#i don't actually like character death much it bums me out

[hydrachea]

Yknow I was also thinking... if Neuvi were to ask Furina to become immortal again for his sake, she might actually say yes. Which is exactly WHY he'd never ask her to do so, because as much as he dreads her inevitable absence, he won't condemn her to that fate again

You got it. Because when she took on that curse half a millennium ago, it was also a request she agreed to. For the sake of all of Fontaine and not just the sake of Focalors, but it's still all too similar. Even if she said yes to him because she actually wants it then, who's to say she'll always want it? Who's to say the decades, the centuries won't weigh heavier and heavier as they pass, just like before? Who's to say she won't have to ask him to make her mortal again? And that would be even more painful than simply letting her go when she's meant to. So instead he'll treasure the time she has, that she's more than earned, and he'll do everything he can for her to treasure it too.

[linghxr]

My spring 2024 cdrama/cmovie/cvariety updates

I can't believe it's already been over 6 months since my last watching updates post! I've been watching more movies, and I'll also mention a couple variety shows, so it's not just cdramas.

Shows/series:

Some of these were mentioned as “currently watching” in my previous post.

《不良执念清除师》 Oh No! Here Comes Trouble A young man learns to use his supernatural calligraphy powers to help strange beings, with help from his frenemy and a young police officer. This show was like a breath of fresh air and very humorous. That being said, it was difficult to follow all the storylines. If you're going to watch it, I think you should binge it if possible. Content warning: Death, gore

《此时此刻》 At the Moment An anthology of quirky pandemic love stories, not all with happy endings. It's kind of like Love Actually in that the characters are connected across stories. Initially I didn't plan to watch because of the pandemic through line—I thought it would bum me out. But it didn't, actually. My favorite episode was Head of the Family. Content warning: Unhealthy relationships, sex and nudity

《隐秘的角落》 The Bad Kids Three kids accidentally film a murder and try to blackmail the killer, resulting in devastating consequences. I felt the first half of this show was more captivating than the second half—the second half went a bit overboard IMO. Apparently the original novel is way darker so…! But I still recommend it wholeheartedly. Content warning: Death and violence (but not graphic)

《沉默的真相》 The Long Night The murder of a disgraced prosecutor seems like an open-and-shut case, but his past reveals a much more complicated story. This show masterfully weaves together three different timelines. I was so confused after the first episode, but it all made sense in the end. I don't recommend binge watching it—I regretted doing so. Content warning: Violence, death, sexual assault

《双镜》 Couple of Mirrors A young woman's personal and professional lives are turned upside down, and she befriends a mysterious woman with a dark past. You have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy this show. There was a ridiculous number of car accidents! It's a GL drama, but if I hadn't know that, I don't think I would have noticed until the end. Content warning: Death, violence

Variety/reality:

《披荆斩棘的哥哥》 Call Me by Fire In the past I didn't include variety shows, but this time I thought why not? I finally finished all 3 seasons of this show, the male spinoff of 《乘风破浪的姐姐》 Sisters Who Make Waves. It's similar to an idol survival show, but instead of trainees, the contestants are established celebrities. The sets are always amazing, and I might have enjoyed this show more than 《乘风破浪》 honestly!

Movies:

《家庭简史》 Brief History of a Family The description of this movie sounded dull, but I ended up enjoying it a lot! I've seen reviews compare it to Parasite and Saltburn. There is definitely some similarity–it's about a well-off family that takes in a mysterious, quiet boy–but the takeaway of this film is very different. It leaves a lot of room for ambiguity.

《流浪地球》 The Wandering Earth After being on my watchlist for years, I finally got around to seeing this movie. I knew the basic premise: humanity bands together to move Earth away from the expanding sun. I wasn't expecting that it would focus on one family, which gave the movie a more personal feel. I enjoyed it despite not being a huge sci-fi person. Content warning: Death

《美国女孩》 American Girl A family moves back to Taiwan for their mother's cancer treatment after several years in the US, and the eldest daughter struggles to adapt. It's set during the SARS outbreak, but I don't remember that being very prominent. This movie was quite bleak and bummed me out. And I found the ending rather abrupt. It wasn't for me I think. Content warning: Illness, disease outbreak

《你好，李焕英》 Hi, Mom This movie was super popular when it came out. It's about a woman who gets transported back in time and meets her mother (who is young and childless at this point). At first I was confused about where the movie was going—it didn't seem to be building to much. But it had a heartwarming and touching ending. Content warning: Death

《周处除三害》 The Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon After seeing a lot of buzz about this movie online, I had to check it out. It follows a terminally ill hitman who learns he is the third most wanted criminal in Taiwan and decides to kill the two criminals ranking above him. Despite this, the main character is actually pretty likable. I enjoyed the movie despite the violence. Content warning: Excessive violence, death, sexual assault

Currently watching:

《火星情报局》 Mars Intelligence Agency This is a variety show. The cast consists of celebrities who take turns telling funny stories and making jokes. I started watching because my favorite singer 薛之谦 is a cast member. I was unsure about the concept at first, but honestly it's really entertaining!

《摩天大楼》 A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower I finally started this show, which has been on my watchlist for a while. I'm only 2 episodes in—so far it's mostly been about the past of the titular murder victim. I'm not yet sure what direction the show will go in, but I'm excited to find out.

Abandoning:

《你的孩子不是你的孩子》 On Children I got through 3 out of 5 episodes before abandoning this show. Each episode is the length of a movie, so they drag on. But I totally understand why episode 2, Child of the Cat, was nominated for and won so many awards. The acting was really strong.

《汉化日记》 God Troubles Me I wanted to try watching a 动画, but after a few episodes, I wasn't feeling this one. Each episode is quite short, so it's an easy watch. I think it just wasn't for me.

On my watchlist:

《漫长的季节》 The Long Season

《尘封十三载》 Thirteen Years of Dust

I'm trying to be better about content warnings. But please note, I only included them for things I finished watching, not things I'm currently watching or abandoning.

[gritsandbrits]

Rewrite vs. Canon: Stella helluva boss

OOF stella...stella...stella mm mmm mmmm! Honey we got a LOT of work to do 😔

I already talked a bit about her character before. Let me preface it by saying while I don't mind evil villains and Stella is supposed to be that, however after further examination I realized there are problems with how she's written. Here's my take:

Stella is still a shit person but she has her admirable qualities. She can be cunning and knows her way around politics and aristocracy. She is also a natural at fire magic. Due to the afterlife's outdated traditions she never got to explore her full potential, only groomed to be a glorified baby maker. Stella is further angered when her brother becomes actual royalty over hers while she understands this is law and Andre hates it too; a discouraged Stella resigns to being a trophy wife.

Her marriage with Stolas starts off fairly well but it deteriorates not just to her anger issues and his cheating but outside influences. Stella takes to overconsumption to deal with her issues. She believes nothing will change, and takes her anger out on servants and anyone who so much as looks at her funny. The only other person she cares about is Octavia and her brother.

He brother suggests killing Stolas and make it look like a demon hunter did it, which could give other Lords an incentive to conquering other worlds to avenge his death. With Stella guiding Octavia she will technically become the new star lord until Via comes of age. Perfect plan!

Except the person Stella hires is a bit of a envious bum (Striker) and let's be real, Stella is not as cunning as she thinks she is!

Essentially Stella is a foil for Charlie: they were both affected by their strict upbringing but where the latter wants to change things, while the former upholds these values because she is afraid of losing the only power she has.

Stella has pyrokinesis as a contrast to her brother's ice. It also fits the Goetia star theming as the sun IS the brightest star in our solar system, and she has the temper to match. Instead of being demonized on femininity alone, she uses that femininity as power; but it still has its flaws as it's a tool to enforce problematic ideals and gender essentialism. Her arc ironically has her be more and more independent and tap into her fire power again but evil. Octavia is something of a morality Pet, so she tries not to get her involved in her schemes.

That's the story I have for her. I talk about her canon design and why I hate it here

[zkoh001]

I haven't read Pjo in a hot minute but I just had had the most glorious dream about it, and I feel like, I need to share my feelings on the series.

Now, for context, I read them in the order of: Tlh, SoN then the first five books, MoA, HoH, and a good gap later BoO. I absolutely fell in love with the first HoO, the only hard copy I keep of the series, so I was a little bummed when I learned there was no other book of them (MoA haven't come out yet). I liked Percy, but had no previous connection to him, and I was more interested in the worldbuilding in Camp Jupiter.

All in all, my weird experience with this series makes my nostalgia much more nostalgically connected to the , and lost trio than the OGs, and I would proudly wear purple over orange, sue me. (Not saying I didn't enjoy it when I bing read the first five books before MoA came out. I think the chapter system was a huge loss in HoO) Now, Tlh is still my absolute faw, and I was a bit bummed when we didn't explore the new characters (neither Hazel and frank nor Jason, Piper and Leo) in favour of following two characters we already had a whole series on.

The prophesy is about Jason and Leo, Piper is their glue and mediator, so why don't we get to know more of them? Leo learning to accept his powers could have been an arc. Piper should have realised there's no point in judging Drew, or her mom for being more girly than her, and that it doesn't make her more or less. Jason was a kid soldier but we can't explore it, because we can't explore him, only the effect he has on others. Why doesn't he have any like... friends in Camp Jupiter?

I saw a post about how we could have had a situation where Reyna and Octavian constantly bickered, and Jason played mediator (mirroring his mew team, where Piper fills that role sort of) We could have had them be friends, to not make it feel like nobody even misses Jason... It could have made the falling out more tragic. (Of course, that would require Octavian to be an actual character instead of a generic concept, and then maybe I would feel something at his death other than "wait, what?")

Oh, what could have been. Alas, I know a lot were happy to see Percabeth, so I shall cease whining about what could have been, and appreciate that I still have Tlh.

Also, If you want me to share my dream, tell me (I prolly will anyways but oh well.)

[oli-reads]

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 "𝐀 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥'𝐬 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫" 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

“I’ve already learned my lesson here: when you catch someone lying about a murdered girl, you go ask them why.”

Title A Good Girl's Guide To Murder

Author Holly Jackson

Genre Mystery; Thriller; YA

Pages 433

THIS REVIEW HAS A COUPLE OF SPOILERS, NOTHING TOO SIGNIFICANT.

Hello fellow readers! What I have in my paws today is a review of "A Good Girl's Guide To Murder" by Holly Jackson! This is a YA mystery-thriller with a lot of twists and turns, investigation entry logs, maps, etc, which allow you to get into the whole investigative vibe!

Reading Flow ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★★

Plot ★★★★

Characters ★★★★

Spicy none

“But sometimes remembering isn’t for yourself, sometimes you do it just to make someone else smile. Those lies were allowed.”

Goodreads rating 4.33★ My rating 4.5★

This one had me hooked asf. I went from not wanting to put it down, to reaching the final chapters and not wanting to continue it because I was enjoying myself too much to finish it. 😂

*SPOILER ALERT* I really enjoyed the whole plot and was excited for most of it but I was a little sad and confused with Barney's death. I don't think it was necessary and it actually bummed me out quite a lot.

Aside from that I really was at the edge of my seat at the end of each chapter as the investigation got more and more captivating, I just HAD TO KNOW what happened and so I found it a very easy-to-read book because it flows naturally. It mentions various subjects like mental health, substance use, sexual assault and at some point even racism. It has romance happening in the background but it's never the focus and aside from the characters interactions you don't see much mention of it.

“He kissed her, and she glowed with that feeling. The one with wings. “You bring the rain down on them, Pip.” “I will.”

This book will have a tv show adaptation some time soon! Shooting has already wrapped up yet we don't have a date yet. I'm both excited and scared for this because, well, we know how hard it is to capture a book's magic and expectation, but at least it's not a movie. I think it has more potential if we have several episodes to explore the story.

“women can be just as dangerous as men.”

Anyway, if you made it this far thank you for reading this review! I'll leave you with the synopsis if you'd like to take a look, as well as it's Goodreads link. See you soon! 𓃠

If you'd like, follow Oli's instagram page!

SYNOPSIS

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40916679-a-good-girl-s-guide-to-murder

Everyone in Fairview knows the story.

Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.

[alicelufenia]

It really bums me how the Durge breakup dialogue getting removed seems to have divided the Minthara fandom, at least here (I remain blissfully unaware of how it is on twitter tho I imagine it can't NOT be a dumpster fire there)

Especially disappointed at all the conclusions being jumped to that it was a reaction to fan backlash bc... What? Where to even begin with that

I know we're used to a haphazard pattern of updates with Minthara, but the idea that they would add a whole dialogue scene with no announcement in the same patches where they announce tweaks to kissing animation well, that's just silly

It's not even the strangest bug that was introduced to her dialogue this patch

Those who disbelieve it could have been a bug you're free to think that but, past record plus knowing how baffling every bug looks like to a non-dev leaves me thinking that no, it's actually totally believable that snippets of dialogue from cut content could not only be in the game fully voiced and mocapped but also accidentally enabled in a patch of (from the outside) completely unrelated lines. Game dev is smoke and mirrors with code and it will never not make sense what breaks and why

No matter what your opinion on the dialogue, nothing points to it being an intentional update:

If it was intended to be a no takebacksies breakup well, it literally wasn't.

If it was meant as a lover's spat (my and many other's preferred outcome), it lacked follow up to give that teeth outside our headcanons.

If it seems odd that she praises Bhaal one second but says Bhaal rewards devotion with death the next, again it needed follow up that doesn't exist, at least not in game files (and let's be honest, most people don't even know about her desire to worship Bhaal cause it's totally missable even as a Durge, heck most don't even know she hates Lolth cause she was abandoned by Her, she didn't leave Lolth's service for the Absolute by choice).

I can't emphasize enough that it wasn't even announced in the patch notes, which is not the pattern they've shown when it comes to intentional updates of character content.

Added dialogue being recorded and acted DOES NOT mean it was recorded and acted RECENTLY. Hearing the actors talk about their recording experience makes that much clear, the vast majority of dialogue is recorded off a spreadsheet of critical to less important lines, over the course of the development of the game, and the mocap too was done as needed throughout. I guarantee you the Halsin Ultimatum was recorded and acted pre-release, along with any number of unseen lines that were cut for time, or lack of development, or course corrections in directing. I'm pretty sure Emma Gregory talked in an interview about her favorite romance in game being Karlach's even though Minthara's romance was broken in game at the time. The vast majority of the post-release updates to the game have been on the coding side of things, not actor or writer contributions.

Obligatory disclaimers: No it wasn't out of character, but as implemented in game it kinda was. Having NO reaction is also out of character imo. I'd rather they release an update to her writing when it was finished than halfway like this was. I'd Vastly prefer they fix her bugs over adding new dialogue anyway. No this doesn't mean I can't be upset for a lack of content because they removed dialogue that wasn't intended to be published in the state it was in.

[lloydfrontera]

berkis seems to be so powerful do you think he will able to do something like return og!lloyd and suho back to their original bodies? bring suho's original body to their world? and stop the restoration of fate? ignoring the if he isn't a lazy bum that will find this situation bothersome, but do you think berkis has these abilities?

nope! stopping the restoration of fate is one of the very few things that berkis can't do, not because he's a lazy bum but because it's actually out of his reach

Altering the path of fate was not an easy task. No, it was almost impossible. Like an overly tight bowstring, no matter how much you attempted to yank adn stretch it to change its shape, it returned to its original form as soon as you let your hands go. "That is the phenomenon called the restoration of destiny," explained Berkis dully. "That is how tenacious destiny is. And its restoration power is formidable." [...] "Then what am I supposed to do to stop destiny?" Lloyd felt dizzy as he heard these words. "I don't know," blurted Berkis nonchalantly. "Excuse me?" Lloyd's brow lifted. "Didn't you hear me? I don't know." "Wow." Lloyd gaped. "How am I supposed to know that? Do I look like a god?"

now could you argue that this is berkis not wanting to give lloyd any more incentive to ask for his help with dealing with the restoration of fate? yes absolutely this bastard led lloyd on a wild goose chase with the jewel of truth cause he didn't actually think he would be able to find all the materials and he wanted to get him off his back but. i kinda do want to take his word for it. if only because he sounded genuine when he asked if he looked like a god to know the answer.

plus. we also have confirmation that the king of hell can't do it.

"I'd like for you to clarify one thing. If I promise to work for Hell in the future... Could you put a stop to the restoration of destiny?" Lloyd asked, pining all his hopes on this question. He desperately wondered if he could save the Count, Countess, Julian, Scheherazade and everyone else around him by promising, no, signing a contract to diligently work in Hell after death, in exchange for stopping the restoration of destiny. Hell's King clicked his tongue. "I did make the right judgement about your character. You are a good man at heart. But unfortunately, that is not possible." "Even... if I promise you?" "No." Hell's King shook his head, saying, "No, the restoration of destiny cannot be stopped once it has begun regardless of anyone's opinion, including mine. The phenomenon can think and act for itself. It will not stop until it meets its goals." "It reminds me of a computer program," said Lloyd. "Yes. It's similar to a computer program of your world." "..." "It must be clear to you by now. It's out of my control," said Hell's King with finality in his voice. "I see." It was not a lie. The fact was painfully clear to him. The matter was beyond the King of Hell's control.

and if the king of hell can't do it, i'm willing to bet the archangel or berkis could neither, as they are somewhere in the same level of power.

but we also got more explicit confirmation of his from the webtoon. which. i am willing to take into account for this one thing because it doesn't directly contradict anything in the novel :P

as for whether he could return og lloyd to his own body and lloyd to his,,, i don't think so. for one thing not even the king of hell knows why lloyd took og lloyd's body in the first place and he's the one that deals with souls the most and the one that would have a better idea of why or how it happens, but he can only give his opinion, not an outright fact. i doubt berkis would know or have the power to anything about it that the king of hell couldn't.

so. yeah :]

[icebearinacornfield]

WARNING: Nightshade Revenge spoilers!!!

I'm honestly really bummed out that we didn't actually get to see Sofia Jones/Number 6 and only heard about her. I've said this more than once, and I'll say it a thousand times more, but all the female characters of the Alex Rider series are seriously neglected!

I feel like it could have been really interesting to have had a scene or two of Sofia and Freddy before Freddy's escape (not necessarily directly before the escape, just the general time leading up to it) where they're going over everything that they've been through or just talking about life in general. Like, I think it could have been a good foreshadowing opportunity/chance to get more insight on how much Nightshade fucked them up (obviously it's a lot, but the more we know, the more satisfying the deaths of the Teachers would've been at the end). Maybe even going over what they wanted to do after they got out of Delhi Station and how everything was going with their parents.

After Freddy's escape, a scene with Alex and Sofia going over Operation Get-Freddy-And-The-Numbers-Back-Home (new band name idea) and Sofia wanting to go but not being allowed so she forces Alex to promise to get revenge on Nightshade for her/bring back Freddy/get William and the other numbers out. Also just processing that Nightshade broke Freddy out, there are so many places to go with that!

This one is also for Nightshade. Seeing a Mrs. Jone and Sofia and/or William reunion would have been *chef's kiss*. The angst, the hurt/comfort, just all of it would have been immaculate! The emotional damage/trauma being addressed/shown would've been everything! Even more so if Sofia didn't recognize Mrs. Jones/was actively trying to escape, but for William, the photo Alex gave him was enough to jog his memory and not only did he remember Mrs. Jones, but was ecstatic to see her. Once again, a missed storytelling opportunity in my opinion.

All this being said, I like Nightshade Revenge a lot! I don't know if any of this would actually This is just me trying to make it so that my personal favorite side characters get more attention because I love them and they deserve it. In any case, this is what fanfiction is for!

[screechthemighty]

Okay I'm gonna get this off my chest for the five people who follow me for Star Wars content and then go back to Trigun Hell to soothe my pain but like

It's not, necessarily, that Din gave up the Darksaber. I know and agree that Din doesn't want that kind of leadership role, at least not long-term. Personally when I wrote him as having been Mandalore in that one fic, I was very much picturing it as a short-term thing where he got the job done and peace'd out the second he wasn't needed anymore. He definitely isn't looking to be in charge of anything for longer than strictly necessary. So that's not the issue. THE ACTUAL ISSUE is threefold (and under a cut for length, obvi).

One: Twice now the writing has thrown something at Din that could lead to really interesting plotting and done nothing with it.

Seriously, both of the potentially interesting develops of the s2 finale are just out the damn window. He loses Grogu, he gets him back in 1.5 episodes in ANOTHER GUY'S SHOW, the separation doesn't amount to anything for EITHER character. He gets the Darksaber, a chance for him to really connect with his culture, reclaim it for his people AND himself, even if he doesn't stay in the role long-term (because again, I don't think he would!!). Din Djarin's faith in the Creed and his adherence to it, even when he had to break it for legitimate reasons is one of his primary character traits, and him reuniting the Mandalorian people and bringing them home would've been SUCH a good story for him, ESPECIALLY when he's demonstrated all the right traits of a Mandalorian on top of great diplomatic skills and a unique ability to bring disparate people together (HE EVEN DID IT THIS EPISODE). But no, he just. Gives it to Bo-Katan? After NOT giving it to Paz when that was ALSO a chance for him to get rid of it?? If the end goal was to not be a leader, why not Paz?? Because...

Two: The writing is now fully centering around Bo-Katan

Okay, I'll admit bias here: I've had beef with the Kryze clan ever since the writing ruined Mandalorians in The Clone Wars back in the day. I also never finished Clone Wars and never watched Rebels because Echo's "death" bummed me out so bad that I stopped caring about the animated side of Star Wars. But you wanna look me in the eyes, dangle a show about one of my favorite father-son duos in front of me, and then yank it all away to be about...BO-KATAN'S journey?? After she spent Clone Wars a terrorist? After she was so horrifically rude to Din last season and spent the first chunk of her episodes in this season just blatantly not giving a shit about HER OWN CULTURE?? She's had a what, two episode heel-face turn that served less as a humbling rediscovery of herself and more as a reaffirmation of how special and perfect she is??? It's insulting. So much of the writing is just shoving her back into the forefront as being the Manda's Specialist Princess, right down to the Armorer giving her a special pass to break their interpretation of the Creed for her and throwing out that "walks both paths" bullshit. And SPEAKING OF how rude she was to Din!!!

Three: Okay this is. This is racist-flavored, I'm sorry, this is just blatantly flavored like racism I'm sorry I hate to have to say this but -

Disclaimer I am, myself, white, so I'm LESS of an authority on this than a lot of other people, but like. The context of Din giving up the Darksaber made it actually worse than I was thinking when I first saw that spoiler. That rat bastard Woves saying that Din isn't real Mandalorian in part because of his bloodlines, that he SHOULDN'T carry the Darksaber because of that, and then the writing having Din reaffirm that by giving up the Darksaber WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF HAVING HIS HERITAGE QUESTIONED, is. That's gross!!! I'm sorry, that's really freaking gross. That's nasty. They couldn't even give him the dignity of giving it up because he genuinely doesn't want it. They had to throw out there that no, actually, he HAS to give it back, because a bunch of purists within the Mandalorians will never take him seriously, they will ONLY take our perfect pure-blooded princess seriously. Did seriously NO ONE see how that comes across?? Did no one see how icky that is?? And I'm super pressed about this one because I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, okay, but no, they're just back to doubling down on "Din is in a cult and it's bad" with their WHOLE chests. I hate it. I hate it here. I miss Andor.

tl;dr it's not that I think Din should've been Mandalore forever, it's that the context around why he gave up the Darksaber is shit. They could've done this any other way, but no. No! They chose the worst way. Seriously, I miss Andor so bad.

[sineala]

I’m excited for Jed MacKay’s Avengers and I love the way he writes Tony 🥰. And while I am a little bummed Steve isn’t on THIS team, I love that Captain America Sam is now back on a team with Tony

What are some of you favourite Sam and Tony moments (shippy or otherwise)? I haven’t read all of All New All Different but I liked what I have read of Sam and Tony in that run

And what are some of you favourite Jed MacKay comics? You mentioned you liked his Strange work.

I'm always a little sad when Steve and Tony aren't on a team together, and I am even more sad now that it's Jed MacKay on Avengers just like we all wanted... but we don't get Steve & Tony. I am holding out hope that maybe Steve will join them.

I do really like Sam in team books -- I feel like he hasn't actually been showcased all that well in his own Cap solo books, sadly -- and I feel like ANAD Avengers was a run with a lot of potential that unfortunately ran into a bunch of line-wide events and didn't really get a time to develop as a team, but I loved the "Sam and Tony mentoring a bunch of teenagers" angle because I think that's a role we haven't gotten to see them in all that much.

If you want to see Sam & Tony working together and you want a little more feeling than ANAD Avengers has, what you really want is Brubaker-era Captain America, especially after Steve's death. Sam and Tony, like Tony and Bucky, kind of triangulate around Steve, their shared interest.

I have added some panels below.

You can see this even in ANAD, where from the very first issue, they're just talking about Steve:

I think both of those exchanges are Tony just spontaneously bringing up Steve, actually. He and Steve just do this to other people about each other. (My favorite moment is that one SWORD issue where they're talking about colonizing Mars and no one has said anything about Tony and then Steve just launches into an impromptu speech about how amazing Tony is.)

But, anyway, yeah, Cap comics after Steve's death are I think where it's at for Sam & Tony. They're two of Steve's pallbearers in Fallen Son #5:

In that issue, Sam is also the one who steps up and actually gives a eulogy when Tony just can't keep it together long enough to say anything.

But what you actually want to read is Brubaker Cap, because Sam and Tony are working together and dealing with the loss of Steve. Here's Tony explaining that Sharon killed Steve, to Sam, in Cap v5 #31:

I would recommend it over ANAD if you're looking for emotional character moments involving the two of them -- as far as I can remember, when they both appear in the main Avengers line together over the years, they mostly tend to just focus on work.

As for Jed MacKay, I loved his IM & Avengers annuals and the Iron Cat mini, but I have really, really loved his Strange run so far; it is easily my favorite run in the modern revamp of Strange. I liked the Aaron, Cates, and Waid runs decently well (and my opinion ascends in that order). I own most of them in trade; I hadn't been buying the single issues. And then MacKay came on the book and I thought, "Okay, well, Death of Doctor Strange. That doesn't sound like something I want to read. Definitely not gonna subscribe to that one." Then I actually read it and I realized it was better than all three of those runs and I immediately subscribed to it. So he's got me actually buying Strange in floppies, FWIW.

The reason his Strange run is so good for me is also why his characterization of Tony is so good for me -- somehow what he writes is exactly what I want. He's clearly read canon and is pulling all these little moments and obscure details and getting all the feelings and the character dynamics right. Like, you know how that Avengers Annual is just an entire annual of Steve and Tony hanging out and fighting villains together and even the villain knows how important they are to each other because they make them fight versions of each other? If you were like "I want an issue that's really about Steve and Tony" it is just... exactly what you want. His Strange run is like that for Strange & Clea.

I was going to explain exactly what I liked about his Strange but that's a whole other post and I realized after taking a dozen screencaps that you didn't actually ask me to summarize it, so I won't unless you actually want me to. The short answer is that I am a massive Strange/Clea shipper -- and I was fairly bitter about the way Waid left them in his run -- and apparently so is Jed MacKay because he has devoted his entire run so far to getting them back together, in an extremely romantic way. They finally accept what they mean to each other, and then Strange dies, Clea becomes Sorcerer Supreme, and she is going to move heaven and earth to get him back. Featuring massive amounts of identity porn, the angsty inability to touch each other, and the sexy sexy life/death metaphors that we all wish Hickman's Avengers run had given to Steve/Tony but hey here they are. This is what the entire Strange run is about. It is solely "Clea's gonna get her husband back and set you on fire if you get in her way." That is the plot.

Like, it is somehow exactly perfectly the thing I want even though somehow I did not know until I read it that it was exactly that thing.

[booasaur]

Okay I have zero information on this and I can totally be projecting simply because I know too well that WLW relationships on shows don’t usually get to have happy endings (too many to name) or even sensible endings (wtf Lasso) but I’m seriously afraid adult Van is sick…like terminal cancer sick. Between the medications, her not worrying about diet (candy and donuts for breakfast!) or outstanding bills, what looked like medical debt bills, and the line about “trust me it’s better this way” - it just all seems to be pointing to her having something wrong with her. Ugh I hope I’m wrong. And I’m sorry if this ask bums you out. You are one of my favorite creators!! I guess I just felt like I could vent/share my worries with you. Hope I’m wrong!

Oh... Anon, if you came to me for debunking, you came to the wrong place! I'm so impressionable, I'm like, ohhh, actually, this theory makes a lot of sense.

I would hate it so much from a character and shipping POV, but damn, it would fit. And I wouldn't even necessarily call it out for poor f/f treatment, since, for one, Travis, and pretty much everyone is going to end badly one way or another. Except Shauna and Jeff?? If they outlive all this...

But yeah, those signs all add up, plus, it'd be someone significant whose loss would hurt leading up to the season finale, especially if some weird ritual/sacrifice/healing stuff happens involving Lottie, but still let next season's plot have all the main players involved. And I can imagine the writers liking the irony of Van surviving so much before, only for cancer to get her.

But I'd hate that irony! I started this season not expecting anything happy for Taivan, including even possible a Van death, but I dunno, I'd prefer it to be more plot relevant--wait, there I go accepting compromises again, lol. My friend always points out how low my expectations are, like how for Mr. Robot I was telling her I'd accept a death but not in a specific way, and she's like, don't accept a death at all!

On the other hand, all of those signs could be explained away as well as someone deeply unhappy and traumatized with a sick mother. Like, which of any of these ladies are making good eating or relationship decisions, and the bills could be from her mom.

I think if it's true, and the signs we saw so far were deliberate hints, then next ep should make it a lot clearer. :x

[eight-freakin-gids]

Spoilers for Welcome to Night Vale episodes 114, 215, and 221

I don't post a lot about Night Vale, but this is really getting to me.

I joked to my friends that WTNV character deaths are more impactful than all the deaths in the Marvel cinematic universe, but this legitimately impacts me more than most other character deaths I've experienced. It's not the worst, but it's up there.

Old Woman Josie dying was sad, of course. And of course I was bummed out when Sarah Sultan died. Anyone dying in Night Vale is a bummer. Despite how many people technically die on a day to day basis, we've been following the same cast of characters for a decade now. So I'm sad to see anyone go.

But the Glow Cloud? The freaking Glow Cloud is dead? The character that's been around since episode 2? The first widespread Night Vale cosplay? The character who got an entire live show that was immensely positive and uplifting? The unofficial mascot of the show? The character I've been following for close to 10 years? Fuck.

And I haven't seen anyone talking about this. I'd like to think everyone is just a good sport about spoilers, but it's probably because of some combination of me not actually following the WTNV tag or any WTNV blogs, me being 2 weeks behind on ep 221, and the WTNV tag being pretty full of Cecilos and stuff about the Sexyman polls (as it should).

Idk, this just feels like a really big deal, and I really wanted to get my thoughts out.

(Postscript edit: For Pete's sake, my blog is themed around my favorite Magic character, and his death didn't bum me out this much)

[mlobsters]

supernatural s7e12 time after time (w. robbie thompson)

flowing locks and partial chops

okay everyone, the burning question has been answered. untitled 1 and 2 made it to the new laptop. whew. unfortunately, the worst of the 3 photoshopped pictures from the other episode ended up on the fake webpage

another shoutout to the foley artists, i appreciate watching with headphones. nice nighttime outside sounds in the background here. much as i complain about the score, the other sound stuff is really good!

DEAN Don't give me that dirty-diaper look. I ain't calling you.

weird but adorable

see nicholas lea in the credits and i'm trying to remember if that's a recurring character in this show or krycek in the xfiles 🥴

SAM I can't believe I'm about to say this but I hope you're watching cartoon smut, 'cause reading Dick Roman crap over and over again is just self-punishment. DEAN It's called anime, and it's an art form.

think you mean hentai, bro

DEAN How does paper beat a rock? It's stupid.

no scissors for dean, huh (it's like the alternate timeline sam and dean where he actually tries to win?) cute how padalecki played it, showing he noticed dean was actin different

okay. cute and all but why don't they share the bedroom? being that they share a room in motels? probably would be sleeping further away than normal, really. weird.

always holding that fake brand beer like it's a product placement. hypin up the product designers that made it

SAM What, are you gonna look up more anime, or are you strictly into Dick now?

looked very pleased with himself about that joke. but then dean got to show off his new security camera finding skills so it all evens out

SAM Wait a sec. SAM takes back the laptop. DEAN You can't let me bask in the glory for one second, can you? SAM Shut up. Look.

made me laugh

plan Don't Die ✅ didn't say anything about time travel though

it is krycek! good job, brain!

the xfiles s4e8 tunguksa - nicholas lea as alex krycek

40s with eliot ness seems like it should be a cosplay dream for dean

ken doll dean back in action. what a cutie

what are the odds that the sideburns will be reach his dimples by the end of the season

sam and jody bonding is sweet. invoking my warm and fuzzy feelings about rufus too no less. i'm still bummed that ellen got swapped out for jody, but i'm coming around on her

DEAN I used to do it 'cause that's what my family did. DEAN But they just seem to keep dying. To tell you the truth, I don't know why I'm doing much of anything anymore. ELIOT NESS Boo-hoo. Cry me a river, ya nancy. Tell me, are all hunters as soft as you in the future? Everybody loses everybody

dean truly ready to unload on any stranger. embarrassing but also relatable. much harder to talk to people who know you. and half the show's conflict would disappear if dean could talk to sam about his feelings as freely as he does strangers :p

DEAN turns away and wipes his lips. He sees three addressed envelopes, picks them up and smiles. DEAN "Back to the Future III."

okay but we already did this in the frontierland episode with the ashes of the phoenix and samuel colt getting the address of dean's phone -_- all right, not using the postal service, but the house, good tweak at least

the way he hurled himself onto the hard floor and the sound effect they used 😂

he's so pleased :)

the old lady remembering a whole lot of very specific details about something 68 years ago. and can id dean. sammy pleased no more

no time traveling reunion escaped the clutches of death again hug? so stingy.

got me thinking about another note dean wrote sam (and thought he called him sammy so since i looked it up to confirm here it is

s5e18 point of no return

[in-between-2-spaces]

About it:

The show.

This was something that was bound to happen.

I had already said so much about that show it may seem redundant to talk about so I'll limit myself. since it died and I will say... What did HE expect?

I know it was made with good Intentions and in part by their own pocket money to make it but you can't expect a show that had a topic or story that many people in fandom felt that it was already told about and an idea that wasn't well received to survived today's industry you know?

It was an "announced death" you could say.

Because...

why. would. you. do. this???

I don't wanna say it was the wife's idea all along because I am sure that he also could be blind enough in fandom " faith " to make this show as an excuse to just to get the "mothership" show going. But something tells me he sat with her, he told her how much he will miss everything about the old show and she was like "lets do it then!" thinking it would be easy.

She has shown sometimes she is not that bright but has alot of the spirit and motivation to make things happen, so the show got pitched.

One fair theory i have was that they had a few ideas in mind to keep the show going, they got in contact with some people of the network to have a sort of safety net on what works and what not, they went back to them and said "none of those will convince them unless it has to do directly with the main characters of the show". they both were bummed out but kept thinking, thought that the parents story wasn't told enough (which the show actually did "enough" but again, not that bright) and went "lets make a story about them and try to link it with the main story!" they got one of the writers that made good OCs and eps in the last seasons, told them their idea and said "do your magic", the writer wrote the pitch including one of the beloved characters (good hook) and sent it to the network and got approved, just because it had to do with the main characters in a way.

A bait and switch.

But this is one of my theories, not factual( don't go around saying I have real tea or something, I have jackshit) To fill up the plot, they added 3 diverse characters (one to appease gay community) with the parents and did like a hunter/mystery gang that later some of the fandom named them the "scoobies".

Now, another theory I have with this gang concept was that, the actor showrunner wanted just J and M to be the show and go around meeting people and fighting along side with them, just like the old show. Lots of action.

But the wife...wanted also heart in it (romance) and how they fell in love the series.

Nothing wrong with adding romance because almost all shows have them, but the way it was portrayed in the show was ...dumb and boring. Unless that they used it to keep the show very low budget which make sense how the final product turned out to be. And not to mention that the way they were a match wasn't like that at all. For those who haven't watched the original, do you know how they got together?

By Force.

(Spoilers Season 4)

Cupid made them a couple as a request from heaven to make the perfect vessels for Michael and Lucifer.

That's it. no special encounter or meaningful fate. It was forced.

They just took the idea of J and M meeting up as the main plot of the show... ...that turns out to be BS in the end because it was an alternative universe (LMAO)

which makes me think this was just made to please the wife and fandom, not himself. He never gets to enjoy what he likes I believe. But again, he loves his wife and his too good so doesn't surprise me he puts himself second before others.

But this cost the quality of the product and gave a mediocre series (sorry dude, it was pure GARBAGE)

Which makes me go to my next question: Did they really made a production company just for this show? Because they haven't released anything else since then and this show was announced 2 years ago.

The wife HAS a project with one of the other actors, but whatever it is, it is probably just the 2 of them, the other actor wont be involved (like always). So there you go. The fandom finally died that day. And like always, please stay dead, you guys were annoying and narcissistic like you always claim to not be.

Do something productive with your lonely lives. Fuck Off.

[plantdad-dante]

Book #109 - Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

(JAIL. Jail for Lucas.)

Ohhhhh I hate this. I hate this so much. I don't even know where to start. I'm so mad at this, from so many angles, it's like a kaleidoscope of misery. A panopticon of hatred. Consider this your warning.

How can a book based on the most accessible and most widely historically preserved mythology contain this amount of bullshit. I don't get it. And what makes it worse it that sometimes it gets things right?? Even things that I hadn't known before and had to google?? (I may not like the "Myrmidons are insect people" angle, but it at least makes somewhat sense, in a God Of War, "we twist everything morally ambiguous about what you love into fucked up, gory, evil monstrosities" kinda way.) I think it's the weird disconnect for me, of seeing one thing that is actually based in myth, that like, has an actual foundation somewhere and makes sense - and then two pages later encountering something either flat out wrong (like Chiron, the Ferryboatman on the Styx), or completely barmy ("River of Joy", shove it up your bum).

By the way, it takes a lot to actually make me want to punch a fictional character, but oh boy. Oh boy, I want to kill Lucas. I want to fucking disintegrate that motherfucker. An invisible man stalking a woman he is obsessed with is literally the plot of a horror movie!! Literally. Also, there is one passage where he a) admits to watching her sleep, and b) says that someday he won't be able to stop himself from climbing into the bed with her (!!!) and honestly, it's so ambigously worded, for a second I forgot how clueless this book is about sex and was legitamtely convinced he intended to SA her. So, yeah, jail for Lucas.

For some other greatest hits of this book:

- The "All Tell No Show" writing continues, making, for example, Zach's character and arc completely incomprehensible to me. - The women hate continues, this time expressed in the form of at least one incel we are meant to sympathize with, the majority of the male cast being possessive and volatile fuckheads and it being portrayed as romantic and good, and none, literally not a single one, of the female characters being concerned about Lucas' stalking habits. Additionally: thank fuck for exposition talk or I doubt this book would pass the Bechdel test. - Ares, God of War - not the clean, strategic roundtable stuff that Athena concerns herself with, this is the gory, blood-soaked carnage aspect of war we're talking about - is a coward. Yeah. Sure, I mean... what else would he be. Right? - While the reader knows that Lucas and Helen aren't actually related, they and the majority of the other characters have yet to learn this little factoid. Weird, then, that the book just kind of... forgets about it. About two thirds in, this book flat out forgets that they are supposed to be cousins, and drops it in favour of love triangle angst. I wish I was making this up.

I'm still confused about this book's portrail of Hades and Persephone. From the moment they brought her up I was waiting to learn her feelings on the whole kidnapping matter, but all we get is a confusing talk with Hades, where he justifies his actions with his feelings. Persephone gets to be nothing more than a plot device. Another strike for women hate.

I am worried about what Antman's death means for this series' portrail of Achilles. For a story that wants to base its lore and characters on the Iliad, the first two books have very curiously avoided bringing up the Greek side of the Trojan War, and specifically Achilles. And I can't help it, I'm a Greek Mythology gay, of course I'm worried what these books will do to our boy.

All in all, this feels like that Simpson's meme.... "This is the worst book I have ever read" - "The worst book you have ever read - so far". Get it? Because this is a trilogy, because there is still one left to go.

[eisforeidolon]

Just read your thoughts on the finale and I agree on so many of your opinions- what do you think of these?

There seemed to be a canyon’s jump between 7 and 8, where the moments that they wanted to pack a punch just didn’t because the relationship wasn’t there to do it. SB was just the weapon to take out HL all season until ep 7 where we learned of the biological connection. The f/s dynamic of how toxic masculinity endures was a main theme this season- but it WASN’T between HL and SB. There was no substantial connection made there, in my opinion, for that confrontation to hit as hard as they wanted. Acted brilliantly, but didn’t jive with my sensibilities as much. They needed another episode or two to make that happen. The kid’s appearance being a catalyst made sense, but I didn’t like it 🤷🏻‍♀️ I loved Hughies arc- because it was so believable. Men, who are good men, can get caught up in crazy toxicity, doesn’t mean they’re irredeemable or bad humans, just fallible- which is undeniably human. Butcher is the perfect non villain/villain. Though he can annoy the crap outta me. HL is insane, and I don’t quite get why some others were more intent on SB in the end than HL. SB was such a monumental dick, but there was so much left to explore with him that I’m bummed we didn’t get to. At least to drive home WHY he was the more imminent threat. I’m fine with taking him out, but we needed more eps to fill those holes. There was potential there ( I don’t THINK that’s my Jensen bias coming through- maybe though) I understood that when they iced him again, the line MM delivered was the big point. I don’t care about the strength you have, or the power you wield, you’re a shit person and we don’t need you to save anyone. We don’t need these awful men of old to believe they could ever be important again. Again, a point that could have been driven home harder with MORE context and time. Maeve is awesome, I’m gonna miss her if she really isn’t coming back. A-train and Deep just… ugh. Loved MM this season. Love him every season, but this one in particular was heartbreaking. I love kimiko and Frenchie but thought they were underused a bit too? I think that’s just what happens in a massive ensemble.

Such a mountain of an ask… I’m so sorry! 🤦🏻‍♀️ Wanted to share those thoughts to see your opinion.

I agree with pretty much all of this, yes.  (No need to apologize for the lack of brevity, I have exactly zero room to throw stones on that account!)

The problem wasn't what they tried to do, it was how it felt like they rushed through the particulars to finish off the season. For a show that's normally so driven by its characters and character interaction, it didn’t really feel like they committed to doing the work here.

This gets long again, so it's going under a cut.

I do think part of it was that the ensemble was just too big, going in too many different directions. I actually find the idea of A-Train having to deal with not getting redemption by death interesting. Maybe if they'd more explicitly tied Blue Hawk and Soldier Boy's collateral damage together it would feel like less of a distraction. As is, I don't feel like we needed to do it right now. Deep was just ... there. I do think having comedic moments is integral to the show and he's important for that, but when he's taking time away from other storylines that could have really used it? I think Kimiko and Frenchie had important arcs for their characters (although that dance-kill number was a weird note that I'm waiting to see if there's repercussions for with Kimiko), but tying it all around Little Nina made them feel kind of artificially separated from the main narrative in a way that made it drag a bit in comparison for me. I get that they don’t want to short any of the regular cast and that gets harder as the show goes on and we see more of their separate agendas, but that’s one of the things you have to juggle as a showrunner/writer.

You can see the underlying bones of Soldier Boy's disgust with Homelander being in part disgust with himself from how his own father acted towards him, which is meant to call further attention to that generational effect of toxic masculinity. But when they barely know each other? When it feels like that conversation about Soldier Boy's daddy issues within the same episode barely rose above just a box being checked to make it work? It's like they didn't bother to put any meat on those bones. It either needed more time with those characters interacting for Soldier Boy to feel that much disgust or for us to see more about Soldier Boy’s thoughts and motivations to deep dive into it being projection/justification for killing Homelander as he agreed to do.  Which, to be fair, would have to have been done on a very delicate balance if they wanted to still keep it a mystery whether or not he’d ditch Butcher to join up with Homelander.  The absence was felt, though, and I’d rather have known he wasn’t going to switch sides going in than felt like it wasn’t earned. 

Same with deciding taking out Soldier Boy is the priority. What legit reason, aside from the real world knowledge that of course they can't kill Homelander yet, is there for that? I don't believe I feel that way because of Jensen. I concede I might feel that way a bit because of Ryan - I loathe when canons shift away from established characters to focus on Most Important Specialest Kid UWU stories. I'm not arguing Soldier Boy is a good guy - he's not. I'm not arguing that he's not dangerous - he absolutely is. I'm arguing that Homelander is the biggest, most immediate threat to everyone and everything who they've wanted to take out since season 1. So for them to decide they need to take out their big weapon of an ally FIRST - the supe who would make it possible to actually kill Homelander instead of just slap him around a bit? There really needs to be compelling reasons he's worse than Homelander and harder to take out than Homelander. Which, let's see ... his motivations for intentional kills are personal revenge for decades of torture and even if they can't kill him they know how to incapacitate him. So lol nope. Hell, even just flesh out MM's family's deaths to give us something to really hate him for in a personal, invested way even if it's not objectively more terrible! Black Noir was little more than a nonentity to me and the rest of Payback all seemed kind of like run of the mill craptastic supes, so if that was their attempt at making Soldier Boy The Most Terrible it fell really flat. Toxic abusive dickhead with PTSD that makes him a walking collateral damage machine who can be reasoned with and could be easily aimed at the rest of Vought after Homelander is dusted does not realistically equal priority over Homelander who has the power of Vought behind him and will gleefully kill everyone they care about and get off on it.  Maeve is the only one that doesn't get distracted from the real target. Butcher is regularly a hypocritical dickbag, so him preaching to Soldier Boy about how family doesn't matter and then turning on a dime because oh noes, McGuffin boy might get hurt! Frustrating, but he is made of bad choices and assholery. Fine. What bothers me more is that I actually suspect we're supposed to take this as a good choice of prioritizing people over his revenge like with Hughie? But I personally just see it as typical Butcher-stupid. MM has personal soul-deep conflict clouding his judgement, so I'll give him a pass. Starlight, however, just looks like a moron, especially with her being the next most exposed to how close Homelander is to snapping other than Maeve, which I hate because I otherwise like her.

I think the actors all sold it as hard as they could, which I think is what keeps the episode from being actively bad, but what can be done without the writing fully backing it up is fundamentally limited.

I did like Hughie's arc, because him trying to make decisions for Annie and continuing to lie and go behind her back - no matter how bad the arguments they let her make were - was toxic. It was realistic to see him so disillusioned by Neuman and great to see him realize that he was better than who he was letting his frustration make him. I'm not sure if I want to see Maeve back, because this way she gets her happy ending - if she comes back, I doubt it'll end well for her. I actually expected that Soldier Boy would end the season refrozen. I didn't want to see him die or get mutilated because Jensen, but that doesn't mean I don't think he's awful and dangerous. I could easily get behind the message that there has to be another way than using this antiquated asshole fossil - if it had felt like the characters would realistically and sensibly make that choice. I would have happily accepted them turning on him after Homelander escaped or was depowered and escaped.  Oh noes, Ryan is there and Soldier Boy doesn’t care about a random kid *gasp* as a reason?  Especially when said kid might grow up to be a monster and likely wouldn’t even die just be depowered?  Just doesn’t cut it for me.  Especially when it allows Homelander to keep on keeping on - for what doesn’t feel like any better reason than plot armor.

One moderately fumbled season finale is not a huge disaster, though.  It was enjoyable enough to watch as it was happening and I’m willing to see where they go from here.  I just hope this is a flub and not a signpost of issues that will worsen going forward.