good medium. If you want live action, do it for an original story. Original world. Counting on fond remembrance of fans for the animated version is underhanded.

If you are glad they exist, or are excited for any of them, good for you, that's great! It is just my opinion that you should let it rest or let animation do its job.

It makes no sense I know