#ive seem so many people say that she does but imo

[doyouevenshipbr0]

top 10 strongest airbenders

this list is tough. we don’t see many airbenders at all throughout the show. but ive ranked all the other elements, so here’s this list now!

let’s go

*gyatso*- i dont want to put a nunber next to his name because i have 0 concrete evidence as to where he would rank. if i had to guess i feel like he’d be 2-3? but i just can’t put him there based off vibes alone lol. with that being said, i still have to give him credit. there is no number 10 lol sorry.

9. bumi- yeah he kinda sucks as an airbender lmao. i loveeeee bumi and to be so honest i really really REALLY wish he had stayed a nonbender. it was such an important part of his character and what made him so interesting. but alas he has to be an airbender. boring lame boo!!!!! but he does do a few cool things. good job bumi.

8. opal- boringggg snoozeeeee. i don’t really like opal. but she airbends which is cool. i dont remember her doing anything significant at all as an airbender though lol. maybe that’s on me because i dont care about her character so i just forgot, but from what i remember she’s a good airbender, just nothing special.

7. kai- kind of a similar situation to opal where he doesn’t seem to be special but i will say i think him and airbending compliment each other very well. he naturally is able to utilize airbending which is honestly reminiscent of aang to me a tiny bit. obviously he’s not on his level at all but the vibes are still there! but yeah other than natural ability he doesn’t have anything else of note imo. it’s kinda like he just plateaus after the timeskip i feel like? idk i shoulve made these lists immediately after my most recent rewatch lol.

6. meelo- hate him HAHAHAHA sorryyyyyyy. his fart stuff is so annoying. however i think its obvious that all of tenzins kids are great airbenders and it comes pretty naturally to them. so yeah all three are excellent he is just the least impressive to me.

5. ikki- i loveeeeeeee ikki omg. but she’s very similar to meelo to me in that she is clearly naturally gifted and practically a master airbender but i don’t remember her doing anything really impressive that would make her any higher. she gets to be higher than meelo because i like her way more and she doesn’t fartbend. congrats ikki!

4. zaheer- im kind of annoyed that he’s this high. like he should not be that good of an airbender but here he is i guess. he gave almost everybodyyyyy a run for their money during his season and was kicking lots of ass. idk why he’s so good, i guess because he was spiritually connected to airbending before he became an airbender, but he definitely is amazing. mf can fly which no one else can do. also the way he killed the earth queen was awesomeeeee! wish more airbenders could be more unhinged. but yeah he can’t be higher bc he lacks a fuck ton of experience.

3. jinora- people argue she’s the best airbender in tlok and ok she mightttt beeeee because of her spiritual abilities, but i do think she lacks some combat skills and experience. with that being said though her spiritual abilities make her insanely op. im just saying like if u average out her impeccable spiritual skills with her just good combat skills, she gets number 3 imo. but she is obviously a master who earns her tattoos at such a young age so that’s why she’s here! also i think in her adulthood she will surpass her dad, but she aint there yet!

2. tenzin- gonna get his con out of the way first, he has little to no spiritual connection. which i dont think is a HUGE detriment but it is a detriment nonetheless and it’s why i also kinda flip flop between him and jinora and who i think is the better airbender. but today, for me, it’s tenzin. what he lacks in spiritual ability he makes for in strength, agility, technique, IQ, skill, utilization, and literally any other feat you could think of. remember when he was making zaheer look like an absolute amateur? that was awesome. yeah he is the best airbender that isn’t an avatar in the whole series.

1. aang- LOLLLL im not following my own rulessss butttttt idc. there arent many airbenders to choose from anyways and for a majority of the first book we really only know aang as an airbender anyway soooo im bending my rules lol. i dont feel any need to give a big fat response. he is not like any airbender we ever see throughout the entire show and it is not even close.

[ursawood]

elden ring dlc final boss spoilers

feel like im going fucking nuts because i like... dont really mind the final boss' lore? the fight is completely busted mechanically and i really did not want to fight radahn ever again, but i really dont get most of the complaints about the story itself.

im honestly surprised at how many people earnestly think they shouldve brought godwyn back as lord consort instead which. im gonna be real. i think thats really fucking stupid LOL. the base game tells you over and over that he is the deadest guy who has ever died. he has a whole questline and ending. his story is over. ive seen a lot of people say that radahn being revived somehow retcons or ignores the stuff in the base game about miquella attempting to revive godwyn, but in my eyes castle sol tells the complete story on its own. miquella didnt want to bring godwyn back to life, he wanted him to die a true death. if anything, he probably would have opted to use godwyn's body instead of mohg's if he hadnt given up.

the argument that radahn wouldn't have made the vow in the first place falls flat to me too. he adores godfrey, why wouldn't he want to become a powerful lord when miquella ascends to godhood? he went back on the vow, but we know miquella influences people's wills so it doesn't seem contradictory that he ends up as lord consort anyway imo

there's stuff linking miquella and radahn in the base game, even if we aren't told explicitly that they were close. sellia, where radahn grew up, is full of miquella's lillies. ordina, a town ostensibly built by miquella for his followers, has architecture identical to sellia. its not super explicit, and you wouldn't be able to come to the conclusion that radahn is fated to be miquella's consort from that, but people have accepted that melina is a daughter of marika based on even less. (or that shes the GEQ or whatever the fuck lol) and, yknow, the whole issue of malenia's crusade against radahn that was never fully explained until now

yeah miquella's plan undermines radahn's honorable death, but i think thats intentional. miquella is selfish. he's a child, he doesnt understand how his actions impact others, and he thinks the potential good outweighs whatever harm he causes. its fucked up by design.

my biggest issue with it is just how hard it sidelines malenia. the crusade wasn't her choice, she marched to caelid solely to deliver a threat on miquella's behalf, gravely injured herself in the process, and now she can't do anything except wait for him to get back. her lack of agency kind of fucking sucks.

anyway. it really annoys me when people act like godwyn was the intended final boss all along and fromsoft just rewrote everything 2 days before launch "to subvert expectations/for fan service". plenty of shit in the dlc feels rushed but this genuinely does feel like they were setting up for radahn the entire time, at least to me. it certainly was never gonna be godwyn lol

[hamartia-grander]

thank you for defending mia! its so exhausting being a fan of her in this fandom. so many people completely disregard her three years of trauma because ethan's one night is more important (and it is! its still trauma! but its totally reasonable for mia not to wanna talk about it imo?) and ignoring that she was being controlled (or that ethan killed her with an axe and then shot her, even if it was self defence). ive seen people say she deserves what happened because she made evie when...evie was made years before mia even joined the company and is a special agent not a researcher/scientist, or that she abuses ethan when the arguments are actually miranda and the flashback seems to imply her frustration is with ethans refusal to move on and let the two of them move forward with their lives or family. and of course ignoring mia sacrificed herself on the ship for ethan! they both need therapy but they love each other, the two arent mutually exclusive. any excuse to hate a woman i guess!

SO SO REAL anon I am kissing your forehead, YES. Also like in the flashback when we see Mia actually trying to talk about it by expressing her care for Ethan and how their and Rose's health matters and when she finally starts to say what she means,,,, Ethan gets a phone call and chooses to take the phone call over listening to Mia :/// "I wish Mia would talk about what happened with me" *ignores her when she does* Like I'm sorry I love Ethan too but c'mon😭😭Fr they both need hella therapy but people forget that Mia's brain was fucked with for an entire three years. That's a shit load worse than anything I could ever imagine, and while Ethan experienced the Bakers for a night, at least he was never mind controlled. Like Mia went through hell and back to keep him safe and people still hate her. It's heartbreaking. And it IS exhausting having to constantly repeat myself in defending her but it's worth it, she's a great character

[liesmyth]

do you see any RJK / artashipatrick parallels? ive been thinking about it a lot lately and wanted to get ur viewpoint

hi hi hi! I actually saw this opinion a couple of times in Ted Lasso fandom, but personally I don't share it. I AM very curious about your reasoning for it because I love looking at ships from different angles and seeing what people take from them.

my tldr is that I don't think RKJ has anything in common with the Challengers trio, beyond the fact that they're about two men ostensively fighting over a girl while also engaging in the kind of simmering homoeroticism that permeates elite men's sport. (this Marylin Frie quote says it better) I get why this can seem a parallel by itself but, to me, it's just a function of both ships being set in a Sports Media canon. When it comes to characters and their dynamics, these ships are built very differently IMO.

relative to each other:

the Challengers trio all start out as peers, both in age and in relative success level of their careers. They're all finalists in the Junior US Open when they meet. RKJ as a dynamic is absolutely hierarchical in comparison: you have Roy being a Legacy kind of Big Name in the sport, Jamie as the talented up-and-comer who idolised him growing up, and while he has promise, there's non guarantee he can come even close to the kind of career Roy's implied to have had. And then there's Keeley, who's absolutely an outsider in their world, and on a systemic level is much lower down the pecking order. I think Ted Lasso, especially in S1 and S2 does a great job giving an overview of, like, how transactional footballers/wags relationships inherently ARE, even to people who aren't already familiar with the context — not just the financial asymmetry and stark difference in career and life prospects but just, like. She's the girl peeking into the changing room and saying, Hi Boys. Jamie makes a joke about oogling her ass because they are both in on the joke that they fulfil a very specific stereotypical relationship dynamic.

Even if on a personal level both Roy and Jamie really respect and admire Keeley, she Does Not Belong in their hyperfocused sport-as-sexually-charged-rivarly world. Art and Patrick want to fuck Tashi first and foremost because she's a tennis phenomenon, they value her athletic abilities and coaching insight. That's a whole completely different dynamic from what's going on between RKJ. Compare Art and Patrick complimenting Tashi's performance at the US Open to Roy and Jamie "fighting over her" in 3x12 where it's all about who she likes more. As someone who actually liked the bar fight because I think it shows a very realistic ugly side to these characters (*) it's just. two men fighting over a girl. vs two athletes being so impressed by someone who is a girl and also a star athlete in her own right.

(*) asterisk because I absolutely loathed so many writing choices in S3, like, even if I like some seeds of plots I hate how they were executed. Oh my god typing this out is making me want to completely AU S3 of TL. anyway; I have beef with the pacing and stuff around that scene but I like the existence of the scene itself.

Keeley and Tashi couldn't be more different

Tashi is just. Her personality is most similar to Roy's, imo. She lives and breathes tennis. She needs to be around that world to live; she struggles to fill the void left with coaching (and living vicariously through Art to an extent). Keeley, meanwhile, makes fun of Roy feeling like the world is ending when he finally admits to himself that he can't go on any longer. Mind, I think that lighthearted "it's not the end of the world" attitude was precisely what Roy needed to hear at that point, because he takes himself too seriously and needed someone to tell him that he can live without football, actually — but the fact that Keeley just Doesn't Get It on a fundamental level, again, marks her as an outsider to the kind of all-encompassing elite athlete attitude Roy and Jamie share. She doesn't even like football! She's occasionally flighty (good for her). She's turning 30 and doesn't know where her life is going (SO valid). She's a completely different personality than the kind of single-minded all-or-nothing attitude you NEED to make it as a pro athlete. Again: her dynamic with the two men who are into her couldn't be any different than Art/Tashi/Patrick, BECAUSE she's a completely different personality. If she was in Challengers, she'd be one of the normie Stamford kids Patrick and Tashi make fun of.

IDK. I think any similarity between Tashi and Keeley starts and ends at "they're both women". Maybe I'm being uncharitable here! I'm someone who thinks that Keeley's portrayal in fanon flattens her a bit (in the way female characters in the periphery of a m/m ship are often put on a pedestal and shoved off the way) so I'm definitely bringing some of my own baggage here; that's why I'd love to know what parallels others see. But I think she and Tashi have very different neuroses. THAT SAID. If I was writing a crossover Ted Lasso / Challengers fic, I really think Tashi/Keeley would be my ship of choice

[bloody-wonder]

omg im the tsc anon, i literally sent it cause i knew from the past aftg opinions you shared - you'd likely feel similarly to the way i did about tsc

neil outshines jean to such a shocking degree when he only has a handful of scenes... neil is a fantastic protagonist so ofc it's hard to live up to, but come on 😭 jean has such a weaker personality imo? he does/says less interesting things, but also has a less interesting perspective on things. his lack of standing up for himself when the trojans badgered him constantly and talked behind his back bothered me to. can u imagine neils reaction if the foxes had been sharing his secrets over a group chat?

but just in general. tsc felt like a sanitised version of aftg, if that makes sense? scrubbed clean of the controversial and unconventional aspects. and it's those aspects that, in my opinion, played a huge part in what made aftg so good. noras a very talented writer, but i can not comprehend the decision to make tsc... all that it was, yknow? it feels almost like it was written for the 'andreil say ily' part of the fandom...

neil really saved this book for me icl. outsider pov of him is fascinating. and while andrew barely said/did anything even when he was there, i actually kinda liked that? it puts into perspective how ig off-putting andrew can appear to those who don't put in the effort with him. 'creepy little goalkeeper' is so funny and so accurate, he IS a creepy little goalkeeper and i love that for him.

idk, some things i had anticipated - the trojans being who they are were never going to match the foxes. jeremy x jean was never going to match andreil (and ive seen ppl comparing them already... the blasphemy.) but there were things i was surprised weren't there. i had expected kevin and jeans relationship to be a lot more tense ig? i had thought jean would harbor a MUCH deeper resentment towards kevin, but i suppose its just not his character? but when i was reading, i couldn't help asking what would the fan reaction had been if that had been the case? if kevin and jeans past relationship, and places in a cult hierarchy, had shown through in a much uglier and uncomfortable way? i can see why she didn't do that, i don't even necessarily want that, i think i was just desperate for this book to have some sort of deep conflict between the characters.

on the subject, kevin felt quite different from how he was in aftg. but i can't quite put my finger on why.

anyway, it is nice to see someone else have mixed feelings towards the book. i enjoyed it, but i was shocked how many people seemed to really love it. not because it was bad. but because, to me, it was so fundamentally different from aftg.

thank you for sharing your thoughts! i suspected you might have written me bc i used to be the resident notorious contrarian of the fandom lol

yeah neil is a textbook example of a protag who drives the plot forward, he has that main character energy which jean totally lacks which makes sense since jean was originally a minor side character. at the same time the differences in their characterization make complete sense in universe due to the different ways they were brought up and the different trauma they faced. so it all comes down to each reader's personal preference: for me, neil's arc is a self-indulgent power fantasy. i think i have a strong sense of self and when i can't achieve something it's due to circumstances so far out of my control it's impossible to overcome them. it's therefore very satisfying to read about neil facing impossible odds and winning thanks to the sheer force of his personality, whereas jean's way of dealing with trauma feels less fun by comparison. but other readers can relate to him more and all the power to them. i do however think tsc does a disservice to its new characters by opening with a rather lengthy recap of how cool the foxes were in the last act of tkm and closing on a chapter where neil comes along and reminds us who the real hero of this story is🤷‍♀️

i don't think tsc has been entirely scrubbed clean of controversial aspects - i saw plenty of reviews complaining about the amount of dark content (in book 4 of a series known for its dark content, le gasp) - but i do think the handling of certain things was less nuanced than in aftg. for instance, both stories have a plot bit about someone unknowingly exposing a character to their abuser which leads to them being retraumatized (jean himself comments on the similarities between drake and grayson). in aftg that someone is nicky - a person andrew knows and trusts, a person the readers grew to care about (lol not me but certainly some other readers) - so his role in the tragic sequence of events is that much more upsetting. rape and abuse is terrible but the fact that a person who means well can exacerbate the issues bc they don't have the framework to understand the other person - that hits so much harder for me personally. so in the end drake is just an evil rapist but nicky is a much more nuanced character bc through him nora questions whether being nice and having good intentions is enough, whose feelings should be centered on in such a complex situation, whose emotional needs should be prioritized etc. by contrast, in tsc that person is lucas - someone we basically just met, who is nothing more than an antagonistic stranger to jean and who we therefore don't care about. which is why when he leads grayson to jean it's like, first of all, duhh. but secondly, bc it happens against the backdrop of the other ("good") trojans' cheerfully patronizing attitude it doesn't come so much as a shocking twist that puts the ways how we deal with complex trauma into an unconventional perspective than as a culmination of everyone disrespecting jean's boundaries all the time - which is likely what nora intended but the overall constellation feels much less interesting to me.

ig this ties into your point about the book lacking the kind of deep conflict aftg had - but maybe that was intentional too, maybe it's supposed to be aftg light in that sense, sort of a post canon character study fic. which i am not opposed to, not everything has to be high plot and tension and grey morality, but unfortunately the emotional core the story relies on in the absence of the plot just didn't work for me. i can accept jean's "weaker" personality, i can understand him not being able to stand up for himself even tho i can't admire it, but i draw the line at how forced his friendship with jeremy and the girls ended up feeling. like, i still can't get over cat's sex toy joke right on the heels of jean being badgered into admitting he had been sexually abused - the info which jeremy promptly spilled to the girls. if something like that happened to me i would never be able to trust these people again, much less call them friends so soon. it's such a bizarre contrast between how neil joining the monsters in tfc despite their problematic initiation rituals feels valid bc the narrative earned it both plot-wise (we're now facing a bigger enemy together) and character-wise (neil pushing back, talking about why they did it, nicky apologizing) on the one hand - and how jean accepting jeremy, cat and laila as his new friends feels rushed and artificial despite them being so very nice and domestic and wholesome on the other hand. idk maybe it's bc i'm inherently skeptical about disingenuous cozy/hopepunk subgenres in modern lit bc they usually have a darker underbelly people are loath to confront but ngl the words sanitized and conventional did come to mind while reading and so did the idea that tsc will especially appeal to a certain subset of fans which found the (at times uncomfortable) complexity of the original trilogy too much to handle. well, i hope they're enjoying their fantasy of healing a survivor of cptsd by cooking and shopping and hugs - i certainly got to enjoy mine in aftg, there's plenty to go around lol

besides, tsc being so different/separate from aftg makes it really easy to just not engage with the fan content and discussions if it starts feeling like they veer into the annoying territory too much. tbh my primary concern when tsc was announced was that it could contain some retcons about andreil and aftg which i wouldn't agree with - and that didn't happen, my boys are still very much in character, so i can just retreat to my enclosure and leave tsc to jean stans who are its main target audience in any case.

[zxal]

howww about a 🔥 for your fav character from each yugioh series youve watched! >:3c

🔥 bakura - people tend to like, woobify him & treat him like he's totally helpless and has no agency or say in what happens to him, and it's not even a ""wrong"" interpretation necessarily i just think it's so........BORING. I reread the manga recently and so many times bakura CHOOSES to put the ring back on even when he doesn't have to and he lies about it and he gets upset and hurt when the others keep it from him. but even after 20 years no one is ready to hear the "more complex than a generic anime sadboy" bakura takes seemingly

🔥 yubel - i'm late enough to the party that there seems to be pretty widespread acceptance of yubel's transgenderism but i still Only ever see people using she/her or they/them. which is like, fine, but why not try something else?? I'm on the no pronouns/name-only bus myself but would also be partial to he/she (yubel is visually half-male half-female, practically split down the middle. bigender king) & even the dub uses he/she/it depending on who yubel is possessing at the time. Throw some neopronouns in there for good measure. Mix it up a little

🔥 kalin - not sure how unpopular this opinion is but i'm sorry this man should NOT be a single father. he's 21 he's suicidal he doesnt know how to fucking cook. king you should not base your entire desire to live on two kids who are realistically only a year or two from screaming "i hate you" at you when you tell them theyre grounded

🔥 vector - i'm not sure ive seen too many vector takes I disagree with actually. usually with a character like this I expect to see people making him regret what he did, apologize for it (blergh) etc. but I've actually seen like, none of that. So shoutout to zexal for being so fucking well written that ppl aren't even mischaracterizing your villain all that much (that I've seen as a latecomer)

🔥 yuri - any take about yuri being misunderstood because he was groomed/manipulated into being evil is really really boring to me. also anyone who looks at yuri like "we need to make him get therapy so he can be Normal" i'm blowing up with my mind. he would not fucking benefit from therapy sorry. he might enjoy fucking with the therapist for a few weeks but then it would get old. ALSO ALSO I'm not a huge fan of the take that yuri and celina would be friends (or more) if circumstances were different. like I think they just dont like each other and that's Fine - the idea that all of the girls need to have the same kind of relationship with their boys as each other does a disservice to each of them as individuals with their own identity imo. THIS ONE GOT LONG SORRY. THINKING MUCH ABOUT HIM.

🔥 jin - much like bakura jin is a character who gets treated quite like shit by canon and fandom alike. given that he has like 2 lines of spoken dialogue there's a lot of room for interpretation, but i feel like most of the (very very scant) jin interpretations I've seen depict him as sort of clueless and naive and vapid, and that is, again, very very boring to me. i think people want him to be ""okay"" because of what he went through but it comes at the cost of absolutely any interesting characterization or meaningful relationships with other characters

[windupaidoneus]

watching people (who notably seem to be white in general from what ive seen) call cahciua abusive & whatnot for "deadnaming erenville" is a bit frustrating bc while he does correct everyone else on his name she is the one person he does not correct at any point in time so she doesnt *know* whether he prefers his name or the name everyone seems to call him. & you could say she could infer it from how everyone else calls him erenville but like. it is not uncommon for people who go abroad to use a different name to better fit in with the language of the country theyre going to especially if the languages have very different phonems. hell i didnt even need to go abroad to get assigned a mandarin name i just had to take a mandarin class bc it genuinely makes introduction sentences so much easier to say rather than switching to your name (& thus language phonems) mid sentence. personally while i love to think erenville is trans bc i love transgenderism i feel like a lot of people miss out on the linguistics approach on this one which reframes how he approaches his name a bit imo. though notably i do not understand why cahciua's friend is corrected twice on his name & she still doesnt respect it. i dislike that a lot more than i do cahciua calling him his birth name when he never tells her to do otherwise

& on another note there could be a dimension of "hes afraid of her bc shes abusive so he doesnt tell her his name" but like... hes clearly a guy. if hes transmasc & is afraid of telling her his trans name TM i feel like hed also be afraid of telling her hes a guy yknow. he would also probably not tell her friend, who at this point in time we'd assume to be in communications w cahciua & thus would very easily be able to tell her they had that conversation. i dont know. as someone w an abusive mother who knows my name & pronouns & does not respect either i just dont think this is an interpretation that makes sense. shes not a perfect mother but i just do not think shes abusive or transphobic like many people seem to want her to be. & on that note kinda weird of the fanbase to get really mad at the two notable women of colour in dawntrail but who am i to remark on that

[lansangprincess]

I need to ask why does Conrad gets so much love but Jeremiah gets treated so badly? Even in the show he's treated like second class like compared to Conrad his feelings don't matter he's also the last to know things similar to Belly. In the show they gave him too many favors taking qualities of Jere and giving them to him to makes him more likable now if they made him like the book he'd be even worse than he's right now I don't know he would still have the same amount of stans though because in the books they're all ride or die for him I always say they don't care about Belly they care about Conrad. Jelly better get endgame anything else won't make any sense to me.

I firmly believe that the only people that hate Jere are ppl that are obsessed with Conrad that feel the need to villainize him to make Con/B-nrad seem better. Like seriously, even if what they all said about Jere was true why do you have ZERO criticisms for Conrad when his mistreatment is so much more apparent and literally canon with the way other characters have talked about it?

And you know what,,, now that i think about it, the love for Conrad over Belly is kinda true too. in general B-nrad fans love Conrad more than they do Belly and want him to get the "happiness he deserves" (which imo he should but not with Belly). I know there are big Jere fans but in my perspective, most of the Jelly fans aren't just in favor of Belly getting with one particular person, it's also that we want her in a loving and happy relationship that she deserves with a partner that treats her like an equal :C

I think it's dumb that the show gave Conrad some Jere qualities. if u had to transfer those traits to make the main love interest more likeable, why is he endgame at all???? (fr ive asked this question a hundred times)

To the book readers: do we know if they gave show Jere some book Conrad qualities?

[aeirithgainsborough]

hi!!!! so i haven't played the game yet (sigh my dad has it but he lost it 😔) but i am very curious about how/if you think the show should adapt part two, given that it feels like such a shift from the morals and themes of part 1 (that the show seems to mostly be sticking to), and if they could make ellie ending up alone feel like a satisfying end (because right now. it absolutely doesn't look like it would be lol) anyways i'd love to hear your thoughts!!! 💗💗💗

oh that’s so easy for me to answer — no, I don’t think they should adapt it LOL. I’m gonna answer this under the cut so ppl who love the game don’t have to read my negativity about it.

It’s the most miserable ending and it’s so gratuitously violent. I slogged my way through it cus I’m autistic and a goblin about my special interests but i was very depressed playing it, i just wanted it to be over, and i wish i could purge it from my brain. i think it’s going to be especially hard for non-players to take tbh. if ppl thought the game was divisive, it’s going to be nothing on how ppl will react to the show imo. i also think it’s gonna be such a waste of the chemistry between pedro and bella.

for me, part 1 was so magical and special because despite the reality of that world and how hard and bleak it is, and what they have to do to survive, there was such joy and hope in it. it was funny at times and touching and full of so much love. for me ultimately that’s what it was - not a story about infected and hunters etc etc, they were bit players in it, but a love story. part 2 was not like that. i know people like to say ‘if you think it was a cautionary tale about revenge you’re not deep enough to get it’ (long way of calling ppl stupid lol) but it was quite literally a narrative neil came up with when he fantasised about murdering ppl in revenge. which says it all really. there’s no magic in it. there’s no joy. ellie’s worst fears are realised, she ends up alone completely. she’s painted as a villain when actually she’s so traumatised and has severe ptsd. ive seen so many comments all over different websites from people saying how much they hate her after part 2. how could they fuck it THAT badly? she deserved better. joel deserved better. and i really do not know how theyd fix that IF they were going to. craig loves part 2 and with neil there too it’s gonna be a beat for beat adaptation. i think it’s also important to note that there’s homophobia and transphobia that really was not necessary to the story in it so stay safe out there yall! also, the straight girl gets a redemption arc she’s a hero and she ends up where she wanted to be, whilst the lesbian (the first lesbian protagonist of an AAA game in fact) is made the villain and ends up alone. i will not be watching. ill be rewatching season 1 over and over, and playing part 1 and left behind, and pretending part 2 does not exist. none of part 2 is how joel and ellie’s story ends for me. if that means i lack nuance, so be it. id rather that than inflict the misery and appalling violence of part 2 on myself LOL. none of it is redeemable to me (apart from the birthday surprise section which i do watch on YouTube over and over haha).

[dogydayz]

ive seen a lot of trans Noelle headcanons and while those are totally valid I've seen some folks say that she /has/ to be trans because she has antlers, so I just wanted to point this specific factoid out to folks because I love animals (Toby knows a lot about animals too it seems, he's based design choices on actual animals and makes many jokes about very specific animal things, like the Pipis, so this design choice was purposeful in that he knows very well that Noelle would have antlers). However, to supplement this, we don't know her mother's design yet, and we've seen Rudy before, and his antlers are actually abnormally small in terms of a reindeer's antlers, so I'm lowkey hoping that Toby pulls a quick one on us and gives her mom some fuck-off massive antlers. People could hc her parents as being trans from that detail, but those design choices could still be entirely biologically possible. However we do have an actual character who is flat-out implied to be trans, the lion barista working at the cafe, who may or may not be the same lion character from Undertale who had wondered if they'd look good in a dress like Mettaton does. They have a very big mane like a male lion, but are referred to as a woman or at least feminine in presentation, so they're either A) a trans lady lion or B) a potentially intersex lioness like the ones we see in the real world, the ones that grow manes and often act more like male lions, yet are interacted with by other lionesses as female lions (and yes, most of them tend to be lesbians lol). Either option is very cool and very interesting imo!

anyway dumb headcanon shit lol

[pelideswhore]

hello! i read ariadne recently and i am very eagerly waiting for any new updates you may have!! i personally liked most of the book (but take that lightly because i enjoy just about anything i read, im v easy to please lmao. also ive been Obsessed with theseus and the minotaur and will happily consume any content about them or the people they are involved with) but i will admit. hated theseus. didnt like his or just about any of the men in that book's characterizations. so i would love to hear your own thoughts on them + the ending once you reach it!

hi anon!! i received this ask a while back but wanted to leave it for later since at the time the only male characters were theseus and minos. and now i have read the ending so i can comment on that as well!! spoilers undercut

i hated the depiction of ALL men in this book. i can absolutely get behind minos and theseus being antagonists, because of course, to ariadne, they were. what i do not understand is why jennifer saint took away any goodness and any motivation they might have had.

minos does to athens what he does because he lost his beloved son to them, but jennifer saint explicitly says that he does not care about his son. in my opinion, keeping that love and grief for his son would’ve not only given him a good motivation but it could’ve made a great point about how much more minos cares about his son than he cares about his daughter.

as for theseus, i do hate mythological theseus, but again, she takes away any sort of motivation he might have had. she made him outright cruel when imo he’s just a shitty person. because of this his reaction to phaedras suicide also seems so incredibly out of character? she’s just shooting herself in the foot atp

as for the other men, i liked deucalion and daedalus, but they get practically no screen time. i didn’t care too much about hippolytus and dionysos wasn’t too bad himself, but i did hate seeing him through ariadnes eyes. she’s very black and white about everything so she’s either looking at him completely through rose-coloured lenses or she absolutely hates his guts, when in reality, he’s just a god. he hadn’t done anything too bad. even the sacrifice, which we’re supposed to see as this life changing event is literally just a sacrifice. it’s a goat.

perseus also gets practically no screen time but from what we see/hear about him, i don’t like the portrayal. i say a little more about this in the upcoming full review.

this leads us to the ending, which i absolutely hated. it’s just so out of pocket and random and merges so many bad things about the book together. perseus’ character, hera’s villainization, the medusa myth, ariadnes mood swings and just to top it off, it’s completely out of nowhere? the entire fourth part of the book was completely unnecessary (as were many other parts but oh well)

[ninas-gf]

since i saw that two nickels post of urs earlier... how about eula + sara and 🪀✨🎃📢🧨🔔?

ok this is going under the cut since it might end up being a long one 😵‍💫

eula

silly headcanon: this isn’t exactly a headcanon but just imagine how many times she’s probably lost that headband as she was gliding around mondstadt… she’s constantly doing reconnaissance in the middle of nowhere, i wouldn’t be surprised if she had that thing superglued to her head

a ship i like with this character: well, it’s in the url jshsjksh i also like her with amber though

something i think they're afraid of: not being strong enough to protect the ones she cares about… i know that’s a common fear for warrior-type characters but i don’t think she has many fears

favorite thing about them in canon: everything and i’m not even kidding there is something about her personality that is so interesting to me and so fun to think about and i don’t think i’ll ever be able to put it into words

least favorite thing about them in canon: hmm if i had to say something, probably her voice line about barbara, i think that one’s a little mean even for her 😭

unpopular opinion: oh dear lord i’m sure i have too many of these 😵‍💫 so i’ll just go with a take that seems to be unpopular with her fans and that is: i don’t *fully* blame the citizens in mondstadt for her situation (i think it’s actually really complicated and i could go off on a whole tangent about it…)

sara

silly headcanon: if itto challenged her to an onikabuto fight, she’d win. i think she’d be great at the strategic aspect of any game that itto would play against her in, but the idea of her beating him at his own game is too funny to me

a ship i like with this character: i probably ship her with about 4-5 different characters atp… but kokosara was the first genshin ship i got legitimately attached to. ive definitely grown apart from it over time though

something i think they're afraid of: the possibility of disappointing the shogun, even in a minor way.

favorite thing about them in canon: everything she does to fix inazuma after the war… you can tell that she genuinely feels bad for people like kazuha who were affected, and unlike many people in the tri-commission who only care about maintaining their clan’s power, she is truly trying to be as helpful to everyone as possible

least favorite thing about them in canon: the fact that she doesn’t have a hangout event 😔

unpopular opinion: all of her major ships (even the ones i don’t personally like) are very viable imo… like i can see why people would like them even if they aren’t all for me

[pwnyta]

Genshin character Judgement after all these years of playing. I will judge looks, personality, and say my favorite voice! Starting with 4-stars, alphabetical order.

(under the cut)

AMBER!

Still one of my favorite designs. The distribution of red/brown/white is really nice and well balanced. The rabbit theme is subtle but very cute. Her personality is adorable... I miss her. I MISS YOU AMBER.

Honestly all her voices are pretty similar and I dont really have a preference. Theyre all pretty good!

Barbara! ITS NOT HER FAULT... ITS NOT HER FAULT. Shes the first of a long line of blonde & blue characters.... Since she was the first(/one of the firsts) I wont be so harsh on her. She is very cute design wise. She makes me miss Milk Cookie... I do find her personality a little grating... or I just cant stand the 'GO BARBARA GO!' IDK. LOL Shes a good girl. I dont hate her. Despite my lukewarm take on her personality there is no other character that I feel MORE protective of IN GAME. I hate that she has stalkers and NO ONE IN GAME IS CONCERNED ABOUT IT. Venti excuses it, the nuns dismiss it, not even her sister seems to care... it drives me fucking NUTS.

Voice... Id say either CN or JP are the best but theyre all pretty cute. Some people say her old EN voice was better and those people are wrong.

BEIDOU- My beloved. Shes beautiful. Its hard to miss with black/red and the purplish shading of the reds is really nice too. I think she does sexy in a fun way. Her personality is the same. Shes a ton of fun and tough and adorable. I wish she was used more in the story.. shes a fricken pirate! How has she not been used for a summer event after all this time... Such a missed opportunity!

Her EN and JP voices clear.

God what a mess. Oh Bennett. That sweat-stained colored shirt grosses me out and he looks like a reject Kingdom Hearts character. I think some tweaks to her color palate would help him a lot. Personality is a bit rough too. Though I gotta say... its sorta similar to Barbara... where I feel protective of him although I find him kind of annoying. Please be nice to him. Hes one of the few characters that even I think hes like 12.

CN voice is best IMO. hes also sounds 12. LMAO PLEASE BE NICE TO HIM.

...Candace is so pretty. I remember seeing the leaks for her and being like SHES NOT A 5 STAR?! THE FUCK?! I wish she was. I wish she was more useful at least theres so many fuckin Hydro characters... The only complaint I have for her character is I wish she had darker skin. Ive seen a mod with her where she has darker skin and all her colors look so fucking good... Her personality is also TOP TIER. Her soft dommy-mommy thing was WILD to witness OMG her and Dehya... Shes so sweet... I love her so much. ;0; The only voice Im not THAT fond of is the JP voice. I think it stands out badly from the rest... CN is my favorite. The soft spoken tone is PERFECT.

I actually like Charlottes look... except for detached sleeves. It wouldnt be bad if this was a fucking design trope we see over & over on Genshin girls so its kinda unfair to judge Charlotte for it but IM GOING TO. TBF tho... Im not actually bothered by the pink/red which is my least favorite color combo. I think the red is purple-y enough to not make the colors clash as much. Her personality is fine. Im certainly not the biggest or smallest fan of her. Shes just fine.

Her EN voice is best for me. Her other voices sound SUPER young and I dont think fit her character. (they are cute tho)

Chevreuses design is crazy... shes one of the designs where its clearly sexy over practical and I just think its a bad look for her. IDKY (yes I do) HYV is so resistant to giving female characters PANTS but she'd look better with pants. Also the detached sleeves on this design is one of the MOST egregious. Her purple hair on this is also kinda wacky. PICK A STRUGGLE BITCH. her personality on the other hand... Phenomenal. I really liked the story we went through with her. Hers is the only blue life that matters.

I dont mind any of her voices either! Good job ladies!

Chongyun!!! Chongyun is my lil man and I love him so much. I know hes in his late teens/early 20s but hes my BABY and I love him very much. I really like his design even though Im not sure what is going on with his pants like where things connect... but the colors are nice (even if blue) and... YEAH. LOVE HIM. His personality is super cute. HE IS BABY.

I like his EN and CN voices best. His JP and KN voices sound a little too energetic for him.

Collei is great. I was really excited to see her in the leaks for Sumeru because Ive seen her in the comics. I mostly like the design they chose for her.... detached sleeves aside. I really like the woody color palate I like the references to Amber, I love the purple eyes against the greens of her hair and scarf thing....GOOD STUFF. her personality is fine too! No complaints here! Shes got big LIL GUY energy and I love her.

Her CN voice is by far my favorite. Her EN voice is super squeaky... I dont hate it but its probably my least favorite.

I used to hate Diona... I hate tsundere characters... HOWEVER when you max her friendship she says something that made me cry a little and that line was also incorporated into a limited event which was really good... anyways long story short shes MY daughter now. I love her design too. Shes very cute. I kinda wish her shirt was just white instead of the pink but I dont hate it.

I like all her voices. They all have a very similar tone! I think Dionas EN VA does the little girl voice a bit better than other EN little girl voices.

Unpopular opinion I guess but I like Doris design I get that her being an offensive greedy merchant stereotype might be annoying but I dont think shes the worst character I genuinely dont understand the intense vitriol against her. Criticism is well deserved but her design is SO mild. I love her glasses and color palate. Personality... MEH. We havent really seen much of her in story I feel like... she's a bit one note ATM. She definitely could use a hang-out to flesh her out some more. Shes fun when shes being played tho..

I like her EN voice the most I guess. But I have no strong feelings for any of them. I do like how quickly the CN VA talks tho... at least in the little clip I listened to.

Miku from WISH ass design. I sorta like elements to Faruzans design but it all feels kinda like a first draft. I completely accepted that I wasnt going to like her character in the slightest... but then in her hang out... she was really cute. Shes annoying in a funny way like Fish & Mona. LMAO

I like her EN voice the most! She sounds so dramatic and snooty it makes me laugh.

MY FISHY! I hated Fischl for so long... what a waste of time. It was the 2nd Summer event that made me change my mind on her. I WAS WRONG. OK. Sometimes even I make mistakes... shes IS annoying... but its in a funny way. Her design tho I hate. Why on earth Fish wasnt one of the Mondstadt characters to get a censor outfit baffles me to this day. JEAN got one but FISH didnt? OK... but at least she got a costume soon after (maybe thats why?) Anyways... Love her.

I dont have to even listen to the VAs... i know EN is my favorite. But I did listen to them anyways... I actually really LOVE KN Fishs voice... just not for Fish.

I can never like Frems design as much as I should because I saw his concept designs and they were MUCH better. That said... I guess its fine. I would prefer him be the ginger shark boy tho instead of A genderbent Barbara + Xingqiu. but god forbid HYV make an interesting design. His personality is very cute tho... he was saved by that Penguin event for me TBH LMAO... the way I fuckin SOBBED. Why did they do that... I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THEY WENT THAT HARD.

All of Freminets voices are really good and very similar. if I had to pick my fav... KN and CN... I guess by a smidge.

Like Frem... GaMing had concept design leaks that were SO much more interesting than what we got. I was particularly interested in the bald one and I liked the bobcat outfit design... but I do prefer the colors they used in this design. His personality & hood hard carries him...

Im fine with all of Gas voices. En and KN are probably the best for him IMO.

Gorou is a lil buddy character. hes very appropriately good dog coded and I love him. He kinda reminds me of one character Tokyo Afterschool Summoners who was a anthro dog who was very proper but would act like a dog if prompted and then get embarrassed (like if you said 'paw' he would instinctually offer his hand)... Gorou kinda reminds me of that. A proper fella who doesnt realize how puppy he is. hes a good boy. His design is pretty good too. hes is probably the most... ero'd male character in the game its pretty funny. RIP buddy.

His JP voice is probably my favorite because it is so fucking funny. It sounds so deep and manly and proper... I think it fits his personality perfectly. All but KN are good tho... why'd KN go with such a baby voice for him I have no idea...

I LOVE all the colors of Heizous design just not together. I hate that Maroon with the mustard yellow... i really wish he had dark brown hair or even maybe a desaturated orange... IDK man... Also im just not connected to his character in the slightest... and he has a hangout. thats crazy.

All his voices are kinda weird for me... IDK what im supposed to get from any of them they all sound so different. EN sounds kinda shady (the way he speaks kinda reminds me of Kaeya when hes being a cheeky bitch), CN sounds a bit more sincere, JP sounds really young, KN is... just crazy... IDK what they were doing there.

...Oh Kaeya. My babygirl. I feel like anyone who liked Tony Stark would like Kaeya. hes got that saucy yet tragic air to him that makes him pretty misunderstood to people who dont know him well/dont care to know him. BUT I LOVE HIM. I cant wait to learn more about him... His design is one of my favorites too... and I didnt think Id like a costume on him but his costume is even prettier.

His EN voice is definitely my favorite. Honestly a lot of the KN voices sound so drastically different from the others it makes me wonder wtf they were thinking. Kaeyas KN voice is crazy.

Design-wise Im not that bothered by Kaveh but his personality irritates the fuck outta me. Hes definitely one of my least favorite characters in game. His only shining moment for me was when he was nice to Cyno and gave him the card he won. Im so glad his kit sucks so I dont ever have to use him.

All his voices are kinda the same vibe and I dont hate any of them.

Kiraras base design is SO ASS. Like Chev, her design is very sexy at the expense of design... but at least her personality is great and she recently got a phenomenal costume(even tho it looks very similar to Navias outfit... but if you could look more like Navia wouldnt you want to?). Anyways. Shes very cute.

Again I like all her voices except the KN... whyd KN make her sound so young... she sounds like a baby. She actually sounds a lot like Diona... except MORE baby. LMAO???

OOOH Layla. Babygirl. Im actually not bothered much by the detached sleeve look here since I guess she doesnt really have a top that the sleeves look like theyre supposed to be attached to... but its still like that same design trope... shes also blue THAT SAID. I really like her design overall. I just wish she had a different color. Im so sick of blue...

I actually really like ALL her voices... but this bitch talks so damn slowly... VAMONOS BITCH. I have shit to do!!!! You are very cute tho. If I had to pic a fav.... surprisingly? KN.

Lisa Lisa Lisa... ara ara ass bitch. Lisa is actually great. I love her. Her personality is way more grounded than I wouldve expected early on and I think they played it safe at the start of the game with characters... I think if she was introd later she might have been more like Yae. LOL but shes great. I like her design... although this blue-purple is probably my least favorite shade of purple in the world.

All her voices are great.... but CN is my favorite.

Attached sleeves? In this economy? Shout out to Lynette. Shes very cute. I really like how simple and practical her outfit looks compared to most female characters in this game. Its still kinda sexy but tasteful! I really like her simple boots. Kinda wish she wasnt blue tho... BUT I dont mind it as an accent on the main black. her personality is also great. ... her backstory is deranged... please be nice to her HYV wtf.

I like all her voices... but I dont think her EN voice is good for Lynette specifically. I prefer the more monotone soft-spoken sound of the others.

UGh... Mika.

UGH.

Only his JP voice is ok with me. UGH....

THANK GOD NINGGUANG. Hey beautiful girl.... I love everything about Ning. Shes so gorgeous. I love her personality. I love that she employs the kids in Liyue to keep an ear out for gossip and report back to her, I love her silly relationship with Beidou where they both sorta think the other thinks theyre shady and kinda acts defensively about it... goofy ass bitches. I LOVE HER (I LOVE THEM. Lantern Rite 2 cutscene you will always be famous.)

My favorite voice for her... KN!!! LETS GO KN. I also really like her EN voice when shes speaking normally but a lot of like attack lines and stuff sound kinda off.

Ah the babiest girl. Noelle... Why shes not a knight yet is DIABOLICAL work from the KoF. Theyre praying for her downfall. I know this. Mondstadt is corrupt and they cant have someone like Noelle in the ranks. I think her design is mostly good but the lack of petticoats makes her dress look so flimsy and weird.

I like her EN and Kn voices! Her JP and CN voices sound too young to me. EN also sounds kinda stiff but I do think its a character choice instead of a weird VA. Its suits her.

I think Razors design is a bit off but personality is great. Hes such a good boy... I hope we get to see more of him in the future but yeah i dont have much to say about him other than he is baby.

JP is my favorite voice for him. I actually cant stand his EN voice... I get what they were trying to do but it sounds TOO much like Tarzan but also goofy... and maybe im not bothered as much by the others since IDK the languages... this is similar to how I feel about child voices being done by adult women. Like I know what a child sounds like in English so when I hear that baby voice it just sounds like an adult doing a baby voice and thats so irritating to me.

I have some issues with Rosarias design (detached sleeves)but overall I like it. I like the uncensored version better. I also like her corpsy skin tone. I wish we got more on her character but considering her connection to Varka we'll probably have to wait till then to get more into her life then. Ah well.

Her KN voice is my favorite! but I dont mind any of them.

I was so excited for Sara when I saw the leaks. Her design is so good (detached sleeves aside) but getting to know her in story was so forgettable. It kinda reminds me of Dori where its like... ??? ok. Fingers crossed for a hangout event for her that fleshes her out a bit more.

I also dont like her EN voice much. All the others are great tho.

Sayu is a cutie pie and I love her. I think she looks a little goofy but since shes a baby its fine. her personality is very cute and Enjoyed her hangout event! her and Layla should have a sleepy-off. Who is the SLEEPIEST. We shall find out!

All her voices are good but CN is my favorite.

PART 1 done!

[burkhaart]

ok i finished that t9s "part" or whatever last night and i did watch the entire thing while high so dont ask for much but one thing about me i WILL have opinions SO i will say the show is just not good and it isnt just the writing like many claim. the acting isnt there, the chemistry isnt there, the line deliveries are all terrible. and even the og cast isnt doing a good job if im being fr (could indicate it is in fact just the script that's the issue but i just cannot sit here and pretend i think the new leads are strong enough actors REGARDLESS)

jay and leia have the chemistry of two rocks. i think leia is a character with potential, i can see they are trying to make a mix of eric and donna, i think my main issue is the acting. having a redemption arc for jay without even showing us what he's being redeemed for is boring as hell. yes you told me a million times he was a player. i didnt get to see it though. so this redemption does nothing for me

i think people are underestimating just how much the acting is hurting this show. i dont necessarily think t7s is a show with good writing but i can assure you i will have fun lol. and the acting was excellent like at least 95% of the time... at the very least....

jay and nate are the best characters and the only two decent actors but can you really compare them to say kelso and fez? i dont care if you people dont like kelso and fez as characters, the acting was good, the body language was good and their chemistry was good.

i think nikki and nate are an interesting dynamic there's lots of potential there, again, not trying to be rude but the actress doesnt really sell it though.

gwen has to be a lesbian like i cannot read this girl as straight im sorry. i do love the character but i dont think the actress is selling it either🙈 less comparing her to hyde (she's too put together imo!) and more comparing her to fez (straight?)

ozzie is like a gay stereotype but i dont necessarily think that's a bad thing? like if they want to have a character be unapologetically gay that's cool, my main issue is again, the acting. ALTHOUGH ive heard this actor is particularly young so i feel extra bad saying it lol.

as for the adults. red and kitty both seem very odd to me, kitty is TOO crazy and red is too.... all talk no action. however i try to rationalize both because i think people start changing when they age, your crazy grandma does get crazier and your grandpa will probably be nicer to you than he was to your dad. but idk if this is enough of an explanation lol

first half had no plot but it picked up on the second half with shenanigans such as the shoplifting, the unplanned party, that kind of thing

which brings me to another point. this type of show doesnt work in under 20 episodes. this is a sitcom you NEED filler. give it AT LEAST 20 episodes or you're doomed to fail im sorry. i'd say 25 is a perfect number but let's aim lower baby (expectations on the ground)

the tone is completely different to t7s, i feel like t7s has very crude humor and sometimes i would even call it dark comedy. t9s is how many people have pointed out before, too disney channel, with the shocking contrast of characters talking about sex alcohol and drugs. which just makes for a weird experience lol

there's lots of jokes thrown in there that feel SO t7s. but like i said before, everything inbetween is so disney channel, it's a very odd contrast and the acting isnt good so the jokes are funny and all, but very out of place. and it's like. trying to eat just the marshamellos out of your cereal..... like.... you gotta get through a lot of boring to get to that one fun thing

the timeline doesnt make any sense and also it ruins canon even more, but i have chosen to ignore this as canon like this just doesnt exist. i always say i havent watched s8 and dont count it as canon, so no obviously t9s is not canon for me either, im literally just bored out of my mind lol

did it improve from last season? yes, it just wasnt enough. and like i said, we're looking for gorgeous not cute!

[dappersautismcreature]

just finished fallout the show but holy shittt dude i havent watched a show this good in a whiiile. part of it could probably be contributed to the excellent video games and the worldbuilding already laid out for it but holy shit holy shit.

SPOILERS

i was convinced i didnt like maximus but no i was just falling for cleverly set up twists and some things were predictable yes but sometimes theyd just do something that felt SO right. and the characterization?? excellent. the tone? incredible and unique.

normally with these split POV shows i get bored of a POV but that didnt really happen. and normally i get frustrated with the political aspects (not because i think its 'too political' or whatever just because i have that good ol fashion autistic strong sense of justice and i want to punch characters) but there was enough nuance and characters that i could relate to on a moral level that i didnt feel as frustrated.

its really interesting because in my polysci 101 class we just learned about the Federalist papers and one of Madison's talks about interest groups in politics (lobbyist groups essentially) and saying that yes groups like these can be detrimental to political liberty but restricting the freedom of all groups would lead to a worse detriment to personal liberty and free speech.

Hank's (fuck u hank) whole deal was getting rid of factions but his ideas were flawed because he created a greater detriment to health and liberty than factions do, he created another faction (dumb bitch)

gore is not really my thing and ill admit this was a hard watch for me (close to Invincible levels imo and i cannot bring myself to watch Invincible again) but it was manageable and felt like it matched the tone

and the tone, ive never seen anything like it, i mean i havent watched like every show in existence but it feels really unique. my favorite aspec t of a lot of sci fi is what i call "confident ridiculousness" which yes can be grating and land badly sometimes but this felt like seasoning on a dish, just enough and not too much. They managed to keep serious and emotional moments while still having those moments where you can feel the comedic exasperation.

and the charactersssss, like i said i usually get bored of a POV but all of these characters were different and interesting.

Maximus most of all because i fell for the idea of him hurting Dane. I always kept that bit of doubt in my mind but as things progressed and Maximus did more desperate things i thought i would hate him by the seasons end. but no, looking back with the knowledge that he didnt hurt Dane everything he did really just seemed like instinct and self preservation not malicious intent. sure you can say he did bad things and hurt people but thats the point of the show. i like him maybe the most out of all the MCs but its a hard choice.

Lucy was great too! as a transmasc guy i sometimes feel dysphoric for relating to a femme character (my bad sorry im fighting my internalized misogyny) but she was so relatable and amazing. sometimes Lucy's (brown haired skinny white woman PC) can be generic and flavorless in terms of character traits but I liked her almost instantly. She is so smart. a lot of characters that start out naive stay very naive and thats seen as like, a strength of character but I personally love that she does change and is still mostly able to defend her values. She makes mistakes due to that naivety but to me at least, remains relatable and smart when she learns from those. she feels like a full character, which you dont see very often in the archetype thats supposed to be your self insert.

And the Ghoul, intensely complicated and interesting. I flipped back and forth so many times on whether i liked or hated him. Again i know thats the point but still! i will admit im a sucker for his type of character but the show still had me gritting my teeth over his actions. he is not a good person, of course, but seeing him grapple with what he used to be is so cool and i really liked his story.

im running out of descriptions but im really impressed with the writing and the acting. the main three actors were all perfect and im hoping for a season two.

i could talk more but again, running out of words lmao.