#excellence of execution

[pinkypyrexred]

ANOTHA ONE i think this might be last for now, uni is back and is now chasing my ass

[rxxkes]

67 is insane

[humming-fly]

was anyone gonna tell me shadow saved rouge's life in sa2 or was I just supposed to find that out playing the game myself

(this worked out as a rather fitting closer for the Final Day in Year of Shadow haha, hope ya'll have a fun new year! 🎉🎉🎉)

[goodthingscomeinthrees]

i want to stress, so much, that there's a difference between good media, and media that's well-suited to transformative fandom.

sometimes, the canon is so good on its own that you don't feel the need to add anything to it. you could, and people do (and should!) but the writers/creators really knew what they were doing and the experience of consuming said piece of media is entirely satisfying on its own.

then, there's the objectively mediocre stuff that has just enough hints at depth/character backstory potential/little plot idiosyncrasies to make it a perfect sandbox. i'm talking big movie franchises and long-running, middling procedurals that won't win any awards. there's so much potential there, and the writers either lack the skill or time to explore it all fully, and that's where fandom jumps in.

sometimes, that's the best kind of show to be in fandom for, because what else are we all going to do but be creative and fix what canon can't get right?

[nabi-unveiled]

I haven't talked enough about Two Husbands, One Wife. Because really, what do you say about perfection? It feels like any words I offer cannot do it justice.

I pretty much hold my breath every episode and pray to the show gods that they don't ruin the absolutely beautiful thing they've created.

And so far...as of episode 7...they haven't.

Because every episode has built on the idea that it really takes all THREE of them to make this relationship work. The framing reinforces this with frequent triangle shots (and even triangle dialogue). There must be a connection between all points, and no point is more important than the other. Every person is essential.

Because while Takuzo may be the "responsible" one, he's rigid in his ways.

And while Mia is the realist who easily speaks her mind and expresses what she wants, it can make her very focused on herself.

They already tried it with just the two of them. It didn't work.

And Mia and Shinpei have already tried it with just the two of them too. It doesn't work.

Because they struggle with managing responsibility on their own.

They are willing to do the work, but they need someone to guide them with structure and remind them the laundry exists. I feel that.

And although Shinpei is a free spirit who really brings "joy" to everything he does...

With just Mia, he still feels a bit insecure and not quite good enough.

And with a younger boyfriend that has so many fans, Mia can sometimes feels insecure too.

As the men have developed and taken their relationship further.

Takuzo is able to affirm Shinpei and give him the words he needs to hear.

And Shinpei's earnest and sweet nature is able to break through Takuzo's walls to help him see that his rigidity can have consequences.

His infectious energy pushes Takuzo to go places he wouldn't otherwise and encourages him to try new things.

But both men recognize that they NEED Mia.

She holds them together.

Because she's the one who can express words and speak her mind easily.

Who will make the first move when things get difficult.

And push them to make the necessary decisions.

Because they're a throuple. And no (good) relationship exists without all three of them.

Bonus: There's food symbolism (even more than I mention here). Be still my beating heart.

Mia is gyoza.

Takuzo is curry.

And it's best when the chef (Shinpei) serves both.

[trafalgardlawless]

listen i do appreciate canon marineford for the tragedy it is. however it does happen to also be extremely funny.

ace is on his knees on the execution platform, the same place the father that he despises and has tried to define himself outside for his whole life had knelt, thinking this might be the most fitting ending to the life long crashout ace started when he found out who his father was

and then in comes LUFFY, his cheerful persistent little menace of a brother, who has come to COP CENTRAL to break ace out PUBLICLY.

Not only that, but he’s staged a mass break out of the formerly inescapable prison IMPEL DOWN (HE WASNT EVEN LOCKED UP IN THERE? SO EVERYONES A LITTLE BIT CONFUSED AS TO HOW THAT HAPPENED???)

He also kind of looks like shit? But he’s fighting like he’s on day three of a methamphetamine high so no one can be sure how injured luffy Really is.

side note: luffy tanked a lung full of Kills You Dead Toxin and then got shot full of Lowers Your Lifespan Drug and on top of all that, DEMANDED the Super Lowers Your Lifespan Drug when he realized he might need anything resembling recovery time.

as an elder sibling myself, ace might’ve been truly grateful for being loved at the end, but i KNOW there’s a part of him that was INFURIATED that his kid brother managed to crash out harder than he did like OMG STOP COPYING ME FRRRRRRRRRR.

[beneathsilverstars]

It's hard, taking care of a kid when you're still growing up yourself, but Pétronille does her best. She's not sure it's good enough, but what else can she do? A series of scenes following Pétronille and Bonnie, from the first time they ran away to the second.

Rating: Teen and Up Category: Gen Characters: Pétronille, Bonnie Tags: POV Second Person, Minor Original Character(s), Specifically various citizens of Bambouche, Child Neglect, Child Abuse, Bipolar Pétronille, Suicidal Thoughts, breaking the cycle, kitchen mishaps, Shoes both remembered and forgotten, Drowning imagery, Bonnie's protectee guilt, Bonnie's A+ spelling Words: 10,541

[arcandoria]

@themumblingmouse was an absolute sweetheart and had @baldursghaik draw my Yori!

I can't stop looking at all the details in the background and how cute they turned out, thank you so so much you two! 💜

[not-ur-boy-toy]

Watching Bret scold Owen will always be my favourite sibling interaction, Owen just looks like a sad puppy BUT once the teacher is mentioned he's instantly like 'shit please don't tell em that story'

[ellsieee]

Kid calls his childhood idol crush a washed up singer.

Said washed up singer is triggered.

And stalks the kid to prove that he's not a has-been and to get his approval.

He then got a complete makeover to impress said kid and shyly asks him of he looks handsome now.

Has-been gets embarrassed when the kid tells him he's handsome, but is secretly happy.

Neil is totally normal about Sea. Yup. 👀👀

[rxxkes]

he is a lana del rey song.

[maculategiraffe]

just made TWO different phone calls to two different medical offices to schedule two different horrible appointments. only one of them picked up but the one that didn't I left a voicemail. like a fuckin' BOSS

[sesamenom]

I kid you not, there is an actual fic out there where Gil-Galad started off as a elven child who was one of Morgoth's failed attempts to create the Orcs.

Celebrimbor finds the kid wandering around in a daze (somehow they escaped) and he just decides to build the elf-equivalent of an android body for him?

What gets me most is that the story is very well written even if it is crack-tastic.

Oh this sounds like Scion of Mystery by Tilion! Mithril galad is in Variations VII, though if this is referring to a different fic with a similar origin I'd definitely want to draw that.

[shellem15]

ive been thinking on why ludinus' ending bothered me so much, because normally i'd find a "the villian lives at the end" twist to be super interesting, but for ludinus it just kinda fell flat. A big ol' "meh" burger for me.

Like, i'm not in the "they should've hunted ludinus down for sport" crowd, because the damage has already been done and ludinus isn't actively hurting anyone anymore so at this point it would just be a revenge plot.

But the way it was handled *was* unsatisfying to me, and i think the primary reason for that comes down to one thing: player autonomy

bells hells didn't actually have any say into ludinus' fate, really. they killed him, and then found out his staff allowed him to resurrect again (which never came up, at all, prior to this fight), and then they just kinda forgot about him after the predathos-thing. Caleb was the one to scry on him and learned of his shattered teeth retirement, not bells hells, *Caleb*.

This just feels like such a cop out. We don't get the satisfaction of his death, but we don't get the satisfaction of his survival, either.

Think about it: Ludinus had such massive death-flags the whole campaign. Everything this elf did indicated he was *not* planning to survive his whole predathos revenge plot. This was a man who wanted to die, and wanted to take the gods out with him in some last act of "heroism". Why would he have this massive cop-out stick to pull out of his ass in the final fight? And no, "hur dur he's a poweful archmage of course he'd have contingencies" doesn't count. That's cinema sins logic, im talking about ludinus as a *character* in a *story* with themes and a narrative.

It's just: this could've been such a good moment! An intentional choice by Bells Hells to go, "no, ludinus, you *will live* to see the consequences of your actions and to deal with the guilt of them. we will not give you the satisfaction of your own death." It could have been a powerful message of breaking cycles of revenge and favoring restorative justice over punishment (both of which have been heavy themes within main campaigns and the exus). he could still fuck off to his retirement in the shattered teeth, but at least then it would be a consequence of player agency, and thus more satisfying than what we got

I dunno man. it's just disappointing.

[thus-spoke-lo]

maybe i'm just old and/or have no taste [both things are true independent of this] but the more recent horror movies i watch, the less and less sure i am that people understand what makes a satisfying ending

[lavenderjewels]

they’re so cute. choso and yuuji’s brotherly bond is everything to me