#and how I managed to shoehorn it in to still make sense

[blizardstar]

Me when Ashton Greymoore is denied honorable and meaningful self-sacrifice, and now must face the reality that they MUST keep living after it’s All Over

[jamiepaige]

Constant Companions Closeup #2: NOT QUITE THERE

(also on spotify!)

b-b-back once again

Round two of the Constant Companions Closeups - a series of in-depth dives into the songs off of my latest album, Constant Companions! Yesterday was track one, Dyad - today is track two, Not Quite There, featuring the incomparable telebasher!

This one's a bit of a dark horse relative to the rest of the album, but it may very well be my personal favorite song on the entire thing so dammit let's Yap

---

For the uninitiated, this song pulls heavily from a song off my previous album called Gummyworm, both in vibe and by very directly quoting its synth motif.

Both of these songs deal with two sides of the same emotional coin. I actually don't want to go into too much detail about it - I feel like the lyrics spell things out clearly enough - but I will say this:

When it's all you know, it's easy to believe that a love that isolates you, a love that doesn't respect you, a love that hurts is better than no love at all.

You deserve better. There are always people who genuinely want what's best for you, who want you to feel truly loved. It certainly isn't always easy - it's genuinely good if your interpersonal relationships have a little friction sometimes - but love should make your life brighter.

You deserve a love that's fair.

---

The original version of this song was actually intended to be on Bittersweet alongside Gummyworm. The original concept for that album had a whole heady concept involving duality, songs reflecting each other, the two halves basically being reprisals of each other... Ultimately, I'm glad I scrapped that idea, because it was waaaaaay too much for me to manage after a couple years of barely making music. Maybe I'll revisit it someday though?

The drums on this song are sampled from an Instagram post by Louis Cole, where he's doing this crazy one-handed hi-hat blast by holding a drumstick sideways. I'm a drummer and that shit genuinely scares me a little like i dont know how he does half the things he does its fucked BUT. I bring this up because he's one of my biggest inspirations as a musician! I'm really big on jazz in general, in case my love for spicy chords wasn't enough of an indication, but his specific brand of freaky hyperactive bullshit just does it for me.

Seriously, go watch his band KNOWER play their song Overtime. Absolutely insane performances across the board. also Clown Core

This whole song is really just my attempt at matching some of that hectic jazzy energy with my own style of music, so I figured it only made sense to make it another collab with another musician making delightfully frantic jazz bullshit - the legend herself, telebasher! I really am such a massive fan of her work, and I struggle to think of anyone who plays guitar quite like she does. We previously worked together on another Bittersweet track, Asemic Speech, and her guitar work is a major reason why that song is still one of my favorite I've ever released!! She's just built different like listen to this oh my god!!!!

Lastly, since this song was one of the first written for this entire project... it is admittedly a case of me shoehorning the album's leitmotif in after the fact. It's a little forced when it shows up in the backing vocals! But, the choir of vocal synths during the guitar solo served an additional purpose - my own voice doesn't show up on the album again for another four entire songs, and this would've otherwise been the only song on the entire album that didn't feature any vocal synths. Thus did I attempt to bridge the gap, as it were. Hopefully it makes the final product feel more natural!!

Either way, that's all for today's post.... i think.... which means that tomorrow.... we're gonna rot.... for clout

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV Musings - Sam Reid on Lestat's Anger Management Problems

Lestat has no filter on the way he handles good/bad emotions. Extremes mean he can go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows--that circus pony on meth meme.

And it's on a dime--Lestat gets angry and loses his effing mind; he just lets it out, in the most extreme way possible; heaven help whoever gets in the way; you cannot script a hurricane!

Lestat doesn't know how to control himself, and goes from one extreme to the other; self-sabotage around every corner in his house of horrors.

NONE of this sounds like Akasha or Amel is possessing or controlling Lestat! (x x x)

What this sounds like is an abusive manchild who has his father's temper, who has his Maker's temper, who has a terrible godawful violent temper; who's liable to fly off the frikkin handle at the slightest provocation, cuz he wasn't raised right and never learned to process his feelings & emotions & traumas in a healthy way.

Lestat killed the tenor cuz HE didn't like the music. Lestat cut off Antoinette's finger cuz HE felt slighted by Claudia. Lestat Dropped Louis thousands of feet from the sky & broke all his bones cuz HE didn't want Louis to leave.

Why is it that Amel possessing Lestat seems to only be brought up when Louis & Claudia (& Armand) are accusing Lestat of being abusive in Ep5, the episode Lestans collectively HATE the most?

Oh, so we can blame Amel for Lestat's extreme behavior during emotionally intense BAD moments, but where was Amel when Les did that monologue in the church in 1x1? That seemed like some pretty extreme & intense emotions. Was that spirit possession, too? Where was Amel when Les Turned Claudia? That was a pretty extreme & intense situation, esp. if the Ep4 revisit in 2x7 is to be believed (which I don't believe cuz that Trial was full of lies, but devil's advocate). Where was Amel when Loustat were at the Mardi Gras ball? Where was Amel in Lestat's Sad Shack (after 1973 or) in the 2x8 Reunion?

Hell--where was Amel during THE EFFING TRIAL?

Like--fans looking at Armand sideways during the Trial saying Les was forced/controlled/possessed/etc at least makes canonical sense, cuz that's LITERALLY what happened in the books--there's a VALID PRECEDENT for expecting something to've been going on with Les at the Trial that was beyond his control; where his agency was taken away from him by the Theatre coven.

WHERE is the precedent for Loustat beefing--or Lestat mistreating ANY of his lovers--that had ANYTHING to do with Amel? Up your arses, that's where it is! Esp. since involving Amel in any of the proceedings BEFORE Akasha's even AWAKE stinks of BULLSH!TE.

I will call out any fan theory or show writing that tries to shoehorn Amel into events pre-QotD, cuz AR already clearly explained that Amel COULDN'T physically control vampires, even after Akasha was dead. The most he could do was talk to them with The Voice.

Even Rhosh said that PEAK Voice/Amel in the 20teens could only posses 1 vamp at a time, and that Amel was still so weak that he was blind & deaf when he DID try to posses vamps (x). So how in the HELL is he possessing Lestat during the Ep5 fight way back in 1931?

Even when Lestat had the Sacred Core IN HIS OWN EFFING BODY, Amel STILL had a hard time physically compelling Lestat to even twitch his limbs; let alone perpetrate an entire domestic assault on TWO vampires in 1132 decades before he was even awake & free of Akasha & Mekare yet. Make this make sense to me.

Cuz like, in the exact same interview, Sam actually gave a logical reason why Lestat seems more awful than he probably is: NOT cuz he's been possessed by Amel, but cuz Armand's a lying ex & Louis' a pissed ex! (5:36 - 6:17) BUT! Sam ALSO says that Lestat IS effed up--he's not how we saw him in 2x3, but perhaps he's not TOO far off the mark from how he was in S1 either:

I think the real Lestat: he's a bit more messy; he's a bit more screwed up. (3:41 - 3:46)

At 4:02, Sam acknowledged that he's "damaged" multiple ex-lovers--was that all Amel's doing too? So, are Armand & Louis & Nicki & David all just victims of AMEL, who possessed Lestat this whole time? 🙄😒 That's such a lame freaking plot.

Istg, it's like the Lestan abuse apologists will be all like: Oh, listen to Sam Reid, cuz he knows what's going on behind the scenes, he talks with Rolin & the writers (even the writers we effing hate like Hannah Moscovitch). Then Sam will confirm what we've BEEN saying about Lestat's psychotic immature abusive arse, and all of a sudden it's: Oh this will get revisited, and that will get revisited, and #ThosePeople will get a reality check in S3 cuz Lestat was abused, too~!

Gimme a frikkin break, y'all. Lestat's a maladapted grown man with a child's temper, a boatload of untreated personality disorders, and chronic abandonment issues & PTSD, that all contribute to why his emotions spiral from one extreme to the other. Sometimes it's harmless & funny cuz Lestat's campy & his craziness has a charming "way about him." Cuz he IS likeable & loveable. Other times, Lestat's hell on wheels, and really needs to be set on fire with his food poisoned & his throat slit & his body tossed in the swamp/dump and sit in Time Out for a few decades to think about what he's done. 😤

[perfectblves]

still annoyed at infold for how they handled sea of stars storyline so heres a rough rewrite/redo/whatever you wanna call it

firstly, its part of the main story, but is a new chapter instead of a random retcon to the beginning. i personally think it flows best after unlocking silvergale, but if they really want people to unlock it asap, the earliest it can be introduced is after nikki learns about the coma cases. i think the old introduction is really well done and an important tutorial for the basic gameplay loop (so it really confuses me that they just scrapped it)

this way, the nikkiverse can be introduced OR expanded on, without burning down what was already established to players. bc the game *does* mention alternate timelines, they just chose to deal with it in the most obnoxious way. if it canonically happens after giovannis timeline quote, then it gives more weight to it. if it happens before that, then it doesnt come as such a random surprise lol

ANYWAYS. onto the (semi) rewrite.

- after fulfilling whatever requirement, you get a new quest notification that tells you to go to the stylist guild

- once ur there, you get a short cutscene of nikki being like "momo .. lately somethings been off about the heart of infinity... it hurts and it feels like someones calling for me" (if it happens earlier than after silvergale, nikki just says the heart of infinity hurts and she feels someone calling for her)

- obvs momo is like what!!! lets ask dada

- before they can enter though, nikki goes "ow momo, its happening again-" and momo panics as she wobbles on her feet and passes out

- this could go momo-less or have momo. choose what u wanna believe in lol

- we then see the cutscene of A Different nikki and ruined miraland. *our* nikki is watching all this happen and is really worried, and she tries to use her floating outfit to reach the other nikki

- she doesnt make it, so she wakes up in the water... space... thing like the intro screen

- seer is there and shes like Oh my pink star thank goodness i managed to save you. obviously nikki is confused and lost, and worries about her friends in miraland, and especially the person she just saw.

- seer replies that it wasnt *her* miraland that was destroyed, so she shouldnt worry too much. also there should be some dialogue that heavily implies that The Other nikki tried to summon Our nikki for help, whether on purpose or accidentally.

- the rest proceeds mostly the same, just without the random ass tutorial shoehorned in. seer can infodump as much as she wants since NOW it makes a little more sense

[tf-es-unbreakable-au]

Synopsis;

Takes place a bit after season 1, except starscream finds himself in G.H.O.S.T captivity much earlier this time (still deciding how that's gonna go down). At first, he plots to escape but the isolation begins to wear him down, and tea parties with corpses stopped working awhile ago...

so he tries to escape by re-watching old memories... only to realize that all his memories had ever been was a cycle of subservience, pain, and utter humiliation. Not only that, but his own past actions begin to wear on him, and strangely enough; he can't seem to pull himself away from watching for too long.

So he watches them back, over and over again, a marathon of all his blunders, betrayals, and deceits. Over the course of the next few earth months, he goes into a spiral.

Meanwhile, G.H.O.S.T. accidentally blows the lid on everything via a wistleblower, and the existence of cybertronians is exposed but doesn't go over as badly as initially believed, leaving human-cybertronian relations in a decent spot minus the still-active decepticons.

Somewhere along the line, with the help of human scientists the autobots manage to get the space bridge to cybertron working again, not only increasing the roster of fighters I will be working on, but also decreasing the necessity for cybertronians to stay on earth (most are very eager to start rebuilding)

With these factors, the autobots are able to capture many other decepticons (many of which aren't actually in earthspark, but I will be using anyways for diversity) AND get in touch with other autobots around the galaxy.

So the WBC (World Boxing Comission) saw giant robots with giant-robot-hands and had dollar sign eyes, tried partnering with G.H.O.S.T. to organize the CFC (Cybertronian Fighting championship, name is a placeholder for now) as a new way to strengthen relations between the two species while also introducing more crude parts of human culture to the cybertronians, as well as introduce a new type of entertainment. And also cuz that's the only way I was able to make this work lol.

Eventually, G.H.O.S.T decides to allow decepticon inmates to voluntarily enter these championships for small rewards (mainly such as high-grade, better sleeping quarters or even supervised access to public cybertronian events.) And I ended up taking inspiration of this from the legends of the rahway state prison (look that up if you're into boxing)

And while all this is happening, starscream is entirely isolated, alone and now refuses to move on from the past. Mainly inspired by the story of people like Jake lamotta and Matthew saad muhammad, his sense of fear and preservation becomes warped entirely. To the point where taking punches during fights almost feels to him like a way of "giving back".

Enter hardhelm, a wrecker who was an autobot during the "bad old days" of the autobot council (still fleshing him out.)

Having seen the error of his ways a millennia ago, he finds himself on earth and takes a special interest in the CFC due to his knack for hand-to-hand combat.

But, more specifically, interest in the decepticon inmates. He goes in to try and serve as a mentor to any lost ex-decepticons that would follow, in an effort to reform them.

So G.H.O.S.T. appoints him as coach for his own small "stable" of fighters, with starscream being a last-second replacement that was shoehorned in and accepted for the fact that he was going entirely stir-crazy and it was either this or sit back in his cell and watch old memories, and at this point, he needed some other stimulation.

His first training camp doesn't go well. Star and hardhelm just can't seem to see eye to eye, and once he begins to spar, starscream is completely unprepared. He takes a beating, but hardhelm is captivated by his tenacity and believes he can not only train star but help him and himself as well, as even he would admit that he hasn't entirely moved on, and may see a bit of himself in starscream.

This is where the differences will become obvious personality wise, starscream is much more reserved while still maintaining his air of anger and hostility. His usual antics are replaced with blank staring or enraged shouting when confronted, and he never goes out of his way to make conversation, even with bots he knows.

When the time comes to fight, starscream gets his aft kicked hard, it was incredibly one-sided, and there was a definite skill and experience difference. But in the beating he took, he never went down and never thought of quitting. He'd done that enough times, begged and pleaded for less pain only to be given more.

He'd taken his most valuable beating yet and learned a lesson he could never put a price on. Now, he'd struggle to the bitter end, even if it meant only seeing the final buzzer. It was still a victory regardless.

Moreover, he found the pain strangely vindicating, once again, like he was "giving back." In a way, it made him feel at peace with himself, helped him come to terms with everyone hes hurt.

Hardhelm takes an interest in starscream's tenacity. It wasn't every day you came across a mech that could take a hurting like that and keep on moving forward, and not only keep on trudging, but still trying to find a way to get to his opponents and turn the tides.

Obviously, the two have a rocky start. Both are incredibly stubborn, and starscream does his absolute best to keep his distance from absolutely everyone. He's intent to die in the cycle he's in, basically zombie'ing his way through day-to-day life and only truly coming alive when it's time to spar or fight.

Hardhelm uses this to his advantage; he knows how mechs like starscream operate. If you want to help someone who didn't want to be helped, you have to manipulate them into thinking they do (not personally saying this is the correct way to go about this. It's hardhelm's own flawed logic.) So he uses this to his advantage to kindle a love for fighting in starscream, trying to give him a sense of purpose so he could drop the manipulation and really show him that life was more than endless death and conflict.

This starts with him beginning to teach starscream techniques, changing him from a forward-moving zombie into a hard-charging, close-range inside fighter with incredibly tricky head-Movement (meaning he specializes in fighting inside of his opponents reach and is very hard to hit while moving in) ma deceptively long reach. And even though Star tries to keep his distance, it's kinda hard to distance yourself from someone who has to watch and instruct your every move whilst also pointing out flaws. So the two grow close eventually, and hardhelm begins to instill that purpose in star, trying to make "a bonfire outt'a sticks," so to speak.

But despite this, atarscream is still intent on taking punishment during fights. Even with his defensive nuance, he'd still rather get into scrappy brawls, no matter how much hardhelm tried to refocus him on their gameplan, no matter how much he threatened to pull the plug on the fight, starscream would always try to drag the fight into the mud and make it bloody, It allowed him to focus on something other than how much he hated himself.

This comes with a few processor glitches at first, getting worse and worse with each fight.

Regardless, in his down-time he essentially spends it trying to recharge or watching straight up feature-length films of "starscream fucks up; vol 1-6" like they were jackass films. It gets to a point where he can even be found laughing at his own mistakes but to others, he just looks like a lunatic laughing at either the wall or the ceiling.

I intend to use more "human" elements such as fatigue or even having punches target certain components (left hook to the chasis targeting the fuel tank similarly to how it targets the liver for humans, for example) but I'm also gonna use a different system of damage. So instead of someone eyes swelling, a cybertronians' optics will begin to dim, flicker, and glitch due to too much helm trauma. Cuts will still function relatively the same since, as far as I can tell, cybertronians can bleed through their faceplates and intakes.

I'm still working on a rule system but so far it goes as follows.

A preliminary fight (one that's not advertised as much and only really serves as a "stay busy" fight or for 2 up-and-comers to Duke it out and see who moves up the rankings. Getting into that soon) lasts 5 rounds, each round is 5 minutes each with one minutes rest in between.

During this period, each fighter goes to their respective corner to sit on the stool and be seen to by their "corner" who consists of a coach, a cutmech, and a mechanic. They are allowed to offer advice as well as see to a fighters' injuries within a certain jurisdiction.

A contender bout is a fight between one or fighters who are in the top 15 to top 10 rankings. These are 10 rounds, and the times are the same, 5 minute rounds with 1 minute rest in between.

Championship/super-fights are bouts between one or more champion (I intend to have multiple different championships) and these are 15 rounds with the same rules, except referees are far more likely to let fighters "fight it out" rather than stop a fight at the first sign of trouble.

Now would be a good time to speak on referee's and fight judges.

The referee has the ability to stop a fight at any point in time and rule it a TKO should they deem a fighter unable to defend themselves properly whilst still being standing. Think of going down in a KO loss vs getting beat up while all you can do is cover up and take the punches.

The damage system will also be much more visceral with the absence of gloves, this means cuts will be much more prevalent and will regularly impact the scoring and direction of a fight.

Fights will be operating on the conventional "10-point-must" system, where if an opponents were to win a round, they'd have to score a 10 to an opponents 9 or 8. Otherwise the round Is tied (for example, a 9-9 round) and 10-8 rounds are only awarded when a knockdown is scored and the recipient hasn't been knocked down themselves in the same round.

A 10-7 round warrants domination in all fronts only barely shy of a referee or doctor stoppage (stoppage indicates a TKO)

Speaking of doctors, there is a ringside mechanic who is there to oversee any and all injuries the fighters may have. This is the only point where the referees authority is overruled if the mechanic deems a fighter unfit to continue the fight.

As of now, that is all. I will most likely be adding more because I intend of an entire arc where the WBC goes out of business and sells out to the UFC, opening up opportunities for me to turn this into an mma!au

[thescreaminghat]

ok so going off of this post (with excellent additions by others) ive been thinking of moments that elita could have had in tfone that would have made her stand out a lot more as her own character.

but first off though i dont even think bee should be a major character in tfone. like i get the endgame is to sell new toys and bee is popular but if that was really all that the creatives were interested in they could have done the bare minimum for a cash grab, shoehorning in some fart jokes for the child audience, and be on their way. the fact that the story is good means that there was thought and care put into all of this, so it's a shame that elita almost feels like an afterthought, and sometimes even feels overshadowed by bee. i would either remove bee entirely, or keep him in as the revelation that sub level 50 exists (aka he is the first sign that something is amiss, that the miners are being lied to) but not let him join team orion until the very end, when post-cog orion goes back to free and rally the other miners. maybe bee has become so traumatized by being in sublevel 50 that while he is overjoyed at seeing pax and dee, two real, living beings besides himself, he is also extremely afraid of leaving his post. what if there are further sublevels? what if he can't bring his friends with him, imaginary or not, if he gets in trouble and transferred again? like bee can still have the same humour and charm, but the story could be structured so that he serves more as a reminder for orion that they need to succeed on this mission, that they'll be back for b-127 even if they don't find the matrix. with this change elita gets more screentime with orion and dee.

for the first of my headcanon-y changes, it would be great if elita had just one conversation with dee early on in which orion isn't physically present. even better if the conversation built on the first conversation that orion and dee have in the movie, when orion asks dee if he ever wanted to choose his own path. maybe dee is ruminating on the question and asks elita, who is initially somewhat offended at The Audacity (isn't it clear that she is choosing her own path? she's going up in the food chain, duh) but this ultimately causes her to start looking inwards. is she really going to be happy working at the same level as someone like darkwing, if attaining that kind of position was even possible? there must be some cutoff for how high a cogless bot can go---would that satisfy her? but what other option does she have? and then maybe those doubts turn into frustration against dee, with elita snapping back and telling him to stop parroting whatever stupid question or plan orion comes up with (this has unintended consequences, as dee quite literally takes this to heart during his crashout at the cave). i think even additional offhand conversations/comments would help solidify the pax-dee-elita dynamic and flesh it out more.

second, i think dee should have tried to win over elita's sympathies following the cave scene. elita should initially side with dee and push for violence against sentinel and airachnid on the way back, before they get captured by the high guard. dee should be hyping himself and elita up, saying stuff like "we can fight, elita can get the other miners into shape, im going to drag sentinel down in the tunnels and bury him alive," basically showing us that despite the out-of-pocket plans he's making, dee understands the value provided by others and its relation to his own goals (e.g. elita's leadership and extensive knowledge of the mines from being team lead), he doesn't just value physical strength, but ability. it'd be a good setup for the balance of rage/vindictiveness and cunning he has as megatron later on. and maybe elita's still angry and playing off of the hype too, like "yeah sentinel's going to waste management next." this leads orion to try and bridge the ever-widening rift between him and the others by appealing to reason and their sense of justice (or the sense of justice that orion thinks they should hold). elita could be the one who "reassures" orion by commenting on how the least he can do for them after dragging them out to the surface is to let them hate on sentinel for a bit. and when orion keeps pushing for an answer on whether she thinks sentinel should be killed, like dee had suggested, elita should reply with smth like, "well i dont know if i would--if i could--do that myself. kill someone, that is. maybe i won't, maybe i just want to kick his aft. but if jazz had died in that blast? if dee had died? do you think that you'd be able to do it then?"

i think the optimism speech could still be kept in but toned down a bit more, like have elita admit to pax's optimism being like a pinprick of light in a dark tunnel without outright just saying "you have hope and that's what makes you special." it'd be cool if we circled back again to orion's question of "don't you ever want to choose your own path?" like we're slowly seeing elita working through her process of choosing her allegiances.

im a bit at a loss at this point for what elita's "turning point" what be to side with orion instead. maybe it's not just seeing dee's fusion cannon, but seeing how reckless he was with it--how it wasn't just about putting up a good fight or even self-defence anymore but being indifferent to endangering everyone around him, good or bad, like the indifference of mechs like darkwing to the miners. maybe it's just the act of seeing dee let orion go from the tower, that if dee of all bots could sacrifice his other half so easily--the hopelessly stupid and understanding and compassionate other half named orion---then what difference is there between him and the bots who have caused so much misery in her own life? idk if we have a sequel please let me get more juicy characterization please

[my-pjo-stuff]

Do you know WHY Luke even killed himself just to DEFEAT Kronos? He was going to sacrifice himself so that Kronos could rise again, and that was HAPPENING! If he'd sacrificed himself, he would probably have thought that there was a chance of the gods going back to their original system, but there was a possible CHANCE of Kronos establishing a better system!

It just drives me MAD every time I think about it. Luke's 'redemption' arc was unnecessary since it only served to make him look better in the eyes of the protagonists who were actively upholding a cruel system, though they were manipulated children too.

Also, the thing about Luke being a pedo and Annabeth's reply, it's always so annoying to me, because Luke was NEVER a pedo-he simply wanted to know if she still loved him after everything that he'd done and honestly who WOULDN'T?

I absolutely LOVE some of your posts in this blog. I haven't read the PJO books in a long time so I was just wondering if you actually knew why Luke sacrificed himself

I mean imma be frank with ya, I talked about the whole Pedo thing so much I'd just repeat myself. So in story canon Luke sacrificed himself for Annabeth after he realized how horrid Kronos actually is and she managed to get through to him with her iconic "Family, Luke, you promised!" line. Out of canon? My honest belief is that Rick just had no idea how to get rid of Kronos, so he pulled Luke's "redemption" outta his ass. Because not gonna lie? Even as one of the most hardcore Luke apologists you can find, I still think that his "redemption" was not good and shoehorned in. A good Redemption Arc needs to be, well- an arc. It needs proper set up, execution and aftermath. All that simply didn't happen with Luke. The entire "arc" basically happened in TLO where he was already possessed by Kronos. Now where there signs of him not being totally fine with Kronos and his methods? Yes, most certainly. But he still went along with them, even if he wanted an out. Luke still chose Kronos over the gods. In every single one of his appearance Luke has been characterized to completely despise the gods above all else, to the point of him actively choosing the cause over those he loves (which, btw, in this case is something I support). At the same time has the whole Kronos possession been set up as final ever since it was introduced. Luke get's possessed and Luke is dead. Dead dead. No coming back from this.

So for Luke then, in the last possible second, be "snapped out of it" by Annabeth? When Kronos was already possessing him for a considerable amount of time and very close to gaining his full titan form? Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. And if you now consider that Percy and co. literally had no way to really defeat Kronos without at least Percy dying due to the prophecy, it really makes you think wether Luke's whole sacrifice was actually planned out for the story or just a way for Rick to wrap it all up nicely without having to merk his MC.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Manga ch.97-99

Cell Max is running wild, but don't worry, because Goten and Trunks are here to pad the story give Piccolo and Gohan a breather.

To be fair, the boys do a little better once they turn Super Saiyan, which kind of begs the question of why they didn't just turn Super Saiyan from the start. This page's sole purpose is to have the Gammas notice their "resemblance" to Saiyaman X-1 and X-2. This would be annoying enough even if they did look alike, but they don't. Look at them! Trunks and Goten have tights and some sort of Stormtrooper midriff thing going on. The Gammas are wearing jodhpurs and bellhop jackets. And Goten and Trunks' color schemes are clearly reversed from one to the other. The Gammas match perfectly except for their red and blue capes.

The only real similarities here are the numbers on their costumes, and the fact that there are two of them. Oh, and Gamma 1 has a red cape, and Goten has a red cape. Eerie! What are the odds of two superheroes having red capes? You almost never see that. I mean, there's Superman, Thor, Great Saiyaman, Dr. Strange, Spawn, Great Saiyaman 2, the Scarlet Witch, Supergirl, Great Saiyaman 3, Power Girl, Steel, but other than those characters, I can't think of anyone else!

Then they all pose together and attack Cell Max in concert. It looks impressive, but their quadruple-team fails to do any damage. The Gammas acknowledge that Cell Max is still getting used to moving around in his body, so he's not fighting as effectively as he will be later in the story. So that's why Goten and Trunks can do this well without actually hurting their opponent. And that's fair.

What doesn't make a lot of sense is the Gammas' role in this part of the battle. Of everyone involved in this battle, they alone understand the danger Cell Max poses to the world, because Dr. Hedo told them about Max's powers. That's why they went in first when Cell Max first emerged. They knew they had to shut him down as quickly as possible. And they're not rusty like Goten and Trunks, or unfamiliar with their bodies like Cell Max. If there's a window of opportunity here for Goten and Trunks to fight Cell Max without looking outclassed, then you'd think the Gammas would use this chance to target Max's head and finish him off.

Of course, they can't actually do that, since that's not what happened in the movie, but that's the problem I have with all of this. Toyotaro keeps shoehorning Goten and Trunks into this story, and their scenes tend to interfere with the plot instead of adding to it. The Gammas have a cool gimmick and aesthetic with the super hero thing. It works. They don't need two more characters aping that look right beside them. At best it's redundant, and at worst it just cramps their style. It'd be like if Frieza had a teen sidekick following him around repeating everything he says. It would kill his whole vibe.

Okay, so once Goten and Trunks fuse into Gotenks, the battle plays out mostly like it did in the movie, but there's one part that got changed up and it caused some controversy in the fandom. Remember how Pan almost got killed, and Krillin called out to her and told her to fly, and then she managed to fly for the first time?

So in the manga, Pan has the same moment, except she doesn't take flight. Instead...

In this version, Krillin just flies over and grabs her. And that makes sense. Why would he just assume she can fly on her own? Why not just zip over and get her? However, this kills the character arc Pan had in the movie. She started the film wishing she could do more advanced training, but Piccolo won't let her because she can't fly yet. Then in this scene, she does fly, and when the movie ends she shows Piccolo and he proudly agrees to start giving her the advanced lessons.

Fans didn't like this version, because Toyotaro appeared to be saying "no" to something the fans enjoyed in the movie. Krillin doesn't need a hero moment in this scene because he gets a couple of hero moments when he helps fight Cell Max. He saves 18 and distracts Cell Max with a solar flare. Krillin's fine. So it sure looks like Toyotaro just scrapped Pan's big moment for no discernible reason. This happened in Chapter 97.

Hey, check out this cool shot of Orange Piccolo fighting Cell Max.

Right, back to what I was saying.

So in Chapter 98, Toyotaro redeems himself by having Pan fly for the first time, just in a later part of the battle. When Big Orange Piccolo gives the last senzu bean to Gohan in the movie, Gohan just eats it and that's it. But in the manga, Cell Max attacks Piccolo and knocks it out of his hand. No one can catch it, until Pan goes after it and follows it over a ledge. Gohan's worried, but then it turns out she can fly now so she was never in danger, and she gets to help him this way.

Is it better than the movie? I can see a case for this version, but one thing that bugs me is that it seems a bit contrived for Pan to notice the senzu bean and be able to follow it through the air the way she did. I believe she could and would catch it for her dad. That's fine. But I'm not sure she would understand the need from where she was sitting in Bulma's aircraft.

For that matter, I don't know that it makes sense for Pan to understand what a senzu bean is, or why Gohan would need one so badly. Someone might have explained it to her at some point, but Pan's only three years old. I wouldn't expect her to know everything about everything.

Anyway, it goes to show how much can change from one chapter to another. People were mad about Chapter 97, but only because they didn't have 98 right there in front of them to show them it wasn't that big a deal. This is one major reason why I don't like to read the manga as it publishes.

From here, well, I think I'm just down to cool shots of the fight with Cell Max.

I don't think much is different here, but the art is cool, and this is one of my favorite parts of the movie.

I think this is a manga-only bit. Cell Max works over Piccolo with ki blasts, and it looks like Piccolo blows up, which triggers Gohan's Beast form, but then later it turns out Gamma 1 was protecting Piccolo with his force field, which allowed him to withstand the blast.

Also, when Cell Max tries to use his wings to escape the attack Gohan has planned, Toyotaro has Gamma 1, Krillin, and 18 cut off his wings. Not sure we needed this, but sure, it gives those characters one more chance to shine.

And then Piccolo holds Cell Max down and pleads with Gohan to take the shot, and that's the end of chapter 99.

And that gets me all caught up. Now I just have to wait for Chapter 100, which is supposed to drop on December 20. Hopefully, it'll wrap up the Super Hero adaptation, but I wouldn't put it past Toyotaro to drag this thing out another three chapters with some sort of press conference featuring Sergeant Nutz, Saiyaman X-1 and X-2, and Cleangod.

There's been talk of a big surprise twist or something in chapter 100, but I'm not holding my breath. Usually when this franchise has a big announcement, it's about the date for some actual announcement later, and that announcement usually turns out to be something the fans kind of already heard about anyway. "Yes, we will be releasing a Chapter 101" is the sort of thing I would expect them to "announce" in chapter 100.

It would be cool if Chapter 100 ended with Black Frieza showing up and killing Vegeta or something major like that. Or, I don't know, maybe Goten and Trunks turn evil. Those would be shocking developments, but I doubt this manga would go that far. We'll just have to see...

[sciroccoorion35]

Scraps

This was in my original draft of Tooting Roommates and won't make it into the new RR version I'm doing with @hailqiqi but wanted to share because I thought it was a sweet scene.

When we got back to my flat, I fell into my post-case routine. However, my routine did not account for long limbed, over eager boys prancing about, trying to help me with everything. Lockwood had apparently regained his good humour and was making a nuisance of himself. I gently, but firmly told him to sit in one of the chairs and oil the chains while I made us a couple of pot noodles.

“No cocoa?” he teased.

“I keep forgetting to buy milk,�� I shrugged. “Does Holly keep you well supplied for cocoa, or has she converted you all to drinking something healthier? Carrot juice perhaps?”

Lockwood laughed. “No, I think if she tried that George would mutiny.”

I smiled, imagining George and Holly rowing over the sugar content of certain Portland Row staples.

“I’m sorry, this really isn’t up to Portland Row standards,” I said as I set the pot noodles down in front of Lockwood.

“Nonsense,” he said, waving his hand airily. “It’s mostly just been toast and whatever Holly’s put in the fridge lately, anyways. ”

“Oh? Why’s that?” I asked. Of all the things I missed about Portland Row, George’s cooking was certainly in the top ten, if not the top five. I’d caught myself making that list more than once and had banned myself from ever thinking about it again. But with Lockwood here, it was hard not to.

“Well, you know,” he said, as he tried to take a large bite of the noodles and burned his tongue. “Ouch. Sorry, I meant, you know, we’ve been quite busy.”

I nodded, sitting down with my own cup and blowing judiciously on it.

“Plus, George has been a bit… irate with me,” Lockwood said, stirring his noodles and blowing on them. “He hasn’t been cooking much.”

I frowned. That didn’t sound like George. He loved cooking for us. Even when he was screaming at me to stop moving things around in the kitchen drawers, I’d still get a full bowl of tagine, or kebabs, or whatever he was cooking that day. If they’d been surviving on toast and Holly’s protein waffles all winter, no wonder George had been in such a foul mood. But he couldn’t blame that on me, surely. I hadn’t made him stop cooking. 

It was strange, I had expected the members of Lockwood and Co. to pull together when I left. In my darker moments, I’d imagined them all sitting around the table or the library, happily sipping cocoa, chatting and teasing each other, the way we’d always done. I’d imagined them realising they were better off without me, toasting their good fortune that I’d gone. It wasn’t one of my favourite fantasies. It was one that crept in when I was feeling particularly bad about how I’d left things.

Somehow, finding out that they’d all been suffering a bit without me made me feel both a great sense of relief and a horrible, needling guilt. 

Lockwood was eating his noodles more carefully now, but with great relish. He’d removed his jacket and tie and his hair stuck out every which way, somehow still managing to look like it belonged in a magazine. It was growing less odd, having him in my flat. At least the place was as clean as it had ever been since I moved in.

I wanted to thank him for volunteering to shoehorn himself into my breadbox of a flat until it was safe again. I wanted to apologise for everything I’d put him and the others through. I wanted to break down and tell him about how lonely I’d been without them all.

“Tell me about that case you mentioned,” I said suddenly. I needed a distraction from the thoughts in my head and Lockwood was good at telling stories, when he wanted to be.

“What case?” he asked.

“The one you mentioned the other day, that you said I would have enjoyed.”

“Oh, that,” he said smiling. “Well, it was all George’s fault, really…”

I listened to him talk as I ate my noodles, laughing frequently at his descriptions. It was so nice to hear his voice, to be near him again. I focused on that feeling and tried to forget about the guilt and the doubt. I just wanted to enjoy this time I had with him, if only for a little while.

[sparatus]

1, 6, 12 and 23 for the salty asks!

salty asks

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

sorry lads i just can't get into talibrations (or shalibrations, on the same vein). talibrations feels very pair-the-spares and "a guy and a girl can't just be friends" to me, and no you can't point at citadel dlc as proof of it when it released a good ways after the main game and bioware had already gotten to hear fan reaction to it. and then adding shepard to the mix just. idk dude i just can't see it. neither garrus nor tali feels like the type to be down for poly to me (and tbf most of the fic i see for it writes neither one very ic but especially not garrus. he would not talk like that.) and it just ends up feeling shoehorned

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

okay tbh ive gone back and forth on both shenko and shakarian due to the fans, i started out generally enjoying both, fans being nucking futs made me hate them, found some mutuals and friends who are sane abt them and made me like them again, then went into a big fandom server and oh BOY that was a mistake. swung around to liking them again tho (left the server and listened to my Good Taste Mutuals. never join fandom servers lads) so we're doing okay on that front i think, even if i still prefer to put garrus with other characters.

on a different fandom note tho over in transformers land fandom won me over on starscream/wheeljack. wheeljack is the only person in post-war cybertron who's actually fucking nice to starscream and genuinely wants to work with him and help him succeed and make things better and pull him out of the cycle of abuse megatron and later windblade were putting him through. and starscream himself says wheeljack is different and he can actually be honest and himself with him. i was prying myself out of [REDACTED] at the time and also camping on starscream/metalhawk rarepair hill so i was kinda Ah, No abt starjack and fandom managed to talk me around. tho i think many of them should also perhaps consider the very big brain move of starscream/wheeljack/metalhawk just hear me out okay--

12. Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

mmm i know leviathan dlc isn't popular for both "ruining" the mystery of the reapers and i think also the gameplay, but i really enjoy it for exactly those reasons, i really like what the leviathans add and i thought the atmosphere was really well done plus actually getting to investigate and follow clues and not just "go here shoot this" felt like what spectre work is supposed to be

also frankly i know the virmire survivor not following you in me2 is suuuuper unpopular among the type of fans who are active in large fandom servers (and especially among a specific brand of mshenko shipper, usually 40+yo women who brag about only making gay men ocs and are very yaoi brained despite thinking they're too good and woke to use the word yaoi) but it makes sense and it's a good reality check for shepard. shepard needs MORE people to tell them "dude what the fuck is wrong with you, no i absolutely won't help you" for working with cerberus actually

23. Unpopular character you love?

i suspect my brand gives me away here so pivoting away from the obvious, [gently tucks sparky and des into bed with a lil kiss]

honestly i actually. really enjoy balak. yes yes genocidal maniac yes he's evil and i enjoy fucking up his day but i dont like him in a "he did nothing wrong he deserves to live and join shepard uwu" kinda way, i like him for the alternate perspective on the batarians he presents, i like what he has to say and how he's kind of the only one putting forward the other side of the alliance-hegemony argument. yes he's doing it by pointing an asteroid at a planet and hitting it with a bat but that's bioware

like he makes a really solid fucking argument, we otherwise NEVER hear anything from the batarian perspective, it's all from the alliance's perspective and how meeeaaaan the hegemony are for attacking them for noooo reaaasoooon. when then you look at the galaxy map and oh the alliance is literally setting up shop not just on the hegemony's front lawn but practically inside the damn house. the batarians were already living in a lot of the space the alliance is trying to claim! they do have a right to defend their colonies! yes they do war crimes but so does the alliance, neither side is wholly innocent and pure (tho yes the guys who do slavery are definitely More Guilty) despite literally every other aspect of the narrative telling us the alliance are just innocent little babies who've never hurt anybody and everyone's so mean to them

unfortunately this perspective IS given to us by a genocidal maniac launching an asteroid at a large colony so we're primed to dismiss everything he says, and what he tells shepard is never discussed again or examined in any real way. because the original trilogy is ultimately still military propaganda and a power fantasy. and also every time i say "the batarians have a right to be upset actually" i get accused of supporting human trafficking and shit (not joking). so y'know. anyway balak does makes some points 2k25

[nuri148]

Fruits Basket's final thoughts

I finished the anime a few weeks ago, and after my previous posts on the matter I thougt I'd make a final one. Please note that I haven't read the manga, so it's not impossible that some of my objections could boil down to being an anime-only.

Good for Akito for her heel-face turn I guess, but I'm team Rin here. She's done too much shit to be forgiven.

At least she ends up with Shigure. They deserve each other. Funny how quick the dog went from hot to not in my book.

As much as I can't stand Ayame, I really loved how the first thing he does when he feels the curse breaking is go to Mine and confess her his love. That was wholesome af, and I appreciate that he didn't seem to feel the same level of loss over it than the rest of the zodiac. (funnily enough, he was my husband's fave)

I loved the Yuki/Maki resolution, how he manned up and kissed her right there on the train station square.

However, I was a bit disappointed with the conclusion (or lack thereof) of Momiji's arc. The hinting that he too had romantic feelings for Tohru seemed to come out of nowhere and adds nothing in terms of plot or stakes. Also he kind of fades into the background after his curse breaks. I was really, really hoping (expecting, even) for resolution with his sister.

The backstory of Kyo with Tohru’s mum… pfff Iet’s say I accept it bc of the genre, but it felt farfetched af, her fatidic last words contrived and shoehorned for the sake of drama (There was more than enough grounds for Kyo’s guilt about not helping her without that addition IMO). Plus, it doesn’t make much sense to me that a mum of a lonely girl has a secret putative lonely son and never introduces them? (or even tries to? Whatever happened to the universal parental custom to go “look, a kid like you, go make friends” whenever another brat is in your general vicinity?)

Likewise, the much awaited Kyoru kinda… fell flat to me for some reason. Like the chemical reaction that had been bubbling up for three seasons just died down and they went straight to plain old married couple or something.

Last but not least, the curse thing itself was quite muddy, at least to me. If all needed for it to end was Akito willing so, how/why did Kureno/Momiji/Hiro manage to break it? I’ll probably look into this one, but still… I felt like the build up didn’t quite pay off.

Oh well, my husband’s waifu Rin and my husbando Haru are still together and happy so all is well I gues.

[electronickingdomfox]

"Dreams of the Raven" review

Novel from 1987, by Carmen Carter. I'm afraid I don't have much good to say about this one. It failed to catch my attention, and even though the premise had potential, it was ultimately a wasted opportunity.

The titular "Ravens" are an interesting, terrifying new alien species, but they appear very briefly, and almost everything concerning them is resolved hastily in the last chapters (and largely off-screen). Also, some things are simply left hanging, like the fate of those assimilated by the Ravens. Thus, most of the novel deals with a crippled Enterprise trudging at impulse power to the nearest starbase, with barely any developments in-between.

The other major plot thread, that of McCoy losing all his memories from the last twenty-something years, could have been so much better too. He reverts to his personality as a young man, in his first year of medicine, and doesn't remember anything about his years in Starfleet. This would have been a perfect opportunity to re-examine his relationship with his career and close friends, but sadly there's zero development in that area. He's a stranger to them at the beginning, and still a stranger by the end, until he recovers all his memories suddenly in a pretty anticlimactic way, and again, off-screen. Instead of that, we're subjected to yet another insipid, useless romance with guest Dr. Dyson, who's treating his amnesia. The romance was predictable not because it makes much sense (shoehorned in the middle; in one scene they have a strictly doctor-patient relationship, and in the next they're dating or something). It's predictable because Dyson happens to be a woman, she's given a name, she's much younger than McCoy, and has more than five lines of dialogue. Extra cringe points, because Dyson knows perfectly well that, if McCoy were in his right mind, he'd never consent to such a relationship. Apart from this, the actual reason for McCoy's amnesia presents a petty, depressing portrayal of the character, with the implications that, deep down, he resents his whole life and his career in Starfleet. And I don't feel this was resolved very well at the end.

Spoilers under the cut:

The Enterprise is stationed at Wagner Trading Post, when they receive a distress call from a Frenii merchant ship, supposedly attacked by Klingons. Upon reaching the area, Kirk speaks with the captain of the disabled vessel, recognizing his voice. But just when he was sending several shuttles to aid them, the sensors register unusual life forms aboard the merchant ship. Sensing a trap, Kirk recalls the shuttles, but not quickly enough. The hijacked vessel crashes against the Enterprise before it can raise the shields, and the damage is catastrophic. As result, the ship is left without warp drive, and very limited power for shields and weapons. However, they manage to recover some fragments of corpses. The hostile aliens are of an unknown species: blue-skinned, with a beak, and a very unusual brain, completely divided in two lobes as if they could function independently. They name the creatures "Ravens", but can't learn much more from the few body pieces.

Meanwhile, McCoy receives some very distressing personal message, that he quickly burns (because he's still printing everything in paper in the 23rd century). He feels so agitated that he gets drunk. And during a routine gravity adjustment in the ship, he loses his balance and gets bonked in the head. Upon waking up, McCoy has lost his memories of the last twenty-five years, and absolutely hates the ship and the life choices of "old McCoy". He doesn't understand how he could ever join Starfleet, and just wants to go back to Earth, be a country doctor, and set his life right again. Neurologist Dr. Dyson examines his case, and determines that the amnesia isn't caused by any physical injury. McCoy has just repressed his memories to escape from something that he doesn't dare to face.

Later on, Spock, who was present during the accident, tries to reconstruct the chain of events to find the trigger for the amnesia. He finds the burnt pieces of paper, and checks all recent messages in the computer. It turns out that McCoy had received a letter from his ex-wife, telling him that she was about to re-marry, and this caused his psychological escape to the past. Now, let's examine for a moment all this info, and what it says about McCoy's personality in this book. Yes, there was always the implication in the series that he joined Starfleet after his divorce. But here, the story is that he also joined out of pure spite, and at some level, never really liked his career. There's also the fact that, after two decades of his divorce, he's still spiteful enough to resent his wife for (gasp!) marrying again!!... Ugh...

Meanwhile, the Enterprise limps back to Wagner Post at impulse power (an amazingly QUICK impulse power anyway, because it only takes them two weeks to reach it!). During the trip, they find a deserted Klingon vessel, which seems to have fallen prey to the Ravens as well. Kirk sends Sulu and a skeleton crew to man the Klingon ship, which comes along as an escort to protect the crippled Enterprise. Just in time, because they're attacked by more Ravens. Thanks to the cloaking device of the Klingon ship, Kirk manages to trick them this time, and the two ships destroy the attackers.

The recovered corpses look a bit different, but still seem to be Ravens; only these ones are green-skinned, and show a few physiological variations. Then, "young McCoy" decides to do something useful for a change, and remembers the crazy stories of one of the patients during his first hospital practice. The man raved about some aliens that had attacked his shuttle. They had beaks and a paralyzing poison, that they used to suck out the brains of their victims. After absorbing the brains, they gained the memories and personality of those assimilated, and could mimic their voices (well, too bad that, at this point, Kirk has already figured out most of this on his own, so it's not such useful info...). It's also suggested that McCoy's regression to the past wasn't just because he's an incel, but also because he was unconsciously trying to remember these stories about the Ravens (yeah, whatever...).

Now certain that Wagner Post has been overtaken by Ravens, Kirk organizes an assault. The Enterprise lures the stationed Raven ships away, while a landing party infiltrates the base. McCoy goes along the landing party, since his previous knowledge of the Ravens could resurface at a critical moment. The landing party discovers the queen of the Ravens, a giant blob of flesh that the aliens keep feeding with their victims. But soon they're captured by one of their leaders (the Raven who adopted the personality of the former Klingon commander). The aliens set apart the women (and McCoy), since they consider them too weak. Instead, one of the green Ravens eats the brain of a redshirt (as it's due), and experiments a metamorphosis: it becomes blue, and gains the knowledge of the crewman. After this, the leader turns his attention towards Spock... Just then, McCoy recovers another bit of knowledge, and attacks the Raven leader with an hypo, severing the link between its two brains. This causes the Klingon's personality to become dominant and free of the Raven's influence. And he decides to help the landing party by setting a bomb in the queen's chamber, sacrificing himself in the process.

The detonation kills the queen and severs her links with all the Raven victims, so they stop attacking the Enterprise. The problem is, the victims are still inside Raven bodies, so now what!? There's little said about them, other than in the aftermath, they've been sedated to prevent them from commiting suicide (...Hurray???). Spock, however, was partly caught in the explosion, and the current chief medical officer lacks the knowledge about Vulcan biology to perform a successful surgery. Kirk prompts McCoy to perform the surgery, in the hopes that his medical knowledge will come back when most needed. Sure enough, the Deus Ex Machina arrives (off-stage), and McCoy emerges from surgery with good news about Spock. He's his old self again, and all his memories as "young McCoy" from the last two weeks have been completely wiped. In a sense, he sacrificed the other McCoy to save Spock, and doesn't even remember his affair with Dyson. The latter, however, doesn't care too much, since she just wanted to bang McCoy while he was amnesiac, so her duty as neurologist is accomplished here. The End.

McSpirk Meter: 5/10*. Though it's mostly on Kirk's part, and seems rather unreciprocated. Kirk is going through an angsty trip ever since McCoy lost his memories of their friendship, and is kind of painful to watch. When McCoy complains about having turned into an old man all of a sudden (from his point of view, he was twenty years old a moment ago), Kirk compliments him saying it's "a good face". Later, he's jealous of Dr. Dyson, since she's receiving most of McCoy's attention. And at one point, he desperately begs McCoy to recover his memories, asking him to not leave him. Kirk is also the one to urge Spock to help McCoy, in the name of "friendship". Yet for all his efforts, Kirk receives little in return. Just a present from McCoy: an ornamental knife that Kirk was trying to buy at the starbase in the beginning. (You deserved better, Jim!) The Kirk/Spock angle is present in Kirk's frantic attempts to make McCoy save Spock's life, and his general hysteria upon seeing Spock in such a condition. As for Spock/McCoy, there's also a bit about the secret fondness that Spock feels for the doctor, which he won't dare to admit. As well as the implication that McCoy only recovered his old self when Spock's life was in danger.

This may seem quite a lot, but actually, this novel gave me a bit of "anti-slash" vibes. All the scenes between Kirk, Spock and McCoy, that could have had a great emotional impact, are cut short or diminished, in favor of scenes with Dr. Dyson. It almost seems like the author is using the amnesia trick to separate McCoy from the other two, so she can have her straight romance.

[daughterofheartshaven]

Thoughts on the dw target storybook?

Oh my Omega I love it so much. One of my favorite short story collections out there. I know you probably weren't expecting a full breakdown of my thoughts on each story, but here we go let's do that:

Gatecrashers: this is a very by-the-numbers Doctor Who short story. It's pretty good fun, but nothing too exiting.

Journey Out of Terror: More modern Who stories aren't usually this meta, and I really appreciate it for that.

Save Yourself: Terrance Dick's final contribution to Doctor Who, and, in my opinion, one of his best. It's a good season 6B story on its own right, but it also singlehandedly clears up pretty much all of the continuity problems of Season 6B which is a perfect legacy for the final story of one of the men who (for better or worse) was one of the defining writers of the show.

The Clean Air Act: basically forgettable

Punting: Probably my favorite story from the collection, and that's saying something. It has that whimsical energy of late Fourth Doctor, and tells a nice, contained story that ties in perfectly with The Five Doctors and feels like it's filling a gap.

The Dark River: I love Adric and Nyssa and this story does a great job with them both. This story really gets what makes both characters tick in a way that's kinda rare for Adric - which, given that its Mathew Waterhouse writing, makes perfect sense. Doc Ashberry is a really delightful character and I 100% believe he's a post-Time War Monk.

Interstitial Insecurity: Much like Waterhouse, Colin Baker is really good at understanding his character. Adds a lot of flavor to Trial of a Time Lord, and I deeply appreciated the Big Finish references. Also the concept of disabled Time Lords is something that needs more exploration.

The Slyther of Shoreditch: This one feels a little more shoehorned than the other stories set within preexisting tv stories, but it still integrates itself into Remembrance of the Daleks well enough and feels like a worthy extension.

We Can't Stop What's Coming: Fitz and Anji finally back for a story!? I haven't read the EDAs but even I know how big a deal that is. Also the actual plot of it is interesting too.

Decoy: Not the most exciting thing ever shown with the War Doctor, although its use of the Nestene Consciousness is really interesting and pretty cool.

Grounded: Ehhhh. Its a good story starring a character I don't care about.

The Turning of the Tide: I really like how they establish Corin as a character in his own right, in a way I've not seen anywhere else. Also, "I am exactly like those other humans. And one of them down there I care very much about and - you have to know - she has a child coming. Which means I will fight like a human, tooth and nail, to my dying breath, to protect them," is one of those really raw lines that will always stay with me. I... honestly am not a big fan of anything else in this story, but Corin is well-written enough to sell me on it completely.

Citation Needed: The only story from the collection I dislike. It's not like, objectively bad, but it doesn't do it for me

Pain Management: Good story but not one I'm personally into.

Letters from the Front: A nice poignant prequal to Demons of the Punjab

[khaotungsfirst]

khaotungsfirst’s 2023 BL recap

Alright, I know I'm late but it’s the time of the year again where I post my favorite BLs of the year even though no one cares about my opinion lmao. Buckle up cause this is gonna be long...

Top Thai BLs

I Feel You Linger In The Air

What a breath of fresh air this was! Not only was the romance top-notch, I was also really invested in the plot and what was happening to other characters. The wlw sideplot felt natural and not shoehorned in and was what we all deserved. I'm just so happy to have experienced this masterpiece!!

Only Friends

Came for SandRay, stayed for BostonNick (and SandRay). Though it had its ups and downs I can't help but love it. There was so much messy drama that I was LIVING for every single week and experiencing that along with the rest of BL tumblr was the best thing. We desperately need more shows like this in the BL world.

Laws of Attraction

Ridiculous SFX could not deter me from loving this show. It's dramatic, it's over the top and it's ridiculous at times but it's crime so of course I liked it. Bonus points for cutting from the villain being killed in prison straight to the main couple's wedding. We love to see it!

Top Korean BLs

Our Dating Sim

This was my last watch of the year when I was looking for something that I could squeeze in without many expectations. How could I have guessed that it would turn out to be my favorite Korean BL of the year? Though the story is nothing new or groundbreaking, I enjoyed the main actors chemistry so so much. Korean BLs, to me, often feel a little stiff but they managed to make it feel so real and easy, I loved it.

The Eighth Sense

Oh, this was something else... High quality cinematography and high-quality story-telling. In the end I went into it with expectations that were too high to meet but still, such a touching BL that will definitely move you (maybe even to tears).

Why R U? (KR)

A show held together by three pieces of duct tape but enjoyable nonetheless. I don't think it's comparable to its Thai original. Yes, the plot is more or less the same but you gotta see it as its own thing. I do love me a panicked gay/confident gay pairing so it already had me from there. And let's talk about the kisses cause !!!

Top Japanese BLs

Tokyo in April is…

Friends to lovers my beloved!!! The PINING, the ACHING, the YEARNING! YEARS OF IT!! How can I not love it? Yes, this was a bit of a heavier BL but it was done SO WELL and the payoff from all the trauma was so satisfying.

My Personal Weatherman

What can I say? Japan just knows how to do it. In any other show the miscommunication between the mains would be annoying as hell. But the chemistry between these two was just off the charts. Nothing more to say.

I Cannot Reach You

Friends to lovers my beloved!!! the sequel. This time less traumatising but just as sweet and moving. A cute and innocent watch.

Top Taiwanese BLs

Kiseki: Dear to Me

The way I IMMEDIATELY knew ChenAi were gonna be my new hyperfixation as soon as I saw them in episode 1... They just have that je ne sais quoi, that special 'make me fall to the floor and bite my fist' quality to them. BZY and FZR also had their insane moments and in combination with everything that ChenAi were doing this show just hit the right spot. Can't wait to rewatch it.

Stay by My Side

Was it ridiculous? Yes. Was it cute tho? Also yes. Nothing I would rewatch but it did make me laugh a lot so there's that.

Top Chinese “BL”

Stay With Me

It’s not like we have much of a selection regarding Chinese BLs (cries in when will Eternal Faith, Immortaily and Winner is King be released from the dungeons?) but HOLY SHIT did they deliver with this one. I didn't know this was specifially made for international release when I went into it so I was in for a few surprises here and there. And I'm gonna say it: it's better than Addicted Heroin. The way their love story developed just has me screaming internally I LOVE THEM SO MUCHHHHH!!!

Top 3 overall

Kiseki: Dear to Me

Stay With Me

I Feel You Linger In The Air

Top pre-2023 BLs (that I watched in 2023)

The Eclipse (2022)

Can you believe that I only just joined the FirstKhao nation this year? I completely skipped this show last year NOT KNOWING what a masterpiece I missed out on. Finally a highschool BL with a capital P Plot! And the enemies to lovers was so so good!!! AkkAyan you will always be famous!

Love Mechanics (2022)

I'm not a fan of cheating stories at all but DEAR GOD these two!!! It's the YinWar magic that pulled me in and will never let me go. The constant back and forth did get a bit annoying at some point but I won't complain when we also got things like the shower scene...

Roommates of Poongduck 304 (2022)

Can ZB1 disband faster so Jiwoong can return to BL acting please? I jest, I jest... kinda. I loved the relationship dynamic in this one so much because they both held power over the other (and both were petty bitches about it lmao).

My Gear and Your Gown (2020)

The girls that get it get it, the girls that don't don't :) Falling for MarcPawin during Dangerous Romance and THEN realising that they're the mains for this show immediately put it on top of my watchlist and I'm not ashamed to say I liked it. It's very 2020 but sometimes that's all you need.

Favorite currently airing BLs

I did not want to consider these for the final rankings because they’re still airing and could theoretically still pull a Game of Thrones S7 on us but I have really high hopes for them.

Cherry Magic

HELLO???!?!? I LOVE ACHI SO F U CK ING MUCHHHH!!! And the way Karan is in love with him so gently and so deeply I- AAAAAHHHHHH. This is gonna be my new obsession I can feel it!!

Last Twilight

At first I didn't even plan on watching this because I didn't think JimmySea were a pairing I would enjoy (Vice Versa has been on hold for over a year lol). But GODDAMN did they prove me wrong! So soft, so precious... P'Aof you did it again!

The Sign

What a hodgepodge of genres... One second you're chasing a murderer, the next you're having sex fantasies about your coworker and then you're having visions about your past life with your soulmate (who is also said coworker). Love it!

Most disappointing BLs

Be Mine Superstar

I was so excited for a new JaFirst series as I really enjoyed Don't Say No, and Remember Me didn't quite quench my thirst. But this... if this was a BL then why did we spend SO MUCH TIME on the beef between the agents?? Shit was annoying af. Moreover, I really could not deal with Ja's character. I know a lot of people liked his innocent puppy-like behaviour but it was just too much for me. The only redeemable thing was the side pairing but even that turned into a hot mess quite quickly. Had to drop this at some point after I started watching it on 1.5 speed and realized that I'm torturing myself.

Low Frequency

Exciting concept but stiff acting and a plot that dragged on. Dropped halfway through.

Bon Appetit

It's not bad but just straight up boring. I finished it but it didn't leave any lasting impressions. I know you can do better, Korea...

Most anticipated QLs of 2024

Vampire Project (BOUNPREM VAMPIRE BL!!! I CAN DIE HAPPY ONCE THIS IS FINALLY ON MY SCREEN)

Jack & Joker (War finally getting his villain role let's fucking goooo)

IFYLITA Season 2 (PLEASE GOD MAKE IT HAPPEN P L E A S E also special ep WHEN????)

Spare Me Your Mercy (i will always be a slut for crime BLs)

23.5 Degrees (give it to us!!! LET US INNNN!!!)

My Love Mix-Up TH (istg if gmmtv doesn't learn from this whole cherry magic debacle...)

Eyes on you (even more spy/mafia/crime BL yes and thank you!)

Uranus 2324 (the production?? the story?? the cinematography??? I need it NOW)

Red Peafowl (this is either gonna be really bad or really good and I'm curious to see which one it's gonna be)

(I had Stay With Me S2 on this list until it was announced as cancelled on Jan 1st 😭😭 I wil never recover)

2023 Superlatives

Most iconic intro: Only Friends (long live First's thighs)

Quickest drop: Middleman’s Love (i was rooting for you Jade!)

Best supporting character: Tin's grandma - Laws of Attraction (sweetest lil supportive grandma who didn't deserve any of this)

Best Worst character: Jaewon's girlfriend - The Eighth Sense (I think this is the only bitchy ex-gf of the entire year and I'm glad about it)

Best side pairing: ChenAi - Kiseki: Dear to Me (do they even count as a side pairing anymore? If not then I'd go with GuyNawa - Dangerous Romance)

Best could have been if the writers wanted us to: NameSaifah - Dangerous Romance (no it was NOT enough!)

Biggest green flag: Win - Between Us (asking for consent is so sexyyy) / Yai - IFYLITA (he's the softest, most caring boy who's so so in love)

Biggest red flag (affectionate): Hira - Utsukushii Kare (my boy highkey needs therapy but Kiyoi wouldn't want it any other way so we'll let it slide) / Lom - Wedding Plan (the way he went about things was... questionable but I understand his reasoning behind it so I can't hate him)

Biggest red flag (derogatory): Boeing - Only Friends (bro just wanted to fuck with - literally and metaphorically - every and anyone and I respect that but dude...)

Most iconic kiss: Lee Won/Ji Oh - Why R U? KR (this was so fucking unexpected but they ate and left absolutely no crumbs)

Most iconic makeout scene: YangJai - Love in Translation (IN A GROCERY STORE?? FINGERS IN MOUTH??!)

Most iconic sex scene: TopBoston - Only Friends (oohhh the DRAMA of it all… truly gagged everyone with this)

Best unhinged horny scene: Jom - IFYLITA (I will never be able to look at massage oil without thinking about this...)

Best gays on a bike scene: Stay With Me (like… facing each other…. grinning at each other.... give me a minute)

Newest addition to the poor lil meow meow collection: Ai Di - Kiseki: Dear to Me (my feral murder kitten I LOVE YOU SO MUUUUUUCHHH)

And there we have it! What a year it's been... I can't wait for 2024 to be just as wonderful, unhinged, crazy and amazing. If you've read until this point I wanna thank you for enduring all that and also for supporting me and my edits throughout this year. Whether we're moots or not I truly appreciate every single person that interacts with me on this hellsite 🫶❤️

[csolarstorm]

The Secret Invasion Finale, The Bloated MCU, and the Hollywood Strikes

Well, that was the minimum Marvel could have done to close out "Secret Invasion". Because it was a short episode. A short episode ending a short series. But at least the stage is set for Captain America: Brave New World. I mean, The Marvels. Oh, also Armor Wars. And MI-13, I guess?

Why is everything in the MCU setup now?! C'mon Marvel, finish the arc in front of you before you start a new one! You still haven't started Young Avengers after introducing like a dozen potential members!

Sonya Falsworth finally got her moment. She turned out to be...more setup for a future project! *looks it up* MI-13? British Avengers? Why, Marvel Studios?

Should've known. Valentina cameo'd in two projects and played a "role" in Wakanda Forever, and she's still a blank slate. At least Falsworth had a fun scene where she tortured a guy. Wait.

Is the MCU horrible? I mean, like, ethically.

Marvel Studios did a big disservice to this series. This show had a few of the best written scenes in the MCU, and I doubt that these same writers wanted to write scenes like General "I like dogs better" Gravik blaming Fury for making him kill humans, or Fury simply asking Vaara to "take him back" without any explanation after the heartbreaking finality of their shootout in Beloved.

The whole premise of the Skrulls blaming Fury for abandoning them for SABER never worked, because SABER is a space station. Where Fury works with more Skrulls. A breakdown in communication here does not make any sense. This plotline where Fury apparently avoided Talos and the Skrulls counsel makes no sense.

What makes more sense is that Fury and the Skrulls were working for each other's best interests on SABER, and that's how he found out that the Kree were open to peace talks. This show doesn't mesh with the arc it's supposed to continue.

The MCU opted to humanize Skrulls. They wanted to avoid the trope of the sinister bodysnatcher because of its roots in the Red Scare and antisemitism.

The problem is, they also wanted a Secret Invasion project, so they needed to have their cake and eat it too. This show is at it's best when it's completely ignoring the bodysnatcher plot and instead talking with confused, grieving refugees who just want to live as themselves. The writers didn't want to do a bodysnatcher plot. They avoided or discounted almost every convention of the genre. The only instance of a Skrull replacing a main character came at the cost of the characterization of the Skrull themselves.

Honestly, the show should have been about Fury and Rhodey (the real one) falling victim to paranoia, causing them to fear the Skrulls and each other. Just like that Twilight episode where a blackout turns a whole neighborhood against each other. Make it a show about the dangers of xenophobia and how it can destroy friendships and alliances.

There are tons of great alternative pitches for the show like this, but when it came down to it, Marvel Studios clearly wanted a specific story with clear villains and most importantly, an Avenger replaced with a Skrull like in the comics. And I think they cut up what was probably a perfectly good script to make it fit the formula.

Marvel Studios does not have it together. Disney does not have it together. The big studios do not have it together. This show is a perfect example of why we need to support the Writers and Actors strikes. The creative talent should not have to pay for the management blunders of the streaming wars. Support the writers, the actors, and especially the effects teams, even though they're not unionized and can't strike, which is a whole other ethical issue. Support the WGA and the SAG-AFTRA strikes!

The MCU wasn't ready for a Secret Invasion plotline. Marvel Studios wasn't invested in adapting the actual comic. But they still shoehorned it in there for more content, inevitably making headaches for their writers, their effects artists, and probably their actors too. And the intro used AI.

You used to be cool, Marvel Studios.

[ten-thousand-year-elegy]

Lorepost: Chapter Eight, “Hateno Village”

By popular reader request, TTYE lore posts are companion pieces for each chapter of the story breaking down all of the Legend of Zelda lore and references made in each chapter, for readers looking to learn more about LoZ or just refresh their knowledge. This chapter contains explanations for: Secret Tunnel 🎶, Purah and the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab, Force Theory, and The Weird Guy in the Alley Who Buys Bugs.

Secret Tunnel 🎵

Yes, I confess…I invented a tunnel through the Nirvata Plateau. We’ve established that the group (except Eri) are not proficient climbers - a decision I made because it’s more fun to have them walk around rather than just taking shortcuts. In this one case I made an exception and gave them a shortcut because I didn’t want them to have to backtrack all the way through the Promenade. The lion face is where they fought the Lynel, and the arrow is the tunnel I invented - it slopes upwards, so they end up on top of the plateau and thus have to paraglide down. (UPDATED TO ADD: Ha! Ha! Tears of the Kingdom came out and there are CAVES EVERYWHERE. I feel irrationally validated.)

Purah and the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab

Purah is Impa’s sister and the director of the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab, which is devoted to studying ancient Sheikah technology. Purah and her research assistant, Symin, are particularly focused on studying the Sheikah Slate. (Her colleague Robbie in Northern Hyrule studies Guardians.) Since Purah and Zelda are the top two experts in Sheikah tech, Eri had thought that maybe one or both of them could help Kaiba build another dimensional domain emulator to get everyone back home. That, of course, doesn’t pan out - but Purah is able to supply them with a new Sheikah Slate.

Why is Purah an eight-year-old girl, while her sister Impa is well over a century old? Basically, Purah discovered an anti-aging rune and…decided to test it on herself, as any good scientist does. It worked a little too well. This is how you encounter her in the game, which is why Eri isn’t surprised by her age.

Force Theory

“Well, the only problem with Force Theory is that we don’t exactly understand how Force manifests or why it seems to stick to some people,” Purah was explaining to Kaiba. “Just after the Calamity was defeated, Princess Zelda was able to power a dead Guardian just by being near it, but that ability has subsided over time. We don’t know why. Link can still do it sometimes, and none of the rest of us have been able to manage it at all.”

“Well, hasn’t the Princess’ sacred sealing magic also faded?” Eri said absently, not looking up from the little metal spring she was fiddling with. “While the Master Sword’s is still intact?”

Purah stared at her. “What?”

Eri looked up. “Um…I mean…it makes sense for Force to be related to the sacred sealing power, doesn’t it? If you think about all of the evil-repelling swords throughout history that have been Force-powered, then you can extend the same logic to the Master Sword if you look at the Sacred Flames as a manifestation of Force.”

“You,” Purah instructed. “Over here, with us.”

The Force Theory is a 100% fan-cooked-up theory that I happen to love, so I’m shoehorning it in. It’s a long and very well-thought out treatise on the source of all magic in Zelda games. If you’re a Zelda geek I highly recommend reading the original post, but understanding Force Theory is in no way something that will enhance your understanding of the story in Ten Thousand Year Elegy. It’s just a fun little throwaway bit I put in there to amuse myself.

The Weird Guy In The Alley Who Buys Bugs

This guy is under the impression that gathering a lot of crickets will be a good gift for the object of his affections. He’s so, so wrong. Eri knows this and relentlessly exploits him for money anyways.