#bc like. i kinda like to think that between s1 and s2 he got a slight tremor in his hands from his time in the woods

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

hang on are cougars like panthers

[spacedlexi]

Wait, people think Carver is the best TWDG villain?? I always thought he was basic as hell, and the fact that he was beefing with an 11-years old girl... Now Stranger on the other hand was great, he was super intimidating and off-putting and I was genuinely so scared he would hurt Clementine. I also liked Minnie for the same reasons (she was so creepy/off-putting), but I still think Stranger is the best villain bc he had a great setup while Minnie was kind of a secondary villain. But going back to Lilly/Carver, I also definitely prefer Lilly over Carver even though neither are my favorite... And now I'm kind of curious how you would rank the rest of the TWDG villains? 🤔

carver being the best villain is a sentiment ive heard for years 😭 im sure its coming from the "S2 is the best season" crowd tho which i also dont agree with 💀

the stranger is an effective villain. hes not exactly the typical villain type people expect. but hes very unsettling and him stalking clementine for who even knows how long through the walkie talkie is 🤢 he really makes me feel sick. she was using that talkie to deal with the loss of her parents, and this fucking creep took advantage of that so hard he was able to convince her to trust him. ugh he makes me feel so gross. and think of all the guilt clem must have about that situation. trusting this freak to help her find her parents, when if she had just stayed then lee wouldnt have gotten bit looking for her, and her parents were already dead the entire time anyway. oof. theres no way that isnt one of the biggest regrets of her life

carver is fine. i definitely think his character wouldve made more sense if they put kenny in that role instead. that way theres less "i am a grown man beefing with an 11 year old" and more "this is a child i helped look out for once, and im gonna make sure shes raised Right". but i agree that carver as he is is just over the top. overly villainous to the point of it being a little comical. like when villains are all tough like that my reaction is usually "god i WISH youd fucking kill me already so i dont have to hear your bullshit anymore do you know how GOOFY you sound??". if it was kenny in that role i definitely think they wouldve been able to tone it back a bit, and him "having a good side" wouldve been way more believable. as he is carver is kind of one note

joan.... definitely the weakest of the bunch. i dont really have much to say about her. david isnt even technically a villain but i definitely saw him as the better antagonist for the season. i mean hes definitely a villain in clems eyes. and is a constant semi-antagonist towards javi throughout the whole season. joans just kinda.. there.. doing things behind the scenes to cause conflict until the final confrontation. and then she can just disappear... okay

i like the way the antagonists work in S4. theres more of a discussion around what actually makes someone a villain and the difference between a person who fucked up and made (very horrible) mistakes, and a person who is straight up a threat. and i like that it connects back to the idea of lee and his murder of that senator. did he do something horrible? yes. did he destroy his relationship to his family? yes. does he regret what he did? i think so. and he definitely has guilt about his fucked up relationship with his wife. in S1 they mention how non-guilty people got sent to prison all the time. while lee is Definitely a murderer, we get to see over the season that hes a good guy who just wanted a family and in a moment of rage and betrayal did something he can never take back. this is why i never hated marlon. did he fuck up and do horrible things? of course. but he was a scared fucked up teen leading a group of other scared fucked up teens. he knows he fucked up, and continued fucking up to cover for his previous fuck ups lol. but he can be talked down. its a shame it ends the way it does, but i really like being able to teach aj the difference between people like marlon and people like lilly

lilly takes that kenny/carver idea and applies it to a clementine that has grown up and has been looking out for herself (and baby aj) for years now, instead of the 11 year old trying to figure shit out she was in S2. shes too old for lilly to be able to sway her in a way she couldve been more susceptible to in S2, and when lilly finally realizes this she just turns her attention to aj instead, seeing the potential in him (a potential clem does NOT want aj to live up to, wanting him to get to be a kid and not just a survivor, let alone a killer). lilly is fun because you can see in her that she WANTS clementine on her side, and throughout the season progressively realizes that its just never going to happen. both lilly AND clem come to the realization that this person they once considered family is beyond reason, their views too different, and so the fighting begins. their fight at the end of EP3 really feels like a "so its finally come to this" moment for both of them, their final fight. i always shoot her.

whats interesting about minnie is seeing her evolve from secondary antagonist in EP3 to straight up primary villain in EP4. the things shes done, the way shes been broken. she becomes her own downfall, seeing herself as someone beyond redemption. that this is just who she is now, its how things have to be. because if they didnt have to be this way? well then theres a lot more guilt she'd have to deal with. yelling at her in EP4 to just STOP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YOU DONT HAVE TO DO THIS ANYMORE but she has been changed (in her eyes) so irreparably that she cant see any other option. and she progressively sees clem as the one who fucked everything up for her, instead of accepting that it could all finally be OVER. after killing sophie, the delta was all she had left. it cant have all been for nothing. and so she blames clem for taking it all away from her, even tho clem is just trying to protect her family. the family that used to be minnies. and so in her rage she gets bit. something else that she couldve avoided. but shes just too lost to her own downward spiral, unable to be reasoned with. by that point she just wants it all to be Over. and she wants to take tenn with her so she can finally pretend things can all go back to the way they used to be. her, sophie, tenn, and their parents all together again, where no more bad things have to happen to them. shes super tragic and i love her for that. and i love how she holds this dark mirror up to clem. clem struggles to let go of her past too, and the guilt she has over the things shes done and people shes hurt. and that if she cant learn to let go and move on she could get lost to it the same way minnie did. theres a reason clem is so quick to accept her fate, but shes finally able to leave that guilt holding her to her past behind in that barn. and she returns to ericson a much happier and lighter person, so much weight finally lifted from her shoulders. its finally over for her too

so yeah. my fave villains are definitely the S4 ones due to their nuance and layers. then the stranger, then carver, then joan. if i had to put david on this list he'd probably be above carver. but thats mainly because he has more nuance than carver ever did

[slexenskee]

hi! if you dont mind me asking, what was satoru's relationship with suguru? bcuz, any of the jjk characters are barely mentioned in the book, ive always wondered satoru's relationship with all of them, like is it more canon based or more fanon, like was sugusato ever a thing? or, is hawks the first real relationship gojo's ever had? were nanami and gojo closer? idk, i just have always wondered lol. sorry for any inconveniences.

So I'm going with canon for most relationships bc they're just too hard to guess. JJK spoilers below!

Suguru:

So I tried to stick with canon for Suguru although I do play up the ambiguity in their canon relationship. For example we have that scene in JJK0 where Satoru says something to Suguru but we don't know what it is, but fans sort of assume it's some kind of explicit acknowledgment of their feelings for each other. In my verse idk I imagine he says something like 'you were always the best part of me' or something that's still vague and hints at romantic feelings but could still be intimate and just platonic.

I characterize their relationship as deeply intimate but not ever explicitly romantic. They definitely had romantic tension but it remained unspoken between them as teenagers, and then after the SPV arc Suguru went off the rails and kinda pulled away from Satoru and ultimately they never had the chance to start any kind of romantic relationship.

So they were never in love but they absolutely could have been/should have been, fate just got in the way.

Nanami:

Were they close??? It really doesn't seem like it outside of the OP/ED credits of S2. And in the recent manga chapters I feel like Satoru didn't mourn him much at all (or he could just be so shocked by all the deaths he hasn't managed to acknowledge them) In fact I kind of assumed canon Nanami lowkey hated Satoru, and only begrudgingly considered him a sorcerer worthy of respect after many years of knowing him?

Shouko:

BOY do I have some thoughts on this. In canon they give off the 'old acquaintances that have grown close by virtue of the fact they're the only two left but still aren't actually that close'. Like they obviously have a rapport/history in S1, but we don't see Shouko being particularly friendly to him in canon. She's friendlier than Utahime and Mei Mei for sure, but she doesn't seem like a confidant or a close friend. We don't get much of her in the SPV arc - could go either way that she was closer to him as kids or they were just classmates who spent a lot of time together and became close because they just lived in each other's pockets but otherwise wouldn't have been friends. The OP/ED for S2 would imply they were all good friends, but I don't consider that canon. That's just Mappa twisting the knife 😭

Tbh I hope they were never really close, bc otherwise I'd really dislike her. Suguru just snapped and became a serial killer and turned traitor, and Satoru was sent to assassinate him, and you as someone who was close to both of them just what... roll with it? There's that scene in ch 78 where she sees Suguru in Shinjuku and she's just like "oh hey Suguru, bff I've spent the past 3 years of my life hanging out with, what's up? Yeah I'll have a light. Oh so you really did mass-murder that whole village AND murder your parents? Cool. Yeah I don't feel like dying today so I'm gonna call Gojo to deal with you, peace out" and she just doesn't seem to give much of a fuck about Suguru or Satoru. In a way I think would be impossible if she genuinely cared about them. Or idk, maybe everyone in JJK was fucked up.

Megumi:

This is another canon relationship that makes me go ??? It's not specified whether Gojo actually takes Megumi in or just has legal guardianship of him and leaves him to his own devices. It seems more the latter, bc in all the Tsumiki flashbacks, Gojo is never there or even ever really mentioned.

And as of current manga he doesn't seem particularly torn up about Megumi's situation, and seems (although he could be bluffing) totally accepting of the fact he might have to kill Megumi to stop Sukuna. If you raised a kid with love and care for years - the way I see him doing with Eri - I cannot fathom how you'd compartmentalize like that.

idk these are just my personal headcanons for this fic. I've seen fanon versions of all these relationships that are really fleshed out and impressive and go either way sooo 🤷‍♀️

[fandoomrants]

Ok, tua s4, ep4

Spoilers!

-Omg, we see them as children again but this time they're teenagers!

-Allison and Klaus!!! I actually started rewatching tua with my mom a couple of days ago. And while in s2 we see the two of them reunite and have a bond, and also obviously now, in the beginning of this season, I also noticed some scenes between them in s1. First, their conversation in the first episode where she confronts him but she sounds fond, and also, in a memory where they're getting their tattoos, he's comforting her! Cute! Also, gives even more meaning on him borrowing her skirt!

-Omg. I'm actually not mad for them using Victor's dead name and please, please, please, don't be guys!

-This is a memory! It's the PAST! And Victor has not transitioned then! If they called him "Victor", it could have been a hint that these memories are somehow affected too!

-Usually when they speak about the past they do say "Victor", even if it's pre-transition so that's showing respect. But memories are another thing.

-....Bet they'll open the container.

-Also, so cool! We actually see a whole mission! It's not just a quick and blurred flashback!

-Is that gonna be the squid??

-Ummmm. I have a weird feeling about this.

-The squid didn't.... Come out of Ben, did it?!? Or him, turn into it?!?

-Do Jennifer and Ben have a connection or is this just her powers??

-Oh, nooo!!!! So Reginald is the one who killed him!? And her?

-Oh, so his wife made the marigold?!

-And Jennifer has this other element?

-Is this why she was on the moon??

-So, are there other children with this element?!

-"That thing Klaus got when he came back from Ibiza" 💀💀

-Reginald saying that whatever the other version of him was probably for a good reason, then lager claiming that it was not him who killed Ben, then trying to do it again...

-Ok, kinda love what Allison did.

-Also, forgot to mention this in the prev one but - KLAUS FLOATING!!!!

-"Don't we all"? 💀💀💀

-I'm kinda still waiting for him to see a ghost.

-And he did!

-Not another ghost getting into him 💀💀💀 For that.

-Diego and Lila make me sad.

-So, like, is Ben becoming unhinged because of Jennifer?

-Five treating his family like children. They are.

-I'm pretty sure Diego stole these from a dead guy....

-Oh! I hope Allison rescues Klaus!

-What a weird password...

-Also, 'Reg', could Gene and Jean have sth to do with Reginald?!

-I like how Allison takes care of Klaus but I don't like how she makes it sound like a big burden.

-That thing with Klaus is actually pretty dark.....

-Yeah, something is definitely going on with G&J and Reginald.

-Ok, so lots of people are somewhat connected...

-Ok, that squid was something else entirely....

-I mean, I can see some weird logic in what Ben is saying about the tentacles and the squid...

-I somewhat think that he is bewitched or something, tho.

-Ok, so Klaus seeing stuff, is this some type of a new power?

-What? That's some weird timeline....

-Phoenix Academy?!? Wait, I wanna know more!

-Not Klaus going to dig the money.

-.... And failed once again.

-Or it did?!

-Nope...

-Oh, noo. Coffin!

-Ok, kinda knew there was gonna be such a scene bc of an interview with RS.

-"A meaningless connection" 😬😬😬

-Aw, Victor protecting his family! (Wait. Was it spelled with 'c' or 'k'?!)

-Oh, no, these two are gonna end the world because of sex....

-Ew, what's going on?!

[persistentplums]

Loss, grief and mothers are interesting in The Bear.

The card of mother Mary with Jesus Christ, one of her son’s who famously dies is such an interesting way to relate to Mikey. From all the shots the card is shown which I think is telling of how Mikey and Donna are like.

But right now I’m not gonna talk about Mikey and Donna, I can get into it but my focus is on Carmy and Sydney and how grief and loss is a pit within them.

With forks being a great look into the Berzatto’s it did make me realize something, Carmy uses his family as motivators. In s1 his monologue about cooking to prove something felt specifically towards Mikey, his anger, hurt, and pain that Mikey didn’t see him. So he put his head down to prove his brother wrong. In forks we see why he headed to New York as an escape, fully absorbed.

His destructive family motivates Carmy into moving away to focus on cooking, his loss of his brother causes him to focus on cooking, in his hurt he focuses on cooking. No matter how you look at it Carmy cooks maybe less because of a passion and more because that is all he has in his feeling of grief. In s2 ep1 he tells richie plainly he doesn’t do it because it’s fun or he loves it. It’s something that HAS to be done because he can’t think of anything else to be or do. It was his brother, it was his mom, and if it can be him too maybe then he will be closer finally to them.

Sydney on the other hand is a constant of working with what she has. You can’t grieve who you don’t know, and yet she does in a way we don’t know exactly yet, but the pieces in s2 kinda got my mind rolling.

Sydney cooks as a means of connection, she is a quilt of Chicago and people. Bits and pieces carried around. Her grief is how things don’t stick, they burn out and all that’s left is her watching it go. I have a feeling in the future we see more about Sydney life and her relationship how she builds herself out of pieces because unlike Carmy she’s only had her dad. Her mom are pieces of her dad and pictures. A grief that isn’t tangible, made of paper ready to fly away if not held strong. This reflects on her burning need, she cooks bc she likes it, it makes her closer to people, it’s an impact she can see and feel. Nobody forgets good food.

At the core it feels like both Sydney and Carmy have a passion for cooking, but s2 made it a little clearer on how that passion looks like and why. I just find it neat to look at it through the contrasting mothers between the two.

Unfortunately for Nat I do worry for her, her relationship is far different from the two of them which I’ll probably write later or wait for s3.

[nervocat]

OOOOH THATS SUCH A GOOD IDEA!!!! i’m imagining little sibling!reader being obsessed with his powers and always begging him to show them what he can do. or….. if you want to go in the more angsty route, you could have them being kinda resentful towards him and constantly feeling inferior… they’re not paid attention to as much cause their big brother has psychic powers and they don’t, so they always be second best. (or third best, i suppose, because kusuke is a genius and all.)

idk just some ideas :D

I like to think that Saiki and his little sibling having a good relationship and maybe Saiki would have this soft-spot for them, but would still treat them like he would others if need be, esp if they're bugging him to show his powers (he might indulge then just a bit if he's feeling nice).

(I got wayyy too carried off so cutting it off a bit)

Again it all depends on how his little sibling would act, but I think just this silly relationship between the two is so fun to think abt. OH imagine if they were BOTH physics 😼😼 silly Saiki just having to begrudgingly teach them how to restrain their powers and stuff

It's been so long since I've finished s1 (yet to get to s2) but I vaguely remember kusuke.. not much tho 💀💀 THE ANGST ROUTE HAS SM POTENTIAL THO ESP WITH HOW SAIKIS PARENTS ACT TOWARDS HIM!! Like reader is always left behind bc kusuo can do this and that for their parents, but all they can do is just do what's asked of them and do it nothing like how kusuo can (they always hear their parents gushing abt Saiki and they get tired of it after a while)

If it's like a hurt/comfort plot, mix the angst and fluff ideas together!! As kids, Kusuo and reader were super close but as they aged, reader grew said resentment, but when Saiki notices that it's starting to get ridiculous he'd probably scold their parents or smth and spend some time with his little sibling after so long and talk about life with them (while eating coffee jelly together and Kusuo (yet again) indulging his sibling with showing them his powers (he smiles when he sees them so happy)).

[dinosaursatemymom]

Tw:sa, mentions of sa

TL;DR: nuance is incredibly important when discussing ships and characters. Also don't fucking make shit up, that's gross.

oh

Oml

I just found out that some people think that Steve SA'd Nancy in s1

Btw I don't ship stncy, but this is just, no. Oml no.

I just have to say that this is definitely wild. Especially because that's, just, not what happened in the show, and trying to paint Steve as this evil assaulter who was only using Nancy for sex literally undoes his entire plot in s1 that proves he wasn't just using her for sex.

In the first scene, he pushes for more, she says no, they joke a little, and then he stops. It was clearly meant to be lighthearted. The scene where they actually do have sex, Nancy initiates it. Steve did not at any point force Nancy into having sex. Lighthearted joking about having sex is not sa. If you cannot tell the difference between lighthearted joking around and literal fucking SA then please do not say shit like this, especially if you haven't experienced SA yourself.

Like, if you wanna talk SA maybe talk about the very real violation of consent in the show by Jonathan.(ftr I have forgiven Jonathan for this, he has clearly grown since s1 I just feel it's necessary to bring up in this convo bc jncy shippers tend to just ignore that this happened) Jonathan not only violated nancy's privacy, he also violated Tommy's, Barb's, Steve's and Carol's consent in taking these pictures. They were not in a public space, he went into a private gathering and took pictures without consent. That's a violation of privacy, tommy and carol being assholes doesn't mean they should get their privacy taken. It's gross, and it's even worse when people try to excuse Jonathan's actions and say he didn't do anything wrong.

Yes, Jonathan has grown and can be forgiven for this.

But, he was not in the right for taking those pictures of them.

It's the same with Steve

No, he shouldn't have slutshamed Nancy or said those things to Jon.

But, he was in the right for being upset about the pictures and he has grown since then

All of these things are true.

What isn't true it's saying that Steve SA'd Nancy. Especially when this is used as anti stncy "evidence". That's gross. Wtf.

Don't erase the real consent and privacy violation and make one up just to defend a ship. Ew

Also Nancy deserved so much better than Jon in s1, I'm actually glad about the decision to make them get together in s2 because it gave Jon some time to grow and be less weird. I don't really like how they got together (a grown adult giving teens alcohol and telling them to have sex will never not be weird) but I digress.

JSYK this isn't rlly an anti jancy post. I think that they could be really great if they could just fucking communicate and work on their problems better.

Also I just get really annoyed when people treat ships as if they have no issues and are perfect, which tends to be a lot of peoples attitudes on jncy which has kinda turned me off from the ship itself.

So many conversations surrounding jncy and stncy lack much needed nuance, which can lead to people saying things like this as "proof" that a character/ship is bad and terrible and the worst ship ever.

[baelatargaryen]

how do you like season 2 so far?

how long have you got cause i could go on for ages 😭

that being said, in reference to season 1, that's a hard comparative to make, especially having seen only the first three episodes. the first season was obviously setting up everything that's happening now and establishing characters and was structured completely different so it's not easy to compare.

in terms of character... i cut out a whole paragraph here on a comparative to got bc i didn't want it to get too long, but the main difference between got and hotd is that hotd shot itself pretty early in the foot with characterisation and significant changes and now it has to reap the consequences of it. regarding hotd s2, thoughts so far....

the bad:

aemond and alicent's plotlines are the weakest. the show doesn't want to commit to either of these characters being an antagonist which is partially the problem, but it's also made the odd decision that their storylines have distanced them from the immediate cast at times and that's made them feel like they're on the outside of the events occurring and slightly side-lined.

alicent and cole's relationship really could have been done much better, and i think the route they've gone down has slightly cheapened certain scenes. and frankly, it's kind of a let down how little passion or tension there is in the scenes, like personally they've somehow made them boring to me.

the less said about rhaenys' character, the better. eve best is such an amazing actress and yet rhaenys has become a sort of mouthpiece of the writers themselves to pontify to us about the futility of war and both-sides-esque arguments. we get it.

certain things are just beating a dead horse over and over again. how many times must the show attempt to answer the question of daemon's loyalty, and whether he wants to be king. how is this arc not resolved yet? or

having the dance centre around the misunderstanding of a prophecy was a mistake and having revealed that to alicent last episode was a mistake too i think. it's lessened her character for it, and now it's also taken the genuine tension or dramatic irony out of the rest of the season. her character feels completely aimless.

the good:

perhaps calling this "good" is a misrepresentation, regardless i kinda appreciate the show clearly trying to over-correct itself in regards to some writing decisions made in s1. that being said, it's unfortunately too little too late. still, i do find it kinda funny. if only they had started here from the get go, it would be a better show for it.

baela & rhaena & jace finally having some scenes that establish how they feel about the conflict and their role within the family. i'm excited to see more of them all!

the entire daemon in harrenhal arc is interesting to me and i always jump at a fantasy element, one that i felt has been really missing from the show despite the fact we have literal dragons — somehow it has felt less fantastical thann got in regards to that, so the harrenhal arc is a welcome surprise to me.

helaena has been a welcome surprise to me, i think phia saban killed it in episode 1 and episode 2 and i'm kinda curious where they go with her character.

i do like the set up of some new dynamics as well; the tension between rhaena and her family, or larys setting his eye on aegon now that alicent has lost her seat of power.

stand out actors for me so far: emma d'arcy, matt smith, eve best, tom-glynn carney, phia saban and rhys ifans.

current episode rankings for me:

episode 2 — rhaenyra the cruel (best ep so far)

episode 1 — a son for a son

episode 3 — the burning mill (the weakest episode so far imo)

at the moment, it's hard to compare the episodes. my favourite s1 episode was lord of the tides, at which point we've been with the characters enough that the emotional payoff was significant.

ep 2 was my favourite bc of the writing centred around the emotional fallout — rhaenyra and daemon's fight, aegon and helaena's grief over their son, even the cargyll fight is centred around their relationship. that being said, ep 2 didn't make me as emotional as rhaenyra's grief in episode 1, or jace breaking down trying to relate his time in the vale/the north to his mother. if they had handled b&c closer to the books, i imagine episode 1 would have been the no. 1 for me.

[eldritch-araneae]

Can you make a list of Bumblebee's best friend (bot) in all versions such as animated, Cyberserve or prime?🥺

Hi, I was a bit confused ( like you want me only list bots, not humans?), especially if you want only the continuities you listed or all of them? Anyway, I'll do all bc as I was thinking about the answer I got some interesting thoughts. So prepare your tea and sit comfortably ~

Generation 1

In G1 cartoon they made it seem like Bumblebee just gets along with everyone. But I can't remember if Bee had someone among bot who we could consider his best friend. This title really went to Spike exclusively and I know you said to list bots only, bear with me here.

This fits into Bumblebee's struggles, because he's weak, but humans weak too so he feel he belong with them more than his own people. And Bumblebee still friends with Spike even after the human grows up and has a family (and the fact its the only time they show passage of time like this with a human character?)! We don't see Bee a lot on later seasons so I like to assume he just hangs out with Spike's family most of the time.

It would be so dope if they actually explored the idea of human mortality and how cybertronians would handle the invertible. But it never happens in canon even in "serious" continuities. And same even in fandom spaces. I only once stumbled upon the fic where Bee gets super anxious because Spike is getting older, really long time ago. Of course I wrote a story about this, but still, I can't be the only one thinking about this. In G1 based comics it's kinda the same thing, except IDW where Bumblebee has NO FRIENDS ( nor bot or human). Like he had some pals in the past, but he lost them all. In IDW2 there is Windblade who was established as Bumblebee's bestie but they way it was written... it was very cold friendship judging by panels I saw. Not a fan. Ah yes, I didn't watched the Netflix version, so idk, but considering how writers decided to deconstruct the character for no reason I can assume he has no friends at all.

Bayverse

I can's really say anything, I watched only first and second movies and again, Bee was bonded with a human. Same with Bee-movie, I know it's not technically bayverse, but sadly, Bee has the same the design and I still can't watch the movie bc of it xD

Animated

This is very clear that Bumblebee bot bestie is Bulkhead. And if both Bumblebee and Bulkhead were written better we would have a really dope character dynamic. Tho their dynamic is fun even as it is ( Bee crawling all over Bulkhead like a spider is Halloween episode cracks me up), but sadly Bee just never develops as a character.

Prime

I can't say anything about because I didn't really watched the show. I started, didn't liked it and dropped it. The entire aligned continuity isnt really for me, so I skipped Rescue Bots and RiD15. Though, I did like "War for Cybertron" game a lot, and maybe I would watch Prime if character designs were from that game. In the game Bee didn't had any besties.

Cyberverse

Here Bumblebee has bonds with few bots. First one is Windblade and I absolutely loved it. Their relationship was amazing and warm and physically tactile, and that's how I started ship them. Then we see Hot Rod and, now deceased, Blurr and later Bumblebee bonds with Cheetor.

This show had so much potential, like the buildup in S1 was nice and well established dynamic between Bumblebee and Windblade, but then it was all thrown out the window. Windblade was sidelined entirely in S2 as Bee hands out with Hot Rod and Cheetor ( as it's the typical all boys gang no girls allowed) after all this demonstration how close those two are in S1?? Meh.

And when Cheetor sacrifices himself? Bee looks sad at this moment, and then moves on like thing happened and it didn't affect him? What is this?? Ugh.

Earthspark

Right it's too early to say, but we can already see that Bee has a very sibling-like bond with Arcee. And from the trailer it looks like Bee is good friends with Breakdown which is interesting. Maybe he was the reason why Bee picked the racer car after his VW Beetle mode? We will see~

I think it's all? There is Shattered Glass too, but I have no idea, cant say anything. I hope it was enough)

[steveharrington]

Okay in fairness I do feel like some of the later deaths had better character execution (heh) if that makes any sense. Like I’m super ambivalent to Chrissy as a character but I feel like we got a lot more development for her than Barb. Which might not be an accident bc of how heavy season one is with the character tropes, Barb starts and stays relatively one note bc she doesn’t get a chance to develop/need to do anything else but exist as Nancy’s friend

I will say barb’s death has always kind of rubbed me wrong because the narrative focus on Will makes things kind of uneven like it seems like no one cares about her (except Nancy) in comparison to how much people care about will. Which is obviously necessary for the narrative but then I get to the fact that she died in the upside down even though she was there for a shorter amount of time and I would assume have a better shot as a healthy almost-adult compared to a scrawny child. But it’s also necessary for the horror movie vibes and quite a bit less distressing than will’s death would have been for a lot of the reasons I mentioned

I’m not trying to say the other deaths which were extremely telegraphed were executed better (I still think it’s the best character death*). Stranger things is just really bad at killing off characters

(*honorable mention to Billy bc I love that he died even if I don’t care for how they went about doing it)

see for me it doesn’t particularly bother me that barb didn’t get tons of development beforehand because like ….. she was there for such a short period of time yk? so if we had spent like a good chunk of the first two episodes like delving into who barb is as a person, it would’ve felt weird and not given us as much time with the plot exposition and getting to know our characters who actually live (ooo that sounded brutal sorry barb) and in typical slasher fashion, some people who die for the sake of raising the stakes and establishing danger just aren’t going to get much of a personality before they’re killed.

as for will getting more attention than barb in terms of being missing, i think it’s kinda only natural considering the ties he has to so many of the main characters. he’s joyce’s son, jonathan’s brother, mike lucas and dustin’s best friend. it makes sense that there’s more urgency and attention placed on him because we spend more time with these characters in combination than we do with nancy, who was the only one who really had ties to barb. it is a little weird that hopper doesn’t seem very motivated to find her, i will grant you that. like damn “police chief” we got a missing girl could you like pretend to care pls

it would’ve been nice to maybe explore how will survived for a week in an environment that got barb killed immediately. i guess we’re supposed to extrapolate from the demogorgon being directly behind her at steve’s place that she just….immediately was killed? whereas will had a weapon and some distance idk that’s the best theory i can come up with.

when i say barb’s death is well executed, i mainly mean that it had an obvious impact on nancy. her relationship with barb carried through to the next season, she grieved, it caused conflict between her and steve, and the justice she wanted to get for barb was literally her main plotline in s2 (and jonathan’s!) whereas with other deaths like bob, fred, EDDIE!!!!!, etc the characters they were close to barely react. there’s some sprinkled in mourning for bob, dustin gives his fake ass speech about eddie, fred literally gets nothing from nancy at all, but barb’s death was realistic in the way it affected nancy. i think st’s main problem right now is that the stakes feel so incredibly low. like yeah someone could die but they’ll probably just come back to life, and if they don’t ….. oh well ? our characters won’t be that broken up about it ?? s1 and 2 just did a great job depicting grief and how the absence of a loved one is all consuming and not something that can just be brushed off. s4 is extremely lacking in that area

[found--family]

i finally finished Bridgewater season 2!

(i know i'm way behind but i was listening on my drive to and from work but then i lost my job and suddenly listening at home felt weird but i binged the last handful of eps this long weekend so now i wanna share some thoughts..) 

best finale bits: 

- realising francine was spn alumn/battlestar galactica's tricia helfer (wish I'd realised this sooner bc i think i would've enjoyed her character more) 

- jeremy becoming an unexpected father to a time travelling kid he spent the whole season vocally not giving a shit about (serious s13!grieving!dean vibes here) 

- the setup for season 3! would love to get some pov from folks in the fae realm! 

best s2 bits: 

- aside from misha, soni has been my fave thing about this series (his voice acting is So Good) and this season we got more vippin and more of him interacting with other characters! 

- learning more about jeremy: he visited fairyland as a kid! he was a teen wiccan! he just wants a friend! he's happy without a partner and kids! (the phonecall to his british colleague was a fave scene) 

- peyton! wish we'd gotten more of her, hope she returns next season. 

- more hillary! she's not in it much but we got a few long scenes with her and it was great to hear her flex her voice acting chops. 

- tudyk! i was sceptical at first (i'd really been looking forward to fillion) but he was stellar. his distinct voice is perfect for voice acting and his vocal control and timing was really superb. his and misha's scenes were a highlight but there were also a few delightful and emotional scenes with other characters (including a makeover!) 

- MONSTERS. one of the huge draws of this podcast for me was the supernatural element. this season had a bunch of different creatures appear and there were mentions of way more that had me googling and learning so much (yay fic fodder!) 

a few s2 cons (imho): 

- this season is a lot compared to season 1. more characters, more plot, more at stake. it was hard to keep up with what was going on specifically with all the fae stuff. i had to relisten to numerous scenes multiple times to grasp what was happening.

- it kinda feels like season 1 was written not knowing how everything would play out bc all the fae stuff feels shoehorned into the relevant parts of the s1 narrative. they make it work but some explanations seemed like a bit of a stretch. 

- as much as i love her on-screen, i didn't really enjoy helfer in this. i don't know whether it's because i found her character annoying from the jump or if it was her vocal style being a little too overdramatic and on the nose (that could've been a director's decision in which case it makes sense, but i really didn't enjoy her personality as the legend tripper or her almost comical portrayal as fae) 

- the finale was a lot of exposition, and it got very convoluted with different characters wanting to sacrifice themselves over each other, and the whole fae deal thing was still unclear and confusing despite being explained. tbh i was bored for most of it. 

- the first 19 minutes of the finale was an uninterrupted convo between jeremy and francine. that's too long, it's half the damn episode. and francine was doing most of the talking (almost monologuing) and since she's the badguy of the season it felt like a poor choice (or maybe that's just my bias for not liking her portrayal?) 

- anne and thomas going through the portal made total sense and I'm glad that's what happened bc thomas was sick and anne had missed her life BUT that made all the arguments over who should go that much more pointless. the arguments felt like filler, going round in circles with people ignoring each other's sound reasoning. 

- there were quite a few noticeable editing mistakes this season: chopped dialogue poorly stitched together, misspoken words, and dead air that did nothing to set the tone but instead felt like they hadn't bothered fixing. 

closing thoughts: 

i preferred the mystery of season 1. this season was a lot of focus on the how's and why's of all the monster and fae stuff with character studies crammed between, whereas season 1 was more concise in the investigation and character focus and there was always room to wonder what was going on (i preferred that) but there was also room for the narrative to breathe; season 2 is crowded. it's a lot of fast dialogue and info dumping, a lot of characters - some interesting, some annoying, a few pointless. I'd listen again for clarity and enjoyment of particular scenes and dynamics, but more often than not i found myself confused, left with more questions than answers, and therefore not being able to enjoy the journey. there were definite high points, including the many monster cameos, but it lost that eery feel that season 1 did so well; this season felt like multiple genres rolled into one with all of them fighting for dominance - horror, fantasy, drama, mystery - whereas season 1 melded themes and genres effortlessly. season 2 also didn't have the emotional chords that season 1 played so beautifully (I'm looking at you, emotional jeremy realising his whole life was a lie) the finale should've been a tear-jerker, it wasn't. 

it's always hard to follow the success of a first season, especially when the second decides to explain all the mysteries season 1 set up - and given how season 1 ended there was a lot that needed explaining. unfortunately (for me) the story felt caught up in the details and yet it explained things without explaining things leaving me wanting for clarity that never came. often it didn't bother setting the tone (or an intriguing tone) and more characters meant less misha which is always disheartening. 

i'm looking forward to season 3 with papa!jeremy(?) and fae realm content (I'd love more fae) i just hope they can recapture the thematic feel of season 1 (it can be a different vibe but it has to permeate the narrative) and refocus on our main folk (jeremy, vippin, anne, thomas, olivia) instead of introducing too many new characters and elements that will steal more scene time. 

[dbphantom]

So I rewatched ep1 and 2 of Trigun Stampede with my friend and it got us thinking about the upcoming plot/structure of the show, namely if we get a season 2 what's gonna be the catalyst for it

AKA we have a very specific wishlist for this show and watch it be thrown out the window when episode 3 airs lmao

Spoilers under the cut

No, seriously, those virus explodey things are a total wildcard. Anything could happen! It's so exciting! But here's our take (big thank you to @moscovus for being a great friend and nerding out with me tn):

We were talking mostly about the map and the structure of the world, and because July is still around and hasn't happened yet, if The Destruction will happen during the show. Mainly because it feels like the map will start showcasing the party's adventure across it as the season goes on, and we can't help but notice July is placed perfectly on the right across from our party's starting place, with an orphanage smack dab in the middle. Plus there's a landmark with its name cut off on the far left which seems... Sus. That or the version of the show we watched was just ever so slightly zoomed in. Either or.

So the main theory is that the season 1 finale will be the events of July and Vash will get his iconique 60 bil bounty at the end of s1 because of Knives, leaving season 2 (+??) to cover the already written events of the story. Basically s1 is going to be introducing characters (a little out of order from what we're used to, but still), getting us used to the world/story, and then setting up/paying off with the July incident. So maybe that will be when the whole plant/angel arm reveal to the audience happens in this iteration (or maybe that will be a mid season finale type deal). Then the rest of the main story events will play out in s2 (+?????).

We're thinking changes mean Roberto + Meryl will be in July when the destruction happens and most importantly Roberto will die (or otherwise be written out) as the end of his character arc. My friend suggested his arc being him becoming less jaded as they follow Vash around and learn about Love and Peace. Specifically, we think Roberto will die so that in season 2 (if we get a s2, that's the HINGE) Meryl will get a second partner in Milly because We Want Her Back

Also in general we've come to the agreement that even if Wolfwood is introduced immediately [aka next episode] if he dies this season it's going to feel like an any% wolfwood dies speedrun with how fast everything seems to be progressing. That plus how young he looks, we're thinking maybe we will get a timeskip (kinda like the 5th moon incident timeskip) after the s1 finale (again, hypothetically/hopefully the destruction of July) and we'll actually get to see him change designs bc of the super fast metabolism stuff. AKA this is our plea: bring his tits back.

Also, if July happens during the season finale, then Knives will need time to incubate and heal. What better time to do that than during a between-seasons timeskip.

Anyway. Yeah. Wishlist:

Season 2 pls we love this so much already and we want MORE

July is the season 1 finale

slow

Roberto dies/is written out and is replaced with Milly after he gets satisfying character development

Bring back Vash's 60 billion. 6 million sounds SO WRONG

Wolfwood doesn't die until post season 1

Short timeskip after season 1 into season 2 to set the stage for the 'main' manga plot

If July happens and Knives has to regen after getting blasted/bested then a timeskip would make sense right

Hhhh

Feral plant Vash please we love the feathery baby limbed body horror and cg is the perfect medium for this scene to finally be animated

Elendira

Please

Don't fuck her up please

That's it

Okay actually that's a lie we also wanna see Tessla, Domina, and Chronica animated

But not the truck scene please

Realistically we know our wishlist probably isn't happening given we got a trailer with all the gung ho guns fighting already and what looks like Knives going all-out and they probably wouldn't have animated s2 stuff for a season 1 trailer but man we can hope right? Like maybe they'll just introduce them all before July and Knives is just throwing a temper tantrum like he often does 🥺 I mean he's still gotta make the plant collective and the ark so so so maybe he hasn't started yet despite physically stealing all the plants so far 😭 like if July is the s1 finale then there can still be a big flashy fight and everything, he will just regen after during the timeskip between s1 and s2 like he does in the manga 😭😭 <- is not coping great, clearly

Also, just for the record, it's been a couple months since I've last consumed the manga and the og anime, so forgive me for any inconsistencies or incorrect info, my memory isn't the greatest. I only have room for borderlands lore in here

Odds are, they're probably not following the manga's story, or changed it so significantly that none of this speculation actually matters. We will see!! After all these virus injector explodey things are totally new, so who knows where tf they're taking us next. We certainly don't. We're just having fun with it.

Just as an overall thing, this is us assuming season 1 is going to be 12 episodes. If it's 24, then maybe July will be the mid-season finale and 13+ will be after a timeskip.

[kiwibirdlafayette]

hellooo!

you know something that interests me so much, is how Jordan’s perspective is unreliable. Just by the nature of him having an edited pov makes him an unreliable narrator to the audience.

The best example I have of this is why capsize thought they were together. In his pov it comes out of left field, like it makes no sense that she would consider that. But if you go to Tom’s episode, you can see that she literally thinks that because Tom says in chat that him and Jordan are fucking. Like, honestly the comparison of Jordan’s “Girl Problems” ep and Tom’s 81st episode is the best example of that because it frames Capsizes character in a certain light depending on who you watch and because people will usually only watch Jordan’s (because it’s shorter) then it’s a bit of a one sided view.

And I bet you there are season 2 examples but I’d have to rewatch it from someone else’s perspective first before I give an example.

YESSSS NO YEAH EXACTLYY

The unreliable narrator of Jordan's POV is really super interesting because actually like!! you could lore wise outside the meta of edited content ooc interpret it as an intentionally crafted story, where ye!! The whole bit about capsize thinkin thems boyos were together without the context of Tom's comment (which I gen only caught bc I paused Jordan's ep to read the chat when he opened it) makes her out to be a completely different person versus if ya saw it in Tom's POV- in the sense of her to Jordan trying to deflect away from a supposed truth versus her just obvs playin off what Tom was together and them zombiecaptains bein silly

In a way, if ya follow the headcanon from DSMP that chat is personified as an in-universe entity of sorts around the character (like Ranboo's ender particles, the voices of the Blood god to Techno, or Phil's crows); like Jordan got little sparkles floating around him only he can see/hear, the fact that we only see bits of his POV could be like him trying to appeal to them (aka them rampant shippers- show his dynamic with Capsize as they expect which is what leads to the inconsistency in her character) As he goes on he starts to learn to ignore them and just roll how he rolls

(in all honesty i like to abide by the headcanon that the whole "im in love w/ capsize" shenanigans was actually cJordan's dumbass way of deflecting off not wantin to admit he was in love with cTom and was egged on by chat but thats a ramble for another day LMAO)

Also!! thats so true too like I havent watched any other S2 POVs but we kinda actually see it in Isles a lil 👀 Ive been hoppin back n forth between Tom and Jordan's povs for fun during my watchthrough where while the edited v. uncut has been flipped, while you can see all of Tom and Karl's shenanigans uncut in Jord's POV, it still doesnt make any sense the motivations for stuff like him joining Team Ianite unless u can see those interactions he has privately with Dianite (who is also so two totally different people between the two povs). But whats interesting is how like Isle!Tom's kind of unreliable narrator is different in nature from S1!Jordan, where its like the intent between the kind of story either is trying to tell has different motivation behind it ig? ye :D ty for this brainrot btw note I Will put lore to everything and. yeah anyhoozers

[bylertruther]

Thoughts on some unexplored pairings in s5? Would you want to see any of these?

El and Nancy

Will and Steve

Joyce and Lucas

Hopper and Robin

Dustin and Jonathan

el and nancy interacting would just be girlboss2girlboss communication. el paraded around in nancy's clothes in s1 and thought she was pretty so already i want them to interact so that el can see what a Woman Wanting Independence and Selfhood^tm looks like, but i know that they will undoubtedly at least in passing interact bc el's got her powers back, knows all about henry, and nancy's got to tell them about her vision and took the leadership role, too, while they were gone and i don't think she'll relinquish it and suddenly go quiet. but! i do think it'd be cool for them to be in a fight sequence together. nancy with her gun n el doing her jedi mind tricks. the usual, u kno.

will and steve aka mr steal yo girl + mr struggle <3 jk they are both mr struggle, but will very much less so bc at least the boy he wants wants him back and he's just too blind to see it unlike steve who doesn't realize his dream is nancy's nightmare n thought he somehow still had a chance jus cos they were talking again LMAOOOOO L sorry, steve. teehee. anyway i think it's kinda funny that steve got roped up into all of this bc of will and yet... they've never Once said anything 2 each other. like, at all. unless u count the group responding to him when they're sneaking through scoops ahoy's backdoor as an interaction, but i don't. i would like to see it jus bc i'm so curious how the duffers think they'd interact with each other but i doubt we'll get it. sadge</3

joyce and lucas ok. did mike call the byers when will wasn't at school and then weasel his way inside to stay by will's side even at the lab? yes. but lucas went to the gate BY HIMSELF with only a SLINGSHOT and some POCKET LINT! joyce is a mama bear ok she has enough love to go around n i feel like she can have scenes that aren't with hopper without her fucking dying or smth. let her interact with anyone else please for the love of byIer 🙄 and lucas is a sweetie so i think everyone should love n appreciate him always n forever all the time so. i'll take it<3 omg imagine them protecting n standing guard for the injured ppl in the monster war in s5... or joyce reassuring lucas about max in general since she has some experience when she almost lost will... i'd Ascend

hopper and robin. hmmmmmmm. see in my brain i could headcanon something between them but in canon? lol. i'm tired of the same people being paired up for the ENTIRE season so tbh i would welcome anything new and this would definitely be new!

dustin and jonathan give off the BIGGEST responsible big brother x annoying little brother vibes ever. their mini interaction in s2 when the junkyard crew meets up with j*ncy and dustin greets him + dustin literally sounding and acting like a little kid when he pushes jonathan out of the booth and says "LeT mE tRy, jOnAtHaN 😠😤" bc he wants to be the one to push the button is so funny to me lol. also, him calling their mom joyce instead of ms. byers is just... lmao. okay, dustin. clearly, they amuse me so yes i would love to see them!

in general, if it's a pairing that hasn't ever interacted before or has interacted only once for two seconds, my answer is always goign to be Yes I Want To See Them bc gah daMN all them characters in that ensemble and for WHAT? to show the same team up every time? cringe. (except for byIer i want them paired up 24/7 forever. or else.)

[gallavich-headcanon]

HONEYBUNS HI so I cannot stop coming back to this future fic I have lately?? It might be just a wee bit inspired by bluey shhh

Mickey and Ian have three year old twin girls named Eleanor and Jean (they like old music, Eleanor Rigby was Mickey's song inspiration and Billie Jean was Ian's) they also have Yev part time

Yev is 11 now and he's got questions about the world and he *loves* his sisters

They move to an actual house, and Mandy is moving back to Chicago so when they got the house, they offered her a spare room till she finds her own place

Debbie comes back from Texas the same day, and- what are they gonna do, kick their favorite niece to the curb?

(this is a sitcom)

Mickey is running the buisness aspect of their company from home now bc he hurt his back a few years ago and between that and all the other shit he's been through his body was like "if you ever try to work a strenuous job again I'm going to rebel"

Ian works on location with their employees and volunteers as a firefighter since he can't legally be employed by an ambulance service with a felony to his name

They're just really fucking happy, okay?? I just wanna write them being happy and being amazing parents. They love their kids sm

Oh my god hi aliciaaaa 🖤🖤🖤

This is such a sweet sitcom idea!!!

I love fics where I&M take Franny in to live with them. They both have such sweet connection with her that it makes me feel so many things whenever I read about the three of them!

I feel like a house full of kids, reminds Ian a lot of how he grew up with Fiona. I bet he feel so good being able to be that person for so many kids and to be doing it with the love of his life? Hell yeah!

Mandy and Ian adult bffs? Sign me the fuck up! (Not gonna lie in my head I imagine s2+ Mandy but with more s1 Mandy personality, because she had such a beautiful connection with Ian) we did no get enough of the Ian Mandy and Mickey dynamic and I desperately want them to reconnect as adults.

Yevgeny! Oh I haven’t thought of him in such a long time! Does he see Ian as his step dad? Or more of his dad’s husband? Yevgeny loving his sisters is so sweet, I bet he tries to take care of them. How much is he like Mickey?

I think it kinda fits them, Mickey likes to feel like the boss man, having people work for him (I bet he still calls Ian his employee) and Ian loves being hand on, in the field, getting stuff done, you know?

Yes please give me all the fluff and lightheartedness 😭🖤

[m1ckeyb3rry]

FR im glad that probably won’t happen for a while for BLLK since there’s still a lot of material that needs to be made before it can be over…

THATS WHAT I SAID??? I wanna know what editor sat through reading it and approved it for publication like??? And what compels people to put this out there like….imagine having to see this in a bookstore like oh my

Ooooh you’re so right…I think it was the hype from s1 and the gap in between the release (plus the movie!! Almost forgot that existed) that really built up s2 especially since the beginning was very gojo centric….speaking of I almost forgot you consume jjk too, are you caught up with the manga? I have some thoughts…(only some because although I’m technically caught up I got so confused for a very large chunk of it that I barely pieced together what happened for a good section…)

So real he’s way too yolo for the elite life!! He would not give af about social status or keeping up the status quo, maintaining reputations etc. LOL Something about yuki always having some position of status in the social hierarchy as like a side character is something I love like….no wonder he’s a model in canon he definitely gives off these really poised elegant vibes like he is DEFINITELY a noble I’m very excited to see the diff dynamics in hollyhock!!!

Morally grey assholes are my personal fav LMAOO when I first read that y/n offers up hiiragi I was like rubbing my hands together (there needs to be a better phrase for this?? Like when villains go hehehe and rub their hands together ykwim?) I love the way y/n isn’t your cliche mc where she just seduces Otoya on spot or something I CHEERED when I read that like let’s go??? I’m so excited to see her selfish side like I feel like in these settings it’s such a unique way to go about the mc?? I remember watching/reading some series with more historical settings (like my happy marriage which I mean. It’s a romance so I guess I should’ve expected it LOL) but the mc is usually very…submissive…? I get how that fits into the contexts of the time too (eugh misogyny) but it’s refreshing to see more bold characters than your token shoujo protag LOL

Also every time you write Itoshi bros crossed out I giggle LMAO honestly yeah their tag is alive and kicking comparatively too and I do see many similar if not identical tropes and prompts (no hate to any of the writers because I have found some gems in there too! Just bc of their popularity and characters very susceptible to similar tropes and ideas lolol)

We love a writer that does research?? I’ll speak on behalf of all your readers when I say we definitely feel the effort you pour in <3 everything’s thought out so nicely I love how your stories develop!!

Umm speaking of developing SLOW BURN I’m a SUCKER for slow burn maybe that’s also why I love your writing too…I feel like you give the story and characters proper time to develop and evolve without rushing them through to a conclusion which makes it sm nicer honestly….like even if some pieces have more open endings I feel like the stories are much more complete because it felt sometimes more slow burn esque? Compared to just jumping straight into a relationship after a few sentences or something

AWW ILL BE YOUR NUMBER ONE YAPPER HAHA It’s honestly hard not to get invested like I need to know what happens next…this kinda just piggy backs off the paragraph above this one LOL also side characters ALWAYS grow on me like it’s a given and BLLK has so many interesting ones ill gladly absorb more content for them…so trust I’m not going anywhere soon!! (Also I think YOURE the one doing the Otoya nation a great service LMAOO)

-Karasu anon

nah because that got APPROVED LMAOAAO maybe the author self-published it?? idk i guess everything has a niche audience so maybe some people are into that…

yes i am all caught up!! i keep up w leaks too so i know everything that’s going on. to be honest i don’t 100% love how the story’s been going and i def have felt my interest in jjk waning as of late but i’m sure gege has some kind of end game planned that will be interesting. reading weekly has def been disheartening as it’s hard to invest when the same fight has been going on for SO long yk?? i feel like things that would’ve gotten me hyped before now just feel like…okay…like not enough is happening chapter to chapter or smth idk. once the arc is finished and it’s animated i’m hoping the pacing feels a bit more natural!!

YES otoya is almost like irreverent i think?? he’s not immature but he just truly does not care he’s doing his own thing. whereas karasu is very concerned w what people think of him and yuki has an innate classiness and dignity to him so i think they could pull off the noble vibe well. though quite honestly karasu gives me more knight/samurai (in this au) vibes — still a fighter, but a more honorable one who has a moral code he strictly follows compared to otoya’s willingness to do wtvr

MORALLY GREY CHARACTERS WHO ARE ACTUALLY MORALLY GREY MY BELOVED 💖 oh yeah 100% if i was going a bit more cliche i could’ve had y/n try to seduce him or smth but i tried to avoid that (although eita does make one slight joke of a sexual nature during their convo but he’s just being goofy so i think it’s okay) as i really wanted to set her up as someone who’s not afraid of being brutal/ruthless to get what she wants. and i agree there’s a lot of more subdued fmc in historical aus but honestly it’s an au so why not give my female characters agency??? i’ve def written the more stereotypically “weak” fmc before but i didn’t want to go that route this time given who she’s inspired by. plus a lot of it is rooted in westernization i think — people view the history of other countries through a european lens when a lot of the time that doesn’t apply. for example y/n being a bastard wouldn’t be a huge problem in japanese society as bastards/cheating were actually relatively common back then!! and even accepted…if a lord didn’t have legitimate heirs he would adopt his bastards and that was that 🤷🏻‍♀️ that’s why y/n being “cursed” and the daughter of a maid, as well as reiji being the legitimate heir, is important to her backstory and why she suffers in the way she does, as well as an explanation for some of her later actions. in a european-based story, just being a bastard would be enough of an explanation for all of that, but in something based on sengoku-era japan, there needs to be further context. but also even setting that aside if i can have ninjas in my story (who i am trying to keep more accurate than their general portrayal in fiction but i’m still going to take liberties with) then why not a ruthless selfish fmc who goes to war and takes over the kingdom?? anyways there’s records of empresses in japan, china, and korea alike, so long story short i think that writing y/n like this makes sense and is about as historically accurate as the rest of it, so why not?? plus it makes for a more fun story

HAHAHA the itoshi bros are like the only bllk characters who i see with a tonnn of fics!! the others don’t have quite as many (although kaiser is getting up there i think). i do think that a lot of the stories have similar tropes due to the nature of the characters…they both feel like very “stuck” characters in that you can’t do too much w them or change them a lot — they’re so into soccer that putting them in an au for example would fundamentally change their characters, so you most likely won’t catch me writing more than a one shot or two abt them. whereas as we’ve discussed tabieitaken, kaiser, nagireo, and even hiori all feel like they have characters outside of soccer so it’s easier to put them in other scenarios and play around with how they’d react to them

I LOVEEEE A GOOD SLOWBURN!! even stories where the characters get together quickly in terms of time i try to really show the buildup. i always want the relationships i write about to feel believable, so i need to write every step of them falling in love or else it doesn’t feel accurate to me. that’s actually an issue i had with peregrine — because it started in the future, after that buildup, i felt weird writing nagi being in love w the mc because it didn’t feel “earned” yet.

oh you can never keep me from my research LMAOAO i’ll take any excuse to do it!! even white butterfly had me googling the flora and fauna of japanese fields to ensure i didn’t mention any animals that wouldn’t natively live in y/n and hiori’s field HAHA

OMG YAYYY I’M GLAD TO HAVE YOU!! i agree side characters always end up growing on me and the bllk ones especially there’s just so many i love and am constantly chatting about…proud to be supporting the otoya nation 🫡 i’m hoping we get a few members of otoya nation and karasu nation alike after season 2 (and yuki nation even though i don’t talk abt him hardly as much as i do abt tabieita)

also i did see your request posts hehe let me finish up my current karasu one shot and a couple of my event requests and then i will get to them 💖 i loved all of your ideas though!!