#except. i cannot write. and idk if we're friends lol

[seagullcharmer]

i knooow rar said they never really had plans for the xc1 cast in ywkon but..... i love rotating them around in my head.... many ideas head full

[la-pheacienne]

I'm still wondering what kind of brain jump Sara Hess had from going to writing Alicent as a spiteful bitch that forces Rhaenyra to talk the Keep with her new born to... Become full crying Ninicent that doesn't wanna hurt Rhaenyra, but at the same time she 'defies' her father (except she doesn't because she is still doing exactly what he wants), she has power to command over who her daughter marries but then she doesn't know about the coup to install her son in the throne... What was going on in that woman's head? Did she write the episodes in the wrong order? Did she regret writing Alicent as a bitch in the first place? Do these people even do first drafts of these scripts or they are just so arrogant that they never check their own co consistency? I remember once watching an interview with Steven Moffat about a Doctor Who episode saying he actually regretted the episode was like that but that he couldn't get to the deadline to check on the script more and had to sadly give the actors his rough draft and hope for the best (the episode wasn't even bad but there was awkward dialogue and it showed). There was humility there, I don't see that in the HOTD writers, especially not in Hess and Condal.

Sorry, but as a writer, their lack of consistence drives me insane. Especially when they expect us to love Alicent and get mad when we don't. 😂

@ladyalianora I honestly cannot explain what happened in her head. It's truly inexplicable. My guess is that they tried to create a "complex" character but they have no idea what a complex character actually is, and especially in the context of a "medieval European history based fictional drama" (Idk how else to call it). They don't know anything about the historical context that inspires this kind of stories, they don't know anything about actual female rulers and historical events that inspired the author of the source material and even better, they don't know anything about the source material itself. Maybe they read the book like once, but in a very casual manner, without investing, without understanding. They didn't adapt the source material, they were inspired by the source material to do their own, completely different and shitty story.

Another guess is that they wanted to differentiate themselves so hard from Game of Thrones, in all the wrong ways, of course. Something that didn't really exist in Game of Thrones is this kind of alliance/deep bond between two women that is destroyed by men. So they wanted to do that. The problem is, this thing didn't exist in Game of Thrones for the simple reason that GRRM didn't write it, and he didn't write it because it's crap. The alternatives are so much better. And what's sad is that it could be kind of interesting, if they wrote it as a backstory/villain origin story. It would actually be cool. Actually, what's pathetic about this whole thing is this : this whole friendship/love between Alicent and Rhaenyra has narrative weight ONLY if it's terminally crushed and burned by Alicent's betrayal. Like, Alicent's betrayal (real betrayal that Alicent truly chose and is accountable for) would literally give actual depth in this friendship/love plot they went for. If there is no betrayal, if there is no definite and clear catalyst, what is the POINT of this stupid friendship? What is the point of this friendship in the narrative? It's useless.

They added this stupid friendship/romantic bond to show what? What is the tragedy in this? They were friends and remain friends but everyone else is fucking up this friendship and look how sad it is because they are friends and nobody can break this friendship except that it's broken except that it isn't? Lol? This is literally not how stories work?

And all the inconsistencies this creates Jesus Christ. If Alicent is truly afraid that Rhaenyra will put her children to the sword then she SHOULDN'T give A FUCK about her life. That's like, basic common logic? We're talking about her own fucking children here? If Alicent was afraid of Rhaenyra and isn't to blame then why didn't she betroth her daughter to Jace which would LITERALLY secure her and her whole family? Oh because Jace is plain featured and a bastard. So, it's not that she's afraid, it's that she's a self serving treasonous conservative bitch. A self serving treasonous conservative bitch that has to give sexual favours to her servants so that they can obey her? Doesn't compute. NOTHING computes. So she's neither treasonous nor innocent. What the fuck is she?

But in order to understand all of this one needs to respect the source material written by a person who is FAR more competent than them, who has dedicated decades of his life reading history and studying real rulers and creating his world. If one doesn't give a fuck about the source material it's ok, one needs to be an extremely competent writer with deep knowledge of the rules of narrative and tragedy. Are these people qualified? How? Where? In Orange is the new Black ? Please.

[joshuaalbert]

harry kim… ive missed your voyager posting but i want to hear your thoughts on dear harry boy…

favorite thing about them

he's my most favoritest guy. i love him. if like .03% of the things that had happened to him happened to me i'd be out there murdering bitches or something and he's still just out here being a nice friendly guy who tries his best for the ship and for other people. like sometimes they do a rly good job of making it clear that there's this very deep well of resolve to him and he is an incredibly hard person to break despite experiencing the horrors so so so often. BUT i also love it when he's unhinged like he absolutely deserves to get to go off the rails sometimes. and i like it when he's making little petty comments he deserves that too.

least favorite thing about them

i mean we all know this but he's SO fucked over by the writers/showrunners. there's literally no reason for the no promotion/left out of major storylines/frequently sidelined in favor of other characters deal except some like. racist bullshit. writers will be like "well we just don't think he's an interesting character" bitch then make him interesting lol that's your job.

brOTP

harry and b'elanna literally the single most important dynamic in the show to me. every episode that they don't have a scene together i think about committing unfathomable acts of violence. i really enjoy that they genuinely feel like friends who care tremendously about each other (although i wish we saw them hanging out more off duty or in the mess hall or whatever).

also like idk if it's a brotp because they're not like Bros but the harry and janeway dynamic makes me feel uhh vaguely insane. now that you're here someone can understand what i mean when i say it's kind of the inverse of picard and wesley in a lot of ways lmao.

OTP

honestly i cannot deny the weird gay thing he and tom have going on. with tom and b'elanna i can be like yeah she deserves better but a) he's usually better to harry than b'elanna because the writers don't seem to know how to write romantic storylines without some bullshit and b) it lowkey doesn't matter if harry deserves better because regardless of my opinions they just Do Have a weird and compelling fucked up gay thing. the chute literally exists.

also my beloved friend @aberfaeth who was my source of voy knowledge before i started watching voy is a ptk enthusiast and i like. very much see that in some arrangement i like whatever they've all got going on

nOTP

uhhh. hm. i dont know that i have one in terms of things that people actually ship? i am very not fond of the show's trend of giving him like tall blonde traditionally (western) beautiful women as like short term love interests that we're clearly supposed to assume he has absolutely no chance with because he's a lame nerd. in a vacuum him always going for like women that fit a specific mold of Hot Girl that he basically never actually has chemistry with would give comphet but i do think in this case it's far more representative of, again, the racist bullshit and it being very clear that they don't see him as being a viable romantic option.

random headcanon

i have not been rotating him in my mind long enough to have a ton of these but i do very much stand by my harry and b'elanna undefeatable battle bots build team headcanon

unpopular opinion

im not immersed enough in the voy ecosystem enough to know what opinions are popular tbh but i do think any headcanon that has harry like pining after tom is simply not a correct interpretation of events imo

favorite picture of them

like I said. I like it when he’s unhinged and when he’s petty.

[kellykadesperate]

hi hey!! :3 i am back lolol <3

i SCREAM, the fast and furious comparison LMAO. you are so so right, i cannot unthink this now djdjdjdjd. it's sad because both Fast and 911 started out pretty good but then just went on. and on. and on. i really wonder how long 911 will actually stay until they realize that they've completely overshot it. your reply made me think more about the family dynamics in the show. in the first season specifically, we actually had a setup with the main characters (except hen, i think) who, in some way or another, were or at least felt kinda alone? the show being about found family made a lot of sense for all characters back then. however, they simply are at a completely different point 5 seasons later that it just falls flat. you're right, all of them got their own family units outside of work now, all of them do sm better mentally and emotionally, and none of them feel as connected to each other anymore because of that (and maybe because the necessity for it simply does not exist any longer). so why go on with this shtick? then again, isn't that also true for 911 LS, with them having family outside of their crew? however, somehow it feels different to me, and i think i can pinpoint the reason: 911 LS actually invested time to build up friendships on screen and continuously makes an effort to show the characters bonding, so i truly believe it when they say that they are friends. with OG 911, they are "family", but i do not really feel it anymore? i do not wanna sound too harsh but it's simply my current feelings. family does not automatically equal being close, and i think the show has lost the plot a bit with actually, yk, showing us that these characters are real true friends who would hang out even if you removed all other family ties. i cannot for the life of me recall a reason why buck and chim, hen and eddie, eddie and maddie etc would actually hang out if they weren't "connected" by work or some pre-existing family ties.

ohhh, i completely forgot about the whole firefighter albert thing. it came out of nowhere, and i was mostly just ??? about it, though excited to see him being a reoccurring character! alas, that bubble burst quickly, like with all other secondary/side characters that seemed promising at first and then petered out :(. i liked the fact that he did not enjoy the job as much as chim! to me, it felt a bit like chim was maybe trying to connect to albert through the job the way that he himself connected to kevin in the past? the idea would add some depth, especially if albert still chooses to do something else in his life and has to communicate why firefighting might simply not be for everybody. i would like to see how this plays out but i want to be really honest... i am not even sure i won't just skip past any of that even if we get it. at this point, the majority of the show feels very inconsequential, i cannot really bring myself to invest energy in truly liking side characters (i am mostly just indifferent), and the writing is often quite wonky and unsatisfactory anyway, so my own headcanons or speculations usually end up being more interesting to me in comparison sksksksks. i do not expect a real moment of clarity and it leading to anything substantial so i just (shrug emoji).

everything appears heightened but ultimately is so so low stakes and so easily solvable. exactly this. i can enjoy some silly drama shows with stakes so low that they are on the ground, just to be clear, but the show must know to not take itself so damn seriously at the very least. i think 911 kinda fails at that – it wants to be so deep but like, we're standing in a kiddie pool right now, good sir, calm down LOL.

I feel like the show would genuinely benefit from a shock death or something that would change everything completely … Idk I just feel like sometimes the very slightest change is seen as devastating to the group lmao. yes and an even bigger YES to those two points! i think it needs some new goal, and one new goal could be bobby leaving (for traumatic reasons or not) and somebody else stepping up as captain permanently, or it could be something entirely different. i did not and still do not think that they'll have the guts to actually do it, though, so i was not worried a single second about the finale of season 6 or at any other point. especially when looking at the second thing you pointed out: the show cannot even be normal about depicting the normalest changes in life lmfao. this is also connected to how you said that the "additions to the team" feel "calculating" - yes yes yes. the show just desperately wants to drive home the fact that the only Good Team of the 118 fire station is the main characters. everybody else cannot understand them because they're actually normal about their job ig. everybody else is just accessory to establish this fact again, and again, and again. and that's kinda the crux of the show's problem: when you establish the fact that literally nobody could ever truly fit into or enrich their current family dynamic, meaning that the family dynamic is not allowed to change permanently ever, you know that none of these characters are allowed to go anywhere. otherwise, you'd lose the one point you're trying to bring across with the show. so going in circles forever it is!

It makes both characters really unlikable and I know there's a bigger narrative at play in both characters but that's not explored enough. 10000% with you on this topic. i'd loooove to both of them to just... stay single for at least a whole season or longer with zero interest in dating. mostly because i think the show would genuinely not know what to do with buck and eddie if it wasn't pushing them into their next romantic endeavor that they are not ready for every damn season. and that is OKAY, for them not to be ready! all i need is for the show to acknowledge that not-dating is not some disease that will make them die a miserable, pathetic, lonely death! i challenge 911 to give them friends and hobbies instead and actually build a life and story for these characters that is not painfully amatonormative pls pls pls. i agree with what you said: these characters have more overarching stories but the show simply doesn't drive those storylines purposefully enough. we do see development here and there (buck choosing his one-person armchair and being happy with it, i.e. he deliberately chooses to stay single over being with someone who does not accept who he is; eddie truly confronting his past trauma for the first time and finally going to therapy, realizing that he should create a good life for his own sake) but it all still ends in romance anyways. which, yk, would not feel so bad and flat to me if the complete lack of other meaningful things in their lives wouldn't be so evident at this point.

your reply actually reminded me again of all the times i enjoyed 911 LS more than OG 911 simply because they understood the assignment when it comes to writing solid friendships and how they are supposed to look like! indeed, the setup of them all coming together as strangers was very interesting, a "clean slate" for all, and there were so many moments where they all just. hang out. just chilling and vibing together. in the gym and the bunk room and at carlos' place etc! i can still remember so many scenes where it felt like they are friends not because they work together – they met through work, yes, but they make a conscious effort outside of the work context to stay close/become closer! gah, this makes me wanna catch up with the show again :')

ah yes, owen strand. in all honesty, i did not like the choice of him being such a big focus point either. the real strength truly lies in all the other characters, who all really bring something to the table. i was honestly invested in all their stories because they seemed to have something outside of work that is integral to their identity, and that just stands out positively in comparison to OG 911, where the characters' contribution to the narrative and society seems to be mostly linked to their job, and their relationships are also mostly tied through their jobs. 911 LS generally focusing more on the characters' uniqueness, no matter if it's their race, religion, culture, disabilities, or any queer topics, relativizes the importance of their jobs without overshadowing it. yes, they do incredibly essential work for society, and they love doing what they do, but they all have some things in their lives that are much more essential to them as people. taking away their uniforms only reveals how these characters' lives are not solely defined by their jobs, which i cannot really say for the OG 911 characters.

It's made things actually feel like choices genuinely matter. true!! tk becoming a paramedic is a wonderful example, but also so many other things. how the strands moved from nyc to texas, how the other characters (except judd) also moved to texas, as one pivotal point of the show. owen explicitly chose these firefighters to form a new crew because they were successful in the job before coming to texas, telling us that (a) they were accomplished adults before the new "found family" was even established and (b) were still able to recreate that success as a newly formed team. that sounds like the kind of take on found family that i would want to see depicted in OG 911 as well, and it also immediately sets up a certain freedom for the characters to make permanent, life-changing decisions that are allowed to be for the better. much unlike OG 911, where everything that challenges or remodels the found family must always be Bad™. also the fact that these choices get made and actually change the course of a character's career or life is so important for my enjoyment. they get a chance to show that they support each other through these changes and that these changes do not have to negatively affect their friendships. THAT is how a healthy found family should work imo.

interesting to compare these two. the shows are somehow alike but so so so different. btw do you watch any shows that you think are better than 911 and 911 LS regarding the points of criticism that we've discussed? :O i am currently looking for new shows to try out, but idk what the next thing could be. i definitely need something that is overall more well-written than 911 to cleanse my palate, though, LOL. recs are appreciated but no pressure <3

hey hey!

i cannot for the life of me recall a reason why buck and chim, hen and eddie, eddie and maddie etc would actually hang out if they weren't "connected" by work or some pre-existing family ties - OH THIS. I think with 911ls they make a thing of like hangouts and being silly and I also like how Judd is never there lmao. Judd has a wife and children and that again makes a lot of sense. He loves his team but they're not his family. He has strong friendships but he goes home to his wife. A lot of the crew are around the same age, and have similar interests and so that makes sense. With 911 they're not close in that sense, and we don't see them close in that sense despite being very involved in each other's personal life lol. They're all settled and content in some way or another and that makes characters like Buck stand out because he's not. And in comparison therefore: he's messy. He's poor little has no clue what he wants Buck in a way that feels like they're almost laughing at him lmao. So yeah that seems like a big difference between the shows/characters. Saying that though, I do think although 911ls show that they're more like friends, we see a lot less of the in-depth talks/chat 1:1 friendship stuff we have on 911 so it's all a mixed bag.

the majority of the show feels very inconsequential, i cannot really bring myself to invest energy in truly liking side characters - yep yep yep, i love side characters who break up some of the big tension of the show and for a show like 911 bringing in new characters should be fairly easy. I always forget that Eddie isn't an OG S1 character. But yes, when there's such investment in the core characters it obviously falls at the complete expense of any side characters they have attempted to build on.

i think 911 kinda fails at that – it wants to be so deep but like, we're standing in a kiddie pool right now - LOOL yes. I do think a lot of it comes down to having good serious actors on the show and wanting to lead into the drama they can bring and it's all well and good but at the same time, I really think the show thrives when it's silly. Some of the most memorable episodes have been the full moon one, the oceans 11 type one etc. It's fun and silliness is really just ... fun and silly ! It makes it what it is. If it wants to be dramatic, give me drama with lifelong consequences.

everybody else cannot understand them because they're actually normal about their job ig - IDK why but I just find this so funny. It really is just ... a job, a rewarding remarkable, amazing job. It just feels weird when they really hammer home how close the crew are and important they are but really don't show them all hanging out for extended periods of time. In fact they make a point of showing them hanging out separately: Chimney and Hen, Buck and Eddie, Hen and Athena even. It's just a choice!

genuinely not know what to do with buck and eddie if it wasn't pushing them into their next romantic endeavour - Like??? I was fully convinced Kameron was going to try and kiss Buck or something, I still kinda think they'll go there because ... why not!

but it all still ends in romance anyways - Yeah exactly this. I think without them meaning to it sets some sort of tone that doesn't feel ... nice? It feels like 'now he is content with being happy/working on himself he will have a romantic partner to top it all off' and like yes I get it was the finale but it does feel like going round and round in circles with both of them. Either give them permeant girlfriends they genuinely like lmao and build on that fully or just have them be single and explore their life a bit more. The whole destined to be alone, unloved, I'll never find someone who knows me is just ... I'm sick of it and makes both characters feel like they actually don't know what they want. I really did laugh when Buck was like Natalia sees me for me, she SEES me and it was like?? is this the writers telling us she's the one?? Or were we supposed to pick up on that? Like are we supposed to pay attention to this woman? Because look what happened with Taylor

it felt like they are friends not because they work together – they met through work - Oh my god yes. Yes. That's it. It's the idea that they genuinely enjoy each other's company/admire each other and want to hang around after work to continue seeing each other. It's sweet. I even remember when they did a mini sl about Nancy feeling like she wasn't part of the crew and made a point of being like: Is she invited to hangouts? No. Let's invite her. It also makes the idea of them invested in each other's lives seem a little truer, more authentic rather than them hearing about snippets of things on the way to calls (I don't think they've ever done that set up the way 911 do)

911 LS generally focusing more on the characters' uniqueness - Yeah! Obviously when you have a show with loads of cast members it's tricky to find some sort of difference to make them stand out, have them all shine and I think the show has got better at allocating sl's because the first 2 seasons were so Owen centric and he still manages to worm his way into sl's but at least there's an effort to have sl's completely separate from him.

telling us that (a) they were accomplished adults before the new "found family" was even established and (b) were still able to recreate that success as a newly formed team - THIS. They are adults. They had a job interview/were recruited because they had something special and we as an audience got to see that straight away, and see that in action. IDK I just think it's a lot easier to let your audience see a group of friends grow into a family than start by showing them THIS IS THE FIREFAM FAMILY

they support each other through these changes and that these changes do not have to negatively affect their friendships - I think a good example of this (again don't read if you haven't seen s3) but the end of s2 shows that the firehouse is effectively shut down, and they all have to go their separate ways and it just shows a nice way of moving these characters along but not damaging ties they still have. It was a really nice/interesting take and was genuinely surprising/made me think how are they going to get out of this?

I don't know about recs that are the same vibe but I would definitely recommend: Severance, Succession, Abbott Elementary (they're all so so different but amazing writing!)

[cythoughtsnmemories]

17.02.23

Done w GDL~ very grateful that we're able to delivered all xi bing on d day itself. Everything was smooth, except for some traditions restrictions (ah ma stand most left cos most senior and cannot 3 pple take photo tgt). Wonder how MIL wants to tell all guests, cannot this and that. Why can't i do it my way, its my wedding. Am so annoyed w all the restrictions and doesn't make sense traditions. No, idw to kneel for tea ceremony, except parents n grandparents. Anw, my Godma also requested us not to kneel for tea ceremony. Thankful fiancé nvr request me to move in his hse. He confirmed kena WW III

Ordered mini buffet for 10 for dinner for all crews on AD, but we had lots of leftover and we can only throw. Okay we kept for next day brunch then throw but it's still a lot.

I brought babe to Sura for course dinner n there was free wine paring. They even prepared flowers. When we arrived, d waited gave babe a pen n small card to write for d card. Since dinner was on me, I only took d card and ask babe to bring home d flowers hahaha~

Prolly having pms, I was quite emotional when babe didn't do anything for V day...except sent me an article from sg celebrity that advice for long lasting marriage is nvr celebrate V day.

I'm wasn't expecting anything expensive cos I know we just went Europe n we also spent a lot on wedding and soon we have to pay for hse too. But at least some special action? He was wfh so I tot he might pick me up from work. Nah~

Good news from sis! They're official! Look at that rose bear, definitely more than $100

So babe bought d shang tou set n we have to prepare out own candles stand. That's my parents covering the longan can w red paper. So glad, they both are participating the prep.

Really nice of babe to let his friends to pay additional softcopy to clock the amt for credit card. Right, babe bought 4 more softcopy cos I like it, although I said there isn't a need cos i already scanned it. He said quality difference. Lol

Wfh today and as usual, busy! Idk why Fri is always so busy T^T Had mala pasta n salmon tofu soup for lunch.

Finally, reading my new book, 7 principles for making marriage work. Nth wrong to get more knowledge and prevent marriage fail right? So I leant its impt that partner to have high EQ. Its okay, pple having low IQ, but EQ is the key.

[wizzycore]

the thing about karamelle is that it tries to have 2 separate plots going on at once and it fails. the Cabal plotline (the disappearance of the Old One) and the Corporate plotline (the strikes and unions and propaganda and whatnot). The plots are so utterly disconnected. You can explain one without even mentioning the other. as a young author, i can tell you: that is BAD WRITING. Things need to connect. Plotlines must be weaved together like rope, not simply placed side by side like hay.

like, at least Zafaria's individual plot (finding the missing students) connects to the overall plot of Arc 2 (stopping morganthe), because Morganthe actively split the students up and kidnapped the Prince to recover something that'd aid her in her own goals. As you quest through the world you slowly discover how deep her influence runs, and slowly piece together her plot. It builds her as a villain, albeit only subtly.

oh yeah for sure like this is mad well written, (your ask i mean) i just really fucking hate zafaria because im a hater. im sorry to morganthe im just a little hater. idk something about fighting the elephant guy a billion times and also the weird way zafaria gets treated by the narrative (whitely) just makes me not like it.

see heres the thing i actually had a BETTER time there in zafaria than im having so far here. also thank you everybody for being very courteous about not spoiling the dip-end of karamelle for me! i appreciate u all very much for being careful.

anywho, you're exactly right! hell i didn't even think about how much the two plots do not mesh at all i was too busy burning with rage about the way yw was absolutely just jerked around thruout it so far.

OH, yeah, so! LOOOONG rant below. ill just cap it under a read below. here we go.

soooo MY personal gripe with the writing of karamelle so far is just....... it both assumes the player is extremely smart and extremely stupid -- things that have been explained by characters (example - GRETA) in one moment is immediately ignored for the next 20 quests because the story assumes you didn't read it, and makes the wizard look like a total idiot. but THEN, because we no longer have the anchor of a narrator (which, though it doesn't, in my heart makes this feel sooo much messier), we're left to try and divulge information from so many unreliable narrators, so often that we're left with genuinely Nothing to work with in EITHER plot. I *really* wanted to be a part of both plots! I gave them both such a chance! And the old one/cabal plot TRIES to be a faux-murder mystery, but it doesn't follow up on that because it drunkenly falls into the unionizing plot (i.e the frankly obnoxious half-truths that von trap seems obsessed with dropping before leaving) instead of delivering meanful information to the player!!!!!

there was one moment where i genuinely said, "okay, yw cannot be doing this, are we hypnotized right now?" and my friend said, "no, but i appreciate your leaps to try and make this make sense", and then seconds later we heard a piece of dialogue that genuinely made them think "no, maybe you're right". i just. god. this world seems like it had such good BONES, is the thing!

i think another place where this paradoxical player is smart/player is stupid blunder occurs is in actually just the delivery of the themes of the unionization plot. every post ive seen so far seems to talk about this the most LOL. like........ the themes could NOT be more hamfisted. its sort of as though they expected that the market they were writing for in arc 1 had to suddenly digest themes with a level of complexity that the audience for arc 3 was used to. except arc 1 writing was literally more complex than this.

ACTUALLY, i take that back. the writing in karamelle IS complex -- but i mean that INCREDIBLY derogatorily. the writing is complex because its convoluted, because we're handfed so many dead-ends and lies in the haste to try and MAKE the player understand that this is a propaganda driven society (DESPITE the fact that in the past "propaganda" such as the old one existing in the first place or, say, grandfather spider being real (stretch) were true) that the story just handwaves away from the INCREDIBLY obvious, child-media level of obvious, themes and tries to direct the player towards some bullshit they won't need 10 levels from then, just in an ATTEMPT at complexity.

not to stan empryea, but im going to compare really quickly to the nimbus section of empryea. nimbus has the same bones as karamelle does. two groups, both giving false information, interfering and fucking with the player at every moment. but from the MOMENT you enter nimbus you can feel somethings off (and, actually, we in my discord server were somewhat dissatisfied with how long it took to uncover what we had already figured out) (and secondly, it's less in your face than karamelle. good lord.) and the buildup is TANGIBLE. the discovery of clues as to what happened to sparck and his parents, what side people are truly on, and what their plans are, are CONSISTENT. they are SOMEWHAT SUBTLE. and they build up to something EMOTIONAL and IMPORTANT to the PLAYER (bat!! the chains!!). nimbus does, admittedly, do its share of thinking the player is stupid -- but it doesn't IMPEDE the story. the red herrings given are distracting but in a way that makes sense narratively.

AND!!!! the themes of the effects of militarism, the conflict between science and religion or magic, the themes of blood and what that means, they aren't as CRAMMED down the players throat. you are free to interpret the events, to understand them and what they mean underneath the setting, and most importantly to understand what they mean for the player!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AUGHHH!!!! and the only time they fail at this is sacrificing complexity for comedy (niles) (but its funny so it gets a pass).

karamelle, i gotta say, takes all the minor flaws of the nimbus storyline and cranks them up to ten, and then adds a couple more on for good measure.

and (my last rant point) karamelle just. Isn't Enjoyable. Even if you look past all of the story blunders, even if you look past the age old "ah, the first world of any arc isn't necessarily going to be perfect", even if you look past the INCREDIBLY crammed in theme conveying.... karamelle isnt fun!!!!! the (as my dnd dm friend says) railroading is a constant frustration, the locations are dreary (purposeful, yes, but to push a point the audience ALREADY UNDERSTANDS!!!!!), and it feels as though you can take no action that counts whatsoever. your hand is dragged by von trap more than your hand has ever been dragged before. all of the folktale and fairytale references are simple headnods at most and never incorporated very much into the story, and the locations that are fun to look at you never stay in very long.

i understand that the story is meant to be heavy, but the khrysalis storyline is said to be the heaviest one ever executed, and yet you feel engaged and BOPPING to the storybeats all the way through. (well, if you can get through all of the quests.) (luckily, in a pure force of hyperfixation, i stayed engaged and boppin the whole time). and, i realize that this may be a reaction to what fans felt were what they liked least about, say, mellori -- the excessive comical relief. well, in karamelle, i feel as though they struggled to find a middle point. not just in comedy but in immersion, in creativity, and in the level of enjoyment the average player might have.

soooo. yeah.