#i know my opinion on this is biased but idk there was opportunity for more nuance

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads

The Undead Truth of Us

YA contemporary magical realism

a girl grieving her mother after she seemingly turned into a zombie - that only she could see

she meets a boy who lives into her building who seems to be half zombie, befriends him to see if she can figure out why she’s seeing zombies, and starts to fall for him

poetic writing, explores grief

[controversial-blorbo-bracket]

Controversial Character Tournament Round 2: Light Yagami from Death Note vs Edelgard von Hresvelg from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

(remember that these characters are fictional and your fellow tumblr users are real. please be normal in the notes, i will not hesitate to block if you harass people)

Propaganda under the cut, may contain spoilers:

Light Yagami:

LOVE: - "He does some messed up things but have you considered: fucked up protagonists rock :)" HATE: - "this man makes me sick. ive genuinely had manic episodes over hating him. i have trauma from his existence in general. not even because of the murder. because hes a sexist cheater :(" - "My cousin and I frequently debate this. I think despite his 'intentions' he's ultimately a despicable character who cares for nobody but himself. She disagrees and says that he is just trying to do the right thing and making a difference in the world (she still thinks his actions are wrong, but she doesn't think he himself is despicable)" BOTH: - "I mean cmon man"

Edelgard Von Hresvelg:

LOVE: "People either claim she's the hero or the irredeemable villain with no in between. She's also my lovely wife who has never done anything wrong in her life." "I never even finished her route and remember nothing of what happens in that game but I DO remember the absolute warzone the fandom turned into because of her. She staged a coup and overthrew the head of the government/church and I think that's pretty cool of her. "But she committed war crimes!" God forbid women do anything." "I lied in the previous question. I don't hate her or love her in fact I have never even played this game. But I keep finding people making up Discourse™ featuring wild accusations of bigotry towards both Edelgard fans and Edelgard haters so I feel that she belongs here. (Also my friend hates her. but HER friend loves Edelgard. So even in my small social circle there is a clear polarization.)" "ok I don't have any solid propaganda because my opinion of her is more positive-neutral, but. she fits the spirit of this poll. trust me." "[three houses spoilers] Yes she started a war but it was the only apparent way to break the chokehold the church had over everyone in Fodlan. Also she’s the only lord you can gay marry so I’m hopelessly biased" "every time i go into the tag its either "edelgard is perfect no notes!!" or "edelgard is literally a fascist!!!". ive never seen someone with a neutral opinion of her. i yearn for battle." "I know very little about her to be quite honest! But good god. As a fire emblem fan for the GBA and engage. I have NEVER seen such a decisive character like Edelgard. Jesus Christ. I still find stuff in those tags. What the hell!!!" "I don’t even go to Fire Emblem but even I know that Edelgard has never done anything wrong, ever, in her entire life, and that if she did any war crimes they were a SUPER effective use of girl power. source: I am a lesbian. (realtalk I genuinely love a noble-minded extremist revolutionary and think Edelgard is a great character, so it’s kind of a shame that opinion on her seems to simply split down the line of “whether the person wants to kiss Edelgard or Dimitri more.”)"

HATE: "So on the one hand, she's fully willing to kill and burn and murder her way to a "better future" at the expense of the present, but on the other hand she's pretty cool and #girlboss. She's also a canon gay romance option, but idk if that makes her more or less problematic." "I just. I understand why people like her. I really do. And I don't have anything new to say for why I dislike her. Edelgard fans and stans have heard everything. She has great points and motivation, but her methods are wrong. She hitches her ideals to the first good opportunity and never reconsiders her allegiance when things go off the rails. She hates the church for "lying to people" and proceeds to lie to her own populace herself in her own route. She gives Claude an opportunity to live because she knows he believes in her goals. But Dimitri and his Kingdom are too beholden to the church to ever be offered such mercy. She herself acknowledges that the change she wants to see is more quickly enacted through war than subtle and slow societal change. She recognizes the human toll of her actions, but she justifies it through flowery language and an insistence that the change needs to happen now or it never will. I honestly find her so interesting, and I agree with a lot of her thoughts about the need for societal change in the world of FE:3H. But people latched onto her and propped her up as someone who can do no wrong. And that just never sat right with me. I just think she’s a hypocrite who got put in front of a shiny means to her end and was immediately blind to every other opportunity around her." BOTH: - "I dont even play fire emblem but I cant escape people not shutting up about how much they love or hate her" - "You said there were no hate answers for her...and I don't really hate her so it wouldn't be right but I wanted to balance things out some. She's the perfect storm of a character who sounds right and progressive and has a route all to herself that doesn't contradict that...but once you play other routes, it becomes clear she's kind of. full of misinformation. And attacking people who don't deserve it. Also a LOT of the divisiveness I'm willing to blame on the writers rather than her, for having her both be Evil Tyrant we NEED to take down and Sad Uwu Baby who just wants to eat cake and laze around and loves You the Player SO MUCH."

[that-birdy-chick]

Okay so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but -

I'm currently still watching season 5 - and while it has some of my favorite mcdanno episodes - the stakeout will forever live rent free in my brain but I digress-

I can't help but feel like there is overall a lot less Danny in this season?

Like I might be totally biased here because he's my favorite little guy-and there are a lot of new characters that rightfully get more screen time to flesh them out more and that's totally fine! I love Jerry and Lou and ellie (max isn't new but I think he deserve more screentime too) and I'm happy everytime they get a chance to explore what's going on in their lives!

I was just watching episode 19 were Steve has is little crazy adventure with the barber-lawyer character (I think his name is Odell?) and I loved it! I love the actor of Odell and I'm glad he got a chance to return! I'd even love to see him become another recurring character ! He has great banter with Steve and I wanna know more about his crazy path from lawyer to criminal to passionate barbershop owner! I also loved jerry's little side plot. Finding out that he and max had been hanging out together and chin being a supportive friend - but still I couldn't help feel Danny missing Idk

I don't think he needed to be in the episode but just a little nod to him being with grace or something would have been nice

Which maybe that's just nitpicking?

But Idk I just felt with Steve being off, having his own adventure, it might have been a good opportunity to have the entire team trying to help Jerry? Because I feel like while everyone is bonding fine with Steve and you have a pretty good idea how is relationship towards everyone looks like I don't really have an idea how the dynamics in the team have changed or not since the addition of Lou?

A trend I've noticed for a while now too is that Danny has been off a lot having his own adventures away from the team and even if he's there, his time is mostly spend with Steve?

Which don't get me wrong I love every little bit of mcdanno content I can get. I just feel like this episode was a missed opportunity to flesh out some more realationships between the team when Steve isn't around?

Maybe the next one will be just that and i'm just rambling over nothing here, but I would love to see what for example everyones relationship to lou is like now that they know each other better? Do Lou and Danny team up to tease Steve when he's being stubborn or do they sometimes share stories of what it's like to be a dad? What do kono and Lou talk about or Lou and chin? What do chin and kono do when they're off duty? Do they go surfing together or just hang out outside of work? Do chin and Lou still go fishing or was that a one time thing? What's Danny's realationships with kono like these days? And how did chin feel after he found out that they kinda sorta did chose Danny over him last episode?

Idk maybe some of this is still going to be answered it's just been a thing that was bugging me for a while now and I would love to hear other people's opinions on this!

[starshapedpetals]

new merch line. you know the drill

first of all, i don’t hate this line. I think most of the boys are drawn pretty well. but what a strange concept? the diaboys.. as priests? “dark” anti christ priests but still.. strange? it’s unique at least?

my only real complaint with ayato is how his mouth looks weird. c’mon he’s a vampire, show me the fangs. c’mon let him do the iconic bite the glove thing. it actually frustrates me how they missed that opportunity 😭 overall, he looks fine to me. there’s no detail i’m particularly drooling over. except for this one very specific detail that has me drooling over the triplets. & it’s the… halo?? like look at the triplets next to each other. ayato in the middle with his brothers on the side. i LOVE the way they’re turned with him in the middle 😫 on that note, i hate how shuu is at the end. if they just swapped subaru & shuu’s placements, we could’ve kept up with the turn thing the triplets + reiji were doing. 

kanato looks a bit off, right? is it just me or are his eyebags less dark..? idk but he looks a bit off, to me at least. also.. is that teddy? kanato has been seen with more bears in the recent merch lines, but this one kinda looks like teddy.. except he’s so dark brown?? anyways, as off as he looks to me, i still really like him. he’s grown on me the more i look at him, i think he looks pretty, & i like the pose. also kanato with earring <3

shuu’s face is very very pretty, despite that there’s nothing really that interesting about his design to me. now he doesn’t look bad at all, just a tad boring in my opinion. other then that i’m crazy about how pretty they drew his face & hair <3

why is reiji so hot rn?? the face, the pose, the chained glasses, the ascot, my god reiji pull it back sir you are a priest. i originally thought his hair looked a little flat but i think that might’ve just been me. anyways, i love him so much <3

kou is so cute looking!! i think his priest getup looks so nice & pretty on him! i’m also a bit pink & black biased, but aside from that, i really do like him. i’m very pleased with this kou. he looks cute to me <3 i like his pose too <3

azusa so pretty like when does he not look ethereal? & yknow how much i love azusa with wings <3 i love how his wings have bandages on them. it’s so azusa. i don’t really like the design of the knife but oh well he still looks pretty

carla looks alright :/ i’m a bit disappointed tbh. I always love the black ribbon in his hair, but it’s just meh here. of course i love seeing it, but not my favorite appearance of it 😔 i really don’t like the weird wind blowing thing that’s going on with him. especially with this video quality, some of his details look bad to me. like that specific strand of hair blown too close to his mouth. looks fine in higher quality, & up close, but at quick glance.. not so much. i also just don’t love the angle. it could’ve been better (imo) but he’s fine overall

KINO IS JUST GIVING IN THAT POSE. he’s got the most unique pose so he stands out the most. i’m also a fan of how his color complements the black. he just looks so fucking pretty to me & i just love his tongue sticking out. he’s one of my favorite looks tbh i just love him

notes since photo limit & don’t have much to say abt them;

i’m living for laito in that shade of green 😫 i think his hair & face look so pretty here. i wish i had more to say since i really do like how he looks here. also, i cannot stop thinking about that church scene 😭

subaru’s pose feels familiar? like not from DL but maybe it’s inspired by a religious figure?? it’s been days & I still can’t figure it out? he’s alright. his hair is a bit too flat looking for me. i like how the hints of red on his outfit look

i’m so sorry ruki fans but i personally really don’t care for this design. he’s giving a little too much priest for me 😭 pls don’t crucify me

i’m a really big fan of the way yuma’s clothes hug his figure. it’s so so pretty. nothing else in particular catches my fancy sadly.

i’m sorry but i really don’t like how thick shin’s eyepatch is? i feel like they’ve done this before & i really don’t like it. other then that he’s fine? nothing too wow in my opinion but not horrible looking

[c0rpseductor]

struggling to stay awake but i watched the sarah z video about fanfic as an art form (very good) and then in the related videos saw several from a youtube account that gives fanfic writing tips. i was curious so i watched the one that’s like, “tips for writing fanfic that can’t work in original fiction” and have thots

i guess i kind of feel ambivalent about it bc like. on one hand i agree fic as a medium encourages and can sometimes greatly benefit from a lot of stuff that doesn’t fly in original fiction, like cutting out canon events we’ve already seen or descriptions we should already know. a fic doesn’t have to be a totally standalone work given it already depends heavily on the context of the canon it’s derived from.

on the other hand i kind of struggle to see how some of these tips benefit _any_ form of writing? like “the pace can be very choppy or glacial if you want! pacing doesn’t matter!” feels like poor advice to me if you’re trying to make your fic read well. canon can prop up a lack of exposition but cannot change the way your fic reads as its own work. i think pacing very much still matters, and “good pacing” can be somewhat subjective, but the actual wording of the advice was along the lines of like, pacing straight up doesn’t matter, which i don’t agree with at all. i think a featured comment along these lines (bc the video maker showed some other writers’ opinions that they liked) was essentially like, “you can have really incredibly slow pacing and it be fine if the story is just a relationship study and there’s no plot or themes or meaning.” EVERY STORY HAS FUCKING THEMES AND MEANING IT COMES FREE WITH YOUR FUCKING XBOX. don’t fucking encourage people to be uncritical writers oh my god

i also like. i understand that i have different aims when i write fic than other people. with the longfic i’m working on right now, i want it to retell shadowbringers (hopefully on to endwalker) with my wol and highlight things FFXIV made me feel that were meaningful to me, and i’m choosing to have a slow pace so that readers can both have that experience again through my WoL’s eyes and figure out who the fuck he is without it feeling like a hasty exposition dump. i also personally don’t like how a lot of ffxiv fics in a similar vein read, bc they skip big important canon developments and emotional moments, so i chose to like…not do that. i also know i have at least one buddy (hi faiya) if not a couple buddies who are reading it fandom-blind, so i wanna add descriptions of locations and people. (plus, again, having a biased POV character means every description is Free Characterization, Baby!) i also think having descriptions immerses a reader more even if they reiterate canon, and it can be a helpful convention to establish so that describing new locations and so on doesn’t necessarily feel so, like, jarring. with shorter pieces i skip unimportant stuff but still like having the opportunity to set a scene and work in some inventive prose.

which, like, tooting my own horn i guess. obviously i like how i write or i wouldn’t do it like that. i try to have reasons for everything i do and think about my goals for what i want my writing to evoke and the experience i’m trying to create. however i am increasingly beginning to think the experience i’m trying to create is one that just really doesn’t read like fanfiction. on one hand, i don’t always like how fanfiction reads, so to me that’s good. on the other, though, if i don’t always like how fanfiction reads, idk if i’m the best judge of these kinds of intentional stylistic breaks in fanfiction as opposed to original fiction and how well they work. i don’t like choppy pacing, i don’t like fics that dwell or feel circular vis a vis pacing, i don’t like fics that just leave shit out that would potentially strengthen the story they’re trying to tell (100% bitching about emetwol shb retellings that skip and summarize every cutscene even when it would be a big relationship moment for emet and wol. like come on it’s free development they give it to you), and i’m okay with fics that don’t have much sensory description of established stuff bc i can fill in but they’re that much less engaging for it. some of these pieces of advice strike me less as useful shortcuts in a transformative work and more as shortcuts that actually weaken a transformative work. fic has to exist in conversation with canon, but a fic i think also has to have an existence as its “own story,” if that makes sense.

i know to some degree it depends a lot on the individual fic, too. for a short fic or a oneshot i feel way more like i’d agree and say “yes, by all means, skip the exposition and unnecessary description and get to the part we’re meant to care about, we have limited real estate here, devote it to the details of import!”, like i certainly don’t sit describing the layout of the crystarium room every time i write a ficlet about it. but i’m more reticent to say that about longer pieces where you have more time to explore and recontextualize and reiterate shit that might still be relevant to your work as a whole.

definitely a thing where like. i don’t want to get super egotistical or on my high horse about it bc despite feeling more confident as of late i do know i have a lot of room to grow as a writer and even just in terms of utilizing fic as a medium efficiently. but i wouldn’t be giving these out as blanket pieces of advice, which i felt the video was doing. the only blanket advice i would give out is “read and dissect published works to see how they construct prose and do other technical stuff,” because those are transferable skills and i think knowing how a story is constructed on the page is crucial to making informed decisions about how to take one apart and put it back together. but i’m also the guy who is saying this to you while very much aiming to apply it to unmonetizable age gap gay catboy porn a maximum of 15 people will read so you can take my words with a grain of salt approximately the size of your forearm

[caitie-likes-talking]

Part 4 Critique: Everything I'd Change

I love DIU..however, I consider it one of the post flawed of the JJBA Parts. Honestly, I feel like Araki didn't fully know where he was going with it til halfway, which is why the plot can be so janky. No matter what, let's dive into it. First, characters.

(also quick disclaimer: this is all my opinion and i am biased for MANY things.)

if u diagree w me dont tell me i think it would crush me

Characters [Josuke, Jotaro, Okuyasu, Kira]

Josuke Higashikata

I LOVE Josuke. I think he's a lovely character concept and his design is really cool. My main problem with him is literally his LACK of screen time!! He is the Jojo of this part, yet his spotlight is constantly stolen by other side characters like Koichi, Rohan, and even Jotaro. This also happened a lot in Part 3, with it basically being the Polnareff show (idk why Araki did this sm in pts3-5...either let the mc have screen time or don't have them be the mc!!)

I think Josuke had some of the most missed opportunities in DIU. Especially with his relationships with other characters. I think this part could've been way more interesting if it chose a solid theme, and one that I think would've made sense is commentating on death & tragedy and how that can impact personal relationships. The reason I believe this is because there's already easy set ups for this in the story. Ryohei's death, The Nijimura Brother's family, Reimi, Shigechi, and Jotaro all have that theme in place, but not enough connecting points or real arcs related to this. What was the point of killing off Ryohei (who was the only father figure Josuke had growing up) if you're not going to show how this impacted Josuke, Tomoko, and how he acts with others besides one single page? Sure, it taught him that his powers have limits and that he can't save everyone, but that was a stupid thing to teach him because Okuyasu doesn't fucking die when he should've!! Like why did we make an arc saying 'hey stands aren't magic they can't bring ppl back to life' just for EXACTLY THAT to happen??

Moving on, I also have problems with his stand. I LOVE Crazy Diamond, I think it has a super cool design and power concept, but personally I wish it's powers were more grounded and had clear limits. I feel like a lot of stands suffer from this treatment of vague power limits (ex: Golden Wind..) but my problem with CD is that there were MANY opportunities to add one! For example: we know Josuke couldn't bring back Ryohei even after using his stand on him. So that bears the question: what can CD not fix? What is the real reason it can't bring a dead person back to life? Jotaro says "No stand has the power to bring back the dead" WHY?? am i missing something? Have I forgotten when it was officially established that stands cant do that? I mean, literally in part 3 there was a stand that could reanimate corpses. So does it have to do with the soul? No matter what, I would've used this moment to establish that CD can't bring back ANY living thing. I actually wrote a short fic abt this and included the fact that he also couldn't "fix" a dead leaf. I feel like overall his stand needed more grounding.

Also, I have beef with Josuke's backstory, but I'll get into that later.

Jotaro Kujo

Ok firstly, I have MAJOR beef with his design in part 4. Mainly the fact that he's drawn extremely pale in the anime. Like..obviously he COULD be pale as he is wasian (im not trying to say all wasian ppl look the same), but he is TAN in part 3. Why did they take that away?? Pisses me off to the extreme. At least they fixed it in p5+6. Anyways..

Character wise, I really enjoy Jotaro's personality in p4. I like how he's mellowed out in comparison to p3. However, I feel like he needed a more clear role in the story. He showed up to figure out grandpappy's shit, and then took the leader role when facing Kira. Why don't I like this? Because most of the time Jotaro was just..there. I think Araki wanted him and Josuke to have a mentor/student relationship (ex: rat episode) but just didn't focus enough on them or Josuke training with his stand for this to work.

Also, the fact that it took Jotaro so fucking long to figure out who Kira is WITH the help of all those other stand users is so goofy. Like him and the gang back in '89 found Dio's ass from a goddamn microscopic fly in a photo but couldn't find Kira's identity?? Like ugh he almost redeemed himself with the button thing but then he got blown up like gosh what happened king

When it comes to stands, I forever find it stupid that Jotaro didn't work with his stand to become more powerful. Araki just had to nerf him (which is something he does with most reoccurring characters, ex: Joseph). I don't like it and it pisses me off.

With the death of Ryohei, I feel like it would've made more sense for Jotaro to somewhat open up to Josuke and be a bit more sympathetic towards him about it (or maybe he stays closed off until Josuke explodes, causing Jotaro to reveal the truth about his past.) Either way, I think the two of them could've bonded over shared grief.

Okuyasu Nijimura

I absolutely ADORE Okuyasu. I think his dynamic with Josuke is really fun to watch and his personality is just overall super enjoyable.

Stand wise I do think Araki slightly nerfed him by making him dumb as fucking rocks, but I let this slide a little more just bc he's a side character..

I honestly think Okuyasu has the best character arc out of the whole part 4 cast. I think he definitely deserved more screen time, but what we got was really solid in my opinion. His relationship with his brother was well developed and it was really interesting to see how it still affected him even after his brother's death. The way he felt a need to get revenge for his brother and still felt like he wasn't enough really hit me in the gut. I love him.

When it comes to Okuyasu's "death" I have very mixed opinions. On the one hand, ofc the goat of part 4 survived. On the other hand, I feel like him surviving goes directly against the idea we've been given since the beginning. You can't save everyone. And on the one hand, I enjoy the subverting of expectations. On the other hand, I don't like how it's still just never fully explained. I guess in JJBA as long as your soul doesn't feel like dying yet, you won't. I wish we saw Okuyasu actually speaking to his brother when he "died" however. I find him and Keicho's relationship really gut-punching and that would've been a fire scene imo.

I have more to say on him, his dad, Keicho, and the arrow, but I'll save that for when I'm talking about the plot.

Yoshikage Kira

I find Kira to be a really interesting villain. I really enjoyed every moment we got going deeper into his psychology and it's something I really wish we got to see more of. I enjoy his sleek design and he's fine asf tbh.

Im not gonna give commentary on his stand rn bc honestly i dont fully remember how that shit worked by the time he was using the arrow

Character wise I just really wish he was established as the main villain sooner. The build up and hints dropped about him were so addictive, so it's disappointing that they're only there a little before his full introduction.

The psychology of Kira is something I really liked. The way he truly believes he's never really done anything wrong and only wanting to live a peaceful life is something I wish was even more looked into. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but from my memory, in the manga Kira's whole thing with his nails growing quicker when stressed/when his need to kill is getting too strong was only psychological. At least, I don't remember them growing the same way it's shown in the anime. I think this would've been something really interesting to deep dive into. The fact that he believes his nails grow when his need to kill is really high is really intriguing and the overall connection between hands and his killings are something I wanted to be fully developed more. I know it was kind of just a weird ass fetish but like..that's interesting!! this is interesting!!

I'll probably make an individual post to talk more abt him.

Plot

Where do I even begin. The plot of part 4 is all over the place. I loved many episodes, and I enjoyed when it leaned more into the slice of life style, but why the fuck where there like 3 seperate plots? Honestly, cut out Anjuro. His whole plot shit was annoying as hell. Didn't care for him.

Akira's entire plot pissed me off. I only like this arc because of Okuyasu. Overall I found there to be a lot of plot holes and just annoying parts. Everything til Kira was like this for me. Like get to the REAL plot please.

The arrow annoyed me. I've never wanted to rip my hair out more than when Kira's dad got a hold of it. He was SO GODDAMN ANNOYING. I like the concept of Kira using the arrow to get allies or ways to cover up his plot, but most of the stand users that came out of this were annoying and Kira's dad was insufferable in the worst way possible.

I think something I wish was more covered by the plot is the aftermath of Part 3 and Dio in general. This is something that CDDH (best jojo spinoff) covers really nicely, however. Go read it.

I also just in general think more should've been done w Okuyasu's dad, as he is a direct aftermath of Dio.

I feel like a lot of the women in Part 4 were set up to have strong, actually plot-influencing roles, but then were totally side-lined. I'm going to make a full post abt this tho.

Reimi being connected to Rohan never made sense to me. Just narratively speaking, why did you connect the main motivation for catching Kira to a side antagonist instead of the main character? This is slightly fueled by my hate for Rohan but like, c'mon! I think it would've made more sense to 1. just not include Rohan so fucking much and 2. connect Reimi to Josuke's past.

Speaking of Josuke's past, I feel like it just..needed more. Or at least, I think something needed to be done with the boy who saved him. I can appreciate the idea of it connecting to a theme of the general kindness of strangers, but you don't see that theme pop up as much in the rest of the plot. Also, I again would've connected Reimi to Josuke because WHY ISN’T SHE CONNECTED TO THE MAIN CHARACTER OH MY GOD

Overall tho I like the vibes of part 4, i really enjoyed different arcs and characters, and I just wish Araki got more time to flesh everything out and refocus on certain themes and characters.

[charlie-artlie]

opinions on cassidy five nights at freddies and the golden duo theory

anon do you realize you’ve asked me about my favorite topic?

TLDR, i dont like either of these theories! but i love talking about them, and if you WOULD like to read about it, i will ramble at length under the cut

so I’ve already spoken at length about my issues with the cassidy theory but here’s a quick rundown:

if shes real, she is one of the most important characters in the entire series and we know literally nothing about her. her name was gotten from a cypher in a word search, and her popular fanon design was just a random kid on the same page (or a different page that was also cassidy relevant? idk) (also also, i have seen a great theory that midnight motorist is actually about cassidy, and honestly id love it if that were true and this was hidden cassidy lore all along, but the character is only referred to with he/him pronouns, which leads to my next issue)

every character that refers to her uses male pronouns. the only argument i could see for this is retcon, because im not going to argue with people that republican scott cawthon made a character named cassidy with he/him pronouns. this would have to mean that sometime between the security log book and UCN scott changed cassidy into a completely new character, which to me, is a much bigger leap than the retcon from “SAVE HIM” to charlie, but, thats just me :/

her name was removed from princess quest, which signifies to me that she is not supposed to represent the princess in that game. steel wool has hidden lots of easter eggs and lore hints in the code, but to my knowledge the only one they’ve removed is the princesses name as cassidy (renaming her just ‘princess’ i believe). imo, it makes more sense if the princess represents vanessa, seeing as they follow the same path, both collect the vanny mask, both get trapped by glitchtrap, beating the game frees vanessa, etc etc etc

my honest opinion? everything she represents in the story would be better served to a pre-established character. i KNOW im biased as a charlie stan, but literally why isn’t TOYSNHK charlie? shes already established as having more control and awareness than the other spirits and likely was the only one who personally KNEW afton when she was alive, giving her even more motive to hate him. or even CC would make more sense! arguably the very first child to die to an animatronic, narratively, it’d make way more sense for it to be him. hes been stewing in agony and remnant for decades, seeing everything his father does, the one character who ACTUALLY has a connection to the golden freddy suit, and! now that we have a slightly more concrete answer to the fnaf 4 cameras from sister location, could actually be counted as one of his fathers victims!

okay, now with that out of the way, onto why i specifically dont like the golden duo theory, because, here’s the thing, even if I could accept cassidy as a Thing in the franchise (which i can! she’s been acknowledged by scott so I have to accept that shes at least real in some capacity [cassacity]) i STILL have issues with the golden duo theory for different reasons

the first and biggest reason is simply that CC is a hugely lore relevant character, who has an actual backstory, a tie to the main villain and the main protagonist (if you consider michael the protagonist, which i personally do), and makes narrative sense to possess golden freddy (the animatronic that killed him, not to mention his father possesses its counterpart, i mean come ON that is just a delicious parallel!!) cassidy, meanwhile, is a name you can find in a word search. and thats pretty much it. (not counting the yandere simulator chica mini game as actual cassidy lore. im literally just saying no. you cant make me.) im sorry, but it just cheapens CCs role in the story. there is literally no point in making him share golden freddy

its just not present in the games at all. there was every opportunity in UCN to hint/tease/confirm this but none of those things were done. the ONLY thing i’ll grant is that “The One You Should Not Have Killed” and “The Vengeful Spirit” COULD MAYBE be different characters, but why would they be? that sounds like two similar descriptions of the same character to me, personally.

the only evidence for it in the books is that, if you ALREADY believe that cassidy and CC are both possessing golden freddy, you can then reverse engineer that theory into “cassidy is TOYSNHK” by saying its a parallel to the stitchwraith plot line. feels more likely to me that TOYSNHK was originally just going to be andrew from the books? i just dont see how any of this actually ties to cassidy

the security log book. i hate the stupid security log book. everything in it is so arbitrary but its also the lynchpin for major fanon accepted theories. sorry but the “two spirits are talking to each other and also michael i guess” just doesnt hold water for me. why is the dialog on random pages out of order, and why does some of it not even line up with each other. the logbook honestly made more sense to me when the theory was bite victim=michael, the way it is now just seems like people deciding it means whatever they want it to mean

okay now this one is a little more nitpicky but im including it anyway (this is again more of problem with cassidy in general but stay with me) including cassidy in the missing children incident would mean we have five missing kids (cassidy, fritz, jeremy, gabriel, and susie), and then separate from that incident i guess, is charlie, and then also separate from that incident is CCs death, so seven dead kids in total (ignoring elizabeth since shes at SL, and also the “second missing children incident”, which is another theory i dislike but thats a rant for another anon messenger). with that math, that means someone HAS to be excluded from the fnaf 6 gravestone ending and i hate that. if cassidy is one of the missing children then shes the obscured gravestone, and then only charlie or CC could be the one in the distance, and excluding either of them feels wrong. CC is (arguably) the first kid to die in a freddys and (arguably….) what started everything happening, and charlie is the one to help the others possess the original suits. they are both more established characters than cassidy, who, again, we know nothing about.

all of that is to say this: if cassidy is a thing, why does she have to be in golden freddy? can i tell you what id prefer? what i think would be so much more narratively satisfying? what i lay awake at night staring without blinking up at the ceiling gritting my teeth wishing was real? i wish…cassidy was possessing freddy. freddy, og brown freddy, is the face of the franchise, and has literally zero lore significance. the only reason we know who possess him is from inference from the fnaf 6 gravestone pic lining up with the fnaf 3 ending head placement (does this sentence make any sense? can anyone hear me?) if cassidy is freddy, then charlie is the fifth missing child (i see no reason why she couldn’t be, theres nothing to indicate that the kids all died on the exact same day) and CC is golden freddy and the narrative is satisfying. cassidy can still be important, can even still be TOYSNHK for all i care, and CC can continue to writhe around in golden freddy in the 5020 ending.

deep weary sigh. i think…. thats actually all i have to say on the subject. if you’ve read this far thanks and also sorry. i just wanna cap this off by saying im not mad at anyone who likes cassidy theory or likes cassidy as a character, i have absolutely no problem with any of that! my problem is entirely with scott, who has just dropped this deus ex machina william-afton-seeking-missile on the table in front of us and refused to elaborate.

[evecolourshock]

For the Impression ask game (your choice, any/all of):

Ed

Flynn

Eos and/or Clarke (If you'll do OCs)

Mercury

Sark

Character of your choice from any media that is not Tron (not sure what other media you're into)

Oooo, many choices!!!

Hmm

I'll do Ed (both canon and your version), Flynn (Canon only), Sark... and Jake Kesey (from The Wraith - bonus non-Tron character). I haven't interacted with Mercury, your version of Flynn, or Eos and Clarke, enough to form opinions of them.

Now, I saw Legacy first, and then the original film, so my initial thoughts on the Tron characters are biased that way.

First impressions:

Ed (canon) : Sassy smug kid. Why's he there.

Ed (yours) : All The Therapy for this one. Someone hug him.

Flynn : Old man with good intentions in his past that have come back to bite him. Interesting but where's the substance?

Sark : I don't know if you're an actual threat, or comedic relief.

Jake : Huh. (Literally just huh. Was more focused on the cool car and ignored the people).

Impression now:

Ed (canon) : so many missed opportunities. Also wouldn't it be neat if there was a symmetry in him helping Sam, with his father not defining him, to save the Grid and Encom instead of... we had less than a minute of a throwaway Dillinger, and two hours of Sam making himself a damsel in distress by trying to be the hero and failing.

Ed (yours) : ...I will fistfight the universe if that's what it takes for him to experience happiness without a spectre hanging over him.

Flynn : WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU going from the wildcard in the original film to... that. In Legacy. There's age and stupid decisions, and then there's somehow becoming the most oblivious bastard known to man and Program. I hate the Legacy version SO MUCH.

Sark : oh buddy you're in far too much over your head here. Still not an actual threat.

Jake : ....yesss gettem you funky undead gremlin.

Favourite moment:

Ed (canon) : the miniscule bit of screentime we're given, because that's all we have.

Ed (yours) : him and Sam doodling flowers on Eve and each other. So cute.

Flynn : "that's a really big door" (goofy dork). Also the part where he philosophises at Tron when Tron's figured out he's a User.

Sark : his "oh shit" face during one of the chats he has with the MCP. Blink and you'll miss it, but so funny.

Jake : blowing holes in cars with a supernaturally-powered shotgun while in a really cool full-body-leather suit and blank helmet (hey that's familiar...). I could not make this up if I tried.

Idea for a story:

Ed (canon) : what does he get up to outside of work. Literally anything.

Ed (yours) : Ed Finds Happiness And Nothing Goes Wrong. I don't care how this happens.

Flynn : exploration of why he ends up Like That in Legacy - as far as I know and remember, Uprising didn't give us any of this and neither did Betrayal, as they both focus more on the Program characters than the human ones.

Sark : what was he like when he was new? What would he be like without the MCP commanding him? (Wanting to explore both of these in Serendipity, but haven't got there yet.)

Jake : no story ideas as such, just wanting him to go to other places in the States and... dealing with... their gang problems because he died because of one psychopath ringleader and he's not about to let others suffer the same fate.

Unpopular Opinions:

Ed (canon) : none, mostly because we don't see enough of him to form an opinion.

Ed (yours) : I don't... know if I can have an unpopular opinion about him? I love him too much. Maybe... idk, he needs a "guard dog friend" who's stuck by him for incomprehensible reasons to all (including him). I know he has everyone in our RPs (and others in other RPs!) but... yeah. That's the only thing I can think of.

Flynn : I've seen it around a lot, so it's probably not an unpopular opinion, but his character in Legacy is a disservice to the one he played in the original. I have no idea how he got from point A to point B, and it annoys me.

Sark : probably the whole comedic relief thing. He's just... kind of a non-issue, typical evil-character's mostly incompetent SIC character.

Jake : Why, of all people, did Charlie Sheen have to be the actor for this guy. Also the whole romance subplot was very 80's, and unnecessary.

Favourite relationship:

Ed (canon) : we never see one. However, I like imagining he's head over heels for a tiny barista who looked a would-be mugger dead in the eye when he threatened her with a switchblade and pulled out a Bowie knife in retaliation.

Ed (yours) : all the sibling relationships he's accumulated. Buddy you have a family now.

Flynn : whatever he has with Alan. Also the bit we see of him and Ram.

Sark : he has none we can see aside from the whatever with the MCP. I like imagining he has an "admire from afar" kind of relationship with Yori, because she scares him.

Jake : he has a brother, and goes out of his way even as a vengeful undead to spend time with said brother. Very cute sibling bond.

Favourite headcanon:

Ed (canon) : see the relationships point above.

Ed (yours) : ooh, so many... probably the crochet. I like thinking of him making things.

Flynn : can't keep a shirt for 5 minutes without damaging it or spilling something on it. Ranges from "spilled my water" to "how the fuck is this thing rags now, I bought it yesterday and have worn it for ten minutes". Only affects shirts he's bought himself.

Sark : those horn-things double as handles, and it's possible to pick him up by them and carry him around like a disgruntled kitten.

Jake : can't sing. Loves to sing. The spooky car he was gifted when he came back for revenge has thrown him out more than once because it can't take any more of his yowling.

[joker-daughter]

Small (or long LoL) little rant : I'm gonna sound dramatic and really negative but it's hard to hope for "better things" for him right now..

I've been a fan of him (as the actor first! celeb second) for almost 7 years now. And unfortunately, I don't think he's gonna get the career he should have in my honest / but yes, probably biased / opinion. Maybe a complete change will happen in the next 5-10 years, idk. But he doesn't seem to get the phonecalls and opportunities that he deserves, from non-franchises things (I'm sick of anything SM or Uncharted related, personally). Whos fault is that ? I would say it's a mix of his team not forcing (yes, forcing because what on earth are they doing ?!) him to be out there, the general bias people (and when I say people I mean within the industry) have against him or more generally superhero actors, and obviously, Tom himself because, as much as I love his acting, I'm not that confident in his personal taste in projects.

And it's frustrating, because even with the poorest material they could find, there's still, and always, something so brilliant about his performances. He's a natural, he's actually a natural in soooo many genres and tones, it's a crime that it's not being used.

I'm afraid he'll either stay in the comfort of the franchises bland roles (not because he wants to, but because nothing better will be offered to him) or just give up and go back to a regular life. And before anyone use his own words against me : I know he said himself that he don't see himself be an actor for the rest of his life, and want to stay lowkey. I read all the interviews. And I know I'm no one and as long as he's happy with how things are goings, it's okay. YES, but as someone who enjoy him as an actor, I still think complains and frustration are valid 💀 Anyway I just hope that a dream meeting or collaboration is on the way, something that will change everything. That could be FA being eye opening for him AND the audience, or somethign completely different. Something, anything

anon sending me this and then that interview drops lmao I know I said I have thoughts to share with you regarding all of this but I honestly don’t even know what to say anymore lol at this point I’m leaving it to God 😭 like I’m neither hopeful nor pessimistic, if anyone wants to share their thoughts, my inbox welcomes you

About this part tho:

“But he doesn't seem to get the phonecalls and opportunities that he deserves, from non-franchises things […] nothing better will be offered to him”

ngl I said/thought this once too, I can’t say it is 100% what is happening in reality (and I hope it’s not)…I’ve said this before but something is telling me to not say too much now and wait a little longer (even if the patience is running thin lol) so we’ll see

[pub-lius]

What in your opinion makes a good/well written history book? Can you give some examples?

i miiiight have talked about this before like 6 months ago so you might be able to find more info from me on this but idk. to answer this, im just sitting on the floor in front of my bookshelf HEJWBW

So contrary to popular belief, there are just as many factors that go into a non fiction book as a fiction book, and they all have their different styles. to make the comparisons im making, im gonna keep it between Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Black Flags, Blue Waters by Eric Jay Dolin, Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger, The Three Lives of James Madison by Noah Feldman, and John Laurens and the American Revolution by Gregory D. Massey and George Washington’s Indispensable Men by Arthur S. Lefkowitz, just referring to them by their author(s)’ last name. these are all books i have on hand that ive fully read and annotated

Most history books will be in a biographical or chronological style, where they retell events relating to a person or period in order, and others will take a more narrative style, like what Kilmeade and Yaeger have done, but this is often used to enhance understanding by not constantly referring back to previous events. neither one of this is better or worse, but they open different opportunities for how the author will broach certain subjects.

this is where we get into the author. just like in fiction, the author’s opinions, biases, and preferences alter the way the book is written, mainly because they will highlight certain information that they personally believe is important, and their historical reasoning will reflect their personal biases.

the two authors that i think are most different in this respect are Feldman and Chernow. as we all know, i really don’t like Chernow, for the primary reason that his evidence is contradictory and his theories tend to be misogynistic. the contradictions in his book make it hard to take anything he says at face value and it eliminates all chance of his book being easy to read, along with the fact that he is very wordy.

when it comes to Feldman, his biography of James Madison is a lot shorter than anything Chernow has ever touched with a pen, even though Madison lived a great deal longer than Hamilton. this is because Feldman utilizes brevity more in his writing. the thesis of his book is in the title: that Madison’s life can be broken down into three sections, and he spends the book proving that while also describing his life. this book is therefore more academically reliable, but also easier to read and more trustworthy. he also uses sources for each one of his claims and chernow just pulls things out of his ass but thats neither here nor there.

speaking of sources, when you’re buying a book, flip through the index and see if they have both primary and secondary sources listed. they almost always do, but it’s important to make sure. don’t trust a book with no primary sources. there also should be a LARGE index, like enough that when you separate it from the rest of the book you’re like “oh! i dont have as much to read as i thought i did!” not only does this give you hope that you might have a life outside of this book, it shows that the book has been thoroughly and adequately researched

another factor is how much information is in the book. this has less to do with how long it is and more about the subject matter along with the length. for example, Dolin’s book is about pirates, which are largely very obscure historical figures, so you can infer that the book will be less about the individuals and more about the time period, being the Golden Age of Priacy. and it is! and there’s nothing wrong with that, its just going to give you less information on the individuals.

now when it comes to a book like Massey’s, it seems like an adequate length for a biography of one person. however i think a larger issue with Massey’s book is that he doesn’t give you the full picture of a lot of things, and that is my biggest gripe with this book. he doesn’t give the reader a lot of wiggle room when it comes to making their own theories, because he tends to state his opinion first and give minimal evidence afterwards.

im always on here ranting and raving about how good of a job Lefkowitz did, but he doesn’t really fit the criteria ive mentioned here. his book isn’t in formal writing (which isn’t a requirement but i prefer it), he leaves out a lot of details, and his book is pretty lengthy. however i think he can really be praised for just easiness to read. the truth is, history is boring, and its hard to find authors who don’t make it worse. Lefkowiz’s book is well sourced and well written and does give a really good picture of the time period and a good starting point for further research, and that is how you become my favorite book and my most frequent recommendation

its always gonna depend on your personal preferences and biases. studying history isn’t about getting rid of your biases, and more of using them as a tool or at the very least factoring them into your research. my biggest tip: just keep reading! find what you like and what you don’t bc im still doing that. get nitpicky. get funky with it. GO TO THE LIBRARY‼️

and remember kids, Ron Chernow meets his maker when he encounters me in the Denny’s Parking lot, bare fisted and ready to throw down. you can’t outrun destiny, Ron.

(for legal reasons, that’s a joke)

[davekat-sucks]

"Fun fact" Anon here!

Wow you misunderstood what I was saying so much it's actually kind of impressive. No prob tho, I'd just like to clarify by explaining a bit slower, because I do think the whole thing is fun. In case it needs to be said, my initial ask was partially a response to this anon:

"Idk if this is an unpopular opinion but it annoys me when trolls use the word gay or any kind of LGBT-type language when none of the have a historical or societal context of any of those concepts or words, they think the distinction of sexualities is silly, they wouldn't understand using gay as an insult or a term of endearment, fucking stop it."

What I was saying is that this anon is both right and wrong. Because of a flaw in homestuck's writing, it ends up contradicting itself in such a way that Alternia is implied to have at least the concepts of distinct sexualities one moment, and then not have them the next. I consider that a "fun fact" because sometimes it's fun peeking behind the curtain of how things are written. Like knowing how Tolkien's misspelling of dwarfs as dwarves resulted in the ability to copyright the misspelling. Mistakes happen, and then they result in a distinct identity.

I think it'd be more useful for us to stop thinking and interacting with Alternia as a real place that's being explained to us linearly, and appreciate it as a construct of fiction that's being written linearly. Alternia is innately full of contradiction because it is written that way, sometimes by mistake and but also by purpose. From a writing perspective, if you base an alien society off of your own, it will always be skewed in weird ways informed by your own biases, our reality that we take for granted. In Homestuck's case, Alternia is alternative earth in the many ways the the writer doesn't bother to change, but also differentiated by the ways it does change. It can be intentional or unintentional, but both become canon once they're written and published each update.

Now, the flaw in the writing is because, again, Alternia is a place written, not one that exists and is being described with all factors about itself already known. I bring up the order of pages because that is the order of how the fiction is written and presented. Homestuck is a nonlinear story in which outlines are written ahead of time, so it can organize its nonlinear storytelling, but the writing in the pages themselves are written fairly linearly. In writing we call this macro (outline) and micro (the things like sentences and paragraphs). There's a joke about this in the Simpsons, where Lisa questions how a hamster can write mystery novels, and the answer is that he writes the ending first and works backwards. But that only works in the outline, which can be done in any order. Few people write micro backwards, because it's hard to write the end of sentence before you know the start, it's just not how we do grammar. That's something that the aliens from Arrival (2016) could do.

In hivebent, the micro writing of individual pages are being written with the bias that since Alternia is based on earth, they would naturally have concepts of sexuality as much as they have the concept of gender. Even though Alternia is meant to be very very different, the presence of sexuality and gender are just taken as granted because it's like Earth. Kanaya is initially written to be gay. Feferi is initially written to be straight, and her going out the way to mention same sex attraction implies that this would be in some way the more tolerant option, which wouldn't be necessary if Alternia didn't have distinct sexualities, ergo, it does (at that point). The decision to make Alternia not like Earth in that way just hasn't been made yet.

And then, by coincidence Future Arachnids Grip happens. It's not so vital a joke as to be planned out in advance, but who on earth can ignore all caps FAG when it comes up? It also raises the opportunity for a joke, an opportunity which is swiftly and mindlessly taken in the moment. To continue establishing the trolls as alien, this thing that stands out to the audience is treated as a big whatever by Karkat. The contents of pages a hundred pages ago aren't being factored in or considered. But now, so many pages after trolls having sexualities is established, we're establishing that fag isn't a slur on alternia. Because yeah that's a funny little joke, but the decision to make it retroactively changes the world building which was once just taken as being the same as earth to being one of the things different from earth.

So whoopsie, like so many writers do, you accidentally contradicted yourself. It happens, but now the writing is set in stone, and you just have to start working on the outline of the next Act. The next act being Act 5 Act 2. The Act 5 Act 2 that starts out with Karkat and John's conversation that settles the contradiction and sides with the later joke, because that is the funnier of the two options. The explanation is diegetically addressed to John, but it is exposition to the audience, in case anyone remembers the whole deal those many pages ago.

And btw, the "Not homophobic parent" is the trope of a parent trying to awkwardly indicate that they're totally cool if you're gay by, well, doing exactly as Feferi did and adding the idea of same sex attraction on at the end them asking if you have a gf/bf. Tbh, I think if you don't know what that is, or are at least able to use context clues to take a guess, it makes me question why you so often commentate on LGBTQ+ stuff. Because no offense, it seems you aren't proficient enough in the most basic of concepts to speak so critically. If you didn't know what it is, that's really the kind of thing you ought be reading the comic for, to better understand certain LGBTQ+ experiences.

It's because some of the context behind it isn't fully related to LGBT type of themes. Most of it is based on projection. Feferi's condescending (get it ha) to people like Eridan shouldn't be that read that deep. It's just reaching at this point. At best for Feferi's arc if Hussie didn't treat her like shit, is that she accepts that Sollux left her for Feferi, Eridan is shit (no duh), and none of her other friends like Karkat, Kanaya, or Terezi gave a shit about her death and only found solace in Nepeta because of their mind fused together as a kernelsprite. It's not so much about romance as it is just that Feferi had been surrounded by shitty people and needs to associated with better ones she can trust. Slurs do exist, but in the form for things like race, not sexuality. Like how Mituna called Meenah a 'chumbucket' and 'wader' in Openbound. There probably is something equivalent to the N-word in Alternia. But nobody knows what it could be and the fandom is too scared to try and come up with one. Unless Chumbucket or Wader is the actual N-word for sea dweller trolls. Cause then that means Mituna just called Meenah a damn dirty nigga Part of Alternia's messy worldbuilding is because Hussie likes to make shit up on the fly if he thinks it is funny or awesome. That's why we even have the description of the classes for the aspects being so freaking short because Andrew Hussie didn't think much through. I also would never think Alternia is an alternative Earth. That stuff from their world should never be practiced in real life. From hemospectrum and of course, quadrants. The writing makes it a point how fucked up it is and how accepting and normalized it is within the troll group. Them playing Sgrub is trying to teach them how to move on from such beliefs and move on to build a new world on their own without it. Not like twelve trolls ruling over humans would be any better, but it's not as worse as Sea Queen Hitler and the shit she did to Earth. Is there a fanventure or fanfic that explores the Beta Trolls actually reaching their goal after Sgrub and took over Earth? I wanna see that. The John and Karkat moment was also meant to be as a joke as well to tell the audiences it WAS a joke that Karkat purposely called Vriska a FAG with no remorse. John and Karkat being mouthpieces and examples to tell that whoever was angry when that joke happened pages ago, can go fuck themselves. Most of jokes in Homestuck is made to say "fuck you" to the audiences to get a reaction out of anybody.

[ryansjane]

I don't understand why solo!Off they say things like that about Gun. They know that Off is very fond of Gun. Why do they write that Babiis was Gun's fandom name before Off, they say that Gun doesn't respect him, that nothing is from Off. I think it's good that they tell each other what gifts they want. But they "prays" that Off will leave Gun, that Off will have a better partnership, they want him with another guy. For example from Sea. Now that it turned out that Off was with Sea, Gun, View and Konopk.

​Ship him with View, she have only 21.

Or ppl who they pretend to be Gun or Off fans and end up not liking either of them.

Why do they interfere in their relationships? Tell Gun to stop asking Off for money and gifts. It's very good that someone says what they want for their birthday. Off, he also told Gun what he wanted and he got it.

In my opinion if they want buy something for each other. Approx! It's their business and their money. As for the rest, I don't think Off would give Gun money and gifts all the time.

​Also solo fans Off, they are talking about stopping calling Off "Papii", that he is his own person and not part of the ship.

Solo!Gun I definitely haven't met many of them.

I understand what you're saying & I agree that those solo!off fans are reaching, especially about gun exploiting off for money. it's a running gag in the babii fandom at this point, not reality. THAT BEING SAID! idk if there's more solo!off fans than solo!gun fans, since most offgun fans prefer gun over off & are extremely biased towards him. personally I am both an offgun & an off fan, meaning off would still be my favorite thai actor even if offgun never existed, and I can understand why some solo!off fans exist. it is EXHAUSTING to see him constantly overlooked & seen as an accessory to gun or taygun by fans, it is INSULTING to see him have over a million less followers than them, and, yes, it's ANNOYING to always see people prefer gun & also off never getting a chance to shine outside of his ship while gun has gotten plenty of them. that being said, blaming offgun directly for that is misdirected, & their arguments are dumb. the issue at hand is people having no taste & off not getting enough good opportunities for his caliber. the problem in this fandom, like any other, is that there'll always be a favorite, and then in response to that the fandom of the other member will swing back. all of it is just dumb & frustrating tbh.

xxx

[ordinarymaine]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 for whatever you want <3

HEHEH

1. resident evil 8 was such a missed opportunity to do like. idk. anything. im not sure if i necessarily agree with people saying that it was nothing more than a tech demo for re4make, but i definitely see where they're coming from. the factory is a slog, moreau's swamp sucks. house beneviento is by far the scariest part of the entire game and the atmosphere is incredible, but it is CRIMINALLY short. castle d is gorgeous, but lady d herself falls flat as a nemesis / mr x type of enemy. i also just? dont like the writing in re8 at all. the characters are written strangely. i dont know how to put it into words. ethan feels weird. chris feels weird. mia feels weird and was tossed to the side and went from who she was in re7 to like an anime mom. this one is very petty but the fanbase for re8 is annoying as SHIT also. most re fans are irritating but re8 fans are something ELSE. the best thing about re8 is how it looks

2. this very quickly turned from unpopular opinions to Lilith's Hater Hour and im not sure how to word this either but a part of me hates how popular aw2 got. like a big part of me LOVES that, i feel like alan wake has always been underrated and ive loved it for years, its one of my favorite games ever, and im so happy to see it get recognition!! but predictably most of the fanbase has latched onto casey and zane/darling while completely ignoring saga as a character. its a bit annoying </3

3. i do not understand the hype around star wars, or why it got so popular. sorry to my mutuals for saying this on twitter like 3 times in the last 2 weeks and then again here FJFGHJH but i dont get it! i like the prequels, i like the sequels, i like rogue one, i like kotor (havent played either of them but i enjoy them nonetheless), i liked kenobi (pointing obi wan fan) i havent watched andor yet but i know i'll enjoy it. but most of star wars as a whole i just dont think its that. good? like. dont get me wrong when its done well its enjoyable!! but there are better sci fi serieses out there by far. star wars feels like lucasfilms throwing shit at the wall because it looks cool but has little sustenance. i will NOT start on my star trek vs star wars bullshit again because its INCREDIBLY biased LOL

4. i hate fallout 3. i hate traversing it. i hate playing it. i hate how it looks. i dont like the characters. i dont like the story. i dont like the writing. i like fallout 4 more than i like fallout 3, because 4 is at least enjoyable to play and lose myself in, even if the writing is arguably worse. when i first played fallout 3 i kept thinking to myself like. this is it? because for years all i heard was how good it was. and it just isnt LOL

5. i hate alien 3 also. i have not seen it and i do not plan on watching it because i KNOW it will make me angry. i am a BIG hater of shit thats just needlessly pessimistic / depressing / nihilistic simply for the sake of it, and from everything i've read of alien 3, thats exactly how it comes across to me. im sure if i WATCHED it i could more coherently explain why i dislike it, but im so attached to the dynamic that ripley, hicks and newt have that seeing it get thrown away immediately in the start of alien 3 would make me pass away badly

HELP. i didn't mean to ramble this much omg JJFDGJKFDGH i dont think most of this is very well written im sorry it's all very word vomit. i have had a little bit to drink and im feeling very haterish tonight. something in the air. thank you for indulging me <333

[outrunningthedark]

Maybe it’s just me but I’ve never really had hope for buddie to be confirmed in the first place. Like I do ship them and if they did I would be happily surprised but really it’s just never something I’ve entertained as a possibility and I don’t know where the people who believe it will happen have been but we just don’t get ships like this imo.Maybe there’s a few exceptions even if I can’t think about this right now but when a character’s introduced as straight or nothing has been said so we assume straight and then fandom ships them with an equally assumed straight person the show and networks and all that don’t want them together because they’re ‘normal straight people’. Like in LS from the beginning TK’s introduced with a bf he wants to propose to, they don’t lose their normal character since that was him from the start. Also if it’s acknowledged that all the buddie moments were building up to a romantic relationship then it sheds light on other similar relationships in other shows or films that we were ridiculed for shipping when really it’s not so different. I really don’t know if I got my point across here and I’m sorry this got so long winded, maybe I’m just a cynic but I think my buddie dreams will have to be contented with fanart and fic.

It's definitely not just you who has felt that way, lol. We hear it all the time, just more aggressively. To expand on what you said, the biggest piece of "evidence" in favor of this argument is that it's been six seasons and neither one's sexuality has been altered or allowed to evolve in the slightest. And it's not the opportunity wasn't there, right? Maddie and her "boy crush on Eddie" remark or saying she wouldn't want Josh to date her little brother. Then TK (falsely) assuming Buck was being flirtatious. Tim (he was the main show runner those years) could have said any of that meant something moving forward (maybe a "Buck is canonically bi, but we haven't explored that part of his story...we're waiting 'til it feels appropriate"), but the only part he addressed was the TK thing, and he connected to Tarlos since Carlos wasn't physically present. Compare that to Nancy becoming the first bi character of the 911verse. She came out while in a relationship with Mateo. She is still in that same relationship now. The show isn't trying to "prove" she's bisexual by having her hook up with or date a woman. It's just a part of who she is. And then there's the fact that all four (technically five, with David) queer men of the 911 verse (Michael, Josh, TK, Carlos) are written as gay, not bi. Tim & co. appear to have some *opinions* (thus far) about bi men, it seems. If they date a woman? Straight. Date a man? Not into women (never were). I will continue to say, though, that people are giving the network too much grief. The canon couples very rarely do anything intimate as the seasons progress, with Henren as the outlier because 6x06 was a flashback, so *if* anyone with influence was concerned about the optics, Tim has an "excuse" not to push things too far - that's not what the focus is anymore. And even *if* someone at the network was all "idk about this :/" that's still on Tim for dodging the discussion six years in. Get out ahead of it and the message would have been received much sooner - if you're against even one of these guys getting with a dude...this ain't the show you should be watching. Move along. (Tim has no problem putting LS fandom down, so I don't see why he'd act different with OG. TBH, it's either his own biases about Buck and Eddie as men that is keeping him from making them canon or it's similar to his reaction when the Tarlos fandom "complains" - he knows what's gonna happen if Buddie goes canon; they will dominate the discussion - he doesn't want the fandom giving their opinions or asking for content more than they do already.)

[patriciavetinari]

☕️theatre? You've had interesting opinions on the couple of plays you've mentioned...

Big topic!!

Btw, I signed up for another round of drama 'classes', so very relevant.

I love theater, been introduced to it as a child and I think it really should be a bigger part of children's education, way more widespread. I want drama clubs to be as essential for any schools libraries (arts general to be funded better as well). Schools should cooperate with local theaters and get children to see plays several times a year etc, starting from puppetry and up to weird, experimental stuff.

Community theaters should also be funded and where there aren't any comrades should come together and start one. Honestly, this is not me trying to elevate theater as the most important art form or something, it's not better or worse than others, but it is essentially an opportunity for all ages to play pretend and involve their whole body in silliness and healthy tomfoolery. That's aside from the power of storytelling and outreach and shakespeare in prisons and all of that highly important yada yada, we all know and love that. We should do more of it. To be honest, I don't really get the snarky comments about theater kids (though people who focus heavily on european theatre and DO try to elevate it as supreme art form etc of course are at risk of letting their discrimination sully their art, you know).

And I firmly believe that there should be theaters for all occasions and all expectations of what genre of even it is – like with restaurants, sometimes you want a fancy meal and sometimes you want street food. Theater should 100% be versatile and accessible, it should include much more ethnic and body diversity and I think age/gender/race-blind castings are a great idea as long as everyone involved is not making 'guy in a dress' type of joke underneath.

The plays I've seen recently were Translations – a very popular play in Ireland, and a Ukrainian production was an interesting twist on it. I think I have a post on it somewhere in this attic of my blog.

The more recent one I saw just last month was And Then There None – I wrote a post but it was a rambling mess and I deleted it. I like the story (am aware of the racist original name and Christie's general issues with racism and orientalism) but also Christie truly killed the story when she rewrote it as a play with a happy ending. It becomes a vaguely thiller-esque comedy basically, and early films based on it treat it exactly this way. They play I saw didn't do that, but I feel like the play is still not the best medium for this particular story, it was rushed and the descent into paranoid madness feels very artificial. Actors were okay, it was the packed itinerary of deaths that was rushing them along. They made a couple of characters gay, and idk, it was fine, but also comedied them down. I don't know how I feel about this. It could have been better. Stage design was good. Also I'm heavily biased about this piece because the best production so far that I've seen has been a ussr 2-part movie that hits every point and is evisceratingly good, so it's hard to top. I have more feelings about the book itself but I should get a separate ask to ramble about that.

[dragonknightofsummerset]

That post I shared about the Vestige has me thinking about Ryder from Andromeda & how like they die 2-3 times (don't know the exact number I've only played through once) & how it just didn't seem like a big deal? I'll just bring up the 2 I remember:

The first death is portrayed more seriously, I think because SAM is attached to them & technically the cause of their death, & also because Ryder finds out their father gave his life for them. & the excuse of them reaching the initiative shortly afterwards can be used as to why it's glossed over & not really talked about. (Not really an excuse for me but *shrugs*)

But then, there's the second death when they fall into the Archon's trap & how Ryder gives SAM permission to kill them to get out of said trap & there's mostly jokes made about it and I'm just ??? I know Ryder is more of a jokester, especially if you lean into that personality, but it just wasn't some big deal anymore that Ryder had died & come back to life again. And its not even talked about beyond the companions with you (or Liam in my case, Jaal didn't say anything) telling Ryder never to do that again.

And then at the end where Ryder interacts with the remnant tech despite not having a connection to SAM anymore, showing that it's taking a toll on them but only Cora sees & it's not mentioned again after that either, like...Andromeda could have been much more angsty, or at the very least, taken itself seriously when it came to the sacrifices Ryder was making for the initiative (there's a lot of missed opportunity to bring up their history in the milky way of what happened when their father was dishonorably discharged from the N7, and for the romances to make comments on their past & even the current things like Ryder's deaths! & dont get me started on the whole mom thing cause girl...)

All this to say that Andromeda had potential but they had too many storylines thrown together, not enough fleshing out of Ryder's character (both of them btw, since they have different backgrounds), especially regarding their father & how they felt about him & what he caused & what he did. And, this is more biased cause I always like extra stuff between the main character & their romance, but for the romanced characters to be more involved (dialogue wise) with some of the more serious things Ryder goes through. I mean they had the whole email system but only some of them would send something.

Idk I'm done rambling, this is all just opinion btw & I'm sure there are some codex entries that explain some things but I have not read them. And I do like the game, despite how much I hate the grind to progress, but it was missing something