#all the 'bad writing' or 'changed ending' being thrown around is all bs

[spicyvampire]

And before I close this chapter for good I'd like to say this, none of this is bad writting, it all is a narrative choice

It was a narrative choice to have people be glad that Boston was finally settling down when they got wind of Nick in the picture, as if sleeping around was wrong, it was a narrative choice to have nobody but Nick know that the real reason why Boston got attached to no one was really because he was leaving, till the very last episode of the show

It was a narrative choice to have the other character that reassemble Boston the most finally realizing the "errors of his way" and staying with someone longer than 3 months, it was a narrative choice to have everyone insist on the fact that he had never had a relationship longer than 3 months because he is one of the kings of sleeping around, it was a narrative choice to make that the only actual thing that character did wrong was sleep with Boston while he was flirting with someone else, when nowhere in that flirting stage was "no sleeping with other people" even established as a rule, and to insist that one of the main problem with that was the fact they'd done it with Boston specifically

It was a narrative choice to have someone lie about being forced to sleep with Boston, and getting explicit pictures of himself taken by force and being blackmailed by Boston with them, to then suffer from virtually no consequences of his actions and that someone being one of the group's little brother, which make it so Boston should not have slept with him by "principle" even if the little brother is a grown ass man who made an active decision, but no one is saying that maybe the little brother should not have slept with his sister's friend by those so called "principle" either

It was a narrative choice to have Nick run after Boston, realize that in the end he wanted something exclusive (which is fine btw you can realize you want different things in any relationship), but then instead of just ending it with that, to have him declare to Boston "I think maybe you're the type of person who should roll alone"

It was an narrative choice that the last Boston scene is him sitting alone in a dirty fucking hallway holding the framed picture of someone he loves who claimed to understand him but in the end didn't understand him either, it was a narrative choice that his last scene was not him driving away to his new future with the city blurry around him as he speeds away or even have a scene of Boston at the airport, being send off by literally ANY of them, hell even by his fucking dad

It was all a narrative choices, narrative choices that I hate, but choices nonetheless

[unohanabbygirl]

I hope you are not overwhelmed with some of the comments as just recently I’ve seen some really uncalled for reviews and assumptions being made either about the story FMN or going so far as to make assumptions about you as a person. It’s totally out of the left field that I literally was left scratching my head as to why anyone would assume they have any right to judge you based on a fictional piece of work or think they can dictate where and how you choose to write your story. As a reader I think the best we can do is to leave a review or comment, words of encouragement or even constructive criticism but to make outlandish assumptions is utterly wrong. There is such a thing as separating the author from the work and just because an author writes something down doesn’t mean that they are okay with it in reality, don’t know why this is so hard for people to understand sometimes but idk I felt upset if this could potentially put you off or even change the course of your work. It’s your work and at the end the day a person can choose to not read it if they no longer wish to. So I hope that you still continue to write and that you follow whichever course you wish to take with your story or characters. Just because a person doesn’t like a character/s doesn’t make them bad, racist or horrible or automatically. Nothing I’ve seen in your work that I would assume you were singling out a character based on their ethnicity etc… just all around horrible review, while I can respect peoples opinions the full assumption or even righteousness that makes them feel that they own a piece of your work or character is just simply wrong. For example in my own personal opinion I don’t like Criston Cole, not because he is a person of color, in the show he just happens to be played by a person of color, I could care less, it’s the character himself that I don’t like for various reasons that have nothing to do with his ethnicity etc… ugh sorry for my small rant but I truly hope that you are alright and know that your work is appreciate by many of us. ❤️

No need to be sorry at all! If anything I thank you because you’ve put a smile on my face after a pretty crappy day dealing with some ongoing family issues that have been disturbing my peace.

I’ve seen some of the comments made and was originally going to respond with some long explanation that would’ve likely started a back and forth which is the last thing I want for this little bubble I’ve created, so I figured it was best to leave it be and move on for my peace of mind.

At first the insinuation that I was throwing a brown character under the bus to praise a bunch of horrible white people stung a little as a woc myself, but it’s the internet and assumptions will be made. Especially since I’ve never outright stated my race and certain sides of the fandom tend to spew rhetoric about Targ stans only liking blonde haired white people, so it’s whatever. But I do appreciate you checking up on me, its very sweet of you so I offer a virtual hug and kiss 🥰

I haven’t been discouraged and continue to write to my heart’s content! As i’ve said I got some family drama going on (cutting off toxic relatives is harder than I thought it would be ngl) so my updates are slow and when I think I can post I get thrown off schedule by bs which sucks. But I’m here to stay and my original plans for the future of my fics remain set in stone. Much loves babes 💕

[hopeshoodie]

I’ve been thinking about Boat Party a lot lately. I really /really/ loved the ‘after the villa, after the sparkle of new relationships has faded’ dynamic with all the couples (including MC), and I liked that it was basically a mini-season instead of three episodes. LOVED the podcast framing the story instead of the narrative, and obviously all the characters were far more fleshed out than they were in the main season. But my issues with it are

 - It felt like they ran out of story and started rehashing the same thing (MC’s LI going from wanting to work on the relationship back to avoiding her) and using filler (the carnival is cute but doesn’t have any notable moments), so there were episodes where a bunch of things happened and episodes where nothing really changed

-The backsliding of the relationship issues really framed our primary LIs’ to be in the wrong. I loved most of the initial conflicts, how serious and mature MOST of them were. And I did really like the push and pull of trying to reconcile. But then around day 6 our LIs agree to work on it, then the next episode go back to saying they’re “not sure if it’s going to work”. That was super frustrating and unsatisfying because it felt like our progress was erased.

-The secondary LI being forced on us. I’m only here for Lily, but because the story FORCED me to take Yasmin on a walk now suddenly the narrative is insisting I’m cheating on Lily. I get why we have secondary LIs, but it felt kind of like it did in the main season- literally everyone is interested in MC and when you switch to a new person there’s no narrative tension or differentiation between the different people.

-the premise of a Boat Vacation kind of framed this very post-LITG story in a LITG way. LITG is formulaic because it’s a reality show- a bunch of people who don’t know each other are thrown together on vacation, and as they do Vacation Things they build different relationships. Boat Party was really unique from any other season because it wasn’t a reunion focused only on MC getting with new people or being happy with her LI. It was a story about people, post-production, in the real world navigating real issues. But them being on vacation innately framed it in a LITG way, with ‘outings on the mainland’ taking the place of challenges. This is the key idea that got me thinking about how I would re-write Boat Party.

 Because as much as I enjoyed Boat Party, I don’t think it really delivered on either its themes or the themes of the main season. Boat Party’s themes were realistic relationship conflict, it was about CHOOSING to love people, whereas the main series was about friendships and respecting platonic relationships. Maybe that’s just my interpretation because there was so very little nuance in the romantic stories of S3, BUT ANYWAYS. So if we wanted to better honor those two points (that platonic relationships are important to respect and irl relationships are hard), here’s how I would reframe the S3 reunion-

 It's a wedding episode, but not for MC. I feel like Seb and Genevieve are a better couple and were way more serious than Nicky and Elladine, so we’ll make it a Sebevieve wedding. We still do the same opening with conflicts that Boat Party does (but take out the personality test because that really didn’t impact the story very much and imo broke immersion), but instead of storming off your LI says “what, so you don’t want to go to the wedding together?” MC recoils in confusion, and they say “I brought it in from the mail last week, it’s been sitting on the counter for days. You didn’t read it?”. MC walks over, reads it (the player gets to see the ‘save the date’), and then there’s the first choice of the game. You can either tell your LI you want to go with them, or say you want to go alone.

 I think Boat Party proceeds much like as written after that, but now we have a huge emotional THING that all the characters can react to. We still learn that Elladine’s family is having issues, but we learn it in the context of them questioning their relationship with Nicky because ‘why won’t he commit? I thought we would be the first ones to get engaged’. Because we got that little teaser after stealing the money in S3 of Nicky being down, maybe we get some more noncommittal bs from him. From Seb we get genuine excitement about the wedding, but a little bit of concern about what’s going to happen to the podcast after he’s married to Viv. Viv is all excitement- school is ramping up and now she’s getting married. She definitely gives some good advice to MC about the LI situation. All the other little conflicts are happening in the background, but suddenly everyone’s questioning how legitimate their own relationships are.

 But at the heart of everything is MC and her LI struggling more intensely with presenting happiness to everyone else, while trying to figure out if their relationship is as serious as Seb and Viv’s, and if they even want it to be. Instead of not talking for major swaths of the game, they’re forced into situations like the rehearsal dinner and bachelor/ette party, where they have to pretend everything’s fine and devolve into tension and arguing. Maybe the different LIs like Bill, Lily, Camilo, Ciaran want to get married eventually, while LIs like AJ and Rafi want to pump the breaks and keep things more casual. Instead of backsliding, there’s this mounting tension of increasingly serious conflict which kicks off the night before the wedding. Maybe it’s the ‘I made you food but oops forgot you were vegan’ thing or it’s the LI going ‘I don’t know if I want to keep pretending we’re together’, but there’s a really intense argument scene and THEN the LI storms off for the first time.

You can choose to either go to a specific LI for comfort (which designates them the secondary LI) or sit alone (in which case Viv or Seb will come out to comfort you). There’s a sweet moment of debriefing from the fight, and you can choose to cheat on your partner or not. If you go to Elladine, Seb, or Viv and try to cheat, they’ll be shocked and reject you. We need consequences for feeling entitled to others romantically so bad, so here they are.

Then the entirety of the wedding, your LI is avoiding you. It comes to a head at the reception, when they approach you and ask you to dance. If you say yes, you can try to reconcile with them. Or you can reject them, in which case the secondary LI will ask you to dance. There’s a really sincere conversation on the dance floor, either apologizing for the fight and resolving to do better (MC’s worried that this is all happening because they’re at a wedding, is it going to get better in the real world?) or trying to comfort MC and feel out the new relationship. It culminates at the end of the reception, where the secondary LI asks MC to leave with them. MC’s original LI is there, and she can make eye contact with them and go with the secondary LI, or refuse.

[itsclydebitches]

hello! loved your tbb meta posts (10/10 analyses of the batch and their respective characterizations), but since it wasn't explicitly mentioned -- did you catch the post-s1 interview with jennifer corbett (head writer) and brad rau (exec producer)? their answers about crosshair's chip being out were Interesting (tm) but fairly definitive-sounding, so I'm wondering what your thoughts on it might've been.

Hey there, anon! Thank you—I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them :D

I’ve heard this info second-hand and ran into one written interview on the topic (idk if it’s the same one you’re thinking of), but my first response is… arguably a reach lol. Not to start off with a tin hat on, but it’s always possible that the writers are lying. Which yes, yes, we have a knee-jerk reaction against the idea of anyone lying for any reason, but in this case, it would be in service of both the writer’s plans and the audience’s enjoyment. Let’s say for the sake of argument that Crosshair’s chip is definitely still in and the entire point of this setup is a double twist: first the reveal that his chip is gone, then the real reveal that it’s actually still in and Crosshair was lied to (among other possibilities). How can the writers discuss him during hiatus without revealing that twist? By playing the current knowledge straight, despite the fact that they know otherwise. Yup, Crosshair’s chip is out. Yup, he chose this 100% willingly. Nothing else to see here, folks! To do otherwise would be to reveal the twist way too early. Even refusing to answer the question, dodging it, would give it all away. Imagine if during a season finale we’re meant to believe that a character is dead and then during hiatus an interviewer asks how the cast will mourn them. If the writer refuses to answer, every fan will realize that Something Is Up and what’s the main possibility here? That they’re not actually dead! Twist spoiled… unless the writer pretends that what the audience currently knows is definitely the truth here.

Taking my tin hat off now, these interviews are one of the main reasons why I’m worried about the writing moving forward. Because despite the paragraph above, I’m by no means convinced that the writers are skillfully keeping up a lie to avoid spoilers. It’s not outside the realm of possibility, but it’s not necessarily likely either. Which leaves us taking their words at face value and that’s… a problem. Because as so many fans have already pointed out, the writing is setting up a twist that, according to these interviews, doesn’t exist. That doesn’t say good things about their intentions for the show vs. what actually ends up on screen and that kind of disconnect becomes frustrating for viewers very quickly. Take the headaches, for example. I’ve seen a couple of fans explain Crosshair’s away using the engine accident: “His face got burned up, of course his head still hurts. You’re reading too much into this.” But imagine for a moment if I’d tried to do the same thing for Wrecker prior to “Battle Scars”: “He gets thrown around and hits his head nearly every episode, of course it hurts. You’re reading too much into this.” Other fans would have—quite rightfully—explained to me how television works and that this repetitive problem is functioning as foreshadowing of a larger problem. With a side of the fact that this is an action show where the characters consistently shrug off their injuries. We’re not supposed to take Wrecker getting thrown around seriously. He’s the brawn of the group, meant to withstand a lot of damage, with any injuries being presented as either #cool (Wrecker shrugs off Fennec’s hits to go after Omega, yeah!) or #funny (Wrecker treats Crosshair shooting him like a badge of honor lol), not something he’s going to have to grapple with in a serious manner. So the audience recognizes the question, what’s more likely? That Wrecker’s headaches are a deliberate visual cue on the part of the writers to tell us that something important is happening, or that suddenly how the genre treats injuries has drastically changed?

It's precisely the same with Crosshair. He’s not the brawn like Wrecker is, but he’s still the action (anti)hero who shrugs off injuries because this is a show interested in more fun, explosive plot, not a deep dive into recovery. (See also: the story doing nothing with Echo’s trauma.) When Crosshair is injured, he’s immediately fighting to get back into a ship and when we next see him he’s passed the recovery stage entirely. There’s only a scar to show that this happened at all. We don’t watch him getting bacta skin grafts, or worrying about his eyesight, or struggling to eat, etc. The point is that he was injured for the purposes of that episode and now he’s not. So why would we think his headaches are a long-term symptom when the show is otherwise not at all interested in writing long-term symptoms? What’s more likely, that this familiar visual cue is being repeated to tell us that this is the chip, just like it was with Wrecker, or that the story is randomly interested in something it never was interested in before?

The audience is right to think that there’s more going on because the show has been written to say, "Something more is going on." The headaches, Crosshair’s refusal to give concrete information, the group conveniently not using Tech’s scanner, the burn scar hiding where the chip’s scar would be, a lack of motivation for the Empire removing the chip, not seeing its removal when the show did include its power being amplified… all of these are deliberate writing choices to set up another reveal. But, if we take the interview at face value and learn that these weren’t deliberate details… then what? The writers are making mistakes? Throwing in “clues” for the hell of it that they never intend to cache in on? Unless there’s some amazing answer here that allows for both these inconsistencies' explanations and the writers’ hard stance—something I personally can’t think up—then we’re left with is a pretty serious flaw in the show. A flaw that’s going to undermine the audience’s trust in everything we get from here on out. The next time we see something that feels like a cool setup/reveal, half the fandom will be going, “Yes! It totally means that ___ is going to happen!!” while the other half will be going, “… does it? Because we thought things were happening with Crosshair and that went nowhere.” Writers have to tackle the implications of what they’ve put on screen. Otherwise, the story falls apart.

So yeah, I’m aware of those hard “His chip is out and this is his choice” statements and, frankly, they make me nervous for season two. Because what the show needs is to engage with what we actually got in the finale: an ambiguous state of Crosshair’s chip, a number of hints that it might still be in there, and an ethical dilemma that, so far, hasn’t acknowledged how much of an influence the group’s decisions have had on Crosshair’s. I tackled most of this in the first analysis, but something I didn’t unpack there was the “choice” of not leaving with them. I mean yes, by all exact definitions—and if we accept that the chip really isn’t there—then Crosshair absolutely had free will in that moment to do as he pleased. But life is way more complicated than that. Imagine for a moment that I put two candy bars in front of you. “You can have whichever one you’d like,” I say. You reach for the one on the left and I glare, hard. I scoff at you. I mutter about your choices, your personality, your flaws, and your mistakes. So you reach for the one on the right instead and I’m… neutral. Okay then. Right candy bar it is. “They could have chosen the one on the left” someone watching claims. “Nothing was stopping them. No one put a gun to their head!” And yeah, the concept of “stopping them” was never that extreme… but the more compassionate, nuanced look acknowledge that some measure of “stopping them” did exist. Insults. Cruelty. A clear indication that one choice was wrong and the other was right. That’s one hell of an influence, even if it's not as formidable as a gun or a chip.

And that’s what Crosshair is dealing with. Yes, joining the Empire is clearly wrong and yes, a non-chipped Crosshair has free will to walk away from it… but walking towards TBB was never presented as a real option for him. He saw that through their inaction when they never came back for him. Then in Hunter’s refusal to admit that they’d made a mistake in leaving him behind. Wrecker putting all responsibility on his shoulders, despite knowing what the chip does to someone. Tech backing him up and framing this situation as stemming solely from Crosshair’s base personality—“severe and unyielding.” It’s seen in the always-loving Omega walking away from him in the barracks, in Crosshair’s hesitation to follow them to safer ground (and boy oh boy, do I have sad headcanons about that), and most especially, in their reactions to him saving Omega. What Crosshair learns in that moment is that they honestly believe that he, not the Empire's chip, but he would shoot Hunter and that saving their little sister is not a point in his favor. It's met only with glares and a need to disarm himself. They don’t trust him and actions that should produce trust are outright ignored, so… where can they go from here? Nowhere, according to TBB’s actions. They’re not giving Crosshair any wiggle room, any hope that these relationships can be repaired, or any acknowledgement that they had a hand in things getting this bad. So when they offer to let Crosshair come with them—which is very significantly presented as an obligation, not something they want—he knows that offer is BS. Whatever their real feelings might be (because the found family show obviously wants us to believe that everyone loves each other), their actions have said loud and clear that they don’t want him. That yes, he could technically walk onto that ship… but that it would be the “wrong” decision accompanied by more insults, scoffs, and pressure to do otherwise. That once he's there, he'll be treated only as a threat with any good deeds ignored. It's an awful offer outside of it being the morally correct decision when it comes to leaving the Empire... so Crosshair reaches for the right candy bar instead.

That very long tangent out of the way, THIS is what season two has to grapple with, along with all that ambiguity and the existence of these "The chip is still here" hints. But the interviews don’t seem to acknowledge that all of this exists, instead framing things as if we’d ended the finale knowing for sure that the chip is out and had watched a season where Crosshair is 100% responsible for everything that’s happened, no Empire or TBB influence involved. The way the interviews frame things doesn’t match up with the text, so I can only hope this is an example of bad communication, or the writers keeping a spoiler under wraps, because otherwise… season two might be frustrating to watch, with fans continually going, “Why are you ignoring that this happened? Why are you pretending that all of this is simpler than it actually is?”

[fallintosanity]

What are your thoughts on 7 Remake’s ~controversial~ ending? It’s been a few weeks now since I finished and I legit feel like I’ve journeyed through all 5 stages of grief and finally landed on Acceptance 😅

haha that’s fair! I have a lot of thoughts about the remake, but they’re coming from three different angles. 

(Spoilers under the cut obvs; also this got fucklong even after I cut a bunch of non-ending-related thoughts, and I apologize to those of you on mobile)

From the POV of someone who played and loved the original

Overall, I really enjoyed the remake, ending and all. I replayed the OG prior to the remake’s release, finishing literally four hours before the remake became available in North America, but it had still been months since I did the Midgar parts so it wasn’t too immediately fresh in my mind. Still, I was impressed by how faithful the remake is to the OG for the vast majority of the game. They noticeably cleaned up a few things, like Tseng slapping Aerith, which didn’t age well or stopped making sense with regards to the greater Compilation, which was nice to see. But they also doubled down on some of the ridiculousness of the original. I can’t tell you how much I cackled when the Hell House showed up, or how many times I said to my fiance in joy/disbelief, “They really managed to fit that in!” 

I also love all the little nods to the greater Compilation. I saw one interview excerpt from like... 2015 or 2014 or something that said the Remake is considered canon to the Compilation, and the content of the Remake itself suggests this. While some of the cameos could be considered nothing more than cameos (as much as I love Kunsel, I don’t think his name being dropped means anything other than that they needed a name and wanted to give a nod to him), there are other clear hints that Crisis Core and The Kids Are Alright, at minimum, are canon to the Remake. Hojo mentions “S and G type” SOLDIERs, i.e., Sephiroth-type and Genesis/Gillian-type. (Roche is a G type I am not taking arguments on this point) The description of the Buster Sword says it carries the hopes and dreams of those who came before, implying more than just Zack (i.e., Angeal). Zack’s scene right before he charges the ShinRa army is shot-for-shot the one from Crisis Core, which could have just been a nod, but the fact that he also says the same lines as the original is telling. There’s a lot of lore loaded into those lines. Leslie and Kyrie are both from The Kids Are Alright (which makes me wonder if the third ShinRa half-brother is floating around somewhere). You could make an argument for Before Crisis being partially or completely canon to the remake as well, since someone mentions a previous assassination attempt on the President, which happened in BC. 

But now we get into the issue of whether Advent Children is canon to the remake, i.e., the ending and the thing you actually asked about. ^^; This is where I’m more torn. My initial reaction to the ending was “Oh crap, we went from FFVII-Remake to Kingdom Hearts - oh shit now we’re in Advent Children - oh fuck now we’re in fanfiction-land.” Which... is definitely not what I was expecting from the ending of Part 1. 

On first playthrough it feels a bit like they overplayed their hand with Sephiroth in the ending: “everyone wants a Sephiroth fight in a FFVII game, so we’ll give them a Sephiroth fight”. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about the fact that Sephiroth appears in person in the Midgar sequence, when in the OG all we see of him before Kalm is the aftermath of President Shinra’s murder. I do think Sephiroth’s appearances prior to the ending were done well - the writers clearly intended to emphasize Cloud’s mental issues, and Sephiroth is too big a part of them to ignore. His appearances prior to the top of Shinra Tower both serve as a bone tossed to those who wanted to see him in the remake, and set up the Cloud-Sephiroth relationship a lot earlier and in more depth. You can see how utterly terrified Cloud is every time Sephiroth is around - even sometimes frozen into immobility. Depending on how things go with the Kalm flashback, this may also help cue new players in to just how wrong things are with Cloud. (After all, a SOLDIER First shouldn’t be afraid of another SOLDIER First, should he?) But the final fight against Sephiroth, or at least, a clone wearing Sephiroth’s face, felt premature, out of place, something that’s only there to appease people who wanted to fight Sephiroth now. 

Aside from the Sephiroth thing, I’m reserving judgment a bit on the ending as a whole. On the one hand, I’m deeply curious to see where the story goes from here, and how the writers use their newfound freedom (more on that in a minute). On the other hand, I don’t want this to turn into Kingdom Hearts 4, and I don’t trust Nomura in that regard, especially after all the bullshit that went on with KH3, Verum Rex, and FFXV/versus 13. I love Nomura, but like George Lucas, he desperately needs someone to rein in, edit, and shape his ideas.

I’m also not sure how I feel about all the theories being thrown out there - such as that at least one of the Sephiroths we see is the one from after AC, somehow flung back in time to fuck things up; or that the OG was, 999-style, Aerith seeing into the future and now in the remake she’s taking control to put everything on the path she wants. They’re interesting, for sure, and I think that with careful handling, it’s possible Squenix might be able to pull one of them off - but given what I know of Squenix (again, more on that later), I don’t trust them to do it well. I am, to be blunt, very concerned that later installments of the remake are going to turn into an incoherent tug-of-war between those who want to be faithful to the original, and Nomura’s desire to inject weird Kingdom Hearts nonsense everywhere. 

I say this with all the love to Kingdom Hearts, but it’s a very specific kind of story and it’s not what I want to see in my FFVII.

On a writing meta level

On the meta level, I’m fascinated by the choice to go with the whole Whispers/Arbiters of Fate thing. I don’t know how much of that is pure Nomura-injected BS vs how much was a deliberate choice by the writing team, but for right now I’m going to assume it was mostly a deliberate and unanimous choice. 

I’ve seen a lot of other Remake opinions along the lines of a reluctant, “I guess they had to put the Whispers in there because a perfect remake wouldn’t have been satisfying to everyone. There’s always someone who would have complained.” I... don’t think that’s entirely true. Like, yeah, sure, someone’s always going to complain if it’s not a pixel-perfect remake, but based on the overall satisfaction I’ve seen from OG fans (including myself) regarding the parts that are true to the original, I think Squenix would have done just fine if that was the path they chose. And given how much attention they paid to making most of the game into a nearly-perfect recreation, I think the writers knew it. 

So why’d they go the whole Whispers route? 

My guess would be that the writers were giving themselves freedom, on a meta level, with the Whispers. It’s a way of both poking fun at, and solving, their own dilemma: do we make a perfect, hi-res copy of the original? Or do we change things to make it our own? 

The “change something to make it your own” is a longstanding trope when someone new is put in charge of something old. You see it in everything from Disney live-action remakes to new managers who change their employees’ routines just to “make an impact”. Most of the time, these changes are neutral / un-impactful at best, or outright frustrating / terrible at worst. I wonder if the Remake writing team wasn’t fully aware of this, and possibly tangled up in knots internally about how to handle it. Would it be seen as a bad, “make it their own” change to have Tseng not slap Aerith? What about adding Chocobo Sam, Madam M, and Andrea Rhodea to the Wall Market sequence? What about the changes to how the Avalanche gang reacts to Cloud, now that we have full animation and voice acting and it’s clear Avalanche has no reason to want to keep him around except for Jessie being horny on main? Where’s the line? 

I could see the Whispers being the writing team’s way of making sure they stay in line where it’s important, while also giving themselves the freedom to make the updates needed to allow the remake to work. They’re kind of a meta nod to the audience, a “don’t worry! If we get too far out of line, the Whispers will bring us back.” In that sense, the entire ending where you (the player) kill the Whispers and free yourself (the player) from destiny is you giving the writers permission to continue making those small changes. 

In FFXV, almost the entire ending sequence is a cutscene: Noctis on the throne, being murdered by his ancestors and descending into the spirit realm. But there’s one single quick-time event in there, one point where the player has to take action and push a button. It’s not even difficult, and on the surface it seems pointless. Except, if you don’t, Noctis lives. (Trapped in purgatory maybe, but he’s still there.) If you never push that button, Noctis doesn’t sacrifice his spirit and those of the Lucii to destroy Ardyn and wipe the Scourge from Eos. By asking - requiring - the player to push that button to commit that final act, the game makes the player complicit in Noct’s sacrifice. It’s a powerful moment, and similar to what (I suspect) the Remake writers intended with the Whispers. 

Because they could have left the Whispers in forever. They could have had them be a continuous presence throughout all episodes of the Remake, a little reminder that no matter what tweaks the writers might make to update the story, to “make it their own”, the Arbiters of Fate will ensure things are on track. That things will play out exactly as in the original. But by asking the player to destroy the Arbiters, the writers are asking for the player’s permission to make changes. And by killing the Arbiters, you’re granting it. Because, just like you can keep Noctis alive by not pushing the button when prompted, you can keep the original game more-or-less on track by never stepping through that portal, never killing the Arbiters. But if you do step through that portal and go through with it, you’re agreeing to accept that things might change, thus freeing the writers from the constant double jeopardy of changing things vs keeping them exactly the same. 

On a business meta level

As cool as (I think) that all sounds, the bigger question is, can Square Enix actually pull it off? And here’s where I start to have my most significant doubts. After the FFvs13/FFXV debacle and the hopeless mess that was KH3, I do not trust Nomura to tell a coherent story, even if it’s supposedly a retelling of an existing, well-known story. I don’t know anything about the inner workings or politics at Square Enix, other than that there are politics at play, so in fairness to him I can’t really say it’s because he himself is bad at telling a story, or just doesn’t have the support he needs to convey his vision well. But that gets into other issues with Squenix. We know their last several major games have had long and troubled developments. Someone way more attuned than me to the Japanese video games industry can talk in depth about why; all I know is that it happened (is happening?) and that it’s something of a miracle the remake came out as well as it did. 

On top of that, I’m a bit concerned that even if Squenix can get (and keep) its shit together, it might be up against external forces that constrain how it can tell the story of FFVII in the present. For example, from what I’ve heard, the reason Crisis Core never got ported the way so many other games did, and the reason Genesis Rhapsodos has never been seen outside it and a Dirge of Cerberus cameo, is due to image licensing fights with Gackt, Genesis’s face model. CC established Genesis as a key player in the events leading up to the original game’s story, and enough hints have been dropped about CC in the remake that, like I said earlier, it appears to be canon. But if Squenix can’t reach an agreement to use the character again, they might be trapped in a corner where they either have to completely rewrite the parts of the story involving Genesis, or dance around his existence. 

And on top of all that, it’s just expensive and time-consuming as hell to make games on the remake’s scale. Everyone expects the PS4 to be retired by the time Remake Part 2 comes out, which is going to pose huge logistical issues for releasing it. Squenix has been having a rough time of it lately, from what I’ve heard - are they, as a company, capable of handling all those logistical issues? I don’t know, and that makes me nervous. 

Still, they did do a remarkable job with the remake overall, even grappling with the pandemic around the launch date. So maybe they’re getting their shit together again, and things will be smooth sailing from here. We’ll have to wait and see. 

[venus-says]

Aikatsu on Parade! Episode 23

Honestly, nothing can beat the gleam of the moon. Or moons, in this case.

Today it was supposed to be precure day, but because of personal reasons, I couldn't finish watching all episodes in time so I had to postpone it to Friday and move this up on schedule. But hey it's not all that bad, it fits a lot better to be talking about the moon on my birthday rather than be talking about roses. XD

Sadly, this may be a very short one because not a lot happened, it was enjoyable but I didn't sense like there was a very urgent conflict so, for the most part, I was just sitting around, having a good time, up until the very end when my entire soul was blown. I'll have to admit, I was way happier and excited about this episode Friday night (that's when the episodes air to me) from just seeing screenshots on twitter.

I have two major points that make me not like this episode as much as I could/should. The first one is the incongruences like I know on Parade has a very loose logic, but you can't be so keen on Raki doing all by herself in one episode and then in the next one have everyone's help to get the event running, I know this is more of a problem of the past episode rather than this one with the way they were hitting the nail so hard in this point, but come on. Also, Elza there saying "oh no, I changed" when her period in On Parade showed that she clearly didn't change, I mean just look at the way she interacted with this show's protagonist. lol

The second point is maybe a little too nitpicky but I can't deny I still didn't like that the second live of this day was The Feeling of Justice. Don't get me wrong, I like the song, the performance is one of the coolest original CGs we got this season, but come on, if the big final stage of the night is a collaboration stage shouldn't they've used another performance that was made solely by Four Star Students? Like, thrown one of Yuzu's songs, or maybe one of Lily's, heck if you wanted to put two collabs in this episode wouldn't it be better to have Checkmate perform? Like, if we consider the ending a part of the show, Lily was the only Four Stars character that didn't sing this week, if Yume could call her friends Lily could do it too. Aine and Mio already got a collab and they'll probably perform twice next week there was no need for them to be here, they're not even the main characters anymore they can't even use that as an excuse. I'm sorry.

Definitely, the high point of this episode was Hime and Mizuki's stage. That came out of nowhere, no one was expecting it, I missed being surprised by the Aikatsu anime so much, so when I knew this was a thing it was just marvelous. I want to call a little bit of a bs in using this as a conflict for this week, but I just can't. This was the type of collab I was wanting from On Parade, something new and unexpected but that also made sense for the characters that were a part of it. And holy cow, this was so beautiful. Ruka and Risuko voices matched so well together, this is one of my favorite songs and I'm so glad this version of the song came out this amazing. And the dresses, oh god, Hime's moon dress is the better looking of all sun dresses, and Mizuki's legend premium is one of the most gorgeous coords Aikatsu has ever made and I love this coord with a passion that I don't even know how to describe my feelings for it. I thought on Parade had peaked with Mizuki, Elza, and Hibiki's Take me higher, but this was definitely the peak, the biggest highlight of this show. Thank you On Parade, you suck buy when you get things right, you actually DO them right.

Speaking on doing things right, another thing that really brings me joy was the preview for the final episode, or at least what I think will be the final episode before Dream Story starts. I admit the preview didn't show a lot, but they corrected Friends' biggest mistake AND FINALLY GAVE HONEY CAT AND REFLECT MOON THEIR JEWELING DRESSES! AND THEY LOOK FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!! Honestly, I may like them more than I like the 9 that were officially released while Friends was still a thing. I know it's very minor, we probably won't ever see these in a CG performance, but I'm so happy, this was one of the things I wanted the most out of Brilliant Jewel. It's sad the next episode looks like shit. Honestly, how did they let this happen? I know on Parade is technically still going after the next episode, but that'll still be a climax episode you shouldn't be making it that cheap, dear god. At least they didn't forget Baby Pirates exists and they'll be there (wish they could get jewels too, but deep down I know they won't ever get new coords again *cries*).

And well, that's it for on Parade! I ended up writing way more than I expected, I'm glad I managed to do it despite how tired I am. Do you have any comments? Please share your thoughts with. I'll see you all around. Bye-bi~

[dachi-chan25]

So i finally watched It chapter 2...

DISCLAIMER: So I know most of y'all don't like anyone to critizise anything u like, right of the bat I am telling u I did NOT liked this movie at all, there are changes I thought were good ideas but most of it was just plain terrible in MY opinion and I need to vent. If u share my opinión or find my rage amusing read on.

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I had been putting off watching this movie, cuz in 2017 I enjoyed the 1st IT movie but I had a TON of issues with it (Mike's complete erasure, Stan being a completely different character, The Losers Club moments being sacrificed to cool sounding one-liners, WTF happened to Henry Bowers and Alvin Marsh, Bev being overly sexualized, etc, etc) so I was on the fence about this one. The cast is what finally caught my attention but then I heard very mixed reviews about it, and as I am starting on a new job I hadn't had the time to go and watch it til now and oh boy was I disappointed.

First off, we have to ask ourselves was Adrian Melon's murder scene really that necessary??? I understand what they used it for in the movie (to make a R3ddi3 reference /as a side note I do not care for the ship or any other IT ship tbh i write it like this cuz i don't want this post to invade the ship tag) but the characters involved are never mentioned again and it was too gratuitous (like we can have a homophobic hate crime, slurs thrown around all the time but we can't have the gay ship this movie was going for saying they love each other in a straightforward manner??? I know this is an unpopular opinion but I am not giving Muschietti props for doing the gay closeted ship for the 1000th time, if u were gonna do it go for it!!! Do right by the characters, hell in the book they get more tenderness and they are never explicitly gay, Eddie is heavily coded as gay or asexual and Richie is super bisexual) like my queer ass is tired of seeing gay ppl die in violent gruesome ways all the time.

While I love Bill Skarsgard's performance, the excess of CGI and all those jumpscares and strobe lights, actually take away from his performance, he is super scary and eerie when he is talking and even being friendly but super hillarious and plain silly when he is actually trying to be scary or when he is eating, it looked too wierd.

TBH whyyy was Tom Rogan in this?? Muschietti had already changed Alvin Marsh from being physically violent to being a sexual predator (everything they changed from Bev took away from her character, like we can have her smoking and flirting w Mr Keene but we can't have her teaching Richie how to use his yo-yo or winning in a fucking video game or drawing or anything that remotely has to do with her character) why was Tom necessary?? Hell we could have skipped that and have Bev in Kay's house telling her all that happened instead, I mean if he wasn't gonna die in the sewer why is he even a character? It was so easy to erase him and have Kay instead. Also how tf did Alvin survive???

Whyyy do that to Audra??? I fucken hate Muschietti, was it necessary to justify Bill cheating on her??? Nope, we could have simply have Bill not kiss Beverly and that’s it, also I am kinda salty Audra is not part of the plot.

Lmao Henry, like he fell on the fucken pipe and you could hear his fucken bones breaking and craking and he gets to get up and walk home????????? Whyyy y y , Muschietti ????

We never really got to see how deeply ingrained Pennywise is in the town, he is actually Derry. And if Muschietti thinks he fixed the wtf ending everyone complained about in the 90's adaptation he is on fucken drugs, this ending is super messed up and has nothing to do with the book or with anything at all, we never get to know what exactly is Pennywise, his true form it's a clown spider apparently or something cuz the death lights were there but not really ???

STAN was fucken robbed (again) last time he was completely ereased, he was physically there on the scenes but that’s it, his personality was null. And his thing, the thing that made him comit suicide was the fact that he was the one to see the death lights, the most logical and disbelieving of them faced something far beyond anyone's comprehension and they gave that to Bev?? And the death lights apparently gave her Final Destination abilities? ?????

Eddie was robbed. Of so so much. Muschietti fuck you. Frist off why isn't Eddie the CEO of some app like Uber like he was the Losers Club compass he was a great fucking driver, he loved sports (I actually got excited when they had this scene with the baseball game cuz i thought it was gonna be an Eddie scene but nope) y not connect that with this Token bs Muschietti pulled off his ass (this is actually a great idea, and could symbolize the Losers' lost childhood IF Muschietti had been assed to give them significance or something in part 1) His death scene. Just why? Why are his last words a cheap joke instead of a love confession, fuck it Muschietti if u wanted R3ddi3 have the courage to really do it (in the books the Losers take turns to carry his body out of the sewer cuz they will not leave him there, that's more meaningful than them diving) One of his most beautiful quotes is something Bill is writing??? Lmaoooo Bill wishes he could have thought up that (I love Bill but come the fuck on)

Why make such a huge deal out of B3nv3rly or r3ddi3 when the point of it all was that the Losers Club all loved each other, apart from whatever romantic feelings, they found a family in one another and they really erased that in this movie, I was like y are this ppl friends with each other. Mike drugged Bill, Richie was awfull to everyone, they barely had a conversation in the restaurant (biihhh the 90s miniseries does this better) and show no respect for Mike at all ( I mean I am not surprised cuz Muschietti has no respect for Mike as a character at all) or bill like nah son.

Stephen King cameo was there I guess, it was fine.

The Kiss me fat boy, of all things u could have taken from the 90's miniseries why that?????

Ben building the house club by himself ???? Bullshit, Muschietti ereased another great Losers Club bonding time and hate him for it.

MIKE, I AM ENRAGED. So Muschietti is braver than King for making R3ddi3 "canon" but he destroyed Mike's entire character and that is fine with y'all mmmmm. His parents were "crackheads" apparently cuz it's not like that is a stereotype black ppl have carried on for years on end, he did not go to school, he was not the historian but now he is cuz he had to stay and he is crazy and obsesive and drugs Bill and also stole from a native american tribe???? FUCK this so fucken much I hate it with all my being .

How does such a choppy movie manage to drag on forever??? Like there were still 45 Min left and I was bored out of my mind. Why is the final arc so bad??? Like some much stuff that could have actually gotten away with erasing (Paul Bunyan, whyyy it was so silly, it doesn't even work in the book, but fine like King was super high he barely remembers writing it, why take it to the big screen u should have sticked to him being afraid of clowns like u had already messed up) and added and could have added things that actually enriched the adaptation.

I just give up. Like if they do a 3rd one like it's rumored I won't see it, Muschietti clearly does not know how to be subtle or to have meaningful character arcs, he is just good for cheap jumpscares, one líners and yo mama jokes so I pass. I really hoped the up coming King adaptations are better than this one. That being said the movie had real fun/enjoyable moments, if this were not an adaptation I would have liked it a hella lot more than I did but alas nope.

[selenelavellan]

I'm still here!! BTS for the Concert AU?

BTS: I’ll write a DVD commentary about my personal favorite passage from [that fic]

Limiting this to one of the bits I wrote, let’s go with “You don’t have to Stay” which is one of my favorites that I’ve written overall, and is a nice piece with just Des and Selene together.

Under a cut for length?

“You don’t have to stay.”

He mumbles it into the back of her neck, even as his arms tighten around her middle, his own conflicts coming to light as the sun drifts through their closed shutters.

Des isn’t really used to partners that he has an emotional connection with. He’s finally spent the night with Selene, who he’s shared a home with for years already but never been sexually intimate with in a non-teasing sort of way. It’s new, and it should be familiar ground, because hello it’s sex and that’s like his whole ‘thing’ but he’s nervous and clingy and scared in a way he hasn’t felt since he was younger than he should have been. And while maybe if he had woken up to an empty bed like he had expected, like he had assumed she would do because it’s Selene and she runs that’s what she does when she gets scared, he would have felt more in control of the situation. Because he expected her to be scared and ashamed and to avoid ever bringing it up again and sure it would hurt but all he really expected was the memory, and all he hoped for was to still have a friend in the morning.

Selene lets out a soft sigh, shifting until she is facing him. She places a light ‘boop’ on his nose in lieu of an actual response.

Des’s face scrunches up, his forehead gently bumping into hers. “M'just saying. Usually you’re making breakfast for my bedmates and finding them a bus route by now. You’re not like…” he makes a vague sort of grunting noise “You’re not obligated to stay. If you don’t want to.”

“What if I do want to?” She mumbles back. “Are you going to kick me out of bed?”

But then she stays, and she’s happy and she’s still there and she isn’t leaving him or avoiding him or ashamed of him and it’s giddy and he’s used to being happy in bed and laughing and smiling and having fun but this is morning after fun and that’s new and wonderful and unexpected, and it’s the first time he really sees how differently his life feels when they’re together. 

Des is used to sex, and Des is used to partners, and Des is used to Selene. But the combination is new.

Des has never been one to turn down anything new.

“Never.” Des grins.

“Good.” Selene grins back, twining her legs through his.

Selene is also more comfortable than she really expected to be. She had plenty of sex with Carina, but that had always been a little tense. Always felt like trying to keep up, like trying to impress her, like trying to get a good score on a test she’d never see the grade for. There’s no pretense with Des; he’s seen her at her best, and he’s seen her at her absolute worst and there’s no need to pretend to be something other than exactly who she is. She doesn’t have to be the best version of herself 100% of the time around him, and it’s just a relief, to be able to be a bit of a ‘bad’ person and not feel judged for it. 

It’s comfortable, then. The two of them, alone in their bed with only the sound of their breaths and the cars passing by outside. Des’s long fingers carefully stroke up and down Selenes back, soft and gentle over the scratch marks he left the night before. Too hurried, too concerned one of them might chicken out, might change their mind in the middle and everything would stop. And he would have stopped, of course, if she had asked him to. But she hadn’t, she’d been just as swept up in the moment as he had been; pressing each other into walls and furniture, clothing articles being torn and thrown without care, fighting until it wasn’t fighting anymore. War turned to love, old arguments washed away in moans and whispered apologies and oaths sworn into skin through gritted teeth and bites hard enough to leave a reminder in the morning light that it wasn’t just a dream.

Different, somehow, from his usual encounters.

I don’t have a lot of commentary for this bit, except to say that sometimes these two just need some rough loving and it’s good that they can turn to one another for it, y’know? I’m also a sucker for the whole arguing turning into declarations of bottled of emotions trope and that’s hard to pull off when both characters are non-confrontational and would rather just sulk in corners on opposite ends of a castle for a few thousand years than just say what’s on their minds...

In a good way though. Old wounds healed by his healer; still her even when she’s trying so desperately not to be.

Again, Selene spends a lot of time and energy trying to be who she thinks the world wants her to be rather than true to herself. Des is good at seeing through her BS though, and better at seeing that if she just relaxed she’s already everything anyone could ask for. (at least in his eyes, but he is pretty love smitten in this piece so I’ll cut him a little slack about it)

“Where do we go from here?” He wonders aloud.

Will this become a regular part of their routine? Is he supposed to stop seeing other people? Will this change what they’ve had together for so long?

“Well,” Selene says, rolling away from him and stretching her arms up over her head. “Breakfast sounds like a good start to me. Or coffee. Or maybe clothes first, if you wanna go out to eat.”

Des: this was fantastic, but also is this like a Thing now? I have questions.Selene: Yes but I am emotionally and mentally unprepared for that discussion pls caffeine first.

Des snorts, pulling her back to him quickly enough that she lets out an undignified squeak.

“Breakfast sounds great,” he sighs, face nuzzling into the sensitive dip in her hip he discovered the night before, enjoying the way she melts now as surely as she had the night before. “But…could we stay here a little longer first?”

Selene agrees, fingers threading through his hair in a pleasantly reassuring manner as she settles back into their bed.

Maybe, just maybe, he thinks, I won’t screw this up too.

EVERYONE IS AN EMOTIONALLY STUNTED AND SELF-CONSCIOUS SAP AND I LOVE THEM.

[cluelessrebel1988]

Shipping questions

Saw that @hpfangirl13​ had done this and it looked like fun so I thought I’d give it a shot

Talk about the first ship you ever had.

One of the first pairs that I remember wanting to get together was Harry/Hermione as I was reading the Harry Potter series. I didn’t know what shipping was at the time (I’m not even sure there was a term for it yet), but I really thought they made a better couple than Ron/Hermione for the longest time. I eventually came around to Ron/Hermione (Book 7 was the game changer), but Harry/Hermione was the one I was rooting for for about half the series.

Talk about three of the most important ships throughout your life.

I mean, the first one is pretty important, right? The one that gets you started on wanting to see where a relationship or friendship goes. So yeah, Harry/Hermione would probably be an important one. Outside of that, the top three are Cartinelli (Peggy Carter/Angie Martinelli) on the show Agent Carter was a big one for me because that kickstarted by deep and resounding love for f/f pairings;FitzSimmons from Agents of SHIELD. If for no other reason than that’s the one thing that kept me watching through some pretty dismal story arcs; And Riley Matthews/Maya Hart (Rilaya) from Girl Meets World, due to them being one of the few pairs I’ve shipped since day one.

What’s your current OTP?

Not gonna lie, I fell pretty hard for the budding romance between Jane Banks and Jack the lamplighter in Mary Poppins returns. It’s just so sweet and pure and just starting out and it’s damn near perfect.

What’s your current NOTP?

I don’t really have one at the moment. The most recent was probably Kara/Mon-El on Supergirl, but mostly because I thought the relationship was poorly written and that the arc that they gave Mon-El would have worked just fine if they weren’t in a relationship.

Do you have any poly ships?

No. I’ve never been able to get into that. No judgement against people that are, though!

How do you feel about love triangles?

I have yet to see one that didn’t get old fast and drag a story down hard. 

How do you feel about RPF?

Not really my thing. Feels too weird.

Have you ever shipped yourself with a character?

I actually have. Generally when I’m testing out OCs in my head or in the canon of the story, I don’t have them mess with canon pairings, but I’ve got a Lord of the Rings OC that I ship with Eowyn and yes, it’s pretty much a self-insert situation. 

Do you have many ships that never got together at all?

Well, Cartinelli never became an actual couple, but I was never expecting them to. That’s probably the only one.

Do you ship any characters that have never met?

No, there’s gotta be some kind of meeting

Talk about your favorite first kiss.

Gotta go with FitzSimmons on this one. After a little over two seasons of slow burn, and just about every bad thing you can think of getting thrown their way (including one of them getting sucked into a portal to an alien planet), they’re back together, dealing with the long months apart, the fact that one of them is convinced they’re cursed as a couple and conflicting emotions abound, and the confrontation scene they’re having reaches a tipping point and Fitz kisses Simmons as passionately as he can. She kisses him a moment later, but more gently and for just a moment, nothing else matters. No one else matters. It’s just them. Still love that scene.

Have you ever been disappointed when your ship finally got together?

Not really. Not that I can think of.

Has a ship ever broken your heart?

I had my heart broken about a dozen times over with FitzSimmons, largely due to a combination of amazing writing and an inexplicable desire by said writers to keep them from getting together.

How do you feel about will they/won’t they?

Oh, if it’s done well, it’s about as perfect as it gets. But you gotta do it right. 

Have you ever “shipped at first sight”?

I think most, if not all, of my ships started at first sight

Talk about a ship you initially disliked.

I was never on the Reylo train, and I’m still not even after ‘The Last Jedi’ (though I get why a lot more people started shipping them after that movie). I’d be lying if I said I hated it, but it’s just one that I never got on board with.

Talk about a pairing you’ve stopped shipping romantically.

I really can’t think of any.

Talk about a moment which made you question an entire ship.

I really had a hard time understanding the SkyeWard (Agents of SHIELD) ship after it was revealed that Ward was Hydra. Pretty much everything about him after that was just...ugh. I’ve maintained for a while that his character deserved a redemption arc and that said arc would have been a more interesting story than just straight up making him the bad guy, but the two of them together never made sense to me after that reveal.

Have you ever shipped something despite yourself?

Not really. I know what I like and what I don’t and my ships tend to fall in line with that.

Talk about a ship you feel alone in shipping?

Probably just about any pairing from ‘The Great Escape’ but that’s largely because it’s a movie from 1963 and I’m not sure how many people in the shipping culture of today have even heard of it.

Is there a ship you just don’t get, but have nothing against?

Not really. Most of the ships I don’t get I have problems with, and the ones I don’t ship, but don’t have a problem with I at least understand 

Which of your ships have the best chemistry?

FitzSimmons has always had amazing chemistry and just continues to get better

Which of your ships deserve better writing?

FitzSimmons deserves writers that will just let them be happy for five fucking minutes, okay?

Do you mostly ship canon pairings?

There’s a bit of balance, I think, maybe leaning toward canon pairings.

Have you ever shipped a pairing before you even started watching the show/movie simply because of gifs and graphics or similar?

Not that I can think of.

Have you noticed a pattern in your shipping? Is there a romantic dynamic you’re more drawn to?

It’s what I (and a lot of Tumblr users) call the Slytherin/Hufflepuff dynamic. You’ve got the tough character who would set world on fire to protect their less world-weary counterpart, and the eternal optimist who will forever see the best in their significant other, perhaps most especially when they can't see it in themselves.

Is there a ship you’ve shipped for most of your life?

I guess my longest, most consistent ship has been FitzSimmons which I’ve been shipping since 2013. Cartinelli is a close second, that one’s since 2015

Does shipping come easily to you?

Oh yeah. It takes very little for me to start shipping something, even if its casually.

Do you need to ship something to really enjoy a movie/book/tv show/comic?

I don’t know if I NEED to ship something to enjoy the source material, but I’d be hard pressed to think of a situation where it doesn’t improve it at least a little.

Name a couple of fandoms in which you have no ships.

I’m not currently shipping anyone on the show Manifest, so there’s that.

Talk about one of your favorite headcanons for a ship you love.

It’s not one that I came up with, but I did see a FitzSimmons headcanon a few years back that he didn’t know how to tie a tie (despite wearing them all the time) and she tied them for him but no one knew about that. I really liked that and it’s kind of the epitome of their relationship in season 1

Name your favorite fan artist(s).

I don’t really have any favorites, not that I could list.

Share your favorite fanmix for your OTP.

I did come across a Cartinelli fanmix a while back that I liked. I don’t remember all the songs in it, but I do remember it included ‘La Vie En Rose’ and “Someone to Watch Over Me’ which are songs a lot of people associate with the ship

Do you create fanmixes/gif sets/fanart/fic/fanvids and so on for your ships?

I’ve made a few fanvids for a couple of my ships, and I’ve written a fair share of fics for others.

Do you have a favorite trope and/or AU for your OTP?

My favorite FitzSimmons AU is one where they get a happy ending (I’m a bit bitter about this, can you tell?)

Do you like and use ship names?

Dear God, yes. The more creative the better.

Is there a fictional relationship you’d really want for yourself?

I mean, apart from one where I’m a rider of Rohan and am able to romance Lady Eowyn, no

If you could change one thing about your OTP, what would that be?

Angie Martinelli plays a bigger role in season 2 of Agent Carter and there’s no forced love triangle BS with Peggy.in Los Angeles. Cartinelli happiness (romantic or otherwise) ensues

[ghostantine]

OKAY SO THE ANIMATION MOVIE!

Right so I pretty much loved it??

this here now is quite a detailed take on it cos i guess i’ve talked back and forth about it so much i need give a conclusion

First of all: the set up, that also was the first eps that dropped on cw seed, is pretty much the weakest part of the film in my opinion. also for the film they got bit beefed up with other surrounding world and mood building stuff which helped.

So! Does it live up to the comic? well... yes and no. it has the wireframe of All His Engines but it does divert from it a lot. Most of the diversions are to cater to a certain idea, establishing the Hellblazer universe and tying into material people who know the motion work know. It’s not necessarily a bad thing tho, quite the contrary at one part or another: there is one plot twist early on that might actually be slightly more interesting than All His Engines had. The adaptation of the story clearly aims to bring more insight to Hellblazer as whole rather than adapting AHE, which im not opposed to at all if done well (originally i was really surprised by the choice of AHE to begin with). Unfortunately in some key parts of John’s history as well as key parts of AHE plot, this falls flat and dilutes some potential outcomes. Where it does live up to the comic tho is obviously the basis of the plot but also has very much the vibe and style of the comic (interesting as the art actually is very different and not to my taste). The comic clearly served as a platform to build this story from and they were very respectful for it as a source. They also took off some little off-character and off-canon things the comic originally had, altho on the other hand they did change and remove bits of AHE that were important for that storyline and suspense of it. There is a twist at the end that arguably, in it’s essence, is even more All His Engines than the comic actually was.

How it stands with Constantine Episode 10, Quid pour Quo? Well it’s quite at the similar place as ep10 and comic. I think the animation has more of the vibe of the comic while the liveaction follows the storyline more closely. The animation makes some huge diversions of the Hellblazer canon which i get to later on while Ep 10 sticks very much to the comic established histories of the characters and to execute the 2/3 of the AHE plot in the episode. I think personally that the comic still manages to be the most interesting of these three and the motion ones are tied at very close second place. Mostly cos the animation fucked up at places and the comic edges up by having amazing lines no one bothered to include.

There is a lot i really loved. In general the whole thing’s actually pretty great? I might need to actually rewatch the whole thing without pausing every 5 mins to write down thoughts or tumblr posts haha. I think it held itself together and someone not so emerged into the comics wont even be bothered by the things i find annoying.  It has a much of a noire theme like original comic did and is something i absolutely love. the other thing i did love was that it wasnt taking itself too seriously either and was very much funny when it needed to be and also when things were just so over the top. Just like Hellblazer is, that is very much a Hellblazer approach in tone. I did love the ‘party’ scene so much, it made me so happy in all it’s ridiculousness and how it was right down to the tee my interests ahah. There was couple non-comic plot twists I didnt even think to wait for and i did love some and appreciate others. John was very much in character, probably the most since Constantine, at least in live action, maybe even in comics. I did also really love how people reacted to him cos that’s another people get wrong a lot. He was called out for being a fucking idiot and a bad person but still getting appreciation and interest from his peers and demons trying to fuck him up. All the time they stuck to All His Engines as a reference point it was as good as it gets with these things. Loved Asa the Nightmare Nurse so much! She was cool! Also John got thrown around and had his ass kicked I also like that a lot like all you know. Those little inner demon gremlins were cute too i love them

Obviously there are some problems and things im gonna nitpick next. I’ve talked to an extent about the whole Newcastle thing being SO WRONG and how it could’ve been done right... or at least less wrong. I think on my first watch i initially said i don’t care that much but the more i thought about it and now that i watched it again.... i don’t like it. not one bit. I did also initially say I’m not bothered by the fact that ‘Chas’ in this is actually like Chas and Gary and couple other Newcastle people merged together but... in the end that bothers me too. I would be less bothered if these actually served the plot but they dont. AHE doesnt have these and it still works. You dont need “DEEP WHOLE LIFE OF FRIENDSHIP AND SHARED TRAGEDY” to make a mens’ friendship meaningful, that’s just toxic masculinity. Honestly as much as i love Newcastle as a plot and them introducing Nergal to the mix here worked, i dont think the whole 10-15 mins of botching it was worth it. Either do it well or leave it as a vague thing. One other big thing that always bothers me is the magic stuff. While this did try from time to time to have John just draw symbols, bleed a bit and chant some shit to call up some bigger magical entity, it did also make John do some glowy hands magic shit and referred to him as gifted or some other bs. That’s STILL just WRONG. Why is it so hard for these people to understand? HNGH. There was also some dumb bits here and there like John driving which annoys me so much. The end im not quite sure how to feel about but it’s also VERY MUCH AHE (to the vibe of it, not the actual end of AHE). I still dont like the art and i think they are dumb for the whole “London Hospital” thing, tho I’m mostly just amused by that. They did change some stuff from AHE which i thought was really cool on AHE so that kinda bugged me a bit. Not going too much into the details but it’s the usual diluting of comics plot twists. One big thing for me tho was the lack of a clear “trial and error” plot which is the key part of the comic’s plot structure and also was very much present in the Constantine episode but was missing from the movie. The movie on the other hand followed a different Hellblazer plot structure where “John has an absolute solution which has a huge cost but wont use it until the end”. They gave Chas’ sex scene to John which is a bit unfair. Also the lack of lines like “we bend down and think of England” and John’s joke about skull being a bad condom cos it’s got holes is a huge loss on it’s own too.

And against JLD movie? I do like this way better. Not gonna get to too many details here but this obviously is a Hellblazer based thing and not DC/N52 thing. Ofc this one has bit more canon fuck ups cos it tried to get to so many things but as a whole i think it’s better than JLD and a good adaptation of All His Engines.

tldr; it’s a great little movie and very much enjoyable. it has some obvious flaws but keeps up to the comic vibe, characterisation and plot.

Also let john say fuck 2k18

[seasonalwitchcraft]

The Loudest Ideas Come During the Quietest of Days

AN: uh hi! i haven’t a fic (especially one this long) in a long while, so forgive me if the writing is poor or the pacing is bad! but i do hope you enjoy it! i had some inspiration from playing night in the woods and listening to artists such as dodie, cavetown, and chloe moriondo

Word Count: 1.7k

Summary: It’s a slow, rainy, summer day, and Adam finds Annie struggling to finish a song she’s been writing. He tries to see if he can help her.

There was nothing quite like an extremely humid rainy day. The rain seemed to fluctuate between broken sink faucet and complete torrential downpour. But Adam didn’t exactly mind, or at least, not when he’s sat in Steven’s air conditioned living room. Here, the air was cool and refreshing. Anywhere else and it’d feel like a thick fog has completely filled up the space. He couldn’t understand how anyone could stand being in such a space for a long period of time. Steven knew the day was gonna be a slow one so he’d invited all of his friends into his abode just so if they were bored, then they could be bored together. Which was actually nice for a while until everyone started going past the limit of how much “being bored together” they could handle. Steven offered to go out and buy some snacks and some games to entertain the others and Andrew decided to tag along, leaving Adam and Annie alone in the house. After a good half hour of idle chit-chat, they both decided to just roam around. Steven didn’t really mind, as long as nothing was spilled on anything.

It had been probably an hour since Annie had left to roam. How big was Steven’s place anyway? Definitely not big enough to walk around for an hour. Adam thought it’d be best if he went to go check on her, which took no time at all. She couldn’t have been in Steven’s room. Yeah, they’re practically siblings but that’d be kind of weird if she had just been chilling there all by herself. She hadn’t been in the bathroom, either. The door had been left open. The only other place Adam could possibly check was Steven’s basement garage. It was a pretty huge space, even when the car was in it. With the remaining space, Steven managed to deck it out with a couple of old couches that just barely held themselves up together and some other junk he’d thrown in to make the space look snazzy. But no matter how cool one basement garage can look, it’d still be relatively more humid than the other rooms in the house. Gross.

Going down the stairs, Adam realized there was noise coming from the basement. More than just rain. No, not noise. Music? He couldn’t really tell, but it was definitely more melodic than gallons of water bulleting themselves into the ground from the sky. Adam stopped to listen. Indistinguishable melodies. Silence. More melodies. More silence. Frustrated sigh. Okay, yep, that’s definitely Annie. Adam quietly slipped into the room, as to not disturb what was going on. Not to say Adam was shocked, but he was greeted with an interesting surprise. There, Annie sat on one of the arms of the couches, holding an acoustic guitar and singing a song Adam had never heard before. His curiosity had instantly peaked as he stood there, just silently listening and admiring the never before seen talent. How long has she known how to play? Where did she learn how to sing? Does she know how to play other instruments too? The thoughts were cut off when Annie abruptly stopped her song with another frustrated sigh. As she stood from her seat, about to put down the guitar, Adam caught her attention.

“Wait, what were you playing?” Annie almost dropped the guitar in shock, not realizing Adam had been there.

“Oh jeez, uh, hey.” She said, lowering the guitar as to not damage it. “It was uh, just something I wrote. Or at least trying to write.” Adam walked over to her, glancing at the guitar.

“This’s Steven’s?” He asked, picking it up. It was pretty old, but in the most charming way. Patches in the wood were discolored and the strings looked frayed at the top, as if they’ve broken and been replaced dozens of times.

“I think Ryan lent it to him? Gave it to him? Not really sure,” Adam looked at Annie. Her face was flushed and he couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or if it was from the thick humidity in the room. “Do you play?” Adam shook his head.

“Guitar? No, not really. Andrew tried teaching me once but got pretty frustrated,” Adam chuckled, remembering how frustrated Andrew’d gotten at his poor skills. “You’d think for someone who played drums, it’d be easier to learn a second instrument.” Annie didn’t say anything. She just watched as Adam examined the guitar. Then, she had an idea.

“How about I teach you?” Adam looked at her. She had that look on her face that meant she was determined to go through with what she just said. “I promise I won’t be as hard on you as Andrew was.”

And she wasn’t. Instead of trying to cram everything into one go like Andrew had done, Annie decided to teach Adam little by little. In no time, Adam could play A, D, and E chords and can, albeit poorly, play Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog.

“See?” Annie said, beaming at Adam. “Am I a better teacher than Andrew or what?” Adam chuckled, passing her the worn guitar.

“Maybe it is pretty easy to learn a second instrument. You make it easy.” He smiled. Annie felt her face heat up and if anyone were to ask, it was definitely just from the humidity. He looked at her and Annie almost turned away if Adam hadn’t had the same flush on his face. “So…what exactly was that song you were writing earlier?” Annie sighed. To Adam, it was a sigh of frustration again. To Annie, it was a sigh of relief, Adam hadn’t caught her blushing.

“I’ve been trying to work on it all summer,” She rested the guitar in her lap, considering whether or not to try again. “I thought a day like today would help me out but, ugh, I don’t know…” Adam nodded, he’s known this type of creative block before. He’s seen it in Steven and Andrew, and himself too.

“Would it be alright if you played some for me? Maybe I could help?” Annie almost seemed to hesitate but nodded in agreement, taking the instrument into her hands.

A slow, steady tune. Not like the type you’d hear in heartbroken ballads, but a very relaxing melody. Pretty much a slow, rainy day compacted into a little tune. Lyrics about childhood and whimsy. Carefree attitudes and optimism. It was a sweet song, one that sounded like she had put her own experiences into it. A personal song, but not in the negative way. A song that celebrates youth? Or being lively and carefree? The song seemed to be complete, until Annie gradually comes to a stop.

“It’s the bridge.” She says, quieting the guitar strings. “I have the chords for it, but I don’t have words.” Adam stops to evaluate the song. Brows furrowed, he hums the tune of the bridge again, just to have it in his head.

“Well,” he starts, after some thought. “So far, the song is about a childhood and all of the liveliness that came from it. How about in the bridge, the lyrics can be about when it ended. Or why it ended. The lyrics you have so far are all positive, I think if you add something a little more low, it’ll give the chorus more of a meaning.” Annie paused. Adam couldn’t tell if his idea had struck a nerve or was just a bunch of BS coming out of his mouth. But before he could worry any longer, Steven and Andrew come from around the corner and park in the garage.

“Hey!” Steven says, coming from his seat. “I see you two have been using the Bergara guitar-a!” Annie rolls her eyes and Andrew audibly groans.

“Sorry we took a while, Steven couldn’t make a decision on what chips he wanted.” Andrew said, grabbing the bags from the back. “But we bought Clue! And some knockoff Cards Against Humanity that Steven said looked cool.”

As Steven and Andrew walked and argued up the stairs, Annie followed them, leaving the guitar on the old couch. She turned to face Adam, who had a vaguely confused look, probably wondering if she’d finish the song, or if he had actually helped her in doing that. She just chuckled.

“C’mon, we’ve spent enough time with Bergara guitar-a.” Adam laughed along with her and followed suit.

The humidity finally let up, as well as the rain. Luckily for the group, the living room managed to stay cool even without the air conditioner. They’d played 2 round of each game and gone through about nearly 3 bags of different types of chips. Maybe they day had started out slow, but the end of it came pretty quickly. Before the others could get up to get their stuff set up to go, Annie stops them.

“Wait! Before we go, I have something to play for all of you.” As Annie runs down into the basement, Adam perked up. He didn’t see her sing or write anything down since they’d been down there, right before Steven and Andrew got back. Has she finished the song already? Steven and Andrew look at her quizzically as she comes back with the worn guitar.

“I’ve been writing a song for the past few weeks and I want everyone’s input on it. Adam helped me finish it today.” She gives him a fond, thankful look and he can’t help but feel his face flush, and this time, he can’t blame it on the humidity.

A slow, steady tune. Not like the type you’d hear in heartbroken ballads, but a very relaxing melody. Pretty much a slow, rainy day compacted into a little tune. Lyrics about childhood and whimsy. Carefree attitudes and optimism. A sweet song, one that sounded like she had put her own experiences into it. A personal song, but not in the negative way. A song that celebrates youth? Or being lively and carefree? And then, softer, softer. An ending, but not of the song. Of the optimism, replaced with stress. Whimsy replaced with fear. A stop. And then the chorus, but even stronger. A key change. The song completes itself as Annie gradually comes to a stop.

[melodypictures]

What do you think of the Akechi parts? Not a lot of people like him

  I have been informed that Akechi is a touchy subject for people but even though I said I’ll share my thoughts later, since everything is still fresh in my mind, I’ll be blunt and straight to the point with this part

  Short answer, this guy suffers from bad writing. This is my first time with Atlus so I don’t know their history with things, but Akechi was basically thrown to the wolves here 

  Long answer:

  There was so much potential for Akechi and just P5 in general that was wasted or just poorly written. With the other characters, there were moments (mostly with Ryuji) that they’d do a 180 from what we were shown about them that the moments it would happen got pretty annoying. 

  With Akechi, there was just so more they could have done with him.

  I already knew going into the game that I had to be suspicious of him because I heard something happens, I just didn’t know what it was. I was more or less going in blind.

  But then when he forces that deal with the Phantom Thieves and briefly joins them, it was so obvious that he was going to be the traitor that I was kinda annoyed by it. I wish they made him interact with them more to have more of an impact on the group other than “this annoying guy keeps shooting us down” or at least was around Akira and Ryuji a bit more often. Ryuji brought him up often enough that it would have been interesting to see them interact more, especially with Akira and Akechi able to be civil to each other while Ryuji was always on the defense and yet wanted Akechi to acknowledge them. I think more could have been done with the three of them, maybe even Ann too since she’s part of what created the Phantom Thieves in the first place.

  Honestly, I’m still somewhat indifferent to Akechi as a character but I love what could have happened with him and Robbie Daymond’s performance in Shido’s palace just made me instantly fall for the acting because not only is this guy one of my favourite VA’s that I admire like crazy, it was my first time seeing him play someone like this that I can’t help but like the character also.

  So I grew to like Akechi. I did pity him after this palace but it wasn’t until near the end when we find out the truth with everything that I honestly felt bad for this guy even if his character felt off for some reason to me.

 Akechi didn’t stand a chance. He was in a bad mindset already when he suddenly got this power to change peoples hearts, a power that basically made him unstable the more he used it. It’s hard to say whether or not he was even capable of making a different decision at this point because of his mindset with the hand he’s been dealt from life up until this point. So in gaining a power like he did, it’s really not surprising he took the route that he did. 

  Doesn’t make it right, but it’s not surprising.

  But I honestly think that Akechi didn’t stand a chance with how things played out.

  THAT BEING SAID HOWEVER

  WHAT MAKES ME WANNA FIGHT ATLUS

  IS FINDING OUT THE BS THAT HE WAS ORIGINALLY GONNA HAVE A PALACE 

  AND THAT WASTED POTENTIAL PISSES ME OFF BECAUSE THIS IS WHY HIS CHARACTER FEELS SO INCOMPLETE FOR ME

  Akechi having a palace would have made a huge difference for things!

  It never made sense to me that that everyone decided to deal with Akechi after Shido. That doesn’t make sense. Why not take down the guy helping first so he doesn’t interfere during the operation? It didn’t sit well with me.

  After finding out he was supposed to have a palace before Shido made it all now why Akechi feels so incomplete and it annoys me so much with the rushed route Atlus took with him instead.

  Akechi’s palace could have given so much insight on his character and how unstable this was all making him! How tormented he was before all this! Anything just to bring a little more understanding to this guy! 

  What I would have liked to see, even if it’s still a bit iffy, is Akechi’s palace getting taken down. Him helping to put an end to Shido to give him that smallest amount of closure then turning himself in because of everything he’s done for his own justice. He’d probably get admitted somewhere because of the mental toll his own torment plus the power he was definitely left some damage behind.

  After the final battle, I can see Akira, Ryuji and maybe Ann visiting him to show he’s not alone. Yes he needs to pay for what he’s done and redeeming himself is….a touchy thing but Ryuji still tried reaching out to him. Akira wouldn’t want to abandon him throughout all this after finding out everything and Ann is kind and even asked him to join them taking down Shido. 

  While I still don’t think this is the best option for someone like Akechi and all he’s done, for me it’s still better than what Atlus gave us. I don’t think Akechi is fully able to redeem himself for the stuff he did for his revenge and own sense of justice, but I do think this would have been best for him considering how badly the odd were stacked against him and how badly that power affect him.

  So my thoughts on the Akechi stuff: Bad writing, Atlus threw him to the wolves and rushed to kill him off and I’m adding it to the list of reasons why I want to fight them.

[julz321]

The Vice of Positivity in Fandoms

(Warning Voltron Season 7 spoilers)

There’s not doubt that there is a lot of negativity in the world and we need more nice people in the world. However, depending on the situation, positivity can, in fact, do more damage than good in situations that does not call for it. Sure it can be useful to temper negativity, but again only when appropriate. And not all negativity is bad.

Optimism can indeed dilute you into thinking things are ok and nothing needs changing. While there are those people who worry over nothing, the way we determine if something is worth worrying about is dependent on how thoroughly and accurately you look at the details. Also a level of experience in social issues helps too. 

I can understand a fandom’s desire to keep things light and positive and avoid conflict, we all wanna just relax and enjoy our shared interests. Heck that’s why I enjoy conventions. However, pretending like nothing is wrong can allow disaster to hit when we least expect it. Many fandoms are oblivious to the fact that there are pedophiles or alt-right people in their midst and never question it, or reflexively label it as “drama” or ignorantly label everyone as equally in the wrong. This is very counter-productive and trying to plead for the moral high ground and tell people to do better is useless so long as they continue to pretend as if nothing is wrong. 

Enter Voltron’s controversial season 7. While, yes, Voltron fans can indeed be insufferable when their ships aren’t confirmed, it would be very counter-productive to lump them and show’s critics in the same boat. It’s like saying the people who criticized the Titans trailer as just as bad as the people who harassed the actors of the show.

(Minor spoilers for those who have not seen it but it’s been a week so I think we’re good)

For those who don’t know, the Voltron creative team revealed that one of their main characters, Shiro, to be gay and that they were going to tell this story in season 7. Long story short, this did not end up being the case. The dialogue between Adam and Shiro were too vague (parents had to explain to their kids that the two were in a relationship) to the point where you could mistaken them as just roommates, Adam was killed (so no hope exploring things there), and while Shiro looks upon the plack honoring Adam and the many others who died defending Earth all he has to say is “I’m sorry.” Not even an “I love you” and thus adding onto the vagueness of  Shiro and Adam’s relationship.  Many critics saw to this as a let down and many fans were rightfully upset. While this display isn’t as infuriating as the Lefu from the live action Beauty and the Beast movie, it is still infuriating none the less. The writers say they were all for LGBT representation but then failed to properly deliver and have received a hailstorm of criticism.  Sure, it may be “some” representation and it’s “better than nothing” but if it’s barely anything then you can’t all this “progress.” It’s like saying “I got a raise” and it’s wonderful, only to find out you only got 10 cents. 

Steven Universe is able to do better in terms of LGBT representation and yet their best couple is locked inside a fusion most of the time. Shiro being the LGBT version of Steve Rogers would have been a great step in the right direction, but the creators decided to keep it vague, which makes it very underwhelming at best and frustrating at worst. And all it would have take is clear confirmation, on screen, not by word of the creators, about Shiro’s relationship or sexual orientation. One “I love you” would have solved this, or at least tempered it.

This is just one out of many criticism with season 7, the gloomy tone, the stalling, among other writing flaws with the season. But needless to say, season 7 deserved it’s low rating.

Now how does this relate into positivity being a problem (even though season 7 could have used more positivity)? 

To those with experience in the Voltron fandom, shipping is a common practice just like in any fandom. However, sometimes these shippers can take it too far and proceed to harass the actors and creative team. However, while I will chastise geeks for engaging in such behavior and, I agree, harassing the creators is a problem, see the Star Wars fandom, it’s unwise to mix harassment with criticism. 

While bugging the crew about ships the fandom wanted so much is a very petty thing, pointing out very significant and legit problems with your show is something every creator is going to have to deal with. Criticism, especially legit and valid criticism, is in no way harassment. Sure not every show is gonna be perfect, however, that thought terminating platitude breeds complacency and creates the illusion that you don’t have to improve at all. If anything it cultivates more problems from right under your noses, such as ignorance. There is no shortage of fans who still believe Voltron season 7 was great and while they are within their right to like something, It’s infuriating when they try to stiffling something that would be more beneficial than just undeserved praise.

It’s clear that the common fan has no experience with writing or social issues, sometimes both. See the creator’s last project known as the Legend of Korra, where that show was considered “smart” for a kids show, however, had the teenager’s understanding of politics. But since the series “mentions” these issues and saw “parallels” to real world issues the common fan incorrectly comes to the conclusion that it must be good. Pretty much in the same vein as DC fans thinking dark and edgy means that is must be a work of art. A good writer, or someone well versed in LGBT issues would spot these problems, the vagueness and the wasted opportunity at real representation, almost immediately. But the common fan is so undiscerning that all they see is people arguing, but never consider why. I promise you, you’ll find no shortage of fans who are quick to try and sweep this type of “drama” under the rug, label critics as “insufferable” and are “forcing their opinions,” and rally people to “be better” while championing the quality of a show when little quality was even there. And those kind of actions lead people in fandom down the road of ignorance and stunts improvement. It warps how fandoms think by putting up a veil of false positivity or positivity that is unnecessary. 

And before someone tries to chime in with another thought terminating platitude, yes creators have every right to produce something how they want whenever they want and they don’t have to conform to people’s standards. However, in the same string of logic, everyone has the right to their opinion, even if it’s wrong, however people are still allowed to use that same freedom of speech to respond with criticism or a counter argument. And as creators working for a company and profess themselves to be professional, then listening to criticism is something you have to learn how to do and get used to in order to grow. Not listen to every criticism, since not every critic is a good one, but you’ll never find out what that sounds like unless you get out a pen and paper and start taking notes. Filter out the bad comments from the ones that are good and will help you. Like when someone says they haven’t watched your video and claim they know you’re wrong. 

And before someone says “oh but you’ll discourage them,” if Michael Bay can keep making terrible movies and still deal with harsh reviews, or even DC for that matter, then you have no excuse. Even Marvel writers are dealing with harassment from fans who don’t like the level of representation in their comics but those very same writers are committing to it despite the level of BS that gets thrown their way. Any creator who will be hurt by legit criticism will get hurt by any criticism that isn’t soft and simpering and if that is the case then you have no place being in a professional work environment.  Tone policing or applying positivity in a situation that does not need it and furthering geek culture to stay within its ignorant bubble of ignorance and  privilege is how you make matters worse the next time this comes around. No, amount of pleading to moral high ground or trying to “act like the better person” is not gonna make a problem go away. Understanding the details and listening to criticism is something that a moderately smart person should be capable of doing. Saying that critics who know what they’re talking about are just as bad as the fans who harass the creative team spits in the face of wisdom.  To summarize, being positive is ok when it’s needed, but putting it into a situation that does not call for it is you being one of those “nice people” who hate fighting, label every bit of conflict as drama, never quite understands why people are arguing, and is ultimately condescending while waxing poetic on a moral high ground about how fans criticizing a show is the same this as harassing them over ships. Criticism is needed in order for creators to grow and it takes a pro to understand the legit comments and the ones you can safely delete. LGBT representation is important so don’t say you’re all for it but then chicken out at the last minute when your competition can do even better. The only issue with criticism is not that it may sound harsh. but whether or not it’s correct and helps you to grow. 

P.S. I still love my gay space daddy as much as I love big pink, gay space rock mom. Although I’m very sure the people here just skimmed it and didn’t bother reading this article in detail. See how it hurts to be condescending? 

[myfandomrambles]

You know I watched girl meets world first. But boy meets world still is like the better one to me. Like even though I’m only one year older than Maya & Riley the original group is more relatable.

Some of the problems are.

Maya is supposed to be Shawn? This doesn’t work for me because she doesn’t go through as extreme things She has one trauma (her dad leaving). Then her mom is set up to be like Chet (in girl meets Maya’s mom) But they don’t follow through. She gets the job at Topanga’s and is actively a good mother after that point.The show also makes it so she was always a good mother (The storm scene). I don’t Chet or Verna would ever sit with him. Katy was absent but never abusive. Shawns parents were. So the parallel is there however it feels weak. However, The depression storyline parallel is strong. The lack of hope, lack of self-esteem, and destructive tendencies. 

Is Maya Riley’s Shawn or Topanga? They start with very obvious Maya&rRley are the 21st-century female reboot of Shawn&Cory. But as the show goes on they seem to relate their relationship more with Cory/Topanga (See “extraordinary relationship”).  I think this comes from maybe the writers wanted to go full gay but were stopped (Rowan supports Maya/Reilly). This gives a frustrating feeling to what Maya and Riley are to each other. I see Maya’s wanting to be Riley and get in between her and Lucas is much more about wanting Riley as well as wanting her life.

Cory tells them what to think not how to think. Cory outright states the message of each episode/lesson not letting them think for themselves ever. It’s patronizing in the highest order. It’s reductive to the spirit of the original story. It’s not like Feeney or Mr Turner who gave advice but didn’t give the answer. Cory also made the class about the kids versus in boy meets world it’s more of a coincidence that things line up. Cory literally tells them the meaning of life. Which is so conceded and heavy-handed. Feeny’s relationship to the kids as grandfather/teacher versus bio dad also let then learn from more people in the show instead of it being the same person all the time.

 The Love Triangle. The love triangle is annoying as fuck. Now I know BMW did it with Eric/Jack/Rachel. But it was more of a side plot and was resolved faster than gmw. It wasn’t their main character arc either. The gmw love triangle became all-consuming. It also became a major factor in who Riley and Maya were. It was a key part in Riley “growing up” and Maya’s identity crisis. Lucas also suffered by “dateable dude ” being 80% of his character.

No sex. Okay, i know this is by virtue of it being a Disney channel show. But bud I lost my virginity in eighth grade. And by the time they are sophomores they are defiantly having sex. BMW included this and the more general dating game. Shawn had sex and Cory didn’t. One wasn’t better but it was there. They missed a big aspect of growing up when that is the main motif of the show. they vaguely alluded to the perilous of boys but its all in a very innocent way. The couples in the show are all adorkable and not very romantic even when they are the centre of the show.

Cut and paste scripts. You can extend a universe with the same characters without this. Todd Hunter is a good example. Heck, the cursed child (don’t get me started on that). The mountain & the “cool teacher” come to mind as examples of this. These moments don’t feel like a homage it feels cheap. Good version of this is somehow cory being their teacher every year, and three of the core characters meeting as kids.

Riley often coming across as too oblivious. She has some good moments. With the bullying, being kind to Maya, and her propensity to need to reinvent herself. But the latter is played for jokes and a lot of the meaning of that issue is glossed over and never addressed.

Cory being way too unobservant and oblivious. He doesn’t recognize in Maya’s behaviour that it is similar to Shawn’s for a long time. Until Mya flat out explains “dad is gone, mom uninvolved”. Also, how did he not know Maya’s dad left them like 9 years after the event? That I think was just bad writing and ended up being a plot whole considering it seems like he is more aware later on. 

Cory Matthew’s preachy but. 

Starting with “people change people”, okay wtf does that even really mean? They say it 100000x and it never even makes sense. like how is that the meaning of life? That’s a thing because your environment shapes who you are. but they say it like its so profound. A regular 30something yr o man knows the universal meaning of life not likely? It is a good idea that you can and are influenced by those around you, so be a nice person. 

 Then you have the “us & them”There is a fact that the USA is a richer country but cory has to know there are people living in poverty in his town. Shawn didn’t have food or new clothes as a kid? Also, how does he know none of the kids in his class isn't haven’t been homeless? maybe one of your kids came from a shelter. Also, Maya doesn’t have as much money as Riley does. Her house leaks and if her mom had to work a billion hours it’s probable they lived with less earlier on. We know she didn’t have a nice smartphone or art supplies so she wasn’t as much of an “us” as Riley. Also what about people who live in abusive households? Who goes home to being beat, who get plates thrown at their heads? What if one of them was chronically ill? What if they had cancer? Like he uses the idea that he is a white, straight, non abused, healthy, upper-middle-class man then all of them have that privilege? also, the message is a good one. Giving back to the community is a good thing to do. It absolutely is! But using a guilt trip to get the message across? BS. Telling a severely disabled kid that they are an “us” and shouldn’t feel bad about their position in life? that sucks. Telling a kid with no food that they are an us? THEY AREN’T!

Those are the top 9 issues.

Agree? Disagree? let me know

[nothingman]

AP/Evan Agostin/Jae C. Hong

Sex workers learned Senator Bernie Sanders voted in favor of FOSTA-SESTA, two laws signed by President Trump last week to curb sex trafficking — and then praised Cardi B, a rapper who first attracted attention for being open about her career as a stripper on social media — and now they are upset.

Both bills — the House version known as FOSTA, which stands for Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, and its Senate companion, Stop Enabling Sex-Trafficking Act (SESTA) — were met with bipartisan support in Congress. On February 27, the House passed FOSTA with a final vote of 388-25. The Senate followed by passing SESTA by an overwhelming 97-2 margin.

In spite of the bipartisan support, the anti-trafficking legislation has received strong pushback from sex workers, whom advocates of the bill purport to be protecting, for its destabilizing and demoralizing effect.

Most recently, Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders has borne the brunt of that criticism, after he voted in favor of the measure.

Ginger Banks, a 27-year-old sex worker, decided to make a video to alert Sanders to the dangers the anti-trafficking bills are creating for the sex work industry.

Making a video for @SenSanders asking him to think about the dangers SESTA/FOSTA are creating for the sex work industry. If you would like to contribute a message to him record something and send it to gingerbanks3@gmail.com 💕 — Ginger Banks (@gingerbanks1) April 18, 2018

Banks, who told Salon that she was a "huge" Sanders supporter, and even canvassed for his 2016 presidential campaign, said she was surprised to learn that he voted in favor of FOSTA-SESTA. Speaking over the phone, Banks said she hopes the video will "reach [Sanders] and ask him to possibly add the rights of sex workers to the list of things that he's willing to fight for."

Despite her upset, Banks said the Vermont senator is "someone that I still believe in." She said that she was inspired to create the video after Sanders tweeted Cardi B this week. On Wednesday, Sanders invoked the rapper in a tweet, writing, "Cardi B is right. If we are really going to make America great we need to strengthen Social Security so that seniors are able to retire with the dignity they deserve."

Cardi B is right. If we are really going to make America great we need to strengthen Social Security so that seniors are able to retire with the dignity they deserve. https://t.co/B8cOkoOdLc

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 18, 2018

The Senator's tweet was met with criticism from sex workers, who wondered why he couldn't come to their defense and oppose the draconian legislation.

Sydney Leathers, a 25-year-old adult film actress and Anthony Weiner's former sexting partner, tweeted, "Hey Bernie: Cardi is a former stripper. You voted for SESTA which endangers sex workers. Please don't try to use her for clout. We know how you really feel."

Hey Bernie: Cardi is a former stripper. You voted for SESTA which endangers sex workers. Please don’t try to use her for clout. We know how you really feel. https://t.co/9xRkJ6fCRs

— Sydney Leathers (@sydneyelainexo) April 18, 2018

Leathers point was amplified as other sex workers blasted the senator's interaction with Cardi B.

"I love when Bernie tries to make relevant tie ins with his campaign but forgets he's quoting a former sex worker who would have definitely been harmed by his decision to vote yes on SESTA/FOSTA," a sex worker named Brooke tweeted.

Other women in the sex work also expressed their disapproval.

Why did you vote in favor of #FOSTA #SESTA? This bill will lead to the deaths of consensual sex workers like me. I did everything I could to support you in the primaries and I feel like you have thrown me under the bus. Did you even read the bill? #LetUsSurvive

— ☠ Goddess Lysistrata ☠ (@MissLysiNyc) April 3, 2018

  With FOSTA-SESTA, many sex workers fear for their future and are worried they'll be forced to go back on the street.

The bill, which was introduced by Missouri Republican Rep. Ann Wagner, makes it a federal crime — punishable by up to 10 years in prison — to operate “an interactive computer service” with “the intent to promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person.” That means online publishers, like the recently shuttered Backpage.com, would be responsible if third parties are found to be posting ads for sex work — including consensual sex work — on their platforms.

Banks, who has been a sex worker for nine years, condemned the legislation's failure to differentiate between illegal and consensual sex work, calling it dangerous. Banks said it has made her reconsider some of the services she offers out of fear. She plans to address this problem in her video to Bernie Sanders.

"Conflating sex trafficking with consensual adult sex work does so much more harm than good," she explained. "Decriminalizing sex work is what I believe is the answer to protecting not only people who choose to do sex work but those who are forced into it."

Banks says the bills' failure to differentiate between trafficking and consensual work further highlights the stigma surrounding sex work. In addition to calling out Sanders for his support of the legislation, Banks wants her video "to focus on the social acceptance of sex work."

"One of the basis of our argument is bodily autonomy and our right to choose what we want to do with our body," she explained. "And when we want to choose as adults to do legal sex work then we should have that right. Making that illegal is immoral because it tells me what I can't do with my body."

"Sex work is just like like any other work," Banks continued. "Sex work has given me the ability to see clearly what I want to do with my body. And it's given me an extra sense of value. ... I have met some of the most open-minded, strong-willed and independent people in the sex work industry."

The legislation has already begun to chill free speech online.

Survivors Against SESTA has been tracking the dozens of websites that have shut down or updated their services while the law was being written, preemptively self-censoring in preparation of the bills' enactment.

In response to the bills, Assembly Four, the organization that developed Switter  — a website with more than 49,000 members and is considered one of the last online spaces friendly to sex workers — announced that its website, hosted by Cloudflare, had been removed and blocked. As of Thursday afternoon, Switter was back up and running.

You guys, the Cloudflare thing is BAD and worth noting, but https://t.co/C0sbA3EViJ is NOT completely doomed nor down right now. I'd say keep using it. They went back up quickly, I see them being up for the foreseeable future. Cloudflare was a US company, there are others.

— Liara Roux (@LiaraRoux) April 19, 2018

Geezus — @Cloudflare bans Mastadon’s new “Switter” platform for sex workers just as it was getting off the ground https://t.co/UW3f06nGZD

— Elizabeth Nolan Brown (@ENBrown) April 19, 2018

The brief removal of Switter follows Craigslist's axe of its personal ads section, which has been around since 1995. The site's personal ads had garnered a negative reputation for stories of murders, rape, and most recently, fathers trying to sell their children for sex. In 2010, the site shut down the section of its sites that carried sex-related advertising after it faced pressure from state attorneys general and groups fighting sex crimes.

Despite the lasting stigma, Banks is hopeful for change. She pointed to the LGBTQ movement as model sex workers could emulate. "I look back at how the view of homosexuality has changed in this country. And I try to learn a lot from that movement and do as much as I can to help sex work become more socially accepted," she said.

Banks pointed to Sanders' 50-year-history of standing up for civil and minority rights, explaining that to be one reason why many sex workers like her rallied behind the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.

"A lot of us realize and see the stigma and other areas of society and inequality and because of that we want to help change the world in the most positive way possible," Banks said. "I know a lot of us saw that in Bernie Sanders."

This is not the first time Sanders has come under fire for not doing enough to protect women. Last April, the Senator defended campaigning for Omaha, Neb., mayoral candidate Heath Mello, an anti-abortion rights Democrat, in an interview with NPR.

Mello has co-sponsored several bills in Nebraska's unicameral legislature that would restrict abortion rights, including a 2009 bill that would offer or require women seeking abortions to get an ultrasound.

Though Sanders came under scrutiny for supporting Mello, he pushed back on NPR, saying, "The truth is that in some conservative states there will be candidates that are popular candidates who may not agree with me on every issue. I understand it. That's what politics is about."

"If we are going to protect a woman's right to choose, at the end of the day we're going to need Democratic control over the House and the Senate, and state governments all over this nation," Sanders continued. "And we have got to appreciate where people come from, and do our best to fight for the pro-choice agenda. But I think you just can't exclude people who disagree with us on one issue."

Sen. Sanders did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

via Salon

[thekingdomheartsprincess]

Thoughts on the future of the series, Laurium, and Strelitzia

I’ve thought for a while now that marluxia could be a plausible next main antagonist for the series after this saga ends and xehanort dies. When nomura explained that he plans on continuing the series long after kh3, I thought about where the story could go afterwards. There are a lot of options for where the story could go, and I never came up with or heard any ideas for it that I felt strongly about. However, I do think that due to the amount of characters and plot points that have been introduced so far, whoever the next immediate antagonist/s are after kh3 should be character/s that were already there.

 It would be a big stretch to start with a brand new antagonist that’s never been mentioned before. With the plethora of backstory and lore built up already, it just seems like it would be a weird decision to me. Not that nomura couldn’t or wouldn’t make it happen, but I think it would be a little frustrating to watch. A big part of me does want to see fresh new characters and stories with no prior relation after kh3. More than that though I don’t want to see characters and stories that needed to be explored more get thrown to the side. There is no good way to resolve everything built up so far in one game. Nomura likes leaving things open ended sometimes, and actually I normally like that. However, at this point there is way too much stuff to resolve in kh3 or leave open ended. Having an antagonist that already existed to cause conflict after kh3, makes more sense to me and I think would just be more interesting overall.

If they are going to use an antagonist that already existed, Marluxia/Laurium seems like the best choice to me. Plenty of characters could do it, but I think if not marluxia it would be braig or even MoM, Of course I’m not really sure MoM is bad, I would prefer to believe he is good, but he is/would definitely be an interesting villain. Braig could and would definitely take over after xehanort dies, and there is plenty to work off of there. I’m 99.9999% positive his goal from the beginning has been to get what he can out of xehanort and then stab him in the back. The main problem I have with braig being the next main antagonist is he got norted. If kh3 is truly being marked by xehanort’s death, then norted braig must also die, unless he somehow gets un-norted. If norted-braig takes over after kh3, that would be the same to me as xehanort living and staying as the main antagonist. I am tired of his shit.

Marluxia on the other hand actually already betrayed xemnas, had his own evil plans, and is most definitely coming back in  some way in kh3. If the original members of org 13 are back, its reasonable to believe the other members will come back as well. That’s not necessarily true, but the nobodies based off of him shown in the trailer pretty much confirm that at least marluxia will be back in some way. I would find it hard to believe that he is working with xehanort again.  We never got to learn the true extent of marluxia’s intentions, and I think that they could be very interesting. I also just like marluxia’s design. As much as I wish there were more women in kingdom hearts, I actually think redesigning marluxia as a man ended up being a good decision. The reasoning, that they didn’t want to have a female antagonist lose and unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow a male dominated organization, is pure bs. If they really wanted a solution to that, it would be not making 12/14 characters men. But who the hell am i? I do think that marluxia is the only male character in the series that really had to be a man. The whole flower petal scythe+pink hair thing just leads me to believe that she would would have been made entirely of sexist tropes, not necessarily true, but probably.

This leads me to my internal conflict with him showing up in khux. We had a new female character for what 2 or 3 weeks? She made it a really jaw dropping 2/5 leaders being girls, bringing our grand total of original kh girls/women to 10 I think. (8 if you arent really counting namine or xion as original, though personally I do count them in their own rights.) Also the only thing we really know about strelitzia is that she has some sort of feelings for the player, and that she basically stalked them. Aside from the stalking thing and having no other traits than looking cute, I thought she could actually be a cool character. I’m grasping at straws here, but she could have even been canon bi or pan, considering my player and many others’ are girls. She never got to talk to the player though, and I can’t help but have a feeling she was really just written for the boy players. 

Anyways, she could have had a much more interesting and direct role in the plot. She could have broken the rules in an attempt to save the player, she could have been the traitor, ��and possibly became an antagonist. Maybe she would have actually made a better decision, formed some kind of relationship with the player (friendship or whatever), and found a way to protect the player without breaking the rules. Either of those wouldn’t have exactly been feminist material, but honestly, I don’t expect it or even ask for it in kingdom hearts. I don’t even really care how many girls are in the series. All I’m looking for is straight up decent writing of girls. Having laurium kill strelitzia and basically take her role as a union leader right after her introduction, even if her character was more fleshed out, is below decent to put it kindly. Some people think that she is not really dead and she is going to come back. That is plausible, but to me this is all just another sign that kingdom hearts is going to continue to have sub-par female characters. I will continue to be hopeful for the best in this series of course though.

 I would like to see Marluxia expanded on more, whether or not he is an antagonist after kh3. I don’t know how I feel about him being in khux. If his role isn’t too overcomplicated, it could be a good thing. I am worried that he is going to have a very overcomplicated role in khux. If he does, and he is the antagonist after kh3, it could be what defines his role in the future of the series. In which case, I am expecting a khux remake or expansion between kh3 and kh4. They could easily do that and make money off of it, but I am quite done with the whole chi universe already. It could definitely all be fleshed out more, but after chi, back cover, and  unchained chi, there is a not-surprising lack of fleshed out story. I am not particularly excited for a laurium driven 4th chi game. I have enjoyed kh chi overall, I just don’t really want a 4th installment of it.  

More positively though, laurium’s role in chi may actually really tie things together for the future of the series. Even if I end up liking laurium’s role in chi though, I’m probably going to always be bitter about this whole strelitzia ordeal. Maybe laurium will have a great role in it and strelitzia will come back. I wish I could say I have more faith in that though. Its strange to think about the fact that they changed marluxia’s gender due to the idea there could be misogynistic implications, but now they have used him for this. Its very ironic. For that reason I don’t think its a lack of care,  I think they have a huge misunderstanding of what fans actually perceive as sexist. 

Still I think they are really underestimating the effects of the way they treat female characters. Its been a long time since kh2 released, and don’t get me wrong kh3 is going to be successful on the sheer basis of the amount of people anticipating it. What about after kh3 though? The fandom and the market they’re selling to in general has completely changed since kh2 was released. When kh2 came out the fact that girls (mainly kairi) were written poorly didn’t really bother people in my experience. People knew it, and made lots of jokes about it, but that’s pretty much it, people thought it was funny. Back then though kh fans also walked around with yaoi paddles and glomped each other at conventions. I was in middle school, so maybe my perspective on it is a little biased. I really think its a different world now though in terms of who kh fans are and what people expect. If I’m wrong I am afraid, because while it definitely made some good stories and jokes,  kh fandom pre-2010 was also extremely embarrassing.