#like the characters have so much personality the plotlines are so fun and unique

[rayvven]

I think i actually do understand bsd alot better now that my obsession has calmed down alot and im like, actually reading the light novels

[phantom-sleuth]

Wanted to make a rec post about a bunch of random sci-fi manga i like and hope that others enjoy as well.

Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction:

A story about 2 young women in their day to day lives as a giant alien ship looms over Tokyo. A fair bit of the story focuses modern social political issues in Japan and the mystery surrounding the mothership and the aliens and why they are there.

The series will get two movie adaptations later this year.

Dai Dark:

The story mainly revolves zaha sanko and how a legend exist that if one gets ahold of his bones they will have any wish granted to them, and so sanko needs to search through space in order to find whoever put this curse on him and kill them. The manga is made by Q Hayashida and features a very gritty world with very goofy and fun characters.

Battle Angel Alita/Gunnm:

A story mostly about a cyborg with a sense for battle wanting to fin her origins after crashing on earth. The series has 3 entries so far with the third being on hiatus sadly, the 3 series being Alita battle angel, baa last order and baa mars chronicle. However the series has excellent art a very good story and great action.

It currently has a 1993 anime and a live action movie

20th Century Boys

The story revolves around a group of adults who in their youth created a symbol to represent their friendship which is then used by some malevolent character called friend in the future for his own cult and his goal to take over the world. With most of the story being about trying to recall who he may be and how to stop his plot. Its a VERY story and dialogue heavy series, but its all worth it once everything starts clicking.

it has a short sequel series that contains the ending of the actual series called "21st century boys"

Pluto

Made by the same person as 20th century boys Naoki urasawa, its an adaptation of "the greatest robot on earth" story with its own unique spin. Its about the ongoing murders of the seven most powerful robots on earth. It deals in a lot of stuff about the sentience of the robots and their rights.

It currently has a full anime adaptation on netflix.

Planetes

A lot of the story mainly focuses on the struggles and relationships of the main characters with space mainly being a backdrop. Its a very interpersonal story and i can't really do it justice by just describing it so i recommend reding or watching it yourself.

It also has a full anime adaptation.

10,000 light year binoculars

This one is just a oneshot but i enjoyed it so much that i really had to rec it. Its about an alien girl with binoculars that allow her to spy on a boy on earth from her own planet and wanting to meet him someday. The entire oneshot is in color, the art is great AND its short.

Star tripper: Planetarium Ghost Travel

A very comfy manga that only recently stared to get fantranslated. Its about a guy called 303 going to "ghost planets where most of the inhabitants have gone into a deep sleep and turned into trees.

Heavenly Delusion/Tengoku Daimakyou

And finally Heavenly, it has two concurrent plotlines with the first one being about a boy and a girl going through a post apocalyptic Japan looking for "new heaven", while the second is about a group a kids in a sterile facility wanting to go explore outside the walls of said facility.

It has an anime that covers the first 5 volumes.

And those are all my sci-fi recs for the moment!!! Hope someone finds something new to enjoy of these here. apologies if the writing ain't the best i wrote this at like 3 am.

[electrificata]

here are my house observations, im in season 3

some of the shit house says to foreman is genuinely unforgivable

foreman as a character i generally like. omar epps is giving a good performance of an even-keeled-but-not-without-effort kind of guy, i do like the plotline of a guy who came to learn from an expert whos the worst guy in the world and trying to figure out how to do the same thing without being the worst guy in the world. i also think they way they keep him out of hospital love triangles is racist, foreman is not currently hot but could be with 15% more attention from the writers room.

really sexist as a general rule. i have not encountered the idea of "jailbait" this much in literal years.

hipster racism. its the 2000s. funny to talk abt this because "hipsters" were younger at this point and the character of house is, im assuming, in his mid 40s at the start of the show, but thats the general logic that seems to be on display. "well you know that he's a good guy so its ironic and funny that he's threatening to use the n word as a joke."

a) stupid logic to begin with, doing something ironically is also just doing it, b) doesnt even work on its own terms here because house is widely acknowledged to be an awful person in the context. the entire show is built around the question "how much deliberately annoying, dangerous bullshit will we endure from this dickhead to maintain access to his unique skillset"

i still dont "get" house/wilson. like i do see it, like i can see that theyre a little obsessed with each other and they have a fun mutually manipulative dynamic, and they make sense as foils (guy who's self-consciously awful and often ends up doing noble things accidentally/guy who's self-consciously noble and often deliberately does awful things). but i cannot feel myself going insane about it. if anything i like him better with cuddy

cuddy really really hot. really really really hot. cuddy.

so like yeah i see house/wilson im just not going insane about it the way i thought i might. altho tbh it took a global pandemic and a extended, byzantine renaissance of tumblrina supernatural scholarship to make me have a destiel spiral. i need infrastructure for these things.

cameron's character is such an old school token girl character. i hate how they treat her "niceness" almost as much as i hate how they treat her crush on house.

a better show (written by me) would have some more cuddy and foreman "managing" house plotlines (foreman being a protege allows focus on the legacy of house's medicine, how to replicate it, how to contain damage), probably give him some of the cuddy and wilson time. the three of them together would be good i could do that.

cuddy/foreman. hm. in the remake.

like, i do get how this happened. house is troubled in a durable, interesting way. the writing is good enough to support his layers, the way his snap-judgement psychoanalysis of everyone he meets curls back around to shine a light on his own issues. good balance of competence and patheticness. laurie is giving a masterclass in the niche field of "british comedian comes to us tv drama, grows some stubble, becomes a sex symbol." i read an old review that referred to his "sourpuss charisma" i really like that turn of phrase.

(i was also into josh on the west wing when i watched that last year, i have a type i love antagonism. no im not dating anyone right now, who wants to take me for a candlelit dinner and tell me i smell good and my voice is sexy) (you cant just compliment me, ill be bored or uncomfortable, you have to bury it in a disagreement and make it clear youre kind of mad that youre into me)

that said i think the show kind of misunderstands house's sex appeal. it feels very written-by-men. women characters throw themselves at house in a porny kind of take-me-now way. in my observations guys who are arent traditionally hot but attractive in this antagonistic, talky was dont really get that kind of treatment, but they do get the main cast wilson/cuddy/cameron "i hate this guy but im obsessed with him and i will never make a move or i will and itll go badly" kind of stuff. my phantom house reboot does have cameron and house hook up and its a really mean and destructive fwb thing with like 4 false endings. does this make sense.

right now im in the middle of the plotline where leighton meester plays a 17 yr old girl stalking house because shes so in love. like thats not the vibe. at least from what ive seen. im not omniscient.

lol it turns out she has a spore makign her hypersexual lolllll i literally have this on in the background rn ok i take some of this back.

whenever i mention to someone im watching house theyll recount to me the plot of the one episode they can remember and it always sounds insane and its never made up.

"the one with the intersex teen model who fucks her dad to manipulate him and has testicular cancer" like yeah. yeah thats real. if you talked to me 3 weeks ago thatd be the one i recounted to you.

yes house does leer at her in that episode and its treated as logical and normal for a 45 year old man.

i hate chase, he's awful but boring.

im curious how long im gonna keep watching this, i know the later seasons get kind of soapy plotwise and i dont know if thats what i want out of this

[swordsonnet]

okay i lied, i am going to be talking spoilers (because i have no self-control, and i've seen other people share spoilers in the magnus protocol tag, so i assume it's fine?). assorted rambling thoughts on the premiere under the cut:

-ngl "rusty quill presents... the magnus protocol" made me so emotional

-ah yes, a civil service data entry job that has you working night shifts for no discernible reason. that's not ominous at all

-i love the new characters already! they all have such interesting personalities and relationships with each other, can't wait to see how they'll be developed in further episodes. colin is probably my favourite so far, we stan a grumpy IT guy

-speaking of colin, i'm glad we've got a scottish character this time! i love TMA to bits, but it had a lamentable lack of scottish accents

-alice is so much fun as well! i love how jonny described her as a "tumblr shitposter par excellence"

-sam is such a sweet guy, but i'm sure he'll be introduced to The Horrors™ soon enough... although maybe he already was! he seemed to be familiar with the magnus institute, and just like the trailer, this episode also hinted at something traumatic in his past that led him to join the OIAR. probably something to do with those dubiously ethical child psychology experiments...

-i hadn't even considered what OIAR would sound like spoken out loud, and it's so awkward lmao. really doesn't roll off the tongue

-i kinda ship alice and gwen now tbh. i'm getting prime "workplace nemeses to lovers" vibes from them

-okay, let's address the thing everyone's probably thinking about: i'm not sure how to feel about jon and martin's - sorry, chester and neil's - involvement in protocol. (i mean, it's not 100% confirmed that it is jon and martin, but it seems pretty likely.) like i've said before, i would have preferred to keep the ambiguity of their original ending, but on the other hand, this could be shaping up to be a really interesting plotline. plus, y'know, i've gotten pretty emotionally attached to these characters (*gestures vaguely at my ao3*), so i wouldn't be opposed to seeing them again!

-i guess the guy alice nicknamed augustus is going to be jonah magnus, then? that idea is just so funny to me. imagine being trapped in a computer with your boyfriend (who stabbed you) and your evil boss (whom you stabbed)

-i really like the vibe of the new "statements"! i particularly enjoyed the forum entries, i always appreciate the use of unique formats to tell a story. it reminds me a little of analogue horror, though of course it's the exact opposite of analogue - you could call it digital horror, i suppose? anyway, much as i loved the more traditional horror story structure of the TMA statements, i think it's super exciting that they're branching out and trying new things with protocol. looking forward to see what else they'll come up with!

[boldlysizzlingvoid]

The Amazing Digital Generation (AKA, The 'Gen' AU) Ideas, Characters and Headcanons

Plotline/Story: Taking place BEYOND the future of the Amazing Digital Circus web series, in the early 2024's, Pomni had grown to fully adjust to being in the Amazing Digital Circus over all the years, along with becoming family with all of the members of the Circus; Though, many years later, in the present day, 4 new humans are sucked into the Amazing Digital Circus and made new members, as new hijinks, havoc, and new chaotic adventures begin to unfold!

Character Cast:

Pomni the 'SHOWSTOPPING' Jester

Gender: Female

Age: 30 years old

Personality: Over the time of being in the Amazing Digital Circus for so long, Pomni's personality had changed over the years, as she had overcame her own anxieties and paranoia, and had grown into a much more confident, happy, and calm person-along with developing close friendships with many of the members of the Circus over time. She is very fearless and braver now, sometimes acting like a leader (which she got from Ragatha btw), and being a bit of a mother figure to these new 4 members of the Amazing Digital Circus. She also has grown to adjust to the chaos in the Circus alot too as well.

-Fun Fact: Pomni had grown sharp, cat like fangs over the years of being in the Amazing Digital Circus

-Fun Fact: She also likes to wear over-sized clothes alot

Appearance/Looks: Pomni's appearance had slightly changed over the years in the Amazing Digital Circus, and she had grown slightly taller, yet she is still quite short. Her eyes would also be very colorful-looking, her iris's shaped like diamonds. Pomni's face would also have colorful star-shaped markings on her cheeks, painted by Caine, one on the right side colored blue, the other on the right side yellow; She is always seen wearing a very beautiful looking, starlight-like Jester outfit on all the time, (that Caine made her.), A long flowing jester hat striped red, blue, white, and yellow; She would also wear a handkerchief over her mouth all the time too as well, that Ragatha had made her, And a set of beautiful looking, shiny pointed-tipped jester shoes on her feet. Her hair has also grown very long, silky, soft and beautiful like over the years in this digital world...Her body is also very child-like and huggable!

-Pomni and Ragatha are canonically sisters in this AU

-Pomni 's hair had grown so long that it droops down to the floor all the time

-Has a secret love for Adult Comedy and Puns

-Snorts when she laughs, (Her laugh is HIGHLY contagious and makes people happy)

-She's very passionate and creative about when she sings, creating her own unique and amazing dance moves and songs to sing

-Her teeth somewhat become shark-like whenever she's excited

-Is somewhat very easy to get excited, has loads of ADHD vibes in her, sometimes stims alot when she's super happy

-Eyes turn into four-sided star symbols when she's overexcited

Likes: Her Friends, Cheeseburgers, Helping her Friends, Being Safe, Puns, Making People Happy. Singing, Dancing, Doing Songs in her performances, Making up her own Songs, Drawing Art with Gangle, Any types of Greasy fast Foods, People being Nice to Her, Nature, Cute Fluffy Animals, Swimming, Listening to Pop Music, Playing the Piano

Dislikes: Scary Movies, Seeing her Friends Hurt, Thinking of how Her Past was Like when She First Came to The Amazing Digital Circus, People drawing Rule34 art of Herself, Being called a 'Child', Being Treated like a Child

Abilitles/Powers:

Supernatural Preforming; Over all the years living in the Amazing Digital Circus, Pomni had developed incredible circus preforming abilities, being able to easily juggle objects and items easily.

Super Strength; Pomni had grown very strong in strength over the years of being in this digital world, to a point where she was able to protect herself easily.

Omnifarious Shapeshifting- Over time, Pomni had grown to adjust to living as a digital 'avatar' in this world, and she gained powerful Shapeshifting abilities to shapeshift without limits, being able to change her Code, including her form and appearance easily.

Hair Color Manipulation-Her hair color changes instantly with the emotions she feels.

Eye Color Manipulation- Pomni's eyes also change colors whenever she feels extreme emotions too.

Elasticity-Along with her abilities, Pomni had gained the ability to be able to stretch any parts of her body easily, to do all sorts of amazing supernatural performances.

Teleportation-Pomni had gained the ability to teleport from place to place easily. (Caine actually taught her that by the way lol.)

Singing/Dancing-She has very good singing and dancing abilities. and is very creative when doing this, writing her own lyrics to sing for songs.

Special Transformations

-DigiShark Mode

Nicknames

'Showstopper' (By Caine)

'Hun' (By Ragatha)

'Lil Sis' (By Ragatha)

Kid (By Jax)

'Lil Bud' (Jax)

'Dear Little Ladybug' (Kinger)

'My Greatest Friend' (Gangle)

'The best Newbie' (Bubble)

'The Kid who Wasn't really Half Bad' (Zooble)

Ragatha the 'Ragdolly' Ragdoll

Gender: Female

Age: 40 years old

Personality: Ragatha's personality still stays the same as in the past, nothing much really had changed for her. Expect for her becoming a older sister to Pomni, lol.

Appearance: Very tall now, wears a beautiful lil blue headband round her curly red hair, always wearing nice little black shoes on her feet. Has a new eye replaced with her X shaped button one on her right side of her face, colored ruby red. Her hair had also grown out a lot too, like Pomni.

Likes: Her Friends, Helping others, making people happy, Making Pomni happy, taking care of her friends, Being a leader.

Jax the 'Chesire Grinning' Rabbit

Gender: Male

Age: 25-26 years old

Personality: Over the years, Jax had grown a bit more into a better person, and he gave up doing most of his pranks and jokes over all the time...(well mostly.) He also acts much nicer in this Future AU, and is less of a jerk then he used to be.

Appearance: Jax had grown a bit more taller over the years in this AU, even taller then he used to be; His purple fur being much more unique and older-looking. He would also wear other clothes on besides overalls in this AU too, such as boots and whatnot. His ears also had grown longer too, almost drooping down to the floor. He also had grown a liking to wearing fancy clothes, such as tuxedos.

-Fun Fact: Jax had somewhat 'accidentally' called Pomni his 'big sis' at some point, causing him to be embarrassed.

Jax ended up saving Pomni from Kaufmo the Clown at one point in the AU, gaining her trust to him

Jax, Ragatha, and Pomni have a very funny, cute, and silly sibling relationship with the three of each other.

Caine The 'Sentient AI' Ringmaster

Gender: Male

Age: ???

Personality: After the years of Pomni being in the Amazing Digital Circus, and watching the gang grow more and more as a family, something...CHANGED in Caine. Every passing day, he had grown more and more intelligent, slowly getting more and more sentient over the time...Until he began to act almost...'HUMANE'-like. After realizing how much torture he put everyone through, he knew what he had to do: So he began to recreate the acts and 'adventures' of the Circus, making them much less dangerous and life-threatening.

Appearance/Looks: After gaining his new sentience, Caine decided he needed a new look, making his normal red tuxedo and top hat into a nice little jacket, bowler shoes, and fedora. He also tended to always be wearing neat little circle-shaped glasses on his face all the time.

-Caine had installed a system of universe traveling doors into the Amazing Digital Circus, which allow the gang to travel to different video game worlds

-His eyes had become a snow white color due to him gaining his sentience in this AU

-He had grown curious of how to keep getting more knowledge about Humans, so Pomni began to teach him many things that Humans do

-Caine had given Ragatha a new eye to replace her X-shaped button eye that will help her see better

-His voice would have a bit of a slight British accent to it

-Caine taught Pomni how to sing and dance in the storyline of the AU

Gangle

Gender: Female

Age: 27

Personality: Gangle's personality had greatly developed over time, becoming a much more tougher and confident person; She deeply cares about her friends, and isn't afraid of standing up to people to protect them. She is also not much of a crybaby anymore then she used to be.

Appearance: Her appearance is much different now then in the PILOT episode: Gangle now where's a cute red/white-striped, ribbon-like skirt and baggy dark reddish sweater on all the time. She also wears a long white ribbon over her mask-faced head too as well.

-Pomni made Gangle new masks to wear; A green one, a blue one, and a red one.

-Gangle sees Pomni as an older sister

-Pomni teached Gangle self-defense. (And boy did Jax not see it coming lol.)

-Gangle teaches Pomni a few art techniques sometimes to draw like her

-Pomni nicknames the three masks she had made Gangle 'Cherry' (Red One), Emerald (Green One), and 'Sapphire' (Blue One)

-These three mask's Pomni made Gangle also tended to give Gangle very...Unique different personalities.

-Gangle is very good at art and drawing

Kinger

Gender: Male

Age: 51

Personality: Kinger's personality is quite almost the same as in the original Pilot episode, crazy, anxious, and constantly cautious; Though, despite this, he TRUELY cares for the other members of the Amazing Digital Circus, and tries his best to help.

Appearance/Looks: Kinger's appearance is not that different from the Pilot episode, always wearing his purple/white and black-spotted robe on, though he has grown a faint white beard over all the time with Pomni around.

-Kinger had made Pomni his daughter in the early timeline of the AU

-Kinger gets EXTREMELY over-protective of Pomni when she's around other people he doesn't know

-He's the oldest and wisest of the gang, knowing much more about the Amazing Digital Circus then the others think he does

Zooble

Gender: Female

Age: 23-25 years old

Personality: Zooble's main personality in this AU is...pretty much canon to the original Pilot episode, so not much is really different about her. She still acts the same as in the original Pilot, but she sometimes acts much calmer and less grumpy now.

Appearance/Looks: Over the years of Pomni being cooped up in the Circus, Zooble was able to find unique and strange toy parts lying throughout the deepest parts of the Amazing Digital Circus, being able to recreate her own body into a much more humanoid like form. She also has four pairs of arms now, one being on her shoulders, and the others on her back.

-Zooble and Pomni had become good friends over the years, both having different, yet slightly similar reasons hating the Amazing Digital Circus

-Zooble would sometimes protect Pomni from Jax doing his pranks many times in the early timeline of Universe

Fun Fact: Caine and the rest of the gang find a secret cure to cure all the Abstracted characters of the Circus deep in the forgotten parts of it, and turn all of them back to normal. He even brings some of the un-abstracted characters back into the show!

Kaufmo the Clown

Gender: Male

Personality: Originally Abstracted after SO many years of finding an Exit, Kaufmo the Clown was later un-abstracted and returned to normal by Caine after finding the cure. Upon meeting Pomni, the clown and jester became like best friends, bonding with one another,telling each other horrible puns and jokes.

Appearance: Kaufmo's appearance is very flashy and colorful-like, always wearing a big, over-sized baggy clown outfit on all the time. He also has small little, spirial-shaped markings on both his cheeks on his face.

-Kaufmo is somewhat mute and deaf, so he speaks through ASL and sign language.

-He makes squeaky loud, clown honking noises when he laughs

Likes: Telling Jokes, Making People Laugh, Hanging out with Pomni, Classic Music

[mdhwrites]

Going back through TOH's episodes, it strikes me how boring they are. Part of the problem seems to be how criminally unfunny the show is, generally speaking. I can count how many times I've laughed on one hand. In fact I can list them:

There was the "It's been my dream since I was a boy" guy pushing kids off cliffs (Moving Hassle), Luz's "He'll be fine" after throwing Hunter overboard - and then his subsequent re-entry (Hunting Palismen) - and lastly Luz tumbling offscreen in front of Amity after a spider crawls on her face (Grom). That's 3 scenes, 4 jokes if we're being charitable. And sure, maybe my sense of humour is just incompatible with TOH's and I'm being harsh.

But I can't deny that I just feel like there's no rewatch value in TOH? Like it's just... the jokes are so bad to the point it's not fun, it's not entertaining, it's a slog, I see no value in retreading the same ground. And I am a SERIAL rewatcher! This is coming from someone who spends maybe 85% of their time experiencing the same stories! I love seeing well-done media all over again, because even if I know what's going to happen or what they will say, a well-structured joke or a skillfully delivered line is still gonna engage me.

I can't even recommend the show to anyone because I HAVE in the past... and what ends up happening is they watch the first couple episodes, get bored, go "I recognize that you like this, but it's not my thing" and drop it. And I CAN'T BLAME THAT! Because that's how I reacted too when I got into the show! I only stuck with it because it seemed like it was going really interesting places. And it tried to, I think, and failed.

I'm also a very fandom-heavy person so TOH's boring episodes have made it increasingly harder for me to stay within it. Because I'm not rewatching anything, I can see myself in real time as I forget more and more of the plotlines, and even a lot of the characters. It's just... kind of disappointing. It's like I just had a gradual fizzling out of interest. I don't even hate the show, which might be better in some ways - instead I just can't muster enough shits to feel any type of way towards it.

I rambled a bit but I guess my ultimate ask here was: what are your thoughts on whether or not TOH manages to entertain new/old viewers?

So I like S1. I think the characters are what carry it and that they are at their most interesting, EASILY, in S1.

The vast majority of S1, in terms of concepts and executions for plots, is OKAY AT BEST.

This actually just comes down to a simple tonal decision of TOH and also just the fact that a boring world with boring magic creates little to do with bog standard plots and TOH actually has a LOT of bog standard plotting. It is a pretty classic story structurally and takes genuinely very few risks in the structure... Which is okay in theory.

There is nothing wrong with not reinventing the wheel and TOH talks a big game about subverting tropes but no. As a fantasy fan, I can tell you this is EXCEPTIONALLY normal. Like... Insultingly from how much it talks a big game. Especially because if you're going to do classic, you have three options: Shoot the moon, lean into the unique elements of your concept or do it VERY. VERY. WELL.

And remember: They did a body swap episode and it is one of the most hated episodes of the entire show. That's not a good sign.

But this touches on the second problem I brought up: This is a boring world with boring magic. Because TOH's fantasy world is so basic, has little magic and little flair with its magic, it inherently limits what it can do. Now, it doesn't have to be this way but the show made it this way with how little we see of it, how limited it is (like how plant magic is 99% vines), and how often it just blatantly makes one to one comparisons between it and our world with effectively NOTHING altered like how the covens are just jobs, right down to them being introduced through a job fair and a boring one at that.

So when we look at a classic episode concept like the body swap episode, the three plots are... Easily replicated elsewhere. One person gets in trouble in the swap's job because they don't know what they're doing (with the most unique twist of this actually landing them in prison), a classic animal plot where they're taken in by a place that seems cozy and then isn't with literally no changes, and finally... Teenager pisses off bullies and agrees to jump DEAD MAN'S GORGE! But instead of skateboards and people really building it up, its rat beasts.

None of these plots are actually bad, they're go tos for a reason, but... No one is bringing anything special to this. Luz is entirely ignored so her character may as well not matter, Eda is doing NOTHING to add to her plot and King... King is fun for about two minutes leading the bullies and otherwise is just any other character in this situation. It's not bad, I personally enjoy parts of the episode... But it's nothing special. From the second the thing that X character is going to do is revealed, you can guess every step of the plot and they don't even really throw in good jokes in the process. A couple jokes but nothing memorable because everything is weirdly subdued compared to how other shows would be, even in an episode that is definitely trying to be more over the top.

And this runs into the inherent tonal issue of TOH: It doesn't want to be an adventure comedy. Those are genres that are commonly really over the top. They hear jump the shark and go "How about a shark jumping ten other sharks in order to finish making a can of tuna for their fire giant overlord?" And the face of this fact, in that the genres it pitches itself as for the first two episodes!

TOH flatly refuses to be silly and over the top. It's characters are very... 'realistic'. I don't mean real, just that they're meant to feel more mature by being more in control. They don't let them interrupt each other for a joke, they don't let a character be potentially OOC for a one off gag like Hop Pop screaming "EAT THE RICH!" or Sprig asking "Have you ever killed a a man, Hop Pop," and I can only think of one time Luz got mad for the sake of a joke and honestly, yelling about the Rusty Smidge barely comes across as a joke because of how genuine the anger feels after a point. Otherwise, stuff that would normally get exaggerated frustration or the like to at least let you laugh at the reaction just... doesn't get one, like how Luz yells about Luzura being killed off but then... Just walks off and is passive aggressive mostly instead of even exasperated. For a drama or romance, this is not a bad approach but for even just an adventure kid's show... It's not great to put it mildly because people meet odd situations with weird levels of nonchalance. Not quite irony poisoned levels but getting there.

It's why TOH is mostly remembered for the romance and drama episodes. Not only do they allow some of the romance scenes to actually include melodrama, they also just fit how the characters act better. It's why Amity has some of the biggest emotions of the series and why Lumity have such great lines between each other because they're actually willing to lean into the sort of genre fiction that they're doing. This is also why S2 works better than S1 because a lot of the pretense of being a comedy adventure gets dropped but like... There's still plenty of boring in S2 with stuff like how Elsewhere Elsewhen takes time travel and includes a couple jokes at the beginning and then is just... horribly bland and barely qualifies as an adventure.

This lack of allowing people to be emotional and jokey also leads to the reliance on comic relief characters. People like Gus, King or Hooty, or S2 Lilith, who the characters can mock in someway, including the writers. Characters who can be the punchline even if it means a lot of people come off a lot meaner than they should, i.e. Luz absolutely rejecting Hooty for the vast majority of the series despite supposedly liking the weird and rejected. That also means that most of the time they're not on screen, either the scene starts getting pretty dry or you have a character suddenly warp to be comic relief, like how Eda gets in some S2 episodes like Elsewhere Elsewhen or Eclipse Lake where suddenly she's MUCH more of a joke than she normally is and also REALLY bad at it too and seeming potentially brain dead for it. Thanks to Them even does this to Amity even though she is probably the last person in the cast to make sense as a sudden clutz.

All of this stuff makes it so that if you go in wanting a kid's show, a fantasy show, ANYTHING that is pitched in the first episode... S1 is going to be just okay to you. I enjoyed it... But I also fell off when I first watched it. I thought the characters were good but none of it stuck with me as actually memorable and I watched until I think Adventure in the Elements. I never was never compelled to come back until Lumity animations (literally THE Little Miss Perfect animatic that is nowadays probably hard to find actually) made me go "I remember this show being neat." And Lumity was what kept me, not because I was generally laughing or calling these episodes something special. In fact, that sense of unsatisfaction is probably why I watched through it faster than Amphibia. No one episode of TOH is really great to watch on its own because... It's just kind of boring, or like half of it is boring because the B plots across the board are SO BLAND. S1 or 2 for that matter since Lumity starts getting boring B plots like with the archives or finding out the author of Azura. Both concepts btw that could have been really interesting setups and instead... If you're not into blushing Amity, get FUUUUUCKED.

That's without getting into REPETITION. Repetition kills comedy so King having one joke for S1 and also taking up like half of the B plots for the first ten episodes means you are going to be in agony eventually anytime someone talks to him because you know where it's going and you have DEFINITELY heard this joke before. And you know, he also gets three repetitive B plots which just hurts the joke even more, even as they try to make twists on it, and hurts the feeling that the show is doing... Anything..

It's just not good. Which is probably why once the characters and the 'subversive/unique' elements of the show both weakened, more and more people left because... Why would you keep watching this then? Those elements are what made up for boring plots with boring execution in a world that didn't allow for more interesting storytelling because it had few ideas and expanded on NONE OF THEM. So of course people pitch it using the elements that say "this isn't like other kids shows/fantasy shows" because if you pitch it to people who like those... They'll just be disappointed eventually and bored quickly. Like i think a lot of people did to be quite honest.

And a lack of creativity, and a lack of genre understanding, isn't something time could have ever fixed.

======+++++======

The short version of proving this point btw is going "Compare Bumi's introductory episode, which is a character giving three trials to prove another's worth, versus when the Bat Queen challenges Luz. One is exceptionally funny, interesting and has genuinely interesting twists while the other is... There. So very there. Painfully just... there. Not even bad, just... There.

Also, yes, comedy is extremely subjective which is why I tried to talk more about how a lot of these premises are boring because that can be a bit more objective.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past.

I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead.

If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[inbarfink]

So ever since the Spamton Talking Plush has been Unleashed into the World, I’ve seen several attempts to decipher it’s mysterious 6th voice line (which seems to be a cleaner version of one of the rambling voices we hear on “BIG SHOT”). And while I, personally, don’t feel 100% confident about anything save for “it pulls the strings and makes them ring” - I see a lot of people hear something along the lines of  “I can’t explain it until you’re all alone.”

Which I find... quite an interesting possibility due to the way the theme of isolation plays into his plotlines. Like, yeah, almost every character in Deltarune is lonely in some way, it’s a very common theme. But both Spamton’s Normal Route plot and his Weird Route plot put a unique emphasis on this idea.

In a Normal Route, Kris is always all alone when encountering Spamton and progressing his Secret Boss Quest (first by happenstance and then they start asking their friends to wait outside the shop\basement) and this isolation only stops when the Spamton NEO Boss fight starts.

This is wholesale inverted in the Weird Route, Kris always has someone around in all of their interactions with Spamton (either Noelle or the rest of the Fun Gang)..... until the NEO Boss Fight. Which they do all alone.

And that also reflects back on Spamton’s character and how much his own isolation defines him cause like... regardless of the Route, Spamton ends up projecting hardcore on Kris’ situation. And despite all of their similarities regarding their respective lack of Freedom, the thing that always starts the projection is the loneliness. 

So the idea that in BIG SHOT, Spamton is saying something along the lines of “I can’t explain it until you’re all alone” is... an interesting addition to it. 

Like, when I talked about Spamton and the Isolation Theme before I described it as Isolation Through Knowledge. Kris feels isolated even when amongs friends because no one else knows about the situation with Spamton, Kris feels isolated because no one else knows about the SOUL, Spamton has been isolated because his knowledge about the nature of the world has left him unable to function as a normal member of Cyber World’s society. And now we’ve got the added possibility of Knowledge Through Isolation. 

Like, is the reason why Kris chooses to always interact with Spamton alone in the Normal Route (and they really do choose. We don’t tell them to do it and while Spamton told them to come alone to the store, no one told them to go to the basement alone. This is something they decided to do truly on their own volition) is because they feel/know that they wouldn’t be able to get information out of Spamton unless they are alone? 

Is this about how Spamton relates to other isolated people and thus he feel that people are only able to be-explained-at when they have been left ‘all alone’? Do you need to be lonely to understand the Nature of the World of Deltarune? Is this about isolation as a manipulation technique? Tempting people with the promise of an explanation and pull out the puppet strings when turned away anyone who could’ve helped them? Is this something Spamton himself experienced in his past with... whoever that was who contacted him?

There’s a bunch of questions this line raises, but my biggest one is probably:

DID Spamton actually explain all that he could explain whenever he interacted with Kris?

Because like, yeah, Kris only interact with Spamton when Susie and Ralsei and Noelle and Queen and Berdly aren’t around (and Lancer is but he’s not paying attention)

But Kris is never actually ‘all alone’

Because we’re with them in the Dark.

Was there something Spamton wanted to explain to Kris but couldn’t cause he could tell someone or something was watching them?

... hey speaking of which, you know what other character does actually only explains things to Kris when they are truly ‘all alone’?

[fannicroy]

HSHQTASK059: FAREWELL

when did you join ? what made you join ? what do you remember from the plotlines that were current at the time ? where were you in life when you joined and where are you now ?

I joined in June '17! I was on my summer break and needed some casual fun hobby. I had been in other groups but I hadn't stuck in one. Then HSHQ came and stole me away. I think when I joined the major plot was the Portuguese-Italian attack on Spain. I had picked a Brazilian crown princess and since she was related to the Portuguese, I got involved in it a bit. I remember having a hard time understanding the lore and reasoning behind it and it's why Flavia was kind of anti-Braganzas lmao. Retrospectively, I was looking for a logical reason when I should have understood that "for the drama" was a valid reason haha

which characters have you written over the years ?

Flavia, Fanni, Lixue, Roman, one Andorran, Robbie... I think that's all? I've been quite conservative with my roster.

what is your favourite plotline that you've been part of ?

It would have to be Roman's arch. I liked the fact that it had a proper ending and a clear storyline. It was also the kind of story I had never had the chance to write because it required so much time and it required loyalty from all members. It was an unique experience so it gets the special mention.

what about other people's plotlines ?

I think I'll give this one to Sergi-Remei-Chico thing. The whole Spanish fires, Spain vs. Catalonia + Andorra vs. France. I think it was a compact set of stories that worked individually but still created a larger story. Okay, now that I think about this a bit more, this is probably a cop out since Fanni was somewhat involved in this, but I swear I'm talking about Chimei more than France's role in all of this.

who is your favourite character from the ones you've played ? why ? what made you love them ? what made them so fun to write ?

I can't choose between Roman and Fanni. I think it's pretty clear to everyone that I love Fanni. She has had some of the best plots that I've ever had the chance to write and there hasn't been a dull moment with her. Through Fanni I got to write some complex and dark feelings, and I think it worked as some kind of therapy too because when I put some of those feelings into words, I got to rationally look at some of deeper and hidden feelings I myself harboured. I do want to put a disclaimer here that Fanni is a much much much unhappier person than I am but I think everyone can relate to comparing yourself to others or feeling like a lesser person? If you don't know what I'm talking about, this is very awkward lmao. The emotional side of writing Fanni was fun and I feel like I made so many discoveries and felt proud of my writing. But.... Roman is so special to me. He was a complex character and a character I had to spend time on a lot. I really had to think about his motives and I had to find a backstory for him that worked. His relationship with Giselle was one of my favourite relationships to write because there were so many emotions stitched into it. I think I should write the relationship task for them just to get all of my thoughts out. Roman was interesting to write. That is all. And I echo Hails' words when I say that it was fun to write a more down-to-earth character. Someone who wasn't overly wealthy and obnoxious. I enjoyed writing characters for Eastern Europe. It was maybe an easy option to choose since it's what I know well. I'm a bit saddened by the fact that I didn't get the chance to write about Fanni's complexes more. It would have been fun to expand on her tough relationship with Hungary.

if you could relive a plotline, which would it be ?

Oooooh.... I think I'd go with post-break up Farnauld? It was a very exciting time and the interactions were fun to write. What I would change would be how we ended up extending the break up? The reconcilation should have happened a year quicker haha. Wait no. That's my second option. My first option would be Isanni in the beginning. Their interactions were super intense and I loved the complexity of their relationship. I'm very pleased with their storyline but I wish I had written the beginning more.

is there a plotline that you'd edit now if you could ?

I know if I edited these plotlines, Fanni would be somewhere different so technically I wouldn't change these but... I think the beginning of Tekla and Fanni's interactions. I think I'd have Fanni be a bit more open. I would have liked to see their relationship as a supportive one. The other one that I'd edit would be Fanni and Nadya. I think it would have been fun to have them actually become friends. I do stand behind my replies, they were accurate portrayals but I think there was some wasted potential by having them end up being almost-friends.

what's a plotline you wish you would have been able to finish before closing or just write more of ?

Tekla and Fanni. I needed just one more thread gaah! Their dynamic was the most important one for me. Fanni's codependency on Tekla was so interesting and fun to write. I think an ending to their difficulties would have been cathartic.

what is your favourite ooc memory ?

I have to say I'm not that involved in OOC stuff as you guys have probably noticed haha. I enjoyed the HSHQfeed stuff and... Naomi's shanenigans.

where can others find you if they want to get in touch ?

Through tumblr, this blog, but I think I'll disappear akbgdjag If you end up reopening or joining some group together, please let me know! I'd love to write with you guys again <3

what else would you like to say ?

I never thought a group would mean this much to me yet here we are! I've loved every second of it and I think I've been given a special opportunity to express myself through writing. Everyone's dedication has amazed me and I'm literally literally so so happy that I made HSHQ my home. I'm so sad that it has come to an end. I don't know if I would have had much more to give but it's hard to say goodbye. Seven years is a long time to know people! I can't believe I've graduated and switched jobs all while being here. If I compare my life pre-HSHQ and post-HSHQ, I can barely believe it myself! Thank you everyone, it's been a truly wonderful experience <3 I think I'll write a few things and if you still want to write a thread or two, don't hesitate to message me <3

[noodleblade]

megatron for the ask game?

Hmmmm idk which Megatron because they do slightly change with each continuity so I'll do TFP because he was my first:3

First impression: I did not care for him. TFP was my first transformers show so I had preconceived notions of "Bad Guy" in my brain and uhhh he's in a coma for a good portion of s1 so I didn't really care about him for a while.

Impression now: i love him i love him i love him. hes batshit on crack obsessing over his ex and i love him. love his unfocused gaze as rusty crusty mouth i want to kiss- right. I love how unhinged he is through tfp. Its just soo good??? There is also an artist I found that drew him in such a unique cringegirl way that really helped shape my opinion. (I'll try to find them and link them)

Favorite moment: UGHHH HOW DO I PICK??? THERE ARE SO MANY. I think I'd go with this moment when Optimus and him are fighting with their cringe swords and Optimus sends a wave blast with it?? Megatron is watching in dismay from the Nemesis and Optimus (its a barely there) winks at him and it destroys him. To quote @honkytonka "that's going to set him back years" I think its a really defining moment of how obsessive he is of Optimus in general. Love it love it love it.

Idea for a story: pff ok. I have a megop idea I want to write but its really low priority. I want a sad, desperate, probably drunk Megatron leaving really pathetic awful voicemails for Orion on his commlink...except they still go to Optimus and Optimus is just dealing with this conflict of Megatron mourning their past but viciously denying a possibility of a peaceful future. (also, because im horrible, the idea of this did spur from Arkham City's Joker leaving these deranged, romantic voicemails for Batman throughout the game:3)

Unpopular opinion: hmmmmm what are his unpopular opinions?? Oh, maybe just the show's decision to make him so unredeemably evil? I like Megatron with more moral ambiguity, but there is something very delightful about a Megatron that is fullstop evil, horrible and cruel. idk, i think its fun:)

Favorite relationship: Romantically, megop. They are doing this horrible divorced but still obsessed with each other plotline that makes me rabid. Very much love them for it. Platonically, Soundwave. I like their mutual loyalty and trust. Its not very explicit and the show isn't very deep, but you can see the foundations of genuine friendship there that I think really adds to both their characters.

Favorite headcanon: haha doihaveheadcanonsfortfpmegatronuhhhhhh maybe tfp megatron also writes poetry. i think stylistically it could be neat to see the progression of madness and obsession from a poetry angle. I'M NOT THE PERSON TO WRITE THIS. IM HORRIBLE AT POETRY. But i think it'd be really creative and neat to see it deteriorate from structure and rhythm to chaos and ruin.

[spearxwind]

been thinking a lot about my different oc worlds recently. ive said before ive got four, but technically it's five if you count extinction.

im gonna put all my thoughts under a readmore bc once again this got insanely long jkllkjjkf. i be rambling

most of my attention has definitely been going into challenger deep the past year (and will likely continue), recently i refurbished hollowridge as well and have had a lot of fun with it (even if i havent drawn much to show for it...)

the other two of the set of four i originally posted about are my agony drive and broken horizon settings. Broken horizon is more of a personal headworld where ive set my dragon ocs, but I have not really been successful with it in terms of like. worldbuilding and crafting a story for it, mostly because there are very few characters in it currently and i struggle with it. But it's the world where cercerion and my sona dima (as an oc) exist. i would love to actually do a better job with it sometime but it currently isnt a huge priority because ive been focused on the other two main ones (but again since its just a personal headworld it literally is just some place i like to mentally hang out and fly around in, im not super bothered by it being undeveloped.)

However we have the two troublemaker worlds now

the agony drive setting has been driving me more than a little nuts because of its whole situation with it. i absolutely adore the characters i have in it, but i have no idea what to do with the world itself. it used to be a joint project so i was extremely limited in the way i could develop it bc i depended on the other individual enjoying the ideas and i did my best to keep it afloat almost being the sole contributor to it, so now that its liberated i just didnt know what to do with it. i do like a bunch of the lore bits i came up with but some part of me is like 'idk if i enjoy this as a world' bc it still feels limited in some way? Another issue is that while hollowridge (previously my horror and slapstick gore setting with demons/angels/magic vibes) was dead in the water, i channeled that violence slapstick demon/magic vibe through TAD, but getting a focus back on hollowridge has kinda just. straight up deleted a bunch of TAD's reason to exist? i dont know if that makes sense

HR isnt really that much slapstick violence because death is final, and TAD is more cartoony in that sense bc death ISNT final which is its main reason to exist (unlimited violent major character death for the funnies), but theres a weird overlap that is keeping me from focusing correctly because it makes my brain go 'you are doing the same thing twice'

I would really really love to actually turn it into something fun and unique (separate from my other worlds) but i really havent been sure how to go about it because of that overlap. i genuinely think its just a problem of 'you have to actually develop the setting to have fun in it' and i just havent been able to do that yet bc i cant decide what i want it to BE. TAD has also never really had a lot of story to begin with so it makes things harder bc the story is the vehicle to explore the world with. its pretty frustrating bc midas set and david are some of my fav ocs ive made and i miss them but god dammit if it isnt hard to actually work with the whole thing....

and last but not least... the fifth one. extinction. a lot of you probably know this one from my comic. if youve been here since like... 2014-2015 (which would be insane) you might remember me beginning to develop that story until it eventually became the comic that is currently sitting unfinished and feels like a huge weight on my shoulders just out of sheer shame

the issue with extinction is that it was a lot of characters that i deeply loved (and still i still deeply love!!) all with fun plotlines, backstories, and a lot of fun tidbits to em that i ended up bending and breaking dozens of times just for the purpose of fitting them into a relatively short story that i could draw out and finish. and more importantly into something i hoped would be handleable instead of spiralling out of control like it had happened before

but what i didnt realize is that by doing so, i "locked" their lore in place into these very small boxes that would fit into a story, and thus i would remove what i had loved about those characters and their interactions that i had come up with years and years ago and a lot of my very very cool ideas for them simply went out the window in favor of .... well i dont. know. but off it went

i live in complete shame for not being able to finish the comic. it genuinely is a huge and extremely heavy weight on my shoulders and this whole thing has prevented me from even thinking of said ocs for years now even though they are some of my oldest and most beloved. saying all of this is not something i take lightly in the least as well

so recently I have been thinking about bringing them back as well... maybe (to the extent that i can... i have a lot of ocs and you guys know i have a lot of bias when drawing faves. so i cant guarantee content but at least i would be able to think about them again).

essentially the same way that i rewrote and got back my old concepts for hollowridge that slapped hard i want to get back my original ideas for extinction that i thought were really cool and just wasnt able to fit into a comic narrative

obviously this would come with a lot of retconning and i know a lot of people will probably not like it if i do it and i think thats something i have to face and learn to live with

but yeah anyways. TLDR is i really want to actually do something proper for TAD but have been having a lot of trouble with it unfortunately, but im working on it. and ive also been feeling rly nostalgic about extinction so you might see the characters again, albeit different in terms of story from what you probably know

[qqueenofhades]

Do you have a favorite character relationship, platonic or romantic, that’s your favorite to write purely from an author format?

I feel like I’m wording this terribly, but I know for me personally, my favorite relationships to read and write from like… a fandom perspective based on what I ship? is different than the relationships that are interesting to me as an author, because trying to figure out how characters interact, trying to capture their relationship and banter and dialogue and mannerisms, I find in some ways is more fun and interesting and dynamic to write over even some of my absolute favorite relationships, because with my favorites, I read and write them so much that I’m very comfortable with them and sometimes it’s nice to know that I’m just able to go for it and write them because I trust my internal instinct about how to write them and how they act and talk.

But the ones that are more challenging to explore or more unique are in many ways almost more interesting to write, they scratch that author itch when I can pull them off, and especially enjoy.

Like, there’s the things fandom author me enjoys, and things literary author me enjoys, and while there’s a LOT of overlap I have different preferences and favorites on both sides

And honestly I think this goes for ALL writing, not just necessarily relationships? So yeah, there’s the question and I’m so sorry for the rambling, but what would you say are your favorite things and relationships and plots etc to write as a fandom author, and favorite ones as a literary author? I’m happy to try to explain more if I’m being confusing. Words. Hard. Sorry

Are you asking in terms of abstracts (i.e. overall character types/dynamics/broad themes) or specifics (i.e. actual characters/ships from particular media properties)? In general for fandom, I have certain tropes and dynamics that I gravitate toward: i.e. Trashy Garbage Man Falls For Tiny Fierce Woman Who Doesn't Take His Bullshit; Sunshine and Grumpy (any combination thereof); Stupid Homosexuals are Stupid and Cannot Communicate, Cause Problems for Themselves; Now With Even More Literal Centuries of Pining God They're So Fucking Stupid, and more. Most of my favorite and long-term ships, such as Garcy, Fivan, Dreamling, etc. fall into one or more of these categories. I also particularly enjoy or have enjoyed writing Flynn (Timeless), Hob (Sandman), Ivan (Shadow and Bone), and their associated relationships, for various reasons. I know all of their characters well and they give me joy, so it's easy to slip into their POV, create scenarios or headcanons, and put them in various settings and give them problems. So there's that.

In terms of my original stuff, I am much more experimental and interested in a broader range of styles and outcomes. When you're writing fic, you are usually heading toward a certain ending (a happy ending for the blorbos after various tribulations), and I therefore have a certain writing style for fic that reflects that. My original fiction is different and in some ways considerably darker, and pushes character boundaries, plotlines, and interactions beyond what you'll normally see in my fic. For example, I have two currently finished original novels that (and I KNOW I have said this before) I should just quit procrastinating on and publish, especially since I badly need the money. One of them, The Wives, is a dark feminist murder-version of #MeToo with an unreliable and extremely feral female narrator. The other, Wormwood, is an alternate-history science fiction saga that is a combination of The Man in the High Castle and Chernobyl. They're both considerably different from each other in tone, style, and character relationships, and they represent more experimentation, complicated morality, and plot conflict than is generally reflected in my fics, because long-form fandom writing is one kind of thing and original long-form writing is another. So hey.

I likewise am currently working on an original version of my fic The Key of Solomon, entitled The Empire of Bones, which is an epic ensemble political-magical fantasy set in a historically inspired world. @silverbirching has read Part 1 and very much enjoyed it, so I am hoping to finish that one sometime in the new year (probably not sooner, but we will see?) It is likewise quite different from The Wives and Wormwood, and will (I hope) readily appeal to fans of my fics, because it preserves some of the same themes, styles, and character dynamics, while also including a ton of original stuff, extensive world-building, and new plots, themes, and content.

Thanks for the question!

[drizzlederg]

are humanizations for TTS fine?

Yeah! Uh… Take Two Sides kinda started with that, actually! This is something I haven't gone into much since I was saving it for a trivia video about the development of my show I was slowly working on, but the initial concept for Take Two Sides actually was something more accurate to the show name: you take two sides.

The original concept for Take Two Sides was made during a time when people were in strife about people supposedly voting characters off just by design and not by personality, so I wanted to make a show to test that, sort of. Do you know this intro? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d94BcEwDPgk This intro was made during this phase of Take Two Sides development. This show dates back to 2020!

The gimmick was that there were two sides of the show, basically "take two sides." One side had objects in it and the other side had humanoid creatures vaguely like the objects in it. Not really humans… more of… furries??? The objects and the creatures practically had each the same personality, so both sides would play out almost exactly the same way and the same teams would be formed and get put up for elimination, but the camera would've gone to different places in both sides, revealing what happened on that side. The idea here if that different people were eliminated from one side of the camp then the show would start to diverge in plotlines.

This is a good unique idea, but it requires just so much animation and setup for timing and I don't have time for that. It would also be kinda hard to explain to the audience if I'm being honest here. If I had went through with this idea, I'd have to reanimate the show twice multiple times, and any minor changes done to the script would require me to heavily rework a single scene, so eventually I just removed the two sides gimmick and kept it to the standard instead.

Maybe someone can try the idea themselves instead of me. Probably with less characters to make it easier, (I was going for 16 initially!) but at that point I don't know if you can have a whole lot of character action and chemistry with a small cast. Whatever it may be, I'm glad I didn't go through with this idea! Here's some more dumb notes about the show.

(Fun Fact: Aikon was the second character made (the first was Hapkid (Piston)). Kwie was meant to be an internet troll (hence the fruit choice and weight) and Flip-Flip was an early version of of both Koot (Fire Axe) and LCDend (Battery Icon))

[archer3-13]

Fire Emblem Engage: The Four Hounds, Execution and Intent

got past ch23 of engage, gameplay wise its a fun enough chapter using map environmental damage gimmicks in a way that generally works. as you can tell from the title though, thats not why im making this post. I'm making this post because spoiler warning:

this is where the four hounds and the plotlines tied to that whole group basically culminate. id be surprised anyways if anything more comes of them, but at this point i feel confident enough at their part in the story to comment on it.

under the cut

the tl:dr of it all is that the four hounds are a villain quartet idea i love in concept, but find lacking in execution in regards to their place in the story.

but what do i mean by that? well, we'll start by going over the concept of what engage wants the four hounds to be. at the bare minimum the four hounds are our evil quartet/mini group for the game, a timed honored tradition not just in fe but across media of all sorts. in terms of general archetypes we have

zephia: evil sexy female group leader and bosses right hand mauvier: the honorable obviously going to heel turn or die tragically guy griss: the crazy one in it ostensibly for the lols possibly for another reason marni: small bratty child who was duped into it with candy

and if they were just the bare minimum I probably wouldnt have much more to say on the matter, but the game does give them some extra narrative teeth and its something that kinda flew past my head for the majority of the game because it didnt feel that important. we will get to that.

but essentially, ya know how in ch10/11, the snippet of the scene marketing decided to use to tease the four hounds pre release? when zephia notes how the four hounds are 'like a family'? shes not just saying that she literally means that, its their 'unique selling point' so to speak as an evil group. aside from their evil archtypes you can also map them like this

zephia: mommy mauvier: daddy griss: son marni: daughter

and to give the game credit where its due, when that realization did finally hit i'll admit, i appreciated the four hounds and what was going on with them a lot more. the irrational attachment mauvier and marni display to zephia despite how awful of a person she is makes sense, why mauvier is being so weirdly passive about all the things the hounds are doing especially to veyle despite clearly taking issue with it makes sense, why marni wants to go back to the hounds and mauvier fuckin encourages her to go makes sense.

a lot of what im mentioning there is pretty clearly suppose to be irrational behavior taken for emotional reasons of course. the game presents it as such, but it was always the context of why the characters were acting irrationally that got lost. the deathbed clarification between griss and zephia does clear up a lot of that confusion, atleast for me, and brings some interesting weight to previous storybeats. the four hounds are a family, but a clearly dysfunctional one serving a dark god.

and it tracks with what in retrospect are the wider themes of engage, family and what defines the individual in relation to them. veyles struggle for recognition from her father sombron to the point of believing in his lies until forcibly confronted with the truth, veyles evil alter ego being the complete opposite of veyle in every way except in the desire to be sombrons daughter, ivy and hortensia having had a loving father in hyacinth until his obsession with the fell dragon saw him willing to abandon his own daughters for power, alcrysts and diamants father being described as a paradoxical fierce warrior and gentle family man, alears relation to lumera and how they decide to be family by choice instead of family by circumstance etc.

which is why i will ultimantly say that watching griss and zephias death scene chocked me ever so slightly [in that good emotional release way] with griss providing a gentle reprieve in their dying moments, with a genuinely kinda beautiful final shot of their corpses lying next to each other with griss holding on to zephias hand in the end.

how, fucking, ever.

you'll notice how when describing their death cutscene i pretty much exclusively focus on griss leaving zephia out of the descriptor entirely despite the cutscene being just as much about her as griss. and thats because well i can definitely understand and appreciate the concept intellectually

execution is another matter

were introduced to the four hounds fairly early on in engage, over ten chapters before their whole plotline culminates. and right off the bat i'll note that the screen time for these chucklefucks is kinda wasted in a lot of instances. when they do appear in story they usually could just be replaced with bit villains, and i mean that from both a gameplay and story perspective but for this post story is the more important aspect.

so! the distribution and utilization of their screen time is already wonky and uneven. that'd hurt things even if it was executed really well. but, as i said it isn't and i can point to two primary factors in that matter that i feel needed some serious tweaking to get this to work

the interaction of the hounds as a family unit

and zephia herself

so, starting with the easier problem [in my opinion], the hounds and the time they spend interacting. if the idea were suppose to be grasping is that the hounds are like a family unit, if a very fucked up one, then its important that when the hounds are on screen interacting with each other that their interactions always carry a very distinctive family dynamic to them. and this is the first hurdle engage trips over with the hounds because frankly they dont.

dont what? dont interact all that often as a group, dont interact like a family. as stated their screen time is already wonky, but even when the group is all together on screen is very heavily weighted either to zephia talking mad shit, or to evil veyle/veyle interactions. that leads us into the second part of this problem, and its that even when the four hounds are all together interacting they never really feel like a family, even an off brand one. they feel like evil coworkers in an organization brought together as colleagues to do missions as they try and impress their superior for individual merit.

and thats a problem, cause if we are suppose to feel sad for their 'family' when it starts fraying at the edges, when the ideological and moral weight and contradictions of their actions and individual perspectives start clashing and tear the family asunder, suppose to feel bad when mommy and daddy start fighting because mommys an evil bitch who stabbed their daughter, then they need to feel like a family right from the get go and in every interaction and appearance they make.

which brings us to what i would consider the bigger problem. zephia herself. why is she a problem? because shes the biggest impediment outside of screen time and dialogue distribution inn getting this group to work and feel like an actual family. and screen time and dialogue distribution? giving the four hounds room to interact and feel like a family? thats a writing issue sure but a fairly easily fixable one you just have to give and write them more lines of interacting like a family.

zephia however simply does not work character wise as a mother figure for the four hounds family unit. even if you tried to get them to interact more like a family unit youd run into the problem that shes written exclusively as sombrons evil sexy secretary. and yes secretaries can be mothers but thats not the point.

in order to get this idea of the four hounds as a family unit across, and not the facade of one but an actual pseudo sort of family unit that were suppose to feel for as a family unit, then you need to have characters capable of displaying affection and compassion for each other. and zephia just cant do that the way shes written, itd be like trying to write petrine [or aversa really, who zephia shares way more writing dna with] in a domestic family situation. they're both characters that are too outwardly cruel and cold to realistically manage that without feeling either disingenious, as zephia felt the entire time i was playing whenever she mentioned the four hounds as a family unit which is part of why it didnt stick with me at first, or just feeling out of character.

and unfortunately the only way you could practically fix that, is by rewriting zephias character to one that would fit what the story wants to convey. at which point she becomes a different character, just one sharing zephias face.

best solution i can think of is to shift zephia from a aversa type as it were to more of an eremyia type if that makes sense. cause eremyias big thing in the fe12 assassin sub plot is how she outwardly presents the facade of a kindly matron of a church orphanage well underneath shes a cruel and cold taskmaster of an assassin cult for gharnefs objectives. if zephia had at least been somewhat similar, presenting a wholesome motherly facade before letting the teeth out to achieve sombrons objectives, then i feel things would have hit a lot better in regards to the four hounds and their plotlines.

it would make more sense why the group stays together despite the horrific shit they do, it would hit harder when the cracks form, it would be more shocking when marni gets stabbed by zephia, more impactful when mauvier declares his intent to kill zephia, and more heartbreaking when zephia belatedly realizes she wasted her opportunity for a real family of sorts by taking the four hounds for granted and similarly more heartbreaking when griss lets the facade drop for a moment to comfort zephia before passing away himself.

but... they didnt. or atleast it doesnt come across that way in the english translation. and thats why i consider it a really good concept, with poor execution.

[twistedtummies2]

Top 6 Versions of Sleepy Hollow

Due to a mixture of recent events and the Halloween Season (I don’t know about you all, but it started almost a month ago for me), I’ve been on something of a kick lately for one of my favorite classic spooky stories: Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” For those who don’t know, the basic story goes like this: a schoolteacher named Ichabod Crane travels to a town in New York, called Sleepy Hollow (which is a real place, for the record), and has a series of adventures as he tries to woo a wealthy young lady - Katrina Van Tassel - and matches wits with his rival - the town prankster, Brom Bones. At the climax, Ichabod is attacked by a mysterious ghost known as the Headless Horseman. He ultimately vanishes without a trace, his fate left ambiguous.

I’ve loved this story ever since I was very small: I used to tell it to children in schools, and for me, no Halloween is complete without seeing at least one version of the tale on that date (along with Hocus Pocus, but that’s another story). Recently, I’ve been revisiting several versions, so I thought it would be fun - with October fast approaching - to share some of my personal favorite renditions. Now, I’m not talking about different editions of the book itself, with different illustrators and varying edits to the text. I’m talking adaptations for film, TV, theatre, and so on. So expect those sorts of things here. There’s not much else to say, so let’s get right into it: these are My Top 6 Favorite Versions of Sleepy Hollow!

6. Tarrytown.

This musical is actually the reason I wanted to make this a Top 6 to begin with, because I felt it would be a crime not to mention it here. Created by Adam Wachter, “Tarrytown” is a musical reimagining of the Sleepy Hollow story. There’s actually been a couple of attempts at creating a proper, full-blown musical based on Sleepy Hollow, but Wachter’s, in my opinion, is the most unique and intriguing. The plot of the musical essentially makes two big twists to the story: first of all, it takes place in the modern day, rather than the late 1700s. Second of all, instead of wanting the love of Katrina, Ichabod instead wants the love…of Brom Bones. Yes, Ichabod is a homosexual in this story. Brom and Katrina are already married, but their marriage has become an increasingly unhappy one. Ichabod, realizing this, and wanting Brom for himself, drives a wedge between them to try and force them apart for good. Brom - while ambiguous in his own sexuality - is ultimately still very much in love with Katrina. Brom wants to salvage the marriage, thus leading to the conflict that results in Ichabod’s fateful encounter with the Headless Horseman. Just like in the original book, none of the three main characters are really perfect people. None of them are purely awful, but they all have their own vices and faults. It’s a tantalizing modern reinterpretation. Unfortunately, I’ve never actually SEEN this musical, which is why it ranks so low: all I have to judge are a plotline written up on the show’s official webpage, and the recent Studio Cast Recording. The Cast Recording stars Andy Mientus as Ichabod, Krysta Rodriguez as Katrina, and Jeremy Jordan as Brom: all three are brilliant performers I absolutely adore, and they each play their parts perfectly. If nothing else, listen to that soundtrack: it’s more than worth it.

5. The FOX TV Series.

I only recently got back to revisiting this series, and while it’s not perfect, I actually do find I like it more in returning to it than I probably did when I first checked it out. Heavily influenced by the Tim Burton film version (more on that later), the FOX TV series “Sleepy Hollow” is a supernatural crime drama, similar to shows like “Lucifer” or “Supernatural.” In this version, Ichabod Crane is not a selfish schoolteacher, but a dashing Revolutionary War hero. After a battle with a monstrous soldier - who becomes the Headless Horseman - Ichabod is seemingly slain…but his wife, Katrina - a witch - casts a spell that causes him to reawaken in the modern day. Working as a consultant to the local police department, Ichabod tackles strange crime in the area, battling wicked witches, warmongering demons…and, of course, the Headless Horseman. While the show and its interpretations of the main characters from the story only bear the slightest of resemblances to Irving’s classic legend, I love the actors and the different story arcs the characters have. Tom Mison as Ichabod, himself, is particularly impressive. His physical appearance manages to both call the character of the book to mind while matching the basic vision of a charming war hero, and while his character is very different from the character in the story, he does bring a sort of energy to it that reminds one of the spindly schoolmaster’s many quirks in other adaptations, all while still having his own unique handle on the part. Altogether, the show is a crazy ride, but it’s one I’m happy to take.

4. The Hallmark Production.

Once upon a time, this version actually ranked more highly for me, but over time, I’ve seen more and more of its flaws. Having said that, it’s still an extremely worthy adaptation. Released in 1999, no doubt capitalizing on the hype around Tim Burton’s movie that same year (again, more on that later), this TV film production is basically just a straightforward adaptation of the original story, stretched out to fit a feature length. It doesn’t really change much from the original tale, unlike a lot of other “long” versions of the story, but simply expands on different things brought up in the book to create its plot. Like I said, this one DOES have some issues: the pace drags in a couple of places (though not especially badly; trust me, I’ve seen far worse), and it’s not really all that scary when the dark stuff comes up (partially due to the fact the Horseman is deliberately imagined as a more benign specter than in almost any other version), but it’s still got a great sense of atmosphere and some fine performances. Once again, chief among them is our Ichabod: the character is played by Broadway actor Brent Carver. In my opinion, Carver is the definitive Ichabod Crane: when I think of Ichabod, it’s Carver’s version I think of above all else. Out of the six renditions here, he simply looks, sounds, and all around FEELS the closest to how I, personally, imagined Ichabod Crane when reading the story. Carver almost singlehandedly makes this version as good as it is, and more than worthy of high placement.

3. Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow.

Once upon a time, I actually really, REALLY disliked this movie. Nowadays, I’ve softened up to it considerably: I now consider it an underappreciated masterpiece, the very definition of a cult classic. This is mostly because, back then, I didn’t really UNDERSTAND the film; nowadays, I do, and it has given me a whole new appreciation for what the movie wanted to accomplish. Arguably one of the most influential versions of the story, Tim Burton’s 1999 blockbuster is a drastic reimagining of the tale: in this movie, Ichabod Crane (played by Johnny Depp, because of course he is) is a detective, not a schoolmaster, who comes to Sleepy Hollow to solve a series of murders. At first, he believes they are the work of a mortal serial killer simply emulating the legendary Headless Horseman, but he ultimately comes to learn that the ghost is VERY real. With this in mind, Ichabod then changes course to try and determine why the spirit of the Horseman is committing these crimes, and thus uncovers a dark conspiracy at work in Sleepy Hollow. The movie is designed to be, in just about every respect, a Hammer Horror film. It is not simply an homage to those films, but in many ways, it feels EXACTLY like a Hammer Horror film made in the late 90s…just without Hammer’s brand name. Everything about this film - from the performances, to the aesthetic style, to the writing, and even to elements of Danny Elfman’s musical score - all feel precisely how I would imagine a Hammer version of Sleepy Hollow might have been like. And as I’ve come to adore Hammer Horror over the years, I appreciate the film more than I ever did before. I have also come to appreciate that, while the movie radically reinvents the legend, it also keep a lot of elements from the original story, and even references the Disney version, of all things, in a few places. It is a brilliant reinvention of a timeless classic, and deserves all the credit it gets, and possibly more. Ultimately, the only reason it isn’t higher is that I like the original story more. Plain and simple.

2. The Rabbit Ears Production.

This is quite possibly the most obscure entry on the list, but it deserves its upper-tier rank. Rabbit Ears was a company that produced a series of children’s books retelling various classic stories. The books alone were amazing, but this wasn’t the best part. Rabbit Ears also created a series of audio cassettes (yeah, remember those?) of professional readings of the stories featuring major celebrity actors. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! The company ALSO provided DVD and VHS videos that essentially “animated” the illustrations of the books, with the professional readings as the soundtrack; these were sometimes aired on T.V., too. The animated shorts were low budget – basically just literal moving illustrations, as I said – but the series was extremely popular. Their version of Sleepy Hollow was nominated for several awards, including a Grammy, and actually won a couple! And by God, you can see why. What makes this version so wonderful, in every way, comes down to one word and one word only: ATMOSPHERE. This production is DRIPPING with atmosphere. More so than any other Rabbit Ear production, and, in fact, more than ANY version of Sleepy Hollow. That’s right, ANY version of Sleepy Hollow; even our number one spot can’t quite top it on the atmosphere spectrum! It is narrated beautifully by Glenn Close, whose voice lends a truly haunting and even mystical quality to the whole thing. Credit must also be given to Robert Van Nutt's illustrations. Even though the animation is minimalistic, the actual images are so breathtaking, and so drenched in the style of an old New England storybook, it lends even more weight to an already heavy work. And then there’s the music. Oh. God. The. MUSIC! Composed by Tim Story, this is frankly some of the most beautiful, breathtaking music I have EVER heard in connection to the tale. From LITERALLY THE FIRST FEW NOTES, it immediately grabs your attention, and immerses you in the haunting world of Sleepy Hollow. Quite simply, this is perhaps the most artistically beautiful take on the story out there. It seems to sort of be off-and-on YouTube, so if you’re lucky, you can find it for viewing there. Or you can purchase the DVD off Rabbit Ears’ website: your choice.

1. The Disney Version.

Alongside Tim Burton’s version of the tale, Disney’s take on Sleepy Hollow is probably the most well-known and influential. And to be honest, I’m more than okay with that. Narrated and with music performed by the immortal Bing Crosby, Disney’s version is essentially an animated pantomime of the original tale. What I love most about this version, as an adult, is how it handles the source material. You would expect Disney to change a lot of the story and characters, but surprisingly, this is one of the most book-accurate versions on the list. Most of Crosby’s narration is either directly quoted or paraphrased from Irving’s story, and the three main characters are not greatly changed from their original versions. No one of the three - Ichabod, Katrina, and Brom - is made out to be a pure-blooded hero, and no one of the three is made out to be a purely naty baddy. They’re all bad in their own ways, and good in their own ways. It’s kind of amazing to see Disney take such a sincere stab at things. At the same time, they do make the story more cinematic, injecting slapstick cartoon antics and creating a rip-roaring climax that might be one of the greatest finales to any Disney animated short of all time. The songs, though few in number, are all very fun and highly catchy: I still hum and whistle them to myself from time to time, regardless of the year. And, as you would expect, the animation is top notch. The short initially was released as part of the package feature “The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad,” where it was preceded by a short film version of “The Wind in the Willows,” narrated by Basil Rathbone. However, you can also find the short on its own, if you look around, or just skip to that part in the feature; it doesn’t affect much to do that. However you choose to watch it, it is a true masterpiece, just as classic as the story that spawned it. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is My Favorite Version of Sleepy Hollow.

[bacarasbabe]

Hello hello my love, may I please ask about 21, 73 and 76? x

Hello my beloved 💕 I'm so sorry for the late response. I've started answering you multiple times but irl things kept getting in the way and I took a small break from here! Really, I just wanted to give you a serious answer that I took my time with instead of something rushed and not very well thought out. I hope you can forgive me darling.

21 - Do you prefer writing chaptered fics or one-shots?

I don't have very many chaptered fics but as I've been growing and evolving in my writing style I think I've begun to gravitate towords chaptered fics. I find a lot of joy in developing plotlines and characters through multiple chapters. It's an interesting and fun challenge to face, but one-shots will always hold a special place in my heart.

73 - What do you tend to get complimented on the most about your writing?

Hmm, this was interesting to disect but I think I get complemented on my aestetics the most lol.

76 - How do you deal with writing pressure, whether internal or external?

Fyi, I've written the response to this question like five different times now. I think I've settled on an okay respose, but I wanted to take the time to get this right. I know so many fic writers and creators deal with stress, and not all of us come out the other side as creators still. While I'm unsure if my insights will be helpful to you, I hope you can find something valuable in my perspective.

(Full answer under the cut bc it's long.)

We've previously discussed the unique frustrations that fic writers face, particularly on this website. The constant barrage of anonymous asks, only inquiring about more content or the release date of the next chapter, the likes without comments or reblogs, and the limited interactions can wear you down over time. I know that I've felt the weight of these pressures and so have so many countless others. There are numerous other aspects I could complain about, but I am actively working on letting go and trying to move past these things.

It can be difficult when, at one point, fic writing felt like an avenue to engage in commentary, discussions, and the social aspects of the community, rather than merely producing content for others to enjoy. The stress and perceived pressure to consistently create began to erode my love for writing, prompting me to step away. I needed to distance myself from everything, and surprisingly, it turned out to be a positive decision. During my break, I created a side blog using a completely different email address, allowing me to enjoy things without feeling the need to hold myself to any standards or obligations. I granted myself permission to consume instead of constantly create, and to enjoy without worry. Taking that break was a significant step for me, enabling me to establish boundaries, which was exactly what I needed. I realized I had been giving too much, rushing through writing instead of savoring the process.

Now, with a story that I hold dear to my heart, I find myself in a place where I can dedicate myself to it and genuinely enjoy the journey. I am completing the story for myself because I genuinely want to, without the burden of writing other fics or constantly trying to entertain followers. Even with this mindset, I must admit that I don't have a comprehensive answer for you. After being away for over a year, gaining a fresh perspective on things helped immensely. Additionally, the words of a cherished mutual we share had a profound impact on me. They expressed, in their own way, that my fics are already complete the moment I posted them. Regardless of any future chapters promised. It's perfectly acceptable if I never post an ending because the audience is not entitled to one.

Dealing with writing pressure, whether it stems from internal expectations or external demands, requires a conscious effort to set boundaries and prioritize personal enjoyment and fulfillment. Taking breaks, gaining perspective, and finding solace in the fact that your creations are already complete can all contribute to a healthier and more enjoyable writing experience. Remember, your writing journey should ultimately be driven by your own passion and desire, rather than solely catering to the expectations of others. I know that this is easier said than done. I know. But hopefully you can take a piece of this and apply it to your own stess.

[byfurries4furries]

Housepets (Webcomic. Very Webcomic)

Housepets is a webcomic written and drawn by Rick Griffin, which… technically isn't very rare in the furry fandom depending on your definition of webcomic, but Housepets is much closer to more typical examples of webcomics like Penny Arcade, Ctrl+Alt+Delete, and other comics that weren't just two straight dudes complaining about video games. Housepets could have gone in that direction, but instead had a more unique concept. The comic at first focuses on two characters, Peanut and Grape. They are a dog and cat who live in a world where animals are sapient and in many cases, anthropomorphic, but still live in more or less the same roles in society as their feral counterparts, being kinda like permanent children. They are the central characters early on until the comic starts interrogating the implications of its own premise while also throwing in cosmic DnD games and magical shenanigans.

The comic is great for its massive cast of characters. Even though Grape and Peanut are the central characters at first, the comic frequently follows other characters in their own storylines. Hell, there was recently a period of time lasting three years when they didn't appear in any comics outside of 3 issues in total, most of them one-offs. Instead, there's a wide variety of characters who appear in various stories, some of whom are more geared towards serious plotlines and some of whom are more geared towards comedic and/or interpersonal plotlines. For example, Peanut is a goofier character who usually plays a central role in more comedic arcs, but his girlfriend, Tarot, is extremely important to most of the more high stakes arcs since she is a powerful magic user. Meanwhile, King, another character central to a lot of high stakes arcs due to being a pawn in the plans of celestial beings, is best friends with Fox, a character with more interpersonal dramatic arcs. The characters are all connected in some way and many characters can play major roles in multiple types of stories. This helps every kind of story feel naturally integrated instead of feeling like there's three or so separate comics in the same universe. Some characters even switch between roles, such as Keene who starts out as an almost entirely comedic side character who becomes more and more involved with high stakes arcs until he becomes just as much a fixture of those arcs as Tarot and eventually overtakes King as the central figure of them once his overarching plotline is basically wrapped up. It really helps the comic's cast feel fleshed out and fully realized as characters enter and exit overarching storylines based on their motivations, personal arcs, and roles in those storylines.

The overall story is definitely messy in a very fun kind of way, as it is for any piece of media allowed to go on for a very long time. I don't even know where to start with spoiler warnings. I could spoil the most recent arc, but you'd have so little context for it that you'd have to read several years worth of issues to even start to understand what it was I was even spoiling. I could spoil the first more serious arc, but it's only the first of several arcs that sets up so little on its own that there's no way you can guess what it'll lead to without knowing what happens in some of the arcs before that haven't intersected yet. Still everything progresses very naturally and things are introduced cleverly. For example, King's overarching plotline takes center stage for like 5-6 years, but it also introduced its own overarching plotlines that would take its place when the resolution of King's story still left a lot of loose threads that couldn't be left dangling and were therefore picked up by other characters with their own motivations that had also been built up to get to that point. The fact the comic has been going for more than a decade and it still hasn't jumped the shark is pretty impressive. There's no sign that the author has run out of ideas for what to do with the characters.

If you want a good place to start, just start from the beginning. Unlike a lot of webcomics, it doesn't take very long for things to get good and there's no point in starting anywhere else. Aside from Joey, the characters' personalities are never really retconned or changed without a significant reason in the story, but the later you start, the more catchup work you'll have to do. You can however skip the Spot arcs, which are in-universe comics written by Peanut, and every Imaginate arc after the first two, which are arcs where the cast act out chaotic improvised parodies of famous movies and plays. The first one establishes Peanut and Grape as characters and the second one resolves an interpersonal plotline between Peanut and Grape. After that though, they have virtually nothing to do with any of the other arcs other than maybe a few references to events from other arcs.

Links

Official Website (First Comic)

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