#i just want like. pieces of media that are enjoyable without making me feel like i should be fixing and adding to them

[starlit-mansion]

Rewatching the dnd movie made me want to both play dnd again and also give dimension 20 another shot

[larkingame]

so, it's 2025...long time no see.

I'll skip they hi, how are yous and get down to the real meat and potatoes of what I'm here to say. TLDR: Larkin is still being worked on (screenshots + such below) and it's always going to remain a free game, but it's under heavy construction atm. thanks for checking in 🫡

for the two people who want to hear the long sob story that usually comes with these type of posts from online creators: I fucked up my back majorly and was out of work for a long time. I went back to work pre-maturely and! I've fucked it up again. the stress of this, lack of income and the fact that i've been taking a lot of meds to help the injuries (but mess with my ability to stay coherent) has made it really difficult to consistently focus on larkin, writing, social media in general, but it is still getting worked on in bits and pieces.

that said, some back story: I started working on larkin in 2019/2020 and it was really really fun! loved it. had a great time. but then i started posting about it and showed it to other people (and to my surprise they??????? liked it????) which made me put a very large amount of pressure on myself that made it not so fun any more. over time i would go through cycles of it's fun! to it's not fun! and so on and so forth. throughout this time I also had pressure from a lot of people around me (irl) to somehow like. strictly monetize larkin somehow, and as someone who was like VERY INSECURE and obsessed with people like mishka making like insane funds off of her game of the same type?/genre? i gave in to that pressure (if you could not tell by all my occasional dirty deletes of shade towards twc. truly pathetic and if any of yall saw. apologies and thanks for ignoring it.) addressing that: i liked twc when it came out, it was fun for what it was and larkin would not exist without it. so thanks for that miss jenkins and i will probably still passively engage with it on my own time.

but, back to larkin. anyways, the looming pressure of this need to monetize made me hate everything that i was doing and constantly feel like i needed to re-evolve and rework and just, overall not have a fun time with it. throughout the months of november, december and january when i was really missing the days of larkin's existence as an idea when me and my sister would just like walk around our neighborhood and i would just infodump to her about my cowboy vampire ocs. so i found my old larkin notebook and the stickies i made planning plot stuff and avoiding tumblr i just. had fun working on my little cowboy vampire game. like not really thinking about other stuff. and that's essentially it.

so I came to a conclusion: larkin is something i love, and i want to continue loving it. so essentially, i won't be monetizing the game itself. episodes/chapters whatever they end up being in the end will always be free. yay. if you want extra content/want to support me in some way monetarily, feel free to join the patreon, however, I won't really be active on it until i have something substantial to show you game wise. that being said, you can still subscribe for access to the backlog of short stories and art etc. I'm turning off charges each month until i have like a real game for you to play that doesn't make me sick to my stomach to look at or think about. another note: pc players are going to be priority until it's finished. I will have a mobile version but i can't promise you she will be all that pretty.

another note, because larkin is free i can't promise quick turnarounds on anything but what i'll be offering on patreon when i start charging again and additionally: i'm back to making larkin a game for me. i really lost a lot of enjoyment for doing this stuff when i thought about that pressure i put on myself like i mentioned above but also, when i started writing it for other people in mind. first and foremost i am making larkin because i like cowboys, i like vampires, i like horror and religious trauma themes. i'm writing this for me: kc, so i can go on my computer and teehee at all the kissing scenes and make a cool cowboy character with fights. i'm going to make it gay and self-indulgent and basically just have fun with it because it's my game and i am making it and i said so.

all that said here are some of the major things i've done with larkin over this past little while:

updated the website so that it is now useable :)

done a lot of work on the ui:

and i have been rewriting a lot of stuff because I FEEL like it was not good and was not fun for me. THE DEMO FROM LAST JUNE ESPECIALLY. it hurts my stomach to look at.

visually, dan (@tapeworrmart ) has been on his fucking a-game with the art even through my crisis. here's the male ace portrait he put together for me last fall and the art for the main menu:

we also have some more art in the works that i am very excited for because they are in pursuit of new fun features :D

all that said. thanks for the continued support if you're still reading this, appreciate any interest you have in my game.

[himbohysterectomy]

clinical trial (game) spoilers

firstly before anyone gets mad at me for policing their enjoyment/engagement with a piece of media this is NOT the intention here, do whatever you want forever and have fun ok? keep doing what you're doing so long as you aren't hurting anybody.

Also this is mostly about fanart cause I don't really read fic so idk how applicable it is over there but it still might be, idk.

_

I have noticed an overwhelming amount of sappy flowery fanart of lee and angel from clinical trial just being cute and lovey and it is strange to me. it feels to me like glossing over the actually interesting substance of the game in favour of generic wholesome content instead.

like i 100% understand the appeal stemming from that desire to be wanted and desired so intensely or even obsessively as well as that desire to feel protected by someone, and in turn wanting it to end up being healthy and wholesome and working out for the both of them. but I feel like what that ends up with in most of the fanart i see is just like. a normal ass couple?

of course we are set up to see the characters and their interactions as very cute and wholesome. and they are! it works wonderfully for setting up that gut-punch of a twist towards the end of the game. they spend a very long time building up to it and it works very well and is well worth the wait.

but like. hello. did we all forget the horror elements of this cute little horror game?

lee is obsessed with angel. he kept angels gum. angels blood. angels hair (which btw, when/where did he acquire that much hair?? lol). he made a doll of angel (which to be fair to him when you actually hear him out it is probably the most reasonable and wholesome part of that whole shrine). he for sure fucked that jacket. he took multiple pictures of angel out and about, meaning that be absolutely, undoubtedly stalked angel. he killed for angel and did not regret it one bit even when he was confronted about it.

him keeping the gum from the week 2 appointment means that at the very latest he became obsessed with angel the second time that they ever saw each other. we have no idea how long he was stalking angel for.

there is zero chance in my mind that their relationship would be healthy and wholesome, at least not all the time. even if they work on shit together and lee actually seeks therapy they're not gonna just... fix each other with the power of love.

frankly lee is unwell and does not know how to form healthy relationships. he could mask that side of himself pretty well during their appointments but even still not perfectly. if they move in together it's going to be a lot more difficult to keep himself in check all of the time and not be Kinda Weird about angel sometimes. there were already some red flags when they only saw each other once a week.

ultimately, it isn't that i want people to stop drawing wholesome and sweet accept ending fanart of clinical trial. of course not!

what i'm getting at is that i wanna see more freak shit!!! get fucky with it!!! draw them being obsessive and unhealthy! if you're gonna fantasize about this fucked up couple at least do it the justice of depicting it in the way that it was set up to be sometimes! they didn't take the time to set up that wonderful twist for it to just be ignored!!

draw lee struggling to not be obsessive or possessive or overprotective! draw lee secretly still keeping things that angel throws away, or stealing small things that he thinks angel wont miss! draw angel having to keep him in check and scolding him like a dog!

give that man his red flags back or so help me god!!! they're what make him interesting as a character - without them he's just Some Guy.

the art that actually got me to play clinical trial was this wonderful piece by @ glimfag/hecctwo. it is absolutely amazing and symbolic and perfect. it leans into the idea of angel also being kind of a freak like that, and why not!! in the accept ending angel knows everything that lee did and is capable of and chooses to be with him regardless.

maybe angel's kinda into it!! maybe angel's drawn to this idea of being the prey of a stalker! maybe angel wants a man that can be kept on a leash! maybe angel likes being the center of his whole universe because angel likes to have that power over him, especially after what angel has been through! maybe angel wants a guard dog! maybe angel likes knowing that he would absolutely kill again if angel asked him to!!

by all means keep drawing wholesome shit all day long but please don't shy away from showing the unhealthy side of their relationship, especially on lee's end! i promise that you're allowed to enjoy "problematic" things - you're capable of critical thought, so have fun with it!!!!!

[princess-nell]

So I watched Episode Seven and well, it was an episode, all right.

I see all of these people ranting once more because everything wasn’t exactly the way it was in the game, and I have to say that I think a lot of it is because if you fall in love with a piece of media you’re going to inevitably be crushed because some things are just going to be different if you aren’t media literate enough to understand that there will inevitably be differences. There are people saying that Bella Ramsey’s acting is just bad and sorry, you’re full of shit. They’re incredible. They’re just not doing things exactly the same as they were done in a game you spent years memorizing.

As a non game player, I have a different theory. I think the source material itself from game two is just bad. Or it just doesn’t lend itself to adaptation. However, I feel like the narrative is being forced to conform to some very specific points Neil Druckman wanted to make, and it sounds like nihilistic bullshit to me. He wants to use Ellie to make certain points, and he starts out with this idea, starting in Season 1, that Ellie has a “violent heart”, that she’s somehow inherently a bad person. That in itself is bullshit, and shows an incredibly shallow understanding of psychology. Ellie is a teenager who was abandoned at birth and dumped into the Fedra system because Marlene wasn’t interested in her until it turned out she was immune and could be killed to make a cure (supposedly). That in itself is traumatic. She grew up without any adults that took a real interest in her, and that would naturally make a kid angry and defiant of authority. It doesn’t make her a fucking sociopath. Then, she goes through everything we saw her go through in S1 and beyond. And to begin with, Marlene manipulated her into believing she could be the savior of mankind without telling her how precarious that theory was or that she would need to be executed in order to accomplish it. Yeah, I can understand why Ellie would be a little on edge. Last season, she had to stab that Pastor dude (Steve?) to death because he was trying to rape and kill her. When Craig and Neil were talking about that episode they kept harping on the idea that Ellie had a violent heart. JFC, she showed she was capable of violence when she was desperate to save herself from rape and murder! After last episode, Craig Mazin was going on about how Joel had a savior complex. Well, when you grow up having to protect your younger brother from your abusive Dad, that’s called trauma. Feeling extra compelled to protect people you love because of that is natural and a normal reaction that grows out of complex trauma. Again, it’s really flip and a shallow understanding of psychology on both Craig and Neil’s parts.

It’s an extremely fucked up way to tell a story — create characters, make us root for them, and then do everything you can to destroy those characters and make us judge and despise them and think they’re worthy of, in Joel’s case, being beaten to death. Then we’re supposed to build up sympathy for Abby, who right off the bat comes off as more disturbed than Joel ever did, while at the same time being pressured by the narrative into seeing Ellie as a sociopath. This is not an enjoyable hook for a TV show. All this to learn some kind of moral lesson Neil Druckman is determined to teach us. And sorry, it’s not a new lesson nor is it as deep as he thinks it is. I read and watch stories for characters, I think a lot of other people do too, and taking our attachment to the original characters out of the equation and trying to force the narrative towards completely new characters is less likely to work with a TV show.

Like, I’m all about complicated characters and character who aren’t conventionally likeable and redemption arcs. But this is a weird narrative structure that doesn’t lend itself to TV, especially when we have to wait another year (or two?) for the next season after a truly idiotic cliffhanger. Obviously Craig Mazin understands that he’s asking too much of his audience and put in that dumb cliffhanger so people would be compelled to come back. But that finale was so poorly done that I think he’s lost a lot of people, possibly including me.

Why did we have to suffer through all these dumb scenes about the Wolves and the Seraphites instead of maybe developing Jesse or Abby’s friends more before they were killed? Why all this idiocy with Ellie needing to find a boat and getting washed out by a huge wave that wouldn’t happen in Puget Sound? (You also don’t need a boat to get to the Aquarium from Downtown Seattle, btw. Nor in there a forest anywhere near that area, there are no parks in that part of Seattle, lol.) It left us with a lot of characters we couldn’t care much about because we have no reason to care. When I don’t care about a character played by Jeffrey Wright it’s definitely the fault of the writing. We still don’t know anything about who Issac is or where he came from or why he thinks it’s worth torturing people to defend the holy territory of (checks notes) Seattle. Why don’t the Seraphites or the Wolves just move to Tacoma?

Anyway, in this day and age I think TLoU 2 works less well because the last thing a lot of us need is to suffer through a nihilistic slog to learn about hate and how an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. I can just read the news, thanks. But it really doesn’t work without gameplay. If you have the game, you can sit there and play until it’s over and process everything as you go. With the show, you have forever to think about things as the plot is doled out an hour per week and then you need to wait another two years to get to the next season. You have a lot of time to ponder all the gaping plot holes and wonder, say, why is Ellie written like she’s dumber than she was in Season 1? Hell, why is Dina willing to just follow her into danger from the very beginning, even when it’s stupidly reckless and endangers everyone who works with them? They’re survivors in an apocalypse where a simple injury could be life threatening without modern medical treatment, but you’d never know it. Again, I feel like there’s a really surface level knowledge of psychology here (Don’t even get me started on what a shitty therapist Gail is). I didn’t really feel that was the case in Season 1, and it’s really frustrating.

I’d say more but I need to do something to chill out so I’ll sleep tonight.

[busket]

gravity falls rant, cw sexual assault and harassment

seeing the gf fandom do a full 180 on billford is so odd to see and kind of infuriating because I had so many nasty rumors and lies spread about me in 2015-2018 because I liked them as bitter exes. a callout google doc was made and I never read it, but I know it framed me as a creep and an abuser. all because I thought a cartoon nerd and a triangle had a fascinating dynamic that was dark and compelling

in 2017 or 2018 someone sent like 70 messages to my curiouscat just repeating RAPIST RAPIST RAPIST RAPIST over and over again. I'd never even had sex at that point, and I had just cut my dad out of my life for actually being a pedophile and a rapist. so that was traumatizing! that really hurt me!

I also know it was because I had a NSFW account where i drew porn (i was an adult, i was clear i only wanted adults following me. and I still do draw nsfw, I'm not ashamed of that now but these folks made me ashamed of it for years) that included some porn of trans men, like Stanley or Stanford as trans men (NEVER together bc I've always been staunchly against incest or pedophilia ships) and these people framed me as a transphobe and a transmasc fetishist

well obviously I'm a trans man now and I didn't know it at the time but those drawings were a way to explore my own relationship with gender. I even look like Stan and Ford now, obviously i latched on to them as trans men because I wanted to BE them. but I believed it when people called me a piece of shit, I assumed all trans people would despise me too and I'd committed a horrible sin and it forced me back in the closet for another 5 years.

the people doing this were teenagers at the time, a few I thought were my friends/mutuals, and they made that part of my life kinda miserable. I was already miserable with other shit going on in my life. I ignored most of the harassment to make myself uninteresting and to avoid the possibility of becoming a lolcow but it involved anonymous messages both on tumblr and curiouscat, I even got a few emails just mocking me. even in 2019 when some people were like "oh yeah she's moved on to moomin, this is what her art looks like now, I can't look at it without thinking about how much she loves rape :/" which was NEVER true!!! I liked Ford and Bill as bitter exes but it was always consensual in my mind.

Anyway I don't ever expect or even want an apology. I'm sure they don't realize what an effect that harassment had on me during literally the darkest years of my life. to them they were just teasing a weird girl on the internet for fun, or very seriously warning their friends against whom they'd been lied to about being an abuser, but I was a closeted trans man trying to finish college, my home life was abysmal and abusive, I hated myself, i hated my body, my only friends were online, and when I'd log on for some escapism I was met with another message like "hey, you should block this person. they're saying some really cruel things about you on their account. I know it's not true but it looks like some people are believing it."

gravity falls was so important to me as a show since oregon is my home and it felt so authentic to my own childhood being interested in cryptids and going camping and visiting shit like the Oregon vortex as a child. but the fandom was the worst I've ever been in. it ruined my enjoyment of media online for years. so idk. I guess I feel somewhat vindicated but it would also be nice to get those years back and not be harassed and bullied online about something so stupid and unimportant

[pig-piggy]

ATEEZ's "THE WORLD EP.1 : MOVEMENT"

So, another album released in 2022. Of course I won't be able to write down the feelings I had about these songs when they first came out, but I will instead write on how I feel about them now, in 2025.

1. Propaganda

This track is their album intro, hence it won't be evaluated. However, I do believe it to be very fitting for the kind of concept they were going with in this album and as an introduction, in general, to this new series of them, that would last for 3 albums (from july 2022 until the end of 2023).

2. Sector 1

(here's the performance video)

So this song (as well as this whole album, but I'll get into it) is for people like me, that enjoy feeling like a revolution has just begun and that they're actively taking part in it. That sort of dystopian feeling that we, Gen Z, grew up around in terms of media content.

This song is perfect by itself. I really didn't need to include this performance video, since I feel like it will hinder your experience of the song. I believe it to be best to listen to it on your own, without watching anything first, and let your imagination run wild. The performance, in my opinion, is a little bit low quality, according to my standards. Not because ATEEZ did a bad job, but because the choreography could be better taking in account the power this song holds, as well as the members styling. The vocals for this performance (and every ATEEZ one, really), however, remain powerful and so the performance is enjoyable from a "hearing" perspective.

Either way, I believe this song really fits this album and that it is my cup of tea. I remember first listening to this album and wishing that every song on the album had a sort of similar vibe to this one, but still keeping my expectations low, because I felt like a whole album with this concept was something that really wasn't going to happen and that it was too unrealistic and fanciful. Well, let me give you a spoiler, as well as an advice: you should never lower your expectations when it comes to ATEEZ.

Hooks: 9

Production: 9

Longevity: 8

Bias: 10

Final Rating: 9 (A)

3. Cyberpunk

(another performance video)

Another song I wish I didn't put here the performance video. Please, listen to the song first. It's one of ATEEZ's best, but I think the unasked for sexiness for the performance really brings the song down a notch. Like, we're supposed to be in the middle of a revolution, there's no time to be sexy, San. The song is supposed to make me feel like I'm fighting for my life, for my future, so acting sexy really isn't the way to go. Also, the chairs? We're in the middle of a revolution, there's no time to seat your ass down! We have to save the world from the evil people who want to control it, we have to be the peoples' heroes! (You can clearly see I have a savior complex as well as a wild imagination, just look past it).

In all seriousness, this is one of the best songs ATEEZ ever put out. It gives of a futuristic, dystopian feeling and I'm here for it. Once again, Jongho's vocals are completely out of this world, and the performance, when it came to his singing, literally gave me goosebumps.

Musically, I really feel like this album is a piece of art, although I think the styling and choreographies should've been slightly different. I would like to see the ATEEZ members wear either somewhat destroyed soldier clothes, those ones that people in dystopian movies usually wear. I want the choreography to be dramatic, passionate, but not sensual. Sensuality should have no place in this album (wow, what a prude).

Hooks: 10

Production: 10

Longevity: 9

Bias: 10

Final Rating: 9,75 (A)

4. Guerrilla

It's sort of surprising that the title track appears so late into the album. Usually they appear in second or third place, so I think it's the first time I'm seeing it in fourth, but that has nothing to do with the song, just a little comment I felt like making.

The song is amazing, one of their best title tracks for sure. The music video is great, however I could envision more for it, if only their company were bigger and had more means to make their music videos on a bigger scale. Either way, the music video is very well adapted to the song in question, and the meaning behind it is very well shown: revolution / rebellion.

The choreography is great (finally) and I really like the part just before the chorus begins where Wooyoung pretends to throw a grenade, with his teeth and finger.

The vocals are absolutely insane, and once again, Jongho should be praised, because that is definitely not an easy thing to pull off. I also think it's a very good thing that I can't say that a particular member stood out to me. They all seemed to have the same amount of screen time and were all very visible and memorable, so that is something to be praised as well.

I'm still debating in my mind if I consider this their best title-track or if it's "Bouncy", released in 2023, and I haven't come to a conclusion yet. Let's just say these two are the top ones and leave it at that.

Hooks: 9

Production: 10

Longevity: 8

Bias: 9

Final Rating: 9 (A)

5. The Ring

Wow, a 4 minute long song. That's rare nowadays. However, every singe minute - no - every single second in this song is completely worth listening to. This song is absolutely amazing. The melody? The drop in the chorus? I can feel epicness oozing out of it. Seriously amazing. I really love all of this album, but this one is definitely at the top, just slightly (really slightly) behind another song about to come up in this album.

Like, put yourself in my shoes. Do you know how my excitement was through the roof listening to this song for the first time? Do you know what it feels like when every song is better than the one before it and it just keeps on increasing and increasing in quality? It was an experience I never had with ANY k-pop album, I repeat, ANY.

And it only got better. Truly amazing. The type of amazing that almost moves me to tears, since this was the type of concept I had been searching for - waiting for - for years.

Hooks: 10

Production: 10

Longevity: 9

Bias: 10

Final Rating: 9,75 (A)

6. WDIG (Where Do I Go)

The drop when the chorus begins? Unbelievable. Amazing. I wish I could inhale this album, breathe it, be one with it (too dramatic, I know, I'll tone it down).

Although this song is not up in the top with my favorite ones, I believe it's placed perfectly in this album. First of all, it really fits the concept of the album, and second - its place is perfect between "The Ring" and the next song, otherwise I wouldn't be able to write this today, 'cause I would have died from a heart attack out of excitement.

This song also gives off that uprising feeling. It makes me feel like I just reached the doors of the highest building known to mankind, and that the last challenge lies beyond it. So yeah, you know, I guess I'm going to go listen to this song while standing in front of a tall building in my city, on a windy and cloudy day, preferentially (if you see someone doing this, it's definitely me, no need to even question it).

Hooks: 9

Production: 10

Longevity: 9

Bias: 9

Final Rating: 9,75 (A)

7. New World

"OPEN UP YOUR EYES, OPEN UP YOUR MIND, OH NEW WORLD! CAN'T YOU SEE THE STORM, CAN'T YOU FEEL ME NOW, OH NEW WORLD!"

The revolution was planned, put into action and finally achieved.

The instrumental, the vocals, the lyrics, the power in it. Pure perfection. It literally makes me think that I reached the top of the world, that all of my life was lived just for that specific moment. It makes you feel part of some sort of "greatness" that was waiting for you and only you to achieve it, to retrieve what was yours - freedom. A new beginning. A NEW WORLD.

This type of song makes me want to write a dystopian book, the most dystopian you could ever imagine, bringing greatness into our own world through it. I could be a movie director if this song was playing in the background. I could be a million seller author if this song was always playing in the background. I could be unstoppable if I had this song constantly playing in the background.

And then when the song ends you go back to the real world and realize your mom has been screaming at you for you to fold some laundry. Still, worth the 3 minutes and 36 seconds long journey.

I wouldn't say, however, that this is my favorite ATEEZ song. There's one that is absolute perfection - no - more perfect than perfection (but I'll talk about it when I review its album).

Nevertheless, one's perfection doesn't cancel another one's perfection, so:

Hooks: 10

Production: 10

Longevity: 10

Bias: 10

Final Rating: 10 (S)

In conclusion (and all craziness aside), this is one of the best albums ever put out by a k-pop act. The only thing that is slightly a bummer to me is the performance aspect of it, but it's something I can easily overlook and that still lets me embrace the perfection that this album is.

Album's Final Rating: 9,5 (A)

[chaifootsteps]

i agree with the statement of, "we shouldn't judge creative leads who are later revealed to be bad people based on their work because its unproductive and there usually is no secret messages that reveal they were terrible the whole time and everyone was too stupid to see it except for the Smartest Bestest critical analysis enjoyers who don't trust any piece of media ever if it has even slightly problematic elements, regardless of the execution or the fact that fiction is a playground meant to explore interesting and darker topics in any way you want,"

but i feel guilty becaus i also genuinely believe there's exceptions for this rule. the guy who made the room is the first one that comes to mind, but only because his depiction of women has been compared to stella in helluva boss, which leads me to the other exception in my eyes; vivziepop.

am i crazy for thinking that though? i just feel like part of why i can never take any charitable analyzing of either series seriously is because they're unaware of what kind of person she is and even if they can still come to a conclusion of, "viv has a problem writing women, abuse, coherent plotlines, foreshadowing and rape," they never seem to wonder WHY that is. it makes me feel like an insane conspiracy theorist when the way i sincerely feel is that viv just writes whatever she wants with no care of how the trials of time will age with it and no care besides indulgence and projecting whatever message she needs viewers to think about her characters so she can sell the most merch of them, thus leading to demons in hell never being allowed to be bad people or being the worst people ever thatre also loved by the writers to a ridiculous degree, without a speck of nuance or maturity in the narrative unless you squint hard with your rose tinted headcanon glasses and copium huffings that inspires statements of, "well, she'll probably address these things and make them better in the next season!"

do you get what i mean? or am i going too far down this rabbit hole? i just want people to open their eyes to this stuff when they notice these patterns, but i feel like it'll never happen until these shows end and NDAs expire so people behind the scenes making her half baked vision a reality with their actual talent go, "yeah she was bullshitting everything on the spot and just wanted to pretend she had broadway besties so that's why these shows suck lol" but i dunno if that'll even happen either. (and im not just talking jane, i mean people like sam and skye and brandon or even the expensive VAs themselves, although the last ones last likely since they gain nothing and arguably lose more by speaking out since they have successful actually professional careers they've worked their asses off for,)

Oh no, shitty people seeding their foulness throughout their works is definitely a thing. It's just when people go retroactively and say "It's obvious they were bad all along because they wrote X, Y, and Z." Because it's perfectly possible to write X, Y, and Z and be lovely in real life.

In Viv's case, she's not a bad person because she writes certain things...she's just a bad person in general and it comes through in the way she writes.

[fluffydeoxys]

hi i just wanted to pop my head in here and say that ive been consistently checking back in on your page every now and then and have been constantly pleased by the development of your story

i think what you're working on is super neat. and i cherish all of your characters forever and ever. ALSO HI IM REALLY INVESTED IN YOUR JEB DESIGN BUT WE DONT TALK ABOUT THAT PART IM TOTALLY NORMAL ABOUT HIM

- 💀

Hello!! Seriously, thank you for this. I really needed to hear this, like... I'm very very flattered and overjoyed to know that what I'm doing and making is worth your time enough to come back more than once? I'm not sure how to articulate it, but genuinely that means the world to me. Obviously I love what I do and I love my characters, but in the end I want to share what I'm making and have others enjoy it too. But I'm always berating and looking down on myself for whether my thoughts are... interesting? Narratively compelling? Enjoyable? Stuff like that, hence why I filter out 90% of what I'm thinking and it never ends up on this blog LOL. But anyway, every kind word and lovely ask has seriously been very comforting for me.

It makes me even happier knowing you enjoy seeing how things have changed and progressed + enjoy my characters (seriously, thank you, it makes my heart warm)! I'm really quite shy about that part, things changing so much - my perfectionism is incredibly annoying, and I feel like kind of an idiot at times. I get quite embarrassed and a little shy about the fact that my ideas don't always hit the mark; they kind of fumble and flop around until they start getting refined into the beginnings of something that I'm happy with. I ended up drawing this to help articulate what I mean:

So in the end I'm happy with where things are, and I'm still chipping away and refining bits and pieces. I've got a long, looooong way to go, but Zero has also come a long way since her initial concept, which looks laughably shallow compared to her present-day one, I'll give myself that at least.

I remember saying it in an older ask, but honestly persistence is key. I could still do better in taking my advice of consuming different media to get a broader perspective on things though LOL. I also couldn't have done any of this without the kind and patient support of my lovely friends, and everyone's encouraging and uplifting tags and asks, many of which I keep handy to motivate myself to keep going.

EHEHEH I'm really glad you like my Jeb design! I seriously think about him a lot but because of the filter, well, none of it ends up here, whoops. Working on his design was a real treat and it got me very attached to him because it was a great way to delve into what I like and think about Jeb. I still think about my own words (lollll loser), of Jeb wearing his labcoat like shed skin, light (purity, innocence, surface-level) over dark (his true self, his sin, but the red of his heart, his tie).

I'll be sure to draw him again as a little thank you for reaching out with such lovely words; they seriously meant a lot to me.

[hattedhedgehog]

As a DA fan and occasional embroiderer, I want to say that your embroidered tarot cards are amazing. You obviously know how much work goes into the them but I'm boggled just imagining it when I look at all the fine details. The amount of skill and dedication on display is amazing. Thanks for posting them here.

The fact that lovely people like you notice and appreciate the work that goes into my pieces makes every stitch feel important. I was frustrated with my art for so long because the current nature of social media feels like everything exists for rapid consumption, and I didn't feel like I could keep up with that without losing either my love for the subject matter or all of my energy. Choosing to work in a deliberately slow (a very, VERY slow) physical medium made me feel like I was doing a craft that was purely for my own enjoyment and development, and connected me to history and a beloved modern media at the same time.

Being able to share these embroideries to such a receptive audience who values not only the finished piece but the entire process is such a wondrous thing. Hearing that it's inspired people to take up embroidery themselves or get back into it is so humbling and I'm so glad that this crafting series has inspired some good in the world.

[askew-d]

Can I ask your top 10 fav fics ever (from any fandom, if you don't mind)?

Also, just curious, is there a story behind your name "askew-d "?

hello, there! sorry for the long wait, i forgot to check my notifs :( i will do better next time. thank you for this question! i feel like i’ve waited ages for someone to ask me exactly that, lol. i could talk about well-written fanfics forever!! can i give you a hug? because this is wonderful, really.

let’s go for it! my range of fanfiction that i enjoy vary, but one thing remains: i will adore your fic, no matter the fandom, if it’s written with passion and if it contains good, poetic introspection. i love poetry. for me, if there’s melancholic tropes of any kind i’m into it. immortal character and reincarnation? give me now. supernatural elements or slice of life with doomed narrative? i’ll ignore sleep to read it. angst with happy ending? my endgame, for sure.

however, i also adore silly, comedic, cute pieces of domestic life or otherwise. i had a hard time choosing from my bookmarks for this, and i also reviewed some of my favorites, it was fun. before we continue, here are some of the tags that i don’t dive into for whatever reason: porn without plot (it personally just doesn’t interest me at all), non-con, gore, a/b/o dynamics, soulmates au. sorry if you were hoping for it! i’ll try classify them into an order of what i like most.

1. jellyfish, by mystery twin, for the haikyuu!! fandom — i read this when i was finishing high school and coincidentally the story talks about finishing high school! i have a personal attachment that makes me reread it every year. it’s some sort of tradition at this point. not to mention i love kagehina dearly.

2. teen project to change the world, by animeloverhomura, for the mo dao zu shi fandom — respectfully speaking, i would find this author and give them a big hug. their writing is spetacular! if you've never seen this one and you're into mdzs, know it's a story where the characters get to see every event from the novel and donghua, even the dead characters. they watch wei wuxian journey, can you believe it? so goddamn entertaining. promptly waiting for the next update!

3. a hundred or so hellos, by iwillstillopenthewindow, for the haikyuu!! fandom — remember i said i love melancholic stories? well, this one broke me so hard, i had to mention how i hold it with tenderness (we love things that breaks us, dont we?). this fandom manages to write the cutest, most unhinged things sometimes. even it's an anime about sports. i always get amazed by it.

4. no certainty of doors between us, by betts, for the mo dao zu shi fandom — certainly the most silly little fanfic i've ever seen, it's hilariously sweet. i want everyone to read this masterpiece because, seriously, whoever did this deserves only the best. so, so, cute. it had to be in my top 10!

5. their kindred encounters, by fireflavoredwhiskey, for the untamed rpf fandom (bjyx) — you know those kinds of shows, books, any piece of media, that tears up apart? well, this one was it for me. it's a very famous one that deserves all praise, certainly well-written and enjoyable to the core, with doses of angst, romance and beauty overall.

6. as the clouds part and clear, we finally meet again, by 12262325, for the mo dao zu shi fandom — aaaaa, i was truly torn between putting this in the third or fourth place, but i ended up putting it here. come on, i love an age difference kind of story, especially for wangxian, and this one was perfectly done. sweet and funny. the development? the yearning?? outstanding!! i read this many times already, i'll never get tired.

7. pursuit, by emleewrites, for the haikyuu!! fandom — mystery, romance, lawsuits, poker games, adventure, slice of life, AMAZING depictions and so, so goddamn well-written? that's what you're looking for in any fanfiction. the author dedicated herself entirely for this story, and, like i said, i love stories that are written with passion, you can see it pouring through every paragraph. besides, highly entertaining. i'm not very into long fics, but once i started it off, i couldn't stop. that's how addicting it is.

8. linger by the door (i’ve always been yours), by piecrust, for the mo dao zu shi fandom — epistolary?? have i mentioned how i love it?? some of the phrases in this are gold, in my bookmarks you can check some of them (i ought to make a list of my favorite fic quotes, btw, i will sure do it). through each letter i could comprehend more of wei wuxian's feelings and his internal conflict. i love feeling this connected to a character.

9. all the world is ours to take, by khrys, for the fugou keiji fandom — i have more than one favorite fanfiction for this couple. you know these kinds of developing relationship where the transition from (maybe enemies too) friends to lovers happens so smoothly that it feels like they've been soulmates first and foremost at the end? i don't even know how to explain. i just love how, when they finally are together, it's like they've been together for years. and they just... made it official? i like it. i love my mr. kambe haru.

10. he won’t tell you that he loves you, by hellshandbasket, for the house m.d fandom — i found this to be the most fitting, perfect story for this specific couple. they deserved more stories like this, but we dont see it anymore. i would hightlight the feelings realization in this one, that is so fucking real? haha in any case, it's a fanfic that i enjoyed a great deal.

that's it, i guess! i wanted to add link click fanfics also, however i barely started reading fanfictions from its fandom, i'm drowning in it lately but it's just a start. perhaps very sooon!

oh, i’m gonna finish explaining about the name! in my native language, i’ve heard someone tell me before that ‘life’s a little askew, nothing’s ever perfect’, and that quote remained in every biography of any english website i ever went to. then in literature class someday i had to write about historical women and came across this one named anne askew (i wanted to write about the mostly barely-spoken women). it was the second time i saw this word. i didn’t think of it as a proper name before, but then i had to create a nickname for my ao3 profile and thought, humn, why not just ‘askew’? the quote has been engraved in my heart anyway, so i went for it. we’re all flawed and askew. so, yeah, it just… fit? the ‘d’ here on tumblr it’s only because my surname has a ‘de morais’ in it. i also liked that it resembled ‘alaska’, the john green character i was kinda of obsessed with back in my teenager grunge phase. i don’t like these kinds of books anymore, but i guess some details stay with you. do you think it’s weird? never thought of changing.

thanks for this outstanding ask, it certainly entertained me. and hope you have a nice sleep today, big hugs coming your way! 🤍

[thissying]

Thanks for uploading ep 1 of the doco – while it’s clearly a highly managed piece of media, it remains a rich text for Max scholars. Entirely aside from padel shirtlessness.

I think my favourite parts were:

Max just being a huge racing nerd, which we already knew but I always enjoy.

Competence kink, especially that final GT3 testing session.

Going from me not knowing anything about his GT3 racing team to ‘oh of course it’s his ride-or-die childhood friend who he’s mentoring, because Max attaches early and hard or not at all’.

Max’s sincere enjoyment of/commitment to The Process which helps him offset being a nightmare of competitiveness. (Something I particularly admire and respect in Alex Albon as well.)

It may have been the editing but I got a kick out of that video call after Suzuka. ‘Congratulations on winning the championship—’ ‘Yeah thanks, now here are many questions about your GT3 race weekend…’

Max looking relaxed in the talking heads even though he was doing them solo, without someone else onscreen to bounce off. Basically the opposite of his DTS talking heads.

(I understand why Max’s horrible dad™️ has such a big presence but for the sake of my blood pressure, on rewatch maybe I’ll use a post-it note to block him from my sight. 🙃 )

I don't see enough people talk about things this way any more in fandom on tumblr, including myself btw, except in tags but even then not so much, so I enjoyed getting this ♥

Yeah, same wrt how huge of a racing nerd he is. The fact that Thierry had to explain to him several procedures of the GT3 car first because it was new to him and then he did some laps and knew exactly what needed to be changed to improve the car. With giving credit to Thierry and the "engineers are stubborn, that's just how they are" comment 😂 And yesss, that final testing session where the head of track engineering is so impressed that he expects to be talking about it during nights at the bar in years to come. I was like: that's our boy, yeah 😊

I wouldn't be surprised if that was how that Suzuka phone call really went! He's so serious about his commitment and guidance to other drivers and it was one of my favourite things we got to see in this episode. Him being direct about things that aren't good without being rough or cruel, making me think that is part his character and part his own experiences (the good and bad ones). He seems good at constructive criticism; "here's what you're doing wrong or what you need to improve and here's what you can do about that." Lovelovelove.

Also, him being more nervous when watching family and friends race than when he has to do it himself because of the control. Which is such a common thing for people to feel (not just in racing) but I love knowing this about him.

I agree about the talking heads parts. Genuinely relaxed! The bit where they cut to his laughter about Thierry's remote control car 🥰

Other favourite bit: the "so much grip" comment about his shoes, in unison like it's an old familial in-joke.

The G-Star RAW interview is a good one! I feel like it should be like a first go-to for (new) Max fans who want to know a little bit more about him, even though it's a bit older already. I never saw any flirting in this though, but I'd put that down more to Edwin Evers than Max!

ETA: also. the maxplaining to Thierry after padel!!!

[alexanderwales]

Art and the Artist

I generally prefer to read things without knowing much about the author. There aren't that many cases where it adds much to the work to know that they were a plumber before they got into writing, or that they immigrated from Jamaica, or that they served in World War II. To my thinking, a piece of media should stand on its own and not need the context of the author's life story. If you have to open up with "this story is about the Holocaust" then in my opinion, you've already failed as an author.

With that said, it's often inevitable. Sometimes it's just the nature of the work itself, and it would bleed into your understanding even if there weren't a little "about the author" blurb at the end. Sometimes a story is painful obvious in how personal it is, or the metaphor to the real world is so poignant that it's impossible not to make the connection. And sometimes you just get a sense of a person from their writing, particularly if you've read a lot of their writing. It can be the authorial voice you come to understand, the things they choose to show you, the way their mind works, and you think to yourself "yeah, I could get along with them".

And other times, you find yourself drawn to the author because they're the person who best knows their own work. A book leaves lingering questions, and it might be better for you to understand it by communing with other people, but the author is often right there, and you want to hear their takes on their own work, what they were thinking, what lies behind the scenes, the cut chapters and the ways the ending might have been different. You finish gobbling up what the author has prepared for you, and then you gobble up the scraps in the kitchen, and when that's not enough, you start gobbling up the author: you read interviews, you read their blog, you start as a fan of their work and become a fan of them.

Sometimes their understanding of their own work does not match your understanding, and that can be a little bit heartbreaking. Sometimes the stuff behind the curtain is awful and bad, worsening your enjoyment of the text because now it seems phony and poorly thought out. Sometimes an author turns out to be a piece of shit.

Usually, I can move past it. If I like a book or a movie, then I like it for the feelings that it produces in me, and the person who created it is irrelevant except maybe for the fact that they're getting $5 from me or whatever, which is not the level of microutilions that I generally worry about.

Sometimes it impacts my understanding of the work itself, casting a shadow over the things that I once felt, tainting the art.

I was a big fan of Louis CK. The self-deprecating humor did it for me, the introspection and irreverence, the way he was saying things that felt real and true, things that I had always noticed but never really considered. And of course I found him funny. But then there were allegations, and his mea culpa, and I stopped finding it funny. Partly that's because his comedy was autobiographical, so the taint was worse than it might have otherwise been, but part of it was the comedy itself: if the comedy rests on me recognizing myself in Louis CK's stories about himself, I'm going to be less able to do that if drawing those comparisons gives me a curdled milk feeling.

I was a fan of Buffy and Dollhouse and Firefly and Cabin in the Woods and Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog, and I think that these don't suffer nearly as much from being from the mind of Joss Whedon. It's easier to dissociate the stories from the man, and harder to read his personal shittery into the character arcs and setting details and elemental units of plot. Some of that is just the medium: comedy specials are the product of a singular vision, while television shows and movies are the result of team of people working together. Even then, I think shitty people can make good art, so long as they're good at separating their shiftiness from their art. Most people with a bit of awareness would do this naturally, I think: they know what's unpalatable, and present an image to the world, which also comes from the art they make.

Information about the artist informs a reading of the art, as much as we might try to have it not do that. I think some art survives revelations better than others. Someone who writes about murders being revealed as a murderer certainly seems like it would poison my enjoyment of their books. But it's the nature of art that's it's all pretend, and sometimes people don't create because they're spewing self-confession onto the page. Then, I think, you're usually safe.

I hadn't written this with Neil Gaiman in mind: it was sitting in my drafts folder, as so many posts are. But I think Gaiman's work will, for me, survive the accusations, even if the man himself is exiled. I'm certain there will be passages and plots that read differently, places where he can be seen defending himself, chapters that are now unseemly. But I think that for me, the stink of his crimes will wash off quickly, and I'm hopeful that unlike other cases, separating the art from the artist is easier for me.

[northwest-cryptid]

What I say: I dislike that you can't have opinions anymore without being attacked over it. Like you literally cannot have a difference of opinion from the popular norm without being made into a bad person.

What assholes on the internet seem to think this means: I'm clearly saying something bigoted, racist, sexist; or in some way offensive and just playing it off as "opinion" and not a moral failing as a human being.

What I'm actually talking about: I got attacked for saying that I don't personally care for fanfiction because of the simple fact that if I like a piece of media enough to seek out fandom related to it, it's because I like the media. You know, from the source. Very often, in fact almost entirely; I've found that fandom creation around media I enjoy enough to seek out fandom around a media; portrays the media I've come to love almost entirely excluded from the canon in which I love it. I've often heard people say "this fanfic is better than the canon" so I read it, and what they mean is "this fanfic more closely aligns with what I personally want the canon to be." Not necessarily that "the fanfiction is objectively better than the canon." I happen to enjoy media within the canon that the media is created within because it's how I'm first shown the media and it's the source of the media's existence. If you remove a character from their setting, story, and basis for their entire concept to put them in the shoes of an early 2000's cafe barista job AU that ignores everything about their story in favor of focusing on a romantic plot related to a character they canonically have absolutely no chemistry with... Well I'm glad that people get enjoyment out of that but it's not going to appeal to me personally. I'm not saying it's objectively wrong, or morally bad or something. I'm saying that I personally don't enjoy it, which only got brought up because I was specifically asked for my opinion on fanfics and then attacked for saying they aren't my cup of tea because I'd rather engage with the actual canon material that the media I enjoy exists within; since that's why I enjoy the media in the first place. I really do personally feel like if you strip a character, or world setting of it's canon source material in favor of redesigning the whole thing in your vision, you would be better off making your own original creation to begin with, because outside of having some familiar names and faces; you're not adhering to anything the source material actually offers. If you're just tweaking one or two things about it, I can understand it a lot better but it doesn't mean I'd like it personally, which is fine. I don't have to like it; it's your fanfic. I'm of the belief that you should at least try everything once or else you don't really know for sure if it's "for you" even if it's just in the privacy of your own home, you don't need to talk about it; you don't need to go out and share your opinion with the world. However you should try it at least once to know if it's something you would actually enjoy in practice and not just in concept; again just my personal belief. I've tried reading fanfics and the like and I can understand the appeal for others, but it's just not for me. I didn't realize that stating that opinion and personal feeling, when prompted to; would result in people being literally audibly and visibly upset with me for "being so negative about something they love so much" when all I said was that I didn't personally enjoy it.

[nnoul]

returning to tumblr (as a tiktok refugee...)

hii yall x3!! i haven't avidly used tumblr since my quarantine ages and with tiktok being gone, now feels like a better time than ever to come back and making this and youtube my main social medias again. insta and twitter both have their own meta-infused issues. i'm really sad about the prospect of it going away. every now and then i keep hearing people say "oh it's just an app, please get over it." say that tone deaf statement to all of the small business owners unable to utilize the platform to promote their products and services, all of the creators who were finally able to make an extra buck with their content, with some even creating a full digital livelihood reliant on their success and brand deals, and all of the other american citizens who used it to connect with others, laugh, and learn something new. the app's wonderful algorithm presented all of these opportunities in a way that just isn't comparable to the other apps that are provided to us in america. i can only continue to hope for the best and stay optimistic for the future of the platform, but as of right now, finding new spaces to occupy doesn't seem like too bad of an idea.

my story:

as for my tiktok experience, i used to post reactionary horror content from 2022 to through to mid-2023 ish? (check out junesreprise on tiktok to see for yourself) and i had a blast carving out my own space in the horror community. however, i severely burnt out with school and slowly but surely grew unable to continue posting. however, i'd post something on my smaller, more personal account every now and then and get that same enjoyment of just connecting with people through the silly little videos i'd make. the algorithm made me feel like i was connecting with people so quickly, finding a small crowd of MY people in what felt like a matter of hours. i've tried platforms like yt shorts and insta reels, but never was able to reach the same levels of success. so of course when i heard about the ban, knowing that i wanted to delve back into making videos when my school life opened up, i was sad. disappointed. i felt like i missed the window, and in many ways, i did.

with it being 2025 now, i've started looking at media analysis in a much more new and introspective light since then, and i'd love to use this space on tumblr, and branch out on youtube to share my findings. i loved decoding horror games and other pieces of obscure media back then, but i really didn't know how to put it in a presentable form without it sounding like i was yapping and rambling on and on. fast forward a couple of years, i now know how to word things effectively :). now all i ever wanna do is sit down and make blogs and youtube documentaries so i can nerd out about all of the media i explore and the theories and connections i make. and i'm beyond excited to share that with everyone here, and on all of the new spaces we find to hopefully create something similar to the same joy and experience we found on tiktok. (like rednote for example, it's actually so funny how fast it blew up so quickly LMFAOOOO i love yall sm)

tldr: tiktok ban sucks on so many levels :(, reusing tumblr and youtube once more as my preferred spaces to talk about horror :3

[egg-emperor]

Game canon Eggman is pure evil y'all, rest assured to my fellow evil Eggman enjoyers. He's never acted for any reason that wasn't fueled by his evil/selfish intentions. I've carefully analyzed him in all of his scenes for hours and hours for years and years. I don't need to theorize, speculate, or insist on personal interpretations to get to this conclusion because I specifically go by what the games tell and show me undeniably.

I analyze very literally, not abstract or based on how I feel about it, only literally what I can see and hear. I feel this avoids a lot of unnecessary confusion and complication and it can actually be this way and yet still have a lot of depth to it to explore despite this. I don't see appeal in straying too far with the what ifs rather than the literals that are deliberately blatantly presented because the former is when bias can seep in.

But I know some probably think, "If you think I'm biased because I don't like pure evil Eggman so I don't want to see him as such, why aren't you biased for not liking less than pure evil Eggman? What if you're just seeing what you want to see?" But with the way I only go by what's blatantly there to see and hear in the games themselves in bold explicit forms, I feel I avoid any chance of bias.

I don't like to admit this but when I was younger, I had some incorrect interpretations about Eggman. Yes, even me. XD I never thought he was this completely good and caring guy but I definitely didn't have the most accurate understanding of who he was, how he'd act in certain situations, and what he is or isn't likely to say or do. A lot of my own personal biases at the time were to blame.

Years of heavy studying and analysis got me to where I am now. And I realized he said or did the exact opposite in the games to what I thought he'd do or wrote in my silly private fanfics back then. So I started to look at him neutral and unbiased, without expecting or wanting anything specific and letting it influence my perception. Only exactly what I could hear him say and see him do instead.

I rebuilt my understanding into what it is now and ever since, it has stayed completely consistent. Every new piece of media just reaffirms it or gives me new stuff to add that tracks and doesn't contradict the old in the slightest. I'm still having new revelations, discoveries and eyes opened to new things about him but they only further prove, develop, and strengthen my understanding now.

This was all done by me just shutting off these biased parts of my mind and letting the game canon show me who he was, not by my own personal desires and influences. Then I realized I was such a big fan of what I understood him to be, all of my desires turned into loving game canon Eggman for exactly who he was and wanting him to stay the funny pure evil bastard he is. And he does! 💜

But yeah because of that, even though my old perception years ago certainly wasn't the same level as those that spread misinformation of him being way nicer, softer, and morally good than he is in the games, I know what it's like for bias to influence me in some ways. And those little things I believed then are far different from what I know now, so this isn't an example of me being biased lol

I'm very happy that I came to fully recognize, embrace, and appreciate his funny but very much pure evil self! And one of the main goals of my blog besides expressing my passion, is to help people learn more about him and understand him too because I swear, your enjoyment and appreciation of him can grow so much stronger when you do. I love when I'm told I've helped with that!

But if you really don't like that he's pure evil because it makes you uncomfortable, that's fine. But there's a difference between not wanting to see it because you don't like it and what happens in the games. And if you don't like game canon Eggman like that, I have a lot of respect for you if you admit that and just do something different in your fan stuff, without claiming it to be fact.

But game canon Eggman canonically being a funny silly but very evil and threatening bastard man personally fills me with immense joy and it's why I adore him so much. It's endless fun and entertainment! 🥰💜

[mulletmitsuya]

I hated the tr ending so badly. Not because it was rushed or anything. Wakui could have fleshed out the last timeline so thoroughly and logically and I would still hate it because the ending itself goes against what I felt the story stood for in the first place. He replaced all the characters for fakes, none of the characters we were intoduced to had happy endings because they either are totally different people or re lived their life to avoid healing. The ending basically proved izanas last words right "there's no saving me" yeah I guess not if the only way to help everyone is to make sure their lives never happened the way it did. Horrible I hate it so much. Also one ship I hate is rinzu or ranzu because they don't even interact once and it's so popular for no fucking reason other than "its hot" and tbh they would prolly hate eachother like petty bitches, they would NOT get along at any point. Also Koko and amane ship because if people actually read the manga with their eyes open it would not make sense. Anyways thanks for letting me be a hater in ur askbox, I love your blog btw

This is long, also tw for typical tokrev themes and sa

I think you're the first person who has the same opinion as me lmao😭. I also didn't believe it should have had an ending like that at all because of the themes that had been set up during the entire story. I understand people's perspectives of "It's Wakui's manga and it's his ending he can do what he wants" but media is supposed to be talked about, discussed and even criticized at times. That's like, the whole point of publishing stuff. As an enjoyer and supporter of Wakui's manga, I feel like I have the right to question some inconsistencies and contradictions (not directly attack him tho, that's never okay. like people who send death threats over ships and stuff that's messed up) that showed up in the ending. I also believe lots of people didn't really take it seriously as a manga idk. It had some very serious topics that people seem to forget about. For example: suicide, abuse, abandonment, child neglect, substance abuse, extreme violence, rape, prostitution etc, and I think people just kinda see it as a silly manga that has cool characters they like. And that's okay. It's okay to not take a piece of media seriously and enjoy it for the sake of enjoying it, not everything needs to be critically analyzed, but stop shitting on the people who take it seriously enough to question why the fuck it ended how it ended. Lots of the discourse took place between critical analysers who wanted an author to finish the manga by sticking to the themes and messages he has set up the entire time versus casual enjoyers who just wanted everyone to be happy for the sake of liking the characters. And I completely agree with the Izana thing!!!! You cannot claim to have saved someone by rewriting their entire life!!! Takemitchy was not supposed to be god!! Also, isn't the moral story of time travel that you should never ever do it? Because you win some, you lose a whole lot fucking more. I thought Draken dying was setting up that narrative. That saving Mikey, was gonna fuck up a whole lot. Isn't that why Chifuyu broke down?

Idk about you guys, but dark impulses being a curse disappointed me quite a bit. I thought it was supposed to be a symbol of Mikey being deeply mentaly ill. And that he had to deal with it head on and not run away all the time (this was Takemichi's entire storyline basically and the the main theme of TR). I just feel like it sucked because the message of the ending, whether Wakui intended it or not, was that you can't be fixed without magical time traveling. Although the story had some fictional aspects, it was realistic at least. I thought they'd deal with everything that wasn't time travel realistically.

Any ship with Sanzu and the Haitani's is hilarious to me and although I don't ship any of them seriously, the fanarts fun to look at some time (and you're right I think they look good together cause they're hot😭). You are completely correct about them not liking each other tho. It's actually canon. Idk if you remember during the three deities fight when Ran hit Haruchiyo with his baton? Nothing but pure malice between their eyes😭. The Koko and Akane ship actually triggers me because one thing about me? I'm not comfortable with large age gaps. Akane was 5 years older than Koko💀. And I didn't know people took what she said to him seriously. I thought she was just trying to not hurt his feelings? Koko and Inupi were around 7/8 when the fire happened. Meaning Akane was like 12/13. Uhhh Idk bout y'all but I don't think a 13 yo would be attracted to someone that young. And waiting for them to be of age is...😶. Be fr.