#and idk the entire plot is just really funny imo

[anotherpapercut]

I know several people who like LOVE seasons 5-7 (11th doctors run) and think the storylines and moffats writing are brilliant and I don't get it!!! what am I missing??? why does literally every single episode have the exact same stakes: Rory/Amy/the doctor is dead. forever. so dead. but wait!!! what if they aren't!!! why do so many of the explanations for why they're not actually dead feel so rushed like they were added at the last minute!! why does every single queer character act kind of weird and awkward about being queer!! why does the doctor casually say that women are inferior when no one's around!!! what the fuck!! hello!!!

[steveharrington]

major hornets nest moment here but i must speak my truth. its so fascinating to me how will byers was clearly written with the driving motivation and intention of making him a beloved fan favorite character and instead he falls so flat that, if you asked the average casual viewer of the show who doesn't engage in the fandom like, say, your coworker, the odds of him even being in their top five of favorite characters is pretty low.

will's disappearance kicks off the plot, singlehandedly. the first episode is literally called the vanishing of will byers. his name is shouted so much in the first season that most people would recognize the reference if you used the right cadence and desperation that winona ryder does. after not being featured much in season one, you'd think season two would've just like launched will/noah schnapp into stardom with how much more screentime he's given and how dramatic his plot is that season. but instead the fan favorites of season 2 were by and large el, hopper, dustin, steve, max, even bob who's barely there. that's not to say that there AREN'T will fans out there (and online i understand there are like entire armies dedicated to him/byler, but i'm talking about the average opinion of viewers as a whole, not just in fandom spaces) but think about all the stranger things merch you see in stores, the halloween costumes, the characters that appear in promotional materials when the show has partnerships with brands....will is so rarely featured. idk if any of yall ever got the chance to visit the stranger things pop up shop in any of its various locations, but there was such little mention of will in the stores theming or merchandise that it was almost funny. actually it WAS funny, to me, someone who does not care for him

i think the flop can be attributed to many things. one, noah schnapp is just not a very good actor and he doesn't have the same appeal in his performances that millie, sadie, caleb, gaten, priah, or finn do (although finn i've noticed is also kinda falling out of favor from majority audiences). one could argue that noah schnapp intentionally isn't given much to do, which is true and i'll circle back to that, but the decline in his acting between seasons 2 and 3 is truly a sight to behold. when he's not like tied up and screaming, he reallllllly struggles on the smaller scale performances compared to the other cast members his age. he doesn't really have the charm that gaten does or the humor that priah does or the depth that caleb does. (i don’t feel bad about saying this, btw, given noah schnapp’s behavior)

back to the vanishing of will byer's screen time. my beloved prettymuchit's eric striffler commented on how diminished will and mike's roles in the story have become in s4. "noah schnapp is below the grips on the call sheet" is my fav line, but he also makes an observation on finn's role that i think is soooo accurate. when mike and will are kneeling down next to the pizza dough freezer and watching el just kinda twitch while she fights vecna in her mind, eric and his co-host miles say "this is so embarrassing! finn's like, 'oh so gaten's fighting the monster? and i'm kneeling next to a tub at a pizza place? i used to be this show" and i think the same exact sentiment can be superimposed onto will

but i think this happened naturally, as the nature of the show is to shift its focus from character to character. not to mention the duffer brothers' obsession with tweaking their story to give audiences what they want. i've always held the belief that there isn't one main character of stranger things, rather a rotating circle of characters depending on the season you're watching. season one is mike, season two is hopper, season three is el, season four is max imo. again that's a little subjective and arguments could be made to swap those a little, but overall i think those characters stories and point of views take center stage during each of their respective seasons. by season 3, the duffers wanted to kick things up to a larger scale. the UD is no longer targeting just will, it's targeting the entire town. this works because a THIRD season in a row where this one kid specifically gets possessed would just be bonkers, so they kinda had to let him take a backseat. i'm not sure why they didn't let will be more involved in the mystery-solving portion of season 3....to this day that decision baffles me, but what's done is done and the will that everyone watched in season 3 literally just kinda follows everyone around and gets a small little slice of a plotline about wanting things to go back to normal, but alas

it like totally worked, though. though there are MANY complaints commonly made about season 3, i've never heard anyone offline complain that there wasn't enough will byers. i think the group in s3 that had the most success like, commercially, would be scoops troop and then a bit farther back i think most audiences enjoyed hopper/joyce/murray's dynamic. i think if there had been a huge outcry in the minimizing of will's role, the duffers would've backpedaled immediately. they aim to please. they can't even commit to killing of a main character out of fear that audiences will lose interest if we permanently lose hopper or max, so they just do some creative writing that allows them to milk the emotional consequence of those characters deaths without actually writing them off. if audiences on a large scale demanded that will be center stage, he would be. but they dont!

final point: i think will gets fucked over by the duffers obsession with romance. in season one, two of will's strongest dynamics are with his mom and brother. which like, yeah. theyre his immediately family and he is 12. but in seasons 2 and 3, jonathan spent all his screen time with nancy and from 2-4, joyce has spent all her screen time either with hopper or in the pursuit of finding hopper. these characters are written together as a package deal, typically. it was refreshing and unexpected to see jonathan get a whole season with a friend of his very own and his siblings, but they barely took advantage of that. jonathan and will get ummmm one (1) scene to talk about their emotions in a fucking 20 hour season. it's hard for will to be a main character when he rarely gets to interact with the people that make up the other half of his main dynamics.

as for byler, im of the belief that it will not be endgame because i just don't think they're going to break up mike and el at this point. i could be completely wrong and stand corrected, but im like 90% sure lol. i do think that will's s4 storyline resonated with a lot of people. even eric striffler! i think the issue is that the vastttt majority of people who watch this show above the age of like 15 do not feel invested about the romantic relationships between any of the kids. because why would they!!! theyre literally in middle school for 3/4 of the show. you would be hard pressed to find a vocal will stan online who doesn't also dedicate 90% of their engagement with the show to byler. which makes sense, because most if not all of will's scenes revolve around mike to some degree. but according to neilsen, the majority of stranger things audience is consistently in the 18-49 age range season by season. its more likely for adult audiences to identify with adults (or characters who are narratively treated like adults, like steve and nancy) than with any of the kids. esp when the kid in question, despite being written as the focal point of the show, has less relevant plotlines, less interaction with other characters, and an actor who just doesn't deliver on charm the way his fellow younger costars do

[dyssonant-skyline]

What happened with helluva boss season 2? I decided to pick it up and watch it since its free and I was curious about how the sins were handled. (This is a stream of consciousness rant, but I needed to get it all out.)

I thought the first season was okay, with some episodes being stronger than others, but holy shit it really is the Stolas show now. Striker is doing more assassin work than them. I actually got my hopes up for a mystery plus assassination plot in unhappy campers, shouldn't expect shit around here though.

I don't think I can say anything that hasn't already been said about Stolas. I don't like him. If his relationship with Blitzo was less coercive or less sexual I think I'd like him more? It is impossible to empathize with a guy who is using his power to force someone into sex.

I also felt a bit weird that the show would put something sexual in front of a child character and that was the entire joke.

Like, that's an audience of teens watching Millie and Moxie make out and I assume fuck. Gross, but also just not funny? I don't remember if these are the only instances of it, but two is still two too many imo.

I know I said I wasn't going to comment on vivziepop as a person, but knowing how she treats her staff... its impossible to not conflate her with Mammon. 2 Minute Notice feels like an anthem for her overworked underpaid staff.

I also have opinions on the way a circus and clowns are portrayed in the hellaverse, but I don't think I can really put them into words. I have a friend who is fixated on clowns and clown trivia and idk. After talking to them about different types of clowns most clown characters just ring hollow to me. Especially the fish twins, I don't care what anyone tells me they were NOT clowns.

I don't think I'll incorporate anything from helluva boss into my rewrite, Hellbound Hostel. But I did like a couple of things a lot!!!

Fizz is a pretty cool design and has a palette that is loud while also being appealing. If I ever drew non redesign fanart for these series it would be of him. I think it helps that the majority of his features tie to his backstory in some way. That being said, I'm not crazy about his relationship with Ozzie.

The little metal rings and filigree around angelic weapons is a neat design choice. Good visual storytelling and all.

That's about it... orz If anyone wants to talk abt it with me my askbox is open.

[rosyfingered-moon]

2023 drama roundup

Unchained Love: I still hum the unhinged flute intro on a regular basis, easily my fave intro of 2023! I didn't actually finish the show due to dwindling interest, but for the first 14 episodes or so I took a keen pleasure in it (and it made me go on a eunuch webnovel spree, expertly curated by @mercipourleslivres). I love it when heroines are allowed to be truly funny, rather than just quirky or ditzy. Also appreciate the goofy Lamp Prince turning into a brutal incel tyrant the moment he got power.

Six Flying Dragons: I don't think I can write anything succinct enough for the roundup format so I direct you to my "my sfd tag" if you want to access my enthused livetweeting. Show of all times, lives were changed.

Tree with Deep Roots: I literally can't think of a better topic for a tv show than Sejong the Great constructing hangul together with his band of nerds, one of whom he has a weirdly intense, vaguely erotic relationship with. Han Suk-kyu carried this entire show on his trembling shoulders. What an actor! What range!!! It was such a treat to watch him smugly debate his ministers, roleplay a farmer, and hiss half-mad soliloquies to himself in the dark. It took nuance and depth to portray the kind of inner conflicts and generational trauma that Sejong battles in the background of this drama. To be honest I didn't always enjoy the Milbon subplot which I felt got repetitive, and often found myself wanting to fast-forward the wuxia scenes. In a better world the show would have centered the whip-smart palace maids and their alphabet workshops. But I will definitely rewatch this soon. And maybe also write a fix-it where Sejong and Soo-yi fuck idk.

Quartet: Cute little murder mystery about a found family of freaks, liked it a lot.

My Country: The New Age: As entertaining as ever. Very fun to rewatch this back to back with Tree with Deep Roots, since Jang Hyuk plays diametrically opposite characters with the same vigor and commitment.

Gone with the Rain: Sometimes you watch something which you understand is technically a masterpiece but it doesn't do anything for you, and sometimes you watch a piece of campy silly fun and it makes you tingle with joy. This was the latter category for me. I liked the first and middle parts enough to make up for the lukewarm fizzle of an ending.

The Autumn Ballad: Has some fucked up elements that are difficult to stomach, but the parts that are good are really good.

Not Others: Bingeable! But imo they could have cut out the stalker/murder cases and just focused on the excellent family drama.

The Matchmakers: This surprisingly swooped in towards the end of the year as my favorite comedy of 2023, all thanks to a rec by @haraxvati. I adore Cho Yi-hyun in this role!!! She is so hot as a shrewd matchmaker with a fake mole and a twinkle in her eye. Love the virgin prince with his yearning-induced panic attacks (Rowoon didn't work for me in The King's Affection in a quite similar role, but he's so much weirder and lamer here, which is something I like in a man). I am obsessed with the side plot of the crossdressing romance novelist and the solemn police officer who is trying to capture her and ends up giving her free home renovations and smouldering looks instead. Also, Park Ji-Young and Lee Hae-Young are two of my favorite villain actors on their own, and here they are married!! Still have a few episodes to go, but I intend to binge them as soon as I post this.

Dramas I dropped or paused:

Our Blossoming Youth: I shipped the heroine and her cute maidservant a little too much to bear the dull prince they stuck her with. But I might rewatch it some day bc I want to write a Sherlock Holmes fic for the girls.

Little Women: A real disappointment, because I love Louisa May Alcott and I love Jeong Seo-kyeong. Once again, letting the women kiss might have solved much of it.

Island: Casting Kim Nam-gil as an expressionless cool-guy action hero offends me personally. (Yes Song of the Bandits I'm giving you the stinky eye also.) But Lee Da-hee and Cha Eun-woo were delightful!

See you in my 19th life: I couldn't, even for my most darling Shin Hye-sun, go beyond episode 1. There's something about a kid dating another kid even though she's a literal adult inside her brain that I can't really vibe with.

My Dearest: I do intend to finish this, but I lost the thread after the first half. It got a little too dark for me I think.

[eddiegettingshot]

I fell IN LOVE with bucktommy after 7x4, but honestly i think i just got kinda swept up in the excitement of bi buck and just generally falling in love with lou, because now it’s been a few eps with them together and…..i don’t really like them together…

Like i wanted them together so much, and now they are, i think it’s just…meh. They just made tommy into a really boring character? I can’t stand when LIs are boring. Ali, natalia, ana, marisol, and now tommy? Give me taylor ANY DAY over any of them! (Abby i honestly can’t comment on bcs i watched s1 before i was in the fandom and i genuinely thought that that whole storyline was gonna be about abby ending up stalking buck and ruining his life and i was so on the edge watching that entire season that i don’t think i can actually make a proper judgement of what their relationship actually was lmao i’m dubm)

I just don’t understand why this show has such a hard time making LIs have personalities?? I’m never gonna root for them if they’re boring, period.

Idk, maybe they’ll make him a little more fun in coming eps, but rn i just really miss buddie. Like the pendulum swung back so hard after bucktommy canon and just hit me right in the face, and now i want buddie canon more than i’ve literally ever wanted it before lmao

oh anon i get the sense that a lot of people are in your shoes right now lol. tommy is getting the plot device love interest treatment for sure which is weird because, again, he didn't need to. like yeah the scene at the end might demonstrate him putting some amount of effort in for buck but the actual reason he showed up at all from a plot standpoint was so buck could come out.

it's interesting because i think after 7x04, we all (me included) expected him to be something more than this, which is why there was so much speculation about his role in the chimney story... and then he wasn't involved even a little bit. what's also funny is that i actually do think that after taylor, abby, and shannon, tommy probably does have the most backstory and personality (not saying much considering the marisol of it all) - he has the potential to be compelling. i actually do like canon tommy i'm not joking about that (even though imo he comes across as consistently kinda dismissive of buck).

but the personality we're being shown is... not really melding well with buck's, specifically? or, i guess i should say that it's not really being developed in service of their relationship? so i really cannot tell if i'm supposed to root for them because from here it looks like tommy's around to drive buck's self-discovery story, at the very least. and now he's not going to be in the next couple of episodes so? i'm curious to see if they're going to make his presence known in any way.

[kingprinceleo]

BET YOU DIDN'T EXPECT ME SO SOON

I did the dessert vampires playlist first since it was the shortest!

Stampede- very good interplay with the characters. Gives the vibe of I respect you but we fundamentally disagree on some big issues. Would be fun to play in the background of like a joint operation scheme? like they've gone undercover at a fancy party and this is them working together during it

Vulture- this is such a Shadow backstory song like- i don't know exactly what happens with GUN and Maria in this au but THIS is the song you play to express his feelings. The first verse at least low-key also sounds like Knuckles during or immediately post transformation to Rouge. He's very angy

Welcome to the Circus- a jaunty little tune. bar/saloon coded, probably plays wherever Amy works i think?

Recommend songs for this playlist: Desperado by Rhianna and maybe the entire Anti album based on vibes alone.

Blood Like Lemonade- strong vibes

Trouble Valerie Broussard- more Rouge centric i think

For other playlists:

Like a Vampire Catrien Maxwell, for vamp au Sonic

A Little Wicked - im thinking of Rouge for it but if it fits a different character i wouldn't be surprised

Little Girl Gone Chinchilla - very vamp au Shadow coded imo

Eve Precious Pepala- Shadow coded

All up in your mind- feels like Shadow thinking about Sonic's effect on him in vamp au

Hope these are good and have a nice timezone 🫶🏽. I go to sleep now

~🩸🎵

welcome back fhbghbjfdfdg !!

This playlist is a little more tough to explain bc i havent shared the major plotpoint that changes the whole title of the au fjgfjghf, but ill get there eventually !! Stampede- idrk know how to explain this one beyond its just Them, their conflicts their compromises, how the two are trying to work together in the situation theyre in, big time agree on the respect with huge disagreements tho, thats one of their major sticking points Vulture- RAHHHHHHH THIS IS IS KNUCKLES @ SHADOW !!!!! the entire time its knuckles rage and defiance !!! and im slamming my head into a wall so fucking hard i prommy it makes so much sense when i share the plot Welcome to the circus- its a rouge @ knuckles song ! like i said the subject itself is kinda weak but it hits on some of their core dynamic pieces --- Desperado- this one i could see being very rouge @ shadow but its a bit too forward and honest ! rouge would defo more take the angle of "im following you bc ur hopeless without me <3" Blood Like Lemonade- strong vibes on its own but doesnt particularly fit with anyone at least right now, i might come back to it after fleshing more people out (also i am sadly biased against songs that are kinda slow sob. i need that constant stimulation music {i almost didnt include vulture in the playlist bc of its speed but it was just too accurate and picks up with some heavy hitting stuff near the end}) Trouble- very correct w the rouge part !! defo eying this one up in consideration

---

Like a Vampire- defo not vampire au sonic , it actually lines up more with desert vampires rouge (i adore the singers voice btw omg) idk if its going in any of the au playlists but it sure is going in mine ! dfhhdfhg A little wicked- shrug tbh ! i see it for rouge but it feels like its missing something, her spunk, her 4kids saxaphone (im assuming if you dont specify an au you just mean for the canon gamers !) Little Girl Gone- THIS IS SO VAMPIRE AU SHADOWCORE LITTLE UNHINGED BASTARD !!! the blood on my teeth line caught my attention....and then the screaming part sold me HDSHDHF hes sooo silly <333

Eve- im so sorry im really biased against love songs so i dont see it personally !! esp not for shadow </3 All up in your mind- eeh there are a few lines there that work, but overall just misses slightly. big fan of the idea that shadows just making up all those lines tho and sonics never said any of it, thats funny fdgjfjdgfg i feel bad for not enjoying all of them wahh, but i am just really picky tbh,,, its gotta bounce the braincell right... but i appreciate the suggestions sm!!!! tyyy!! have a good sleep !!!

[domokunrainbowkinz]

back by unpopular demand: me, with my manhwa posting :)

titles discussed:

the pawn' revenge (18+)

sign (18+)

dawn of the dragon (18+)

cold blooded beast / in cold love (18+, idk why manta and lezhin translated it differently...sidenote I prefer the manta tl, it was more smoothly translated imo)

necromancer survival

red limit (18+)

frenemies: thicker than blood (18+)

dead man's switch (18+)

in the doghouse (18+)

4 week lovers (18+ on lezhin, 15+ on manta)

the pawn's revenge (18+) - i love you crime thrillers i love you damaged manipulative protagonists and i love you ride-or-die ML's who will do anything for love. it's a pretty gritty story about being sold off as a prostitute to the red light district, and what you would do to escape that situation, even if that means teaming up with a kidnapper/serial killer to claw your way to the top. ofc it does develop beyond that, and especially in s3 i am really interested to see how je-oh will go against hee-seo, as well as how he's gonna go about addressing the fact he genuinely loves and cares about seong-rok, despite his better judgment. idk man i just really love je-oh as a character, i want to study him under a microscope. i'm always biased towards manipulative characters who are a little fucked in the head <3 i really liked this one, but i would proceed with caution because there is non-con/dub-con in this one (not between the MC and ML except for 1 instance in s3).

sign (18+) - god this shit was so cute i wanted to explode. it's a pretty low-stakes, feel-good, fluffy read with some pretty good smut. it's about a guy who works part-time at a cafe owned by a deaf person, and their relationship is so OUGH..........god they're so cute, they are so down bad for each other and at the very end i thought to myself "damnb...maybe love IS real.......". i'm not deaf so i can't fully speak on how well the story represents deaf people, but just from an outsider's perspective it doesn't feel like the story treated him as an object of pity nor does it erase his disability, and he also has a lot of agency with regards to his decisions, so he's definintly not depicted as helpless. i do want to say that the plot does dry up a bit in s3 and it mainly focuses on the side couple (which unfortunately i wasn't super interested in), but other than that i HIGHLY recommend this if you're looking for a light read!! i have this bookmarked as a comfort read and it's also one of my faves for now <3

dawn of the dragon (18+) - i'm always a sucker for reincarnation stories and clingy ML's, so this one got me hook line and sinker. the dragon ML is so cute, i want to tuck him in and give him some hot choccy <3 the MC is also such a funny asshole, and his relationship with the ML is such a delight to read. one thing i do wanna say tho is they used the amnesia plot device twice???? once for the ML and another time for the MC, which made me go "ok......but why......???" like idk i don't think it was necessary to give the MC amnesia, it almost just felt like an excuse to go back to the chasing phase rather than have them in an established relationship. just my opinion though eheh 🤪

cold blooded beast / in cold love (18+) - not sure why manta and lezhin translated the title differently, but i will say right now that i think the manta tl is better. for some reason the lezhin tl localized a lot of terms (they changed "imugi" to "basilisk" and "yeoju" to "magic stone (????)") which confused me like just add a tl note, i PROMISE it's not gonna kill you to keep the original terms. it's another reincarnation story involving dragons and tragic pasts and amnesia, and the ML has 2 (two) dicks babey!!!!!!!!!!! i did finish the entire story through a fan tl, and overall it's a pretty standard supernatural romance, i honestly have no strong feelings about this one.

necromancer survival - i read this one a while back and totally forgot about it....anyways i have a BONE to pick with this one, i've seen so many people rave about it but i ended up not liking it and i'm so mad about that!!!!!!!! on the surface it seems like something i'd like, but the way it was executed just made me go "meh.....", and i think a lot of that stems from me just straight up not liking the MC (i know these types of MC's are supposed to elicit a "protect him uwu" instinct from readers but instead he made me go "grow a spine!!!! fight back!!! FIGHT BACK!!!!!!!!!" anyways he made me want to tear my hair out) and the only reason i even finished all the available chapters is because of the ML and his undead squad. a lot of people did say the novel is better and more explicit with the horror and romance, but as of right now i don't think i will read the novel, since again, most of my dislike stems from the way the MC was written. also i felt like the romance just came outta nowhere, like the ML treats the MC like shit and then suddenly develops feelings out of nowhere 🥴

red limit (18+) - i ALSO have a bone to pick with this one, like it could've been so good but then the author had to throw in some UNNECESSARY BULLSHIT in the last 5 chapters that soured the entire ending and side stories for me i was so mad!!!!!!!! like you didn't have to do allat 😭 everything before that was just so beautifully depicted and written, with the way they slowly show the relationship deepening, the way the level of intimacy increases with each interaction, the insecurity, the careful breaking down of walls AUGH....but then for SOME REASON they threw in some half-assed, forced misunderstanding at the end that made me go "HELLO???? WHY???????" i'm so bitter >:( going back to positives though, the art in this is so unique. the use of a grayscale palette with splashes of red is so striking, and i LOVED the use of full colour in certain panels to signify where the MC is at emotionally. i do think this is still a good read, but you'll just have to ignore the Bullshit at the end.

frenemies: thicker than blood (18+) - OUUUGH this one slapped!!!!!!!!! a childhood rivals-to-lovers murim story that i absolutely blasted through, the MC and ML's relationship is so ouuuuuuuuughhhh like they are each others' ride or die. i thought the plot was also quite interesting as well, since we get to see the power struggle within the murim society, and at its core, the entire plot is really a revenge story. i really liked this one as a wuxia danmei enjoyer, so i think other danmei fans would enjoy this one as well!!! i have this bookmarked as a comfort read, and it's also one of my faves now <3

dead man's switch (18+) - a zombie apocalypse BL manhwa!!!!! it's about a university campus overrun with zombies, and the MC and ML are trying to survive and escape to get help. at first glance the ML is a total psycho and seems to be abnormally obsessed with the MC, but at the end of S1 you find out why, though there are hints dropped throughout the first season that make you guess (unfortunately i was spoiled by a summary i saw online 😔 but it didn't take away from the enjoyment). i think fans of zombie media would like this one, it does play out a lot like a zombie movie (humans dividing into groups, hoarding food, survival of the fittest etc), so it feels pretty familiar.

in the doghouse (18+) - i'm gonna be real i'm just reading this to see how freaky the FL and ML are gonna get. the ML is a total masochistic sub looking for his sadist dom, and i am excited to see the FL finally become the femdom of his dreams. besides that though, i do love how the FL is written, the struggles she goes through with her parasitic family really make her feel disempowered and you can FEEL her frustration through the panels. anyways i'm rooting for you courtney become the femdom of richard's dreams babygirl <3

4 week lovers (18+) - i'm actually baffled there's a 15+ version that omits the sex scenes bc babey that's like 90% of the story. gonna be real here and say i don't know if the 15+ version is worth reading, because I think the sex scenes are probably the best part about this manhwa lol. i do like the relationship and they do have a lot of cute moments, but there's not really a plot besides in the first season where they get together at the end, after that it's just them developing their relationship and having nasty borderline-kinky sex. that's not to say there's no depth to the characters though, the MC's backstory is very sad and explains a lot about his behaviour, and his issues don't magically disappear once he and the ML enter a relationship. i'm still continuing with this one though because i do want to see how far they go with regards to the MC and ML's obsession with each other, and also i want to see how freaky they will get :)

[jackwolfes]

Love your Bridgeton AU so much it’s convinced me to get into the source material lol. Do you recommend the books or series? I’ve heard good and bad things about both

honestly the entire franchise is both fantastic and garbage (which adds to why it's fantastic IMO). like it is the epitome of "i said i liked it, not that it was good"

the show can be very fun "turn your brain off" telly - it's tropey bullshit and not really trying to be anything else, so i think that people you'll be disappointed if you go into it expecting high art or scathing social commentary or anything other than wish fullfilment for millenial straight women. season 2 is as close as it gets to "good", the spin off series (queen charlotte) is pretty solid, season 1 is mostly fun but cringey in places (and worth a look at the trigger warnings), and season 3 is just generally badly written.

and re the books - the ones ive read are genuinely quite funny?? like the charm and humour is really there, but you also kind of need a high threshold for very tacky erotica and odd plot points re: childbirth and pregnancy (and bees)

idk my general thesis is that netflix does Not make good TV shows but theyre fuckin compelling ?? anyway im glad you like my fic 😊

[ichorandpride]

do you hate marika?

I don't hate any video game characters, tbh, because imo the point of fiction is to understand nuance and how the characters got to where they are. aka yknow. listening to the fucking plot

Unfortunately imo, internet culture has created a festering black and white mentality where everything has to be either Evil or Good (and that in and of itself can be completely discoursed which is so funny to watch, as in you can have the most obnoxiously sweet Good character but people will still find ways to twist them into something Evil)

take Miquella for example. i see discourse all the time about how Miquella is Actually Evil and like yeah i can see those points and agree with some of them. but i can also agree with a lot of the points that Miquella is kinda just doing his own thing, and is doing anything he can to be able to get there. he's kinda morally grey imo which a lot of people hate and can't agree with because, again, everything has to be black and white. it's literally just that he's doing anything he can to see his goals come to fruition

on the same note, Queen Marika is quite morally grey as well when you consider it. has she done bad things? yes of course. i mean it's a fromsoft game, everyone has done bad things to further their own agenda. but in the end, she instigated the Shattering despite being the very symbol of the elden ring, in a way destroying the entire order she ruled over. most of the other details can be a bit fuzzy since, yknow, it's a fromsoft game but ironically that's kinda the entire point. it's for us to form our own opinions and theories. personally i like this theory a lot, and the dlc solidified a lot of points from it

mind you there's really only really two characters that i kill on sight after doing the quests or encountering them and that's Dung Eater (for obvious reasons) and Shabriri (i just disliked his voice, though it does speak a lot for his VA's skill to be able to make him so off-putting that he's marked as a kill on sight character to many who first encounter him. that and Shabriri is a genocide joe so his death is kinda valid iauwbhaubauhb)

idk im rambling but no i neither love nor hate the majority of characters in any games. a lot of them can be understood which is the entire point of storytelling. to be able to form theories, opinions, and not categorize shit into black and white. except Dung Eater. he's aptly named and is definitely in the Very Bad category. like i get his intentions but man the way he goes about it is..... yikes

[capnhanbers]

hi!! i love your writing and your art work and i was wondering if you could give out some advice. how do you write effective personalities and relationships? i have a comic in the works but no idea how to actually fit my characters into the mold.

aw what thank u jeez :)

hmm well that's a huge topic i guess! characters are the absolute top priority in a story imo (and relationships are a subcategory of characters). good characters will make everything else work, so focus more on them than plot/world/setting. you shouldn't try to fit them into a mold, you should let everything grow out from them, or like, um, like they're the mold....?. my brain's kinda disorganized right now so i'll just throw out pointers that're specific to how i write uhhhh

i'm a huge believer in "write what you know," but i think it gets misconstrued a lot. it doesn't mean to only write topics that you have experienced irl, it means like...this fictional situation makes the characters angry. YOU have experienced anger, so what does tHAT feel like? you know what it's like to get rained on, what it's like to be excited about something, what it's like to be scared of another person, what it's like to be bored or lost or sad, etc etc etc. you know a lot of things. you gotta take your life experiences and make a reduction to pour over your fiction.

(write what you know also encapsulates "all my OCs have inherited some trait from me, the creator." this is a good thing when it comes to making believable characters, but don't just pick from yourself. take traits from people you know, or strangers you see, or other characters you like.)

another big one when first creating characters: don't over make them. get a guy, give him a few traits, a speech pattern, a fear, and a motivation. you don't need to have the entire history of his life planned out, you don't need to fill out a questionnaire of every single preference and interest. give yourself room to fill in those blanks within the story, it's way more rewarding.

dialogue is everything. so much character development will happen in dialogue. the main thing i always ask, "could i imagine saying this or having this said to me irl?" which helps you avoid the Everyone Talks Like They're Monologuing trap. obviously ppl aren't gonna talk to me about magic irl, but would they pause before saying something difficult? would they stammer? would they make a joke there, would the other person laugh?

then like i said, relationships are just another part of characterization. lmao as i'm writing this it's funny but. i have no idea how to explain writing a romantic relationship lOL i don't really think about it i just enter a Cute Fugue-state and black out. i DO, however, LOVE Thinking about how i've written contentious relationships >:) i only have one hyper specific tip. if you have two characters at odds, GIVE THEM SOMETHING IN COMMON!!!!!!!!! i.e. naya and chara. they both like to sing. cannot begin to gush over how interesting it makes a dynamic, fun tools to help you later galore.

idk if any of this makes sense. make them feel real idk idk

[kiddokori]

but you're so right about everything with totk. you put it in words so well 😭 idk if you found memory 9, so i won't spoil anything, but it was SO GOOFY look up gmod smile after you watch it and explode instantly. loftwings would've made the game infinity better, like skeleehorses can go over gloom (such a silly name btw) and horses are always great, but there's nothing to ride in the sky??? missed oppurtunity imo. i basically play with no tech becuase i hate using it 😔 i have much to say on this game and sadly most of it around the plot isn't thatg nice

SKELEHORSES CAN GO OVER GLOOM??????

but no yeah i dont enjoy the tech lol. i think modern tech in fantasy is a slippery slope from “woah cool its so interesting how this fantastical society developed things we never couldve thought of” to “this isnt even fantasy its just sci-fi with medieval paint slapped over it” thats what botw vs. totk is to me. we went from giant magical mechs and tech that felt more like sentient creatures to a straight up four wheeler. also its just clunky. to me. vexes me.

i am playing it very slowly for several reasons so im not far im only two memories in (trying to do them in order) lol but im not impressed by the writing either again ive only beat the rito “dungeon” idk what to call it. it was fine. really felt like they just tried to replicate the divine beasts but it didnt work. the weird disembodied voice felt forced in totk its just this random exposition guy that felt like he was just there for the sake of mimicking the structure of the champions talking to you where in botw that makes sense because they’re important characters that you learn more about and play a role in the story and also they literally died and their souls were trapped in their beasts. and totk was like ah shit ah fuck we gotta have another disembodied voice throw this guy in there and have him lore drop on you. who is he. who cares.

and then the divine beasts were like interesting involved puzzles there was one i thiiiink the camel you literally had to turn entire parts of it to line up electrical signals to get places and unlock things it was a little frustrating but i had to think about it!! same with the elephant you had to control the entire mechanism to move things and you had to Think about it. the rito ship was just go find these things. ok the divine beasts were also that with the terminals but you had to work for it. totk really just went go walk around for awhile and find them. no real puzzle to it. there was a little bit with the doors/levers but it did not feel nearly as involved or thought through.

i will say i did like the boss fight the ice guy. cool guy. looked cool baller music neat new little thing you had to do to beat it i liked it. that was cool i will give them that they know how to get me pumped for a boss fight

ok but the cutscene with zelda near the beginning was goofy as hell. just straight up like woaaaahh she floated into the sky thats crazy!!! whaaat!!!!! felt extremely silly. i was sitting there like is this a gag is this supposed to be funny i cannot tell. very much threw me off. could not take seriously

also. fucking. got rid of her again. if they wanted to have the same success of botw maybe they should’ve gee idk changed the formula again and let zelda be with us. a two player zelda game would be so cool. even if it was still single player and we could just interact with her and have her with us im thinking kindof last of us/resident evil 4 style where she helps you do certain puzzles or helps you fight like other npcs. even if she just stayed at the base and helped purah with research and you could talk to her thatd be more interesting. GIVE HER TO ME!!

the intro really just felt like oh we have to get rid of zelda again because we need link to be alone so we can copy botw uhhhhh magic rock teleports her to the past yeah yeah that works. they decided they needed this to happen and then made a story to excuse those choices rather than actually construct something cohesive.

im not even halfway through the game so i dont wanna be tooo hard on it or form strong opinions but id rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointment after getting my hopes up. i havent been spoiled for anything but i have seen people complain in general so im kinda leaning towards disappointment lol. like its zelda im still having fun i just also am looking at it from a critcal point of view and i have plenty to say. i used this as an excuse to talk for a looong time anyways. im currently working on getting specific horse colors that i preplaned by looking at this horse chart to name after characters from a book i like ✌️ i didnt pay 70 dollars to not have any fun with this game so help me god i am going to enjoy Some of it

[cursezoroark]

playing desolation, and by the time I post this I will have Caught up to Desolation! This is my own opinion and review on the game! For the record I've only played Rejuv and now Desolation of the entire series. In terms of pokemon fangames i have played ep 1 of Flux , Gaia, and Unbound. Disclaimer and TLDR: the game is Very good as I expected I had fun :] . The devs worked their ass off and the fact this game is free and has this much shown effort is so awesome. when ep 7 comes out i Will be reviewing once again. It wont be for more than a year though given the recent dev update. either way!

Pros:

I love the spritework sort of thing for the dialogue, when important characters come on. It's very pretty!

the credits system is gen p interesting. motivator for getting exclusive pokemon and items and even the capsules + mints, which imo is much better than the AP system that was in rejuv. its more easier to achieve and more incentive.

also HELL YEAH sidequests! I loved the tidbits of main lore u get from certain ones, and certain choices. Inch resting!

The difficulty still makes me work Hard to think but doesn't kill me with a bajillion reset and planning so that's all fair and good 👍 the only one I had to rlly drive home for was Jarred. Jesus fucking Christ. i had valerie flashbacks from rejuv but its worse cause it was a DOUBLE BATTLE.

the SPARKLES. lifesaver for me who loves the shiny sprite reworks in this game. i have a beautiful shiny greninja, umbreon, hydreigon, and vikavolt. Vikavolt is my favorite shiny i love whoever reworked that. Jade is so so pretty :]

the music is KILLER. Vs Shiv and Vs Nova is Good. Very Good. honestly the ost choices here rock. one of the best ost selections i enjoyed it very much.

interesting story! I can sort of peel bits of it off and it'll probably come back later to haunt me. Act 3 REALLY ramps up stuff so it did sweep a good amount of confusion I’ve had since the beginning. Act 3 was great. I miss Tristan. Nova's character is Great when it reaches a certain plot point.

I love the rangers bases, and the sidequest lore does build up nicely on the side. its starting to interfere with the main story too which hmmmmmmm hm hm hm. i will wonder about that.

Criticisms/ personal nitpicks:

i mentioned this above but i wish the ui for sidequests was a bit more clear. Like location wise, where to go, and all that. Icons above characters would rlly help me distinguish things.also PLEASE add flashing settings and shaking sets automatically to the options board pls pls pls.

I hope there will be more featured fields in the future. I did mention this was the more lax difficulty ive been through involving fields, and i watched playthroughs of reborn and played rejuv myself. (idk if theres more games with the field system but do let me know its literally one of my fav things). Like it went from oh God to oh ok to hmm to Oh God like a cycle. Though I think that’s just on my team balancing rlly

Please..... more TM versatility. While it does allow me to get creative with my team choices, it also limits what I can actually do. My TM pool is so low and i want to get creative so bad :']]]. The TM shop at Sunshell was a huge improvement though. very stingy though at lvl 65-70s though.

i Do Not like the maps for specifically silver forest and blackview. Its either very cluttering and makes me walk in Direct Circles, or leaves me very lost when im searching for a specific area. I do get the "open area" aspect of Silver mountain though, and it was easier once I got all the bridges down but still yk? but i literally couldn't find the move relearner Anywhere in blackview. it took me forever.

I wish i had more time to spend with some of the characters (Scarlett particularly) so i could rlly grow attached. I do understand that these are mostly main plot points blasting off from each other, but i just wish I could have had more interactions with the characters? More funny dialogue, more MC options to talk and affect relationship values, yk? I do anticipate an arc for a particular someone coming up though. so we'll see. the plot did do a rlly good job at the ceilia leaders though I adore All of them.

some of the language i winced at. idk if its just me so ill leave this one in the air. i dont know how to feel because im muddled.

In a way, because the plot blasts off one another, the room for me to acknowledge the changes in characters or their relationship between each other was a bit small. Like Connor and Scarlett, I think I only got like two cutscenes or tidbits of their entire growing friendship, so it didn't rlly hit me when The Scene Happened. Either way I do like themboth thumbs up.

SPOILERS THOUGHTS DO NOT READ IF U HAVENT PLAYED OR DO NOT WANT TO KNOW:

I ADORE Cecilia’s leaders. I’ve seen complaints how we seem to be Stuck There for some time and. Yeah I can sorta agree with that. Despite being Rlly Huge it also makes me Yearn for the Routes yk? either I love them all I Adore them dearly. Garrett is my favorite he got to me. Reeve and Rosetta and Aaron are all so very charming in their dynamics and gym leader squabbles.

Waldenhall is a Great Character in his introduction holy shit what an impact this guy had. also artem's sprite made me laugh so hard because their (idk their gender) portrait is just staring straight at the camera whats up w that.

Conclusion:

Should you play this game? YES. its quality is amazing, the artwork is insane, the gameplay is so good for pokemon fans who enjoy a good challenge, and want to get into some existential crises. In general, this series is So Far the easiest in the reborn deso rejuv trio. but it doesn't by far make it bad, or a cakewalk for players. Have a good ol time with it. My criticisms are my own nitpicks, but i rlly admire how much effort devs put into their fangames, by semblance of story, custom art, custom maps, etc. appreciate them lots and lots more. This game in particular weighs your choices a lot more, so you rlly have to snoop around for a particular result that you want. all in all lots of good fun!

Hope to review this again in Ep 7! and here's a goodbye from my Current Team :]

[squish--squash]

Thanks for answering my ask......If you don't mind me asking (again), what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

lol hello again, ty for asking me this! I promise I'll give you more than 7 answers this time lol

Tian Guan Ci Fu/tgcf (book series, donghua) - I stumbled upon this randomly back in 2021 through its brand new donghua and I've loved it ever since. I adore the characters and the plot is both extremely complex and absolutely wild. it's roughly 750,000 words but I was able to read it in a week despite having school because I was so invested in it!

Moriarty the Patriot/mtp (manga, anime)- I think this is funny bc I tried watching bbc sherlock once and did NOT like it, so I just thought I wasn't into the sherlock holmes stuff. WRONG! I just had to discover this. I call this the "best sherlock holmes adaptation" for a reason (check my current pinned post, you'll find many reasons why I love mtp; I don't want to sound like a broken record so I don't plan to repeat them). I can't wait for when (or if) the manga comes out of its break/hiatus

Good Omens (book, show) - both the book and the miniseries/show are so near and dear to my heart. I always have a soft spot for watching supernatural entities fall in love (with each other and) the world around them. also, it's funny as hell

Promare (movie) - goooood I love Promare it's so neat; love the colors and the shapes and the plot is fun despite its simplicity. I could rewatch this movie every day for a month straight and not get tired of it

Arc of a Scythe trilogy (book series) - this is not something I've talked about a love, but this is one of my favorite book series! found it back around the same time I did tgcf; it's fucking insane I loooove the worldbuilding and the main cast, and by the second book every other page was like a plot twist gutting me in the best way possible; it's made me ponder about life and death on more than one occasion too

Matched trilogy (book series) - I started reading this in either 5th/6th grade but didn't really get it so I kinda forgot about it until around 2021-2022 (what? I actually had time to READ that year!) and managed to reread it and it was like a third eye opened. I really enjoyed the mystery unfolding in the trilogy! it's pretty cool imo, even tho I think (?) it was meant for teenagers to read

Not So Shoujo Love Story (webcomic) - this webcomic is so fucking funny AND it's wlw! I've been a fan for years it's so good

Bee and Puppycat/Bee and Puppycat: Lazy in Space (show) - a comfort show of mine (one of many); I'm in love with the atmosphere of the show and how awkwardly real the dialogue tends to be (plus I've been slowly rewatching it with my gf with is always a plus <3); I love both the og and its "reboot" equally, and would recommend people watch both

Snow White with the Red Hair (anime) - I haven't read the manga for this one, but I've seen the anime and it's another comfort show of mine. It's so sweet and cozy and the entire cast is lovable; even the "bad guy" in the first season is someone you grow to root for by the end of the second season. it's great!

Supernatural (show) - even tho I haven't finished the show and idk when/if I ever will, I still consider it a favorite media of mine. not bc I think it's great (it's good in most places, lacking in other), but bc I pretty much grew up with it. I have a core memory of watching the first handful of episodes when I was younger with my dad on the couch with the first time and being hooked on this strange show about supernatural creatures (I was that kid that enjoyed the supernatural! I read ghost story books, I binged every Goosebumps book I could get my hands on in fourth grade, I had a creepypasta phase, etc); even now in 2024 I've been sitting down with my dad to rewatch it with him before I go back to my college dorm and start back up classes. it's less so one of my favorite medias because I think it's good but because I associate it with my family <3

[pumpkinpie59]

Hi again!!

Here’s a question for you! If you had to pick, what would your top five episodes be from both the 1987 and 2012 series? 😃

Thanks again, and have a nice evening! 😁

hi!

this was kinda hard lol. i love so many episodes in both shows but here’s my answer right now:

1987

5. the big cufflink caper

this one was an immediate favorite. it’s fun, silly, and clever. each turtle has their time to shine. the plot is so ridiculous but i found myself intrigued by the steps taken to solve the mystery. it’s great

4. take me to your leader

i love the concept of the other 3 turtles trying to lead in leonardo’s absence. it really shows why leonardo is so needed in the team, while showing why the other turtles have other roles. raphael doesn’t want to lead but can ground the team and is most likely to see things as they are, donatello is competent beyond belief but doesn’t have the focus needed to be leader, and michelangelo has the kindness and talent to lead but is ultimately too short sighted. it’s leonardo’s drive and ambition and confidence that make him a good leader and him needing to find that again and see that his brothers need him is such an interesting premise, and the episode is great at the execution imo.

3. four musketurtles

leonardo gets hyperfixated on a book, bonks his head, and wakes up believing his is the main character. it’s just so funny and cam clarke’s british accent reminds me of liquid snake which i find hilarious. idk it’s just fun.

2. beware the lotus

lotus is my favorite character beside leonardo so of course this was gonna be on the top five lol. i love lotus and leonardo’s dynamic, and i just love lotus as a character. even if we don’t get to explore lotus’ character very much, the episode does a great job establishing lotus’ abilities: her combat prowess, her smarts, her wit, and even her self respect. and the fact that she can defeat shredder so easily … mwah i love it.

1. farewell lotus blossom

hehe now here’s the episode where we explore lotus’ character more. she’s insecure about not fitting in or having a family/clan. and the fact that she feels comfortable around leonardo enough to cry and laugh and tease like AHSKAHAK PLEASE I LOVE THEM. the whole onion scene is my favorite scene in the show. i just wish we could’ve seen how she dealt with her new life without the spirit within her. and more leolotus obviously. the one thing that bothers me about the episode is that shredder and his group don’t show up after chakahachi takes the role of villain. they just leave and we don’t see them for the rest of the episode lol.

some special mentions bc this show is great:

teenagers from dimension x

the maltese hamster

green with jealousy

raphael meets his match

donatello’s degree

leonardo versus tempestra

splinter vanishes

unidentified flying leonardo

turtles on the orient express

i’ve only seen the first 4 seasons and the europe side season tho so i’ll have more opinions once i finish it lol.

2012

5. the insecta trifecta

i think this episode explores raph’a trauma and fear really well, and it is by far the height of the later seasons (ngl i am a season 1 fan lol). i love raph’s interactions with splinter so much. it shows how much raph has grown since season 1, and splinter’s counsel reflects it. instead of teaching raph as an angry child, he teaching him as a struggling almost-adult. he’s patient and understanding with him, and raph is more respectful and is able to try and talk through his struggles more easily. i love it. also i have a horrible sense of humor and the ant french kiss scene sends me into hysterics every time lmao.

4. in dreams

hehe i’m a sucker for worst fears/nightmare type episodes. also the ANIMATION IS SO COOL IN THIS EPISODE??? AND CASEY SAVES THE DAY??? AND APRIL IS SO WORRIED ABOUT THEM THE ENTIRE TIME???? man i love it. i love most of the farmhouse arc but this one is so good x3

3. parasitica

i’m not even a mikey fan and i have a huge fear of insects, especially wasps. so i legit have no idea why i love this one as much as i do. but the plot is so … small? compared to the other episodes. a majority of it is just in the lair, and the turtles are the only characters other than the wasps. and it works so well. the story flows great and you feel the urgency of the situation. also mikey banging his head into the table so he doesn’t pass out is funny to me idk. also. ALL HAIL THE BEAN … why wasn’t april there tho? she was living with them during this time lol

2. monkey brains

this episode is the best donatello episode idc. not only is it the start of april and donnie becoming best friends (before then it was super awkward lol and april wasn’t quite used to him yet), but also it shows donnie’s flaws, strengths, and insecurities so clearly. i wish later episodes were this good at exploring his character. it’s like they hit his magnum opus way too early lmao and didn’t know where to go afterwards. he over-thinks. with fighting. with hanging out with april. and with his insecurities … doesn’t think april will just say yes to hanging out so he has to come up with an excuse of some sort … takes a lot of issue with the word “monstrosity” (thinks he’s a monster and doesn’t like to be reminded) … and i haven’t forgotten about april. this episode marks the first major glimpse of her powers. and when splinter first offers her training. LIKE IDK I JUST ADORE THIS EPISODE.

1. fungus humungous

is it wrong to have criticisms of my fav episode? xD i love leo’s fear, and april’s, and i do believe that donnie’s is appropriate (to some extent), but the others aren’t explored very well imo. and i wish mikey’s was the parasitica wasps instead of the stupid squirrelanoids smh. but i genuinely enjoy watching this episode on repeat lol. idk what to say rlly. it’s just interesting to me.

and some honorable mentions

i think his name is baxter stockman

never say xever

panic in the sewers

new girl in town

enemy of my enemy

karai’s vendetta

operation breakout

slash and destroy

the invasion

buried secrets

race with the demon

eyes of the chimera

the fourfold trap

the arena of carnage

the war for dimension x

mutant gangland (messy execution; fun premise)

tokka vs the world

when worlds collide

it’s easier for me to think about seasons as a whole rather than just episodes tho lol

season 1 is good from beginning to end. some episodes are better than others, but it all flows rlly well imo. also top tier comedic timing and i personally love the quick movements and quirky speaking animation.

season 2 has rlly good highs but boring lows? it does have the strength of flowing well tho. individual episodes aren’t easy for me to like (other than fungus humungous, slash and destroy, and the invasion), but there are good scenes throughout the season.

season 3 starts out super strong (with the exception of bigfoot episode and frog episode). i love the farmhouse arc so much. but then the rest of the season feels aimless and messy. i don’t rlly like the brain worm thing. they didn’t want karai to be a good guy yet so they drew out the villain karai thing way too long. i like the finale but there’s very little buildup.

season 4 should have been two seasons. the space arc is pretty fun, but a lot of the episodes had weird pacing and i wish there was more imo? like you have so many things you could do with a space arc but didn’t explore them. and then the last half was … meh. it could’ve been its own season to explore the arcs more. let april’s possession be more drawn out and a bigger issue, let don vizioso have more of an impact (especially for donnie), let splinter’s death be better written smh. also i hate the finale lmao

okay so … tbh i haven’t finished rewatching season 5 lmao. so i don’t remember lone rat and cubs, the usagi arc, the monster arc, the apocalypse arc, and the crossover arc very well. i’m rewatching the show with my sister tho so i’ll get there soon lol. but i really dislike the kavaxas arc?? it’s so useless imo?? why is tiger claw leading a cult?? and why are they resurrecting shredder when he already killed splinter which was his entire life goal?? and donnie had such a small murder problem THAT SHOULDVE HAD MORE IMPACT??? ugh. i like when worlds collide tho ajskahsk top tier. hehe ramona and apritello brain go brrr.

anyway sorry for my weird rant lol. thanks for the ask ^^

[strooples]

Just some rambles:

So basically, I finished the entire first season. I don’t have much to add accept that I like dissecting the first season the most.

For the manga, I’m on the part Daichi starts to appear but my ADHD brain can’t handle much at once so I took a break on it to focus on the anime. It’s been neat though, and it honestly reminds me of PokeSpe’s beginnings a bit!!

I found a thread discussing Beyblade Rising though, and am absolutely FASCINATED by the events — new things, critiques both good and bad, our old characters re-appearing. On the thread, they linked Takao Aoki’s official website with the promotional art… I can’t stress enough how much I love love love seeing cute art of the characters in the manga style!!! Aaaaaa

(( Let me just insert more fangirling over the cute promotional art of our characters! ))

For G-Rev, some parts are super super blurry in my mind (or I flat-out dunno what happens) bc I referenced a lot of what other Bakuten Shoot fans mentioned of events that caught my interest + watched episodes according to events and battles I like. So I have the basic outlines: Stuff like the tag-team style tournaments, BEGA with antagonists like Brooklyn, Garland, Ming Ming etc., how our main team split up, Hiro’s appearance, nerfed characters (the White Tigers, Tala etc.), big battles (mainly ones where Kai or Tyson are involved), and so on.

I look forward to watching G-Rev thoroughly in chronological order though, but getting through V-Force has been tough.

Which brings me to V-Force!!

I think a lot of criticism on it is a bit exaggerated, as it can be enjoyable too. But I can understand how story-wise, it’s seen as the weakest of all 3 seasons. It’s not bad to me, per say. It’s just super super slow where I’m at. I’m struggling to get myself motivated enough to get through it. Which I don’t fully blame, as the anime writers had to come up with filler or decrease the pace of things so the manga could catch up. It just feels like plot progression is much much slower than the 1st season.

Also watching Hilary/Hiromi and Tyson/Takao bicker feels like hell :/. It’s super repetitive ahahah. Also IDK if it’s just the dub being wonky, but Tyson’s personality isn’t pleasant for the most part (the whole issue with the “world champion” fame getting to his head). But IK the English dub made Tyson super arrogant versus sub Takao who has moments of humility and kindness, so again, it could just be a dub issue.

I admittedly wasn’t a huge huge fan of Hilary’s introduction, and she doesn’t add a lot to the story. She seemed in comparison pretty chill though in G-Rev! Maybe a character that mellows out later on?

G-Rev has my favorite art style of the 3 seasons, and fits the series in the best IMO. But I dissent with the common opinion here on the V-Force art style bc I think the characters look really cute! I do agree though that they were drawn to look too young.

Also the dub changes/censorship in this season sucks. I’ve heard from sub watchers on key lines we miss out on and saw on YouTube funny scenes they cut. The 1st season’s dub could be hilarious and goofy (err, hilariously goofy) but the V-Force dub cuts out so many funny scenes.

On key lines, there’s moments like when Kai gets out of the butler’s car driving him to his dorm. In the sub, they briefly mention his father (which is a curious question since it’s a wonder what the anime version of Susumu is like??). And the butler guy basically goes ‘You shouldn’t be so cold to your dad. You barely said anything to him’ — which indicates Kai’s relationship to his dad is rocky in the anime too. But in the dub they change it to the butler asking him about his Dranzer blade not being in the luggage. And ofc, the change in event when Wyatt goes mad instead of the kids who Team Psychic are involved with dying, and Kai living with the guilt of his friend’s death.

But I do find some of the attempts to censor kinda hilarious. Like in Episode 15, where they send out Jerry (IDK the sub name???) to test out the cyber bit beast. Now basically it explodes and the kids die, so the Team Psychic lackies in black suits rush out, grab the kid, and drive away. It’s obvious Jerry dies but the dub adds the lines “Are you okay kid?” “I think so” as they carry him limply. The censorship cover up there was so bad it was a bit funny.

Also, obligatory Max appreciation from the episode I’m on! ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶

Just because he’s so adorable! And bc I’ve been thinking how he’s super under-appreciated compared to Takao, Kai, and Rei T~T. He’s got to be my favorite after Kai ngl.

That is all.

[circesoracle]

Would genuinely love to know your outlook on ME 1-3 as a writer. What did you think of the ending? Any theories on Liara? If you’re still keeping up with the announcements, that is

(I don't know what you mean by as a writer because my brain is small and smooth, but! nonetheless)

ME1 is a game of all time for me irt story, it does what a lot of first entries in a franchise (and ME3) fail to do which is utilize a macguffin in a way that doesn't feel like a let down or cheapen the story up until the point it's revealed to be nothing but a driver for the plot. it's a satisfying story that relies on predictability in its genre to its benefit, particularly in terms of characters. Saren is such a classic almost cartoon villain, very Skeletor, very Hordak, your typical world (galactic) domination sort, that Sovereign really *hits* when you get to it. it's by far my favourite of the trilogy in terms of narrative, but that's personal preference for what it evokes and the tropes at play and sort of high (but within reasonable comprehension) stakes.

2 is a bit of a funny one for me. I really like 2. I also think it causes a lot of problems in terms of character and world building. it's also trying so hard to be hard and edgy and sexy without a hint of self-awareness, which I find idk unappealing. it's kind of sexless and overly sanitized, but they swear a lot and Miranda ass shots so it's definitely totally cool right? fourteen-year-old-boy-who-calls-his-mother-a-bitch-for-making-him-do-laundry type of cool imo. all the same I do really enjoy it, it has a lot of stuff I love, a lot of stuff that i think served the series really well, and I do love LotS as a DLC (both in terms of DLC for ME and just DLC in general)

ME3 is like. so nearly it but isn't. and not just because of the endings but like. the macguffin in 1, the beacons, is utilized almost perfectly. the crucible and catalyst in 3 are some of the worst uses of it i've ever encountered, and having these intangible, vague things doesn't help the sort of impossible to comprehend stakes of it by the end. we *can not* as players actually comprehend, quantify, or fathom the actual stakes of 3, that's the point, the reapers are meant to be eldritch in their conception and their goal is legitimately beyond comprehension. it's hard for us to comprehend the human suffering and loss of actual, real wars, let alone one that would slowly, systematically wipe out trillions of lives. we can't even quantify a trillion. so there's two levels of absolute detachment to the narrative already involved going in. a good example of this is the main drawback to most decisions in the game to try and dissuade renegade options that are beneficial is single character deaths. Tali, Mordin, EDI, the first and third being the most obvious, because both their deaths come with the death of ALL quarians and ALL geth respectively, but those are just vague numbers, so most people focus on the single character death because that meaning that is quantifiable. most players don't care about vague but high numbers, this is why most people don't bang on about Shepard committing actual legitimate genocide and instead gloss over it. it's just a number, it doesn't matter, but killing Mordin? unthinkable.

the endings absolutely don't help all of this. it's the BioWare classic of relying on the meta and the player's attachment over the actual in-universe attachments or choices. the three endings hinging almost entirely on "Shepard is sacrificed in some way" is the same bland player-attachment meta that made them think the Hawke/Alistair/Logaine sacrifice in the Fade was a good narrative choice despite the Inquisitor literally Not Fucking Knowing those characters for more than like a week. it relies on you, the player, knowing and caring, which is not the basis for good roleplaying *or* storytelling.

all that said, I do really like 3 (and Inquisition, for that matter). but when I like something, I become more critical of it.

as for my opinion on the endings, idk, I wasn't there in 2012 watching everything I'd waited for since 2007 fall to pieces before my very eyes, so i imagine my opinions are quite moderate compared to some. I chose high war assets destroy. it is what it is.

I've been keeping up with the announcements but I'm gonna be honest, the less I think about them touching Liara again the happier I am. I dont know if you know Dragon Age, anon, but if they Varric my baby girl I'll make sure the BioWare developers never know peace. theories (actual) are she's fucking around where she shouldn't as she does and gets roped into some nonsense as she does. theories (delusional) are they have cast Ali Hillis as a bespoke other asari to gaslight us all and actually they will never touch Liara again and we will get a lore entry saying she is so so happy doing archaeology in peace which I think would be niceys 😊

I do not know the Mass Effect fandom very well so I hope these are all the normal widely accepted opinions that everyone very politely agrees on and never argues over!! thank you for the ask I hope you have not condemned me to one million years of petty discourse ❤️