#like adaptations dont even need to be exactly like the original but not go the opposite direction??

[girlthingdecay]

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[crow-ur-beloved]

various jrwi headcanons because the worms in my brain (potential autism) wont shut up. no real plot spoilers except for one, but its marked :]

the suckening:

shilo is like vampire immunocompromised, which added to the pile of reasons his mom used to keep him inside the castle because she didnt want him to immediately get 37 different diseases and Die. (if vampires can have allergies then id like to think they can also get sick. i dont actually know if thats possible in the vtm system but i dont care they can in my heart)

genderfuck/genderpunk afab emizel. i feel like thats the only label he'd use, if he had to have one. i dont think hed label his sexuality because he wants to be an enigma. but he Definitely likes men.

bizley said in the qna something that can Only let me think of shilo as aromantic. maybe aro And ace... i dont remember what he said exactly aughhgh i wish i did...

shilo fidgets with his hands like all the time. his mother and uncle tried to get him to stop and sit still because it wasnt very princely and whatnot but my boy needs a fidget toy. i think hed go craaaazy with an infinity cube

i feel like me saying arthur bennett is a bisexual doesnt even count as a headcanon like i think thats just a given. i feel like itd be more surprising if i said i thought he was straight. all beautiful beautiful vampire men have to be lgbtq. its the law actually

arthur never officially broke up with mary. mans just Left one day without warning. probably left a note that said "sorry. -arthur" on it. i doubt he had it in him to say goodbye to her face or his reasoning for it (he thought hed inevitably hurt her because of what he is and what he did to the people he loved in the past, because bad luck seems to follow him everywhere... oughh he makes me ill). he definitely used finding a new lead on anya somewhere else in the country as a good reason to dip. at least, as good a reason as it couldve been for him.

maybe controversial but i 100% think arthur and magnus had a one-night stand at the beginning of their relationship, before magnus met jerome, and they never talked about it again and pretend it never happened. cannot explain how real this is to me.

riptide:

ftm chip who 100% innately knew he was a dude since the moment he could think. like when the black rose pirates picked him up, he got confused when they started referring to him as a girl at first. probably never got The Talk from them, so was Very confused when he hit puberty. Reuben reluctantly helped him steal to pay for top surgery.

since tritons live at the bottom of the ocean, they would have eyes that are far more sensitive to light to allow them to see better since little light gets all the way down there. gillion was Immediately blinded by the sun when he surfaced and still gets headaches from how bright it is in the oversea, but they've gotten better the longer he's been up there. tritons are built to adapt to all kinds of conditions, so his eyes have slowly been getting a darker bluish-purple the longer he spends above the ocean; they were originally more of a light blue-grey.

in tandem with the last one, chip thinks hes either going crazy or a bad friend because he Swears gill's eyecolor is different than last week but how could that be possible, thats not just something he can do, right? why would he be able to do that???

if gillion gets knocked onto his back without warning he does that thing that sharks do where they get paralyzed for a bit when they get flipped upside down. its scary because he can see everything but cant do anything. he also definitely forgot to tell chip and jay about this fact and scared the Shit out of them the first time it happened around them.

gillion can also change his sex like some fish can. its the reason he can lay eggs. i think this makes it safe to say genderfluid/nonbinary/generally trans gillion tidestrider is highly possible and even probable in this headcanon. what im saying is t4t fish n chips.

not to headcanon all my favs as trans but i cant help it. it is the highest honor i can bestow upon them. anyways. mtf jay ferin. ava always knew and was the first person jay came out to. jay was also 100% named jayson after her father and went by jay most of her life anyway as a nickname and just decided to stick with it instead of picking anything else. may was always very openly-supportive of her. jayson was as supportive as a generally strict, overbearing, unsupportive-in-everything father can be. jay totally came out to him and the first thing he said to her was something like, "as long as it doesnt interfere with your navy training," and may promptly kicked him under the table and made him say something nice.

kiras trans too btw. she came out before jay and helped jay discover she was trans. and that she liked women.

(spoilers for 109 and beyond) chip can't entirely remember what he looks like. everytime he focuses on the illusion of hiding that hes practically just a skeleton now, it changes just a bit. freckles in the wrong places, the wrong shade of orange for his flame tattoos, too much light in his eyes, too much muscle on his arms. jay notices it but cant bring herself to say anything. she knows the illusion is meant to keep everyone from worrying, but, everytime she sees something off about it, she just remembers what he really looks like underneath, and that somehow feels worse.

blood in the bayou:

all these bitches gay as hell. kian is pan. rands got a lot of internalized homophobia. rolan probably too. its the 80s, man.

apotheosis (haven't finished it yet so idk how true these'll be lol):

agender rumi. godbless.

also rumis a theater kid. he got the lead in every musical he auditioned for because he could literally just shapeshift. theyd make up a new identity and appearance for every role and get to know everyone on the cast and then mysteriously drop off the face of the planet as that person when the production was over and nobody would know it was them.

peter has actually tried All Kinds of things. weed. yoga. multilevel marketing schemes. you name it, big chance hes done it at least once and didnt like it. he doesnt know how he ends up in the situations to try it, either.

[dkmbookworm]

Oh my god so this topic exactly is why I dont see diomedes fitting in with epic. Like im a HUGE fan of him (and odypendio) and I could see him being in Ithaca in some post-canon even in the epic canon but he is just not A Character in Epic to be encluded in ody's time in the trojan war as as close as he is in the source material yaknow

Oh definitely. I think it’s fun when I see works include diomedes in a future/post-canon fic or comic. But Jorge is trying to keep his story self/contained to the odyssey itself because it creates a clearer storyline to work with

Most people have read the odyssey in hs and have a decent understanding of its plot, but by composition the Illiad wasn’t covered as much outside of notes (at least in my school’s case). He already has to juggle a lot of characters and storylines and musical themes and motifs, so this just makes it easier for him as an indie creator + he is retelling his story to get the theme he wants across most.

It’s why he has been explicitly clear that epic cannot be supplemental material over reading the odyssey. You will fail, he took creative liberties for his retelling. To say the least about translating a character for a modern audience within the setting itself

Just think of how much it takes in terms of the set up to have a character who opens the story with killing a baby. And still walk out of it sympathetic after that. We have an entire trope around “wouldn’t hurt a child” for villain character and Odysseus explicitly goes against this. Because we have the set up that he is being faced with trolley problems throughout his journey “the blood on your hands is something you won’t lose, all you can choose is whose”. Violence is inescapable in this world and you have to make a decision about whose blood is going to be spilt, your own or someone else’s.

But this kind of falls apart if you consider the original illiad as canon to this and see what ody was during the actual war. He was already ruthless, downright cruel at times. And this has been memed on plenty in cases where diomedes comes back into the story to recount what they did together in the war. If the illiad was adapted, any idea of what happens specifically has to come from Jorge as this is his version of Odysseus and would need to fit into his storyline/character progression for him.

The death of Iphigenia, abandoning Philoctetes, enslaving Hecuba, etc. All these things contradict actions/decisions Odysseus takes in the story and it makes sense to leave them out in this context.

[walnutcookie]

Infodump on your AUs where Langue has multiple siblings, NOW!

AH !!!!! SALUTES. SIR YES SIR !! (TYSM FOR THIS ASK ANON AUUUAEUAUUEUEUEHEE<33 I WASNT EXPECTING ANYONE TO ASK ME ABT THIS /POS ...)

okay so. i shall go au by au

Bredele de Cassonade AU

This one is,, not really an au of mine?? I guess just my friends fanon FHSDKFDK for context bredele de cassonade (or just dele for short) is langue de chats sibling who is owned by @/localhypnofruit!!! zey were originally created and designed by me for an au where langue wasnt born (name will not be mentioned for Reasons) though we loved the goober a bit too much X] Socks has taken ownership and developed deles personality and such, while i adore them i prefer to keep langue as an only child in my own headcanon universe because i feel like it works really well for their character. ALTHOUGH me and socks still enjoy discussing the two,, In short dele looks up to langue since they appear very intelligent and confident and strong but in reality langue is a jealous little fuck who just sees dele as competition and just lies to his face because they can and it makes them feel like theyre better than zem. Langue is a lawyer while dele is a doctor (stereotypical Big Boy jobs) and they are disgusted by deles entire career because they have a weak stomach and cant stand gore of any kind and again they feel like they need to out-perform dele and be better than zem in every way HFSDJF

I dont think that the original Dele au really counts so i wont give it a section but its worth an honorable mention!! They technically arent siblings since langue was never born and thus dele basically replaced them (which of course comes with a LOOT of bitter feelings and EXTREME jealousy) and not even their parents know who they are,, so. Technically siblings but not exactly

Xylitol Langue AU

This was another au me and socks talked about :] well. it was more of a Concept actually we didnt do much with it HFSDJHFSDKJ in short (from my memory) Langue is an alien from planet xylitol who gets sent to earthbread to learn more about it and ends up being adopted by deles family aka their canonical parents. Struggles to adapt and is very homesick but i think they grow very close with dele.? i dont remember and i dont feel like checking so um. hi army if youre reading this sorry if i got it wrong HELP

BNB AU

This is. You guessed it. another au with langue and dele YAAAY!!! thats actually 90% of these aus but they all have very different relationships which is why im still listing them HFJSDHJF in this one langue trains and studies as hard as they can to become a magical (magical girl gender neutral) and then becomes a kingdom-wide celebrity and completely forgets about their family because they are so blinded by their stardom. Sad ! dele misses them dearly </3

Molasses AU

Another langue and dele au <3 in this one their parents ended up dying when they were Very young so they were adopted by one of their parents siblings named molasses,, who is very neglectful. Literally does not care one ounce about these kids and yet still gets pity from the rest of their extended family because he took in the poor little orphan siblings. Langue and dele become very VERY close, literally inseparable and as self-reliant as they can be. langue is confident and Loud enough to speak up for both of them "excuse me they asked for NO pickles" while dele is more emotional and physical support :] since dele is quite quiet and langue sucks at comfort and care. Basically the second they can they get out of molasses' house and move in with each other and langue sues his ass the SECOND they can FHDFHDS the two of them still end up struggling a lot though </3 Langue is still very tough on dele but more in a caring way than just an Im Better Than You way

Choco Family AU

this is SHOCKINGLY not a dele au!! This one is about langue being adopted into the Choco B family (choco bar, choco ball, my oc choco bass and @/vnillatree's oc choco bark :]) Theyre the one Chill One and then their siblings are energetic and athletic and very VERY rough they keep ending up in wrestling matches when they never wanted to wrestle in the first place. Torture langue simulator. Family of annoying athletes and their one nerdy sibling

TYSM AGAIN FOR THIS ASK <333 I appreciate it so much i love being asked things randomly.. The best...... I have more aus but this is all ill list for now hehehe

[akkivee]

i was going to type out a huge post about the stage since i snuck in one last full watch before it went away but tumblr killed my post as i was making it and i don’t feel like making another one lol

so new encounter thoughts: clifnotes version!!!!! it’s fitting bc that’s what this stage was anyway lol

i enjoyed myself!!!!! i wasn’t disappointed by any performances, tho since i was ride or die for akira ichiro and ayukawa jakurai, i felt those losses keenly lol. i was also surprised how much i felt like i was missing aramaki sasara watching this play lol. there were some changes to the origin stories, ofc lol, but the stage has always had superior bb takes so i really appreciate them changing ichiro’s more shallow dismissal of his bros in canon to him being scared for them after what happened with samatoki and chuuoku. it’s his biggest conflict in these battles so i appreciate them making it a primary focus

i read a tweet from a fan idk who they originally stanned but said they were considering becoming a hama lady after the stage and abso-fcking-lutely LOL uehara-san is incredible as samatoki, yuki-san can also inspire the masses with his looks and dancing and flow and tho stage rio didn’t have much presence in the play, him opening his heart to samatoki thru their battle and then teaming up with the both of them after fighting together is a great slight change to their origin story

*slams thru the wall like the kool aid man* AND THE NEW BAT HAIYUU ARE ACTUALLY MAGNIFICENT like backwards order since i have Things to say about nakanishi kuukou lol but nakatsuka-san’s hitoya is very cool!!!! his voice envokes almost the same amount of hype takeuchi-san’s voice does for me, like it’s deep and rough when he’s going and it’s sooooooo good. stage hitoya in the legends era cared for jyushi certainly, but i don’t think he flat out babied jyushi as much as he did in new encounter like my god lmao. it might be more indicative of the difference between actor’s personalities lol and i suppose hitoya did try to get kuukou to lighten up on jyushi when they first got started. also, there was this look he gave kuukou when kuukou started to goad him into being on his team that exuded cool charisma i think nakatsuka-san might be another actor too cool for hitoya LOL

i didn’t think it was possible for a jyushi to be even more baby than daigo-san’s but goddamn i think sakayori-san managed it LOL and again i do think some of that is bc of the source material they were adapting. i saw reports that new encounter jyushi was kinda spoiled by his team and i could see the undercurrents of that in the way kuukou would pat his back when getting up or the way jyushi would lean into hitoya and hitoya would actually wrap an arm around him lol. but i’m not complaining ITS CUTE. sakayori-san’s silhouette is so crazy like his build i think is exactly the way i envisioned jyushi’s so i kept vibrating out of my seat whenever he did a flourish and i got to see his figure lmao. i saw a report commenting that he needed to work on his vkei mode voice bc it was hard to differentiate and maybe???? idk i could tell the difference just fine, even if his voices don’t have as much of a gap as sakakihara-san or daigo-san’s

i want to throw up out of excitement thinking about nakanishi kuukou which is how i know he’s officially part of the kuukou brainrot LOL he’s kuukou!!!!!! he is so purely kuukou that everything i feel about kuukou is pushed onto him and i feel like i should apologise rn bc that comes with a heaping dose of objectification!!!!!! but it’s chill!!!!!!! *kicks down a wall* HES GOT MUSCLE ON HIS TINY FRAME!!!!!!!!!!!! like when he gets going going, that jacket starts slipping off and the camera caught just the right angle and lighting to show the contours on his arm muscles and i started yelling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thick neck thick calves thick arms HES BUFF!!!!!!! BLESS NAKANISHI-SAN!!!!! and thankfully it’s not for the aesthetic like he’s athletic asf too with jump kicks backflips air somersaults and the like. he is probably the best person to have gotten the role after someone like hirono-san, whose kuukou has shaped the character so thoroughly that even in this new stage, direction choices were made to preserve the hype his kuukou envokes. if the writing on nakanishi kuukou stays the course, it’d honestly be a bonus to have that extra hype kuukou lol. and on that note

I DONT HATE STAGE KUUKOU WRITING LOL🙌🙌🙌

now it’s just an origin story so there’s plenty of time for shit to go awry but rn i’m feeling massively satisfied lol. there were some lines that were raising my hackles but frfr??? that’s just me being sensitive after all these years lol it’s fine. no nod to kuukou’s history with ichiro but tbh i don’t come to the stage for that lol but it made me think of the complaint that nagosaka’s get together story felt rushed compared to the other divisions. and they were lol but i’m not sure if that’s the stage’s fault or the source material. on bat’s side, bc they formed nagosaka alongside the og teams in the stage, ramuda’s development thru bat got axed in favour of jyushi falling for rei’s scam that brought dh together. it’s a choice that further isolates nagosaka so while within the stage narrative it makes sense (does jyushi’s character a disservice tho), it kinda annoys me thinking about the long term lol but it’s probably not going to matter in the long term either so ultimately it’s fine. i guess. maybe lol

one last nakanishi-san ramble and i’m done lol but that fanservice part really showed off his charm lol like when he rolled up on some fans arms spread wide and demanding their ears and attention!!!!!! 😫😫😫😫🙏🙏🙏🙏 and as he was heading back on stage, there was a lone bat fan along that aisle so he paused and leeeeeeeeaned back into that backtrack and flashed the bat hand sign at her and i couldn’t stop my unholy noises even if i tried he’s so cute omfg help he’s adorable like actually 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[willel]

If Will was mistaken for El and there was nothing intentional going on about him then i am going to say Will is a pretty irrelevant character in the story. Because what is his role exactly, being an accidental victim that Vecna decided to use at some point? And i guess he is gay and will be accepted or something. I think that is like the most boring character and narrative ever, especially bc his story never gets focus ever at all. I dont know why they would leave this for s5 at all.

Please reread the post. I'll screenshot the relevant parts.

I believe Will's circumstances is all of these things. I don't see how Will would suddenly become an irrelevant character just because he wasn't the original target.

If he was just mistaken for El for a split second on the road but discovered to be someone else, that means it took Vecna/Henry 0.5 seconds to change his plans and incorporate Will into them instead.

If he was mistaken for El for the entire chase and kidnapping and wasn't discovered to be someone else until he was taken into the Upside Down, that means despite knowing he wasn't El, Vecna had the Demogorgon chase Will down for an entire week. A seemingly easy task given what we saw the Demogorgon do in S4 and yet it took it an entire week to track him down "safely" for capture.

If he was mistaken for El for his entire kidnapping and wasn't discovered to be someone else until he actually caught by the Demogorgon, that still means the Demogorgon, despite its claws and sharp teeth which it will happily use on anything that moves.... "decided" to not harm Will in any way shape or form and gently posted him up on a library wall for the tentacles to have him.

It seems like people are looking at this in black and white like "It was completely on accident and a complete coincidence" or "it was completely on purpose and entirely planned out from the getgo."

No, right now I believe the Demogorgon was tracking down El that night and mistakenly confused Will for her at first. It perfectly parallels the rest of S1 where Hopper is chasing down El the entire time thinking she was WIll.

BUT THAT ISN'T ALL. Even though he might've been mistaken for El at first, I think the Demogorgon/Vecna realized he wasn't and STILL had an interest in Will because he is Will. I think there is something about Will that is close enough to El (or potentially more suitable to whatever he's planning) that made Will a valuable asset.

Even if him running into the Demogorgon was a wrong place wrong time situation, I think Will would've attracted the Demogorgon eventually anyway. If the Demogorgon was tracking El and already mistook Will for El once, then of course the potential for that to happen any time of day was very high. Their house is literally smack dab in the hunting zone. We saw it chase Joyce multiple times while she was just chilling in her home. Will likely would've always been a target.

Not only that, the fact that his kidnapping and capture was somewhat purposeful has already been proven thanks to S2. Even if you're someone who believes what happened to Will in S1 would've happened to anyone and it was a complete and total accident.... there's no way you believe everything that happened to him in S2 was also just a coincidence and an accident.

To me, in writing, whether it's the villains or the heroes, they should be able to adapt their plans when the need arises. If an easier way to accomplish the same goal pops up, then you should take it. If you find a shortcut, take it.

If you find a kid who is strangely similar to the one you were already looking for who is also strangely similar to you and seems to have some kind of potential spark........... then why wouldn't Vecna kidnap Will?

I mean, obviously he still wanted El but life gave him lemons in the form of William Byers so it only makes sense that he'd make lemonade out of it.

Did Vecna plan to kidnap Will the moment he escaped from the Upside Down? No I don't think so.

Did the Demogorgon/Vecna intend to run into Will that night on the street? No.

Did the Demogorgon/Vecna intentionally chase Will all the way to his house and kidnap him into the Upside Down even after realizing he probably wasn't El? Absolutely. We saw the Demogorgon chase Joyce at least 3 times or something. Compare those chases to the Demogorgon chasing Will through the woods, to his house, through a locked door, and then all the way into the shed....?

I hope you can see how it's a mixture of "happy" coincidence and intentional fluid plotting?

Even if this were all a complete accident in season 1, it's not an accident anymore. I still find the narrative of a kid getting wrapped up in a plot way bigger than him and suffering for no apparent reason compelling. It's that juicy eldritch horror stuff y'know? So it's still entertaining for me.

[thorarms]

Sorry i was referring to ur post hating on how mobius called loki a man of action. Why can't loki be also a man of action he grew up around THOR. Also maybe its a new thing loki is letting show instead of being cautious. He is the god of mischief and chaos after all

Ok ive taken a couple of days to have a think and give you a proper answer.

In short, because it's lazy and lets the writers avoid having to write loki with any consistent character traits.

Long answer below the cut

I have a lot of semi connected thoughts about this and this post might end up a bit of a ramble, uh so sorry i guess.

I think it's important to remember that loki as a marvel character has existed since the 1960s, and thus has 60 or so years of characterisation already there. Over the years this has varied a bit due to many different writers and their different visions for their stories, but they tend to stay fairly consistent. Loki is a villian (or is perceived as one by others), he plans elaborate schemes usually with the end goal of the destruction of asgard and/or thor, and he tends to play the long game. In short, he's been consistently characterised as a much more methodical and yes, cerebral character than thor.

In addition, theres 11 years of specifically mcu loki characterisation, which was originally constructed from the loki we see in the comics. This is the baseline of mcu lokis character, and thus should still be there in other stories and adaptations.

What's actually interesting to me though, is that loki HAS been shown as a man of action before. In Thor 2011. Specifically at the end of the movie, after his entire life has fallen apart at the seams and he's in the middle of an emotional breakdown. His actions get more impulsive as the movie progresses, and it ends with him trying to destroy Jotunheim, goading thor into an argument and a huge fight, then letting go of the bifrost and falling to his assumed death.

What makes this work and still feel in character is that lokis impulsive and reckless desicions come from his emotional instability. The viewer gets to see his facade break and watch him deteriorate from slowly and meticulously planning to ruin thors coronation and stop him from taking the throne, to deciding on the spur of the moment to point the bifrost at Jotunheim and, afterwards, decide to let go of gungnir and plummet into the void (i love this movie so much can you tell).

All of this really is to say that loki CAN be reckless and impulsive just like thor. It just has to be well written and considered. And season one of the show very much was Not That.

With the gift of hindsight, it's been very clear that the writers of season one were not interested in maintaining any of lokis previous characterisation and, given what we've seen so far in the trailer, im not exactly holding out hope that season two will be any different.

The last thing i wanna mention is that the way you phrased your ask, with loki deciding himself to become less cautious, is quite interesting to me. Im sure you dont need me to tell you that loki isnt real, hes a fictional character and thus has no autonomy of his own. Every thought, word and action was a deliberate decision from the writers and actors creating these stories (often with their own preconceptions and biases of the character subconsciously thrown in). What im trying to get at is that ultimately, loki as a character is a vehicle for telling an aspect of a story. And it's the writers job to tell that story well. And if loki suddenly has a change of heart and decides to start acting the complete opposite of his former self, the writers should have a damn good reason for choosing to do that. Otherwise, it's just poorly written. And frankly i dont want to watch a poorly written show.

Whoops this was way longer than i intended im so sorry anyways i hope this answers your question about why i wrote a silly post about a throwaway line in a trailer for a show im probably not even going to watch. Probably.

[cogito-dreams]

How did Basil create the mirror I cannot be teased like this

WONDERFUL QUESTION THANK YOU FOR ASKING

this is already getting long so im gonna put it under a read more LOL

allow me to give some context and talk about basil even more than ive been asked for regarding basils origins! for starters, basil originates from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, named after none other than Basil Hallward from the novel. In the original, it's heavily implied (honestly it's just text its not even subtext please go read picture of dorian gray its wonderful) that basil is absolutely in love and head over heels for the titular dorian, and paints the titular picture of said titular dorian. now (spoilers for a 150 year old book) this portrait basil painted is... pretty odd, and either because of the amount of himself and his love for dorian that he put into the portrait OR because of a wish dorian made that he would always stay young and beautiful, the portrait winds up looking more old and cruel etc etc as dorian goes down his path of depravity etc etc. basil had made many portraits of dorian before this, but none quite as successful (he'd tried to paint his muse in other styles, but this portrait in particular came about when he finally tried painting dorian exactly as he is), and none of his later portraits were as enchanting either. more things happen to basil later on in the book, but i'll leave that for another post because then i'd have to get into some content warnings because it gets A Little Fucked Up.

so! how does this translate into the world of project moon and specifically limbus company, you ask? great question!

essentially, basil is consistently putting too much of both himself and his subject into all of his paintings. i'm stretching the worldbuilding a little bit here so its not Really super canon compliant, but we know that abnormalities dont just come from people, they can be made like the tool abnormalities! so essentially, in his quest to create this perfect portrait of dorian, basil inadvertently created a few other abnormalities along the way. this includes the Portrait of Another World we find in Lobotomy Corporation, which could in itself have initially been inspired by the same novel that basil is from!

the limbus!dorian to go with my basil is... considerably fucked up in a lot of ways, in particular how he interacts with basil, so while basil was painting dorian their conversations wandered in sometimes pretty messed up directions. while painting the portrait of another world, they discussed what it would be like to never feel pain and never suffer hardship, and basil (a little more down-to-earth than the then-naive dorian) understood that suffering would never really go away, it would just be someone else suffering. that idea is where the portrait of another world started getting its abnormality characteristics, and the reason that the painting is unfinished - and therefore open for people to put themselves into, as we see in lobotomy corporation - is because basil would up growing too upset with the topic (thanks to some needling from lord henry wotton, who i havent yet discussed but the characters im adapting from the novel for basils canto need a whole post of their own) and never actually wound up painting dorian into the portrait. which is probably pretty good, because then we'd have TWO abnormality paintings centered around dorian, and frankly he's gotten way too much power from just the one.

all in all, it's probably for the best that basil quit painting, even if he still doesn't know quite the extent of what he accidentally created.

[fullonfandomindulgence]

unfortunately in my heart of hearts i think if one had stronger anatomy skills hed do more fanservice. i em very sorry for this thought. but... cmon. you feel me

i always kinda liked the (few) traditional fanservice situations in the one-illustrated stuff bc it removed any visual titillation for the reader. the narrative seemed to be trying to communicate that those moments were kinda gross and embarrassing, as they would be in real life for the women and girls being leered at.

but the murata adaptation of one punch man, my god. i mean i appreciate the bits where the men are sexualized too, but cmon. not exactly the same diversity of fits and bodytypes. that one frikken ninja character whos all swathed in these badass loose robes and then she gets slashed at and all her clothes fall off.

and really looking at the tatsumaki vs saitama fight in the original one punch man, when her skirt's going all over the place you coulda just made her bottoms black. just not defined them against the rest of her outfit, which is already just a big black shape. it probably woulda looked cooler. but instead theyre white in like this uncritical perpetuation of the trope, no one in-story comments or seems to notice, just the idea that we can see her underwear is supposed to be the titillating thing i guess, despite that being out of tone with the rest of the scene.

i love that the kids in mob psycho are allowed to be kids without the art leering at them, but i have the uneasy feeling that there might be more leering if one had the technical chops for it. and thats kind of a silly thing to think about, like thats not whats on the page, and more than that one so rarely puts characters in situations for fanservice to even happen. like the utter lack of anything happening between tome and origo in the reigen manga is so so good. generally ones stories are almost sexless. but still, every once in a while, that uneasy feeling comes back up. idk! idk.

tbh i dont watch a lot of anime, i know this shit is small potatoes compared to the dreck that gets put out by some people, probably the whole mob psycho crew deserves credit for not falling into those common tropes. but think its important to allow discussion of this stuff. i fukken love mob psycho and i have a lot of respect for one as an artist but that doesnt mean i think hes a perfect smol creacher or that the work is beyond criticism. i mean fucking puri puri prisoner??? fucking disgusting, just the most regressive-ass stereotype, miss me so hard with that shit. and darkshine? the dude in claw with the lips??

thats a harsh note to end on but it needs be said. anyway. would love to hear other ppls takes on this, idk, im just Really Into mob psycho, and i like engaging with it even in ways that dont cast the work in positive lights. does any of what im saying even make sense? who am i to say. but cmon! you feel me??

[actualbird]

I got distracted reading 4-04 and 4-05 i totally forgot the actual thing i was supposed to ask you today, what are your thoughts on the kinds of shows the nxx team wouldve watched as kids growing up. MC and Luke have apparently watched animes and even dressed up as characters but i have this need to know the finer details. LIKE. WHAT DID YOU WATCH SPECIFICALLY?? And i remembered you said luke was the one who probably understood most of the terms zangr was saying so like?? Luke do you like these kinds of things?? -Marsh

MARSH, thank you so much for this ask and for the SPECIFIC WORDING "watched as kids growing up." because that makes me have to go back in time and thusly uncovering by far my favorite yet most under-utilized and never-brought-up detail of tears of themis:

the story of this game takes place in the year 2030

DO U HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FUNNIER THIS MAKES SHIT???? AND ALSO HOW MUCH MORE SENSE STUFF MAKES??? let me explain myself by going thru all the boys one by one

luke pearce

YEAH HE SAID HE AND MC WERE RLLY INTO ANIME AS KIDS. luke pearce who is 24 years old in 2030 means that from the Important Media Ages (12-15) it was 2018-2021. this period of time, anime started getting more and more accessible, most notably getting on netflix and stuff like this. so like all the anime on netflix rn? yeah luke's watched them.

though because i kin luke, imma say that his fave is fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood. ive got no characterization proof for this, i just want to give him this honor

additionally, luke is a HUUUUGE fan of the original Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle novels (ACD Sherlock) and i think this would have pushed him to watch like, just every popular sherlock media adaptation there is. he personally liked Elementary better than BBC Sherlock. he generally just gravitates to the adaptations that dont forget about the heart of all of the characters.

also also also, luke likes action movies ranging from "hey this is "good" to critics" to "this is a shit movie but MY GOD IS IT FUN!!!"

artem wing

artem wing who is 29 years old in 2030 means that from the Important Media Ages (12-15) it was 2013-2016. but also artem is a MOVIE SNOB LMAOOO, hes That Guy with the Opinions On Film and you bet that his analytical ass was into just the most extra shit to watch those days because no teenager is chill, every teenager has some kind of ego, i dont know what movies he would have watched at that point to be the Smartest Teenager About Movies, but he sure did watch them

though artem also is very into sci-fi literature and 2013-2016 had a BUUUNCH of huge sci-fi movies. Pacific Rim, Gravity, Interstellar, Arrival. Arrival is deffo artem's fave, dont fight me on this, i can explain further but not in this answer bc it will get LOOONG LOL

artem also is into "classics" which uh. wait artem what do you Mean by that, what is a "classic" for somebody born in 2001??? i dont really know exactly what he means by "classics" so i just take it to mean he's a slut for period dramas which leads me to my closing point

"Once upon a time, when [Artem] was younger, around 17 years old, he pondered identifying as asexual or as one of the subsets under that term, but he put that aside after he first watched Pride and Prejudice (2005). He had then acquired a recurring fantasy in which he would be sensually accosted by Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in a secluded study after months of furtive, charged glances, lingering, split second touches, double entendres classily and subtly masked but still implying a repressed yet voracious—Moving on." -an excerpt from my comedy smut fic where artem goes thru a crisis. yeah. yeah. Pride and Prejudice dir. Joe Wright was his bisexual awakening.

MOVING ON!!

vyn richter

vyn richter who is 27 years old in 2030 means that from the Important Media Ages (12-15) it was 2015-2018 but honestly that doesnt help me AT ALL LOL BECAUSE VYN IS A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK.....

like honest to god i cant even imagine vyn as anything other than an adult KJBSJKFS (which is depressing, if i think about it more... but also what vyn would want, i assume he would hate for people to have known him as a child, imperfect and shunned.....which is ALSO DEPRESSING. VYN, U GOOD???)

okay yknow what im not studied enough in Vyn Richter Studies so i will come back to this once ive gotten more of his story and know more of his (what im theorizing to be a SHITASS TERRIBLE) childhood history. so vyn, i guess ur safe from me....ur safe FOR NOW, THAT IS....

marius von hagen

marius von hagen who is 21 years old in 2030 means that from the Important Media Ages (12-15) it was 2021-2024. good fucking lord, marius was born in 2009 and that makes him so young that his Important Media Ages arent even DONE HAPPENING IN OUR CURRENT TIMELINE, JESUS....

2021 is an interesting era of entertainment because it is getting steadily more and more apparent that corporate greed is trying to swallow up good storytelling; movies and shows are made as fast food products to be consumed immediately and thrown away just as fast. there are smarter posts and articles talking about this, but my point here is that marius "believes SO MUCH in art and art's capability to make a difference" von hagen would HATE THIS SO MUCH and, through spite, get into a lot of indie medias that dont necessarily sell. smaller movies, tv shows that got cancelled way before they should have.

oh, hey, MARIUS WAS 12 YEARS OLD IN 2021, yeah he could have watched The Owl House and threw a fucking FIT when disne/y nerfed the show's third season. he has not forgiven and he has not forgotten.

regardless of his age, marius, at some point in his teens watches Vincent and the Doctor (s5 e10 from Doctor Who). for those who dont know this episode, it involves Vincent Van Gogh and a bunch of sci-fi stuff but, at the end, a scene where Van Gogh is taken to the future and shown the impact his art has made on people. please watch it, if you havent it, it's very good and no words can do the experience justice.

anyway yeah marius watches it and it makes him FUCKING SOB

yeah so these are my takes kdjbfdsjfs

[miniimoose]

I want to go through the daily dracula tag but I cant

because I know this is so stupid, because the book came out in the late 1800s. But people are posting spoilers LMAO

ive never read the original text, or even watched adaptations of the story. So I do quite literally know nothing of the actual events of Dracula, just cultural zeitgeist knowledge.

Im enjoying reading it through via these emails and daily updates, so I dont exactly want to see spoilers when I go to look at the book club discussion yknow??

It feels SO silly but also like cmon guys, im sure im not the only one!!

I guess ill just have to hope some people I follow retweet the good stuff. I need to find more dracula enjoyers to follow...

[chidoroki]

TPN ch181

(spoilers! AAAHHhhaha..my children!)

Okay, so remember in my last review when I said I was impressed how Ray, Gilda and Phil managed to narrow down where Emma might be in the matter of a couple months? Well, I take it back because it hasnt been just a few months, it's been two damn years! Oh my god, I can't imagine how hard it must've been for everyone, especially our two boys, to search for so long without even getting on single clue about Emma's whereabouts. Some of the children still doubt whether she's alive or actually in this world with them or not.

(image limit, so imagine the panels of the Goldy Pond kids discussing the lack of clues and Thoma and Lani doubting the reward again)

Thankfully, Gilda gets the idea to search in forbidden zones which is where we see her, Ray and Phil. Speaking of which, oh my poor boy. This is the longest Ray has been without Emma by his side. I thought the one month after Goldy Pond was hard enough on him, but two whole years? Damn, I can't imagine the stress and anxiety he's been experiencing. He's still so frustrated too and gets so close to Emma without even realizing it. Then, surprisingly, his beloved family steps in to help? The people he personally couldn't save now come together to help him save the one person who originally saved his life. Like, hello?? I love this! Conny, who was another sibling he had to use in order to put his initial escape plan in motion to save Emma and Norman's lives, is now assisting him in saving Emma from being alone. Yuugo, who knows firsthand how important Emma is to Ray and how close they are. Isabella, knowing her son kept his promise as he's always set out to do whatever it takes to protect his entire family. The fact that Ray's lost family members can feel how strong his bond with Emma is and they jump in to help reconnect the two of them again.. just, wow. It may be all the rayemma week feels getting to me but that's like a damn soulmate occurrence if i ever saw one!

The two unknowingly pass each other again but thanks to Emma conveniently losing her necklace and finding it with perfect timing, they all finally encounter each other. Everyone expresses their complete shock and relief that they had finally found Emma, and while I am happy they their search ended up a success, the mood changes fairly quickly due to our girls lost memories. She hasnt the slightest idea who "Emma" is, who these people are or why they're so excited to see her. The kids wonder if they have the right girl, as they take notice of Emma's bare neck.

One look at the necklace in her hand though and Ray finally puts the pieces together. Honestly, I'm not at all surprised he's the one to figure out the true reward, as Ray has been very perceptive since the beginning. He's also always been openly honest and blunt when things get serious, so naturally he's the one who has to let everyone know this because while it's a sad truth no one wants to hear, or even believe, they all need to realize it, including Emma. Even Ray has trouble coming to terms with the sacrifice Emma made. He understands how hard it must have been for Emma to accept the heavy price of her forgetting the family she loves so deeply and he looks so broken when he realizes that. He must be feeling so guilty that he couldn't have been there with her when she made the new promise. He still puts the blame on himself and he's so upset that his failure lead Emma to live in a world alone without the family she cares for more than anything.

I wasn't too satisfied last chapter when demon god told us the real reward and Emma's response was a simple "okay," so I'm grateful we learned more about the conversation now in this chapter. She really did want to live her family. She even knew some of them might get mad at her for keeping a secret. She says it's a selfish request, for her to place such a heavy burden on herself, but what mattered to her back then upon accepting the reward is what has always mattered to her, and that's her family's happiness and safety. It wasn't just her loved one either, but for all the demons and cattle children. This girl truly has a heart of gold and demon god himself is left surprised. Of course I wish she didn't think she was being selfish since everyone did agree to follow her as their leader but aahh.. my poor girl.

Spoiling the very end now, but we dont get one last fullscore trio hug. Of course that upsets me since I thought it would've made such a perfect ending, but it makes sense now given how everyone's reunion with Emma happened. While their happiness and relief is completely understandable after searching two years and finally finding Emma, they overreact and this visibly freaks her out. Come on guys, last time I said to gently remind her of her past, not bombard her right away. Having a ton of strangers surround you and tell you such outlandish things is quite jarring. I'm glad she takes the chance to listen to everyone, but she just doesnt know these people well enough to suddenly hug them. I imagined a hug would've happened upon her recalling some of her memories somehow and feeling relived that she met the two boys she often once dreamt about, but oh well.

Norman takes this time to step in and ease some of the tension, saying how happy he is that Emma's alive and even reiterating some of the things he said to her during his shipment scene. While this chapter soon shows how well the escapees have adapted to the human world and changed, it also puts an emphasis on the boy's true personalities that they showed since the very beginning. I've already mentioned above how Ray stayed true to himself, about him being open and honest to the others with the truth and even his own feelings. With Norman, I don't know the word for him really, but his speech about their family and his feelings remind me of ch1/ep1 where we see him trying to calm Emma down after seeing what they did at the gate. He stayed by her side and remained hopeful even though he was just as scared. Right now, I get the same vibes. He's just as upset as their family upon learning Emma lost her memories, but he still wants her to be apart of their family.

Although it seems like a very rushed way of tying up loose ends, I'm happy to hear about how well the children have been adapting in the human world. They're attending school and following their passions. They all look so happy! The entire Lambda crew is healthy and Cislo even has a prosthetic leg! The medicine made from Adam's dna was successful and also helped those children from the mass production farms. Mike Ratri and the clan are actually being helpful and trustworthy. I absolutely love Norman's comment about Ayshe not killing him! It really makes me smile and I assume that means she's forgiven him.. maybe. Her dogs were indeed able to cross over to the human world too and now there's even more! Chris is finally awake! They seriously have to fill the poor boy in on so much news though.

I get it. It took the entire story for me to understand but now I get Norman's intense feelings. He's been infatuated by this girl since childhood. He told us/Ray his feelings at age 11 then "gave his life" to give her a better chance at survival. He kept living just for the slight possibly to see her again. After almost two years, they reunite, only for about a week or two before they all cross over into the human world and Emma is no where to be seen. Another two years pass and while they all find her, she's almost a completely difference person. Yet Norman's feelings remain so sincere for her that he accepts this new Emma. He lets her know that the bright future she wished for came true. (me? speaking of noremma? even im surprised)

Her head might not have the slightest idea who these people are, but her heart surely remembers! Emma's feelings for her family were so strong that they persisted throughout these entire two years, even after she stopped having those dreams about them. Deep down, and without even realizing it, she loves them so much that it makes her cry.

“Why am I... Even though I don't know them. Though I don't know anything. Though I can't remember. Why... Does it feel warm, but also so painful in my heart? I wanted to see you.”

Seeing everyone else get emotional and expressing their feelings to her right back and having all of them accept this new Emma.. yeah, that has me in tears! Demon god truly underestimated these kids and how deep their love for each other went. Emma's family was never going to give up looking for her because, thanks to her influence, they also didn't believe anything was impossible. “Screw destiny” indeed! (also we never did learn the old dude's name or Emma's new one hm? odd.)

Did Emma get her memories back? No. Did Ray pat her head again so I could die from nostalgia? No, because I'm still here. Did we get a fullscore hug like I originally hoped? No, sadly. The ending isn't picture perfect but honestly, this is still okay. Our precious girl is finally reunited with her family again. Most importantly, they're alive. The trio are teenagers about 15/16 years old now, which amazing since they once believed they wouldn't see a day past the age of 12. Yet here they are, living happy and free in the human world without fear and killing, which is exactly what Emma wished for.

I can't believe the manga is truly finished. It feels like it all went by so quick, but perhaps that's only because I haven't been in the fandom as long as others, like if you've been here since the manga started then I applaud you and can't imagine how sad this must be after four years. The anime is what caught my attention and my love for this series only grew when I jumped into the manga right after season one ended. I must have binged all available chapters at the time in like three days, all the way up to ch129. Since then I've waited patiently week after week to see how this suspenseful story would pan out for out lovable and very large cast of characters. Each new twist and cliffhanger made my brain crazy and stressed me out but it was so great to experience them with everyone.

Also, big thanks to all of you who share your comments on these reviews of mine! Even though I started writing them pretty late into the story and at the most stressful time, it was great to hear so much feedback and experience the exciting finish with everyone. The manga may have ended, but don't let that make the fandom quiet! We still have future manga volume releases to look forward to, the live-action movie that is still set for this December along with a live-action series that was also recently announced. Most importantly, season two of the anime is still scheduled for January 2021! You can bet I'll do reactions for each episode as I normally do with other anime! The series still has so much more content to give us, especially if the anime continues to recieve future seasons over the upcoming years, so of course I'll give my thoughts on all that I can.

I give all my thanks and appreciation to Shirai & Demizu for such a wonderful and suspenseful story, for all the memorable characters and the stunning artwork. The series has truly become my favorite. That's right, I said it! My favorite. TPN has taken over Black Lagoon as my favorite series. (Revy can still keep her spot as my favorite character but I'll be damned if Ray isn't a really really close second.)

[tamaharu]

As someone who has read horimiya, ur right. I believe my exact reaction was something like "oh this is interesting and a cool concept where are they gonna go with this??" to "ah. Okay. Sure." Like it wasn't like the worst thing ever but it also wasn't great and I'm sure if a reread it i would be deeply uncomfortable with some of the implications...but god it had potential (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ

no exactly. IT HAD POTENTIAL!!! It had potential to be a deeper story, and thats the worst part. im more sympathetic to the original webcomic bc clearly the author was just going in without a big plan and thats fine, BUT! that means i have to be harsher on the manga (and anime, but i havent finished past e2 so) because it HAD the full story laid out for it. the point of adaptations is to convey a certain idea differently than the source material, and the manga shouldve taken this foundation and adapted it towards a more meaningful story. but nooo…

the suggested premise was that of private identity, and thats an interesting springboard for conflict, but like. nothing happened. it was serious in the very begining and in the very end. after like, volume four (and even then im being generous) it was nothing but pure uninteresting filler, loss of previously established characterization, and extremely weird and abusive tendancies from one of the main characters (i dont like talking abt the weird kink shit bc it makes me uncomfortable but.. yeah..)

like. if the story had bothered to follow issues established from the very beginning to their obvious emotional root, it wouldve been a stronger story. miyamura managed to get the better exploration of his issues - and it really wasnt all that great - from the depression, lonliness, and self harm. but i think the problem is, the author wasnt quite sure what to do with hori, and when shes one half of literally the title “horimiya” this is a big issue. i mean, its all right there. her parents are working all day so shes the one caring for her little brother, taking care of chores, dinner, etc. this, and she clearly tries to go for a cleaner image at school. but the story couldnt figure out how to take her issues seriously, so it never even tried. i mean, eventually they started bringing her parents back into the story which is like! so wrong i dont even know where to start! i mean thats literally a foundational part of her issues, and they got brought back!!!! i fucking hate her dad by the way i hate him so much.

horimiya just needed to like, actually care about hori and miyamuras problems, and not obscure this by “ohhhh whats side character number twelve doing this time!?!?!?!?” every other chapter. ive seen a couple of reviews that marvel at the fact that its gasp, a romance anime where, double gasp the couple gets together before the end of the show? scandalous! ten stars! but even though the issues w horimiya were ignorable for the first couple of chapters, them getting together made the story lose any and all sense of acceleration and thus made every issue of the story that much more obvious. and then there was filler. for sixteen volumes.

again, not even MENTIONING the weird kink shit the author inserted or the like weird homophobic jokes or how hori isnt a tsundere or whatever shes straight up abusive. tip: i am so fucking mad.

[cykes-dono]

smirl thank you so much for letting me infodump in your askbox. the topic for today is the one anime i never shut the fuck up about which is saint seiya. today i am still enraged over the netflix reboot of this show which did, unfortunately, happen. i dont know how they fucked it up so bad. first of all, the animation is fucking gross like the character models are an attempt to bring over the 80s art style to modern CGI and the idea is fine but it looks so weird. the characters look like action figures and their movement is so incredibly stiff. for a show that's 75% composed of fight scenes, stiff movement is not something you want. it would've been so much better to just make this show in 2D like the original series (AND LIKE A SEQUEL SPINOFF THAT CAME OUT A FEW YEARS EARLIER THAT LOOKED A LOT BETTER THAN THIS) or go for the CGI art style that the 40th anniversary movie had, which didn't try to directly adapt an art style from the 80s. anyway. i can excuse the weird art style if the show was good. the show is not good. trust me i watched this reboot twice in its entirety (i am sick in the head and like to watch things that make me angry) and i can tell you with CONFIDENCE that it's just bad. it's like they take everything that was charming about the original series and dumb it down. and that's exactly what they did because this reboot is aimed at children. the original show was aimed at kids 13 and up while this reboot is aimed at kids 8 and up. needless to say there is a LOT that needed to be changed and removed and it changes the vibes so much. the reboot is also aimed at american audiences, since saint seiya had a lot of failed attempts at getting into the us market in the early 2000s, and there was a lot that had to be censored and changed because of american censorship. notably, the show was full of violence that, while not graphic, did result in the characters bleeding a lot. this was altered and there is virtually zero blood in the reboot, which is quite a change. the characters were also aged up from 13-15 to 18-20 so censorship wouldnt get their panties in a twist about kids fighting with each other (it does get a little disturbing to think about it in that light, but the point is that the world is so fucked that these kids are forced to go to war so changing that is changing the entire point of the series.) anyway, they also managed to whitewash the characters. in the og series, all the main characters were japanese. in the reboot, only the main character, seiya, is explicitly stated to be japanese - and hyoga, who is half-japanese and half-russian, is not even russian in the reboot. he's just vaguely european, they never once say where he's from which to me is very sus because they already changed everyone else's nationalities to make them white, who says they're not avoiding stating hyoga's nationality to whitewash him too? also one of the characters who was japanese-chinese in the og is now just chinese, and while he wasn't whitewashed i do find his name being changed (from shiryu) to long a little questionable when analyzing everything else this team has done. the name changes are a little questionable overall (i.e: "whale moses" becoming "whale morris") but i don't feel like talking about most of them rn. then they did something that literally everyone was upset about, and the fans of this show don't agree on much: they changed the gender of one of the main characters. usually, i don't mind gender changes in reboots of things. like i just don't give a shit. but for this case, they chose the one character from the main cast who is kind, gentle, softspoken, and prefers not to fight and they turned That guy into a girl. it doesn't help that he's the most androgynous of the cast and his theme color is pink. it has been explicitly stated that they decided to change him into a girl because they didnt consider his personality very masculine. So Like. This Reboot Is Really Fucking Bad.

I googled it and the reboot looks so ugly help

[clownkiwi]

i also finally saw the new diary of a wimpy kid trailer, adn a few things

1) its just. so weird seeing disney put their branding on diary of a wimpy kid. its just. its not right

2) they're trying real hard to go for a stylistic "accurate designs of the original source material" art direction like what blue sky did for the peanuts movie, but it. didnt really work???

with the peanuts movie, it was designed and staged to look exactly like the comics or specials, as they were always depicted in a 2d space. thats why that films great on a visual point (& even technical point, i still cant believe the film turned out this good)

the new wimpy kid movie tho??? it kinda looks like they just recreated the character designs from the books and put them in a 3d space, which doesnt really work for the film considering the books always depicted all the scenes & events in a 2d space, so now it kinda looks like vr chat but if it were a diary of a wimpy kid movie

and i might just be basing this off the examples i put in this post, but from what i saw from the trailer, the colors in this film. dont really sit right with me. theyre very drab, dull, lifeless, they dont really pop out at all. it may also be me, but yikes, the animation feels wildly unfinished for a film coming out next month

basically put, i just think disney really dropped the ball with the new diary of a wimpy kid film. the visuals just dont sit right with me, plus i don't think we need another adaptation of the first book??? we already got diary of a wimpy kid 2010, why did we need the half-baked animated version of it???

[akatsvmu]

ok hot take — but also because I’m genuinely curious — I’ve seen a lot of discussion about the anti - Asian racism in shadow and bone and how it was unnecessary + obvious that the writers were white, etc.

*this ended up being long so I put the rest under the cut*

before I begin I just want to say that im just putting this out here to hear what others have to say !! I’m open to whatever u have to say legit I just want to talk to others about this hahah. I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but if I do then I apologize and if you feel like it, to let me know why exactly so I can be more aware next timee

okk so, reading what everyone else had to say after finishing the season made me question myself BIG TIMEEEE because tbh ..... I didn’t really see what the problem was as I was watching the show 😭

I didnt watch any trailers or promo vids before the show bc I didnt want to expect anything. so the first time I heard about Alina being half - shu was when she said it in the show — and TBHHH I was actually so happy (since I’m South East Asian) it was a pleasant surprise, I was like “omg I can relate to uu !! <33” kind of thing ya know.

After i watched it, I read the discussions on how they handled it and everything and I was worried bc I was still having such a hard time seeing what was so wrong about it,, I genuinely felt really bad at this point bc I was thinking like ... am I racist ?? Or am I actually contributing to racism and all that ?? soo I wanted to just share some of my thoughts here and if you actually finish reading this maybe like share some of your thoughts too ??

okok so hear we go — Alina being changed into half - shu didnt bother me at all, as I said earlier it was a nice surprise since it allowed me to relate to her more, i remember i even texted my friend bc i was so happy lmaooo (plus I thought it fit well since Jessie is actually half chinese).

About how the racism was ‘unnecessary’ since it’s a fictional world and all >> I get how they technically didn’t need to add it in — BUT... I kind of liked that they did add it ?? since it showed me that, oh you know she went through all of that, was discriminated against, etc. but was still able to do all the things she did and she didn’t let any of that stop her (I've finished the trilogy so I know how her story ends, assuming they stick to the books in later seasons lmao).

I mean tbh I even felt kinda better ? Hopeful even ?? My line of thinking was like “even the sun summoner faced some racism yet she was able to push through her journey !!” and all that ++ plus how she didn’t let it affect her — she even said, “don’t change my eyes” in that one scene which made me feel really proud for some reason.

about how they only centered the racism around Alina >> like how Jesper or Inej didn't really have to face any racism ++ and how it was all anti shu ..... again that didn’t rly bother me bc like ..... she’s kind of the main character ????? Not to say that the other characters stories don’t matter (lmao im not done w crooked kingdom yet but I already prefer their duology over the trilogy 😭🤚🏼) but given the fact that this particular adaptation of the story (or even season) is about Alina and Her experiences,, it’s kind of a given that the story will literally revolve around her and the challenges she faces ?????

the books obviously talked about what inej and the others went through + but that was because they had two books and individual chapters to flesh out their characters, plus we learned about their origins through a flashback type thing, it wasn’t a linear storyline.

This season had 8 episodes, so I really didn’t expect them to focus on their backstories since it's established that they’ve been working together for a while (the three crows, not Nina and Matthias). In the show, Alina has just discovered her powers = meaning her arc has just started.

lastly, about how it was unnecessary that Zoya was racist to Alina >> This one confused me a lot im ngl, because in the first book zoya does act like a lil bitch to Alina and everyone in the little palace — Marie and Nadia constantly talked shit abt her behind her back — bro even Genya didn’t like her lol — ALSO she even admitted to this in the second or third book right ?? So considering where her arc goes — I thought that this was obvious ?? she was meant to be disliked at first bc she literally has a redemption arc (AHHH don’t get me wrong here I loved zoya in the end pls shes so snarky ahidhshshs she a lil bitch but she owns it 😌😌 as she should)

I know she wasn’t outright racist to Alina in the books — but she was mean to her — *if I’m not wrong doesn’t she also whisper to Alina in front of the king about how she was an orphan peasant?* given the changes in the show, I thought it was understandable for her to treat her that way (not that it’s ok for anyone to be treated that way but you get the point right...) also idk if this counts but she does correct that one lady saying that Inej was suli and not whatever she originally said.

okk that’s all I can think of now, if you made it this far I wanna say thank uuu so much ily 🥰 ,, I know this was long I didnt think I had this much to say.

if you want then pleaseee share some of your thoughts 🤲🏼🤲🏼 i don’t want to subconsciously be a racist apologist or anything 😭😭 so I’m open to hearing what u have to say ++ also I’m really just wondering why I saw this so differently compared to everyone else ahshsjhdhs.

edit: ive only read the trilogy and six of crows so far. i havent had the time to start crooked kingdom or nikolai's books bc school :/ soo if youre gonna comment, please dont mention anything about crooked kingdom and anything after that !! huhu shhshshsa

SECOND EDIT: someone commented on this but i posted it accidentally and deleted the old one and didnt see their comment im gonna cry aaaaaa