#if’s for the greater good trust me

[nesquikflavoredchapstick]

3 days count down til weed ^w^

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: death mention / strangulation mention / stabbing mention / blood mention / self-sacrifice / codependency mention in tags / ]

I think a lot about how common it is for Raph to be the one to have direct focus put on him when Leo gets into all his near death experiences.

Like, when Leo is thrown off a building, it’s Raph who’s right there jumping after him, not even thinking about the consequences to himself when he does. When Leo almost gets skewered by the Krang, Raph’s right there to take the blow and send Leo to safety without a second thought. When Leo’s being strangled to near death, it’s a Krangified Raph doing the job, doing exactly what Raph would never, ever want to do. When Leo is telling Casey Jr to close the portal, it’s Raph who tries desperately to convince Leo otherwise.

Likewise, Leo is consistently very single minded when Raph gets forcibly separated from them. Both when in the sewers and by the Krang, Leo is dead set on finding Raph first and foremost.

I also think it’s interesting that during each of Leo’s near death experiences, the lightheartedness of his words during them goes directly hand in hand with both how close Raph is to him physically and how much danger Raph is also in in that moment. From a literal “I told you so” as Leo’s falling away from Raph to a soft joke about how “hero moves” are Raph’s style - both of these are on the more morbidly carefree side and both of these notably take Leo farther away from Raph and, in turn, have Raph not in immediate danger.

On the other side of things is the apology from Leo, heedless of the danger he himself is in as he seriously and genuinely speaks to a Krangified Raph face to face. Then there’s Leo’s freezing and desperation as Raph takes a hit meant for him and sends just Leo to safety, leaving Raph himself behind. Both of these involve much closer proximity and Raph being directly harmed - these together make Leo much more vulnerable in his words and actions, something not even the threat of death can make him.

These two care about each other so much, and they’re way too much alike for their own good.

[theywontletmebeprincipal]

[winterinvelaris]

i need elucien and gwynriel for several reasons but one of them is that im sick of us pretending that rhysand was wrong in the bonus chapter lol like yes he wasn't the nicest about it but he knows his brother and he knows what it looks like when az is (and is not) in love and as the high lord he doesnt want to risk the delicate situation with tamlin and lucien getting worse over azriel's lust for elain. the next book will be such a struggle to read if the conflict continues to be "fuck you rhysand how dare you do your job"

[scrawnytreedemon]

Just a girl and her hog, trying to save their dying world.

[clockworkvampyre]

two sides of the same coin..

[fandovers]

Hey gamers, back at it again with another huge ramble!! Albeit a bit scrambled, but a ramble nonetheless!!

Say, have you ever enjoyed a character and thought "wow, what the fuck are the writers doing?" That's me right now with SMG4's tv headed guy.

"But Pyro", I hear you say, "what makes you think that?" WELL OH BOY. Let me tell you some things on my mind, my fellow tumblr user. Grab your pepper shakers, because you will need it to compliment how much salt I am about to spill.

V--- Ramble below the cut !! ---V

Firstly, what you could probably guess. The latest arc. Or well, mini arc as they call it. I think things moved way too fast and that's having a negative impact on people's view of Puzzles.

Think about the Puzzlevision Arc. We got hinted at this mysterious figure only a few times over a course of almost a whole year. Making his appearances so sparce added to the intrigue. Who was this guy and what is he planning? It left everyone on the edge of their seats. Just how much of what has been going on, like Western Spaghetti and IGBP, links back to him? Or that in a way, it was his fault these things happened.

And then we see him more in the Mr. Puzzles' movie lineup. We get a mix of the main crew who we know, as well as Mr. Puzzles, both being the focus of the episodes. There is a really good balance of that in these movies, in my opinion. Because of how we only see him in certain moments, it reads to me as "this shows he has complete power, but he isn't getting in the way of his shows or movies in order to flaunt his power TOO much. He is still trying to have the brainwashed SMG4 characters be the main focus. Because it's a part of his plan."

Then the Puzzlevision movie drops and in my opinion, its great. It's wonderful even!! Puzzles shows up more, but the balance is still kept. And at the end when he is punted to who-knows-where, it was a good ending to this villian, who may return with some new evil plan in the future!! Or so we hoped...

After this episode a LOT of people wanted him back. Personally, I didn't want them to bring him back so soon. I had a feeling it would be a disaster to his character. Think about it. Having his seemingly mastermind who hid behind the camera for a year. With thought out plans, a whole bunch of tragedy and chaos that was all his fault because of how thought out these plans were... this guy coming back so soon? I don't think it would go well.

That brings us to the mini arc where I think it proves me right in my worries; it didn't go well. I will get it out of the way and say yes these epsiodes are entertaining, but not fulfilling. If that makes sense?

A metaphor for this could be something like... think of it like you ate a sugar cube and thought "wow, that was good, I want more!!" And over the course of a year, you treat yourself to a single sugar cube. Then suddenly, one day you get a whole bag full of sugar cubes to eat. It's so much-- so suddenly-- that you get sick from how much you now have to eat. Something you once enjoyed, you got sick over because of the amount you got out of nowhere. You see what I am getting at? With how much Puzzles content we have gotten in this min arc it throws the previous balance out the window and it's completely different.

Anyway back to the tv head. I think what they are going for is to make Puzzles so very power hungry he will do anything to get his power back. He is desperate, which is played off as silly and clumsy. A goofy villian with no power anymore but still thinking he has atleast some power left. Thinking he still has the charm that got him into power beforehand. But he doesn't, not anymore.

Instead of going back to the shadows to plan and think, he wants that power so bad again that he is throwing himself right back in with a less thought out plan. One made in a shorter time frame and is more vague. Get into the Meme Factory and The Comedy Zone.

I get it, they wrote him this way and it's fine, I guess. But this all makes me think. How did Puzzles get into power prior to Puzzlevision? Was he this reckless and straightforward, or was he as we saw him over the year? Everything planned out, sticking to his plans like glue. Keep his cool and make his shows exactly how he wants to get popular or whatever his overall goals are.

This just makes me feel like comparing "Puzzlevision Puzzles" to "Mini Arc Puzzles" feels like night and day. Almost like they are different characters. And I don't say that as a good thing.

We got this villian trying to juggle his power going up and down via ratings. Who is intimidating and feels like an actual threat. He hurt so many people to get what he wants, and he prioritizes his plans above all else. He is scary, he is evil and he is downright awful. But thats what made him a good villian.

Then in the mini arc, we have him going for The Comedy Zone but befriending Leggy along the way. I think they try to hint that despite his exterior behaviour, Puzzles does enjoy Leggy as a sidekick. He suddenly has a change of heart, befriending Leggy to use her. Then he sees she is useful, and that leads to him actually somewhat caring for her how she cares for him. Or that's what we are made to think.

I'll say it outright; I don't think Puzzles cares for Leggy the way she does to him. She goes so far that she throws herself into danger for him, or is actively thrown around like an actual weapon, in order to help him. Because she cares about him. Puzzles doesn't really do that in turn for her, does he?

Also lemme just talk about the end of the latest episode real quick. So, Meggy turns back into her normal self. When she remembers Mr. Puzzles and her when she was Leggy, having "good moments", she smiles. A lot of people read this as her forgiving him.

I think this is moving on way too fast from the pain and torture she was put through. For an entire month during Puzzlevision Arc, Meggy was killed over and over by Wren. Who never would have gotten the power to do so if it wasn't for Puzzles giving him that facility for him to control. "But Puzzles didn't torture her directly during Western Spaghetti" I hear you say. This is true, however he did brainwash her like the others during the movies. He still rubbed it in her face how the events of Western Spaghetti effected her. And yet now she smiles because of a few "good moments" in that last few episodes. Which are really just Puzzles giving Leggy the bare minimum of praise and calling her a friend?

As I have seen mentioned around; I suppose it could be that she is smiling because she sees that he has some good part of him. But the good part she did see, does have the possibility to be a lie. A facade. Honestly if they go with this possibility, that he was faking the whole time and just playing it up like an actor on a set, that would be awesome. Have him in the future in a scene where he can just be alone. Reflect on how much of it was an act and how much he actually did care and felt actual emotion. Have him contemplate his own plans or think over what he has done. If he is to be redeemed like people want, he will have to reflect. If he doesn't, he continues to be a villian and that's great too!! Just as long as they don't fumble his character...

I think the best thing the writing team can do now is keep Puzzles away for a bit. Keep him away until WOTFI 2024 because I am pretty sure we are all expecting him to have a part in that. I mean, he technically caused the last one. Why not cause another? If they are to have him be a physical threat again, in person, they should focus on keeping that balance of who is in the spotlight. Have the episode or movie be not centered around one character but a select few. I feel like he works better when even in Puzzles centered episodes, you see a lot of the other characters too. As mentioned, you have too much sugar and you can easily get sick off it.

Also completely changing the flow of this rant, ramble, whatever you wanna call this. But I have a small nitpick. The recent episode seemed so heavily hinted to be a FNAF parody. However, after watching it, it seems it wasn't at all. We get references to other games but not FNAF. So, why name the episode that? Why hint at an idea just to not use it at all? Why get our hopes up for something that didn't happen?

And oh, one more thing. Let's not forget how odd it is that Puzzles is in the spotlight so heavily all of a sudden. After Puzzlevision, I heard word going around that the SMG4 team "might bring him back if people like him enough". As you could probably see, people more then liked him. They LOVED him. I think because of how much attention he was getting, it only makes sense they would make more Puzzles content. People enjoy him, so why not make a whole mini arc for the new wave of fans to enjoy? It gets them views, fans, attention, and makes the people happy!!

All this just feels... odd. This doesn't give me a good feeling because of the design problem. As mentioned in my latest post, Mr. Puzzles and RGB, (a character from a comic known as "The Property of Hate") both look EXTREMELY similar. The SMG4 team has said nothing about this, and I think they should really be confronted. Asked about it. Whether it be asking them in an email or social media dms, I am THIS close to just outright asking them myself. We deserve to know the truth on this. It's for the best and this silence is driving me a tad batty.

This also leads me to talk about a... misconception? People were saying that the new facial expressions for Puzzles weren't credited. I saw that even an artist of the expressions stated it was alright if they weren't credited. However, in the video's description, it credits the artists who made the expressions. So, was the description edited later? Was it always like that and people didn't see? If I am wrong here somehow, please do correct me. But it seems all that is alright now... unless I am wrong.

I think this is all for my salt filled rant. Please feel free to share your own thoughts on the new episodes and mini arc!! Do you agree with some points I made, or not? I would love to discuss this further and see other's point of view on this!!

Eitherway, I thank you for reading. You take care yall!! ☆

[hopeinthebox]

tagged by the exceptional @cordiallyfuturedwight and @cosmicdreamgrl thanks ever so much my loves <33

now tagging some heroes @aprylynn @thvinyl @visionsofgideontheninth @hoseeok @btscontentenjoyer @jihopesjoint @monismochi @raplinenthusiasts <333 and everyone else

[glacialswordsman]

[anatheyma]

they're all after me tonight (the horny demons)

[lunalunawillow]

Just read Kick It Up a Notch and while the event's story was good why did it do the thing that a good chunk of VBS stories do (especially the more recent ones since Walk On and On) of just dragging the fuck on certain points 😭

Project Sekai's pacing is overall pretty great considering how story heavy and extensive it is! With Leo/Need and Nightcord being perfectly paced and WxS and MMJ having minor yet negligible hiccups but then Vivid Bad Squad's is just all over the place?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying their story is bad (trust me they do have banger,good paced stories and I'm excited for the heartbreaking plot twist coming up in June) but some of them just drag on for far too long

For example, Toya getting inspiration from the hospital guy is interesting but it loses it's appeal when it feels like 75% is focused on him and not Toya making music (and later getting to appreciate his bond with Akito) which was supposed to be the plot of the event??

And also the aforementioned recent Kohane event with the middle just feeling like meandering to have the ending randomly feel like her version of Vivid Old Tale minus the nostalgic undertone turned sad by more recent info and the much better pacing that event had

I have more examples of this but I don't want make this rant(?) much longer but TLDR vbs please stop making parts of your events go on for far too long 😭

[dulcewrites]

I mean, I don't think they shied away from portraying Rhaenyra in a bad light, they're just doing it slowly, she literally put a bunch of blood relatives from the smallfolk to be burned to death and is coming to see herself as tptwp, they'll certainly go deeper after Jace dies and Aegon disappears. As for Alicent, it was pretty obvious she was gonna betray team green and choose Rhaenyra/Helaena. She never wanted to forsake Rhaenyra and we see in the season is her being over her head in the war—she tries to turn back time, she sleeps with her teenage crush, she seeks absolution from her father (that's why I disagree with you she sees Otto as someone who pimped her out, she merely points out she followed him blindly, not that he abused her, he's still someone she loves and respects), she feels bitter towards her children and prays for Lucerys (not to make Rhaenyra look good, if that's the ga interpretation whatever, it's to show she's a kind person who despises violence) and, by the end, after seeing her daughter physically attacked by Aemond, the person who cut her power, she turns for Rhaenyra in an effort, perhaps naïve, to turn back time, "speaking from a distant dream", wanting to run away, and trusting Rhae because she risked her life going to the Sept and because she feels punished by the gods. It's fine if you didn't want it but it is good writing and people were already clocking this since she chose to put her kids at risk rather than kill Rhaenyra. As for being under subjugation, she was under Targ subjugation in KL under her misogynistics sons... Rhaenyra came before, was the first choice, first friend, first love. There's never complete freedom for any woman in Westeros, but she chose Rhaenyra out of her own desire and volition. I think some people just wanted to keep her life meaning and actions tied to her children and...

I did say that my problem with it wasn’t the choices made but how we got there… and I still believe that. It’s lazy writing at best, poor at worst imo

“I’m sorry but even as someone who has gone on record to say that I think the change they made to Rhaenicent was the best, I can’t just let poor execution slide. I don’t even think Alicent having little legion to Aemond or Aegon comes out of nowhere. She has constantly, to a fault, reaffirmed her trust in Rhaenyra.” - directly from my previous anon about how felt about s2

I’ve noticed this since the final ep was released, I hope this doesn’t come off mean bc I appreciate your opinion, but when people push back on the writing. You have a faction of being like “oh, you just don’t understand Alicent.” Nope, I get what they are going for. I just think it’s incorherent writing, and the quotes given by the writers themselves sort of only further prove that to me. People seem to act as if this plot is some sort of revelation or favor to Alicent as a character… when it is not. Not a fan of her arc, or lack thereof in s2 🤷🏽‍♀️.

[siena-sevenwits]

💎

[blujayonthewing]

list of heavily moralizing questions to make my true neutral and deeply exhausted and fucking fed up ranger go berserk and just start tearing out throats

[dozing-hellfire]

yknow what? FUCK you *makes semi-chibi character sheet for Eries*

(close-ups in the read more :3)

I love her with my whole heart

[beechicory]

Argh.