#and some of the first nations plot lines are actually kind of good and very genuine?

[kickingtheladder]

GOOD NEWS!!! My favourite bonkers nurses and pilots show is apparently back!!!! Hello again, Skymed! I can't wait to see what blows up this season!

[assumptionprime]

I need to rant about the Fallout show

Because this is the person I am. Full spoilers, so I’m putting it behind a Keep Reading:

I’m a huge sucker for Fallout (yes even 3&4). And I went into the Fallout show with some… trepidation. Amazon has been a mixed bag on adaptations, we could have been blessed with a Good Omens, or cursed by a Rings of Power. But early buzz and reviews seemed positive, so I slammed the whole thing in one night with my spouse (we were staying at my in-laws house and they have Prime. Time was a factor.)

And y’know? I was really enjoying it! The characters were fun, the plot was engaging enough, and the costumes and visual design were extremely on point. There were some minor lore quibbles to be had: Ghouls needing some kind of medicine to not go feral. Really, more Enclave holdouts? Timeline and date whoopsies. Wait are they in California? Where the hell is the NCR?

I made a face at Shady Sands being bombed and the NCR collapsing. But I wasn’t completely out of the story. Based on what I had seen so far, I thought it was building to a reveal that the Brotherhood had done it. That the more zealous turn they took in Fallout 4, which has clearly carried to how they are portrayed in the show, lead them to bombing the NCR. War never changes, as they say. Maximus even says when asked what happened to Shady Sands: “The same thing that always happens.” Yeah, it leans into Bethesda’s weird desire to keep the Fallout world in a state of perpetual wastelands full of raiders and no civilization, but it wasn’t so terrible that I couldn’t still enjoy the show.

But then.

BUT THEN.

Episode 8, and the reveal of Vault-Tec apparently being the ones who dropped the first bomb in the Great War.

I was surprised to hear that some fans have apparently been debating over who fired first? Some even asked Tim Cain about it?

That’s really odd to me because, in the games, there is already a pretty definitive answer to which side sparked the Great War:

Who fucking cares?

The world ended. What does it matter who shot first?

There is no China, no United States, no communists or capitalists left to fight about it. 

It's a powerful little bit of lore.

For all the posturing, all the promises from each nation that their way is the true way, all the nationalism, the militarism, and blind loyalty to flags over humanity, they both lost. Everyone lost. All that remains of the ideologies and nations that were so important to the people of 2077 is faint echoes over vast expanses of radioactive ash.

Who started the end?

No one knows. No one cares.

It only matters that their conflict was so bitter, so all-consuming, that one of them dropped their bombs, and the other dropped theirs in return.

The truest legacy of the old world is the devastation left by their final, most horrific war.

Can we do better?

Then the show says "Nah, Vault-Tec did it. It's not a commentary on human nature and the futility of self-destructive conflict, it was actually these guys, these mustache twirling villains huddled in a darkened room literally plotting to end the whole world so they can rule what's left."

And I can see the attempt to make this a critique of capitalism. I actually paused the show to praise a bit of writing when Coop is talking with Charlie before the war, when Charlie tells him that the “cattle ranchers are in charge” to illustrate how capitalism and corporations hold too much sway over the government, it felt very in line with how in New Vegas one of the recurring critiques of the NCR is that all the real power is in the hands of the “brahmin barons.” Nice parallel, spot on!

But “we’ll set off total thermonuclear war so we can rule the ashes and have a True Monopoly” isn’t capitalism. It’s just dumb “we’re the baddies” writing.

And then Shady Sands was also Vault-Tec?! Forget any meaning in the NCR falling to the same corruption and/or factional fighting that consumed the old world, they were literally just bombed by the evil shadow conspiracy that apparently also killed the old world. Hank gives this speech about factions fighting and the futility of it all while we see the Brotherhood fighting Moldaver’s NCR remnant, and like, no! You can’t say that when you’ve made it so neither the old world or the NCR fell to war with another faction! It was you! You and your band of cryogenic supervillains!

I don't care that they changed it. Timelines and dates and little retcons don’t bother me all that much. I care that they changed it to something so much worse.

[boomgun]

Post-CF Claude/Edelgard is hilarious if we take into account that Edelgard is not exactly the best at emotional intelligence and Claude is paranoid.

They would meet at some kind of diplomatic function, start making small talk. They both are trying to re-connect, for the good of their nations of course (and personal reasons), but their expectations are not going to be met.

Claude would very likely ask "Hey, why did you spare me? Bit out of character for the ruthless conqueror. ;)"

Now, Claude is likely trying to corner Edelgard into admitting she has feelings for him, because he knows how cagey she can be. Which, she does! In fact, Edelgard loves this opportunity to show how much she thinks about him. The problem is that this is Edelgard and she would think that Claude would enjoy being gassed up for how smart and strategic he is.

So it would go like "Because you subtly but effectively communicated that you were a prince of Almyra and left a strong implication of the consequences for killing you. I have no doubt that excursion into Goneril territory by Nader was a taste of what could have happened. You put me in a situation where, even with my axe at your throat, I could not risk harming you. A brilliant manuever as always, Claude. <3"

Edelgard probably expects Claude to be chuffed at this statement and, moreover, it shows that she has been paying attention and is Smart and Observant (because these are surely the traits Claude admires in people). The problem is that being seen as a capable and dangerous threat is what almost everyone has percieved Claude as since he was a kid. Claude, in fact, would like more sentimental reasons or at least like his intelligence to be complimented in a less 'oh you're so cunning and dangerous' way and more in a 'aw, you're so thoughtful of others' way. It just reads to Claude that Edelgard views him more as a political acquaintance than as someone who likes him for himself.

So, Claude is just "Huh, thanks for the compliment. :)))" because he does not want to show vulnerability and is trying to quietly disengage.

The problem is that Edelgard knows she said something wrong because she remembers that smile from the Academy and it never meant Claude was actually happy. What did she say? Maybe she was being too subtle. Aha! Let's take Claude somewhere private and tell him, like, his dick is big or something. That'll work!

"Can I have a moment alone with you?"

Now what the fuck could Edelgard mean by that!? Does she actually like Claude? Maybe! No, that's wishful thinking. Claude reasons that Edelgard must be up to something clandestine and wants to plot with him. You know? That could be fun! Hubert enjoys scheming with her, maybe Claude could too.

"Lead the way." He says, trying to sound smooth and in control.

Oh, fuck yeah, he's interested with a capital 'I.' Edelgard must have just been seeing things, reading too much into the situation. Claude would never follow someone into a private place unless he trusted them, or at least had a good escape route. Probably both. He's so clever, let's try complimenting that again!

"I trust you have a backup plan in case something goes awry while we're all alone? ;)"

OH, GOD. CLAUDE, WHAT DID YOU DO??? EDELGARD WANTS TO KILL YOU, SHE NEVER ACTS THIS CUTE AND VULNERABLE. READ BETWEEN THE LINES, SHE IS TRYING TO TRAP YOU. FUCK! FUCK!!! CLAUDE HAS TO FIND A WAY OUT OF THIS, THIS IS SUCH AN OBVIOUS PLOY. DO NOT LET HER KNOW YOU ARE ON TO HER EITHER. PLAY IT COOL, CLAUDE, PLAY IT COOL.

"Ah, wait, I promised a dance with a couple courtiers and I need to go talk to Nader. I gotta put my career first, you know how it is." Claude breathes a little too forcefully, trying to keep himself calm.

How did Edelgard fumble again!? She smiled and winked and complimented his intelligence! Scientifically, Claude should be over the moon. Wait, that's it! Claude is clearly playing hard to get. That makes sense, given the political tensions between Almyra and Fódlan. If Claude is found pursuing a woman from Fódlan, it would invite unflattering comparisons with his father. So, Edelgard just needs to make it clear that SHE is the one coming for him! It's so obvious.

Edelgard pulls Claude close "Please, Claude, I yearn to feel your arrows fall upon me." Edelgard gives a knowing look, because the innuendo is just that brazen and obvious for all to hear.

SHE'S FUCKING BLOODTHIRSTY. Deirdriu! Edelgard is talking about the siege of Deirdriu. Holy shit, it all makes sense! Edelgard talking about Claude outwitting her, wanting him alone; she is here to finish the job! She's making such an obvious vieled threat, and she's giving that Bold Edelgard Look too! Oh, she might try something right here in front everyone! Claude, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!

Claude does not say anything, not clearly. He mutters something about a cat about to fall off the windowsill and how someone should save it (there is no cat, the window is closed) and he just leaps out of it with a crash that startles everyone at the meeting. Claude made a calculated risk. People can survive falls off the second story of a building, especially if one strategically bounces off the railing of the lower balcony. It really hurt, though. Claude spends the rest of the week nursing a dislocated shoulder in a safehouse that no one else knows about.

Edelgard is aghast. Then depressed. There is only one logical conclusion, Claude was so viscerally repulsed by her advances that he attempted suicide! Edelgard spends the whole night locked in her room, stuffing her face with a comfort food while crying. How could she have fumbled this so badly?

It is a wretched and terrible comedy of errors.

[professorsparklepants]

i know its been 7 years but im honestly so invested in the zuko aang swap au, how was avatar zuko before entering the ice? who was the avatar before him? is he disgraced brother to firelord azulon? how does azula feel about trying to kill her own great uncle?

okay here's what i have for avatar zuko's backstory...!

i'm mucking around in timelines because the avatar Zuko fics i saw before had several avatars die in quick succession to go from Roku -> Zuko which never made a lot of sense to me. instead we're just going straight from Kyoshi to Zuko. she can live a couple extra decades, she's already like 200.

it also doesn't make sense to me to have Zuko be royalty, because that seems like a MAJOR conflict of interest for someone who's literally born to balance global politics, which whatever mystical force decides the next avatar would want to avoid! (that's not even getting into the possibility of an avatar becoming head of state. yikes.) so instead i'm giving him Roku's backstory to make him a close friend of a fire nation royal, in this case prince Azulon since i want him to be a little older than Aang when he's frozen in ice.

Roku in this universe is actually Zuko's father. he's a close friend and ally of Sozin, which is why Zuko is a playmate of his from a young age. i think i have him as a naval officer for plot reasons.

Zuko's mother on the other hand is a complete oc! her name is Hoa Sen, and she's a complete badass. she's not a bender, but she is a legendary swordsmaster who in her youth once sparred with Avatar Kyoshi and forced her to use all four elements before Kyoshi finally defeated her. this is the reason Zuko knows swords and bending; no son of Hoa Sen is going to grow up without a sword in his hand 😤

Hoa Sen is actually kind of estranged from her husband due to a major disagreement about his current political career. she lives in a house on ember island.

he also has a little sister. since roku's wife here is an oc i'm gonna steal his og wife's name, so she's Ta Minh. she's not a bender. she and Zuko were close as children, but grew apart since she lives with their mom. we'll get back to her later.

Zuko's animal guide is a dragon named Druk, as per Zuko's canon dragon. he is not particularly bright and likes to cause problems on purpose. every plot line from the original show that happens because Aang is lost or wants to ride giant animals is replaced with Druk deciding this is the perfect time to Cause Problems On Purpose.

Azulon is Zuko's oldest friend. i think Azulon has other friends and while Zuko is in their group he's not particularly close to them thanks to his whole [gestures at canon Zuko]. you know. the autism. so they're still very close.

i think also the REASON Zuko was chosen as a childhood playmate for Azulon is because Sozin found out Zuko was the new avatar and was trying to indoctrinate him into being loyal to the fire nation over all else.

(which is also the reason he has a dragon and azulon doesn't.)

this does NOT work btw. Sozin reveals to Zuko that he's the avatar early and demands his fealty, which Zuko refuses because he's a good kid. and then he gets his face burned off. Sozin doesn't kill him because it would just make his life harder, but tells Zuko that it's out of respect for his father. so he's just banished instead.

before Zuko leaves Azulon visits, says he'll be welcome back when Azulon is fire lord, and gives Zuko the crown prince's headpiece, which zuko wears even in the present!

Hoa Sen has old friends of her take him first to the Western air temple where he can heal, and then to the Southern Air Temple to start his training.

i think the monks actually refuse to teach him for a long time because Zuko has some serious issued to work through and they think he needs time to heal mentally and emotionally before he's ready to start taking on his duties as avatar. eventually the ominous prophecy rears its head so he does learn some stuff.

Zuko gets frozen in the iceberg because he knows something bad is going to happen and is frustrated with his training being stalled, so he decides to just skip air and go straight to water.

Here are some fun facts that Zuko does NOT know at the start of this au but do become tragically relevant to him.

Hoa Sen founded the order of the white lotus after seeing what Sozin did to her son, originally as a way to protect him during his training and then to mitigate the damage the fire nation was doing without an avatar to stop them. not sure if her family knew about it, but they did know she objected to Sozin's war.

Azulon married Ta Minh, I think to protect her and her family out of memory to his friend, but also because it's good optics to be tied to the missing fire nation avatar. it's not a particularly happy marriage, but it is functional.

(Zuko does not fucking take this well btw.)

Ta Minh became well known as a swordmaster and actually took Piandao as an apprentice. Iroh and Ozai had no interest in swordplay, so she never bothered teaching them. Lu Ten did express a bit of interest, and ended up learning a respectable amount before she died.

Azula inherited her grandmother's face. Zuko is (understandably) very upset about this on a cosmic level.

Iroh knows all of this and does not tell Zuko until he is forced to in season 2 after azula becomes very relevant.

Azula is also being mentored by Iroh's ex-wife, because #whereareyourwomenbryke and also i think he deserves this.

[fondofeveryprickle]

My AO3 Wrapped 2023

Welcome to my AO3 Wrapped 2023, where I take a look at some of my favourite fics from 2023 (one bookmark per month). 

There were so many amazing fics in 2023, so many new people and friends I met because of fanfic <3 So here’s to a very good 2024, full of words and worlds!

Let’s go to the fics:

January-

The Fine Line Between Hormones and Home by seekingmoonscapes (Bad Buddy: The Series)

In an almost canon universe where the only difference is that it is omegaverse, Pat is an omega, and Pran is an alpha. And during one of his heats, Pat is at home, and decides to ask Pran for a shirt with his scent to help with his heat. But instead, he asks Pran for help in other ways. Fic where the porn IS the plot, everything is super consensual, and sexy and hot. Alternating POV, so on Pran’s pov we get to see all the pining.

February - 

If Never Again, If Every Day by gallifreyburning and takiki16 (The Old Guard)

This fic was wonderful from beginning to end. For reasons, 2021 Nicky goes back in time to Jerusalem and his first death at Yusuf's hands. Meanwhile, 1099 Nicolò goes forward in time to 2021 and meets Joe. It's heartbreaking and loving and funny and so full of love. Nicky and Joe miss each other even when around their younger versions. But the love they feel for each other is stronger than that. Wonderful story, happy ending.

March - 

Wooing the Water Tribe by lenaballena (ATLA) @dameferre

Sokka has been living in the Fire Nation as Zuko's second in power and his best friend and everything. When Katara comes to visit, Sokka thinks Zuku is courting her. And he realizes he is also in love with his best friend. Lots of pining. There's absolutely no courting of Katara. It's also really funny. My heart broke for Sokka at some moments.

April - 

The Grand Unified Theory of Shen Qingqiu by 00janeblonde (SVSSS)

WIP - This story is all fluff and no angst, like the tags say, slice of life and it's wonderful. SQQ dies at Maigu Ridge, and is offered to acquire the Game Plus, where he can go back to the past with his cultivation and memory intact, and try again. Doing that he discovers that he is actually the real Shen Jiu reincarnated, and he can try to recover memory markers to be able to restart the "game" even before than when he first "transmigrated". His friendship with YQY becomes strong, LQG also becomes his friend (it's really sweet how he wants his friends back). Everything is very soft. Absolutely great teacher SQQ.

May - 

but for me, there is a storm by Authoress (Haikyuu!!) by @kiribakus

An epic pacific rim au. Hinata and Kageyama are both cadets who want to be Jaeger pilots, but they cannot get along. So they work really hard because they are their last hope to pilot a one of a kind Jaeger - a Kaiju/Machine hybrid. They solve their problems in the beginning (and then later they have more problems). Hinata and Kageyama are not the only main characters, other characters are also very important and have their own storyline and pov. This story is heartbreaking as well. There's MCD, and it made me cry so hard I got puffy eyes. It's a wonderful read, and very well written.

June - 

The UA Analyst Kid by RogueVector (BNHA)

Izuku meets the UA teachers before getting OFA and they see how good his analysis is, so they start to train him (together with some other heroes). But some things don't change and Izuku still meets All Might and gets offered OFA. This story is funny, sweet and with amazing relationships. Izuku is OP with his intelligence and training. All the teachers and heroes are so supportive and good. A really feel good story.

July - 

Deku? I think he’s some pro… by Clouds (BNHA)

After All Might told Izuku he can't be a hero, he finds himself in a forum used by some underground heroes and offers his analysis to them, since he can't be a hero, he will help them. The underground heroes think Izuku is some kind of retired pro when they ask for help analyzing some villains and all, and when they finally meet face-to-face they all decide to practically adopt Izuku and teach him to fight so he will have a chance to be a quirkless hero. It is amazing! Also, the relationship between Izuku and the underground heroes is more like friends than teacher-student, and it's amazing that way. (some All Might bashing - be warned)

August - 

Mobius by Foxquills (BNHA) @fox-quills

WIP - I love this story so much!!! Third-year Izuku is sent to the past because of a quirk accident, to the time both Shouta and Hizashi are third year students at UA. Problem is, according to Nedzu, time is constant, or a loop, so he can’t change anything in the past, and everything that has happened, will happen again. He becomes fast friends with both Shouta and Hizashi, and starts crushing on them as well. Both Hizashi and Shouta also start crushing on him. It is lovely. There’s pain. It’s awesome. (also omegaverse).

September - 

Factory Settings by Anonymous (Good Omens)

Post season 2 au, because Crowley follows Aziraphale to heaven. Things happen, and instead of Crowley, there is Raphael, without any memory of all the time he's lived as Crowley. Heaven and Hell are at it again. Aziraphale has no idea what to do, and he misses his Crowley. Muriel is a sweetheart. Both Aziraphale and Crowley/Raphael povs. Great story, feels very much canon.

October - 

Justice in Defiance by Foxquills (BNHA) @fox-quills

WIP - Aizawa is a hero turned villain who kills both heroes and villains alike. And one day Izuku finds him right after he kills someone. They fight. And now Izuku needs to know more. What made Aizawa turn????? To do that, he will also need Hizashi in his corner. Absolutely lovely story!!!! The povs are amazing. The feelings and pining are perfect.

November - 

If I Must Starve (Let it be in Your Arms) by Igneum807 (The Witcher)

So think about the softest story involving Jaskier and touch-starved witchers, and this is the result. During his travels alone, when he and Geralt go their different ways for a few weeks, Jaskier meets Geralt's brothers, who are just as touch and companionship-starved as Geralt was before meeting Jaskier. It's super soft and tender.

December - 

Cultivate: Slow Life on a Monster-Infested Mountain by NeonGhostCat (SVSSS) @neonghostcat

When SY transmigrates, the System tries to put him on SQQ's body, but SQQ is aware and is able to stop it from happening. The System then gives SY his own body, but something goes wrong with the system and SY is decided to not get involved with the plot, or with Cang Qiong Sect, and specially SQQ. He finds an abandoned mountain, with an abandoned house there and decides to stay there until he is strong enough if SQQ finds him and wants to kill him. Obviously things cannot be that simple. Now he is stuck on the mountain he can't get out of, every full moon night there are monster attacks and one day LQG appears on the Mountain, how can he get out of helping with the plot now? Shen Yuan is absolutely perfect on this fic. I love how he deals with the mountain and its beasts and plant-life. Liushen is the softest you'll see. Slow burn, super domestic, feel good story.

~

Enjoy your readings!

[thatoldstandby]

Games What I Played April 2k25 Edition

It's that time of month again. Previous months as follows: January! February! March!

Still relatively few games; still life ruined etc. But I actually wrapped a longer one (and immediately replaced it with it's sequel lol) but. But. Also hit a game that's probably going to rank highly at the end of the year.

Carryover Games

Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk

O! O! O! O! (It’s an experience more than a game. I don’t know how much I can say about it without also having played the sequel? Counterpoint?)

Trails in the Sky 3rd

Finally finished; it really clicks in the last…. Third? Quarter? Good game, excellent wrap-up to the first trilogy. I loved seeing each of these goobers so much, and the combat was actually pretty engaging, especially at the end. Fuck Vanish forever though.

Trails From Zero

I loved 3rd so much I *immediately* started the next Trails game. This one takes place in Crossbell, with a group of police officers who are trying to start a branch similar in practice and ethos to the Bracer Guild, but with the actual ability to directly influence the nation’s affairs for the better. It’s…. I mean, ideologically it’s not *great*, but also, they’re fantasy newbie cops who are good people trying to do good in a place that has some significant problems, which the game heavily acknowledges and even illustrates with the Crossbell PD on the whole. It’s a really fascinating take, and I’ll be interested to see where it goes. The new characters are just as loveable, the old characters are still the old characters, and I love Crossbell as a region. Really interested to see where it goes!

FFXIV

Crafting. On the. MOOOOOOOOOOOOON (Crafting still sucks but like all of those rewards are great holy shit)

New games

Dead Letter Dept.

Finally got back to this one! Interesting little thing. I didn’t click with the main puzzle at all; I don’t think I realized an important thing on my first go through, and only learned it after looking up some guides afterwards. Neat little game with *hella* atmosphere though. Definitely worth playing.

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

I’m continuing on! Though, the main plot isn’t pulling me very far along and I’ve already done most of these minigames to death in Infinite Wealth. It’s still fine! It’s a perfectly fine Yakuza game. In fact, the combat is honestly some of the best the series has ever had. Only giving Majima two styles that you can switch between was a brilliant way to handle it, and the styles feel way better than they did in Man Without A Name. I just don’t think it’s great though, which kind of sucks. Still going to finish it, just. Very slowly.

Blue Prince

Oh. Ohhhhh this is *fascinating*. I think it’s great, but I don’t know. I’ve played 4 hours so far, six days. The puzzle is *delicious*, but there are complaints I’ve seen that I think I fully understand. But I’m not at the point that they’re bothering me yet, and I’m playing this one with a friend largely, so where I come down on this is going to depend on a lot of factors independently. I’ve seen a lot of people say this is GOTY, and frankly? I can kind of see it.

Games What I Want to Play

We’ve also reached the part of the year where keeping up with things has become impossible, so I’m going to put a bunch of titles here that I want to play just so I don’t forget about them when I actually get some time later:

Wanderstop

Am I Nima

Look Outside

Suikoden Remake

SRW Y

Skin Deep

Promise Mascot Agency

The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

There’s probably more stuff that I’m missing, RIP me

Oh I also want to re-touch Void Stranger and maybe do more? IDK

[snorlaxlovesme]

this is called giving Live Action Avatar a fair chance

the Netflix live action Avatar has always been a strange beast. it's a thing no one wanted after the disastrous 2010 movie. public perception of it was extremely low after Bryke walked out on it because of creative differences (disheartening as well as concerning). people tore apart the teaser stills and completely thrashed the early trailers. the news that Sokka's sexism plot was being altered had fans frothing at the mouth. the show seemed to be caught in this limbo where it had an incredibly low bar to rise above, in terms of trouncing The Last Airbender Movie, and infinitely high bar it would be impossible to reach, in terms of the original A:TLA.

now. if i can't go into a live action adaptation with an open mind, i will not watch it. live action Yu Yu Hakusho came out several months ago, and the vibes I got from trailer were not what I wanted, so I shelved it. if I'm going to sit down and watch a re-telling of one of my favorite pieces of media, I'm going to do my damnedest to go in with as open of a mind as a I can bear, because I like to have a good time and I can't do that constantly dogging on something.

so. my rule of thumb is generally this: treat any live action adaptation as fanfiction. if i can recognize the characters and recognize the plot, that's fine. i'm not looking for anything crazy, just interesting fanfiction. that's the level of closeness to canon i'm expecting. bar is on the floor.

and in terms of Good Television, my expectations are also incredibly low. good TV has 1. good writing 2. good acting 3. good action/SFX. for adaptations the best i'm looking for is ONE out of three. the lower my expectations, the more fun i get to have.

i'm explaining all of this because, while I have not seen reviews of Netlix Avatar yet, I know just how brainless the masses can be and i need you to know that THESEEE are the expectations you should be having when going into these things. Avatar: The Last Airbender is hailed as an example of a nearly PERFECT show. if you are expecting that kind of excellence from an adaptation you are simply deranged and I will not be reading your bad faith interpretations of the show.

with these expectations in mind, it's easy to see why i'm loving Netflix Avatar so much. why? because it cleared one of my very low expectations. the bending in the show looks pretty good! the writing of the show is average! some of the actors are quite charming! i am pleased!

i have seen 3 episodes so far ("Aang" through "Omashu", and yes these episode titles DO suck, I'll concede to that)

so, now that i've gotten that little manifesto out of the way, let's get into some actual Thoughts So Far:

-the way the first episode was structured was very cool. i like that they didn't throw us in at the same spot we started in A:TLA. and to avoid the horrible exposition dump the movie gave us, instead they just showed us the start of the war. i like the tactical inclusion that Sozin let word get out that the Fire Nation would attack the Earth Kingdom first to throw the Air Nomads off his scent. i also thought it was cool so show us a day in the life at the Easter Air Temple. the setting was gorgeous and I loved seeing all the monks doing their own thing. it made you feel so attached to the Air Nomads and their kindness and gentleness, so when they were attacked you truly felt for them.

-Monk Giatso's actor was fantastic. i was gagged that they had my crying less than 20 min into the first episode, what the fuck

-Gran Gran reciting Katara's opening speech line by line was funny, hokey, and exactly what I wanted. loved that for her and loved that for ME

-i like the change that Katara has to waterbend in secret for her own safety, not simply because she doesn't have a master

-it felt appropriate that they made Sokka take his warrior/protector role more seriously. the "i gotta go potty" bit from that like 6 year old in the original is hilarious but I don't think that sort of humor would have translated well to live action. i like that Sokka really was a leader to the ragtag group of kiddos and like one teenage boy. and him asking Zuko to duel with him one and one!! a very sweet early act of bravery

-in general i'm just really liking how they're approaching Sokka's character. all the fuss over "they're taking out Sokka's sexism" arc felt idiotic to me for weeks because like of course they did?? let's be SO real here, if you have never seen the original and are watching Netflix Avatar blind for the first time, are you going to rock with the protagonist who makes "girls' only jobs are cooking and sewing" jokes? in 2024? in this sociopolitical climate that shit would NOT fly and people would drop the show for stuff like that. no one would wait to see his character growth, people's attention spans aren't long enough for that these days. plus, for all the naysayers boohooing because that's Sokka's whole character arc, it's literally not! that nasty personality trait sticks with Sokka for FOUR episodes. having his character arc revolve around his identity as a warrior is much more in-line with Sokka's ACTUAL arc. he can skip the "sew my pants" jokes so we can get to his real root of his conflict, being a non-bender and a novice warrior in a world of extreme violence and feeling inferior because of it

-i don't mind that they made Zuko less aggressive. again, with the bar of the original A:TLA being SO fucking high, ESPECIALLY because of Zuko, Netflix was never going to reach that level of excellence. so I'm okay with this Zuko being a little more level-headed and more of a mindless Fire Nation Greatness truther because it's a decent interpretation of his character, for fanfiction. consider everybody on planet earth know that Zuko will eventually be a Good Guy, we don't have to go out of our way to show that he's a giant asshole. we already know he's a good boy.

-on that note I love the bait and switch with the Jet introduction. seeing a cute boy flirting with Katara, I couldn't immediately tell if that merchant boy was just a one-off kind character, or maybe Haru because of his clothing and the way his hair was styled. to have him turn out to be Jet was FUN because it showed me that despite knowing the original canon forwards and backwards, this show can still find ways to surprise me. i had been talking with my sister about whether or not they were going to include Bumi (and his shenanigans) because that's a plot twist that worked when the show originally aired, but wouldn't hit at all in an adaptation where we all know who Bumi is already. where I'm currently at in the show I'm still not sure if we'll see his inclusion or not, but i still appreciated that new bait and switches are possible.

-this meant basically all the Omashu episode was very fun. they way they wove the Freedom Fighters and Mechanist's stories together was very interesting and i liked how fresh it felt

-Suki's actor is incredibly gorgeous. with and without the make-up. that needed to be it's own point because oh my god

-i love that she gave Sokka and fan and i'm DYINGGG to see him use it in a battle

-THEY INCLUDED KYOSHI NOVEL LORE AND I SCREAMED

-they included AVATAR KYOSHI FIGHT SEQUENCES AND I SCREAMED

-i probably should have mentioned this way sooner but Aang's actor is such a little cutie. he's doing such a great job capturing Aang's energy. both wise and playful and so so sweet. i love him

-i found it hilarious that they waited three episodes for Katara to bring up her dead mom. we all know that the super generic and boring critiques of Katara are 1. too much dead mom talk 2. too much hope talk 3. too motherly. i feel like the show intentionally waited two and a half episodes for Katara to bring up Kya and that's so funny to me. they also have only let her mention hope like twice lol. my girl is being STIFLED

-special effects are honestly really good? some of aang's flying is a little wonky but the firebending and waterbending so far as looked fantastic. i haven't seen much earthbending so far besides that opening sequence but i was impressed by that too. and Aang and Zuko fighting in Omashu with Zuko not using his bending? SO much fun. the choreo was awesome, i loved the set piece of fighting amongst all those scarves.

-building off that, Appa and Momo are very cute. the creatures al look pretty good too. ostrich horses look great

all in all, lots of really good stuff so far. i only have minor criticisms, and they're mostly things I can deal with. Iroh's acting is weird to me. it sounds like it's putting on a silly voice instead of speaking how he normally would, so it scans as off-putting. also in terms of costuming, Iroh's wig is WIGGING so much more than other cast members. it looks so glued on and shaped with hairspray. Mai and Ty Lee (one seen them for a moment so far) also just look like random cosplayers who wandered on set. and i guess both Monk Giatso's reveal of Aang being the avatar, as well as Gran-Gran's immediate understanding that Aang is the avatar, both happened extremely fast.

but yeah! those are my thoughts so far. again, I have no idea what public perception of this show is. i'm trying to avoid reviews and probably won't be back on tumblr until i've at least made it to episode 6. then maybe i'll come back and write more if my opinion drastically changes or I think the world will need another stern talking to about what to expect from an adaptation

[quaranmine]

Things that Could've Happened in Firewatch AU but Didn't

Hi, and welcome to scrapped plot points. This fic had a general direction from the beginning but a lot of details came together as I went.

🔥First of all, I've posted the discord message before, but I actually originally envisioned it as "ambigious" whether Mumbo was dead or alive. This was scrapped the moment I tried to determine HOW one makes that ambiguous. think about it for a moment.

🔥I've also stated this before but I initially wanted this to just be a string of vignettes throughout the summer with no real plot or resolution to it. This is where I got a lot of early ideas for Grian and Scar hangout/character relationship development back in Dec 2022 (Scar and Top Gun, Scar's job as a door to door salesman, etc) (the salesman idea was actually from one of my tumblr asks, thanks!)

🔥Originally I....had more of a human conflict present? I actually struggle to remember some of what I planned because it got scrapped so quickly once I thought it through more. But you can still see references to it in my notes:

(last one is from first draft of chapter 11, one year prior to the final draft.) There's??? so much conflict implied here. Grian gets CHASED! people BROKE into his tower! someone STOLE THE BIKE! drama!!

I scrapped it because it was too unbelievable. Specifically, it was unbelievable for this plot line. I still had the same "truth" to the plot present—that there was no conspiracy and Mumbo had just died after being injured in a place outside the initial search zone. All this other behavior would have just been red herrings from people who had nothing to do with Mumbo's disappearance.

A lot of this also very reminiscent of the actual Firewatch game type of intrigue. I was always heading to a similarly anti-climatic ending (aka no overarching conspiracy) as the original game. But this did not fit. Because...why would someone else do this? They wouldn't have the same motivations as Ned Goodwin in Firewatch. It'd just be some pissed off teens/the firework couple who decided to mess with Grian to throw him off. Except they wouldn't know they were throwing him off anything, because they wouldn't know him, so it'd just be purely some third party messing with him. But I felt like real life is rarely this....malicious. I've had people go out of their way to harass me with road rage, sure. But all of this drama was scrapped because I felt it was SOOOOO unlikely for a random person to just be harassing Grian like this Just Because. It did not fit! It was so coincidental and requried people to make questionable decisions that I couldn't fit into any good framework of motive.

It was a bad idea and I'm glad I abandoned it. It might have been a good idea in a different context...but it did not fit at all here.

🔥I briefly toyed with something like what happened with Cian McLaughlin happening in this fic. Cian McLaughlin is an Irish man who went missing in Grand Teton National Park (nearly adjacent to this story's setting) in 2021. He was never found, unfortuantely. His case is notable because a woman provided a false eye witness report of seeing in a completely false location. On purpose, to be clear. She purposefully lied to the National Park Service about seeing him somewhere she didn't, while providing enough personal detail they thought it was a real report. She claimed to have done this to ensure that multiple locations were searched for him, to expand the search area, but she really just derailed over 500 hours of search time to the wrong place. It's so sad.

I was like, this is an intriguing case. What if this happened with Mumbo? What if this is why he was in a different location than the search was? Because someone falsely reported him being where he wasn't? But I faltered on it for many reasons. First of all, I felt it was kind of disrespectiful to Cian Mclaughlin and his family to blatantly draw off details of his real life disappearance in such an obvious way. It's a recent one too. This is not a cool mystery detail, this is real life and a real person and a real grieving family. Secondly, it goes back to the problem with the other issue about people interfering the case: why? You could ask why this woman interfered with Cian's case too, and that's real life. But in a fictionalized setting—why? What would it add, when I know that the truth of what happened to Mumbo was going to be mundane anyway? Why introduce this bizarre secondary plot element just to distract Grian and the reader? It could have just been a mistaken report, not a purposeful one, but it's just derail the story in a very unsatisfying way.

In the end the only remaining trace of this idea is Grian in chapter 5 (?) saying that someone had seen Mumbo at the Cloud Lake Trail and provided an eyewitness report. Which, for the record, is supposed to be an accurate account—he did go there, his car was there, and he did get spotted there at the beginning of his trip. He just diverged from the trail at a later point.

🔥I meant to do a fun little formatting thing and have Mumbo's past through processes and actions be intercut with Grian's present-day processes in Chapter 11. Or to put that more clearly, when Grian was running down the mountain away from the fire (but before he saw Mumbo) I wanted his choices to be contrasted with the ones Mumbo made. It would've been a stylistic choice. Mumbo's paragraphs might have been in italics, and I toyed with doing a right alignment instead of left alignment so it'd really stand out. The idea was to show how their two independent thought processes converged and led them to the same point on the mountain at different times. It would've been the only time in the story we ever got something from Mumbo's POV.

I scrapped this because I hated what I'd written in Mumbo's sections and never got around to rewriting it or adding it in retroactively. I think it was a cool idea but I did not pull it off. I don't the the fic is worse for it, though. I think it does a good enough job leading the reader into that parallel without spelling it out Quite that much. I also kind of....like that Mumbo never has his own voice in this story to explain his own decisions. It's sad, but it's part of the story.

🔥I seriously did not always have the main wildfire at the end of the story in the plot. I actually initially had Scar just coaxing Grian to tell him where he was, or allowing the search and rescue to come find him. And that would've been it, the search and rescue coming.

🔥Or.....when I toyed with whether or not Grian and Scar should meet at the ending of the story, I also considered an alternate ending where Scar came to Grian to rescue him. That he reported Grian's location to SAR, and then came himself. I scrapped this because it made no sense logistically. It's all well and good for there to be a dramatic scene of Scar coming to Grian's aid and them meeting for the first time in person. But Scar is miles away. And more importantly, Scar has an established disability and chronic pain that limits the trails he walks on. He specifically says he hasn't explored trails too far from his lookout because it'll pretty much wipe all his spoons for ages. (well, he doesn't say spoons because this is the 80s, but that was the meaning.) I was like okay. He's not only far from the trail but he's literally physically unable to make it there in time and one thing I'm NOT doing in this fic is undermining his disability (especially since I already had to make him a ~certain~ degree abled in order to do the job.) So I kept him in his spot. I think it added more tension anyway, because it's such a special kind of horror he experienced having to witness everything go down but be unable to help Grian other than over the radio.

🔥Speaking of the wildfire, I had a version where Grian escaped it for an embarassingly long time. Like until January or even February still (of this year!) The idea was the Grian outran it and then got found. A lot of this was just that I didn't want to figure out how to write him surviving a wildfire. I knew it'd be difficult and straddle the line of unbelievable. I wanted to take the easier way out of writing the scene.

But honestly...there was no way else the scene could've gone. I spelled it out in chapter 8 with my rather blatant foreshadowing—you CAN'T outrun a wildfire. I mean, I guess in good circumstances with good wind and experience you probably could. Afterall, hotshot crews and wildland firefighters are able to get in and around the fires without (normally) casualties all the time. But fires move faster than people. WAY faster. It'd just be a disappointing conclusion for Grian to somehow be the Super Lucky One who somehow skipped being in the danger. No, I had to follow through with what I'd set up and just go for it.

🔥I also entertained an idea of him sheltering in the overhang with Mumbo. It would've played out nearly like the fire played out in the main fic, the only difference was with him. It was the most "meaningful" option for shelter (since the other options were no shelter, and random shelter.) He would've been surviving death right next to Mumbo, who didn't survive. I could have made that very poignant if I wanted.

But I disliked this because I'd already written the part about Grian deciding to move on. I felt that bit of the scene was really key for the message of the story as a whole.

I wanted Grian to make the CHOICE to live instead of just refuse to move and survive anyway. You know? Grian, in-universe, would have no idea what decision would lead to his survival. But as the author with the power to do what I want, I knew he was surviving all my options. So my options were: 1) easy scene to write where he survives but doesn't experience much danger, 2) hard scene where he survives and makes the conscious decision to live and move forward, and 3) medium difficulty scene where he survives but was still emotionally stuck-in-place.

(Above: some random notes I typed about the finale scene options on my phone, in a situation where I should NOT have been writing fic notes on my phone lol)

In case it's not obvious, the final scene is the second one—Grian makes that key decision to live, but still experiences the danger I've set up so that I can follow through on the tension I created.

🔥I restructured the final chapter so that there was a bigger gap in time between Scar and Grian talking about Everything and Grian arriving. I initially had it when Grian essentally just came...and then like 5 mins later they were laying all that out while Grian sat on the bed. It just made the vibes of the scene Off. It was too quick, not satisfying. So I kept most of the same dialogue and stuff and structured it into a chapter where Grian meets Scar, and they kind of spend a mostly chill afternoon talking and hanging out until they delve into the Deep Stuff later that night while stargazing (let's be real you can never go wrong with stargazing for a deep scene.) I felt it was likely they'd kind of pretend everything was "normal" at first until they were more comfortable in each other's prescence. Also, we ALL know the middle of the night is when the real stuff comes out lmao. You can see my cut up and reused pieces of the original chapter version in the indented italic parts of chapter 12. I liked some of those interactions so I wanted to preserve them somehow even though the final chapter was structured in a way that cut it out.

So far, that's all of the major plot differences that I can think of at the moment. Some of the other elements (like the mistaken permit situation) came into play after I already had chapters uploaded, but I don't have a concrete idea of what might have happened in their place. Chapter 9 really evolved and got out of hand as I wrote it, but I knew from a few chapters earlier that he was going to do Something that got him fired. So I was able to refine the specific actions when I got there, since I just knew it had to be major and outlandish in the name of getting more information.

I had most of this story worked out ahead of time. But there were absolutely major changes that happened during the course of writing it. I was just fortunate that my intense outlining and focus on it ensured that I never encountered a situation where I had to make changes that majorly affected an already uploaded chapter. Yay for sticking close to the general outline even when the details were in question!

If I think of anything else, I'll reblog this post. :)

[cepheusgalaxy]

Do you have any aro OCs? Tell me about them! (No pressure)

Oh I do, actually, ty for asking!

First one is Kaiki, who was going to be the protagonist for my Ein wip, but now I'm rebooting it so I think he'll ✨️shine✨️ the most as a supporting character.

He is trans, black, and Brazilian, and ace too. He dyed his hair so now it's blond instead of black, and he wears it in pigtails. He aso has two younger sisters (Luna and Stella) and an older one (Tatiana). His parents are divorced and he lives with his sisters and his aunt. I had such a haaard time figuring him out, because he originally was just a blank slot in the place of a protagonist but now he's fleshed out I'm taking him from the spotlight lol. But it's good since he's so fleshed out! He's very sex-repulsed but he can kinda stand romance. - About the story, he is an ambue (non-magic person living in the normal, living world) that gains magic someway (i decided it was going to be x way but since i also changed the magic system ill have to see) and gets recruited into Onemia, one of the multiple hidden magical countries in a secret web of nations. The story revolves around he and the main cast trying to avoid a war between Onemia and other hidde countries (also now the story makes much more sense bc with the protagonist i chose they have much more on the line if a war starts so it drives the plot better~).

Then I have ✨️Megan✨️. He's another trans man from a different story, Totsuka and Megan. He is from a completely magical world but can't learn magic because his guardians won't let him and nobody wants to teach him coz he got a magical condition (still figuring this one out, again remaking the magic system lol) so when a traveler, Totsuka arrives on his town, looking for a partner, he offers himself in exchange of being taught magic by her. The story is about them two going traveling together and saving some different people and nations :). Now, I like Megan a lot, he is also aroace (I really should make more aroallo ocs) and I didn't have that much of a hard time with him in general but boy his design was a pain to figure out. I think I changed it like three times in a row once. He is kind of the more grounded person between him and Totsuka because she is pretty hotheaded and stubborn while he is the most pragmatic out of the two. I'm still fleshing out their exact dinamic, but one thing I'm very fond of is that they have complementary personalities, AND despiste their designs not completely paraleling each other, their main colors are also complementary to each other :3 Totsuka's hair is v long, blue, and a main part of her design. Megan's shirt is bright orange and most of his design is also some tone of brown or toned down nude, so it revolves around that orange. He also is pretty disphoric, unlike Kaiki.

Next up is Lucy, also from Ein (same wip as Kai). She greycupioaro and a trans girl. Unlike the rest of the cast, she is actually USAmerican and white. She is also ambue and gnc, and one of the which I had the easiest time with. Her hair is blond and short and her favorite color to wear is light blue. Her full name (i had so much fun with this one!) is Lucy Diana Portland. Diana because of the marvel hero. BUT there is a special arc im planning where she goes missing and loses her memory, to join a group of the special forces of another magical country. In that arc she adopts the name of Fennice White -> i have lots of characters for this special force but not very detailed yet

[biconickyoshi]

Hello, it's me again. And I have a few questions for you. 1) Who will tell Zuko that he is a descendant of Avatar Roku? Will it be Uncle Iroh or his mother Ursa? And will the rest of Team Avatar know about it? It’s just that this fact can add drama to the relationship between Aang and Zuko, since Aang essentially fell in love with his descendant. 2) The Lover's Cave (season 2, episode 2) will it take place the same as in the canon or will the changes be global? 3) Will there be jokes about how no one pays attention to Zuko's scar? It's just that even in the comics, when Zuko became the Fire Lord, no one recognized him or pretended not to recognize him. It would be interesting if some character, most likely Sokka, noticed this.

Hello again! I'll do my best to answer your questions :)

I haven't quite decided on that yet! I think it would be interesting to have Ursa reveal it since Roku was her grandfather, but I'd have to either wait until The Search plot line to do that, or figure out some way to bring Ursa back earlier than that. I will likely end up going with Iroh telling him, as I do plan to adapt the actual "The Avatar and the Fire Lord" episode into its own chapter eventually.

Yep, I'm planning on the second chapter of Book 3: Earth being "The Cave of Two Lovers"! :) I'm very excited to get to that chapter, as it was the first thing I'd ever written for this fic back in December of 2021 as kind of a test to see if I wanted to try and tackle the whole entire rest of the story. And here we are, 2+ years later, and I'm finally almost there lol!

Haha that is a good point, even in canon people don't often mention his scar until it has plot relevance. I like to think that most people think it would be rude to bring it up, as they probably assume Zuko is an Earth Kingdom kid who was tragically injured in a Fire Nation attack, like the man who sold him the broadswords way back in Book 1 did. I like to sometimes have characters noticeably glance at Zuko's scar just to show that people do notice it.

[sonneillonv]

There are a number of watsonian reasons for this, IMO.

First... Garak is SO MUCH BETTER than Dukat. If Sisko needs a communication line to Cardassia, open OR illicit, he would SO MUCH RATHER go talk to Garak than use Dukat's comm code. If he needs to pass a message, or if he needs to wheedle some info, if he needs to better understand the default Cardassian political/military/economic position on some recent fuckery, he can invite Garak to chat over tea at the replimat. Yes, Garak will couch everything he says in riddles and half-truths. Yes, he will insist everything he says should be taken with a shaker of salt because he's just a simple tailor. Yes, that can be a little frustrating. But the mere prospect of opening a conversation with Gul Dukat, which will of course result in Dukat physically coming to the station so he can stuck his actual nose into everything, is 1000x worse.

Second... they know who Garak is. As spies go, Garak is scintillatingly obvious. Even denying that he's a spy is basically a game he and the rest of DS9's population have quietly agreed to play, because if there's going to be Cardassian spies on DS9 (which there are, this is a non-negotiable political reality and everyone knows it), both Sisko and Kira would much rather know who that spy is and be able to keep an eye on them. Garak is a known element; for the most part, as long as everyone behaves respectfully and plays the game, he spends most of his time quietly sewing and trying to seduce Bashir. And that is very manageable spy behavior, tbh. Like, it could be SO much worse than this fabulous lizard in his equivalent late-40s who loves gardening and fabrics and flirting with gorgeous young doctors.

Third, Garak is an exile. He has no political power in Cardassia. He can do Sisko favors because of who he knows, the connections he still maintains, but he's also far too down-and-out to be an actual danger to them. Which means, critically, he needs favors from Sisko often enough that their relationship can actually be one of relative equality. They can give and take from each other. Garak knows where his bread is buttered - if Sisko decides he's not allowed on DS9 anymore, he really has nowhere else to go, so helping out the DS9 crew periodically by making himself useful is a long-term good for Garak. This is why he is willing to stage the murder of a Romulan senator to bring the Romulans into the Dominion war on the side of the Federation (despite Cardassia being on the side of the Dominion) - Garak is not an idiot. He recognized several things: the Dominion is not good for Cardassia, the Federation is the only power that can effectively stand against the Dominion, the Federation needs help, and the Federation is literally his landlord, so doing the Federation a favor (via Sisko) is good for him personally AND good for Cardassia in the long run. If Garak is replaced by a different spy, there is no guarantee Sisko would have this kind of leverage, so Sisko has a vested interest in keeping Garak in place.

Fourth, Garak has a vested interest in exposing anyone whose activities on the station would threaten his security, including other Cardassian spies. He makes a regular practice through the series of dropping hints, mostly to Bashir, that something is not right about this trader or that mercenary, which often results in the main cast uncovering some kind of plot before it can come to fruition. His spy games with Bashir aren't just for flirting, they're also an 'innocent' way for him to steer the Doctor's attention toward anyone who might pose a serious threat. This really goes back to reason 3, "The Federation is my Landlord", but Garak is proactive about it, so I feel like it deserves its own listing... another spy with a stronger sense of nationalism or a lower intelligence might not take that stance.

And lastly, Garak absolutely fucking HATES Gul Dukat, who delights in making himself the biggest thorn in Sisko's side (and wears heart-eyes about it the whole time). Any time Sisko needs a window into Dukat's mindset or needs help putting Dukat in his fucking place, Garak is stanced and ready. And it's not even necessarily for Sisko's benefit: here's an example of Garak calling Dukat out in front of everyone because Dukat is behaving inappropriately toward Kira, but in such a culturally Cardassian way Kira doesn't realize it:

S03Ep07, "Civil Defense"

(For those unaware, this is basically Dukat peacocking at Kira. He has a history of being attracted to Bajoran women, most of whom he claimed as slaves including Kira's actual mother, so it's extremely ick.)

Sometimes he even does it through other people, such as that time he prepped Bashir with a bunch of really embarrassing tea on Dukat only for Bashir to bull-rush his way into a highly political conversation and read Dukat for filth in front of Sisko. which resulted in one of my favorite scenes in the series:

S02Ep05, "Cardassian."

Would Sisko be getting this kind of entertainment from any other spy????? OFC NOT.

In conclusion, Sisko is keeping Garak forever. Pet Spy. Precious Baby. He did All That but we love him.

Garak is such a fun character because after a while everyone is just. Chill with him. Yeah that’s Garak he’s an ex spy. No he’s fine he won’t hurt you. Unless we ask him to, haha. Yeah he’s fine. Yeah he’s like our pet freak

[effemar]

Okay here's my 2024 Irish National Opera Salome review since it just came out a month ago:

Sorry to the Irish National Opera but Jokanaan is a homeless guy. Please get him out of a blazer. The entire initial scene with Jokanaan is a letdown in my opinion. Jokanaan's stage directions don't hold up to the gravitas of his voice, and his reactions to Salome lack a lot of the stern potency I think is more compelling. He's just kind of.... meh. There's so many places in this whole opera, but especially here, where I found myself thinking 'Why aren't they closer?' Everyone stands very far apart in a way that undercuts the character interactions. In addition, I found myself constantly waiting for characters to push, to point, lunge, or express themselves with movement, only for them to just... not. Breakdown under the cut.

Things I liked:

Salome taking off her shoes when she first comes onstage. It's a very charming and mundane action, taking off your heels when you leave the party, and being barefoot gives her a playfulness and desperation that suits the first scenes.

Jokanaan actually physically shoving Salome away with disgust + she's all wet and soggy cause there's a big pool of water in the center of the stage + she makes a sad little horny noise. Loved it.

Salome curtsies when she introduces herself as the princess of Judea. Cute....

Jokanaan seeing Narraboth kill himself and reacting in horror meanwhile Salome is begging him to stay still so she can suck his dick. I love it here.

The water in the middle of the stage becomes the visual symbol for the holy. At the last section of the argument of the Jews, two of the men go to stand in the pool and baptize each other, visually 'walking on water'.

Herodias is ushered offstage for the dance of the seven veils --- her 'I do not wish her to dance!' in this adaptation seems less borne from the jealousy favored in other adaptations and more out of genuine concern for her daughter

Dance of the seven veils --- The stage being empty except for Herod and Salome gives the scene an unsettling sexual danger. The two shadows of Salome cast by the light are excellent, giving a dance done by one performer a wonderful amount of visual impact.

Salome shifts over the course of the dance from coquettish to juvenile to reluctant. Particularly affecting is when Salome decides she's done 2/3 of the way through and sits down, only for Herod to drag her up again, after which she dances with more jarring movements.

There's also a really nice perversion of the earlier baptism scenes where Salome paws herself with water in a kind of grotesque wet t-shirt contest. Nice.

Salome after the dance is almost smug, recovered from her earlier vulnerability when she makes clear why she wants Jokanaan's head by rutting up against the platter she is to receive it on. Her line 'I'm not obeying my mother. I'm asking this for my own pleasure' is REALLY good here.

Salome repeatedly insisting on Jokanaan's head is great in this version. She snarls her lines, prowls, and finally slams the platter to the floor before getting her way. She stands in the pool the whole time, and when she is finally told she will get the head of Jokanaan she casually takes Herod's cup of wine, drinks some, and tosses the rest in the water. It's really good.

Herod's repeated insistence throughout the play that something bad will happen is actually being pulled off here. His constant spells of anxiety and fear as he becomes less and less stable are really compelling. Herod seems to see the plot of the opera for what it is and is terrified --- Herodias dismisses him as mad as she dismisses Jokanaan's prophecies. I'd love it if he went the extra mile with the 4th wall. He gets very close to staring into the audience to entreat them to confirm what he fears. Do they hear the sound of winds and see the bad omens? 'Winds' can even stand in for the score here in a fun way.

Salome leans down to taunt Johanaan's head, and spits the word 'dead' at him in this really wonderful falling-pitch growl.

When she finishes, she actually drops Johanaan's head in the water. It thunks.

This is a meta one but when Salome's actress stays on stage for her bows she blows kisses to the audience with her bloody hands. It's really good.

Things I disliked:

Why is Salome in yellow. Come on now.

Aforementioned Jokanaan problems. Lose the blazer please.

I'm sorry, I hate the tree. I understand why it's there and it's a wonderful feat of stage effects but I hate it.

Costumes in general are kind of a flop in this adaptation. Everything's so default, and what isn't default is wrong.

Generalized choreography failures during seven veils. There's a lot of strange places where there was a very obvious better thing to do that they just. didn't do. The lack of the titular seven veils doesn't have to be disappointing --- it's a change that gives you more flexibility and adapts well to different settings --- but you need to put something else there if you're going to lose the veils. There is not enough to replace it in this production.

The page is barely a role in this staging, which makes Narraboth's suicide lose a little impact.

Speaking of Narraboth's suicide --- not enough blood. There wasn't even a pool for Herod to feasibly slip in. I could have lived with that if there was NO blood, if they just decided to blow the whole blood budget on Jokanaan's head, but there WAS blood, it was just like, 2 cups. Not enough blood!

BLOCKING. There are so many missed blocking opportunities. It's like they deliberately tried to do as little as possible. I hate it.

Final rating: 3/5

You can watch the whole thing and draw your own conclusions here.

[writingwithcolor]

What Does Our "Motivations” PSA Mean?

@luminalalumini said:

I've been on your blog a lot and it has a lot of really insightful information, but I notice a theme with some of your answers where you ask the writer reaching out what their 'motivation for making a character a certain [race/religion/ethnicity/nationality] is' and it's discouraging to see, because it seems like you're automatically assigning the writer some sort of ulterior motive that must be sniffed out and identified before the writer can get any tips or guidance for their question. Can't the 'motive' simply be having/wanting to have diversity in one's work? Must there be an 'ulterior motive'? I can understand that there's a lot of stigma and stereotypes and bad influence that might lead to someone trynna add marginalized groups into their stories for wrong reasons, but people that have those bad intentions certainly won't be asking for advice on how to write good representation in the first place. Idk its just been something that seemed really discouraging to me to reach out myself, knowing i'll automatically be assigned ulterior motives that i don't have and will probably have to justify why i want to add diversity to my story as if i'm comitting some sort of crime. I don't expect you guys to change your blog or respond to this or even care all that much, I'm probably just ranting into a void. I'm just curious if theres any reason to this that I haven't realized exists I suppose. I don't want y'all to take this the wrong way because I do actually love and enjoy your blog's advice in spite of my dumb griping. Cheers :))

We assume this is in reference to the following PSA:

PSA to all of our users - Motivation Matters: This lack of clarity w/r to intent has been a general issue with many recent questions. Please remember that if you don’t explain your motivations and what you intend to communicate to your audience with your plot choices, character attributes, world-building etc., we cannot effectively advise you beyond the information you provide. We Are Not Mind Readers. If, when drafting these questions, you realize you can’t explain your motivations, that is likely a hint that you need to think more on the rationales for your narrative decisions. My recommendation is to read our archives and articles on similar topics for inspiration while you think. I will be attaching this PSA to all asks with similar issues until the volume of such questions declines. 

We have answered this in three parts.

1. Of Paved Roads and Good Intentions

Allow me to give you a personal story, in solidarity towards your feelings:

When I began writing in South Asia as an outsider, specifically in the Kashmir and Lahore areas, I was doing it out of respect for the cultures I had grown up around. I did kathak dance, I grew up on immigrant-cooked North Indian food, my babysitters were Indian. I loved Mughal society, and every detail of learning about it just made me want more. The minute you told me fantasy could be outside of Europe, I hopped into the Mughal world with two feet. I was 13. I am now 28.

And had you asked me, as a teenager, what my motives were in giving my characters’ love interests blue or green eyes, one of them blond hair, my MC having red-tinted brown hair that was very emphasized, and a whole bunch of paler skinned people, I would have told you my motives were “to represent the diversity of the region.” 

I’m sure readers of the blog will spot the really, really toxic and colourist tropes present in my choices. If you’re new here, then the summary is: giving brown people “unique” coloured eyes and hair that lines up with Eurocentric beauty standards is an orientalist trope that needs to be interrogated in your writing. And favouring pale skinned people is colourist, full stop.

Did that make me a bad person with super sneaky ulterior motives who wanted to write bad representation? No.

It made me an ignorant kid from the mostly-white suburbs who grew up with media that said brown people had to “look unique” (read: look as European as possible) to be considered valuable.

And this is where it is important to remember that motives can be pure as you want, but you were still taught all of the terrible stuff that is present in society. Which means you’re going to perpetuate it unless you stop and actually question what is under your conscious motive, and work to unlearn it. Work that will never be complete.

I know it sounds scary and judgemental (and it’s one of the reasons we allow people to ask to be anonymous, for people who are afraid). Honestly, I would’ve reacted much the same as a younger writer, had you told me I was perpetuating bad things. I was trying to do good and my motives were pure, after all! But after a few years, I realized that I had fallen short, and I had a lot more to learn in order for my motives to match my impact. Part of our job at WWC is to attempt to close that gap.

We aren’t giving judgement, when we ask questions about why you want to do certain things. We are asking you to look at the structural underpinnings of your mind and question why those traits felt natural together, and, more specifically, why those traits felt natural to give to a protagonist or other major character.

I still have blond, blue-eyed characters with sandy coloured skin. I still have green-eyed characters. Because teenage me was right, that is part of the region. But by interrogating my motive, I was able to devalue those traits within the narrative, and I stopped making those traits shorthand for “this is the person you should root for.” 

It opened up room for me to be messier with my characters of colour, even the ones who my teenage self would have deemed “extra special.” Because the European-associated traits (pale hair, not-brown-eyes) stopped being special. After years of questioning, they started lining up with my motive of just being part of the diversity of the region.

Motive is important, both in the conscious and the subconscious. It’s not a judgement and it’s not assumed to be evil. It’s simply assumed to be unquestioned, so we ask that you question it and really examine your own biases.

~Mod Lesya

2. Motivations Aren't Always "Ulterior"

You can have a positive motivation or a neutral one or a negative one. Just wanting to have diversity only means your characters aren't all white and straight and cis and able-bodied -- it doesn't explain why you decided to make this specific character specifically bi and specifically Jewish (it me). Yes, sometimes it might be completely random! But it also might be "well, my crush is Costa Rican, so I gave the love interest the same background", or "I set it in X City where the predominant marginalized ethnicity is Y, so they are Y". Neither of these count as ulterior motives. But let's say for a second that you did accidentally catch yourself doing an "ulterior." Isn't that the point of the blog, to help you find those spots and clean them up?

Try thinking of it as “finding things that need adjusting” rather than “things that are bad” and it might get less scary to realize that we all do them, subconsciously. Representation that could use some work is often the product of subconscious bias, not deliberate misrepresentation, so there's every possibility that someone who wants to improve and do better didn't do it perfectly the first time. 

--Shira

3. Dress-Making as a Metaphor

I want to echo Lesya’s sentiments here but also provide a more logistical perspective. If you check the rubber stamp guide here and the “Motivation matters” PSA above, you’ll notice that concerns with respect to asker motivation are for the purposes of providing the most relevant answer possible.

It is a lot like if someone walks into a dressmaker’s shop and asks for a blue dress/ suit (Back when getting custom-made clothes was more of a thing) . The seamstress/ tailor is likely to ask a wide variety of questions:

What material do you want the outfit to be made of?

Where do you plan to wear it?

What do you want to highlight?

How do you want to feel when you wear it?

Let’s say our theoretical customer is in England during the 1920s. A tartan walking dress/ flannel suit for the winter is not the same as a periwinkle, beaded, organza ensemble/ navy pinstripe for formal dress in the summer. When we ask for motivations, we are often asking for exactly that: the specific reasons for your inquiry so we may pinpoint the most pertinent information.

The consistent problem for many of the askers who receive the PSA is they haven’t even done the level of research necessary to know what they want to ask of us. It would be like if our English customer in the 1920s responded, “IDK, some kind of blue thing.” Even worse,  WWC doesn’t have the luxury of the back-and-forth between a dressmaker and their clientele. If our asker doesn’t communicate all the information they need in mind at the time of submission, we can only say, “Well, I’m not sure if this is right, but here’s something. I hope it works, but if you had told us more, we could have done a more thorough job.”

Answering questions without context is hard, and asking for motivations, by which I mean the narratives, themes, character arcs and other literary devices that you are looking to incorporate, is the best way for us to help you, while also helping you to determine if your understanding of the problem will benefit from outside input. Because these asks are published with the goal of helping individuals with similar questions, the PSA also serves to prompt other users.

I note that asking questions is a skill, and we all start by asking the most basic questions (Not stupid questions, because to quote a dear professor, “There are no stupid questions.”). Unfortunately, WWC is not suited for the most basic questions. To this effect, we have a very helpful FAQ and archive as a starting point. Once you have used our website to answer the more basic questions, you are more ready to approach writing with diversity and decide when we can actually be of service. This is why we are so adamant that people read the FAQ. Yes, it helps us, but it also is there to save you time and spare you the ambiguity of not even knowing where to start.

The anxiety in your ask conveys to me a fear of being judged for asking questions. That fear is not something we can help you with, other than to wholeheartedly reassure you that we do not spend our unpaid, free time answering these questions in order to assume motives we can’t confirm or sit in judgment of our users who, as you say, are just trying to do better.

Yes, I am often frustrated when an asker’s question makes it clear they haven’t read the FAQ or archives. I’ve also been upset when uncivil commenters have indicated that my efforts and contributions are not worth their consideration. However, even the most tactless question has never made me think, “Ooh this person is such a naughty racist. Let me laugh at them for being a naughty racist. Let me shame them for being a naughty racist. Mwahaha.”

What kind of sad person has time for that?*

Racism is structural. It takes time to unlearn, especially if you’re in an environment that doesn’t facilitate that process to begin with. Our first priority is to help while also preserving our own boundaries and well-being. Though I am well aware of the levels of toxic gas-lighting and virtue signaling that can be found in various corners of online writing communities in the name of “progressivism*”, WWC is not that kind of space. This space is for discussions held in good faith: for us to understand each other better, rather than for one of us to “win” and another to “lose.”

Just as we have good faith that you are doing your best, we ask that you have faith that we are trying to do our best by you and the BIPOC communities we represent.

- Marika.

*If you are in any writing or social media circles that feed these anxieties or demonstrate these behaviors, I advise you to curtail your time with them and focus on your own growth. You will find, over time, that it is easier to think clearly when you are worrying less about trying to appease people who set the bar of approval so high just for the enjoyment of watching you jump. “Internet hygiene”, as I like to call it, begins with you and the boundaries you set with those you interact with online.

[gorgojijijijito]

thoughts on daughter of discord?

oh boy do i have thoughts

i only watched the full thing once with a friend so i dont remember all of it, but of what i do remember, 1. rarity was done even dirtier than BOD; 2. they were so mean to rarity's daughter for literally no reason???? she literally didnt do anything and they always called her a spoiled brat or smth??? i feel so bad for her; 3. yes most of my problems have to do with rarity - i hate that shes encouraged to stay with fancypants bc it was changelings making him look like he was cheating on rarity. like yeah girl you should talk to him abt it like an adult but YOU CAN STILL LEAVE HIM FOR BEING A SHITTY DAD TO JEWEL 😭; 4. hey dick cordddd ur still manipulative af; 5. YOURE TELLING ME THERES ONE QUEER RELATIONSHIP IN THE ENTIRE SERIES AND THEY DIDNT EVEN GET TOGETHER??? FOR A SUPER SMALL REASON COMPARED TO WHY OTHERS SHOULDNT BE TOGETHER???????? come on now; 6. get all the baby filler away from me rn why the FUCK did literally ALL of them have to bang except for ONE; 7. fuck outta here applespike

i think thats mostly all of my qualms with it, but other than that i think it was a good watch. it doesnt stay with me as long as BOD did (prob bc i wasnt able to watch all of it as a child) but i think romance-wise, this love story was LEAGUES better than the last one. also i like how it kind of repeats the same moral of the last one, but in a different circumstance that poses new pros and cons.

with BOD, discord was only one person. he was an all-powerful, godly person, but he was still one mind. the changelings in DOD, on the other hand, are an entire nation. this isnt the same "misunderstood outsider" trope that we see with zecora or discord, this is an entire species; one that even themselves believe is physically incapable of loving.

mothball(which is literally the cutest name for a bug-themed character ever) is first in line to lead his species, so you can imagine the expectations and resentment that come with that; he has barely any real support on either side, queen chrysalis being the only adult he can really emotionally rely on. this is what makes his inner conflict so interesting, his empathy constantly at odds with his mother's ideology and his own biological needs.

screwball is also interesting, considering her dad is the lord of chaos and ex-tyrant, and her mom is an element of harmony, kindness incarnate. it's a classic nature/nuture debate kind of plot, but with a twist in that both sides are her nature AND nurture, the only turmulous factor in her life being her environment only percieving the chaotic side; some of it isn’t unfounded either, as she obviously tends to gravitate towards discord more (which is normal, considering most kids tend to have a favorite parent anyway). even if i really dont like the enabling nature of dick cord and how fluttershy is a punching bag again, i find screwball’s concept endearing.

also she and mothball are like, actually adorable. i find it ironic that the canon characters were altered to make an insufferable couple and the basically OCs were the outstanding romance. unlike fluttercord’s REALLY disturbing power dynamic and coercion, screw and moth managed to balance each other out, and (lemme yell it for the ponies in the back) WERE BOTH WILLING TO BE TOGETHER 💥💥💥💥

theres also smth strangely nostalgic about their dynamic. screwball has been the outcast her entire life, her lineage and connection to discord subjecting her to a lot of emotional turmoil. the only reason she has a group of friends is because of her mom’s rank and social circle as well, i dont think she’s had very much room for change or fantasy when her parents were trying to heal the damage the circumstance of their meeting caused for equestria. falling in love with the prince of an enemy nation is cliche and basically copied off of the lion king 2, but i love it in that sense because its probably one of her first instances of living through what seems to be a fairytale. it’s a kind of yearn for teenage rebellion and unpredictability that she’s had to keep trapped within a swamp in the everfree for most of her life, but even though it brings her so much happiness to be with mothball, it also leads her into great danger that her upbringing didn’t prepare her for. she’s scolded for standing up to her bullies and scrutinized for the nature of her character, so what can she do when faced with her very own romeo & juliet tale while entire nations seethe above them?

oh also i love how they incorporated the changelings’ presences in the story before the mane six are aware of their threat, even calling back to mentioned conflicts in BOD. they really use their shapeshifting powers to the most in this installment, and i think the instance that hit me in the gut most is the romantic isolation of twilight. especially with the context that this series was created specifically for shipping; what an insidious thing to keep her from finding love along with her friends to keep her alone as everyone else creates families. i, as an aromantic person, also feel a form of anxiety knowing most of the important people in my life may drift away in the event of marriage and forming roots while i probably wont. so yeah imagine that but with a newly-immortal princess who actually WANTS a romantic relationship, with people who are revealed to be actively keeping one from her - thats gut wrenching for me to think about.

when it comes to the music, i appreciate the effort they put into making original songs, but i also am just. unable to appreciate them bc the changelings voice filter just diesnt translate well to music at aaaaaaallllll. which is a shame bc it stood out so much that i cant remember anything ABOUT the original music. im prob gonna try to see if theres any normal renditions of the ost after i post this but yeah

[knight--error]

You asked, I'll answer!

I think the three main rivals to Taylor's kingdom would be Coil, Kaiser, and Lung. In my hypothetical setting, I think Dinah would actually be Taylor's younger sister, and Coil wants a betrothal to Dinah as a way to solidify the bond between their nations and eventually absorb Taylorland. Obviously Taylor doesn't want her sister engaged to That Gross Man so she's stalling to try to find a way out of it while keeping Coil as an ally.

Kaiser's nation is a kingdom of slavers with a good bit of Viking influence, constantly raiding Taylor's shores and harrying her shipping lines.

Lung would either be a dragonborn or a druid whose Wild Shape is totally OP. I think his kingdom would be the newest and most unstable, forged together by force out of a collection of city-states and unconnected tribes. He's currently trying to seize the much better farmland in Taylor's country to help stabilize his rule.

The question would be how (or if) to include the PRT and most of the hero capes. I think it could be kind of interesting if all these rival kingdoms are technically part of an empire, but one that's in its last stage of crumbling decline, leaving its vassal states without necessary funding, infrastructure, or protection. Under that paradigm, the PRT would be the empire's representatives trying to act like there's still a cohesive empire when everyone knows it won't even exist in name within a few years.

This could perhaps lead to a final, Epic level plot in which the Empress (Doctor Mother) makes a deal with some manner of Gods Beyond to reforge her empire—or perhaps the reveal that she made this deal years ago, and has been quietly working in the shadows to fulfill the Path she's been given. Members of Cauldron would fill out her royal court and the Protectorate heroes our PCs have been frenemies with have to now choose sides as Doctor Empress brings some manner of horrifying violence to bear in order to re-conquer the continent.

Other ancillary chatacters:

I think it would be fun to have the Endbringers be 3 different tarrasques set on the land by some kind of ancient curse. Since D&D has healing and other beneficial powers on a much more common basis than Worm, these attacks are less horrific on the whole, but still do a ton of damage. After a tarrasque is "killed" it dissolves onto one of the other planes, only to reform some months later and terrorize another city.

I find the Endbringer expies especially fun because they're a great way to do the same thing in the campaign as happened in Worm: show the main characters that there is a WAY bigger world out there that WILL kill them. I'd have a tarrasque attack discussed ahead of time by NPCs, then somewhere around level 5, it attacks the city the PCs are currently in. I'd have an OOC and very direct talk to the players: you CANNOT kill this thing. If you try to fight it, you will die. It will literally eat you. And then I'd run the attack as a series of skill challenges as the players attempt to save civilians and support the higher level NPCs trying to kill the thing. They'd still get a bucket load of XP from this, and it'll make higher level play even cooler, when they're the ones actually scoring the winning blow.

The Slaughterhouse 9 I'd probably bring in as a roving band of pillagers or maybe mercenaries. They're less of a threat and less of a horror show, but they're tough enemies for the PCs to fight; probably hired by Kaiser or Coil to make things worse for Taylor.

I love Danny so I don't want him dead, but it's also way more interesting if Taylor is the main mover and shaker in her kingdom, so I think he's been cursed by some kind of wandering madness and is kind of like Pelennor in Arthurian myth. PCs maybe interact with him first without knowing who he is and he plays out as a very humanizing tragedy for Taylor, who has mostly been very cold and ruthless till this point.

Other heroes and villains I'd bring in as situations demand, making up the lower level players in various villages, towns, and smaller cities.

That. Got away for me. I should remember to save this for if I ever get to do it, haha.

One of my dearest fondest dreams is to someday run a good long D&D campaign where I just straight up steal all the characters from Worm to make my grand political setting.

Like in my mind, Taylor is the teenage crown princess of a city-state and the most ruthless politicker in the world as she plays her much bigger neighbors off of each other to keep her independence. Armsmaster would be her chief knight who will eventually betray her for personal gain. The Undersiders would be her mini-boss squad of covert operatives. Dragon is a powerful but secretive wizard influencing things from afar.

I'd add in more as I workshop things but I feel like that would be a ton fun.

[thatoldstandby]

Top 5 Gundam series

Top 5 Gundam designs

Oh this is fun. Luckily I have Top 5 Gundams (from an unrelated thing a few years ago) already prepped. First off, series, in (very) loose Order:

Mobile Suit Z Gundam - I think it's probably Tomino's best long-form Gundam. The characters and arcs are great and follow excellently from where they were left off in 0079, the action is good, the designs are top-tier. The new characters are good. It's as brutal as it needs to be. Jerid is the most hilariously pathetic rival, which he should be. As much as Tomino's weirdness about women is present, it's not as bad as it would get later. Plus this is the first Gundam series I owned and I still love that boxset, even if I'm not 100% sure where it is these days.

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket - I think this is the best Gundam thing period. In five episodes it tells a moving narrative that ties the two major themes of the Gundam franchise (The inhumanity and horrors of war and humanities inability to communicate such that the aforementioned horrors are prevented) into a super tight five episode format. It also features mechanical designs from Yutaka Izubuchi, and I love them all. Of note, the Zaku II never looked better, the Kaempfer is one of the only good Zeonic suits, and the NT-1 Alex is one of my favorite Gundam designs period. What a perfect show, especially when paired with hamburger.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam - The first AU Gundam, a straightforward martial arts inspired tournament full of hot-blooded revenge and screaming. Given that I was watching it as it aired on Toonami, it's full of nostalgia with me, but unlike Wing, I think this has aged better? Not necessarily perfectly; a lot of the Gundam's designs rely on national stereotypes, which isn't a great look and is more than a bit racist. Neo Mexico's Gundam is called the Tequila Gundam, for example, but conversely, Neo America's Maxter Gundam is a football player with six-shooters that can turn into a boxer, so who's to say if it's bad. For what it's worth, it seems to have a sense of humor about itself, and it handles the two aforementioned themes of the Gundam franchise in a unique way that's actually kind of uplifting at the end of the day.

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn - The story is kind of a mess, especially that last episode; the McGuffin sucks; Bananas Link and Full Frontal are terrible pro- and an- tagonists respectively. But even so! I love so much of the side cast in this. Audrey is great, Marida may be the best cyber newtype character in the franchise, and it's in general really good (up until that last episode). More than that though, the main mechanical designer behind the series is Hajime Katoki, who is far and away my favorite Gundam mechanical designer. I adore his takes on the series and his general design aesthetic, which is really distinctive. It's also one of the reasons I love the Ver. Ka Gunpla lines. Of note, this is only about the OVA version; I'm aware they chopped and screwed it a bit for a full series release afterwards, but I can't imagine the pacing actually holds up in that format.

Gundam Build Fighters - It's a fun Saturday Morning Cartoon that knows exactly what it wants to be and hits that perfectly. It's set in a world where the predominant exhibition sport is building custom Gunpla and then destroying them in fights with other people's Gunpla, and the world economy seems to be entirely based around the concept. It's just fun, and full of obvious love for Gundam as a franchise. The Build series also gets progressively worse, to the point that I stopped watching after Divers because of some of it's plot choices.

As to specific Gundams, in a still super-lose but slightly more ordered list....

RX-78-06 Mudrock Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front) - I don't fully know why I love this as much as I do, but I do. It's one of the (many) Grandpa Gundam variants added in in the side materials, which generally annoys me, but not here apparently. I think I dig the primary dark blue color? Idk. It's just a thing.

RX-93 Nu Gundam (Char’s Counterattack) - This one I know why I love. It's the Fin Funnels, specifically in the Fin Funnel rack. They're cool conceptually, they animate wonderfully, and they add a neat bit of flavor to a classic Gundam design. Special shout outs to having a bunch of great spin-off designs. The RX-93-v2 Hi-Nu is a beautiful design that may be better than the Nu depending on how it's designed, and the RX-94 Mass Produced Type Nu has a really unique color scheme that works better than it has any right to.

AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra (Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory) - In my notes for the other thing, I left this at "the only good Zeonic design," which is unfair because the Kaempfer also exists, and doubly unfair because it was designed as a Gundam initially and then hastily turned into a Zeonic unit to make a quick buck. But it's good! I'm not 100% sure why this works for me and so many other Zeon-style suits don't. Shame about it being in a bad OVA though.

RX-0 Unicorn Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn) - The Unicorn is two suits in one, and I love both. Unicorn mode is kind of bland given that it's all white, but it's broken up by greebling implied by the panel lines, and it looks excellent. Super clean. Like if Apple made a Mobile Suit (which I also mean derogatorily, I get the complaints about it.) And then it has a sailor moon transformation into Destroy mode, where it's closer to a classic Gundam design, what with the V-fin and face mask, but it's still super clean with the white and red highlights.

RX-80-PR Pale Rider (Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link) - I think this is just a really cool GM-style grunt unit. This feels really tacticool to me in a way that I love, kind of like the RGM-96X Jesta.

MRC-F20 SUMO (Turn A Gundam) - Bonus sixth entry because it's my list. The SUMO is super cool looking and piloted by maybe the best Char clone. I really need to watch Turn A.