#based on the scene in the og script

[sophie-jane-silver]

Neil hc:

Neil always has small wounds on his knuckles and fingers. Its really small, like paper cuts, and for some reason there're more cuts when hes upset/after he talked to his father. Todd never worries though. It probably is just paper cuts :)

[quinngefail]

So unfortunately I have this fuck ass anxiety disorder. And thus I also have this need to justify everything I do. So this rambling about The Saw Content is absolutely being fueled by a lot of irrational worry but also maybe just rambling about it will help calm that worry lmao

Like I've constantly got this worry over YOU'RE DOING THIS WRONG and THAT WRONG and THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN LIKE THAT. But I've also just sorta found the words for the characterizations I've been writing for the chainshipping arts + content in general lmao- been thinking about it and it's just like,, The canon material to work with really are just small glimpses into both character's lives, and who they are. And it just so happens in that in these small glimpses, both characters are in different states of misery. And like,, OBVIOUSLY IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING that it's something that's very much affecting the both of them, in varying ways. In the way they act, make decisions, treat others, etc etc etc... and not that this misery is the sole reason for this or that, but. Something that is clearly affecting their lives, nonetheless-

(Which just a quick aside, this is not me wanting to justify or excuse either of their wrongdoings, of course. It's just like, I CAN SEE THE UNHAPPINESS BEING A REASON FOR WHY X OR Y OR Z HAPPENED THE WAY IT DID, Y'KNOW,)

So a lot of what I think about with them is what they'd be like if they were in truly content + happy states, and put in the work to get to those states. If they tackled their demons, and wanted to be better for themselves and others. And that's the story that I'm most interested in exploring with the both of em, y’know 😭 ? It's about the love, happiness, and redemption, 🤌

And I am also probably just yapping here and I maybe don't need to clarify any of this lol, and also it's like. I'm sitting here fretting and worrying over things that are genuinely completely trivial in The Grand Scope of life. But uhh

Anxiety Disorder Moment 🙌

[littlesapphicraccoonguy]

A few doodles of Zepp plus one of Adam :3

[absolutebl]

Lovesick 2014 versus Lovesick 2024

Rebooting the OG BL, Thailand? Are you sure that's wise?

I don't think anyone is ready for the depths I'm about to go to. But the gauntlet was thrown and comparisons must be made.

Generally when an IP is being remade by a different country I try to cut it slack and evaluate based on fresh eyes and different standards. But this is an actual reboot, not a reinterpretation.

Challenge accepted, Thailand.

A tiny bit of background......

I was one of those who watched Lovesick (LS14 aka the original) early on in my BL journey. No, not when it was airing, but the BL cut when it was first put up on YT (or maybe it was grey first?) hard subbed by fans way back before Netflix picked it up (and then dropped it). So yeah, it's been a while. and I LOVED it. I've rewatched it MULTIPLE times.

I like YA narratives and I enjoy high school BL and that is probably all Lovesick's fault. But nostalgia is a toxic emotion, so I'm trying to give the reboot (LS24 aka the new version) some credit.

But for those who don't know Love Sick is The Original Thai BL. Do not argue. It just is.

The plan is to do a general round up and comparison of broad aspects of script, filming, and acting at the very end, but as it airs I decided to do a "watch off." You ready?

And now......

Boys in Blue Shorts

LS24 Episode 1 versus LS14-s1 Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 

They did a smart thing tailoring the whole thing down to just the BL thread from the original. And removing the opening party sequence is definitely a win.

However, with less time spent on all the ensemble characters in the opening three episodes, it’s a lot harder to keep such a large cast of characters straight (irony), especially the music club.

Also they materially damage the evolution of Noh & Phun's romance by losing the actual first sleepover and the "eating out with the girls" scenes, which really bonded the two boys in friendship prior to the "water fight crash into me" romantic beginning. By skipping to just the first flush of romance, PhunNoh feels rushed.

* UPDATE!! Spies report in that a lot of the stuff I complain about missing in the 2024 version is in the uncut version on iQIYI. (Which is longer by as much as 25%!) So I am rewatching it there and updating this post accordingly.

We got the entire arc of their first brush with love in just episode one of LS24. Which comes off as fast and cliffs-notes esk. However, it's more in line with modern Thai BL (which is rarely slow burn) and also more sexy and physical, less intimate and emotional. 

I've never liked the first two episodes of LS14, but episodes 3 & 4 are killer. Not to mention important to the plot and to the history of Thai BL.

In the end, because the cutting floor choices impacted the weight and emotional resonance of the main romance thread, I’m (still) going to give this one to the original. But you absolutely must watch the uncut version of the new version, it makes a massive difference.

2014 wins (but only just)

LS24 Episode 2 versus LS14-s1 Episodes 5, 6, 7 

The "Phun sick at Noh's house" is a lot more flirtatious in the new version but I missed the shoulder in the car and Noh snapping at Aim from the original. But I like Noh choosing to be a bolster pillow and offering himself (rather than being coerced), and the near kiss is better in the new version.

The new version also makes Phun more pitiable, like he sees Noh as a place/person of refuge. I like that a lot better for his character (and queerness).

Making Aim’s quandary (and personality flaws) nested in an actual queer crises (similar to Phun's) is a better tactic for sympathy, so this second ep really got me with some nice modernizations.

Phun freezing Noh out strikes hard in both versions but we lost Noh's identity crisis and Phun's crisis of conscience this time around.

The "letting go of the hand" is more powerful in the original, but it was also pretty good in the new one.

I hate to do this but, I have to......

2024 wins 

I say this knowing that the hand in the bookstore is and forever will be one of the most iconic moments in BL history.

If you disagree with me you can, literally, talk to the hand.

LS24 Episode 3 versus LS14-s1 Episodes 8, 9, 10 

The drunken confession, kiss, and the escape to the beach.

No kiss in the new version (which is WILD), but the old version hardly counted either.

In 2024 they have to make Phun have a long term crush and Noh be softer over gay feels to compensate for a tighter timeframe. These changes I don’t mind, but it does modernize the BLness of it all.

I really like that Phun was questioning his own sexuality when he initially asked Noh to fake date, and that the real reason was that he was testing himself. That is, frankly, more realistic to a queer coming of age, and makes the fake dating plot lest stupid. And it makes Phun a more likable character.

The shouting confessions in the new version were really cute too. As was the crying.

But I’m sad that we got no kiss and no back hug or chin down hug.

The original is so much more poignant, and so much more messy and so much more teenage about everything.

I cried in the original and I didn’t in the reboot.

"If it takes no time at all to fall in love, why does it hurt so bad to say goodbye?" 

Whatever way that script is translated, it’s a great line. 

Ep 10 from 2014 is a real dud tho. 

Argh! What to do? This one is a draw. 

No winner. 

An interesting thing about this show i never thought about during my many watches of the original: Phun has a harder time, even though he brought it on himself, partly because Noh is accustomed to being like where Phun is not. Phun, as the rich kid, is used to being envied and admired even respected. But not genuinely liked. The fact that Noh genuinely liked him for him (and not what he has) is a huge reason he can't let go.

I think the newer version showcases Phun's character in general a lot better than the original, and yeah I do think that is partly a superior actor this time around. Sorry, White.

LS24 Episode 4 versus LS14-s1 EPisodes 11, 12 & LS14-s2 Episodes 1, 2 

Earn loans the money and sports day commences.

Necklace drama and Phun’s jealousy, especially in the council room, is better in the new version. It’s just more vicious and petty and appropriate to teenagers. Plus a proper kabedon.

I did miss the face touch, forehead kiss, and “we don’t actually belong to each another” line. 

Argh that was SUCH are great line.

Not to mention the iconic standing in the street:

But, again, the opening eps of season 2 back in 2015 were very much not good, so condensing them down is an improvement.

Decisions, decisions.

No I can't, it's a draw again.

No winner.

LS24 Episode 5 versus LS14-s2 Episodes 2, 3, 4

Sports day continues, Phun thwarts Earn, the overalls scene du jour. 

Earn, the original, remains one of the greatest queer role models ever put into a BL. There is just no contest, sorry not sorry.

He is the King.

The new version has a public shoulder lean plus and epic "MINE" glare. You know I love a claiming.

But the big after party is much better in the old version.

But the switch of Golf’s character to Grace and the reason she left the school is absolutely genius and possibly my favorite change that has been made in the new series so far.

Oh but I really LOVE the drunken bathtub scene in the original.

This is a hard call.

But I simply must give it to the original. (Super props on Gracie tho, nice call 2024.)  

2014 wins 

LS24 Episode 6 versus LS14-s2 Episodes 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 10

This new version speaks out loud more of the angst and messiness. The original let that simmer and be shown more than it was told. Interesting twist on the video evidence. 

(I love the tiny side couple of tough kid + the dork of the music club. Nice little ship, that.)

And...... We’re done with the beach visit already? The original took 4 eps! Which definitely could’ve been condensed down. Still no sunrise after sleeping in lawn chairs, no confession no nothing. Also lost one of the most iconic lines in all BL by leaving that section out.

It’s a terrible feeling, not knowing where the line is between us.

It’s so good. Hard to forgive the new version for losing it. Not to mention there's no Noh calling Earn to ask for his advice and Earn being torn over what to do with a bisexual crisis. Also "morning kiss krab."

But episode 9 of the original is entirely unnecessary and large chunks of 8 and 10 are as well. I can’t believe I entirely blocked out forgot about the singing competition. I mean, this is me, I always fast-forward through most of the singing stuff, but I forgot this whole part of season two.

Again, I lament the loss of iconic moments from the original script more than anything else, but because of the sheer quantity of superfluous flack in the original, and the fact that the new Phun is the prettiest pouty baby, this point has to go to the new version. 

2024 wins

LS24 Episode 7 versus LS14-s2 Episodes 11, 12, 13, 14

New Phun’s bitch face really is exceptional. I kind of enjoy everybody ribbing the two of them because they have no idea what’s actually going on. 

End of the auditions and the “repairing the couch Earn flirts” scene. Phun v jelly. I do like the way Earn puts it in this one, basically “I can’t fight against you if you don’t even know what you’re fighting for.” AKA you aren’t a worthy opponent. 

He’s nicer in this version. In the original, the confrontation between these two was much nastier. 

I love how Noh consciously winds Phun up in this version. It was really nice to see Noh get a bit of his own back. Of course Phun is sulky about it. He didn’t deserve to be rewarded with Noh’s confession but at least he didn’t let it just rest there, but gave his own back. We lost the problematic “not gay” line in the new version, which is very good. BUT we also lost the original shouting “I like you” across the court for all the nongs to overhear. Which is sad. Plus new version has much less Pete. Original ep 12 was epic.

We lost the phone flirting from the original, which was very cute. So I did very much miss that. 

The party at Noh’s. 

In the original, this has probably the best sequence of scripting in BL history. (Noh & Golf through the door) Where Noh talks about what it means to truly love somebody.

Mostly because they cut that bit out in the new version, I’m afraid I have to give this one to the original.

2014 wins

LS24 Episode 8 versus LS14-s2 Episodes 15, 16

The clip is discovered, the after effects of the party, the showering with Ohm, and the confrontation over Aim.

Okay so the post it love note of sweetness is better in 2024.

The Per/Win story arc never interested me in 2014 and I’m not enjoying it in 2024 either. But Mick & Ohm are better in 2024. Nong Mick is a standout character, and a brilliant glow up in this version. Confident little shit (affectionate). 

Helpful boyfriend Phun was darling. The bits where they are together as a couple really are the best. It’s when the rest of the world intrudes that things goes south.

I absolutely loved Aim's confrontation with her mother in the new version. It was stellar. And something that would never have been depicted 10 years ago.

Ah those classic high school trials and tribulations when your boyfriend has footage of your girlfriend with another girl. We’ve all been there.

Honestly, this is a much more messy and much better break up for Aim and Phun. More dramatic and more public. I like that change. 

All that said we lost Earn and the rejection in the theater. Still this one was an easy call:

2024 wins 

(How crazy, by the way, that as I type this: Ngern is opposite Oat OF ALL PEOPLE in Fourever You, Pineare and Sammy are ALSO in that show, August is finally in a leading role in a different remake, Addicted Heroin, Gunsmile is BACK in a cameo and this is the show he returned too away from GMMTV. We live in wild times.)

LS24 Episode 9 versus LS14-s2 Episodes 17, 18

The music competition ends + the big break up.

I like Earn’s sincerity and open admission in the new version, and I like how genuine and delicate Noh is coping with someone crushing on him. Probably because he knows how painful it is from the other side.

The conversation between Phun and Aim was much better and more kind in the new version, too. 

Noh’s cute pink raver cartoon outfit was everything. 

All in all I’m not wild about the original episodes of this segment. Sure there were a few things that I missed but none that I remembered well enough without the rewatch. So for this and that great communication around the break up: 

2024 wins

Since the number of the old episodes being squeezed into the new version has gone down, I’m assuming they aren’t planning on encompassing all of Season 2 in 2024. I suspect we’re gonna lose the camp in the forest section. Which is a shame, is has some of my favorite scenes.

LS24 Episode 10 versus LS14-s2 Episodes 19, 20, 21

2024 Phun actually turns into Dangerous Babygirl when he is flirting, who knew? (Dangerous Babygirl is a new archetype I have just invented. Yes, I'm pleased with myself.) Noh, who is a nice goodboy, doesn’t stand a chance. Neither does Jeed, since Phun has damn near perfected “back off bitch" face.

The arm drape public claiming, it gets me every time. It has done since SOTUS. I love to see it show back up again in a show that's already harkening back to the early days. It's like they used a trope that wasn't in the original to remind us of the past.

Nong Mick is hands-down my favorite character in the new version. I love him so much I can’t stand it. Consistent Nong King behavior. He uses his cute for evil and I love it.

The dunk tank part is better in 2014 and very funny. The kiss not kiss is a thing (and was a thing at the time) but I'm hoping we get a much better one in 2024 so I wasn't sad to see it left out this time. The one thing Thailand learned before most other BL producing countries was that boys can kiss (but it would take another 3 year and MaxTul to learn 'em good.) The concert at the convent is too long either way, but it’s much longer in the original. So for that alone the original gets docked. You know me and singing. 

That said, Phun stealing Noh from the two girls is pretty epic in the original. Hard to beat. As is Per and the screaming girls. But that Per scene wouldn’t work in 2024 with his character since he's a completely different personality. Also that level of comedy kinda requires Sing to execute.

Finally we get the confession on the agreement become a couple.

Noh is a lot more game and sweet and kind and less awkward in the new version. And since secondhand embarrassment is rough for me I prefer this new one. Sure, it still feels like the 2014 is more authentic to this kind of high school queer experience. (Maybe that’s because Noh's confused awkwardness is old-fashioned and so am I.) But 2024's lap sitting and crying together was truly spectacular.

All in all a hard choice, but I'm afraid I have to say:

2024 wins 

LS24 Episode 11 versus LS14-s2 Episodes 22, 23, 24

Waking up together. first date, the famous piano scene, Yuri's lament + Yuri catches them kissing. 

This is where the teen awkward comes to the front of the class and misspells it's name...... in both versions. And it’s always a challenge to watch because Phun is so ready to come out to the world (despite the fact that he’s more at risk with his family) and Noh is so not ready (despite the fact that we know his family and friends would be happy for him). 

It stands in contrast to their personalities too, Phun who is reserved and introverted, while Noh is cheerful and outgoing. And yet it always felt (and feels) very true to character as well. Noh wants to be liked and he's scared of being teased. Phun is more sure of himself, and with fewer quieter friends.

All the couples are so sweet in the new version where as, frankly, in 2014 one I only ever gravitated to Phun, Noh, Earn, and Pete.

In this episode (11) I enjoy how they're using all these likable side couples to foil our main couple by depicting all the different ways coming out (and being out) can go: from the good to the bad to the ugly. It amplifies the angst and the pacing in this episode and it highlights that both Phun and Noh are correct in their (un)willingness to be openly together. Because they really don’t know what the consequences might be, or even if there are consequences. 

In general, this segement was full of pining, angst, and communication issues and I thought bundled together in 2024 made for a much more tense and engaging sequence than the original. So this was an easy win for the new version (even if I would have preferred a real kiss).

2024 wins 

Also props to wardrobe (HA!) for Noh's off duty outfits. I love his punk goes to Disneyland (with preppy boyfriend) aesthetic.

LS24 Episode 12 & 13 versus LS14-s2 Episodes 25, 26, 27, 28, 34

The away competition, the book carrying, pizza party, meeting the aunt, starting to act like a couple. pun v dad 

I like getting more Phun/Dad conflict backstory in the new one.

But I thought that Noh freaking out and coping with what he had to do to break up with Yuri in the older version was more authentic.

That sad I’ve never been wild about how resistant Noh is in the original to kissing and physical intimacy. That still bothers me, even though I know it’s a sign of the 2014 times. I like the more comfortable physical affection between the two characters in the newer version.

The confession to friend group was good in both versions but 2014 is ICONIC. The teasing Phun was way better than 2014. Still, the physical intimacy was so much better in 2024 so for me......

2024 wins

(close tho)

The matchup is getting a little uneven at this juncture we seem to be jumping around and borrowing bits from other parts.

LS24 Episode 14 versus LS14-s2 Episodes 35

They moved the Pam bit from the end earlier, which is actually a good idea. Although I would’ve removed it entirely. 

They also substantially took steps to fix Phun‘s dad character in the new version. I really liked that a lot. (I guess we know which political party that dad belongs to this time.) 

Honestly? The teaching part (prior to finals) in the original is one of my favorite mini sequences in BL. But the new version was even better. I didn’t think they were gonna beat it out. But they did.

Them sneaking around to sleep together at the camp never gets old. And I mean that, since it’s been 10 years and it still gets me in the throat. So good.

This is a hard call, but if they’re gonna cut out Noh giving Yuri the shirt, and Yuri’s defensive now in the girls bathroom......? The old one is definitely gonna win. As it stands right now I’m gonna give this one to the older version. But a lot of the changes that the new one made I really appreciated so I reserve the right to change my mind after the final ep.

2014 Wins 

LS24 Episode 15 versus LS14-s2 Episodes 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36

I’m quite pleased that they kept most of the stuff in the forest. And I actually like that they swapped it around so that this was the end of the series.

I think it makes for a better more satisfying ending. I like that they didn’t have Pete pine.

But. Still. Heaven forfend they give us an actual kiss. That part I did find very as disappointing. Frankly, these two would’ve done fine with a smooch.

I don’t know. In the end I think there are points in either version's favor. Neither of these Love Sicks really come out on top.

They’re both kind of representative of their time although this new one managed to be oddly nostalgic in ways that didn’t have to do with the original so much as what they chose to keep about that original.

I think, just because of the iconic nature of that last shot and the breaking of the forth wall that I'm going to hand the final to the original.

2014 Wins

The Leader Board

2014 = 5 points

2024 = 7 points

Other Factors

Script 

When they cut down this show for the new version, we lost some of the greatest and best lines ever scripted in BL of all all time. A few of them could’ve been left in. Because of that, because they didn’t keep the very best parts of the script (which is soem of the best parts of the whole show), despite the fact that they could have...... 

2014 Wins hands down 

Music

The music in the new version was band and unoticicable, but the music in the original was memorable and iconic (if not to my personal taste). Another easy win for the original.

2014 Wins

CAST 

Main couple 

I actually think that the leads in the new version are better actors than White & Captain. I know this comes off as heresy. But I just think they are superior in terms of subtlety and nuance. I also think that the new pair had much better chemistry. It feels like these two were workshopped whereas the originals definitely were not. For couple chemistry, especially at the beginning? 

2024 Wins 

Side couple 

Ohm & Mic had even less screen time than in the original, but not by much. And I have to say partly because of the actor switch between seasons in the original, that I liked this pair a million times better in the new version. 

2024 Wins 

Friendship group

The friendship aspect of the music group (Noh and Ohm's relationship in particular) is incredibly important to this story. Without it, the fabric of the piece feels substantially less robust. Therefore the original has to win in this regard. 

2014 Wins

Noh 

There is something endlessly appealing about the clumsy rawness of Captain's performance in this show. His version of Noh is just so utterly endlessly likable. And he has a genuinely adorable and an appealing screen presence. Progress did a good job, but Captain is just a little bit more charismatic.

2014 Wins 

Phun 

I am a bit of a sucker for a boy who’s good with his eyebrows, and Almond just does better eye work than White ever did. Also he shows and expresses his genuine interest and even attraction in Noh way better, probably in part because of how BL has changed in the intervening decade. But also, sorry White, Almond is just a better actor than you were back then.

2024 Wins 

Yuri 

In the original, Yuri starts out as endlessly annoying, but goes on an incredibly satisfying and quite brilliant character arc to become one of Noh’s best friends and one of the great supporters of his growth and a major linchpin of the show. There’s absolutely no way the newer version could ever compare to the original. 

2014 Wins 

Aim 

While I prefer the actress in the original, I really liked the depth that queerness gave to Aim's character in the new version. It made her a lot more relatable and understandable, even though it was a bit of a copout. It also allowed her to stay part of the narrative. I really like having the mean girl be a lesbian. It makes what she and Phun are doing to each other a little bit more like a mutual beard confusion situation and less like cheating. It’s also more feminist than punishing a female for sexual proclivity. Therefore, I’m gonna give this to the new version. 

2024 Wins

Earn 

This is a really really hard one, since Earn is my favorite character. And possibly one of my favorite characters in all BL. The original source of my ever present second lead syndrome, quite frankly. But, in the end, I can’t deviate, Ngern just set the bar so high. I'm so happy he's returned to our screens.

2014 Wins

Pete 

I know he’s a minor character, but I always  loved poor Pete , and in the original August was one of my favorite actors. (And my number one pick to star in a BL.) I really loved that the new version made both these characters honestly gay, but the original kinda didn’t have that option. Still, despite my love, I’m calling this one a draw since the first Pete won for character and the second Pete won for story. 

No winner 

FINAL TALLY

2014 = 11 points 2024 = 11 points

I swear I didn't intend it to come out that way.

(source)

[woetoy]

Twist a gal's arm why don't ya~ Next time I'm asking for something in return ;3

Breeding Vidya Games:

Corruption of Champions- The OG in my book. An older one with a lot of fun stuff and nuance. More fantasy oriented than the rest with minotaurs and hellhounds (both of which can breed the player character). One of the earliest recurring characters you meet is a goblin girl "convincing" the player character to knock her up. Stats like cum production (by the milliliter) are tracked and even minmax-able. Players encounter consumable items that cause minor transformations. Scripted birth scenes with PC and preggable NPC's. Sex scenes are also all scripted. Almost entirely text based. Might need to install Flash Debugger to run it.

Trials in Tainted Space- Essentially the Sci-Fi counterpart for the previous entry. Stats are even more granular and there are far more... Interesting transformations (You can get your character to cum MILK). Has an entire space station with a subplot devoted to "donating" your womb to repopulation of an alien species (getting paid to get pregged). Sex scenes are still scripted and text based. Important NPC's are given character portraits.

Broken Dreams Correctional Center- Similar to the previous entry, though with a Prison Colony roleplay angle. Has "Skill Trees" devoted to breeding and being bred respectively, giving differently themed bonuses to sex and combat. PROCEDURAL and DYNAMIC sex scenes (unless it's part of a characters side-quest) with animated paper doll characters. You get to slowly watch your character's belly slowly grow throughout pregnancy ❤️ Mechanics for turning your fellow inmates into breeding slaves and vice-versa~

Degrees of Lewdity- Everything from the previous entry with slightly less robust paperdoll animation. Not reeeeaaally a furry game but there are furry elements (stray dogs, foxes, wolves, and other critters can fuck and preg you). MOST ROBUST procedural dynamic sex letting you control reach different limb during sex. Wraps Combat and Sex into the same "struggle" encounters where attackers tear your clothes off and and fuck you WHILE you fight back (or don't ~). Playing dress-up is the REAL endgame.

Hole Dweller- Probably the silliest entry. Sandbox-type game with a pretty damn fun drilling minigame. Sex positions are selected from a menu when unlocked with small semi-customizable character models. You can get TURBO PREGNANT. I won't elaborate on this further.

DM me for links if you can't find em ~

Happy new year!

HYPE HYPE HYPE!!!

This is so comprehensive, thank you!!!!! Can't wait to check these out >:3c

HAPP NEW YEAR TO YOU TOO

[moustawott]

I am so fucking VINDICATED

(From the movie’s draft script, link to the full animatic at the end of the post)

I’m so upset this movie couldn’t have been just a little more obvious about Orion’s beliefs, cuz the final version does look (at first glance) like Orion is playing out the trope “nooo, we can’t kill the fascist bad guy bc killing bad”

The only reason why I picked up on the writers’ og intentions was thanks to the way D-16 was built up: it’s very, very clear that he wants to kill Sentinel only for self-satisfaction and not true justice

I think the reasons so many have misunderstood that scene were:

A. The writers not being obvious enough with Orion who’s fine with Sentinel dying, he just doesn’t want D-16 to commit murder for self-satisfaction (the movie novelization and this animatic don’t have the same problem)

B. Americans love punishment in their justice system (and online “progressive” fandoms too, I can talk about this for hours lol). A major reason why death penalty still exists in the US is because of this kind of attitude where people will seek self-satisfaction and virtue signalling above true, restorative justice. This is why people support D-16’s way of thinking so much. But Orion is right: a functional—ideal—society can’t be executing people like that, everyone must have a chance for redemption, because if we draw a line between those who deserve and those who don’t, the line will always move in a way to fuck over some random unlucky people eventually

C. People are projecting too much IDW Megatron unto TFOne Megatron. Like, sure, IDW Megatron is based and Coptimus is cursed, but this ain’t the case in TFOne 😭 like at all 😭 D-16 is obviously meant to reflect right-wing thinking (he joins the High “might is right” Guard for fucks sake)

Blah blah something something poor literacy and people lacking the ability to infer/interpret stuff and needing everything spelled out, especially with movies where there’s not just textual info but also visual storytelling + pre-existing tropes that taint our perception of this story

[all-pacas]

I love the changes to Chase's background due to hiring actors. First,he goes from a 35 yo New England dude to a 20-something Australian. Then,he goes from the USA old money to being the son of a Czechoslovakian immigrant(played by a Belgian actor) for...reasons? Couldn't they hire an Australian old guy to play Rowan(and keep more or less in line with the initial idea for the character)? Why does Chase need to be half-slavic,since Rowan's actor is from Belgium? Is it more about skill and chemistry,nationality be damned? Or was simply a matter of hiring the first old white guy to show up,and toss in a random nationality to excuse the lousy Aussie accent?

It seems likely to me that they did decide "European expat" based on the casting, if only because there's no reason for Chase's father to not be Australian: that he was a famous doctor actually comes from the pre-casting Pilot script, but obviously that's not nationality based either.

As you mentioned, Bauchau is Belgian, not Czech, which makes me think the nationality choice was intentional: if they based nationality on actor, well, he'd be Belgian. This makes me think Czech is intentional, although I have no idea why: my best guess is they wanted a quick handwaving excuse on why this doctor moved to Australia to have Australian children, and Soviet Bloc is a good one that requires no elaboration.

-

I think the initial idea of the character of Chase (old money, New England) was abandoned with the casting. Not just because of Spencer's age and inability to fake an American accent, mind you.

In the original Pilot script, one of the throwaway mentions is that the hospital was in Boston. It was meant to be located in the old money New England capital, possibly associated with Harvard (they got a bit of this with Princeton, another Ivy League school). But that association? And Chase's New England routes? That's not a fucking coincidence.

I don't know how much non New Englanders know about this shit, but. Boston has / had this whole social elite class. There's this other group of vague… the Cabots. The Lowells. Thayers. Adams. Just these names associated with very rich old money families. Browse that list: there's famous politicians, famous everything. Very WASPy. Absolutely no Boston Irish Catholics in this group. (The Kennedys were also from Boston, but see 'no Catholics.') Chase, as a name, is very, very… it fits right in. Chase, a 35-year-old Old Money Nepotism hire from New England, working in a Boston hospital? He was absolutely envisioned as one of those.

And there's some fascinating subtext to that, too, because Chase was still a nepotism hire in the pilot. He's this rich, silver spoon old money guy with a Big Name… and he still needed his dad to get him the job in this reality. He's a fellow, and he's a decade older than Cameron and Foreman; hell, he's the same approximate age as House, pre-casting. He is pathetic. You know how Taub was slumming it? This Chase was way, way worse. Which could have been fascinating in its own right. Or he could have been a minor villain, the ur-example of someone Foreman has to overcome, even worse than the Chase we got in canon.

So aside from being younger and Australian, what else changed with the casting? The original pilot script doesn't have Chase's lines (from a deleted scene) about enjoying the job because he gets to date women: Chase's sluttiness came with casting. His daddy issues were implied in the original script, with the nepotism line and a line about Chase's dad being a famous doctor, but I'd say moving across the world away from him for a job has a different subtext than OG Chase's probable working in the same town as my father. It's also hard to say if OG Chase was Catholic: Boston is an American epicenter of it, but WASPS are pretty anti-Catholic by tradition; on the other hand, the Kennedys were from Boston and Catholic, and Damned if You Do was written fairly early (August 2004 according to the script), although after casting.

Spencer has also said about his audition that Chase was briefly envisioned as British (but he sucked at that accent, too), and that he helped develop the character a little and pushed for him to be Australian. We also know that Hugh Laurie and Omar Epps were older than their characters, and that the show was eager to write/rewrite things with actors in mind (I've seen it cited that Taub was made a team member specifically because the team liked Jaconson so much, and the same goes for them dragging Anne Dudek back onto the show by making Amber date Wilson and then be a ghost), so I don't think they were ever super sold on OG Chase or anything, although I do find the concept pretty fascinating.

[storytellingbadger]

Walking With Dinosaurs 2025: “we think our audience is stupid”

This is not a complimentary review. Beware of misery and spoilers.

In short, all issues circle back to the programme not trusting the audience to get it. Same as a lot of modern film. Explain the joke. Screw nuance. Show your workings. Give an excruciatingly big, face-scrunching wink! It’s dumbed down, not simplified. There’s a cavernous difference.

Let’s get visuals out of the way. Obviously, they’re not groundbreaking. But I’m not going to linger on CGI quality - to me, that’s a secondary issue to pacing/plot/legibility/accuracy/entertainment/etc. That’s just lack of budget. I hope. So put that to the side while the bigger problems take centre stage.

I wasn’t expecting it to be a perfect replica. The original came out in 1999. New facts, new discoveries, new shebang. But if you’re going to base your appeal on it being a sequel of the OG dinosaur documentary, you need to pay at least a token gesture of respect. But it has sod all to do with the old one, aside from the title. Not in format, not in series layout, not in scripting. Not even an updated rendition of the iconic intro.

Missed chance for easy brownie points.

Speaking of format. Personally, I’m really, really not a fan of the modern day dig site cutaways. Not because I don’t want to see that - I bloody do, I want to see every bit of it. I want to see these talented, dedicated humans teach me something new, leave me in awe. Give me a whole programme of that! But I despair of it here on 2 big points.

1: it irretrievably breaks the pacing—and immersion

The beauty of the original was that it was immersive from start to finish. The lack of stop-start means you can get invested in the animals. There weren’t cutaways to dusty dig sites and intelligent people standing around a fossil, pointing and nodding for the camera’s benefit. You saw a dinosaur story based on modern science, and the script/story/visuals trusted you to follow without handholding or storyboarding. What starts as charming in the 2025 rendition becomes quickly irritating.

2: why show dinosaurs when we can kill time with sod all

The real life cutaways are set up to eat time rather than showcase exciting discoveries or professionals at the top of their game. Take Spinosaurus teeth. Conical. Wiggly fish-stabbers. Cool. All that needs in the script is something like a “At first glance, Spinosaurus teeth might not be fearsome bone-crushers like Tyrannosaurus Rex, or flesh-shearing blades like Carcharodontosaurus—but they’re perfectly adapted for snaring their elusive prey.“ Or something similar written by a documentary expert. Cut to Sobek hunting Onchopristis. Ta da. Instead we get a whole modern section of paleontologists finding a tooth, talking about how crocodilian it is, but then never actually explaining why that shape is efficient at catching and holding slippery, thrashing prey. Even if they had, instead of showing the facts at work with the dinosaurs, the palaeontologists are filmed talking about it instead.

Masterclass of tell, don’t show.

These are clever, specialised experts who know their shit. If you insist on cutting to them every 5 minutes, let them tell us something new, not force the poor buggers to give a paint by numbers stilted lecture.

Why not do as many other modern BBC nature documentaries have done, and have the nature documentary on first, then a “behind the scenes” feature with all the real-life work at the end? Instead of this clunky, tedious Frankenstein effort of people trying to look dramatic flying a drone or pretending it never occurred to them before this exact moment that Spinosaurus’s sail may have been used in threat displays. It’s insulting to the audience and the palaeontologists.

Somehow making a dinosaur dig site boring is quite the achievement, I suppose.

The “treating the audience like morons” theme pervades the entire script. It’s stunted and prescriptive, despite Bertie Carvel’s seemingly sincere efforts in making it compelling. Constantly telling the audience what to think instead of setting the scene, dropping facts and trusting us to have the grey matter to understand.

The original was refreshingly bereft of faux theatricality. It wasn’t overtly contrived or exaggerated. Never mind the dinosaur liberties taken in the new one (baby Triceratops dodging a biting Tyrannosaurus on repeat like a Marvel movie because “she’s nimble?” Give me strength.) And god help the eye-rolling cliches, fuck me. I dread to think how many times the line “but danger is never far away” gets used. Could be a good drinking game.

To be clear, I am not a paleontologist. I like dinosaurs, I’ve watched a lot of documentaries and read some books and papers. I’m a sad, wet enthusiast, nothing respectable. But there’s nothing here that made me sit up and go “holy shit.” There’s material in here presented as ground breaking that I recognise from 2011’s Planet Dinosaur, for god’s sake.

Ultimately, this isn’t a sequel to Walking With Dinosaurs. It’s not even an homage. It’s a “that’ll do” dinosaur programme making convenient use of an iconic title. It would’ve been better off standing alone rather than piggybacking off the original, in which it disappointingly falls off the wagon and just looks silly for the effort.

Worth a watch? Sure, if you’re really keen and starved for paleocontent. Easily better than Dinosaur Fight Club or whatever “is Megalodon still alive” bollocks occasionally eating air time. A worthy successor to the Walking With Dinosaurs mantle? Let’s cutaway to my workings…

…

No.

[physalian]

X-Men First Class Appreciation Post

I own this on BluRay courtesy of thrifting. Can I just gush about this amazing piece of cinema for a moment? Does anyone still care about this movie?

So much of why this movie works is expectation and precedent. Had these characters been drawn up out of thin air for this movie, never before seen in any other medium, it still would have been amazing, but the history of how this movie came to be just pushes it over the top.

I grew up with the OG trilogy and while I know Last Stand is not good, I used to watch it if I saw it on while channel surfing. I have X2 also on dvd because I saw it while thrifting. Completely new actors, save for the Wolverine cameo, but the same old song, just a new verse. This movie will never exist in isolation, so while Erik’s arc is amazing, knowing that people who don’t read comics are seeing the main villain from the movies they know now an anti-hero with a gut-wrenching backstory, who’s right, is fantastic.

Knowing what these characters will come to be later in life as you watch it all slowly fall apart and their fundamental, philosophical divide on the nature of humanity and their place in it, is fantastic.

—

But beyond the history that bolsters this movie (which I think is the best X-Men movie, above DOFP and Logan), it’s just a fantastic screenplay.

The script: It’s such a tight script with only a few odd things here and there, like Emma Frost just existing after she’s served her purpose in the plot. It’s longer than I remember every time I watch it, too, kind of two movies rolled into one that splits into the second half after the CIA base attack. The setup and payoff of Erik’s “rage and serenity” moment with the dish, is the highlight. The backdrop of the 60s, weaving in real politics kind of like Forest Gump as if this all really was a shadow war going on, helped it feel more grounded than the plots of the OGs.

The characters: Obviously pulled from decades’ worth of groundwork, First Class does so, so well establishing the dichotomy of Charles and Erik, while also not leaving the rest of the team as one-note (mostly, the tornado wind dude doesn’t have a single line in the whole movie). Shaw as a villain is just hammy enough, with a ridiculously sinister comic-booky plan, it’s great.

The music: Standout here being the leitmotif for Erik, which you can hear shift as his attitude shifts from “rage” to “serenity”. The difference in the music when he’s on screen between the Villa Gessel bar scene and the sub lift. This is Erik’s movie. Charles supporting him, and everyone and everything else supporting them, and the music reflects that.

The acting: A refreshing set of faces that bring a lot of subtlety in gesture, I particularly like Charles feigning massaging his temple at the bar when he meets Moira so he can focus on her thoughts or how is attitude changes around Raven and her “cosmetic issue”. Fantastic representations, both in presence and face, of what a younger version of the OG cast might’ve been like.

The story: Yes the overarching plot of nuclear war is fun and all but the meat of the story is Erik and Charles’ relationship and their approach to mutants in human society, as it always is, and the interactions with the newer recruits. There’s plenty of quiet moments that take themselves absolutely sincerely, no half-assed awkward jokes to laugh at itself before the audience can because the writers are insecure. You know how it has to end, and this movie doesn’t for one second pretend it won’t. It never asks if they’ll end up as enemies, it spends the entire time showing you how they became enemies, which is what a prequel should do.

The climax: The last, gosh, 45 mins of this movie? Fantastic. The Americans and the Russians being played as equals but opposite, neither side being vilified because both are victims of Shaw’s plans. They’re just innocents caught in the middle (the sailors on all the boats, not the greedy higher ups). The coin, the setup and payoff and Chekhov’s gun of the goddamn coin that Erik first flicks into Shaw’s picture’s forehead at the start of the movie. Charles screaming as he still holds Shaw frozen because he feels both Shaw’s pain and the horror of what Erik’s doing. Also the choreography incorporating the various mutant powers. All of it. No notes. 10/10.

—

Smaller things, too. Making sure Charles and Erik have their little chess matches. The multi split-screen during the training montage and the era-appropriate music beyond the score. Dancing around the love triangle between Erik, Raven, and Charles without having it be a huge piece of the plot. Without any romance distracting from the plot, just dressing on the side. Erik being such a tired dad already around the younger mutants. The "yes we do" sonar moment. Raven still getting to use her non-combatant powers in the finale to trick Azazel. All of Michael Fassbender’s languages, rather long conversations that aren’t in English. The nods to the story at large with Charles’ hair comments, Wolverine’s cameo, cheeky origins for their hero names, the jet from the OG movies, the other significant characters popping up.

Also the balance between conflicts that do and don’t rely on powers. The final fight isn’t a fistfight and for a comic book climax, that’s kind of rare (and no blue sky beam). This is a climax that can only happen in this story. Erik doesn’t just punch Shaw into submission, he magnetizes a coin through his skull. That’s how it’s done.

I love this movie. I just watched it before making this post and I already want to watch it again.

[erosjournal]

heres the mini fic based off of this post. i cannot find the og scene from the show, but its called scorpion, its on paramount + and its the very end of season 3 episode 7 (an episode abt voting). btw almost all of this text is word for word, heres a link to the script (the woman is literally a genius mechanic who was abandoned by parents as a child)

[background context : juliette and luciana are finally able to get married, which they’ve been planning to do since luciana’s pregnant (through a sperm donor or divine conceiving) they are in their early 20’s and were really excited. luciana went to the hospital while juliette went on a mini quest. once she’s back, she noticed somethinf was off.]

Juliette: “I’ve talked to the Oracles, I should be free of quests for a while. We can settle down, get married and have a kid now!”

Luciana: *Clearly upset, and starts taking apart a crib, not speaking*

Juliette: “Why are you taking this apart?”

Luciana: *Takes a shaky breath* “I’m not pregnant.”

Juliette: *Surprised* “What happened at the doctor’s?”

Luciana: *Puts tools down* “My blood test was a false positive caused by cadmium poisoning.” *Another shaky breath* “From working on those solar panels.”

Juliette: *Realizing* “That would explain your morning sickness and late menstrual cycle.” *Watches Luciana continue to take apart the crib* “It's okay to be upset.”

Luciana: “I’m not.”

Juliette: “It’s okay to be upset, Luci.”

Luciana: *Keeps working on crib, shaking as she speaks* “You know, when I was, uh, in elementary school, I was jealous of the other kids. Because their parents waited outside to take them home, and I walked to the orphanage by myself.” *Looks up, tearing up* “I was looking forward to waiting outside for somebody.” *Struggles on a piece and hits it in frustration*

Juliette: “Hey, hey, hey!” *Rushes over to comfort Luciana* “Hey, come here, listen to me. We love each other. We're gonna have a family. You're gonna wait outside a school and you're gonna build a crib and you're gonna share tools with whatever baby is lucky enough to have you as their mom. It'll happen when the time is right. It is gonna happen.”

Luciana: *Tearing up* “I just need to be alone now.”

Juliette: “Okay.” *Stands back, and glances at the ground* “First, I never got the answer that I was looking for the first time.” *Gets down on one knee, popping out a box with a ring thats in the shape of a nut* “And I don't have a song, but I've carried this ring with me every day--“

Luciana: “Yes.”

Juliette: *Goes to hug Luciana*

[stepswowdsen]

【Magi】 JuAli AU: Judar and Alibaba bicker and kiss 🖤❤️💛🐈‍⬛☀️

Summary:

JuAli AU: Judar and Alibaba bicker and kiss and banter 🖤❤️💛🐈‍⬛☀️🌙🌒

JuAli Rambles

Fave Sen-core Ship Tropes 💗

I originally wrote this scenario back in June 2023, but revamped it around May 2024. I added to it a bit again.

I put my dialogue scripts and rambles under the cut as usual ✌️

Dialogue Scripts

(CW: R-15, slightly suggestive)

Intro (8/09/2024)

(CW: R-15, suggestive)

(EDITED: 8/09/2024)

I also added rambles to this in the meantime <3

Had a jumpscare moment cuz I accidentally clicked the Delete button but thankfully didn't click "Yes" 😭

God I can't delete one of the most based things I've ever written!!!

I first made this set of dialogue scripts while rereading JuAli's scenes together in the Kou Empire arc.

It's really so funny how empty Judar's threats and insults towards Alibaba are.

Sure, he tried to kill him before.

He'll get all hissy like a fussy moody cat towards him. But it's not out of genuine hatred.

JuAli are the true opposites in terms of their personalities, morals/ideals/world views... 🖤❤️💛

I remember that one of the first reasons why I was so drawn to this ship was because, when I first read JuAli's interactions together on the Dark Continent, I thought it was so sexy how Judar expressed his frustrations with Alibaba.

I love charas who challenge/oppose the protag, and I love how Alibaba is so challenged as a protag... 💛

That's why I love Judar and Hakuryuu's dynamics with Alibaba and find them so interesting ☺️

Judar perceives Alibaba's inaction and hesitance to cut down anyone for the sake of one's goals as naivety.

From Judar's POV, he can't stand (what he perceives as) Alibaba's hypocrisy.

Like, Judar is clearly frustrated by Alibaba's whole deal. He just can't seem to understand him and why others are drawn to him at first

(Despite the fact that Alibaba is just... really forthright/straightforward as a person)

Especially when he has such a childish personality, and black and white morals and simplistic worldview of boxing people into Strong vs. Weak.

Which is evident in the Judar and Aladdin omakes irt his thoughts on the Ren family being ideal King's Vessels for their charisma and intimidating looks.

It's like... At that moment, he (Judar) is not ready to face that.

Alibaba is someone that he clearly sees and perceives as "weak and naive," but also his existence and miorals are complete opposites to his and challenges his world views.

He just... does not get Alibaba's humble and empathetic nature, at all.

I like thinking of it in the sense that he's frustrated by his bright (dazzling) radiance.

He understands and recognizes that Alibaba draws others to him, but just can't seem to understand why. It frustrates him how he doesn't get it. And that in itself shows a form of inner curiosity, a desire to know more.

I wanted to convey that feeling in my own dialogue scripts 🥰💞

I also find that Judar's aggressive threats towards him really don't hold any (true) weight.

He throws such empty threats.

It's SO funny like he (Judar) says it with his whole chest.

Off the top of my head, here's a bunch of instances of Judar getting aggressively violent (but they're all empty threats)

He always says he's gonna kill him and never does LMAO

Judar: When I get the chance, I'll definitely kill him! 💢

Judar: (Doesn't)

Magi: Ch. 266, 267, 275

I'm gonna send the fan-TL for these cuz Viz's wording tends to butcher tone in dialogue and chara's speech styles. And the fan-TL more accurate/closer to the OG text

Rambles (5/22/2025)

Updated: 5/22/2025

I edited and added to this JuAli dialogue script today. 😌

I mainly fixed the wording and grammar. I also added a few lines ^^

I added Judar's line near the end, "......No. This isn't enough. We aren't done yet."

Because I think it's cute that Judar expresses his need. This whole scenario is him going "I want more!"

Though ofc, he does it with his usual arrogant, bratty, and demanding personality ❤️

I love thinking about JuAli's initial sexual tension and hostility in their early interactions (when they're first starting to get intimate with each other) 🤭

At first, I was just gonna update the old post and reblog it, since I usually don't repost my dialogue scripts unless I make significant changes.

Though I figured I should just remake the post since I originally made the post last year.

I copied over my old rambles and added some new ones.

I also noticed that my old dialogue scripts still use Notion's Light Mode UI and I switched to Notion's Dark Mode UI last year.

I have most of my programs set on Dark Mode cuz I prefer the visual contrast. It makes writing/reading my dialogue scripts since it's easier on the eyes (at least for me, personally)

The dialogue in this one slaps honestly. This JuAli dialogue script is honestly one of my top fave dialogue scripts ever 💘🙏

I really wanna be able to draw it out someday... 🥰

Back in 2022, I first started writing my ship AU scenarios as dialogue scripts (kinda similar to the "Play script" style format)

I'm mainly a visual person, but I wanted to write down my ideas so that I wouldn't forget them.

I'm satisfied with my art growth in the past year ☺️ Hopefully I can draw my ideas in the future!

In the past, I also wrote a separate scenario about JuAli and Kougyoku making flower crowns 💐

I revamped the dialogue for it recently and added some new parts, but I wanna wait until I write the rest of the scenes I want before I post it.

Tbh I think any dialogue scripts of mine would be much stronger in drawn form since art is my strong suit.

I'm just posting these cuz Idk when I'll get the chance to draw out my ideas, and I still want to talk about my ideas for them 👍

I could post the memes along with my arts in the future. Or put them in a separate post? 🤔

Misc Rambles (8/09/2024)

I really love them so much... That's why I wanna draw and write for them more.

Recently revamped a JuAli dialogue script idea I had. Judar and Alibaba kiss with banter 🖤❤️💛

I added more to it. I last updated it in December, so I might as well post it again since I added some new lines.

It's just them kissing, though it's kinda suggestive/sexually implicit.

Yeah I think my moots know why I mainly post rambles on Insta and Tumblr. It's cuz I usually do long rambles for character thoughts + analysis, and Twitter's character limit is super annoying for that.

I tend to post discussions cuz my friends have insightful things to say (and I feel like it flows more naturally in convo format than just to summarize what they said)

I need to talk more about my Magi faves on here (I miss them 🥺) because I had many thoughts while reading, so I just roughly drafted my ideas right now.

I need to write my character/ship ideas down before I forget.

JuAli-core Ship Posts

Rambles

(EDIT: 5/27/2024)

(Rambles with my friend Cinna.)

Anyways, I made the JuAli meme edit one myself 🖤❤️💛💞🫶

I HC Alibaba to be Iraqi due to the origins of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

Me: I wanna say that the 1st tweet is JuAli, but none of them would talk like that. They would so do this though

C: No this is literally Judar he just words it differently lmao

Me: YEAH HE'D JUST WORD IT DIFFERENTLY LMAOOO

C: YEA

Inspo

I imagine Judar wears something VERY similar to this hanfu (that I bought because it has Judar's colour scheme 🖤❤️🤍)

References

Magi: Kou Empire Arc - Ch. 266 (Official EN TL by Viz)

Magi: Kou Empire Arc - Ch. 266 (EN Fan-TL by Sense Scans)

Me: I actually originally wrote Judar's last line as "Show me the kind of spark that charmed Hakuryuu so much."

Because Judar makes a note in Magi: Ch. 266 that Hakuryuu is charmed by Alibaba in the fan-TL :)

And it's also kept in the official EN TL by Viz.

Viz still keeps it (whews) in the 2nd line, but removes the 1st mention of it in the line, "What did Hakuryu ever see in him?"

"What about Alibaba charmed Hakuryuu…"

But I don't tend to reference other ships in my ship stuff since I usually focus on ships solo. In my ship AU stuff, I tend to focus on just the ship/characters itself.

I would rather deal with my multiships in their own separate AUs, since it’s easier for me to work with.

I do love AliHaku though.

But I liked that line so I still tried to include it though. NGNGNNG.

C: OOOH I SEE…. Valid as heck. It's a good one

JuAli Rambles

Me: For JuAli, I feel like at first, Judar "hates" Alibaba with so much love. Like when you hate someone so much it’s love.

Gonna put the quotations cuz I don't think it's genuine hatred.

He's frustrated by Alibaba since he's the complete opposite of him and represents something almost of a completely different world to him. And so, he just can't understand him at first.

He'd rather deny it and refuse to acknowledge his eventual growing conflicting feelings about him at first.)

And Judar would just constantly be like "I really don't get this guy at all" and "I don't understand what he's thinking at all!"

Tsundere cat boy bad boy is verbally harsh (violently tsun) and demands around verbally a LOT, like a needy cat that wants attention and affection. 🐈‍⬛

I feel like in the early stages of them catching feelies, they’d both be really awkward around each other and constantly headbutt each other…

I'm busy so Idk when I'll sketch this all out, but it was based off this idea I had in my head.

Judar is mostly verbally harsh (violently tsun) and demands around verbally, like a needy cat that wants attention and affection.

Both of them would be really awkward around each other at first.

I feel like they'd always be pretty competitive with each other, but they'd warm up over time.

i feel like their competitiveness with each other would eventually become more lighthearted (something they do for fun). Once they get closer, they'd become very affectionate with each other. 💞🥰

Fave Sen-core Ship Tropes 🐈‍⬛☀️🌙🌒

JuAli's "Love-Hate" relationship is soooo interesting to me <33

They're soooo Sen-core.

Obviously they're more complicated than that but "Love-Hate" (with quotations) is just to simplify it. Cuz it's definitely not true hatred.

They're Enemies to Lovers too, but very different from LimGuda (Douman/Ritsuka) obviously. But they share most of the Sen-core ship tropes I love.

I think JuAli has HoroRen (SK) kinda~ish vibes, but JuAli is MUCH softer. They have more warmth and companionship in their relationship, which is why I prefer them.

Like y'know.

Yin/Yang. Light/Darkness. Protagonist/Antagonist. Angel/Devil. Enemies to Lovers. And then JuAli also has Fire/Ice duality going on with them ☀️🌙🌒🔥❄️

Sen-core meow meow mf/ship strikes again‼️

I really adore JuAli and AliHaku, heehee. 🥰

JuAli is my main Magi ship, while AliHaku is my 2nd fave Magi ship (secondary)

They're very "Sen-core" ships due to their ship tropes (ex. the Sun/Moon/Eclipse symbolism they have going on)

The majority of my ships operate on "Opposites" contrast.

I love ships that are intense and dangerous and full of conflict and tension. I love competitiveness for my ships. My ships usually have an element of danger in the relationship...

I tend to prefer ships with more strongly emphasized character contrasts, and conflict and tension, because they cater to my personal tastes/preferences more, and are more interesting to me.

I prefer ships that are more intense and dangerous and thrilling.

My most favourite ships are usually "Opposites Attract." Though I'm really picky about what kinds of "Opposites Attract" ships I like.

I still want my ships to have the right amount of push and pull (irt conflict and tension)

I don't like the kind of "Opposites Attract" ships where charas just have an extremely one sided tolerance for each other, cuz it's so boring to me personally.

JuAli (main ship) and HoroRen (secondary ship) just fall into my kind of rather rough and violent end of "Opposites Attract" ships.

Twink on twink violence is their love language /lh

I love "Opposites Attract" ships that are also combined with any of these tropes: Narrative Opposites, Narrative Parallelism, Yin/Yang, Light/Darkness, Sun/Moon/Eclipse tropes, Protagonist x Rival/Antagonist/Opposing Figure, Charas who are fated/destined to clash/destroy each other but overcome their fates, Reconciliation of Opposites, Fated Enemies/Rivals, etc.

Light/Darkness, Yin/Yang, Sun/Moon/Eclipse, Rivals/Enemies to Lovers, Protagonist/Antagonist, Meow meow mf x Ball of sunshine, Morally questionable (Morally bankrupt) x Morally Agreeable, Freak x Freak who freaks them out (or human that tames them), etc.

My main ships: LimGuda, IdaTatsu, XanLena, JuAli, and KuroEne, are all "Freak x freak who freaks them out (or human that tames them)"

LMAO

Freak x normie where the normie (or more "normal" S/O) has the freak ™️ on a leash 👍

And they also all fall under most of the ship tropes I listed!

My Art/Writing Ideas ✍️📝

Me: I don't really post my writing ideas on main cuz my dialogue scripts are more like guidelines for me to practice writing dialogue for comics, and also to help me remember my art ideas.

I write down my ideas so that I don't forget them (cuz they come to me spontaneously during the day), and also so that I can hopefully turn them into comics one day 🙏

I post them because I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to turn my ideas into art form, and because I think the dialogue scripts are interesting to read.

Also me doing this still technically counts as a form of art. Even if they're written almost like play format, it's still a form of creative writing.

I've definitely gotten sm better at it over time, like I've been refining the way I write my faves' dialogue over time. 🥰

Because when I write these scenario ideas down, I think in terms of visuals. When the ideas come to my head, I imagine and see them all visually in my head. I'm a much more visual person, so I see things through visuals, and then try to turn them into words.

I think I first started critically engaging with and analyzing media at 18 (which is a good thing, because art is a form of expression and social commentary)

I think I only really got good at doing media analysis at 18+ and it refined even more at 19 - 21+

It used to be so hard for me to put my thoughts into words, but I got much better at it through practice (by doing all the thought rambles)

But I'm literally so much better at analytical writing (ie. Series and character analysis, meta) than creative writing (ie. Novel and fanfic writing), so that's why I only do dialogue scripts.

It'd be interesting to try and take up fanfic writing in the future though... But it definitely won't be soon, so I'll stick to my main creative form (drawing) for now 🙏

[pettyeddiediaz]

Hey there, I'm the anon who asked about the 911 filming schedule. Thank you for your answer. I think it's absolutely WILD that they're still filming an episode that's supposed to air in less than 3 weeks!! I've been in so many fandoms in my life and I've never heard of another show that's filming down to the wire like that.

Anyway, my new theory based on what I've seen from the bts pics and the working episode title is that Buck and/or Eddie will get trapped in a building during the earthquake (possibly while in a rescue). And at some point, Buck is gonna genuinely believe he/they are about to die. And after what happened with Bobby -- him not telling Bobby he loved him back (even though Bobby is alive still, and he has since rectified that) -- Buck confesses his feelings to Eddie. Eddie can't or doesn't respond to what Buck says for whatever reason, and after they get rescued, Buck starts to freak out that he's ruined everything with his "straight best friend." He and Eddie get home from the hospital, or maybe they visit each other in the hospital, and Buck is panicking about what he said. But then Eddie is all: "Buck. Buck! BUCK!" and maybe reaching out to touch him until Buck finally stops taking and looks at Eddie. And Eddie says something like: "Stop panicking, it's okay" and then leans in to kiss him. They kiss, maybe have a little chat/giggle, and kiss each other again before it fades to black, and bam -- the season ends! Seismic shift indeed 🥰

Thanks again for the kind welcome! Hope you're having a nice weekend!

hi again! yeah, it is insane. getting script changes the night before in s7 was probably the worst of the worst (the vertigo plot 😬). i am really hoping that if tim stays with the og 911 and doesn't jump to the spin off, someone from abc sits him down and makes him figure out the schedule better. the cast and crew are pulling weekends and lots of days in a row, and one of their crew members died in a car crash last year after working 14 hours overnight

yay theories! i have been thinking similarly! with the run of don't drink the water -> seismic shifts, something has to be happening, right? i think 8x17 is going to be eddie's journey, whatever that brings, and then 8x18 has to be for both of them. i love envisioning a panicking buck on the verge of a mental breakdown while eddie is just :). if we get the confidence eddie had in 8x13 in that scene with his mom, i will probably pass out. buck thinks he is hard to love, but it's one of the easiest things eddie has ever done. and eddie is so secure in their relationship..... they make me feel insane :)

thank you!!! hope you are having a good weekend as well 🥰

[slitherred]

Humor me for a moment here...

It’s been 9 years and I still believe they should’ve kept Obito alive.

If they can pardon both Orochimaru for his human experimentation, Kabuto for his war crimes, and Sasuke for being a dumbass, they can think of an excuse to make Obito a functioning individual of society and have him face the fact he was the cause of most world-altering events in the span of the entire series. I think killing him is a coward’s way out, and he didn’t deserve the peaceful ending he got.

And Instead of Boruto, we could’ve gotten a series focused on Kakashi in his Hokage era. The man is as popular as Naruto and Sasuke, and I’m tired of anime shows that base sequels on the “new generation.” It’s been done too many times. I believe Kakashi is beloved enough by the fans that this idea would be profitable like the original.

Plus, Kakashi has had enough trauma to make a script three seasons long. You can cover stories about losing people, dealing with grief, depression, PTSD, clan politics (what’s it like to be the only person left in a clan that isn’t the Uchiha or what were the consequences of owning a sharingan as a non-Uchiha), being a former child soldier, being a burnt out child prodigy, etc. instead of being relegated as a Hokage that blew up the moon once.

Listen. Imagine a series where Kakashi finally spoke with a Yamanaka therapist since his emotional crutch wasn’t the ideal hero that he thought. Imagine a series where the big bad villain acknowledges the pain he left in the world and actively tries to do his best every day in a place where everyone wants him dead. And imagine Mr. Worldwide, creator of 1000 Years of Death, Kakashi Hatake, trolls the world with Obito “Tobi” Uchiha.

Imagine the shenanigans! We can finally see what these two can do as a pair after it was hyped up in the Kakashi Gaiden arc but fell flat in the 4th Shinobi arc. If these two can frustrate people in their immediate vicinity as individuals, picture them working together and in a position of power. It would be glorious!

Click Keep Reading for extra filling:

***

Address Neji’s death by having Gai be nice to everyone, except for Obito. Obito understands his anger and, due to guilt, stupidly comes up with an “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” approach by being his sparring partner i.e. his punching bag.

Kakashi is Stressed™ managing his two best friends. This will also test Gai’s capacity for forgiveness (and finally have a storyline about him that isn’t about youth, challenges, and taijutsu). Meanwhile, we can also have a role reversal where Kakashi is the one helping Gai out of unhealthy coping mechanisms and grief.

***

To calm down people who see Obito as a threat, they seal most of his chakra so that he can perform basic techniques, enough to complete unpaid B to S rank missions as part of his “community service.” His Sharingan, both of them, will be inaccessible so he can no longer perform hacks. In secret, only Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura, AKA the heroes who ended the war, are trusted enough to be able to unseal it (they can have matching tattoos for this, other characters think it’s just an OG Team 7 thing but it’s a key lol). So if a major threat like, say, the Otsusuki comes, and Naruto and Sasuke needs an extra boost to turn the tides in their favor, there will be an epic scene of Team 7 (minus Sasuke) unsealing Obito’s chakra, and his eyes slowly bleed into red and spins into Mangekyou. He charges into the battlefield with Susanoo in Mokuton armor.

(Bonus scenes of Kakashi partially unsealing his chakra so that Obito can use Kamui to buy the Hokage precious “reading material” from other nations. Obito loudly complains about his chosen book topic.

Sakura asks Obito to bring her medical plants from different parts of the world.

Naruto pleads with Obito to take Sasuke and him to the Kamui dimension since they are no longer allowed to spar in training fields due to excessive property damage.)

***

Naruto gets frequent Hokage training with Kakashi. Obito is there to keep him from falling asleep by constantly challenging the policies and ideals set by former Hokages.

Naruto watches Kakashi and Obito debate and then later argue topics until they end up burning the original handbook to rewrite their own.

(Naruto is surprisingly good at editing and quickly finding loopholes in writing. Later, they visit the memorial stone to pray for Jiraiya.)

***

Part of Obito’s new job description is to be the Hokage’s 24/7 bodyguard (if he’s not out doing missions). It’s partly because the Anbu commander who usually handles the ninja president’s security is tired of Kakashi’s antics, and partly because the people are more comfortable if one of the war heroes is beside the Major Threat™ all the time. Obito has to constantly juggle between keeping them away from both his and Kakashi’s enemies and making sure the Hokage isn’t late to any meetings. Somehow, the latter is harder than the former.

Obito wonders how an ex-terrorist became a glorified secretary.

***

Obito and Yamato acknowledge their history in the 4th shinobi war. Surprisingly, Yamato forgives but doesn’t forget.

They compare notes on their solution and regularly train in the Forest of Death. The forest became five times larger and deadlier. The chuunin exams became harder.

***

Kakashi tries to diplomatically pass anti-violence, and pro-mental health laws, and raise funds for the orphanage and veterans. Meanwhile, Obito uses his talent in gaslighting and gatekeeping to out-manipulate the elders into losing debates.

It would be satisfying to see Danzo’s best friends disappointed and angry while Kakashi does his eye smile thingy. Behind him is Obito sticking his tongue out because he secretly never grew up.

(I can’t believe the elders are still alive in Boruto, like wtf.)

***

Remember the time Obama hired an Anger translator? That, but it’s them.

***

Sukea and an “unknown” anbu that suspiciously looks like Tobi messes with the kids wanting to know what’s behind Kakashi’s mask. Sukea creates the intrigue to unite the kids into a single goal and trick them into practicing teamwork. Not-Tobi does the subtle sabotage.

***

If the children ask Obito his backstory, he replies with, “That’s classified.”

If they ask Kakashi, he keeps telling them different ridiculous stories until Obito becomes some kind of myth to the kids.

“The Hokage said he was an orphaned circus performer and he got adopted by a vigilante to save us all from a demonic tree!”

“Woah! The Hokage said he protected us from a moon alien by challenging her to a dance-off!”

***

Tobi and Sukea annoying their way into infiltration missions.

Their backstory: Sukea is a photographer and Tobi is an aspiring actor. They got lost on the road to life and whoops accidentally stumbled upon this secret base. Can we have directions to the nearest artist convention, please? And that dead body was already there before we got here, what do you mean?

***

Adults are afraid of Obito. Teenagers think he’s lame for being a nerd that knows too much history. Grandmas still like him. Kakashi still makes fun of him for being a crybaby. Naruto makes fun of them both for being old. Sakura makes fun of Kakashi, Obito, and Naruto for being weirdos. Ino makes fun of Sakura for being teammates with the weirdos.

***

They visit Rin’s grave yearly. Kakashi keeps thanking her for slapping Obito back to life.

***

The Hokage gets invited by the academy to discuss the origins of Konoha. Obito keeps correcting him like, no, that’s propaganda bullshit, this is what happened.

He made twenty-eight kids and their instructor cry.

(He had also discussed in length how Madara Uchiha can't pee when strangers are near him. That he's still bitter about not being a better stone skipper than Hashirama "God of Shinobi" Senju. That he had an annoying habit to ramble and then laugh like a loon. And he has a face on his boob. Kids, when a centenarian ancestor offers you to help fix the world, say no.)

***

It has been apparent to all paper desk ninjas that to expedite their documents to be stamped and signed by the Hokage, it needs to go through their bodyguard so the bodyguard can bully the Hokage into prioritizing their paperwork.

In retaliation, Kakashi uses his knowledge of Obito’s history with handling Akatsuki and Kiri’s financials*, then points out major flaws in Konoha’s fund allocation, making Obito frustrated enough to audit everything for him. Despite being a mastermind manipulator, he falls for it all the time.

Tsunade visits the office and could not believe the lack of paper towers. Kakashi takes all the credit. Tsunade is impressed. “Damn, kid, I should have made you Hokage years ago!”

*Flashback: Back in his time as a villain, Obito had to audit Akatsuki’s expenses because Kakuzu is known to allocate part of their funds to his account. As for Kiri, Obito was puppeteering the Mizukage and to be convincing, it means doing the Mizukage's job. Realizing the role was a drag, Obito’s dream of becoming Hokage was buried in piles of paperwork and died six feet under.

***

Obito is still helpless when it comes to old people in need.

But at least now he can force Kakashi to help.

***

After discussing in length about Sasuke’s trauma from the Uchiha massacre, and Obito’s trauma as the black sheep of the family, they start working on rebuilding the clan’s name.

They’ve also found a rule in Konoha that once a clan has more than one person, a clan head should be identified.

No one wants to be the new clan head. It’s too much mind-numbing work even if the population of the clan is just two so they started arguing. Obito argues Sasuke is the son of the former clan head, and Sasuke argues that Obito is older than him, and has experience with “handling foreign affairs” (if you can even call it that).

This doesn’t get resolved until Sasuke marries a poor soul who gets voted by them to become the new clan head. Sasuke ends up in multiple divorces.

***

Kakashi starts using his father’s tanto again. He stops being the Copy Nin and starts being the new White Fang of Konoha.

***

On the anniversary of Sakumo's death, Obito uses his monologuing skills to aggressively defend Sakumo's last mission. Backed up by Team 7 with Yamato and Sai, they are fighting for Sakumo's grave to be transferred to the resting place of the heroes as he deserved.

Kakashi covers Obito's mouth once he starts insulting the council and elders. "Will of fire, my ass! You preach about teamwork and nakama, but easily sacrifice one of your own for the sake of a mission. You're all hypoc-!"

Naruto pitches in. "Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum, dattebayo!"

Needless to say, they are finally realizing that, oh god, there are two Narutos now and they will never know peace until this gets resolved.

***

The series ends once Naruto becomes the Hokage. Handing over the hat went off without a hitch…

Except for Kakashi being two hours late. Kakashi and Obito were busy retelling Naruto’s life to Kushina’s grave.

***

What do you think?

[bioticgoddess]

MK1: Khaos Reigns

As promised, here's my take on the DLC. What I liked, what I didn't, and my overall opinion. Reminder, I don't play Mortal Kombat. Not my cup of tea but this I've been exposed to this lore since I was a wee baby millennial. So mind you my take is lore and story based not game play. From what little I've played, the game play is usually pretty good.

Below the cut for everyone's sanity and to save any folks who haven't already be sucked in from spoilers.

What I liked:

Harumi. She can fight and she's alive. I suspect if she's not a Kombatant in MK2 (or a future DLC) then she'll be an NPC with more voice lines or at least more story relevance. (If she dies, we riot.) Loved her interaction with Johnny and how both Kuai Liang and Liu Kang agree that she's wise and should be listened to.

The Sektor/Bi-Han confirmation (reveal?). I saw it and was like "omg...they did it. THEY FUCKING DID IT!" Giddy happy moment. There was a lot of speculation and NRS didn't hide that, bare minimum, she would be in love with him, but it was done very well. I also appreciate that it's a conversation topic in their tower intros with other characters. They are gonna make each other worse but I think it will keep them from some of their bad/negative choices from the original games.

Cyrax. No further explanation required (Cyrax and Tomas have always been some of my faves so that the New Cyrax is on the list should surprise no one).

Empress Tanya and Emperor Rain. His death hits us in the feelings not because of how he went but because of how well those characters and that relationship was written. A+ to the writing team. That's how you introduce a character and kill them in quick succession and make your audience care! (The actor playing Tanya's reaction is also on point.)

"Cyber Lin Kuei", that it's armor is great. This makes a lot more sense to be overall than converting people into robots. Though I do wonder what plan Sektor has for she and Bi-Han to maintain greater control over the Lin Kuei following Cyrax's defection. It'll be interesting.

Titan (OG) Havik is still a Full Tilt Diva.

They canonized a bunch of the intros from the tower in the main story, it's a good look.

What I didn't like:

Bi-Han/Noob Saibot. We knew it would happen and while he's technically not dead I don't like how they handled him. They've slotted him right back in the same space his occupied in the original games/timeline of antagonist to Kuai Liang/Scorpion. Could they reform/redeem him in later games, maybe but I'm not holding out hope given his tower ending.

Sektor's and Bi-Han's relationship...they are gonna make each other worse if they are left in the roles they currently occupy and I'm not looking forward to a re-cast retread of old story lines with them. (I will be pleasantly surprised if this is used to make them better both as characters and from a story telling standpoint.)

How did the previous Lin Kuei Grandmaster die? Tell us more than Bi-Han abandoned him to die...or killed him? They've said both in game.

I reposted something from another Tumblr earlier (and that poster went into much more detail) so I'll summarize: I don't think there was any good reason for leaving Tomas out of the story. Even Kuai Liang giving a throw away line of "I've tasked him with leading the Shirai Ryu." or something to that extent was better than just blatantly forgetting about him when they're supposed to be brothers despite their lack of blood ties. Calling out Kuai Liang there.

This story was too short and felt rushed. Like they had to get it out and didn't have time to put in as much as they wanted. I will compare it to the script that was leaked via pastebin and Reddit, but that was the script. They removed Sektor, Cyrax, and a few other characters/scenes but overall what we saw there was what we got and it felt lacking. Why didn't we get to see some of Cyrax and Kuai Liang going through the maze with WWII Johnny? The stuff with Empress Tanya and Sektor was great but they had opportunities to give us more and didn't or couldn't and you can tell.

How did Bi-Han/Noob tearing off Havik's limbs and head actually stop him? Dude could grow literal clones that way and regenerate limbs? Is he like a Highlander where taking off his head (and keeping it from his body) stops that? What about the Time Crystals/Kamidogu, shouldn't those have made him Bi-Han/Noob proof? (I like that Bi-Han got most of his payback and someone NOT Liu Kang ganked the villian but they established Havik could do some next level nonsense.)

This one bothered me a lot: NO ONE thought about the fact that Bi-Han knew all of the defensive capabilities of both Earthrealm and Outworld and that rescuing him should be as high a priority as Geras. They were still gonna fail but NO ONE thought of that reason except him after Liu Kang restored his mind.

My overall take:

It's not good. It has good bones and if it had been longer and more fleshed out it would have been much better. For a Mortal Kombat story DLC it's passable.

This felt like it should have been saved for a second game or that they should have taken another 6-12 months to give us a longer DLC. As a villain Titan Havik and his minions (especially Chaos Kenshi & Chaos Takeda) felt underutilized to the point of waste.

Have an intense staring Tomas as thanks for reading my rambling about Mortal Kombat 1's DLC story. (If they hurt him in a subsequent game/DLC...we RIOT).

[petrichoraline]

okay I have so many thoughts on the cherry magic pilot, many of which might sound Stupid and Wrong

how can you talk about all things a person is expected to be and do and finish it off with this question

WHEN YOU TURN THE CHARACTER NOTORIOUS FOR WANTING NO RELATIONSHIP WHATSOEVER INTO A PART OF A COUPLE

when I saw the prior introduction of these two I thought they might have dropped this very stupid change but ig not, I suppose they'll give her some other type of struggle with societal expectations

not too hyped for jan and sing as a couple, I like them both so much but I have no reason to believe their chemistry would be smth special

when I saw mark i got a bit worried because ive only seen him as prince in sky in your heart but I got shocked how much he seems to resemble yutaro

i wasn't sure bout junior but they do seem to resemble the pair a lot when together and I hope their acting brings out more of the characters' charm (because I did feel a bit iffy about them in the japanese version ngl)

I also think he'll portray his character a bit differently, he seems more down-to-earth and confident so he'll probably tone down the obsessive loser vibe of the original; hopefully mark has improved

they look cute ♡

the bland backgrounds and too much voiceover kinda bored me but it's only a pilot, I'm sure it'll work better in the full episodes

as for our stars, I think new seems a bit ridiculous as achi, maybe because he's a big guy trying to make himself look small? I don't mind that the height difference that eiji and keita have isn't replicated, but new is also very broad shouldered and overall doesn't seem to give off the aura of a guy with bad self esteem issues with his acting; the way he looked almost happy in the elevator reveal scene

and some other scenes made me think new def has a different take on the character. that his version would be either 1) "no confidence in theory, way more in practice" in which case the script would be to blame or 2) developments true to the character but not acted out the right way. there's also the option that everyone makes achi a more confident guy on purpose - he's written like that and so new presents him that way. that option is a bit unlikely considering a line in the pilot related to self esteem but it already seems like the source material might've been a bit misunderstood

I think it's cause of the actors' faces just being the way they are that tay gives off "puppy wagging tail aggressively" more than keita did - tay's big eyes and smile just do it by default

it feels like his interpretation of kurosawa's character would be more innocent and playful, kind of as if he'd confess earlier than kurosawa did, I get more of a careless vibe though I'm sure they'll stick to the og motivations and doubts the character has; he doesn't contain himself the way kurosawa does:

i remain optimistic! the show is based on a manga that is drenched in multiple aspects of japanese culture, societal commentary is based on japanese society for the most part. having the story take place in thailand with thai characters will obviously have the main conflicts presented through a thai lens. you can also see the comedic editing typical for thai shows and it differs from the japanese comedic style you can see in the og adaptation. im excited to see whether trying to stick to the og yet changing other aspects will work or not. there are already things that I look forward to and things im nervous about so i hope it's anything but boring lol

these are most of my ramblings, would love to here everyone else's views on them and the pilot itself 💓

[finalfantasythoughts]

FFXV Thoughts - Development and Evolution

FFXV is one of my favorite entries in the franchise, in my personal top 3/5 (controversial though that may be). However, it's no secret that the game had a development riddled with problems and the result is felt in various aspects of the game. This also ties to why people prefer the "game" (at least the very limited parts we saw) when it was still Versus XIII or just under Nomura's direction. I wanted to look at some of the issues with the game as well as point out how certain elements from the old trailers translated into the final game, even though certain people try to make it out that XV and VsXIII share nothing but a few locations and characters because the final product didn't align with what they thought the game would be. I'm not going to mention combat really because while a bit oversimplified, I still enjoyed it (my biggest gripe is how awkwardly magic was handled). I know I'm beating a dead horse and some people are over the whole situation, but I had a lot of thoughts and wanted to share them as somebody who played XV years later so I had no expectations for a game that despite being shown off over many years, didn't necessarily reveal much. This will contain spoilers for the whole of XV so here's your warning.

I'll start by saying that one of the biggest losses for me personally was the change of the opening the game in Insomnia through the invasion to Kingsglaive. I see why they made the film and I enjoyed it while watching it, but I do wish we could've played it, as that was pivotal to the story and old trailers suggest it was planned to have a lot of introductions there, both character and plot-wise. Not to mention I'm just not very attached to Nyx and the movie original characters. Noctis' Japanese voice actor even revealed that about half of the original script took place here, which makes sense that it'd be dialogue heavy due to character/plot/world introductions, tutorials, early boss fights, etc. (correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe FF7 OG's script spends something like 30% in just Midgar, for comparison). My other biggest loss is the idea that we may have been able to interact more with Tenebrae at some point (a "leak" claimed it would be akin to a dungeon, but who knows).

I do think it's exaggerated how much changed though, at least from a view of the major story beats. Certain things got recontextualized (Kingsglaive being the largest example), but I think more survived than people think. They even used Nojima's original script as the base of the final game. There are many posts that show all the parallels and references to the old trailers, though they are spread to the game, DLC, anime and movie. It also seems that even a lot of Fabula Nova Crystallis elements were preserved, just using different names and replacing the FNC gods with the Astrals. Some of it, like the "eyes that see the light of expiring souls" (most likely a take on the concept of the Eyes of Etro) seem to have been cut, though Noct and Luna are still chosen ones by the gods, and possibly had near-death moments (Noct in the anime, scene with Luna being abused that was cut). Another plot that seems to involve sleep (rumored to be a dream world or somewhere Noct would dream of dead loved ones, something I believe connects to Hamlet if I remember correctly) was seemingly cut, though there are loose moments where Noctis sleeps/dreams (Luna's death, in the crystal with Bahamut, platinum demo, dreams of the Omen trailer aka why Regis sent him away, etc.). I do agree that the final version was in need of presenting itself better; fleshing out characters, events, and locations would have been beneficial for the story. Instead the guys were taken out of infiltrations and big moments regarding the empire which was somewhat disappointing, as the old trailers and interviews made it seem that they would be consistently involved in the politics/war.

At a time, the keyword of Versus XIII was apparently 'misery' and this was appropriate for all the characters. I would say this is still the case; after the fall of Insomnia, Eos is thrown into chaos and each character suffers. Noct is forced to come to terms with his position, destiny, etc. while trying to process the death of his father (and eventually Luna), destruction of his city, etc. Ignis has to worry about Noct and sees a vision of his death in his DLC, as well as going blind which brings into question his value to combat. Prompto has his birth exposed which throws him off psychologically, killing Verstael, not to mention that he was already self conscious and unsure about being part of the group. Gladio (admittedly isn't as intense as the others) has to worry about Iris post-invasion, his pride being wounded easily by Ravus, and feeling unsatisfied with Noct's shift into king. Other characters like Ravus, Luna, Regis, etc. also go through 'misery' throughout the battles with the Empire. The bleak world described in early interviews is still present, especially after the Starscrourge continues to spread and nights get longer, aided by the empire's manufacturing of daemons and invasions of prominent territories (remember in the World of Ruin section they say Lestallum in nearly the only safe place left in Eos). Nomura also stated that despite this being the main theme, it would still be balanced so as to not make the game feel oversaturated with sad scenes and be unpleasant, which I think is present in the final game. I see people expecting essentially no humor or things that are present in every FF, and personally I don't believe XV under Nomura would've done away with some of these things. In my opinion, this game was going to be okay with getting darker, but I also think people blow out of proportion/had the wrong expectations about how far it'd go.

Another argument I see a lot is that the final version of Noctis is completely changed from the original version, which I don't really agree with. Early trailers with the more brooding, cold and overpowered Noct seem mostly (if not entirely) conceptual, not to mention that Nomura specifically said not to let the trailers fool you into thinking these were good descriptors for his personality and that presenting him this way was a conscious decision (probably because it looks cool if we're being honest). In later trailers, we hear Noct speak and he sounds pretty "shounen" (not a bad thing) and his conversation with Stella also paints him as shy but fairly friendly. Now I think the final game version made some changes and shifted his arc to be more about responsibility than revenge (which is what people seemed to predict his arc would be from the old trailers), but again, I think more was preserved than people give credit for.

Then there's the Stella vs Luna debate. This has always fascinated me because even though the interaction between Noctis and Stella is nice (and I wish we'd gotten something similar with Luna), we know virtually nothing about Stella. In fact, it seems between initial planning stages and the 2013 trailer (aka Stella's last appearance), her role had changed. Storyboards show her seemingly as a childhood friend to Noctis like Luna. It's possible they met but didn't know who each other were and would still "meet" for the first time at the party in Insomnia, but I believe Nomura also said that he didn't really like Stella's character when he made her and that she had grown into one that the he liked over time (including when scenarios would've been finished). Between that and the fact that there was no mention of the Stella vs Noctis fight for years before her replacement, it really seems like once the scenario was more developed, her role had changed. I actually like Luna's character as well, she just happens to be in the camp of characters who didn't have their story presented very well. Looking at the XV media, her story is interesting; she essentially is a hostage to the empire and has a fated role forced on her, which she grows into and accepts. From what we see she's determined and capable, yet also reckless at times, and it's a shame we didn't really get to know her because she was interesting in her own right (and while she was a "strong" female lead, I do think the devs overhyped this fact for how little we end up seeing her and how many lines of hers were devoted to Noctis).

People also complain a lot about the Noctis and Luna romance (and some believe there would be better romance with Stella, but I'm pretty sure Nomura said they wouldn't be romantic). To me, the romance was more so born out of Noctis and Luna's high mutual respect for one another combined with cherished childhood memories. Both of their lives changed after Tenebrae was invaded; Noctis was growing up and learning more about his role to someday be king and Luna was a tool of the empire, replaced her late mother as oracle, and was growing physically weaker due to communicating with the gods (not to mention the scenes of abuse that were cut). The fact that Noctis and Luna desired to be around each other always made sense to me and their relationship was tragic in the way of something that's always out of reach, but I feel like the marketing/a couple scenes made it seem like more of a true love story like other FF games which wasn't really the case.

Another point of contention is specifically derived from the 2013 E3 trailer where it was publicly announced Versus would be XV. That trailer featured a lot of crazy set pieces moving through buildings and the moment leading up to Leviathan that lead people to lament those sections of the game for not looking as it did here. The problem is that those seem to be mock up "target goal" looking sections that seem to demonstrate the level of spectacle the engine could create but no guarantee that it would run properly on PS4. People also complain about the Altissia map size being so much smaller in the actual game, but it's possible that all that map in the trailer would only be "explored" in the scripted event we saw.

World of the Versus Epic is another interesting thing that everybody seems to run with as proof that XV was to be a trilogy. Yes Nomura seemed to hint that XV would not be a standalone title (then not long after said nothing was confirmed), but there are so many possibilities. It could've been more like the VII Compilation with spin-off prequel/sequel games or movies or anime specials, etc. I feel like XV was not going to be structured like the VII Remake, and if it were to get full blown sequels, would be more like KH or X-2, XIII-2, etc. especially since Versus XIII's script was completed in 2010 for a single PS3 title (unless the script got significantly longer). If anything, this "epic" could've been a way to continue using XV's assets to carry fans over until Remake and XVI (I believe Roberto Ferrari said that Versus at one point had a tentative date for release in 2014). The only other point is that Noctis' VA said there were "three times as many scenarios" and so some got cut. Now every game seems to have cut scenarios, and given the fact that FFXV has a shorter runtime than the majority of FF games for main story, the only way I could see a trilogy is if they were all relatively short games. But even then, considering the amount of characters and areas that could've been fleshed out more (not to mention all the script that changed for Kingsglaive), many of the cut scenarios probably could've fit in the game had the team had more time/focused less on the open world.

One other thing that I wish had carried over more was the FMV/CG cutscenes and some of the art direction of the older versions that gave the game a bit more of a grandiose feeling, not that I dislike the final's more grounded take. I have a feeling that the lack of these might come from shifting resources to companion media and the fact that they added different costumes, but I loved the aesthetic and feeling these scenes added to the trailers. The older direction also leaned into a more "Shakespearian" vibe. Those elements are still very prevalent in the final version (there's many posts that explain the Hamlet inspiration), but I think some of the scenes that only appeared in trailers gave the game a bit more of a "dreamy" and tense, mysterious atmosphere that I wished would've been pulled from more. Not to mention the trailers always showed intense fights (Stella and Ravus one-on-one's, Noctis and soldiers, empire and Regis, etc.) which didn't get the same focus in the final game.

Finally, there's the theory that KH4 or a possible game based on the Verum Rex commercial from KH3 will be the "true" Versus. Personally, from what we've seen so far it seems like Nomura is using KH as a space to use some concepts that didn't carry over to XV, specifically things like having an open city space, some of the art direction and some aspects of combat. As I've said, I think the XV universe preserved more of the story than some people think, so between that and the fact that KH is it's own universe that doesn't really use some FF things (empires, FNC lore, etc.), I think he's just entertaining some of the things he still wanted to do something with while also possibly taking shots at XV and SE. Could be wrong once more is revealed, but that's how it appears to me.

Anyway, this has gotten incredibly long so thanks for reading if you got this far! To be clear, I really do love XV but some fleshing out of concepts would've done it good. I'll probably make more posts on elements of XV and how they relate to old concepts/FNC etc. so stick around if you're interested in that at all (as well as posts about other FF games, just in a XV mindset since I recently replayed).

Here are some of the links with good amounts of info in one place, if my info seems incorrect or anything, I apologize