#but im talking more abt the comic sequencing

[mekatrio]

well that was the manga! im too sleepy to write some super long thinkpiece abt how manga route 2 reshapes kgprs entire narrative (will definitely do that later tho bc thats the type of person i am), so let me just talk abt my main, non-narrative takeaway from it; basically, the art gets really, really, really rough in the last few volumes, and it seriously affects the emotional atmosphere that certain scenes should have.

which is a shame, and again, not satou mahiro's fault, bc being a manga artist and having monthly deadlines is very very hellish. and despite that how poor satou's health was and how it very clearly affected her art, she was still able to effectively illustrate scenes that relied heavily on visuals, which is very admirable.

^ chp 61 / RED VI, comes to mind, really visually cool chapter even if anatomy is wonky. but the intent comes across, and thats what ultimately matters

essentially, its shame that another big chunk of kagepro's narrative had been greatly hindered by the medium its in. the same way kgpr's narrative struggled to communicate itself in an anime clearly made with an overwhelming amount of crunch, kgpr's narratively similarly didnt communicate itself as well as it could in a manga that was clearly being drawn by an artist way past the point of burnout. it definitely gives me a much deeper appreciation for the novels, which is able to be much more expansive and in-depth with its characterization and writing without needing to be limited by the resources required for visual forms of communication. (thats a pretty deranged way to say it and i swear i can word that better but im sleepy......)

[heliianth]

here’s another ask for you: talk abt whatever you want!!!

WAUGH thank u for a new one!!!!! ilysm!!!!!

rambling abt sonic and character foils and the IDW comics below the cut this is aimless enough for me to want it be an opt-in experience LOL

i was gonna talk abt this last night but it was 11 AnyWay. i saw a criticism of the IDW comics on reddit a long time ago and its got me thinking recently. someone said they didn't quite enjoy the way the comic was tackling sonic as a character not because of the inconsistencies in his pre-established beliefs (which are present) per se but because IDW keeps challenging them in ways that don't feel, from what i remember the comment saying, "good-spirited"? i hadnt heard that critique before so it was unique enough to catch my interest but not actually think much until now. but theres a reason for that hold on ok

so. to preface this whole thing. some of the most beloved stories in the series are ones that Do challenge sonic's beliefs. thats the reason why, when the series wants to tackle more mature content, they make foil characters. sa2 which reddit largely considers as having the best story has foil characters everywhere but specifically it spends a lot of energy on it's themes of identity and growth by making sonic and shadow clash not just physically but ideologically. that talk they have after final rush/chase basically spells it out and its framed as shadow hearing sonic out and then dismissing him ("what are you/i'm me/i see, well, i'm gonna beat your ass" <- basically). and then later on sonic's viewpoint is reinforced when shadow (airquotes) dies, but not before sonic himself is visibly impacted in the credits sequence. that whole story right there was, at least thematically, one about sonic having his beliefs challenged. SatBK does this as well, a game which is applauded within the general community as having the most accurate sonic characterization. stories that do adjacent things, like the OVA, s3&k, sa1, where character foils are a prominent part of the theming (though maybe not presented in a way where sonic himself necessarily feels ideologically Challenged), are often very popular as well

the time i saw the criticism was about when the surge saga was coming to an end, but i was new at that point so i really dismissed the whole discussion. sonics allowed to be challenged, thats what happens when you have a static character as a protagonist. but now that ive reread IDW a few times and have identified some of my own issues with the run so far i've been thinking about that reddit comment more often. why is the way IDW challenges sonic so different from the way stories like SatBK or sa2 challenge him? why is one intriguing and the other not "good-spirited?" nowadays i think the issue is less with tone or intent like the wording of the original comment implies, but the conclusion of those stories. all of those previous examples i gave culimate in sonic succeeding, yes bc hes the title character, but moreso bc hes the vehicle through which the themes of the series are delivered. SatBK wasn't going to have merlina win because the story was trying to tell the audience that life is only worth living when its finite. sa2 killed off shadow because it was about how being unable to move on eats someone from the inside out. these are broad overarching themes that are present in the whole series and its generally agreed that sonic at his best is representative of those themes, which is why hes static

but IDW kind of has a messy history with conclusions. or, at least, conclusions that feel like they are trying to Say something in the way i've been talking about. after everything is done and the threat of the week is defeated, it all kind of returns back to a status quo, which im very sure is not the fault of the writers. long-running series are supposed to have a status quo that keeps stuff the same so that new audiences wont be alienated by huge character histories and lore timelines and things to catch up on (The Most Intimidating thing abt like archie for example). its partially why u see almost no fleshed out arcs that span multiple games after 06 (man the word partially is doing some legwork there but if i talked abt why sonic games changed so drastically after the mid 2000's i would be here all fucking day). and there are conversations to be held about that status quo and its place in the games and whether its beneficial or not but imo when talking about IDW, a comic which is supposed to have continuity, it kind of obliterates the potential of having meaningful conclusions and the themes that come along with them. because IDW always approaches "sonic feels ideoloically challenged" and it never goes beyond it. it nudges and hints at criticism of IDW sonic's beliefs, actions, and philosophy, but it doesn't do anything with it. the status quo says sonic can't change that much, which is good when the conclusion of stories have themes that prove he's already got it figured out, and bad when there's a big gaping question mark where a lesson should be. the surge saga i think is the glaring example of this precisely because its so conclusionless (theres also how sonic himself engages with her but thats a convo for another day).

so when that redditor said they thought the surge saga lacked a "good-spiritedness" that stories with a similar concept like SatBK or sa2 had i think they were picking up the vibes of the story being kind of... pointless at least in terms of themes and actual impact on the characters, rather than a lack of earnestness, a tone blunder, or strange intent on the part of the writers

im really curious how the urban warfare saga is resolved now precisely bc this lack of meaningful conclusion problem is so prevalent . depending on how passionate i am i may make a more formal analysis post abt it or something, but probably not considering i read IDW very very casually . which feels like a contradiction after writing all this but . yanno

[arecipeforfeels]

Got high and decided I’m watching ca:tws so be ready for incoherence:

Marvel movies used to MEAN SOMETHING

They did however always live in the pocket of the military

I don’t care I would eat this movie if I could

They were so insane for it and they had to do civil war as the worlds worst no homo ever

HE DOESNT HAVE ANYONE AROUND THAT SHARES HIS EXPERIENCE COS HES LOST IN TIME

THE WHOLE MOVIE IS HIM BEING UNSUCCESSFULLY SET UP ON DATES

I hate everything

I also am not immune to an action sequence and some fun music….

Also it is very impressive how violent they can make these movies and completely get away with it if there’s no blood splatter

Bad guys r French, more at 10

I took a kickboxing class in like 2013 bc I thought black widow was hot and wanted to also be hot

(Sidenote, I also played basketball for five years bc of high school musical. I have never had an original thought in my life)

FIGHT SCENE NUMBER TWOOOOO

This is an iconic one cos it’s the one where he puts his shield on his back to fight for Even Footing (and also ON VA VOIR U WILL ALWAYS B FAMOUS)

people went so bonkers for that

Tag urself Im the giant harddrive

Okay goofiest admission ever: in this movie there’s a bunch of time spent in this one big building that’s supposedly located in dc. But it’s got this big giant atrium with a huge high steel and glass ceiling, and at some point during this movie someone hits it or crashes through it or shoots it. And every time I hear the words “glass ceiling” I think of this fuckin movie

CHEKHOVS ELEVATOR

“Wow yayyyyyyy war machiiiiiiime!! For sEcUriTy”

US Army wet dream while still trying to keep Cap there as a voice of reason

It’s a fascinating dichotomy

Air and spase! Museum (great night at the museum 3 reference)

Also I cannot believe he goes to his own fuckin exhibit

...actually upon reflection I too would go to my own exhibit

The endgame revisionism of him going back in time is soooooo stupid she does not exist to me

It’s such character assassination of everyone involved

(I don’t care, I say caringly, as I care deeply)

I also had (had??) a massive crush on Hailey atwell

Robert Redford is here

Weird joke about Algerians and the French

THERE IS AN ACTUAL COMPELLING CONVERSATION ABOUT PTSD

This movie is also a Chevy ad

Also I remember seeing the big SUVs in this movie and being like “damn those are tanks” they are also nothing compared to what’s out there now

This movie also feels so much more grounded in actual life

Like we talk abt all the CGI coming in later movies, this one feels gritty in comparison, on simply a mechanical level

Speed tour of dc

We have reached the civilian casualty stage of the movie

I can’t imagine how much money Samuel L Jackson has made off these movies

THE CAR FLIP SHOT W BUCKY IIIIIIIIII (editors note: this is where the coherence begins to go downhill. You can sense the trend)

god this movie

THE SHIELD CATCH IM EATING MY SHOES

Elevator scene lets fuckin goooooooooo

Let’s GOOOOOOOO

the tension build is so good

Everyone say thank u Steve rogers for breaking the glass ceiling

This movie is also an apple ad…2014

GUY WHO FULLY HITS ON STEVE AT THE APPLE STORE

Look the fuckin Natasha Steve bromance in this is lovely

Buddy comedy

I will say this was such a moment for the MCU, the hydra reveal

Esp cos like agents of shield was in its heyday etc etc

2014 sure was a time

This man [Toby Jones] has been so comically typecast forever

OPERATION PAPERCLIP CASUAL NAMEDROP

god

This is so fascinating to me Bc it’s like “Here is how we revisionize the United States’ history of interfering in coups etc etc it was bad guys in the government doing it etc etc”

“What we need to to is get back to the good government”

Sam Wilson the man that you are

Bucky shows up at any time in this fucking movie and I start barking

I am also always thinking of the “we shot him in ze legs” vine

This is my Roman Empire

“I knew him” oooouuuuugggHHHH

RIP Stan Lee

Bucky yeets a guy into a jet engine and by god does he look good doing it

This stupid movie (editors’s note: caught in a miasma of 2014)

[duck-era-lexi]

my thoughts on the amazing spider man + sequel

the amazing spiderman 1: 7/10 the amazing spiderman 2: 8.5/10

SPOILERS FOR BOTH!! 

my first and foremost point: i think the amazing spider-man’s strongest point is its romance. i heard about these movies because i saw clips of the romantic scenes on tiktok, and now having the story and context behind it doesn’t ruin the sweetness of it much at all. peter is literally dependent on gwen; she’s his entire world and that is the truth. it’s nearly 5 hours of film and every major character that isn’t peter is gwen or a villain. like, literally. peter needs friends. his aunt is underdeveloped as hell and he has no friends. oh, and gwen dies.

so i don’t know pretty much anything about marvel comics, but i’m actually so impressed with them killing off gwen in the second movie. i think all those scenes were so incredibly wonderful and sad and i think that entire action sequence isn’t leaving my mind anytime soon. in fact, all the action sequences are really good and they kind of make my head spin... which means they’re good! but i’m not an action movie person so i’ll focus on what i know best: the angst. and there is SO MUCH in the second movie. 

peter is so dumb. like genuinely. he has no character development and he’s a static character throughout the entirety of the two films. the ending of tasm2 makes me think that they were gonna make a 3rd movie and make him actually learn to grow without gwen. but like, also i wouldn’t watch that movie because this series is nothing without emma stone. like i understand why they stopped, because what is interesting about this series without gwen? i love the scenes before her death, they are genuinely the best in the entire 5 hour run. 

(also, you’ll see that i am not talking about any other characters because there are no other characters. )

comparing the 1st and 2nd: the first is more cliche, but i like it because the main character is a skater boy but also i hate it because he’s like nooo im not good enough for you. but also i heavily dislike how they built up all this stuff about his uncle and then the overarching conflict is just abt some lizard guy. it was clearly built for a sequel though so these are forgivable faults. the romance is also better in this movie

the second is much better in my opinion. it gets so dark, not just literally but the fact that they killed off gwen is crazy. but then also i hate that they killed off gwen because she was the only thing that made peter interesting. it’s freaky and dark but it stays that way and it embraces the darkness and amplifies the angst. i also really liked the backstory about peter’s parents! yes it barely had anything to do with the overarching plot but personally i like it when movies are like that? it makes it feel more like life. this is objectively plot-wise a much worse movie but the experience is like 100% better. like just don’t think about it and it’ll be good. 

tldr: andrew garfield and emma stone should’ve just starred in a romance movie and saved us like 4 hours of time. like they should’ve just commited to making this a romance and scrapped the green goblin shit. i feel like i just watched 3 movies with the amount of flashing lights i just sat through 

[cryptvokeeper]

Genuine question, can you tell me a bit about the cup people you've been reblogging recently? The art and comics are always cool but I have no idea what this is from lmao. If you're busy, no worries! Hope you're having a great day 💛

ASDFGHJKL yeah sure! its like past midnight tho so this will not be coherent at all;

so thats cuphead and mugman from the indie game cuphead by studio mdhr which is a whole cool story on its own cuz like the studio was literally started by two brothers who one day were like "hey wee should make a game" and then took like 10 years to make it but it was their passion project and it grew and grew and when it finally released it was a huge success and has ports on like every console and has some dlc coming soon and also a Netflix show which we will get to and is honestly just such a feel good game development story which is so rare in the video game industry so yay ^_^

but anyway so the basic gist of the game is that its an extremely difficult bullet hell/run and gun game thats made with completely hand drawn animation in the rubber hose style of early cartoons like the fleischer brothers. all the music is also recorded by a live band which is rad. The plot is that the two brothers, cuphead and mugman, gamble with the devil and lose, so now they have to collect all the soul contracts of the devil's runaway debtors or theyre the ones who'll lose their souls. It came out in 2017 so its a couple years old at this point (almost 5??? holy shit) and you can definitely find plenty of playthroughs online. as I said it was notorious for being very hard and got called like "the dark souls of ___" which, eh, like I haven't played either cuphead or dark souls but I know for sure that their gameplay is NOTHING alike theyre both just really hard.

I used to think the game was really cool but never really got too far into the fandom because it got popular very quickly and it came with a fast and inevitable backlash of getting called cringe. but now im a tax paying adult woman who doesnt CARE about cringe and I do what I want and have been having a great time! The animated series came out on Netflix last month and I finally watched it and fell headfirst back into being into cuphead cuz its really good. It is a little different, it doesnt follow the game but its a fun time in its own right. I was struggling earlier to describe it cuz I wanted to say its low stakes but that isnt right, cuz its still get the premise of selling your immortal soul to the actual devil its just like...low impact? Like its not one of those cartoons like Steven universe or she ra or something with a heavy epic story with deep emotional beats its just like goofy looney tunes fun stuff yknow? with some plot thrown in for flair but never gets too serious which is a breath of fresh air honestly, I needed something light. the most you get is one dream sequence moment which is a little more serious but not too much, and just cuz its not super serious and deep doesnt mean its low quality in the slightest the animation is GORGEOUS it looks really great and reminds me of hand drawn animation even though its not Done that way like the game. really smooth, I like it alot.

im sorry this doesnt tell you alot abt like the characters themselves but honestly thats cuz there isnt that much to them? like theres plenty of head canon and aus and stuff you can extrapolate from the text (any and all of which I can absolutely talk abt if u want me to but this is already very long and I dont want to bore/overwhelm you) but the game itself is very light on story. the characters never actually talk and the show has some more characterization but its pretty simple so far especially cuz its only half of the firsts season (12 eps) and you probably got the gist if you've seen what ive reblogged; cupheads the dumb goofy one, mugman is also dumb but more of a straight man to balance his brothers impulsivenesss, that sort of thing. You may have also seen king dice, the casino owner working for the devil, the devil himself, and Ms chalice/legendary chalice, a character who in the games is a ghost that gives you new powers and is gonna be a playable character inn the DLC, and in the show, well, they haven't shown too much of her but she's implied to have got some secrets goin on.

[movedthechangingman]

i cannot stand this man i really do think he is the worst writer dc has in terms of everything ive picked up by him BUT finding out t*m k*ng claimed he loves the orion solo is like.... how do you have such a completely fundamentally incorrect take on this character still. will also do a full writeup on this after i reread new gods/finish mr miracles comix

i found the interview where he talks about orion in MM and im like bro you should not have been allowed to write new gods ever. fucking awful. not even mentioning how bad his lightray characterization is or how dirty he did the other new gods/forever ppl

how do you read new gods and not know orion is older than scott??? he lived on apokolips! he was locked away alone/alone w granny/w his mom (depending on canon) for ~10 years before scott was even born. i think theres maybe 1 recap where they had him as a baby instead but got retconned within the same comic? (i think it was the same sequence that made lightray waaaaay younger which they also retconned within the same run) ( i have to reread new gods in full ) (honeslty i might even just be thinking abt the backstory n kings directors cut)

i have a few more orion issues to read (and a lot of scotts....) not to mention when have orion and scott ever.... actually fought........ like outside of idk - the pre crisis dream sequence scott has? and orions never to my knowledge ever implied scott hasnt suffered or wont understand (something he has gotten angry at another character over (lightray))

scott expresses that he respects orion. he defends orions obsession w defeating his father when helena wayne makes a Comment. in the JLI-tie in segment of mr miracle vol 2 orion brings up that scott is technically his brother but they never got to know eachother but wants to build that relationship. not to mention the end of the orion solo

like most i can think of orion questions scotts decision to give up godhood one point but simply tells him he doesnt understand. and scott at the very end of DotNG like does believe orion is the killer but immediately realizes his perceptions were being manipulated/the “evidence” was bullshit (and earlier in the comic snapped at clark&gideon for implying orion would betray them at all.... and thats from the writer who made orion a massive cunt in the first place)

ANYWAY i would like to see orion and scott be brothers again i really hate the interpretation that they hate eachother i think they have one of the most interesting sibling relationships in dc and i wish more writers actually cared about the new genesis new gods

[toonbly]

4 and 6 for bideo games

6: A game that’s changed you the most?

OH MAN THERE’S A FEW.

honestly id have to name two: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Darkness and Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almnia.

LIKE OKAY.

Mystery Dungeon was my first exposure to large narratives in video games. With all the emotional punches and plot twists and turns all over this thing with some of the BEST foreshadowing and character writing I’ve ever seen in a spin off Pokemon game, this is one of the things in my early childhood that got me really into storytelling. i remember specifically like, my first time doing written out prose was trying to make a novelization of mystery dungeon! i started making stories abt explorer teams with my toys and cards n stuff bc i was like 10 yknow what i mean HFKJDHFKSD

but then i also played Rangers: Shadow Of Almnia. this game was the reason i made my first ever comic! it was basically a comic version of the game but with my ranger OC Lola! she was also secretly a fairy whos parents were vaporeons but she WASN’T a pokemon ok she was a fairy and she has a deep seeded rivalry with darkrai who tries to kill her at some point but its fine.

yeah i was like 8 what do you want from me HJFJDSHFKDS

BUT LIKE LEGIT. THAT WAS MY FIRST EVER COMIC. I WOULD NOT BE MAKING FERRYMEN NOW IF IT WERENT FOR MY WEIRD MARY SUE RANGER FANFICTION I MADE WHENEVER I WAS IN LIKE? 2ND OR 3RD GRADE FHDJFHKSDJF

theyre the games that got me into stories!! and i wouldnt be where i am or who i am today without storytelling

4: Worst game you’ve ever played?

oh baby you already know its YIIK

I’M PUTTING THIS BIT UNDER A READ MORE BECAUSE GOOD LORD DO I HAVE A LOT TO SAY HERE FSJDKHFKJDSF

i bought the game to “give it a chance” sometime last year i think? bc like listen. listen. i only vaguely knew about the problems with it, i knew it had supposedly bad writing and the dialogue could be a little awkward. that was it. i took a look at it and tbh i liked the visual style! like

i genuinely like the art style for the talk sprites! and i get the vibe theyre going with the low poly models and the very bright colors, its supposed to be very 90s-esque!

it does kinda feel like its missing that little Spark that really ties it all together? its missing a little pizzazz to make it really stand out and REALLY get the vibe its going for, it misses the uniqueness mark but! it does its job okay enough for me to get what its going for!

plus honestly i found the intro sequence with the crow asking you questions really charming! in full context of the actual shitshow i was about to get into it was a little tryhard-y, but i liked it when i first saw it!

so i figured hey, what the heck, i’ll give this thing a try. the intros cute and i like the art style, maybe people are giving it too much flack.

and then. and then alex picks up that first phone call.

AND IT GOES. SO DOWNHILL. FUCKING IMMEDIATELY

LIKE OKAY. THE GAMEPLAY IS SO BAD AND REPETIVE AND GENUINELY BROKEN. im no game design expert so i cant really explain why, but combat in yiik DRAGS ON so much that its GENUINELY fucking draining. no joke while trying to complete this game i had to put it down multiple times bc it made me dissasociate. i WISH i was joking. i WISH that was exaggeration. it isnt. it is far fucking from it.

AND LOOK USUALLY. USUALLY. I CAN PUT UP WITH MEDIOCRE OR EVEN TERRIBLE GAMEPLAY IF THE STORY IS GOOD.

BUT THE STORY ISN’T FUCKING GOOD. ITS AWFUL.

it’s somehow both over explained and absolutely fucking nonsensical, characters will repeat themselves THOUSANDS OF TIMES in these long, repetive exposistion dumps that explain every single detail while making sure you understand NONE of it. the characters are unlikable (ESPECIALLY alex, the main character), it’s tone death and insensitive, and it’s just so. fucking. pretentious.

there are other issues in the game like racism, sexism, insensitity towards very serious topics (like using the real life death of Elisa Lam for shock value. no thats not a joke. the devs themselves have admitted this was intentional.)

not to mention all the shit the devs have done which we dont have TIME to get into-- LONG STORY SHORT YIIK IS A MASSIVE FUCKING SHITSHOW OF A GAME AND DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON IT LIKE I DID. i WISH steam would let me refund it. my brains gonna explode.

i think the devs owe me compensation for damages. just damages in general. /j

[spiralesbian]

ALRIGHT

here’s my full Stranger Avatar Sasha Archivist timeline:

(also, thanks to @artbyblastweave for being so interested in my lil au!)

SEASON ONE

sasha james is hired as the head archivist of the magnus institute!

her assistants are jon, tim, and martin

tim takes the thematic role of martin (aka getting tormented by my worm wife jane, and stays in the archives)

sasha reads thru statements and is a skeptic! she really does not believe it’s real until jane comes along.

“tim……………………..did you die here?”

“no, but every time i come to work i die a little more inside.”

cute timsha moment in the supply closet tho.

until martin kool-aid-mans through the door and gets them out of there

jon used to work in artefact storage so he hides in there. he’ll be fine

i actually can’t remember how they all get out but they do it KKJSDGFJHD

sasha takes everyone’s statements. tim is fucked up, martin is also fucked up, jon is actually fine though he seems pretty normal about this whole situation most definitely.

sasha realizes this is a bit more than a regular archivist job.

SEASON TWO

sasha gets paranoid of course. she learns more about gertrude because she never got the chance to meet her

she takes a statement from a guy named michael shelley. weird dude. then helen shows up :)

jon is most definitely himself he is just a normal regular grumpy jon i swear :)

sasha starts to manifest her powers a little bit. she doesn’t know it, but she is an avatar of the stranger, and a prisoner of the eye.

she starts to notice more things about jon? similar to this comic but with jon

eventually she + tim + martin help get jon out of the grip of the NotJon. this is my au and i get to choose who dies (it’s no one because i miss the s1 archival assistants too much).

jon is pretty fucked up from this though and at like a season-3-tim mindset already.

fucking goddamn leitner avatar of the fucking whore shows up to trap the NotJon in one of his shitty fucking novels. fuck this guy tho

he’s like Sasha We Must Talk and shes like okay but stay 8 ft away from me at all times you bitch

she leaves the room for 10 minutes and pipe murder occurs. good riddance

wait are the cops in the season i genuinely can’t remember. if they are, their roles don’t change very much. melanie and sasha feud, battle of the bi queens

SEASON THREE:

uh oh! girlie’s be framed for murder! she crashes at her ex gf georgie’s flat. also the admiral is there don’t think i would EVER cut him out of this story

(also jon is georgie’s ex too because i think that would be fun JDHBFHS)

sasha learns abt an upcoming web ritual (mirroring the unknowing), all that shit. gets kidnapped a ton of times, as usual.

helen is like “i am going to kill you because i hate gertrude <3 i was that dumb bitch’s assistant for too long” but michael busts out of the door like Hi Guys and traps her in the hallway.

sasha also gives her statement about a leitner she found as a child that marked her. its a stranger book and we learn her edgy orphan origin story how her parents were both murked by the stranger. fucked up if true!

back at the archives jon is like so fucking tired of this shit honestly and now martin is also pretty paranoid. also jm romance subplot is still very present!

tim is just trying to protect sasha at all times and he’s pissed she keeps leaving the country and getting fucking kidnapped

(remember when jon persuades the traffic cop?) sasha starts to fill her archivist role in a different way. she can shapeshift into the subject of a statement and uses her affiliation with the eye to coerce statements or info out of people. (example: if she needed a live statement from the guy in #90 Body Builder, she could temporarily make herself look like jared hopworth to the guy and ask “what happened to me?” or “what did i do?” and the guy would be like well he built some fucken bodies i guess let me tell you all about it) while reading the statements in america that refuel her, she fully shapeshifts into the statement giver while reading out loud.

once again i truly can’t remember daisy + basira’s roles until the end of the season. also melanie get shot by the ghost at some point

anyways sasha gets kidnapped by trevor and julia and they gerry lays out all the shit for her and she’s like ah! i’m fucked

tim offhand mentions the web ritual to martin and he loses his shit cause he’s marked by the web blah blah this isn’t a web!martin thing i swear i just need someone to fill tim’s role in the ritual and a lonely ritual would be fucking boring as hell as we learned from ass man peter lukas. i hate that man

so they make the plan to stop the web ritual (which is fucking hard when the offense knows your every move) so sasha, basira, daisy, jon, and martin go.

tim stays back at the institute to burn shit and distract elias. elias does some fucked up shit as usual and it makes me sad

the ritual starts! they have a plan to blow it up and run but like. u know how it goes

instead of the unknowing-stranger-dream-sequence, we get everyone kinda mixed up in a huge spider’s web on the big stage and its still quite confusing because this ritual not only manipulates the prey, but also the prey’s perceived reality. the web is also in current control of the buried coffin cause they think that shit is kinda fun. they yeet daisy into it.

hard to describe what happens, but basira keeps her cool, jon is a bit lost in his own mind, sasha tries to use her powers to escape but fails. she manages to get through to martin through the strings and mounds of spiders and she tosses him the detonator.

[squishing spider noises]

SEASON FOUR:

martin doesn't die, i told you i can't kill the og archival assistants! he does lose most of one leg though, he took the blunt of the explosion.

sasha in da hospital in da coma. tim is mad he can’t wake her up and then my man ollie says “ur fucked up mate” and she wakes up

(and because coma jon has such wild hair controversy, i’m establishing that her head was shaved when she was in the coma. it grows back thru s4. it she keeps one side shaved cause she’s cool)

meanwhile tim is recruited by that dumbass man you know who i don’t even wanna say his stupid fucking name

sasha gets daisy out of the buried. they become avatar pals!

(there is the biggest blank in my memory where all of season four should be. at this point i should just relisten to the entire fucking show but i would literally just forget it all again)

melanie says hm. fuck this! and blinds herself. she goes to live with georgie (and that’s the moment jon and sasha realize they are both georgie’s exes FHFHDJD)

tim continues to fight the lonely pull. he thinks that since p*ter l*kas is tied to the institute, he can blind himself out cause melanie was successful. he is wrong. he is also interrupted by elias midway, and only blinds one eye, and loses most of his sight in the other. elias’s hold on him is weak, but this just drives him way farther into the lonely.

gotta be honest i remember the end of season four but like i couldn’t visualize what was happening at the end so i like don’t understand what happened JGDKFJGD but sasha intervenes (???) and peter yeets tim into the lonely (???) and sasha jumps in (??????) after him. elias is just there i guess?

instead of “look at me martin,” sasha finds tim and at this point her form is warped and hard to recognize because of stranger powers, and tim is almost 100% blind, so she says “don’t look at me, see me. see me tim, it’s me.” and finally creates a clear image of herself. “it’s...it’s you. you’re my sasha.”

they break free and go to scotland i guess KHSDDKDSF

idk what happens with jon and martin im losing continuity at this point. fuck it, they smooch <3

“ah these are the statements.”

“yes. basira said last week she’d send some up as soon as the archives weren’t a crime scene. and she wasn’t sure which ones you’ve read already, so she, she just said she’d send a bunch.”

“.........Hello Sasha.”

(alternate ending: personally i think sasha would read through each statement before speaking them aloud cause that’s what i would fucking do, so she would get this statement and be like “lmao tim come look at this elias trying to prank me dumb bitch think i’ll start the apocalypse for him. fucking little puny bitch boy. anyways what do you want for dinner?”)

SEASON FIVE:

“just. listen.”

“...i’m dead. and you have been chosen to be my replacement as head archivist. hopefully, this means you, jon, but if someone else is hearing this, and elias has made a different choice for some reason, then these words are still very much intended for you.”

sasha in full stranger avatar mode and is like 8ft tall and her faces shift a lot as they go through the realms. except the stranger is the second to last one (the panopticon is last obviously).

helen and michael actually talk shit out in the spiral hallway and now they are mlm wlw solidarity and both like tim and sasha are such bi and trans icons <3 this is so fun don’t you love the fearpocalypse <3

oh daisy n basira trapped in the hunt, and jon and martin are trapped in the stranger. wtgfs + the admiral are like in space or some shit idk but they are ok :)

not much to report other than she is my monster wife <3

i really don’t have many theories to how everything in s5 is gonna pan out, and i would like to closely mirror the actual show, so maybe as we get closer to the end i’ll build more on to this! thanks a lot for all the notes on my first sarchivist post!! also if u wanna make art this specific au DEF tag me in it i’d love to see!!

[asravine]

Vld s6 comments

It's like 4am here in Singapore and I just finished s6 like 30mins ago so forgive me if im cranky

I have an Issue with Lance and Allura's alluded-to romance?? They were good in s5!! Lance was starting to actually put aside his crush and regard Allura and a friend and Allura was treating him like such! Im glad there were some aspects of that relationship in s6 but Lance's?? Romantic feelings coming back full force?? Bad move.

I think I was slightly miffed abt ^^ too bc I had the impression that Jeremy did say in an interview that Lance was starting to move past his crush and that moving back to that would be demeaning and degrading his character so I was annoyed that s6 just played right into it again tbh

SOME character development for Lance (I am a huge Lance Stan I am Sorry if I unconsciously focus less on the others) Lance taking that hit for Allura like how he took that hit for Coran in s1? Asking if Lotor would start by freeing planets? Going up to Allura and asking if she's ok after the betrayal? Being upset at being unable to interpret Shiro (the Real Shiro™) reaching out to him (also him being the second person besides Keith who has that deep a bond with Shiro IN THE FIRST PLACE?) All classic examples in showing how, at Lance's core, (and despite him taking so much of a backseat and being reduced to the comic side) he really is a people oriented person and cares so very much for his friends and family

Speaking of loTOR THAT BITCH. Id have to admit I was quite drawn into his bullshit? I had a slight nagging feeling when he first appeared in s4 but it died by the time we hit s5 so having him betray Voltron was A Move I Didnt Anticipate

In a sad way up until the point where they entered the quintessence field I could relate to his reasoning of saving Altea and sacrificing a few but then he went bat-shit crazy abt him being the hero and ruler of Altea and I Noped the hell out of there

Keith backstory was Interesting to say the least. I'm glad they finally clarified what happened with Krolia and Keith's dad!! Quite sad however how both parents left Keith unwillingly and thought him safe when he actually Was Not

Younger Shiro and Keith!! Keith fighting at the Garrison??? Shiro halfway adopting him as a brother????? Goddamnng good

Something that people have pointed out abt the fact that Keith has spent 2 yrs away and then after coming back immediately brushes off Lance like that?? Is really weird given how they're a team and a family and Keith hasn't seen any of them in TWO YEARS and he still does that doesn't sit right

Visuals, as always were absolutely stunning. Loved ep 5 esp and I think it'll turn out to be one of my favourite episodes in the entire VLD franchise. The fluidity of the fight sequence, pan shots, the movement of Keith and Shiro and how it was portrayed, the voiCE ACTING. Loved the close up on Keith's eyes especially??? It was So Good

I would say overall it like all the seasons it would seem it has its good and bad points? I felt it was one of the better seasons but personally I was Very Let Down by Clickbait in terms of Lance's character dev

I might find more to talk abt tmr but as for now im gonna sleep. Will probs start posting some art here on this acc??? We'll see

[yenneferw]

Hi i hope this doesnt come off as ignorant,, or like i'm stupid mayb?? Idk, but I saw that post abt damerey and u said in the tags that tlj was racist towards poe's characterization i think? I know ive seen you mention it before but i was wondering how? It's not that I havent seen any problems with his character in the new movie (it was p different from the first movie) so i was wondering if you could elaborate more for me bc i'm not always well educated on stuff, thank u, i hope im not buggin u

no you don’t sound stupid i understand!! talking about fandom issues is really interesting to me so i don’t mind explaining what i see wrong with it/what i’ve learned from others. i’ll put it under a read more bc i’m realizing i have. a lot to say lol

basically they big time put poe in a position of falling into the racist “sexist hothead latino man” stereotype when that has never been poe in comics or in what little we see of him in tfa. beyond that they just totally mischaracterize him and go to great lengths to make us woobify kyle ron but hate the latino man so that just makes me go hmm big time. 

and making him part of that stereotype works really well with them trying to be White Feminists in tlj by propping up holdo and leia as infallible leaders bc they’re white women, when in all reality there was no reason for leia to stun poe, no reason for her to be so harsh to poe (after the dreadnaught i get it but the entire dreadnaught sequence was out of character for poe, especially if you read like. 3 issues of the poe dameron comics it’s dreadfully apparent that he’d never do that). like this is coming from someone whose favorite character in star wars is leia organa, but pushing poe into a nasty stereotype to make her seem unstoppable bc they want to get buzzfeed points for being white feminists was. icky. giving leia seemingly no flaws isn’t good characterization and i could also get into how i thought tlj was disrespectful to leia’s character but that’s another issue. and whether you like holdo or not (i don’t personally so this is probably harsher than someone who does would say it), what she did was. fucked up. her plan didn’t make sense (which was a writing problem more than a character problem), her not telling the people was shitty and i would stage a fucking rebellion within the rebellion myself if i was in poe’s position too, and also them ogling poe after leia put him unconscious with a taser before anyone ever thought to just EXPLAIN WHAT WAS GOING ON felt… icky. 

and the first volume of the poe comics takes place before the force awakens, before the war has even started, and poe’s on a mission to get info from that guy at the beginning of tfa. he has strict orders not to fire the first shot bc the war hasn’t started. one of his squad members is in a jam and fires the first shot anyway to get them out of the tight spot they’re in, and once everything is over, poe takes him aside is like “buddy you uh. shouldn’t have done that” and explains to him why. the entire time i was sitting there like “this,,, this is exactly the canon that rian johnson skipped over” like you could put comics poe dameron in front of tlj poe dameron and he’d have been ahving the same convo with himself. it’s just not HIM. he’s a little sure of himself sometimes, a little this or that, but every character has FLAWS. he’s not a hothead, he’s not SEXIST (in all reality he ADMIRES the SHIT OUT OF leia organa and his mom shara bey raised him better than to be a sexist before she died so i don’t want anybody tellin me he’s sexist with a straight face). he’s canonically a great leader with great skills with his squad and the other people in the resistance, a sweet guy whose goal in life is to call everyone in the world “buddy,” who when in a tight situation with a group of people who had spent their entire lives guarding an egg believing their savior would be born from the egg went “whoa, i’m not gonna hurt your egg! I- I LIKE your egg!!” like a big fucking DORK,, 

just. in general the big racist parts are how hard they tried to fit him into the stereotype and how they tried to use him to prop up White Feminism, but i also think it’s very “hmmmm” that they worked so hard to make us like the mass murdering white man but hate the sweet, strong, and brave latino man. 

[gothicprep]

the first ep of the season was so messy and weird. the start overall just felt rushed imo and then it got better like around episode 4/5... like its cos they tried to fit in the really boring mr peanutbutter storyline alog with bojack, hollyhock, princess carolyn and beatrice and also nobody asked for ace todd. the whole season was a bit of a mess but it did have some good episides as you said

okay so i’m not going to make any detailed commentary until i finish my second watch-thru, which im starting tonight, but here are some disorganized, half-formed criticisms i have of s4 for the moment:

i’m disappointed the election subplot was jst sort of left at comic relief and never rly segued into anything that developed PB as a character. him and diane’s marriage was explored a little bit, and diane got some personal time w election stuff, but we never had anything that rly zeroed in on PB and i hated that. we know that he’s a lot more complex than he comes off, but i dnt think we’re given very much that reflects that & i rly think it’s time for us to start seeing him on a deeper level

another thing that rly pissed me off abt the election is that it seemed more like an arbitrary sequence of events than a story, and it was rly evident in the first episode––PB and katrina are trying to get the governor recalled, they can’t get the amount of signatures they need, so PB challenges him to a ski race for the governor’s seat, the cali constitution is amended to reflect this, they race, todd wins somehow, todd resigns as governor, a special election must be held… and that’s all in one episode. the pacing w that was definitely fucked up

i loved the second episode in principle but i also think the material in it should have been split up into two. with the amount of time it spanned alone (8 months) cramming all that material into one episode jst automatically feels bizarre from a pacing standpoint (yet again. a lot of pacing issues this szn i think), and i think bojack leaving michigan in the end would have had more of an impact, had we seen more of him there.

i’ve always disliked todd on his own. in episodes like zoes & zeldas where he more or less functions as an accessory to other characters, i think he fulfills his purpose, but i’m not attached to him beyond that. when you have such a great cast of characters that he’s being held against, literally why would you be? and at his core, he’s the guy who lives on bojack’s couch, so seeing him goof around without it being related to something bojack’s doing feels sort of shoehorned in… and on some lvl i think it may have been? like bc of the Ace Todd stuff getting so much positive reception online, i think it put some pressure on the writers to include more todd plots bc people were talking abt him. when in reality, i think it’d have made more sense to slow fade his role in the series after the “it’s you” speech. his identity in the show is very explicitly linked to bojack, and now that they aren’t friends anymore, his inclusion seems pretty pointless.

like i said, i’ll talk abt it more when i finish my rewatch, but those are some of the big things on my mind w it