#and aliens and great characters and a good plot and a lot of heart

[elodee3]

HERMIT A DAY MAY - DAY 28

Scar x Treasure Planet

(Background nebula courtesy of ESA/Hubble)

For Scar I chose the incredible and underrated Disney move, Treasure Planet!

I loved Treasure Planet as a kid and still consider it one of the best animated Disney movies ever. However, it didn't do well critically (for various reasons I won't get into) and so there's never anything Treasure Planet related at the parks and lots of people have never seen it, which is such a shame.

I picked this movie for Scar because I am trying to manifest Scar watching Treasure Planet someday. This movie is like if a team of Disney animators sat down and brainstormed a list of stuff Scar has said he likes and then made a movie out of it.

To learn more about Treasure Planet and see why I really hope Scar watches it, please continue below the cut.

@hermitadaymay

(If you are gonna donate to Gamers Outreach on any day, its gotta be on Scar Day)

Treasure Planet is a sci-fi adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. The story follows a young man named Jim Hawkins who grows up on stories about the legendary space pirate, Captain Flint. Upon finding a map to the fabled Treasure Planet, Jim embarks on a journey to find the treasure.

In his adventures across the vastness of space, he makes friends, sails through nebulas, and faces down dangerous space pirates who want the treasure for themselves. The story is action-packed and heartfelt, with a strong cast of memorable characters and a beautiful, astronautical setting.

If you haven't seen Treasure Planet I highly recommend watching it. It's only about an hour and a half long and it's well worth the time.

Style references:

This is Jim Hawkins

Did I mention that the movie is beautiful? It's a mix of traditional and computer animation that works very well for the genre.

The Treasure Planet title design.

Bonus: I want to show you my favourite character even though I didn't use her as a reference at all.

Captain Amelia my beloved

[verloonati]

Thoughts on the Interstellar song contest:

Okay this was beat for beat a very predictable story, but enjoyable enough with plenty of side characters that actually feel pretty fleshed out in a few lines with the exception of the hellions, more on that later, but for an episode that was supposed to have a lot of cool alien design it's a bit of a shame that they were mostly in the background. I would have loved a bit more songs as well.

Now the Hellia plot is really fucking tacky, especially in the context of it being an eurovision episode and the eurovision being, in reality, one of the biggest zionist propaganda outfit towards its european allies. Making the Hellia thing a direct parallel to the palestinian genocide makes it really gross that the story's resolution is 'if your getting genocided you shouldn't take arms about it, you should instead sing a good song to an impossibly global audience and gain their sympathy'. Which also makes the Hellion's plot of wanting to kill everybody in the audience really disenginuous. It's a typical case of the 'rebel for a just cause is taken by extremism' trope and ESPECIALLY within the context of an actual real life genocide it puts itself against as direct comparison, ESPECIALLY on the very day that genocidal state is pushing yet another of their deadlier offensive yet, it just makes it a really liberal take that has no bearing with how the world works.

the hellion design also feels really weird because 'human (or human adjacent since earth blew up) with horns' are victim of the worst discrimination is a RWBY 'no but anime girl with animal ears are the one being discriminated against'. Also plays into that trope of a black man being the most space racist character, but fret not he learns the error of his ways after hearing a sad song.

Freddie fox's performance as Kid is the one thing that kind of save his character despite the writing and implications of his character. He just oozes that maneskin cringy Bisexual Mick Jaeggery emo adjacent asshole persona, it's awesome. i bet he reeks of cold tobacco as well.

Belinda change of heart on warming up to the doctor do feel a little bit sudden, we only had her for four episode and that only just started in story and the engine. Another gap to fix for big finish with an ellipse or something

The songs were awesome i do wish they were more

Dugga doo Dugga doo Dugga doo Dugga dugga dugga doo

I have no idea who the fuck rylan is. But his inclusion as actual real life tv host Rylan Clark is so stupid it cycles back to awesome. So does Graham Norton's inclusion. The implication of Earth being gone since 2025 at this point is hilarious cause it means that Rylan is gonna get cryogenically frozen and smuggled out of Earth to eternally host the space eurovision within the current real life week.

The visuals of the actual terror attack are awesome. Like genuinely horrifying and haunting. there's that one shot with a mass of people getting sucked out in the void, it's one of dw's most beautiful visuals ever imo.

On that note, i really wish people would have stayed dead. I understand that would maybe be a little too far, but come the fuck on. it gives the doctor's crash out a lot less impact, because like. He just told us that 'they can survive' which like. we know how a dw episode goes, if we're told they're actually still alive, we know they're gonna get revived at the end. The optics of the doctor beating the shit out of a desperate guy trying to do something about his people's genocide is yeah. not great. tho love the character detail of him doing all he can to not bloody his actual hands.

I'll wait until the finale to give my thoughts on susan.

wish they would stop calling him last of the time lords. The Second Gallifrey destruction killed a lot of people sure but like. This wasn't during the war, there was a LOT of exiles and renegades. Where are those. The master is out there, rassillon is out there, the sisterhood is out there. Tecteun made it out until flux. like why does he keep saying that, it's good branding but it makes no sense

RANI TRUTHER KEEP WINNING, mrs flood cameos were really fucking annoying but yeah she is the one and only, hate that she does get bigenerated it's supposed to be a rare almost unheard of thing, i do hope it's the last one we get, but god do i love Flood getting immediately subservient to her new self.

[starcurtain]

i am soooo sorry if you’ve already been asked this. however, do you have any ratiorine fics you’d recommended??? i haven’t been that intrigued by aventurine’s characterisation in a lot of the ones ive read and was wondering if there are any you have particularly enjoyed, as someone who understands him so well 👍 if not no worriesss

Someone else asked this earlier as well, and I started trying to put together a list of recs, but I struggled so badly because even though I leave kudos or comments, I virtually never remember to bookmark fics, so there's all these fics whose plots or writing I remember as being great, but... what were the titles... I always flounder to find fics again anytime I want to try to make a list of recommendations. (There's also the fact that even if I post a ton about analyzing characterization in canon, my standards for fanfics are... not that high. I'm definitely the "read whatever I see that day" type. 😂)

But here are just a few I could remember, and maybe I can come back and add more to the list later:

Ratiorine Fic Recs

Nagare's "deal with me" - An AU about wish-granting witches that captures the experience of Aventurine being cursed/blessed very well, in my opinion.

Chashmish's "On the Circumvention of Ethics" - I think this is probably exactly what Aventurine would do in canon, post-Penacony.

JMGAngel's "Friendship and Other Related Disasters" - The ratiorine is actually just background in this one, but since you mentioned Aventurine, I really appreciated this fic taking time to include interactions between Aventurine and other characters which I haven't seen much (if ever) in other fics.

vahveroinen's "Open Circuits" - I was a big fan of the "Rota Fortunae" short, so a RF AU fic is also a treat. After this, I feel like a lot of the Ratiorine fics I enjoyed are already really popular, so I'm not sure I need to recommend them even, but I did also enjoy these:

Irisinally's "Of broken nightmares and rotten memories" - A very cool AU scenario with interesting world-building.

katraa's "fermat's last theorem" - Even if you see the plot twist coming, it's a great reveal.

profligate's "a dissertation on affection as a logical locus, by Dr. Veritas Ratio, Ph.D." - Another interesting AU, and I appreciate that the author allowed Aventurine to both do his job and do something good.

greenery_0's "the appeal of domesticity" - For when you want something really light-hearted and cute. To finish off this post, I also want to take the time to plug two Ratiorine fics that were inspired by Ratiorine posts I made! Please go send these guys some love for taking their time to write things inspired by my silly Ratiorine ramblings!

Thetinir's "Apex predator" - AU playing on Ratio and Aventurine's alien biology.

Suidice's "Work-life Imbalance" - Internal IPC messages tracking the evolution of Ratio and Aventurine's partnership.

[pagesandpothos]

Hidden Gems of 2024

I read a lot of new releases in 2024 and many of those are really great books that have been getting a lot of well-deserved attention. There are a few however that I think deserve some more hype.

Here are a few underrated gems that I think deserve even more readers and much more praise. All of these are LGBTQIA+ and most are romantasy since that is what I enjoyed the most this year.

Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy: As I've said many times, this is my favorite book of the year. If you love fantasy, queer slow burns, spells gone wrong, or the forced proximity trope then this is a must-read. There's no release date yet for book #2 but I'm hopeful we'll get a date soon! I can't wait to continue Leo and Grimm's story!

Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland: Alexandra Rowland is an author that most fans of queer books love, so this might be less of a "hidden gem" than some of the others on this list, but I'm still including it because I think it deserves even more attention. This is truly the funniest book I have ever read. I don't think I have ever had so much fun reading a book!

Shoestring Theory by Mariana Costa: This was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. This is an excellent queer romantasy that has complex characters and relationships with an exciting time-travel plot. If you love complicated enemies-to-lovers stories, you should check this one out.

This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher: is a sweet and funny cozy romantasy about a group of heroes who once saved their realm. Now, they're on a second mission after a decade of estrangement. This is a silly and fun time with two second-chance romances (one is sapphic). There's a great friendship storyline as well.

All The Hidden Paths by Foz Meadows: is a followup to the popular queer romantasy, A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. This is just as good as the first book with an exciting political plot, great development for Vel/Cae, and good new characters.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell: A delightful and dark fairytale that somehow manages to be both gruesome and feel like a cozy fantasy at the same time. There's a sapphic monster romance with an asexual human woman that is incredibly sweet.

The Crack at the Heart of Everything by Fiona Fenn: Is a terrific redemption story about two men who fought for the villain's side in a devastating war. Orpheus and Fenrir have an amazing rivals-to-lovers story that starts as a little comic relief and grows into something truly heartfelt. The world-building feels like a cool blend of high-fantasy, post-apocalyptic, Dystopia, and even horror. This is a unique and adventurous addition to the queer romantasy genre.

Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis: A historical mystery that focuses on two sisters with references to Charles Perrault's The Fairies. It's about the two siblings' complicated dynamic and how every story has two sides. There's also a Sapphic love story involving one of the sisters.

The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin: A dark and queer fantasy based on Jewish mythology. The last half of this book is so riveting and shocking. I truly had no idea what would be happening next.

Key Lime Sky by Al Hess: is a sci-fi romance about a non-binary character who witnesses an alien invasion. The main character is memorable and the plot is delightfully weird and fun. The romance is fantastic, with a seriously charming and funny meet-cute.

[phoenixkaptain]

Really all three of the Sonic movies are a masterclass in making films geared towards fans while still creating new stories, but Sonic 3 especially because like. They listened! The fans said “we don’t like all these human parts” and the movie went “alright” and there are almost no scenes starring solely the human characters. Even in scenes prominently featuring them, Sonic and friends either show up (making the scene no longer solely focused on humans) or they’re focused in some way on what Sonic’s doing. Like damn man, they really… Listened? And accepted the criticism they received?? And improved??? And they even technically made the wedding subplot in 2 relevent to the plot????

I really liked the movie! Part of that is my fondness for Shadow, who I will never ever get over being the saddest little ultimate lifeform in the whole world. And movie Shadow really ticks all the boxes, I mean- the way he talks so stiltedly? The way he skates? The way he teleports? The fact that he doesn’t even initiate the majority of fights? The fluffiest little ultimate lifeform in ever, truly, 2024/10 for the year of Shadow-

I like this Shadow. The opening scene of him escaping is just beautiful. Him being all drenched filled me with an urge to blowdry him so he could puff up like a lil angry cat. He’s so legitimately awkward and confused watching the Eggmans that I watched his expression more than what either Robotnik was doing. He looks so confused! He’s over there like “somehow, the human has grown weirder with age… and here I thought humans were supposed to grow wiser…”

Also Maria’s face when Shadow gets sad because the movie they’re watching is called “Alien Freak” or whatever??? Beautiful, amazing, outstanding, give this lady an Oscar.

Sonic’s relationship with Shadow throughout the movie is so fun to watch progress. He just canNOT stand this guy!!! This new hedgehog who has definitely been around longer than him!!! Let Sonic be angy, it is so cute.

Tails and Knuckles are also very cute, though they feel a lot more sidelined. Which, I mean, literally every single character aside from Sonic, Shadow, and Robotnik have no character arc. And that’s fine! That’s good, even! Side characters don’t need to be focused on so intently! It only feels strange because Sonic 2 was so different in where it focused, but it isn’t a bad thing! Do I wish there was more Tails? Always. Do I think Knuckles was great just because he could have punched through the barrier really at any moment? Absolutely. I think the characters fit their roles in the movie very well.

All in all, I like Shadow. He is the saddest little ultimate hedgehog lifeform in the history of ever. He isn’t even all that angry for most of the movie. He’s just sad and lost and hopeless and it’s very depressing! Guy really tried to taunt his way into being killed, and I just think him trying to irritate Sonic into committing murder is funny, especially since it very nearly worked. Also, the scenes of Shadow jumpscaring everyone makes me assume that he has been jumpscaring people for years, which causes me to imagine that there were many occasions of GUN agents finding a Shadow where there was not a Shadow five seconds before. When did he get into the cupboard? How long has he been standing behind that door? Can we put a bell on the hedgehog, please, this is getting out of hand!

In my imagined future Shadow series where Shadow becomes friends with Sonic and pals, Maddie makes him wear a little bell so he stops giving everyone heart attacks. He still manages to give everyone heart attacks. I like to think they will occasionally wake up to find him standing at the foot of the bed ominously. Shadow is a eldritch cat monster, I’m pretty sure that was made canon-

Anyway. TLDR: 10/10 movie. The creators listened to the criticism they received on the second movie and made changes. Shadow was perfect. Sonic being taken off guard by Shadow will never not be funny, nor will their banter grow old. The dog has subtitles and I can only assume it’s because Knuckles and only Knuckles can understand him. Stone’s love was reciprocated in the very end. And yeah, I’m with the menacing hedgehog, Gabriella should have just killed Juan and Pablo both and been done with it.

[pengugu09]

THEORY TIME😍🤩🤩😢 don't share this on other media's w/o permission or credits‼️

(for those who have patreon, don't ruin my delusional gyat)

Looking back at these deleted official art by vivinos:

2/3 of the characters in this picture have already experienced smth bad (which is death)

But I want to share my opinions on this one since it just, well- strike on my mind

The characters are divided with these hearts surrounding their name with their corresponding eye color

So I'm assuming the reason why Sua and Ivan are holding an apple is prolly because it's a visual representation of who they love.

💜SUA💜

Sua is holding the apple with tender care using both of her hands just like how she have her feelings for Mizi, she treasures their relationship so much that Sua looks stressed (at the picture) since she knows the bad things that the aliens are doing in their society unlike Mizi who has a supportive and non-abusive aliens/guardians and doesn't have a clue (yet) on the negative side of these alien invasion.

When it comes to the outfit, she's wearing a princess gown.. but with a cape(?) like a superhero cape one? Is that why they deleted it because it shows a sign about the ROMH Sua ver?

"My savior, pitiful lady. Make me your god, I can give you everything"

It also shows that Sua is Mizi's inspiration, savior, or even a hero the moment they met, and have that spark even grew while she admires her.

🖤IVAN🖤

Ivan is holding the apple carefree, even smiling in the picture, showing no signs of any negative feelings (stressed, upset, anger, etc.)

This is something like- how we view Ivan base on appearance yet never know what runs on his mind behind that smile, knowing that something negative may be happening but he still keeps his calm composure about it.

As for his outfit, a charming prince, simple design for someone who has good looks

(mb I don't have anything else to say😭)

🩶HYUNA🩶

Hyuna.

She's not holding any apple. Which means that she don't have any feelings for anyone (sorry Luka) but she's doing a gun sign instead, which is foreshadowing on her situation since she got shot on her right arm.

Now, as much as possible I don't want our queen Hyuna to die at the next round but I think there's a 50/50 possibility.

That picture at the top is a picture of dead characters, but Hyuna isn't dead(?) is this foreshadowing that Hyuna is next??? Aside from being shot at her arm, we'll never know what did Mizi and Hyuna do next since there primary goal there is to save the alien stage contestants, and it's smh delayed since they got into a trouble that they never expected to happen.

On her outfit, I don't know what style is this called my bad, but she got this purple coat, black fur, and a hat with a feather on it.

PURPLE COAT. PURPLE. She's wearing a color associated with someone. (I hope that this isn't just color theory, if it is I'm going to cry)

And that someone is no one else other than:

*drum rolls*

Luka has been associated with purple in a lot of scenes.

In my opinion, Luka has a part in Hyuna's life ofc, even though Hyuna doesn't have this romantic feelings for Luka, she still values him as a childhood friend but then their relationship as they grow up begins to be complicated. (I won't explain it any further since this might become a whole ahh fanfic with how much number of the words that I've typed out)

So, I think, that Luka will be involve when something bad happen to Hyuna, but I really hope nothing bad happens to her since she has a great potential on how the story plot will go.

[might edit to correct some minor spellings or grammar]

[aihoshiino]

Idk but onk is such a let down for me. In the beginning I liked story because it was about ai. Her kids getting in entertainment industry and the revenge thingy were main plot from the starting so ultimately it is suppose to be about Ai, directly or indirectly.

By the end the story got less about ai and more about people around ai. There is SO MUCH about ai yet to explore but because of the writing I can't even enjoy ai as much as i used to. The "i love you" to aqua ruby kind of lost his full essence after the ai's dvd was shown, and that dvd later lost its essence due to last chs.

Onk showed the issues with entertainment industry well. The main issue is that onk never tackles problems with its character. Like Ai's true self, Hikaru (still not sure what to think of him), hikai, ruby and aqua relation (after the damn kiss), miyako and ichigo, ruby's dvd left by ai and etc. which i still feel are alien and mysterious to us. And we surely won't get answers in one last ch. Hikaru had potential to be a great character but everything is just all over the place.

Idk man i just feel very disappointed that aka's build up had so much potential yet we didn't get anything satisfactory in the end.

TBH, to a degree, I actually think this is a natural progression & if the series had stuck the landing, it could have been a really good and poignant way to resolve Aqua and Ruby's shared arc in relation to Ai. Because the thing is, like... as much as I like Ai, Aqua and Ruby's arc SHOULD ultimately have been about them being able to move on and start expanding the scope of their lives until it contained things beyond her. The story should never have stopped centering her because she is, ultimately, the heart of the story and its titular character, but OnK hammers in this idea of 'moving towards the future' and not letting your past trauma control your life to the extent that it robs you of the ability to have one. So I do think that in a more well-realized version of the story, that growing distance from Ai would be bittersweet but necessary for Aqua and Ruby to reclaim their futures.

BUT... Obviously, that's not the ending we got and the result is an ending that weirdly simultaneously deifies her while also not really involving or centering her at all? Like I've pointed out, so much of Ruby's resolution revolves around shallow parallels to Ai's general imagery and vibes but the actual resolution to the story isn't really about Ai at all aside from her being Kamiki's motivation and even then, that's all so poorly explained that it doesn't really have any weight.

That said, I actually feel as an Ai fan that she was ultimately done really well by the manga and I don't really feel like there was a whole lot about her left unexamined? Like yeah, as an Ai Wife Guy I'd love to hear more about stuff like how she felt about her pregnancy and how all that just went down in general and maybe some more stuff about her time in gen 1 B-Komachi but otherwise I feel really satisfied with the stuff we got. 136-7 especially were SO fucking cathartic for me because they put into undeniable, explicit text the thing I'd been saying all along; that there was no 'real' Ai hidden under the one that we knew and the secret part of herself that Ai was so desperately trying to hide was just that she was a normal, fragile girl who was struggling and hurt and that her tragedy was the result of everyone in her life either failing or actively refusing to accept her as she was.

My only real complaint is that I don't like how the manga ultimately (accidentally?) makes her totally irrelevant to the answer of why GRSR were reincarnated as her children and the result is that it kind of turns her into just a convenient uterus who happened to come pre-installed with babies - that's kind of gross, especially in comparison to just how she's treated as an equally important part of the puzzle but that's what my "Ai is the entertainment god's beloved chosen maiden" headcanon comes in and all is right with the world again <3

[ghost-bison]

i am nearing the end of jodie/13's era and here are my takes on it:

-jodie 🥵🥵🥵

-thirteen my little baby angel who can do no wrong *cuteness aggression*

-i feel like people who shit on her era have only seen series 11

-cause yeah her first series was pretty bad

-(and then orphan 55 was indeed so boring)

-but series 12 was overall pretty good

-and though confusing i think the flux was really compelling and clever

-it took me a whole series to warm up to ryan cause by god was he annoying and mean in series 11

-but then he became kinda fun in series 12

-(even though imo his weird "conflict" with graham and his dyspraxia could have been utilised better since they were there)

-i loved graham cause there was a bit of a wilfred side to him yk, he warmed my cold little heart

-as for yaz she was so awkward and I loved that weird little sibling dynamic she and ryan had going on (though i could totally see that the writers had something romantic planned for them at first lmao)

-but also 3 series in i can't really tell you what she's doing here, which sucks cause mandip is good and the character had potential (pls dont be mad at me i like her i just think there's a whole lot of wasted potential)

-also she apparently had something romantic with the doctor and i honestly couldn't tell until the four last episodes (because it was literally addressed) even though i knew from spoilers that they were supposed to be a thing so i'm a bit disappointed

-what a shame we had so little of dan he was hilarious (to me he's kinda what the writers failed to do with ryan)

-swarm and azure were SO ANNOYING OMGGGGGGGGGGGG

-also tecteun i hate you so much

-kind of the part I didn't like about flux was the giving time a physical manifestation, wtf was that about

-jack's talk with yaz made me cry ugly tears

-the timeless child plot wasn't bad overall it just shouldn't have revolved around the doctor, but also it has potential? like i'm actually torn about it, cause it could be a chance to give the show a fresh new layer, but also i like the simplicity of just "the doctor is the autism specimen of the time lords and they're kind of embarrassed by them"

-the lupari plot was so silly and so doctor who. what wasn't so good though, is how karvanista's trauma of literally losing his entire species brutally to genocide is sweeped under the rug and the lack of impact over the doctor who was like "i'm so sorry karvanista" and poof 5 seconds later it's like she doesn't gaf

-dhawan!master is reaaaalllly annoying, i don't like him, and sacha dhawan is an incredible actor with some BONKER skills who literally blew my mind. to me he mastered (pun intended) simm!master's kind of crazy but with his own personal touch and trauma and experience to it that made him all the more fascinating. still don't like him but that's part of why he's so great

-finally: jodie whittaker did an amazing job, nailed the doctor's emotional rollercoaster, and honestly if you have a problem with her personally and blame her era's lows on her i suggest you ask yourself if you're not just a little bit uncomfortable with the doctor being a woman (and what it says about you lol cause I'm sorry but no, you can't compare a genderfluid face-changing billion y/o alien to james bond being played by a woman or the queen of england by a man) (like, moffat already tried that and we all laughed)

[umbralundertaker]

hai…… looks at you with my eyes beautifully and shyly……… do you have any ulysses headcanons or thoughts in general or anything :3

I'm glad other people still recognize how great and awesome and badass he is. My Ulysses thoughts are HE IS THE BEST CHARACTER IN FNV AND PEOPLE LIKING GRAHM OVER HIM IS STRAIGHT UP RACISM ☹️☹️ Grahm has some interesting stuff going on but the plot of Honest Hearts just ruins it. Meanwhile Ulysses feels like a slam dunk character-wise. He was so shockingly well written compared to the rest of the DLCs and even the main game. He's a cut above the rest.

Of course my main draw is that Ulysses is the absolute perfect foil to the Courier. It's an impressive feat considering that you can choose the personality of your character and what path you want them to take; there is no canon Courier. But the writers did Ulysses exactly right imo. The Courier having no memory of their past and a big wide future laid out for them- sometimes even control over a whole city- a future they have the power to create. While Ulysses is stuck in the past and doesn't have the autonomy to make a life for himself in the future. The Legion and the Courier have controlled his past and his choices, and now he feels like all he can do is lash out angrily at the world. His obsession with icons and flags and bears and bulls makes him all allegiances compared to your free and untethered soul. He's aware of the pain he and the Courier goes through, but that awareness only makes his life more painful. It makes fact that you can reach out to and help him SO satisfying. His and the Courier's characters complete each other and are their missing pieces.

I honestly think that he should have been in the main game (if there was space). He feels so integral to the game and the person you play as. His influence and actions being felt throughout the whole main game and all the DLCs makes him SO IMPORTANT to the overarching plot. Lonesome Road as a whole is so good for the message of Fallout. Yeah Dead Money is really apt too, but I feel like Lonesome Road gives a lot of the themes and messaging of Fallout a more personal dimension. Hanging onto the past doesn't just ruin society, it ruins the lives of every individual person in it. It turns the most kind and passionate people into what you see Ulysses as in game.

And I'm such a big fan of how Lonesome Road is JUST Ulysses. It feels so intimate. You can't just shoot tribals and pick the most absurd dialouge option anymore. You can't look away from him and focus on more bright and fun characters. It's just you, a mute robot, and a man who has fashioned himself into a manifestation of grief. Even if you can't understand what he's talking about, the game constantly points you in the direction of you having to try. It's not your story, it's his. He has something very important to say and he will take an entire DLC and a ruined city to say it. Grab it with both hands and look in the eyes of your actions.

Aside from all that, his voice and manner of speaking is so iconic and memorable. Gravelly and intimidating and resigned and sad. I agree that he is hard to comprehend, I got an actual headache during the final showdown, but getting to know his deal is entirely worth the struggle. He's so alienated from everyone that he talks and thinks in a markedly different way from you, but he's still human. He misses his family and culture. He mourns for people needlessly killed. He even makes jokes sometimes. And in the end you can still make an effort to understand him, to give him some much needed human connection and support. And he accepts it because he is lonely and in pain but kind.

Anyways. Thanks for asking. Here's a Ulysses playlist me and my buddy made. If you have any suggestions I'm all ears...!

[11queensupreme11]

Hey!!! So genuine question! I see on ur tumblr a lot of mangas and animes and I was wondering if you can give me just a general list of animes or mangas you’d recommend since I’m all out of ones now and have fallen into a slump.

List of the animes I watched that I like the most for reference:

Naruto/Naruto Shippuden/NO Boruto though(I just don’t vide with it)- so basically the basics

Bleach (watched and read this a billion times and it is my go to when bored)

One Piece- yet another classic that I have watched, rewatched, and read like… twice.

JJK- it’s fine. I liked the first season and the manga (even though I forgot where I stopped reading) but I got bored of it and can’t force myself to start again

MHA- THIS ONE WAS GOOD! Buuut I fell behind in newer episodes and would have to start over to remember anything

(I’m sure u see a pattern at this point 😂😂😅)

Spy x Family- this one I just finished and OMG it’s sooo good. I loved everything about it and it really got me out of my manga/anime slump.

These are only some of them since I generally can’t list ALL the ones I’ve seen so far but these are the basics of the ones I liked enough to remember and make note of. Tho there are definitely more.

So yeah if you have any good suggestions I would LOVE to hear them.

Thanks, Queen!!

I DO HAVE A LOT OF RECS ACTUALLY!!!! here's a list of the ones i'm currently reading (i don't have a summary, just pics of the hot dudes LMAO but i'll write the summaries here + more)

sakamoto days: SUCH UNIQUE FIGHTING STYLES BRO OMG. latest chapter, we just had a dude shoot an arrow FROM BEHIND with his feet, he also used his bowstring to slice a dude's head off lol. but anyway, PEAK FIGHTING. updates weekly!

gokurakugai: honestly it was the art style of the hot characters that drew me in 💀💀 and the manga is still in it's early days (just recently reached the 20s), but the plot is great so far! interesting enough for me to start theorizing about the MC and villain's possible relationship. updates monthly usually on the 4th of every month! follow the mangaka (yuto sano) on twitter for sneak peeks!

chainsaw man: the themes of abuse is written so beautifully here and the story/worldbuilding is soooo good. this manga has the best analysts and theorists in my opinion. updates weekly!

one punch man: also has beautiful art style! i'm not super caught up rn, but if you like mha than you might like this one? this is about superheroes too, but they're going up against world-ending monsters instead of human villains. updates bi-weekly i think!

tokyo aliens: also not super caught up, but basically humans vs aliens (tho some aliens are good). idk how often it updates, because i read physical...

yu yu hakusho: it's old BUT ITS STILL SO GOOD. this was like the first ever anime i ever watched and i HIGHLY recommend it. it's been over ten years since i watched it, but i love it so much that i still remember what happened and obsessively collect figures of the characters 💖💖💖 manga has been completed!

deadman wonderland: ANOTHER OLD ANIME THAT I LOVED (awesome opening song btw). basically, it's about people with powers over blood who are sent to prison which is basically a death trap. manga is completed! i watched the anime but idk if it ever finished

pandora hearts: (i still remember the beautiful song "every time you kissed me/lacie" 😭😭💖. i recommend the anime first so you can listen to the songs!

ajin: basically, being immortal is the worst thing to ever happen to you. there are these "demi-humans" who are immortal (can't ever die) and they get experimented on by the government. MC is trying to avoid that

gakuen alice: it's not super action-y and leans more to romance, but you have spy x family so you might like this. this is my favorite EVER shoujo manga and one of the first i ever watched/read. basically it's about kids with super powers (alice) who are sent to a specialized academy that's full of secrets. very beautiful, emotional, and just perfect!!! anime is incomplete i rec you watch first and then catch up with manga or just read manga in full (cuz the anime might've skipped some important stuff)

shoujo chara: has some magical action and romance! another fav shoujo of mine with some magical girl transformation and cat boys!

owari no seraph(?): vampires vs humans and it's post-apocalypse i think. anyway, i put a question mark because i heard the plot got more confusing (there's dinosaurs now???) and the art style changed drastically so yeah

rosario vampire: OKAY OKAY SO IT KINDA HAS SOME HAREM VIBES AT THE START, BUT I SWEAR IT GETS BETTER LATER ON 😭😭

kiss of the rose princess: another shoujo with reverse harem vibes and hot men! i can't remember much of it, but basically MC has power over these cards (rose knights) which is where the hot guys come in lol

fairy tail: i noticed you didn't have fairy tail?!?!??!! anyway, hot characters and a beautiful plot about friendship. YES they do the whole "power of friendship" thing but i promise you it's not cringe!!!!! 😭😭 the manga is finished, but idk about the anime... but anyway yeah, if you're looking for a long series to binge, this is the one for you!!!

rekkyou sensen: or "the doomsday is wartime" (i still don't know which title ppl mostly use). anyway, it's another tournament manga like ror but it's about the end of the world. humans have fucked up the planet so much that there's now around 100 years left before earth fucking DIES, so they decided to do a tournament where super-powered humans from the surviving 16 countries have to fight for their country's survival. still pretty new and it releases in the same magazine as ror, so it updates monthly every 24th!

[zimmyboy]

This might be a long post so sit back and relax I suppose

We all know anime awards have started nominations and everyone is arguing everywhere but I wanted to weigh in too

SPOILERS INCOMING BELOW THE LINE, READ AT UR OWN RISK

Im specifically gonna talk about Anime of the Year nominees:

DAN DA DAN

Delicious in Dungeon

Frieren

Kaiju No. 8

Solo Leveling

Apothecary Diaries

Firstly im going to explain y I absolutely would not personally be happy if Solo Leveling wins Anime of the Year as a long time reader and watcher of the series.

While I love Solo Leveling and I absolutely adore Sung Jin-Woo it doesn't deserve Anime of the Year for multiple reasons. While I cannot agree it's copy and paste slop like many say I can say it doesn't come close enough to hit the mark. It's unique in the way it portrays isekai, the fantasy world coming to us instead of us going to it, and the systems and mechanics can be very interesting and vast depending on the section of the story. Not especially extravagant but provides a slightly different perspective that I personally find compelling. The characters are vast in personalities and aesthetics while still being informative, there isn't a single character that is filler, most if not all show up multiple times with backgrounds and aspirations. The Anime is simply an aura farming speed run, I won't deny that, but its enjoyable in it's own way. Still, it doesn't have much new or innovative to it and should not be Anime of the Year.

Next we explore DAN DA DAN.

I love the idea of DAN DA DAN but I wish it wasn't just gooner bair covered up by miscellaneous ghosts and aliens. Takakura and Momo are great examples of real high school kids when in normal settings, Momo is reserved and being a teenager has farfetched goals and aspirations as well as attitude problems that come from a need for rebellion. Takakura is meek and nervous and much like most teenage boys does his best to make a good impression even if nobody likes him. If there was less nudity, more fighting and more romance it would be a good Anime. The mangaka put lots of effort into researching real teenager relationships to make authentic and real feeling relationships. Unfortunately there's nudity and rape every two or three episodes and that completely ruins it for most viewers including myself who is desensitized to those things in ADULT media. Nudity and rape are things that shouldn't be tiptoed around as they're real and do happen everyday, but they shouldn't be romanticized or used for plot relevance just because.

Now we get to Kaiju No.8.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this series. I have been following it from the beginning with heart shaped eyes like a dog and can say I haven't changed my mind that it's good. Kafka is a good main character, a middle aged man with realistic aspirations and goals. When realizing he isn't fit for something he doesn't mope, he does something else that is just as important to everyone's well being. Even after getting turned into a rank 9.8 kaiju he doesn't stop being Kafka or get on an ego trip now that he's stronger or more capable. He understands that more importantly than being a danger to himself he is a danger to other people and wants to keep everyone safe. The diverse relationships he makes simply by being him, being encouraging and helpful to others who r more capable in his squad. When worst comes to worst he's willing to risk his life for the life of many others, not because he wants the recognition or because he wants to believe he's superior but because the lives of many people are more important than his own. Other characters in the series r personable and likable, going through their character developments both together and on their own throughout the series. It's able to explain it's mechanics and tech without being confusing and the story is both compelling and easy to follow. Kaijus rnt super common in anime and I love that as well, the designs r equally disgusting and intricate.

For the fourth section we go to Frieren.

Frieren is one of the best animes I've watched in my entire 18 years of life. While both beautiful and smooth, it has good continuity, wonderful characters, unique themes and motifs and more! Frieren spends the series looking back on her past relationships over the past 1000 years with her master, friends and apprentices. Once happy to just ignore other people as they will sooner go away than she will she slowly realizes she wishes she knew more about the people she cared about in the past. While juggling her continuous journey to find odd and unique spells with her new friends and apprentice she slowly comes to terms with everything that's happened in her life. Realizing she will lose everyone eventually thanks to her long lifespan, it's more important for her to have good, vivid memories of those she cares about and to make the best of everything. She learns certain quirks she has is because she cared about past companions and is her way of making sure their memories rnt lost to the past even as the #1 adventurers of the time. It pulls at the heart strings with real emotions, shows how difficult it can be to lose the ones u love, shows how to overcome those difficulties, and make amends.

Second to last, Apothecary Diaries.

Me and my mom love this Anime as well, I've also read the manhua and light novel. Maomao, a young, apothecary in China in an era where women weren't allowed to hold jobs of high positions and were disregarded unless providing for a man, makes her way to the rear palace, the place that hold the emperors concubines. While solving mysteries and crimes of the palace she learns more about her trade and the people around her that she cares about. Her immunity to poison makes her a perfect food taster and helps her solve the issues in the palace. This series shows the complexities of women in that time. Until her reasons for acting are confirmed by the main eunuch Jinshi, nobody believes her when she knows what's wrong or is trying to prevent someone's death, her being a woman and a servant undermines her talent and profession. This Anime while not historically accurate puts into perspective the challenges women did and still have to go through to be believed or understood.

Lastly we have Delicious in Dungeon.

I personally have never ever watched this but have heard much about it so here I don't have much standing. Though the concept of instead of adventuring for riches or fame i have an understanding that this is a mix of a fighting and cooking Anime. This is unique and certainly very interesting compared to many other cooking animes that have come out.

Thank u for coming to my ted talk, I rlly had to get this off my chest now that voting is over. Sorry this is long.

Feel free to tell me ur opinions in reposts or comments 😊

[weaselandfriends]

Web Fiction, Recently Read

Hello! I'm still early into writing the Pokémon story I discussed in a previous post. I've been writing and rewriting certain parts to better grasp some of the characters, so while I do have some completed chapters, I still consider the story in the planning phase. At the same time, I've recently read a few webfics, and thought I'd share some thoughts here.

1. Floornight by Nostalgebraist

Floornight is short but dense, and in terms of its plot, themes, and focus shares many similarities with Almost Nowhere, a later work by the same author that I read and discussed in a previous post.

This work is the Problem Sleuth to Almost Nowhere's Homestuck. At least, reading the two works back-to-back, that was the impression I struggled to shake. I would often encounter an idea in Floornight that I remembered being expanded on in much more detail in Almost Nowhere, and as such it became difficult for me to appreciate Floornight in its own right.

It's a comparison that reminds me of a quote from Roberto Bolaño's 2666:

Without turning, the pharmacist answered that he liked books like The Metamorphosis, Bartleby, A Simple Heart, A Christmas Carol. And then he said that he was reading Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. Leaving aside the fact that A Simple Heart and A Christmas Carol were stories, not books, there was something revelatory about the taste of this bookish young pharmacist, who ... clearly and inarguably preferred minor works to major ones. He chose The Metamorphosis over The Trial, he chose Bartleby over Moby Dick, he chose A Simple Heart over Bouvard and Pecouchet, and A Christmas Carol over A Tale of Two Cities or The Pickwick Papers. What a sad paradox, thought Amalfitano. Now even bookish pharmacists are afraid to take on the great, imperfect, torrential works, books that blaze a path into the unknown. They choose the perfect exercises of the great masters. Or what amounts to the same thing: they want to watch the great masters spar, but they have no interest in real combat, when the great masters struggle against that something, that something that terrifies us all, that something that cows us and spurs us on, amid blood and mortal wounds and stench.

An unfair comparison? Certainly. Especially since longer works are not always commensurately ambitious, but instead simply bloated.

Almost Nowhere is ambitious, however, and pushes ideas touched on in Floornight to their limits, which makes reading Floornight afterward a less impressive experience than it otherwise might be. (Nostalgebraist's other work, The Northern Caves, is fundamentally dissimilar from both and thus not victim to the same comparisons.)

That's not to say I disliked Floornight. I was especially fond of the character Hermes Cept, who might be my favorite character in Nostalgebraist's canon. I love characters to whom the reader is introduced from the perspective of another character, giving the reader a certain first impression that is completely decimated when the character is given their own perspective later on. (A lot of Modern Cannibals hinges on this technique.) In Cept's case, what first appears to be an egotistical and incompetent celebrity scientist turns out to have significantly more depth and nuance than the first impression provides. Love it!

Nostalgebraist also shows off some serious writing chops during a certain battle scene near the story's climax. Another reader's longform review of Almost Nowhere comments that the story lets all its major events occur off screen, only to be known to the reader via the reactions of the characters, and to an extent Floornight is similar: Despite a Neon Genesis Evangelion-esque premise of soldiers fighting aliens, there are essentially zero scenes where soldiers fight aliens on screen. The climax changes that, though, and really makes me wonder why Nostalgebraist is so content to let things happen off screen, since he's so good at writing action when it happens.

I've now read all three of Nost's major published works, and there isn't a more exciting web fiction author today, at least that I know of. Can't wait to see where he goes next.

2. Worth the Candle by Alexander Wales

Floornight is a lean 70,000 words. Worth the Candle, an isekai LitRPG, is 1.6 million words.

I started reading this one years ago, but only made it to the second arc before giving up under the sheer immensity of it. The start was slow, and while it was improving steadily, I couldn't see myself wading through something of its size. Compared to Nostalgebraist, Wales' prose is more "serviceable" than exciting, so the value in reading is almost entirely from the plot, characters, and themes rather than the actual line-by-line reading experience. After finishing my own isekai story, Cleveland Quixotic, I decided to take a second stab at it.

Upon the reread, I was more amenable to a story that is simply a fun fantasy romp, and WtC has a strong sense of forward progression despite its length, which avoids the trap most long stories fall into of spinning their wheels without accomplishing anything.

As I got further into it, however, a strong metafictional element increasingly came into play. The conceit of the story is that the protagonist, a tabletop RPG fanatic in his previous life on Earth, has been put into a world eerily similar to the ones he created as a dungeon master. His actions seem to be guided or obstructed by a mysterious, unseen dungeon master with godlike powers, and the story often becomes more about trying to understand and play to the narrative that the dungeon master wants rather than simply brute forcing through challenges one after another.

At the same time, the protagonist's dead friend from Earth seems to have been transported to the world much earlier. Their narrative was Campbellian in nature, Hero's Journey incarnate, while the protagonist's is much more postmodern and subversive. This leads to some fascinating meditations on the develop of narrative over history; one of my favorite scenes is when a story-obsessed villain believes they can kill the protagonist despite his Chosen One status because it's a postmodern story and the protagonist dying unceremoniously wouldn't be out of place.

My absolute favorite part, however, is the climax. Without spoiling too much, it involves a long delve into a seemingly endless dungeon, where characters and abilities fall away one-by-one until what is left is only a bare, emotional finale. I love climaxes that involve some kind of literal and emotional ascent; I did something similar in Modern Cannibals and Cleveland Quixotic.

In general, it's difficult to finish something so long in such a satisfactory way, which only makes the ending more impressive. I was worried this story would Muv-Luv me. A year ago, I read the famous visual novel Muv-Luv, a sprawling work that begins as a comedy slice of life and ends as a futuristic science fiction war epic. My problem with Muv-Luv wasn't that it was bad; it even had many elements I adored. But its ending, while not terrible, was merely okay, and I ultimately felt like what I got wasn't worth the time investment I put into it. Worth the Candle's ending avoided that entirely, so I can wholeheartedly recommend it despite its length.

3. Cowboy Grak 5: Yet Another Fistful of Obols by Remy (gazemaize)

Lastly, this one is a fanfic of Worth the Candle, posted coincidentally one day after I finished reading. It's by Remy, the author of Chili and the Chocolate Factory: Fudge Revelation, one of the funniest stories I've ever read. With this fanfic of a webfic, Remy cements themselves as the comedy master of the webfic sphere. I can only hope they start posting stories with more regularity...

I can't say too much about this story without spoiling almost all of Worth the Candle, so I'll keep this brief. If you've already read WtC, then you should read this 100%.

Web fiction is exciting. People are able to write all kinds of insane stuff that would never survive the streamlined mainstream publishing industry of today. I hope to read some more unique webfics and see people continually push the boundaries of what can be done with a story. (Hopefully they're not all 1.6 million words though...)

[puffyducks]

DCRC Week #38 (Part 1)

Here once again to take a slight detour away from the main PKNA comics to read the third PKNA Special Issue: The End of the World!!! Seeing as the last two special issues were fun little collections of short stories, I'm sure this one is going to be exactly the same and the menacing title doesn't mean anything :)

OMG IT'S GORTHAAAAN HIIIII BABYGIRL WE MISS YOU POOKIE!!!! This is a flashback so he's not actually back </3

Oh hey look we're on Xerba I'm sure that only means good things

In my heart I really want Xadhoom to be a lesbian and I know she canonically dates a guy but like. Look at Xari. If I squint my eyes hard enough he's a beautiful lesbian too. Love wins.

There are potentially hostile aliens showing up tomorrow but I have a job so I don't really care about that right now

Oh ok so Gorthan was responsible for genociding Xadhoom's planet that's dope I guess. Uuuuh hope Xadhoom doesn't find out about that time he and Donald were hanging out-

So anyways I started blasting

NOOOOOOOO WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING- hey wait hold on I thought their sun was supposed to be blue?

AAANYWAYS while everyone on Xerba dies/gets enslaved, we briefly interrupt your genocide to bring you DONALD TIME!!!! I adore this page I love the way he's drawn here. The little eeby beeby. He's so silly <3

First of all I like the giant supporting hand here, second of all why the fuck does Uno have eyebrows now

DONALD ORB DONALD ORB

Me when I lie. Sorry I don't even ship Donald and Lyla that much but liiike you guys flirt with each other sometimes we've all seen it

losing it over the smug design of this random fucking kid

Listen I feel bad for the Xerbians and all, they're victims to a horrible conquering, but also like... guys you can't be this stupid 😭 no wonder you all got fucking owned

fuckin fruit. what do you want him to sing you a lullaby too??? actually don't answer that I don't think I'll like what I hear

Paperinik Old Adventures (where PK is elderly) will be real in 24 hours

Ok so they just stole a chimp from the zoo I guess

Guys I'm really worried about my girlfriend do you think she's okay (hard cut to Xadhoom getting blasted by the sun)

All jokes aside idk what to put for this section of the comic cause like I don't even have anything funny to say here it's just really intense

mama a girl behind you

Sorry to break it to you pal but that title actually goes to Xadhoo- okay maybe now is not the time oops

NICE TRY IDIOT, AS IF THAT'S GOING TO WO-

Dammit Xarion you're really letting me down here

HOLY FUCKING SHIT HE'S ALIVE

Poor guy got excited for a second </3

Actually if survivors guilt is your thing I know someone who would be GREAT company there-

GODDAMN what a story. And it's not even one of the main chapters! We get a lot of really interesting insight on the downfall of Xerba though. We already knew that two of the Xerbian spaceships were cleared out, but there's still one more that could be out there! We see what happened to Xari which is left vague but still... prooobably not a good fate for that guy. But hey at least there's another Xerbian that's alive! I can't wait for Xadhoom to find out :)

........okay maybe this is the part where I reveal that we never see Xarion ever again and his appearance doesn't get brought up either. And also Kravenn is gone forever too. Idk why they did absolutely nothing with these characters (maybe because it's a special issue?) but like DAMMIT another dropped plot thread that could've been interesting 😭 Xarion was gonna go to the spaceship that's outside of Saturn to grab some data so I guess we can assume he got there and like died of natural causes or something idk. He had a stroke rest in peace.

Anyways I'm finally caught back up BITCH (aside from Ghost of the Grotto which will hopefully be up later today) GET READY FOR RAIDER WEEK THIS WEEK!!! WHOOOO YEAH I LOVE RAIDING

[threecheersforinking]

Some thoughts about Arcane s2

(spoilers obviously)

To start off, I have a lot of mixed feelings. I don't think it was AS bad as some people are saying, and I definitely don't believe that everyone's characters were ruined/OOC. In my opinion, the overall plot was more of an issue than any individual character's choices (barring a few exceptions). I'm not even going to go into the individual characters, actually.

Because to me, the biggest issues were this:

Lack of a focus on politics

Lack of a focus on Jinx/Vi's relationship

Classism is one of the central themes to this story, and an unavoidable aspect of season 1. It's almost too obvious to talk about. The overarching conflict of Arcane has always been about the tension between Piltover and "Zaun". So why was Viktor and his little army of mannequin clones the big bad of season 2? I do not buy even for a second that Zaunites would suddenly start banding together for Piltover just because they were both at risk of being murdered by some freaky aliens. Why would people in the undercity care? They're already dying and being mistreated. It was lazy, overdone, and not consistent with the thesis of the story. Yeah, having Sevika on the council representing Zaun in the last 10 seconds of the show was great, but how did we get there? Why was that not the focus?

As for #2, Vi and Powder are the main characters and their relationship is at the core of this story. It is the most important relationship in this story. Objectively. And their relationship was not resolved in a satisfying way whatsoever. It didn't have to be perfect, it didn't even have to be happy, but it had to be satisfying and make sense. And it did not.

I truly believe that if those two aspects remained the focus of the story, every other issue that people had with the show or any individual character's choices would no longer be a problem.

I keep seeing people mad that some characters died or their ship wasn't canon but the thing is, this has always been a tragic story. I am not mad that all traces of Vander are gone from Warwick. I am not mad that Jinx and Ekko didn't end up together (even though I literally actively ship them). I don't think everything has to be wrapped up in a nice happy bow for a show to be good. It just has to make narrative sense and be consistent with the thesis of the story, which it was not.

Here's my take: I think many of this season's issues could have been resolved had episodes 1-6 been spread out over 9 episodes with the events of episode 6 being the season finale.

Episodes 1-6 had elements of the central theses that I mentioned earlier. Jinx's attack reignited the suspicion/dislike of undercity folk, therefore upholding the classism aspect; Salo even says "I can't believe we were almost about to give those people rights" (not a direct quote but you get the idea). Vi had lost all hope that her sister was still 'in there', was thinking about Jinx and mourning Powder. The physical fight between them and the role Caitlyn played in it was narratively consistent. These episodes weren't perfect, nor were they as cleanly written as s1, but they had the heart of the story in mind. The real issue is what happened afterwards. They lost the plot, quite literally.

When I heard this second season would also be the final one, I was surprised, but considering there's nothing I hate more than when a story gets drawn out just for the sake of it/because it's popular, I felt like I couldn't complain. However, considering how much convoluted bs they tried to shove into this one 9 episode season, I am confused as to why it wasn't drawn out more. Was it a budgetary reason? An issue with Netflix? I can't figure out what the problem was.

In conclusion, I don't think this season was horrible. Definitely not the worst Season 2 of a beloved Season 1 I've ever seen, at least. But it's still disappointing that the impeccable writing of Season 1 was unable to be matched.

[sometipsygnostalgic]

still only 4 minutes into s2e4 but...

i refuse to say arcane s2 is "bad" because queer animation is being shot behind the shed right now, we're not going to see anything like this again in a very long time. but of the three and a bit eps ive seen so far, it's all been... Things Happen, instead of characters driving events.

the jinx scenes have been incredible, she's definitely the highlight, i love the warmer approach they've taken with her and the other lady working together, it feels natural, but everything involving the other characters feels so rushed and hollow.

specifically it seems every cait and vi scene has a budget of nothing. half of it is fairly cheap montages and everything seems to be exposited instead of naturally shown. like yeah they did a good job of showing why cait so desperately wants to shoot jinx. and i thought the reveal that the previously shown poison gas was the cops was great! but since then it just seems like we're not allowed to get into their heads.

like, why does vi NOT want to be an enforcer? why is it then enough for a couple of nice cops to talk to her? though i can infer she feels responsibility for the attack that ambessa the other underground gang performed on the event later. also who the fuck is the cop with the shield? what is his deal? but we don't get time in vi's head. we don't see her revolving all these thoughts around, she changes her mind about stuff in split second moments because there's no time.

and cait. she is the worst offender by far. her reactions seem very extreme because they need to be, not because being extreme is any sort of established part of her character. I am constantly comparing Cait to Glimmer from She-ra, but that's because everything Cait's doing here is exactly how Glimmer reacted after the Horde got her mum killed, except Glimmer had all that darkness as a pre-established part of her, and they spent a long time showing it being encouraged by Shadow Weaver. Meanwhile with Cait, a good hearted cop who has shown NO desire for corruption or power thirst... she's turning on her friends immediately, and we are TOLD that Ambessa is leading her astray, we are never SHOWN this. It's very clear this is because there needs to be a plot, not because any care is being given to Cait as a character. It's very disappointing.

i do love that scene in s2e1 with jayce carrying viktor to the room to save him. the way that was shot, with us watching present and immediate future jayce react to viktor's body, it was amazing. that is a great example of cinematography and storytelling without dialogue - he was so terrified!!!

i have no idea what's going on in viktor's head now though. we've spent very little time with him. to me it seems like he's being brainwashed with an image of the assistant who was killed, a lot like the one guy from Scavenger's Reign who was brainwashed by the fat alien with a hallucination of his dead wife. but we only get a 3 second glimpse of this whereas Scavenger's Reign spends many episodes on it.

Ekko may as well not exist at the moment.

[english-mace]

You really like using 2nd person in your (published) fiction, and present tense. Is that a big preference or just how it shook out with the short fiction?

What a fun question!

Honestly, it's a little of both. My friend Valerie Valdes has a great essay about why second person sometimes appeals to marginalized authors - essentially, it feels less alienating because we're very used to being asked to step into an experience very different to our own (since so much fiction is anchored on the 'universal' straight-white-cis perspective). For myself, I started out in poetry, where writing to 'you' feels very natural, so, particularly with flash fiction, I drift back into that mode easily.

Second person is great for simultaneously inducing empathy while also distancing the character from what's happening, in an odd way. It's the epitome of 'tell don't show.' In third person, we can do a little bit of informing-on-emotional-state - at least in close third - but we also give the reader context to make their own judgment on whether the character really is feeling the way they're telling us they are, and whether that feeling is justified. In second person, we can get very sparse. A character might only give us one angle or detail of their experience, or a character might refuse to tell us anything at all about how they're feeling, practically dissociating (like the betrayed god-monster of Birds Are Trying To Reinvent Your Heart, a story which displaces emotions onto physical objects rather than placing them on 'you'-the-reader). A really good author - Rebecca Roanhorse's Hugo- and Nebula-winning Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience springs to mind - can use second person to incept emotions into the reader, using the complicity of the PoV to get far deeper under the skin than first - conversational, confessional - or third - documentary, informative - ever can.

The trick is, second person is a lot harder to maintain suspension of disbelief. Audiences are far more likely to reject a PoV - like an organ transplant - that asks them to mutate their own self-identity for the length of a story. It's very doable in small slices. Start going for longer, you are likely to lose people.

So that comes back to the difference between what I write and what I manage to sell 😅 I tend to write second-person in pieces under 2,000 words - Sparsely Populated, Birds, and (arguably second, but reads like first) Upon What Soil are all under 1,000, and I have a second-person lesbian forest-witch necromancy story coming out in Haven Spec next month that's ~1,700. And I've had a lot more success selling my flash fiction and poetry than I have my longer pieces. Of the ones I have sold, both my Silk & Steel story (6900 words) and my pirate feather-witches story in Skies of Wonder (4200 words) were third-person past, as are all three of the novels I've gone out on submission with. But alas! If no one buys them, or if only anthology markets which don't post online do, then no one can read them.

...having said all this, I am currently plotting out a second-person detective noir novella, but I'm 90% certain my agent will make me rewrite it into first when I'm done, so there's that 😅