#I think the difference in how the OGs get treated is very funny

[3kidsinacoat]

[hamartia-grander]

Hi, just wanted to ask a honest question because I've seen you post about it a few times and I genuinely don't understand where you're coming from when you say this. How is remake Leon a misogynist?

Most recently I saw you point out him calling Ada heartless, but I don't see how that's him being sexist. He says that in response to her telling him information on where to find Ashley, having previously told him to leave her behind (to presumably die or worse), and I don't think its misogynistic for him to make a jab at her for that. Especially because Leon's big motivation is saving people, of course he wouldn't be a huge fan of anyone telling him to intentionally leave someone to die if he's able to save them. (This is also not to say Ada's a bad person for suggesting that, I love Ada and her character but I also understand why Leon would be upset by such a thing)

If there's anything else in the remakes that I've missed you point out I'm curious to what else makes him misogynistic because I just don't see it.

Also like a sidenote I guess almost all of Leon's misogynistic lines are from original re4 but Luis also has lines like this, so I don't understand why he gets to be distinguished between versions and Leon doesn't when you talk about their characters.

"honest question" and yet, you seem to have already formulated an idea of my answer (and an opinion of me) based off of one post where I casually mentioned it, and you decided to look no further before getting defensive about it. Are you even asking? Do you even care to learn? Or will you just ignore everything I say? And asking anonymously is very funny to me. Literally who are you.

I talked about it here, kinda joked about it here, and I very thoroughly detailed it here, as well as reiterated in the comments. I'm so tired of repeating myself. It's 1am now bc I took the time to find these posts for you lol. Maybe read them before you try attacking a straw man.

But to the Luis point? I absolutely do separate og RE4 Leon and remake Leon… Like literally my entire POINT is that no, remake Leon is still sexist, just differently, and here is why… I really don't understand how you came to this conclusion lmao.

The main idea is, Capcom thinks they've written out Leon's misogyny; but because Capcom itself is a very bigoted company, they perpetrate misogyny in everything they make and they don't even realise it! They genuinely think the way they wrote remake Leon absolves him from the misogyny when it doesn't, it just re-contextualises it in a way that Capcom deems palatable. They still see Ada as an extension of Leon! They still see Ada's worth revolving solely around how Leon feels in response to her actions. It's ridiculous. And the way Leon is written to treat her, the lines he's given towards her, reflect this attitude, and becomes misogynistic when he treats a male character who has done worse than Ada right in front of Leon with respect and empathy.

[calocera]

Your posts about SNW Spock makes me so curious, could you please explain how they've done him wrong since he seems very different from the original series :O Are they making him more human despite the SNW taking place before the og?

yeah i can! im not the best person to talk about it probably since im a pretty recent trek fan and also tos/spock arent parts of trek i care about as much as a lot of other fans, but i have opinions for sure!!

firstly just up front i do not like ethan peck as spock. he does not look like spock or act in a way i am satisfied with. it feels like the only reason they cast him was because he has a deep voice. so i am going forward in this with haterism for him specifically not JUST how he is written in snw

Spock is written not like a vulcan but like an anhedonic human. actually not even anhedonic, just like a human raised in vulcan society trying to blend in. like there is nothing about him that feels genuine he just feels like woobiebait for 2012 tumblr to make flower crown edits of because he is awkward and quirky. every scene involving spock is a joke about him and his demeanor, everything he says is a wink wink nudge nudge "lol vulcans act like this and its so stupid lol logic is silly" like i can physically feel a laugh track whenever hes on screen. i enjoy jokes about vulcans but it isnt funny when there isnt anything else. its like spock showing emotion, it isnt satisfying when its a constant and not a little treat peppered in. in snw hes stifling a giggle or screaming in pain or being oopsie awkward silly every time he gets a focal scene, it takes the magic away because now it isnt a rare break in character its just how he is. Ive seen a lot of people defend this aspect as him being young and therefore less mature than in tos, but hes like approaching 30 :\ i get him being less mature but he doesnt act like a sheltered 30 year old he acts like someone freshly 18. at this point its just like…MAKE A NEW CHARACTER!!!!

as a point of contrast, i like how uhura is written in snw (in season 1 anyways, she has barely appeared in s2) she is obviously younger and is growing into her spot on the crew, but they arent hinging her character on the 1 or 2 pop culture uhura moments, retconning anything about that that doesnt align with modern media fandom, and calling it a day; they actually expand on her character outside of like idk her doing a sexy dance and her sitting at the phone (though i guess it is easier for her since she had barely any character in tos anyways). meanwhile they DO do that with spock, his bullet point top 10 iconic spock moments of sometimes being awkward and showing emotion are now the only things he is allowed to do. tldr flanderization

i also think its interesting that it is this way since ethan peck played spock in discovery and there hes the exact opposite. hes extremely serious and vulcan; which fits the tone of the show (regardless of my opinions on the tone of disco). i just dont understand how that spock translated into the snw spock. they are not the same guy.

anyways on to the biggest plot related gripe with him...how he interacts with women!!!yay!!

first theres how they decided to have multiple episodes about his, apparently, strained-yet-loving-and-involved relationship with tpring. the inclusion of t'pring feels stupid because other than the 1 minute of cheap "oh i remember her!" from someone seeing her on screen for the first time what point is there to her returning when the ONE canonical fact about her is that she and spock A: had an arranged marriage, B: did not meet in person since they were children, and C: hated each other. its not like there is a huge contingency of t'pring/spock shippers holding out since 1967 so what value does reintroducing her as a character serve? i assume its as some kind of attempt to give a woman who previously had no real character something to do, but her existence on snw is STILL only about spock and her relation to spock so there isnt any sort of feminist level up happening. including her was not interesting enough to justify retconning the plot of the most iconic episode of star trek. especially when multiple episodes tonally and stakes-wise rely on you caring about them as a couple, and anyone watching who knows who she is already knows that her and spock dont have any relationship to speak of in the future so who is this for? if you really really just NEED spock to have sex with a woman why not make a new character? that would also suck but at least it wouldnt be timeline interfering. im not even a huge continuity purist "oh no!!the timeline!!!plotholes!!!" but when the situation is the writers deliberately breaking the continuity in large ways and the outcome isnt even fun? stupid.

and now his relationship with chapel. i am way more annoyed by this one since its just gross. so from tos the only thing with them is that chapel has a crush on him and spock is not interested. also worth noting that its such a non-plot related thing that it only is revealed under the influence of alien drug virus that makes you horny. and they decided that not only was that enough to base a whole reciprocated romance arc around, but now since theyve introduced tpring back into the story, spock is now a cheater??? what is the POINT of breaking canon to introduce spocks girlfriend only to go "well actually hes horny for his coworker" like...that isnt how love triangles work youve just done a character assassination. the man who would rather kill his best friend than have sex with his wife is now fucking both her and the woman who confessed to him and he got so mad he crushed a computer with his bare hands. ok 👍. i just hate that they chose spock to be the romantic center of the show. anyone else could have been the character who gets into relationship drama why spock? there are multiple new characters who could have taken up the position. and its not like spock has nothing else to do as a character without it

to say things specifically about the most recent epsiode since it was particularly annoying and showed things that happen throughout the series:

firstly spock just does shit thats stupid. illogical even. i know the whole logical fallacy moment with vulcans but when it isnt a point of note in the show and rather just happens as if its a normal occurrence for spock as a person im like...he would be a laughing stock on vukcan and not have any of the positive reputation he holds.

the plot of this ep was basically that spock gets turned completely human and they just miss literally the whole point of it. vulcans have MORE emotion than humans, they ACTIVELY suppress it. yet when spock is turned human he just experiences human emotion completely emotionally? he should be having an EASIER time suppressing his emotions. and OMG he gets a BONER because he sees a hot WOMAN LOL LOL isnt that funny? spock got hard isnt that hilarious? its just so cheap. they act like being human makes him a completely different person, they played it like the voyager episode where belanna gets split into human and klingon BUT in that case she was literally split into two different people (this ep had a lot of issues too ie racism but that’s a different can of worms); here spock just becomes human he still has the same memories and training and history...why would he forget what its like to be a vulcan. they could SO EASILY make excuses too but they just didnt care. and anyways bada bing bada boom the ep ends with him and chapel hooking up which i already complained about and could complain about more.

i think thats already too much so im gunna stop myself here but trust theres more i hate and other people have probably talked about this better than i have :')

blade nation

[steveharrington]

Hi! I just saw your post about Steve being abandoned by the narrative and I found it so interesting, but I have a question and a wonder on your thoughts.

First, how was Steve supposed to die? I knew he was suppose to die in s1 initially, but I assumed it was at the hand of the demogorgan, but if Lonnie helped Jonathan and Nancy, ig he wasn't there. Was he supposed to die in the pool instead of barb, and she didn't exist in the og script? But that feels a lil too early considering other things hadn't happened yet, so how did he die?

Also, I was thinking about whta you said in regards to Steve getting tortured has an almost light hearted tone to it, and im wondering what you think may have contributed to that tone? He's getting beat up, he's begging for his life, the general is intimidating, what about the scene somehow makes it feel less scary than other scenes? Part of me wants to sya the lighting, since it's in a well lit sterile room, but even in those lab scenes with El in the beginning, it was still scary. Idk what do u think?

so the funny thing is that the duffers apparently don’t even remember how they were going to kill steve, just that he was gonna die and lonnie would take his place during the demogorgon fight before joe keery charmed them too hard and they changed their minds

(this was apparently said during netflix geeked prior to s2 according to this rotten tomatoes article)

as for the torture scene, i just think they added way too much like…joking around? his whole little spiel about the uss butterscotch and the way he stops to be like “or maybe it’s gelato where you come from 🤣” and the fake out when the guards laugh, it’s all very goofy and kinda going in the direction of a comedic scene until they knock him out and then you’re like holy fuck. idk if the duffers intended that, maybe they thought it would be like a way to subvert audiences expectations and kinda sucker punch us the same way steve gets sucker punched, but it just creates a weird….vibe. there’s also the bit where he and robin are giggling and refusing to answer and when they suddenly start pulling on steve’s nail with pliers it just becomes insanely dark insanely fast, to the degree where i saw a gifset of that scene recently and i thought like wow that last gif (plier fingernail bit) looks like it belongs to a different gifset just from how quickly the tone changes. in scenes where el is getting tortured or hopper is getting tortured it’s treated So Seriously there’s absolutely zero comedy there are zero jokes or bits written in, which makes sense! it’s torture! but for steve i really think they struggle to write him in any mode but comedic and it just strikes a weird tone

[ava-does-dumbassery]

What are your thoughts on the new Renfield x Dracula rendition 2023? I for one was so enthralled that I want to start reading the book. I have Dracula on my shelf, is that all there is to it?

I have not seen Renfield 2023 so I don’t think I’m really qualified to give an opinion on it. From what I have seen/heard of it though, it seems like their Renfield is a lot more based on Renfield from the 1931 movie, where he was played by Dwight Frye than he is on original book Renfield. The most obvious and superficial difference would probably be that 2023 Renfield is a pretty young man, like Dwight Frye Renfield, while OG book Renfield is 59 year old man. Renfield having a lot more of an obvious relationship with Dracula and acting directly as an assistant to him is also something that I think comes more from the 1931 movie. Renfield is the best character in the original book (fight me /light-hearted) but doesn’t show up a lot of in it, so if you’re reading it just for the relationship between him and Dracula you’ll probably get pretty bored. Renfield in the original book is also a character who has a lot of things that are hinted at or implied about him, but most of them are never really explained. That does make him a very fun character to speculate on or make headcanons about, but since the book has several parts where the characters will just take a moment to sit down and straight up explain what all the vampire lore that’s been implied so far is, it does feel like a cop out that none of the things that were hinted about Renfield are ever addressed afterwards.

Also, since Renfield 2023 is a horror comedy about a guy overcoming his abuser, I should probably bring this up about the original book if you want to read it, but it’s kind of a hard thing for me to know how to explain, so sorry if anything I say is unclear: Uh, basically, by writing a mentally ill character who he did not see any need to treat with respect and viewed as subhuman, deeply bigoted author Bram Stoker managed to stumble ass backwards into writing the most realistic and honest portrayal of psychiatric abuse that I’ll probably ever be able to find in any piece of media ever?

In the original book, Renfield basically has psychosis (delusions/hallucinations) and is being held in an asylum and abused by a doctor who is one of the most central main characters characters of the novel. Bram Stoker didn’t feel any obligation to make Renfield appealing or relatable to the contemporary ableist Victorian audience, and in most of his scenes it feels like we’re intended to him find his mental illness either creepy or funny. Sometimes it also feels like we’re supposed to find him pitiable, but it’s mainly either creepy or funny. However, Bram Stoker, seemingly by complete accident, managed to make Renfield behave in ways that are very realistic to how someone going through that abuse would actually act. It’s hard to really explain, it feels like Stoker was envisioning Renfield as this ableist caricature of mental illness, but then didn’t think through the implications of a lot of the stuff he wrote, and unintentionally made him complex and incredibly realistic. Reading about OG book Renfield switching between doing things that are really gross or embarrassing because he’s in a state where he has very little grasp on reality or control over himself, to trying to maintain his dignity in his more lucid states only for his abuser to force him back into humiliating himself, to doing gross, humiliating, or bad things intentionally because it’s the only way to feel like he has any power in or any way to potentially escape a situation where someone who sees him as subhuman has complete control over him, and the way his story ends is… the most raw and painfully honest depiction of what it feels like to be in that situation that I will probably ever be able to find anywhere. And it was made by an author who was definitely not aware that he was doing that, in a story that doesn’t even really acknowledge it.

Also, in my opinion, Renfield has a lot of moments that are actually funny and not just in a “mocking someone for displaying mental illness” way. 95% of the characters in Dracula are restrained, polite Victorians who never complain about anything ever and refuse to communicate properly because of it. But Renfield is just so blunt, and rude, and openly sarcastic whenever he has the chance to be, and the people he is talking to always deserve it, which is amazing.

So, yeah, OG book Renfield is one of my favourite characters of all time, he’s the best character in the original book , he manages to be both very fun and iconic while also being deeply tragic at the same time, which is great, but if what I’ve incoherently rambled about in this post doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, the 1931 movie is probably a better bet for you.

[beardedmrbean]

Sorry for the delay, but something I keep seeing from Africans

Africans: Ugh can Americans stop showing that we are all in huts or war zones?

Black Americans: But Africa is a sacred place for us!

Africans: You do know we have electricity, have the Internet and watch stuff on Netflix?

Black Americans: Huh?

Africans: We also tend to combine our tribes designs with modern architecture and clothing…Wait…We usually became independent in the mid 20th century….You guys don’t think we completely took out the (usually shitty) electric systems the French and English implanted rather than improve on them?

BA: yeah

Africans…Holy shit this explains Wakanda in the movies

Now I been taking to Indian friend to help make a better Wakanda. And one thing I been noticing about people in the old world like in England, India, and especially Japan. Is that they prefer to combine their historical past with modern times

Of course there is conflict between say old New York and modern New York. And Mexico City blended their heritage with their modern style

Now on sir your being mocked, there a very old thread he reblog about someone saying Killmonger represented the conflicts between black Americans and Africans

Now Killmonger and Wakanda was a special case…the thing is with modern black Americans is that current dispora is self inflicted. Like that college of black Americans students complaining there were too many African ones

African Americans activists: We are so oppressed in America *proceed to walk past pictures of the Obamas, famous black civil rights activists like MLK and Rosa Parks, proceed to listen to Micheal Jackson and Beyoncé music*

Oh and the blm shitshow

But the issues is that a lot of black Americans activists never left their 10 year old understanding of Africa. They cling onto a FETISHIZED version of it, and romanticize the Dahomey….who the og source to all the evil shit that happened to our enslaved ancestors

I mean we would have these dark jokes (pun intended) about Thomas Jefferson and his slave if it wasn’t for Dahomey…also Nigeria banned women king? Wait isn’t that also what Yorubaland is at?

In a alternate universe, Israel banned a movie that said that the NAZIS ended the concentration camps

Oh thanks Viola Davis, John Boyega(wait isn’t he a second gen Nigerian Britian? Well shit), and that white chick for damaging our media bond with Africa

Thank youuuuuu

But also the main issues is the ENTITLEMENT my community have towards Africans cultures because we have the same skintones as them. You guys treat Africa as a fucking Disney fantasyland and have tantrums when Africans point out the differences between us and them

Probably a second one, but the feminists panel video I sent. The YouTuber Synder pointed out in the video she felt like she was in a room of people who think their the main protagonist of a young adult fictional novel

It’s terrified me to how much that with black Americans around Africans

Africans: Ugh can Americans stop showing that we are all in huts or war zones? ect....

Post floating round on here, couple of them actually they go different ways but start the same. With pointing out the western idea of what Africa looks like is wrong and racist.

Where it gets funny is the one with the mud huts and such that are actually in Africa and pictures of I thought it was Mexico city but it's not popping up as examples of what they have going on in Africa.

If I hadn't checked the OP's blog I'd have thought they did that on purpose.

Now I been taking to Indian friend to help make a better Wakanda. And one thing I been noticing about people in the old world like in England, India, and especially Japan. Is that they prefer to combine their historical past with modern times Of course there is conflict between say old New York and modern New York. And Mexico City blended their heritage with their modern style

Mexico City couldn't keep all its old traditions alive, had to get rid of that temple in the middle of town where they did the human sacrifices and such, still shows up in their artwork tho.

A lot of these places where they do that it's connected to whatever the faith of the people is, it's 'sacred' architecture, not a hard and fast rule but you'll see it if you look in a lot of places. They also tend to be very homogeneous populations where that happens, be why in the US that just ain't happening. Japan on the other hand.....

Now on sir your being mocked, there a very old thread he reblog about someone saying Killmonger represented the conflicts between black Americans and Africans

I don't recall that bit off hand, but I can see the comparison.

African Americans activists: We are so oppressed in America *proceed to walk past pictures of the Obamas, famous black civil rights activists like MLK and Rosa Parks, proceed to listen to Micheal Jackson and Beyoncé music* Oh and the blm shitshow

2016 some blm activists/leaders were invited to the white house to meet with obama for a chat, barry asked them what they wanted and such the response was along the lines of, we don't think we're being taken seriously and it feels like nobody is listening to us.

I will point out the irony of, saying that to the president of the United States when you are meeting him on his invitation in the Oval Office, because lots of people seemed to miss that one.

I mean we would have these dark jokes (pun intended) about Thomas Jefferson and his slave if it wasn’t for Dahomey…also Nigeria banned women king? Wait isn’t that also what Yorubaland is at?

that and Benin, which benin is actually the successor state to the dahomey empire, so they probably have some band blood still in Nigeria if they did ban that, credit to a lot of various black led publications in the US, they took the opportunity that woman king gave them and proceeded to be honest about it, pretty much out of options other than ignore at that point tho.

In a alternate universe, Israel banned a movie that said that the NAZIS ended the concentration camps

Don't know that I'll ever understand why they made the film, could they possibly have thought people wouldn't look.

But also the main issues is the ENTITLEMENT my community have towards Africans cultures because we have the same skintones as them. You guys treat Africa as a fucking Disney fantasyland and have tantrums when Africans point out the differences between us and them

Was looking for something else to add here and ran into this which just may be better.

ARTICLE LINK HERE

This is one of those things that tend to get black Americans to expose their own anti-blackness, because often times I see the comments made about actual Africans after a thing like this pops up and the entitled children come out of the woodwork with any and every reason why it's tottaly different when they do that.

Any other Black Americans visit Africa to see their ancestral homeland?

This is from a travel forum and it starts out in the most American way possible I think.

There's some nice information in there, some countries in West Africa have made a industry out of black Americans returning to the motherland and are making a fair deal of money out of it, which depending on the history of that country they may be double dipping since they got the money when they sold their ancestors too.

But they probably don't want to talk about that, lol

Still can't find what I was looking for, some IG "model" flaunting herself in the middle of the dirt road in a African village with her fancy shiny new "authentic" clothes with a good portion of the folks that actually live there giving her either bewildered or annoyed looks, reading their minds I can hear them all screaming 'just spend your money and go back to America please' in their heads.

Not Kenyan Hippie is fun with some of that, she's sassy too I like her.

[frenchfriesoverguys]

that 90′s show review

hello im back

spoilers ahead

I watched That 70′s Show like it was a religion when I was younger so I had quite a few expectations going into this.

Guest appearances from the original cast were funny and very nostalgic. Red and Kitty seem like they never left the roles, love them in this. The show itself had likable characters who looked the ages they were supposed to be (15 to 16 years old). Leia was a great combination of Eric and Donna without feeling repetitive. She’s dorky and awkward like Eric but her actual interests are completely different and tends to lean towards Donna in how she treats her friends and her interests. I think Gwen is the most like Donna; into the feminist movement/women empowerment. She’s raised by one (messy) parent. Her rebellious streak does remind me of Hyde as well as her temperament. It’s a fresh take on older characters. Same with Jay. Similar to Kelso but mostly in his expressions and maturity - he has Jackie’s heart and head. They never clarify whether or not Jackie is his biological mom but in the very least she is helping raise him and it shows. Nikki is smart, driven, confident but cold. She doesn’t really remind me of one particular OG character but that adds to the new elements of this show. Nate and Ozzie also don’t remind me of anyone on the OG show but I know they modelled Ozzie after Fez. The only overlap, in my opinion, is that they are both flamboyant. Ozzie’s secure in his own skin, knowledgeable about current culture and not emotional. 

Jay and Leia remind me so much of Donna and Eric. It’s puppy love and first love for both of them. He calms her down when she’s stressed but doesn’t dismiss her concerns. I really thought this would be my ship on the show. But I think they both have a lot of maturing to do (again they’re 15) and I could actually see them breaking up over the school year. To move the plot forward, it’s probably for the best. Same with Nate and Nikki. I have to admit, Gwen and Nikki have more chemistry. Nate is the most emotionally intelligent one in the group and I think that's why the scenes with Leia actually work. They are both people who feel their emotions and act on them (e.g. both of their jealousy story lines). Its well established that they both have jealous streaks so that will be a fun dynamic to explore in a later season. It was a little rushed but thinking within the season’s timeline: she arrived July 4th and left end of August. That’s about 6 weeks in which she met everyone, started flirting with Jay, dating Jay, and got broken up with (and back together). I like the triangle dynamic, Nate and her have a better foundation as friends. She can go to him for advice and understanding. She’s had more of an emotionally connection with him. Gwen not being as into or interested in boys leads me to believe she is probably going to have a coming out plot later. I like her as Leia’s friend but I think Niki and her are a better match. The 90′s had embraced a lot of wlw energy and I want more of that on the show. 

Underrated duo’s I want to see more of next season: Ozzie and Kitty (I cried when he came out to her), Nate and Gwen (their sibling’s episode was adorable), Red and Nikki (she gets him lol), Leia and Nikki (big sister vibes), and Nikki and Gwen (they may be too powerful together).

I hated almost everything they did with the old characters. Eric and Donna were fine but they didn’t stay in touch with Jackie and Kelso?? Jackie and Kelso stayed in town but lost contact with Red and Kitty?? Both of them stepped in when Jackie’s dad was arrested and her mom was AWOL. Jay and Leia should already know each other!! He could have been her connection to meet everyone else. They could have been childhood friends to lovers like Eric and Donna were. Fez’s story lines were good, it was what I expected from him. He stayed around, stayed in touch with Kitty and, while being successful, still struggles with getting too emotionally attached to women. They didn’t mention Hyde once but I understood that. Saying something like “he’s in jail” or “he’s a deadbeat” would be out of character after his development in the OG. But if he wasn’t either of those things, he had no reason to not be involved with the Forman’s who took him in for a better life. 

All in all: potential is there. I would like this to get renewed to see more character development as there was little to none outside of Leia (again they are 15 and this is 6 weeks). I think it could be great like That 70′s Show. For now though it’s just a good, easy watch.

[sebastianshaw]

Didn't want to talk to you about the mother r scene because I know you're deliberately not keeping up, but seeing as you have now seen it...

Does this man seriously not know how to write any other scene???? It's so off I dislike it so much

If this isn't the og Nathaniel as she says, why is she so mad at him?

The accent makes no sense (as you noticed) although they never do so idk why I'm surprised

This is not how you treat someone you hate. Like, this is duggans most obvious tell with this fixation of his. This dominatrix schtick is playful and intimate - its not necessarily affectionate per se but its not something you do with someone you hate. Let alone someone you're allegedly traumatised by. Urgh it's just my beef with his whole thing here

Thank you, you're so considerate! Yeah, I saw it by chance on another blog. I guess because he. . .looks like and ostensibly thinks like the real guy so she's taking it out on him? IDK. It always feels like he's writing the same scene with the same characters, they just look different. Like he really only knows how to do this one thing and he does it POORLY and the fetish just DRIPS off it in a way too cringe to even be funny. Like, I don't like the word cringe per se but it's the only word I have for it. I also feel this certain self-congratulatory smugness in it, from the character but I feel like it comes from him, at how Empowering this is. And it's like, shut up Gerry. You don't ACTUALLY care about WHO these women ARE or WERE, their personalities or pasts or motivations, you care about getting your rocks off and dressing it up as smashing the patriarchy. . .which, really, you're not even doing, like I'm not seeing really any kind of actual thoughtful feminist critique or whatever in this. It's like 90s girl power but at least that was really sincere in what it was trying for, this is a gross dude's gross fantasy at the expense of characters AND readers. It's just got this whole nasty vibe to it, both nasty as in the sexual sense and also nasty in that sense of smug self-assured obnoxiousness and nasty as in just plain mean. Like I don't mind bad things happening to bad people but there's always this real meanness that pervades his work whenever he feels like he can justifiably have something horrible happen to a deserving party and it really makes my skin crawl. His work in general, especially these sorts of scenes, have a real trademark flavor to them that's hard to express but very gross in multiple ways at once. And he's also just....bad at writing, and bad at characterization, so it makes it stand out all the more. @katatonicimpression

[blooming-violets]

hi! just finished reading Dancing On My Own and the sequel, and i wanted to say your writing is superb! it felt like my heart was breaking right alongside the characters, and the way you write is so captivating and heart-wrenching. I lowkey thought peter got away too easy, though, the man caused so much emotional damage i couldn’t forgive him as easily as reader did lol 😭 was wondering if you have ever or would consider writing a crazy angsty alternate ending where she ends up with gabe and peter has to watch on the sidelines?

I think it's so funny that I managed to write a Peter Parker fic for the Peter Parker fandom where Peter is one of the most hated characters I've ever written and a made up random dude I threw in to push the plot along is more beloved then the star of the show. I did that boy so dirty. People hate Peter's ass in these two fics. If I learned anything from writing those two stories, it's that I know how to villainize and fuck up a typically very loveable character.

I'm gonna ramble about it under the cut and explain why I don't feel up for writing an alternate version but (long story short) it's because the og ending fits too perfectly with their characters for me to even think about writing it a different way.

Originally what I intended to do was capture the heartbreak and pain of unrequited love from Robyn's Dancing On My Own song and translate that same hurt into a story. When I try to mold that into a tasm plot, it was fairly easy, because I always like to make sure that Gwen/her death is a big part of Peter's story when I write anyway so it kind of fit in perfectly for this. What is never explored in tasm canon world is exactly how Gwen's death affected Peter. Prior to No Way Home, all we get is him giving up Spider-Man for a while, clearly depressed, and then going back to it at the end. Since there was no third movie, those critical years after her death are up for the audience to decide. In No Way Home, we get the wonderful line of him not pulling his punches. That implies he went to a dark place, wasn't afraid of seriously hurting people, and sort of gave up on life. As a writer, that excites me, because I love a ruthless, angry, depressed Peter Parker and getting to explore that side of a character is like a wet dream for me. I love dark, morally corrupt characters. How does the sudden, untimely death of someone he loves break his psyche? How does watching his lover fall to her death and holding her dead body in his arms break a person? How does the guilt of not saving her in time eat away at his soul? He's supposed to be a hero. How can he not save the one person he's supposed to protect? How bitter and mean can a person become when all they feel is a stinging, numb sense of guilt and a constant, lingering dread? How far can a hero fall before they become the villain of their story?

Throw in a character to play opposite him who lived a life of abuse, guilt, and heartache herself and you've got the plot of Dancing On My Own! She doesn't know what it means to be loved without added conditions. Her unstable upbringing, lack of love, and abuse lead to a character who makes poor choices. From the outside, of course she should pick Gabe. He's smart, kind, funny, and caring...everything Peter used to be. He has all the qualities her old friend used to have but he doesn't have the lifetime of history with her. The only person she has ever been truly loyal to is Peter, regardless of how he treats her, because that's all she knows. How do you write a young woman who experiences a life of abuse, who has not received an ounce of decent therapy, and has been trauma bonded to her childhood friend? You write her to make questionable choices BUT choices that fit within her character's mindset at the time she is making them.

She's been waiting her entire life for Peter to show her romantic love. When she finally gets it, she's going to take it, regardless of how it looks from an outside point of view. She needs this. She needs to know what it feels like for Peter show romantic interest in her because she's been obsessed with that fantasy since middle school. Right now, she can't see it from the outside because she's so deep in it. It's the point of the story where you yell at your screen that these characters need therapy and a good slap to shake some sense into them. Unfortunately it's also where I chose to end the story as well haha. If this was an actual book, I'd let them explore this relationships for a few chapters, let them witness it first hand as it crashes and burns and slowly destroys them until they figure out themselves that maybe things were rushed. Peter needs some help. Reader needs some help. They both need friends outside of each other. They need to process their trauma. They both need time apart to understand how to be their own person without their unhealthy dependency on each other. But that's not going to happen. Yet. I think that a kiss and confession of love does not mean that two people are destined for each other in that exact moment.

While I don't consider this story to have the happiest of endings (I love me some angst), I do think it's fairly realistic for the way these two characters have been crafted. If she just rejected Peter and went to the hospital with Gabe, it wouldn't have been true to anything her character has show us prior to that moment. She drops everything for Peter. Always. That's all she knows how to do. She puts Peter before anyone else, including herself. It can sometimes be a positive character trait but it can also be the most negative one she has. A good therapist would help her figure that out. Or just a good, close friend other than Peter. But at the moment of the story end, she doesn't have either of those. So she choses Peter. It just makes sense to me in what her character would do.

Do I think she still visited Gabe in the hospital the next day? Yes. Do I think that Gabe would still be willing to be her friend? Yes. I don't think he holds grudges and genuinely likes her (even not in a romantic sense). Do I think that he can slowly become a voice of reason in her life? Yes.

But not yet.

Because I ended the story at the kiss instead of writing further. Because I like angsty depressed people and characters who make bad life choices. They make me feel more at home ;)

Side note, I very much enjoyed this question and since reading it, I've started writing again. Idk if anything will make it on to tumblr but I haven't written in a long time and it was nice to work that part of my brain again. Sooo thank you, my dear.

[kitchfit]

Year in Review: Books Pt 1

Tumblr deleted the entire first draft of this, which is cool and awesome. It was too long anyways. These aren't meant to be full on analytic reviews, just blurbs about my experience with the books and what I thought about them. I might move into more in depth stuff later on next year.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

He was pride. She was prejudice. Can I make it anymore obvious?

I started this on CD audiobook for the first half before driving my car off of a cliff. I was fine, but Elizabeth Bennet was a casualty of the accident, so I found the rest of the book on Libby with a different reader who had Very different vibes. It kind of fit how I felt about the book. Jane Austen is very good at regaling the audience from Elizabeth's point of view about how Darcy is the shittiest man alive, while turning at the halfway point to reveal he is actually the Only Good Victorian Man to exist.

I've seen this tale play out in both BBC and Keira Knightley formats, which are both fantastic in their own right, but I was significantly more invested in the characters this time around, especially the supporting cast. Elizabeth/Darcy romance was very cute, Jane and Bingley was adorable, Elizabeth's shitty cousin was hilarious. I like the glimpses of how she thinks about the rest of her family that you don't get in the movie. She hates how her dad views her mother as entertainment, she hates how her mother treats her children like products to be sold, she hates how her younger sisters make them all look silly. Damn she's really hateful, huh? Almost like she's preju-OHHHHHHHH.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Funny Cat, The Spider Mom, and the Weird Door

This was a book I was excited to get into. The movie freaked me out when I was little, as did it everyone else, and I'll get to that since I watched it immediately after this. Maybe this Friday. But it isn't anywhere near as vividly horrific as the OG Evil Narnia. In a fun way. There's an implication in this book that the Other World and Other Mother are just two of many possible little horrors that live under your bed or behind the door that shouldn't be there that want to hurt and/or eat you. Kind of like real life. That's okay though, you can get through it alive. And Coraline proves it.

I like her a lot as a character. She isn't near as naive as she is in the movie, and catches on to the nature of what's happening on the end of night one, thus Other Mother kidnapping her parents to serve as motivation to come back. That gives the book freedom to explore the Other World and its nature thoroughly, and watch as it all crumbles around Coraline. I like that everything is just a bunch of bugs stretched into the visage of pleasant things by a giant spider. I also love that spider's contrary motivation. She needs to feed, but there is also a genuine desire to love Coraline, to be a mother, whatever her bizarre conception of what that means. Evil hungry desire is more pressing though. Get in my web, girl.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

Digimon season one for 1950s British kids.

At some point I decided to reread all of the Narnia books. I got through like, 4 of them in a weird order due to how Libby works. I promise I do read physical stuff its just hard to find the time to finish them. The first book the Narnia line up was originally written for my boy Clive's real life goddaughter Lucy Barfield , who was temporarily displaced as a child during WWII, as a children's story. He even dedicated the book and maybe the whole series to her. However, by the time he finished this one she was already an adult and "too old for fairytales." Classic blunder. I'll still read your stuff, Clive.

The whole of Narnia is a wintery wonderland turned on its head, its magic and majesty suffocating under a thick sheet of ice. Jadis is a very cool antagonist. She's not super complex, but she's a very strong character and extremely threatening villain, as we see throughout the series. The Pevinsies all have a sweet relationship. Edmond's an asshole in a very realistic sense, but they all care deeply for each other in an even more realistic way. The end of the book starts a pattern Mr. Lewis likes to repeat where a quick epilogue is hamfisted into the end that blows over large swaths of time in a hurry to resolve everything. I have problem's with that in later books, but it works best here, skipping to the famous reveal that time moves much faster in Narnia, and two decades or so only equals a few minutes in our world. A little fucked up. Go through puberty again, Pevinsies, this time in BRITISH SCHOOL.

Prince Caspian by Clive

Ocarina of Time for 1950s British kids.

The second book in the series gives more context to the world Narnia lives in, while also screwing with our perception of what Narnia is in first place. A previously unmentioned country to the east invades and colonizes Narnia, oppressing its people and removing magic wherever they can. Lewis can write about the complexities of colonization as he actually comes from a country familiar with this kind of shit, believe it or not. Who are they conquered by? A country of Minotaurs? Dragons? Wayward dwarves still allegiant to Jadis? Humans??? What the hell?

Turns out Narnia is the weird magic fairytale place even within its own universe. Everywhere else is inhabited by eternally 18th century European style society. It's also 1000 years later, but a year for our dudes, so the Pevinsies get to experience how Narnia has changed physically in all that time. Like Cair Paravel, that place two whole pages mention in the first book. I like that the age reversal thing is acknowledged in this book, and how that might have affected our heroes and their development. At the end of the book, the colonizing force gets sent to Earth, and Prince Caspian is crowned as King Caspian. Aslan (or maybe one of animals, idr) says outright that Narnia is better ruled by humans than its own people. Which is. An odd note to end on a book whose main conflict is colonization. Huh.

A Horse and His Boy by C. Staples L.

He was a horse. He was his boy. Can I make it anymore-okay shut up.

This is an interesting one. Five books into the Narnia series and we are introduced to brand new protagonist, with zero connections to previous characters, in a place that is not Narnia. He's a young boy who runs away with a talking horse in their desperate attempt to both escape slavery. They meet a spunky, ass-kicking princess who's also running away, this time from an arranged marriage. Narnia in this story is more of an ideal their working towards, rather than a physical place the story spends time in. The plot is very refreshing in this aspect, especially if its the fifth, or in my case, third Narnia book you've read in a row. It could likely stand on its own outside the rest of the series, though you do get a surprise cameo from the adult Pevinsies pre-wardrobe-return, which is fun.

I do have a couple issues with it though. I'd argue against the idea that all of Narnia is a direct analogue to Christianity. Aslan is definitely furry Jesus, and C. S.'s theological beliefs are an obvious intentional aspect of the storytelling, but most of the books have themes and lessons outside of that and pose a genuinely fun fantasy world to engage with. The religious metaphors in this book specifically are pretty heavy-handed though, and not very delicately woven in. The setting of the story also pulls allusions to several real-life Middle Eastern cultures, and if you think a white British dude in the 50s wrote about that respectfully? Sorry no. There's also a lot of mention of Boy (I straight up forgot that kids name) being Special and Different for having pale skin and blue eyes. :/. At the end is another rapid-fire epilogue that blazes through Boy's life as the new prince of wherever that I think the story could have gone without. Just let it end with dignified mystery, Clive.

The Magician's Nephew by Siwel S. C.

Honestly Clive the mulitverse trope has been done to death, bro

Last Narnia book on the list as of now. Luckily, its also the best one. This is a prequel to the whole of the Narnia continuity, which details the creation of Narnia and the origins of Jadis, but the actual plot revolves around two new Brit kids Digory and Polly. Digory is described as grubby at least sixteen times throughout the story. His mom is sick and his magic uncle sucks ass and he's scared and he has no friends. Polly decides to be that friend which ultimately burns her as he's also a bit of a selfish brat. Learning to get past that brattiness and mature enables Polly to forgive him and ultimately helps him save his mother.

The plot takes place in the Wood Between Worlds, which has still stuck in my head and spurned on my imagination years later. You move outside of Earth to find the grandness of the Milky Way, you escape the Milky Way to discover the imperceivable majesty of the universe, and you find the indeterminate edge of that universe and land yourself in an idyllic forest with trees so high you cannot see the sky, the forest's floor dotted with puddles leading to other worlds. Jadis' origin is also pretty fascinating. A queen so obsessed with ultimate power she destroyed her own empire rather than let her sister take it. Aslan roars the world into existence. The whole vibes on this book are pretty stellar, ngl.

The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath

You wouldn't be cool if it weren't for the lessons that you learnt in the BELL JAR, nah, nana nah nah.

And now for a weird fucking heel turn. And also the last book I'm doing for now. I'm going to be honest, my original interest in this book came from the song "I Cut Myself" by Talkshow Boy, who mentions the book in the above lyric. Also, my college roommate said she liked it a lot. I went in with zero expectations and was surprised at how hard it hit home. I've never been personally institutionalized, but I know people who have, and I can relate to the downward depression spiral Esther goes through in this book.

Its interesting to see the thought patterns and paradigms that Esther voices in her inner monologues that partially lead to her mental break. Little observations that reveal her hyper-awareness and implicit nihilism. They're good observations too. The vivid description of the horrific image of a woman giving birth compared to a dulled animal being hooked into a machine. You can see her perspective on a lot of subjects, probably even agree with much of it. It makes sense, as this is the author famous for vivid and introspective poetry more than anything. Looking at the historical context for this book made me sad, especially given how hopeful the ending was, at least how I read it.

Going to shift into movies at the end of the week. I'll need to start doing these at least bi-weekly if I want to finish before the end of the year. Also more bisexually.

[ae-neon]

I think the hatred stems because the fandom often puts Feyre and Nesta at war with each other. I’m mostly on the Feyre tags sphere so I do often see cases where they switch Nesta as the OG trilogy MC. While it’s honestly fine because we’re free to imagine whatever we like and it’s uncommon thing in fandoms, it got to the point wherein they are openly anti-Feyre despite claiming otherwise and exaggeratedly try to downplay her skills even though canon says otherwise. “Nesta is so smart. Feyre can’t read” “She’d solve the riddle in no time coz Feyre is stupid.” “Nesta’s so good at dancing, I bet Feyre’s a bad painter.” “She’s a better queen than Feyre.” And many other things. It went to the extent of pushing Feyre aside so they can *shudders* pair N and Rhys (even though they make zero sense) and these are all just coming from Nesta stans not Rhys stans and it’s funny ‘coz these are the same stans who hate Rhys. So these occurrences somehow sparked Feyre stans’ to conclude that there is a portion in the fandom that likes to downplay and “steal” Feyre’s journey (and actually hates Feyre even more than Rhys) and make certain scenarios that already described Feyre’s character but likes to pass it down to Nesta. So there are some content that’s like, “so…it’s basically Feyre but just a different name.” I guess it’s the reason why Feyre stans are a bit more alerted when posts similar like that swarm the tags. Like how Nesta is being vilified in the fandom (and I can say, that it’s excessive hate), Feyre’s character is also surrounded with misogynistic and ableist takes coming mostly from Nesta/Valkyrie (and Tamlin) lovers and I think each side already has a tainted impression of one another because of how often they take advantage of the character tags to post passive-aggressive posts towards the character. I’m sure that IC stans aren’t so innocent and I have seen them made a lot of toxic and harmful comments as well. So I guess the acotar fandom’s more like, “You stay on you lane and I’ll stick with mine” I think the fandom’s pretty fragile rn with the very evident divide between IC vs other characters. Paired that with the ship wars between Elriel and Gwynriel. While I’m more pro-IC and a Feyre kinnie, I still have a soft spot for the the three sisters. I agree on one reply that for your peace (and to not start another fandom war), if it’s an anti-Feysand post, it’s best not to use the Feyre and Rhysand tags. I think half of Nesta stans don’t ship Nessian so it’s a bit different for Feysand because majority/almost all Feyre and Rhys stans/whole acotar fandom have long established Feysand as the couple.

Anon, thank you for being so clear about it.

I want to be honest with you that many of those things describe stuff similar to things I've said and posted about.

But I also wanna say that I do feel like the three sisters - more so Nesta and Feyre are at the heart of my view of acotar. I think how similar yet different they are makes so many of those scenarios interesting to explore but I've never thought of just replacing Nesta with Feyre.

Eg if Nesta went to the Spring Court it would have been just as fascinating to see Feyre's journey to the wall to get Nesta back. For me the men in the series are kinda just complimentary, sorry if that sounds mean.

If I imagine N x R it's not because I want Rhys to treat Nesta like Feyre, it's just because I think they'd 8 out 10 times not work out romantically but seeing them work together would be interesting.

If I imagine Feyre as a Valkyrie it's because I miss certain aspects of Feyre's character that's unique to her, that I feel Nesta doesn't have. I personally don't see Nesta really ever working with Lucien as sjm planned or Cassian as is canon but I think it would be so easy for those characters to fall in love with Feyre because of who she is.

I dislike Rhysand, I won't lie to you. Like Cassian, I think how they treat their mates and how sjm uses the narrative for them makes real romance (in the way I see it) very difficult to imagine. In certain ways that I think he takes advantage of Feyre, I don't think he would be able to with Nesta - not cause she's better, just cause they're different.

I also am not really one of those stans who buys into Queen Nesta being literal like Queen of Hybern or Prythian or whatever. I just think that given her canon background she fits the political sphere better than Feyre does, the same way Feyre fits the action heroine and girl with a big friend group vibe better than Nesta does

I just want to be free to explore both sides of those narrative switches but it feels like the Feyre stans root her identity in her being with Rhysand. She was the saviour of Prythian, she killed the Middengard Wyrm, she trapped and befriended a Suriel - things I don't believe Nesta could do - so putting all the weight of her identity into "High Lady" the only one of her titles she owes directly to Rhysand is kinda sad and condescending to me.

Anyways that's for this open and honest dialogue

[the-girl-with-the-glass-heart]

A luke warm review of the live action monster high movie

I pirated the monster high movie last night so i'm going to review it.

Allow me to start this review off with a few quick notes.

1. I am well aware of the controversies surrounding this movie, the racist director, the colorism, ect. with that being said, i wanna judge this movie based on how it actually is rather than the controversy surrounding it. This does not give anyone the excuse to ignore these issues, i just think these points have been said many many times by people who are much better at explaining this than somebody like me, who is so white i am practically marble.

2. I'm the kinda person who's incredibly forgiving to movies, i like liking things, i go into some of the most garbage movies with positive vibes. I also have garbage taste in everything. Try to take my review with an optimistic grain of salt. I'm also not a professional movie critic so alot of my critiques are shallow and not very detailed.

3. This is all just my opinion, you will most likely feel differently and that's okay, no pressure, i will not force you to like this movie be unique be urself be a monster or whatever. I will have some opinions in this post you are bound to disagree with and that's fine.

THE GOOD

-Something i think is really underrated about this movie that people never talk about is the set design, it actually looks like monster high, like the actual playset. They could of easily made it look like knock off hogwarts or just painted a normal school purple but they actually tried.

-I know everyone was dunking on the clothes and the wigs and the fact they don't look like monsters enough but i actually loved most of the outfits in this movie. Granted i'm not a huge fashionista and i was always in monster high for the stories than tje clothes but i think they did a good job. I mean they're on a tv budget and they had to make multiple outfits for multiple characters. This movie probably already costed alot with the make up, clothes, and VFX already. I specifically really like frankies clothes.

-The music is pretty nice! I mean it's no classic musical theatre or as iconic as steal the show or the fright song... buuut, i think the music is all pretty good. Coming out of the dark and its reprise is especially sweet, the only song i don't really like is the three of us, i just can't get the groove tbh. I also really like how in monster heart komos has christian youth pastor vibes and how in i can trust you they mixed in the snake sounds. Just be me also is very cute but i swear i've heard it that chorus before. I'm glad they got kids who can actually sing tbh.

-I thought the humor was all around very solid! Frankie was pretty funny at times, speaking of which...

-this version of frankie is very sweet and very very autistically coded, i think cici balgot is perfect for this version of frankie ngl, i'd love to he friends with this frankie irl.

-by herself and not compared to the og i think this version of clawdeen is also quite sweet. obviously she is nothing like her og cartoon counterpart but for what she is in this movie i think she's very cute. Also keep in mind i didn't care much for clawdeen in the og anyways, i found her voice really cringe and like i said, i was never a fashionista so i was always more into frankie or draculaura. If i actually loved clawdeen or wasn't basically a sentient sheet of paper i would probably be alot angrier.

-the acting is all around solid, that's all i have to say tbh.

-the opening scene is very cute.

-i also like the ending where they all float.

-i'm just happy the kids all had a fun time filming this, i know that doesn't actually affect the quality of the movie but child stars are hardly ever treated well and they all got alot of hate during the production of this movie.

-i do like the allegory of racial prejudice against biracial people, just judging it by itself it was a cool take on it that i think it was handled actually better than freaky fusion. Freaky fusion was a mess tbh tho so that isnt saying much.

THE BAD

-the climax lasted like 4 minutes, i get its a short movie but COME ON, AT LEAST BUILD UP A LITTLE MORE.

-I don't like deuce and clawdeen being a couple, i wish they were just good friends tbh and just vaugely hinted at it. I do like what they did with their relationship tho.

-Cleos development was weird, i feel like they made her such a weird character in this movie, although it is sweet that she learned to accept that clawdeen loved deuce.

-i don't like this new draculaura, i don't care that she's taiwanese now, she just doesn't seem all that interesting. She's by far the most forgettable ghoul in the trio.

-Lagoona, Ghoulia, abbey, and heath did NOTHING in this movie. I understand time restraints but seriously, why even have em in there if you already have a limited budget and you aren't going to do anything with them. People might be pissed but at least the plot wouldn't be all bloated.

-This is a problem in the og but i think its weird that frankie was presumabley made by humans and made out of humans but she doesn't seem to care about the human stigma. Cleo also doesn't give a shit yet she used to be human. It's weird that a narcissist like cleo wouldn't be at least a little offended.

-Deuce is so so bland in this movie, he's sweet at sometimes but fuuuuck, he is so bland.

-Clawdeens mom is dead, listen i love the dead mom trope and it kinda makes sense for the story but it feels weird. Idk how you would fix it but just... it's weird.

-The writing at times was a real mess and alot of things made no sense. Why would clawdeen lie about her dads name being pierre? That's a way more human name than fuckin apollo. Why did draculaura say she hates sun when she was wearing a hoodie? Just flip up the hood!

-as much as i like the humor in this movie, the PA announcer is annoying, they used her too much.

-the plot twist about the hand lock thing was so dumb, especially because frankie could of opened it from the beggining.

THE I DONT KNOW HOW TO FEEL

-ghoulia talks, on one hand i understand if you wanna give her lines because it would work better for the movie, on the other hand, she didn't do anything in the movie so why change it?

-SPOILER!........... Komos is revealed to be hydes son, cool i guess. I'll miss jackson/holt.

.... that's it.

Overall probably would pirate it again. 4.9/10. Wouldn't even mind if they made a sequel, as long as they change directors. I mean whatever you think about this movie i think we can all agree that no matter what, at least it's better than the bratz movie, the winx saga, power puff girls cw, and jem and the holograms.

[professoraurabolt]

Hi my very dear and lovely friend @cherubimeyes asked me to answer every single question to the Layton meme, yes all 40 of them, so umm, basically, I die. (yes i'm tagging you because look look look look look l-) Putting under a read more because, you know.

Oh and uh, obvious spoilers for like, every game

1) Who is your favourite character?

Luke, it's Luke, always has been always will be, he's just a boy and I love him so so so so so so so much. He's just so silly he makes me so happy anytime I see him, he’s literally just a 13 year old boy and he’s my son :')

2) What’s your favourite game?

Hate this question, hate it because there's things about every PL game that are my favourite and I genuinely love every entry in the series. Though if you made me pick, it'd say either Lost Future or Spectre's Call, I can't choose between those two at all so you have to take that as my answer hehe.

3) What’s your favourite soundtrack?

Lost future hands DOOOWN, they went so hard on the OST for this one like it's insane, like so many of the songs on that soundtrack are so memorable and they stand out so well I jUST AAAA. 

Plus the main theme makes me cry every time I hear it is so good. I love all the Layton main themes tbh they always fuck so hard lol but Lost Futures one is just the best to me its so all over the place but in such a good way.

4) What’s your favourite puzzle?

Ummmmmm I can't remember tbh, even more of an excuse to go play every layton game again lol. I do like sliding/jigsaw puzzles so anything along those lines would be one of my favourites!

The Alchemist Lab from MM’s and AL’s daily puzzles are a big favourite of mine! 

5) What’s your favourite setting? (Misthallery, Monte d’Or, etc…)

I really fucking love Misthallery, like just the vibe for it is so good to me, mainly because it really does come off like a weird English town that's you'd just stumbled upon while exploring. Plus it's so….Misty..

6) What outfit of Luke’s is your favourite?

Gonna go with the OG trilogy on this one, sorry I just think his jumper is cute, I do love his other outfits though they're such a look. So hyped to see what his new outfit is going to be but I already love it!!!

7) What’s your favourite cutscene?

Maaaaaaaan there’s so many that stand out it’s hard for me to pick one!!! Any scene with Claire, all the fight scenes, the ferris wheel scene, the one where Luke gets fucking kidnapped and just screams for like a whole minute, any scene with Randal, the little cutscene where Arouras getting her new outfits (why was she Irish btw?), the ending to PL vs AA. They’re all so good to me and I love them all so much, insane. 

8 ) What’s your favourite end credits song?

Azran Legacy's, I know AL isn't everyone's favourite because of how the story is but come oONNN THE END CREDIT SONG IS SUCH A GUT PUNCH, especially with the original Japanese lyrics to it!!! Genuinely sad they never dubbed over the end credit songs with lyrics because holy shit all the songs hit different with vocals added, I love you saxophone but you will never be a vocalist.

9) What’s your favourite minigame?

The tea mini game, I love giving those two the most rancid tea possible and watching them cry over it. I am really just a 5 year old making "potions" for people to consume and get sick from. Over favourite is the hotel mini game, I always feel super bad if i can’t get them both a bed before their first night at St Mystere but I love hearing them bitch and complain about their room layouts so much, Luke gets two beds just as a treat. :)

10) What’s your favourite animal/pet? (The bunny from MM, the parrot from UF, etc, etc.)

I love the bunny minigame but honestly the parrot, for the sole reason that you can name it My Dick and have Clive say "just sit back, and watch My Dick work its magic", like that is never not funny and if you say otherwise you're lying.

11) Do you have a favourite quote? If yes, what is it?

“Isn’t that odd, I find that odd! Doland, do you find that odd?” - Professor Layton

It is, in fact, odd.

12) If you could have a spinoff game about one character, who would you choose and what would the game be about?

Still holding out for that Luke solo American game, or just any Luke solo game, I know there was a mini one for Pandora's Box but I want a full game, send him out into the world to solve mysteries please he’ll love it.

I’ll also take an Flora, Emmy, or even Randal solo game, though I have no fuckin idea what kind of game. You think I could get a Randal farming simulator game??? Please???

13) If you could meet any character’s voice actor and have them say something to you as their character, who would you choose and what would you have them say?

I really wanna meet Luke's UK voice actor and ask her to say "Professor, have you heard of the hit new game Among us? Pretty Sus innit", I don't care how much money I have to pay for it, no price is high enough.

14) If you could punch one character in the face, who would it be?

Bill Hawks, I hate the government and I still want that bitch dead.

15) Would you change how any of the games are executed? If yes,what would you change?

The only one I'd change would be Azran Legacy, all I’d really do is just make the story more fixed/linier instead of giving the choice to the player, I just found it made the game feel a lot shorter than it is.

16) Did you enjoy PL-vs-PW?

YES YES YES I FUCKING DID SO MUCH, Mainly because this game gave me Darklaw and I don't talk about her nearly as much as I should, she takes up so much space in my brain. 

I do suck at court cases so the ace Attorney parts were a bit challenging but other than that, it's a good game and I love it a lot teehee

17) Do you have any headcanons? If yes, what?

I do not, aside from like small things that I really can’t think of off the top of my head I got nothing, I’m sure if you sat me down and asked me to think hard enough i’d come up with one but my mind goes blank when i’m put on the spot lol

18) Did you cry at any games? If yes, what ones)

Yes, all of them, every single one, there is no exception. PL games just hit me in the emotions too much and make me so and cry and throw up everywhere.

19) Do you prefer the 2D art or the 3D art?

Gotta say 2D, no hate to the 3D style because I do actually like it, but not everyone translates well over to 3D, especially with how most of the Layton characters look.

That being said, hopefully they’ve improved a lot for the new game, but man I do think the push to make every game 3D is… not a good one lol.

20) How many times have you played your favourite game?

Ohhhhhh man idk, I replay the whole series like every year or so but it's been a while so I don't remember. Definitely more than once, I think I replayed Lost Future as soon as I completed it the first time because there’s something wrong with me.

21) Do you cosplay any characters? If yes, who? If no, would you like to? Who would you choose?

I used to cosplay as Luke a lot back when I was younger, haven't done it since because you know, I got other things to cosplay, but I could probably pull off his look a lot better now than I did then, my hairs actually short now. I would need to but everything again because despite not growing since I was 10, I have outgrown his old costume, still got the hat somewhere though hah!

22) Do you have any merchandise? If yes, what? If no, would you like any? What would you get?

I don’t have a lot but that’s just from me not going out to get it! I have the Eternal Diva Luke plush who’s one of my oldest plushes and I love him so much!!! Other than that, I have the Fangamer Curious Village t-shit which I wear whenever it’s clean, and I have a bunch of fan merch too! I just try and pick up PL stuff whenever I can but I definitely want to get into collecting more of it!

23) Has the series had an impact on your life?

Um??? Yes??? You think playing a video game at the age of 11 wouldn't??? This game has impacted me in ways I can't describe and helped spark my love for art and storytelling and creativity, so without it I wouldn't be nearly half the person I am today, it's hard for me to articulate exactly how, but trust me it has and I am so grateful for it.

24) When did you first discover the series?

I got Lost Future advertised to me in 2010, I don’t think i’d heard of the game series before, I wasn’t as chronically online as I am now so back then TV ads really did work on me lmao

25) How old were you when you first discovered the series?

I was about 11 or so, you know, a crucial age to have media influence your entire life.

26) How did you discover the series?

Again, it got advertised to me, so I asked to get Lost Future for christmas and my life has been a downward spiral ever since lmao

27) Will you play Layton 7?

Oh man you can tell this meme is old lmao

I can't even remember what Layton 7 was originally going to be??? Like I know it ended up being Kat's game but I know it was planned to be something before that, but I seriously can't remember what it was. But umm yes I will play layton 7, I'm one of those annoying fans that will play anything in a series regardless of its quality.

28) Do you have any ideas that could easily be future games?

I can’t think, they’re literally making a new one and I have no idea what it could be at this point, so they can throw whatever they want at me at this point and i’ll take it.

29) Did you enjoy Mystery Room?

Honestly, I never played it. I know I should and I probably will at one point, but I didn't have a smartphone when it was released so I kinda missed out on the hype for it unfortunately, again I might play it now but yea we’ll see, Alfred is a whole mood dhdjbwhd

30) If you could tell one character something, who would it be and what would you say?

I’d say to Clive that he had the right idea but a giant mobile fortress wasn’t the brightest idea, if he had the money to build a giant robot toy, he could’ve just exploded parliament instead. Think smarter Clive, also have fun rotting in prison, hope you stay there.

31) Did you enjoy Eternal Diva?

I LOVE ETERNAL DIVA SO MUCH!!! It’s such a Layton movie, like it's the perfect video game movie to me!!! it's just, so Layton. Everyone I've ever met has been subjected to this movie at some point in their life, it’s like important research in order to understand what’s up with me. If I'm friends with someone who hasn’t seen it yet, don’t worry, you soon will.

32) What was the saddest moment/s in the games for you?

Literally all the endings??? That’s why I keep crying like a bitch over all of them.

Though Luke leaving to go to America will never not make me cry, like just the whole set up for it as well as the end cutscene just, god that sucks so much wAA. Also any mention from Luke about his family makes me sad too, like both in Specters Call and PL vs AA, I don’t know why I just find it sad, boy deserves so much better than what happened to him in Specters Call like come OOON, Weird kids deserve so much love.

Oh also, the reunion scene in PL vs AA wasn’t sad but it still made me cry, so mad it never got turned into a cutscene.

33) Have you met people as a result of playing the games?

YES! MANY! A good chunk of my early online friends were from our shared interest in Layton! Even today I will happily bond with someone over this game and I am always happy to introduce people to it, it’s just such an amazing series that I really can’t praise enough. Hey you, dear mutual, if you’re reading this and you’re a Layton fan and you’ve never talked to me, you’re already my friend now because you have amazing taste in video games. 

34) Do you want more games or do you think the series has run its course and is fine as it is?

OK SO, I ANSWERED THIS QUESTION A WHILE AGO AND ORIGINALLY I SAID NO, BUT THAT WAS BEFORE FEBRUARY 8TH 2023. I am bouncing off the walls and eating the furniture and kicking and screaming for a new layton game. I am so interested as to how this new one will play out but I am so HYPED for it and I’m so glad it doesn’t look to be going in the direction I was fearing it would go in if they made a new Layton game!!!

35) What Layton meme did you enjoy the most? (Clive and the snails? Desmond’s bread hair?)

Regret to inform you that I’ve been a Layton fan since 2010/11, so umm… I’m 42 years old, and uhh… baseball, if you even care. No attatchment to the source material it’s lost on me now, those quotes are just burned into my head from being 12 years old.

But I do 100% love Clive and snails, he’s so wrong by the way and I would put snails on him in a heartbeat. 

36) Has a moment in the games ever scared you?

I used to be really scared at the fact that everyone in St Mystere were robots, like that just unnerved me so much, but that was 100% from me being scared of robots at the time I first played it, I’m better now but it still weirds me out a bit lol

Other than that, can’t really think of anything, anytime they all get 

37) What’s the wackiest NPC you have ever seen?

All of them, LEVEL-5 just knows how to make insane looking characters that will kill you, I know a good chunk of them haven’t aged well but you know, not much I can do about that.

As for the wackiest, literally all the kids in Mistalery, there;s something so up with all of them I don't wanna go there ever.

38) Do you ship any characters? If yes, what are your ships?

Outside of any canon/canon implied ships, not really??? I never got into PL shipping it was just never for me, though I will admit that Ranlay is very fucking good and I appreciate it a lot. But yea I’m kinda more interested in all the found family stuff that goes on in PL games more than anything else!

39) Are you going to buy this art book when it comes out in November?

The original post for this meme is deleted so I can’t even check when this meme was posted. But umm, no I guess, if they do a new artbook for the new game then yes I will get it, no questions asked

40) Can you play any of the soundtracks on a musical instrument? If yes, what instrument and what soundtrack(s)? If no, would you like to learn? What ones would you like to be able to play?

I cannot play an instrument because I spent all my time learning how to sing instead, and I can’t even sing any of the layton songs because they’re all in Japanese and I don’t KNOW Japanese. Maybe if I ever learn one day then yea i’ll learn to play the ending credits.

[flavaflavbutitznyork]

My experience with the moon & sun signs

Aries sun: Y'all either crazy or super chill very cool people

Aries moon: super chill at first I assume the wilder side kicks in after

Taurus sun: Hate/love relationship they can be super cold the others usually aren't very judgemental more accepting

Taurus moon: very generous & is prone to a "cozy aesthetic"

Gemini sun: some of them are super chill others highly rude & annoying lacking filters often but both tend to live in there heads sometimes they need to let go of whats causing them to overthink

Gemini moon: AHHHHHHHHHH y'all are so damn authentic & accepting you dgaf about other peoples opinions & Like I said often are great conversationalists

Cancer sun: the super sensitive ones👀 then theres the cancers that are sweet often really bubbly & often treating others like family yet ppl really out here calling y'all crybabies some of y'all violent AF super in touch with feminine energy & emotions (moon tingz)

Cancer moon: very emotional & prone to crying however they do seem to care about thingz strongly but if y'all are upset over something y'all can say it cuz even if you try to bottle your feelings it shows often

Leo sun: BISSHHHHH, y'all are og's Ily again accepting & they have an idgaf quality to them they're very expressive even when not talking sunny ppl

Leo moon: MUWAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHHAH *evil empire laughing all the way to the bank* often are funny af & sometimes have a quality of sleek🐈‍⬛

Virgo sun: Y'all are chill but some often are so ready to sound judgemental like- It's annoying FOR SOME others however very chill, blunt they also tend to have a strong prescence

Virgo moon: chai is this a beauty indicator? y'all tend to be soooo finnnnnnnnneee🤤...However y'all tend to other peoples emotions yet it feels so closed off when ppl want to know your trials & tribulations or how you feel it can be hard to know you sometimes

Libra suns: I like some of y'all the ones I like are easy going also non-judgemental when developed (prolly a venus ruled sign thing) they also have this "ditzy vibe" to them which is both genders however the others are superficial, entitled & are just ghost

Libra moon: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AWWWWWWWWWW my old bestie had this placement (no I will not shut up abt her soon likely) very pretty & flirtatious it's always nice to be friends with them cuz often there pleasent & they know how to get LIT alexa demie has this

Scorpio sun: the majority of y'all are actual goths, emo, e-something etc. like it's not even a stereotype anymore it's just y'all however I do like y'all your sorta crazy (some of y'all could be prone to leading ppl on), you guys are chaotic fun mostly

Scorpio moon: mixed vibes cuz they're very nice & good listeners however some of them tend to hold really strong grudges they rarely let it go or forget

Sagittarius sun: crazy fun but they can be chaotic very wild

Sag moon: chill typically

Capricorn sun: usually polite but blunt if they dislike you they'll clarify it also another grudge holder placement (don't matter who you are to them)

Capricorn moon: these people aren't usually rad at seeing how others feel about things & often rarely feel bad or sad cuz they often are somewhat numb seeming

Aquarius sun: the originality like very different from each & super unique often socialize , Anti-social/social they can get it poppin' sometimes they get LIT

Aqua moon: there chill usually

Pisces sun: super sweet & freindly however some of y'all need to set boundaries & stop simping, y'all goofy LOL

Pisces moon: you seem sweet like diabetes lvl sweet however I kinda dislike some of y'all :/ ngl it tends to be a (a water moon) thing to not take accountability simply cuz it may seem like there worlds crashing owning up to there faults seems scary often for them & try looking to the positive I think it's since the moon rules inner world & pisces fantasy so therefore of all water moons there most known for nvr apologizing if in the wrong or lacking accountability can be super sweet though🌀_🌀

[plagasitize]

some rambling about the game put under a cut because it got a little long, aha.

replaying the original so i can get my picks of what to take from each game as my 'canon' and regardless of opinions on the originals writing / dialogue ( which is very 2000s and certainly regarding ash is inappropriate half the time ) i do think the remake fails when it comes to capturing the comedy of the original. part of the charm is l.eon thinking he's very funny and witty ( he's not ) - it's supposed to be a dumb american action movie that's why all these characters fit the tropes and stereotypes you would expect. i spoke briefly about how whilst i like s.addler in the remake, i think his og counterpart is just more interesting - they feel like two different characters instead of an improved one. characters like r.amón especially lose a lot of their flavour when all the comms scenes are removed. it's the one issue i have with all the remakes - they lack that campy charm by opting for serious 'realism'. l.eon still makes jokes but none of them land because he's so much more serious and whilst his jokes were bad in the og, i think him deflecting / coping with humour is an interesting trait.

i think operation j.avier suffers the worst from it though. they had the chance to add it in-game, even in just a cutscene, to finally give context and backstory and instead they changed it entirely to remove any mention of m.anuela ( even j.avier himself ), the virus ( though i understand many people new to the series due to the remakes won't know what t v.eronica is ), j.ack's infection and dismissal ( him working for s.addler and not w.esker is an odd change, but if they committed to it could have really worked - a disabled, disgruntled, isolated war veteran let down by the government is the perfect target for a cult ) but not to mention that the 'you can't save anyone' / 'this time it has to be different' makes far more sense when you consider m.anuela ( especially as l.eon could have no impact on saving m.arvin and by this point he already knows a.da is alive ) - especially if they canonized the 'bad' ending where she turns to ash ( as we never see / hear from her again, which is fine - personal take that not every one-time character has to return, even if i like them ). the parallel of a young innocent woman, infected, under l.eon's protection, would have worked much better than 'the government killed all these men for...reasons?' ( why were they killed? did s.immons have something to do with it, showing more of his corruption prior to six? were they infected with the virus they don't mention? as the series progresses this happens more and more, and l.eon himself aids in the coverups of rc etc etc, which could have added more context to the issues between him and j.ack but instead it just comes across for people who have are new that j.ack's blaming l.eon for...reasons? ). they could have sown the seeds of future events whilst bringing in the important things that get missed because it's in a railshooter side game and it's a missed opportunity! also i think if they did acknowledge the canon of m.anuela's survival that her and ash could have gotten on really well ) even if it's unlikely they'd meet.

ash definitely 'won' in terms of improvement ( though i never found her annoying, fandom just was outrageously sexist / harsh on her - whilst it's better now, her being relegated to the 'braincell haver' or the 'daughter / sister / niece' of l.eon ( and usually l.uis) when she's an adult woman not that much younger or the rampant over sexualisation of modders which is a plague upon every modding scene is still... not great. god forbid we treat women as more than accessories ) but i do wish they kept in a litte of her sharpness. it's been a long time since i've played the og so i'll have more thoughts but definitely the scene where she runs away / they get separated is a huge improvement. i've seen people say before the og ash was 'bitchy' but her shoving l.eon away always felt like panic - she's frightened! the remake definitely did a better job of showing it ( and the effects of the p.laga in general, although i do think they should have kept in the scene with l.eon and a.da, even if they changed it so he doesn't choke her, to show how it's effecting him too - especially as iirc he isn't given a dominant p.laga like ash is so he should be suffering far less control, although i suppose maybe that is shown in how he's rendered immobile repeatedly whereas she is controlled? who knows ). either way, the relationship between them two of them is vastly improved and though i wish we'd gotten to see more of her interactions with the rest of the cast ( though i do find her 'for l.uis' a nice touch - i'd like to explore their relationship but definitely the revelation that he's partly responsible because whilst l.eon knows, she doesn't ). it would have been nice to get a gauge on her relationship with her father, for her to talk about her experience being kidnapped and growing to trust l.eon ( especially as her security failed to protect her / were in on it and the subsequent distrust it would form in the government ).

tldr; there's a lot of things it improves on but equally as much it fails with ( that's what rp is for! ) but i'm glad after all these years ash has stopped being utterly ignored or despised by the majority of fandom.

[beardedmrbean]

Hey, about the black Americans taught to hate our country.

Yes we and in many other parts are treated like shit…but so was everyone else. I mean…I don’t know their exact backgrounds…but people do know a lot of Japanese creators in the entertainment industry of Japan are mostly the descendants of the “peasants” not the feudal lords?

Just asking…I mean people know the sengoku period was about Japanese CIVIL WARS?

Hell what I heard another modern imperial Japan ancestry. Their ancestors ghosts probably go “you got to be fucking kidding me” when they learn they have the same descendants

Sorry funny

But yeah we could use Bass Revees, Tuskegee Airmen, the Harlem fighters, as inspiration for black characters

“We weren’t taught that in school!” You honestly think career politicians like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden who heavily influence the education while they push for the tough on crime bill and ensure that black Americans are 75% born out of wedlock

Would teach the fact that many black people successful lives despite systemic oppression?

Not to mention the white liberals with their savior complex would fight tooth and nail and said we were nothing until the civil rights movement

And the feminists are damn sure not to mention the fact their ogs founders were racist af and made damn sure that black men didn’t get proper voting rights until the 60’s

Also learning what the government did to my community made me more anti socialist as hell

Also we bounce back that fast from the Civil hence our “modern” American empire? Actually I heard Teddy Roosevelt say the Lincoln coffin tour when he was 6

But thanks, I wanted to used a American military outfit era that wasn’t colonial but not ww2-now

Also my Chimera republic (you know I just keep the us part until I figure out what to do with pseudo latam) is a combination of different American eras in a steampunk setting. As east coast have very colonial look with the rising art deco

While Midwest part especially the in universe Chicago is very art deco and rampant “advance “ as I watched a video on the queen of nyc glided age and I realize how different my midwestern ass is to East coast

Of course the west coast have a lot of it Spanish influence. Actually your Californian (the good ones) can you help me out with that?

And yes I’m trying to figure what to do with First Nations as my chimera republic is a fantasy America were we drop the social Darwinism is shit and DIDNT do. The residential school horror show

Of course I’m just a 23 year old man with a HS degree. But I’m pointing out we got our own culture to take inspiration and not trying to force ourselves into Asian or European cultures like what modern black activists do.

Yes we and in many other parts are treated like shit…but so was everyone else. I mean…I don’t know their exact backgrounds…but people do know a lot of Japanese creators in the entertainment industry of Japan are mostly the descendants of the “peasants” not the feudal lords?

People take offense at 'your experiences are not unique' it's wild and not limited to age, race, hair colour, nationality, disability, and so on.

Me being dyslexic there's stuff I'll relate to more than most people, but I know better than to say it's purely a dyslexic thing.

Just asking…I mean people know the sengoku period was about Japanese CIVIL WARS? Hell what I heard another modern imperial Japan ancestry. Their ancestors ghosts probably go “you got to be fucking kidding me” when they learn they have the same descendants

They kept their slaves (peasants) after this one, not sure how many wars globally were fought in order to free slaves, only wars I can think of that were fought with the abolition of slavery in mind were waged by western nations. US, UK, and France specifically.

You want civil wars in Asia check out China

“We weren’t taught that in school!” You honestly think career politicians like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden who heavily influence the education while they push for the tough on crime bill and ensure that black Americans are 75% born out of wedlock ect

Some of it there really just isn't time, they have to hit the big stuff and if anything catches your eye hope people have the ability to study it themselves, much more complicated before the internet at large.

Suffragettes were massive racists fighting for white women's right to vote, but that was society at the time.

Margret sanger founding planned parenthood as a way to reduce the black population was just evil, difference between the two is one was denying rights one was attempting to deny life.

Also learning what the government did to my community made me more anti socialist as hell

That's fairly common for people that study history.

The Chimera thing, ya there's all kinds of different influences all over the place when it comes to they way things are laid out and constructed and I'd be happy to help with the Spanish influence stuff San Diego has managed that better than Los Angeles, honestly CA covers so much different kinds of terrain and has different histories you can find most anything here, so long as you don't expect to be able to afford it.

And yes I’m trying to figure what to do with First Nations as my chimera republic is a fantasy America were we drop the social Darwinism is shit and DIDNT do. The residential school horror show

First Nations, this ain't canada. lol

I'm sure you'll come up with something

Of course I’m just a 23 year old man with a HS degree. But I’m pointing out we got our own culture to take inspiration and not trying to force ourselves into Asian or European cultures like what modern black activists do.

Amen to that