#minority fans have just as much right to dislike ships as majority fans

[magicwhiskers29]

For the latest ask game...Great Ace Attorney, specifically

Favourite Character:

Gina, my girl Gina!! I love her development!! She adds to the atmosphere so well in Unspeakable Story, and I love her and Gregson's dynamic in DGS2!

Least Favourite Character:

Roly Beate. I think his gag is a little obnoxious, but I'm less endeared to him than Pat, so... I don't really actively dislike him that much, but he annoys me, so if I have to pick a least favourite...

5 Favourite ships (canon or non-canon):

-Ginasusa

-Haosusa (/Susarei)

-Ginasusaohao

-Asoryuu

-Nikosusa

Character I find most attractive:

Uhm. I don't know if I feel qualified to answer this. Maybe I'll just say whose design I like best... In which case, Gina again, maybe? I think she's very well-designed! :)

Character I would marry:

Also not that qualified to answer this one, uh... I could marry Courtney Sithe to make her history of marriages/relationships even more confusing? lol

Character I would be best friends with:

Iris!! We both like writing and science so I think we'd be cool buddies

A random thought:

Killing off Jezaille Brett at the start of DGS2 is an excellent way of setting the tone for the rest of the game, as well as setting up that, yeah, important characters can just die, so that Gregson's death works better later. I think it's a very shocking reveal that she's the victim, and I like it a lot.

An unpopular opinion:

Idk if this is that unpopular, but I asked my friend, and they told me this is at least a weird opinion, but Return of the Great Departed Soul is my favourite case in the doulogy, and my favourite case in Ace Attorney overall.

My canon OTP:

There aren't that many canon ships, to my memory, but the Vigils (Evie and Daley Vigil), I guess? Better than the Beates or the Garridebs...

My non-canon OTP:

I guess since this says OTP I can't say Ginasusahao, so uhm... Ginasusa, maybe? That's probably my favourite DGS ship, but I'm not like, that attached to it specifically, so...

Most badass character:

SUSATO MIKOTOBA!!! She saves you in court so many times, and she will take down anyone she needs to with a Susato takedown <3

Pairing I am not a fan of:

Hm... The most I think I get towards DGS ships I don't care is ambivilent, tbh. I can usualy see why people like them, though. I guess the ones I stear most clear from would be Baroryuu or Asobaro? Nothing against then, and I can get why people ship them, but they're not really my thing.

Character I feel the writer's screwed up:

Right, this isn't so clear-cut as it would be as if I was writing this about PL, but if you'll allow me to be petty for a moment, I do have a few minor grievances with Susato. I love her writing for the most part, but I think there was a major missed opportunity in the specifics of her ending.

I don't think her thematic beats about choosing her own path work quite as well if her sole motivation to return to Japan at the end of DGS2 os for Ryuunosuke. Like, yes, she chooses to follow him over Kazuma, that's something, but she's still just choosing to follow another character, when she was previously set up in Blossoming Attorney to be capable of standing on her own if the law only allowed it! I think i would have liked it more if it was at least implied that she returned to Japan to help Ryuunosuke AND start to try to begin her own legal career.

Otherwise, I think her ending's uncomfortably similar to the midpoint in her arc for the ending of Unspeakable Story. Albeit indirectly, she's once again returning to Japan upon her father's request, and I think that could have been avoided a little if her motivations for wanting to return were established as being outside of what other characters want, because that is her arc!

Favourite friendship:

Kazuma and Susato. Everything they do with those two is so interesting to me, and I love writing about it. It's so interesting how core Kazuma is to Susato, but how also she can't mean as much to him, because he only met her properly after he's already decided his mission. But she still means a lot to him, and I just, augh. I love the tragedy.

[borreloadsavagedragon]

alright tell all of us your thoughts about kaito :)

I did not forget… I have just been con crunching but now I’m free to become the worse

Minor Zexal and Arc V spoiling ahoy

How I feel about this character:

Oh no you’ve opened a floodgate… welcome to oversharing hour with Jay

I’m very normal about Kaito, just ignore the two full cosplays + the EVA foam Orbital work in progress I have mapped out, the wall scroll that’s at my work computer, my ita pin bag, and the fact that I’ve done everything I can to make his deck competitive viable and god dammit am I still trying please print this deck a god damn banger starter, Konami, I can’t keep doing this without your help-

Short story but I used to be suuuuper YGO Vrains favoring from 2020 into early 2022, but I found myself drifting from it because one can only tolerate so much subtweeting and catty behavior over personal preferences, and I’d never really finished Zexal before, just has a half baked idea how it ends, like I watched a chunk of it when it first aired but never finished and proceeded to forgot most of it, so I picked it back up after deciding to pick up Kaito to write in an RP server with some friends because I remembered liking him and… well I didn’t stand a chance when I got back to him fjdhdhd

I deeply relate to the theme of self-inflicted loneliness because it’s easier to be by yourself, just getting walked out on, left in the dark, or even being shafted for reasons out of my own control, I really get that

Also taking on too much if it means the people you love will be ok even if the ending result is you’re not ok, where he is after his Duel with Yuma at the end of Zexal I and getting to repair all of those relationships he was damaged by is where I want to get to in life

Bonus fact that’s minor spoilers for another spin off, but I’m… not a huge fan of his portrayal in Arc V, I like that he’s there and acknowledge that it’s a different Kaito and I love all Kaito Tenjos as they exist, including the Structures Cosplayer, but… yeah, not a fan, I’m a big fan of showing vs telling and Arc V to me feels like it’s ALL telling for all of its supporting cast most of the time

All the people I ship romantically

The better question is who I don’t honestly because that list is far smaller, but if I had to pick favorites I’m very partial to Ryouga, Mizael, and Edo-

Something about rivals to lovers resonates with my very being, even if Edo is less of a rival and more of an enemy until Arc V does it’s usual-

I’ve written for Challenge and AntiHero both already actually, my docs is 99% Challenge Wips that are slowly coming along tbh, and GalaxyMaster takes more time to write since most of those are… you know what I’m getting at LOL

I stg Gallop's one mission was to make Kaito Tenjo a dating sim protagonist because I have no other excuse for why they gave him so many boyfriends and even girlfriends across Zexal and Arc V, Yugioh’s surprising most eligible bachelor

My non-romantic OTP

nervous laughter

Chris.

I like to think of them more as divorcees who are just fine staying apart

Also gestures vaguely at the first answer

My unpopular opinion

I don’t know if I have many tbh, besides disliking Arc V’s rendition of him / not liking mentor at all lol— Like maybe how I genuinely believe he’s the strongest rival bc his record was the best even after he was put up against forces behind human understand and was even considered dying majority of the time of Zexal while remaining arguably mostly human, Zexal’s wack

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon

Oh my god, the duel I hate the most in all of YGO is Kaito’s duel against Heartland because not letting Kaito win against someone who’s become representative of the garbage he was put through is SO UNSATISFYING

Yuma coming in and finishing it up is symbolic in its own right because of the importance of bonds, but to me that was and always should have been Kaito’s moment, let Yuma and Astral show up literally any other time and I’m fine with it

ALSO WE DON'T GET THE RYOUGA AND KAITO GRUDGE MATCH, though Kaito solos everytime, I’m so sorry Ryouga

[putterpen]

Responding to the cult of Eggman

Aka: Responding to people about my opinions on Eggman that they seemingly cannot handle lol.

To Quote crusherthedoctor :

No one can ever politely debate with us, can they? They always have to be hungry werewolves about it. And not even clever werewolves at that.

Why should I be bothered to debate you? My opinions are mine and I can say whatever I want to say about a cartoon mustache man.

So anyway, on to responding to the response I guess.

Aww, poor, poor Starline! Always getting so viciously bullied and ruthlessly harassed by *checks notes* five people in the entire fandom that dislike his character’s writing 

Are you keeping tabs on how many people dislike Starline? Right off the bat...that's pathetic. Why? Are you planning something? And also you don't know who I talk to, and where I've talked to them. I have seen other people dislike Starline for various reasons.

But also… Starline pretty much IS a Gary Stu. He has several abilities that are completely unexplained (like the hypnoglove and the electric heel spurs he suddenly has from Bad Guys and onwards), has an ability that makes him absurdly overpowered (the Tricore) and the narrative makes it a point to present any flaws he might have as a result of his association with Eggman along with propping him up as this awesome foe which is mightier and x100 smarter than Eggman. His plans, despite everything Starline goes through in his miniseries, are still realized almost exactly how he intended (see below).

In a world where an 8 year old can fly planes, space ships, airships, warships, build mechs, buster canons, rocket ships, and replicate the properties of the chaos emeralds themselves...and you are mad because Starline has rocket shoes that he can't even use that well, and some mcguffins. Are you kidding me. I am laughing as I write this.

As "overpowered" as the Tricore is, it do him any good did it? And a device that can hypnotize people isn't really that astounding in a world of insane tech and magic. You think Tails is okay but Starline is a line too far...got it. He isn't a gary-stu. Starline is about on par with everyone else.

What is Starline actually, genuinely good at? The comic always hands him his major strategic victories on a silver platter, and even if his allies backstab him, it just proves to be a minor inconvenience to him and he still gets what he wants at the end of the story. His plans never completely failed until #50

Why do you want to read a story about a character who just fails at everything? He worked and planned to get everything, not sure if we are reading the same comic. You think he should have failed because you have some immense irrational hatred towards him. But hey you got what you wanted. He failed in the end ultimately. Though you can't be soothed since if Starline had succeeded, you would still scream.

Then you post pictures of Tails and Zavok. All I can say is the more the merrier. I bet you don't even like Zavok, as most people don't, but you will use him if it helps your case. The point I was making is Starline was trying to be a better Eggman than Eggman, and that I what I like about the character. Zavok is cool in his own way but his methods are different, and so are Tails, and they all have different motivations to go against Eggman. So cool, the more Eggman rivals the better.

What complaints of ours is this supposed to refute? No, seriously

"complaints of ours?" Are you from some kind of Eggman cult? How do you know what every other Eggman fan thinks? Do you speak for all of them? Hah. Just need to get this out of the way I don't think I have come across this blog before.

The problem we have isn’t just “Starline steals Eggman’s stuff”, it’s that Starline steals Eggman’s stuff while putting Eggman down at every chance he gets and gets painted as a much more effectual villain than Eggman could ever be by the comic for it .

Are they supposed to steal Eggman's shit while singing his praises? Also it isn't like anything they said was wrong.

And in case you try to say “He’s a hypocrite intentionally!”, I’ll immediately raise  a counterpoint: hypocritical characters have to be intetesting. Starline is not written with the same amount of nuance that, say, Walter White has, he’s just an immensely obnoxious brat whose hypocrisy only serves to irritate people more

Matter of opinion alert. And I think your opinion is dogshit. You don't like Starline and that's fine. You don't think he is "intetesting", but I disagree. And that is literally where your "counterpoint" hits a wall. Hope you were wearing a seat belt. You know who else isn't nuanced? Eggman. Also comparing anything from Sonic the Hedgehog to Breaking Bad is cringe.

A source from the games, please?

Tails has never stole Eggman’s inventions in the games. His entire shtick is that he is an inventor, which allows him to build stuff himself 

Also “GUN steals Eggman’s stuff” is asinine. What, are they “stealing from Eggman” because they have an army of mass-produced robots too? Where was it ever remotely implied that GUN steals Eggman’s resources in the games?

I will admit that I made a mistake. I somehow generated false memories. I thought dialogue the Shadow the Hedgehog game mentioned something about G.U.N using Eggman's technology.

When it comes to Tails, I know Tails can invent but where does he get the parts? Raw materials? How does he have a mech in SA2 that seems functionally identical to Eggman's? I have always assumed he must be nicking stuff off Eggman at least as a starting point.

Me: Starline hasn’t taken over the world like eggman has!

You’ve literally conjured this one out of the thin air lmao

How can you prove that? Where is your evidence? Are you serious? How dare you tell me what I did or didn't do.

Time Eater is your one and only example. Vs how many other failures? Don't pat yourself on the back.

Eggman is funny when he’s stealing shit and tampering with it. Starline isn’t.

Jesus Christ you really just love the smell of your shitty opinions. I don't care if you think Starline isn't funny. What you think is good is subjective.

Also the Time Eater says hi again

Yeah your one time of being right says hi.

Bruh lmfaoooooooooo “the best version of Dr. Eggman is the one that constantly sits on his ass and screams at his nephew to actually do anything against the Freedom Fighters”

That's my opinion, and I clarified in a comment that it was mostly based on nostalgia. And he did plenty to the freedom fighters, dispersing them, terrorizing and imprisoning their friends and families, robotisizing them, and forcing them to live in the forest as he systematically destroys their planet day by day sums it up.

Eggman’s proactivity is a core part of his character. He’s famous for being the best example of a Recurring Varying Tactics Boss in gaming, so for you to haii the version of Eggman that’s the most passive one out of everyone else as “the best one” is quite amusing 

Just because SatAM Robotnik didn't physically move much (But yes he did indeed move around) doesn't mean he wasn't proactive. His swatbots and other machines did the work for him. He was always hunting down the Freedom Fighters and cooking up new schemes to gain more power.

Also, SatAM!Robotnik conquered the world by stealing an invention that didn’t belong to him and tampering with it lol

Yeah so you're a hypocrite for crying about people stealing Eggman's stuff. If I'm amusing, then you're just sad. The amount of anger you hold for some random person's opinions iiiis a bit amusing. Not gonna lie.

Alright, let’s see. Eggman canonically has:

abused animals; summoned an insane water god to destroy a large urban center; launched a nuclear warhead into the heart of said urban center when his plan went wayward; blew up the Moon to prove a point; kidnapped an innocent girl’s mother out of spite; split the planet apart TWICE (Advance 3, Unleashed); harvested the lifeforce of a peaceful allien race to fuel his plans; was shown siphoning the Earth’s lifeforce to fuel his plans; caused a global war for 6 months; created what essentially is an orbital internment camp to imprison anyone who dared to stand up against his rule; practiced “robotomy”, which is actually quite similar to Robotcization and is described as a proccess that “appears to leave its patients mentally disabled following the process, making them unable to think independently, and therefore turns them into mindless robotic slaves working for the doctor.”; dropped an artificial star on his enemies to wipe them out 

Do you see any reason to perceive someone who’s willing to do all of this shit without a second thought and with a smile on his face as a joke? Or what, is this list of crimes Eggman’s commited suddenly null and void because his dialogue is jokey and he’s not voiced by Jim Cummings?

Yes game Eggman is a joke. You will not change my mind lol. Sure SatAM Robotnik did not match those heights, but he did things equally as evil. As I mentioned before, he was cold, calculating, and heartless. Game Eggman is a joke because he is insane, always doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, and formulaically, has to ally with Sonic to clean up the mess he started. And will continue to do that because yadda yadda status quo. Eggman caused a ton of property damage and built things in space, all for nothing. He can't even physically hurt anyone.

Stop speaking for every Eggman fan. You are not the leader. And Starline is a pretty good villain.

[judgementdaysunshine]

Hi!! Happy early birthday!!! Can I please get a DC comics or Harry Potter ship 🌲 ?

Likes: I'm huge nerd--straight up an astrophysics and math double major with a philosophy minor, because somehow that seemed like a good idea and they let me do it. My hobbies tend to switch around a lot though and I'm pretty active in quite a few clubs at college (literally ranging from rocketry to debate and student govt) so my sleep schedule is pretty much non-existent. Borderline surviving on caffiene alone at this point...oops.

I'm also really into music--technically a classically trained pianist but I'm more into rock and alt these days.

Dislikes: cooking. I just can't figure it out and I'm quite clumsy so it usually ends in disaster. I'm also not great with hot weather and the outdoors in general--yay allergies :). Not a huge fan of cheesy rom-coms and pop. Chocolate ig? That's just a weird one. No real reason.

Appearance: I'm fairly taller than average for a girl (5'9) and on the slightly heavier side. My hair never stays the same length/colour/style in general for too long because I get bored of it quite quickly. I do tend to switch things up with my style quite often, but I generally go between either really preppy or pretty grunge depending on my mood/schedule that day. I do have a weakness for graphic tees though--especially really nerdy ones or vintage band tees.

Other than that, all I can think to add is that I'm a slytherin and INTJ...yeah that's basically it.

Thanks!

(Sorry if it's a little long)

Why not both! 😊 First one I ship you with is Neville Longbottom!

He was a bit scared that you were a Slytherin but after awhile of getting to know you and being friends he soon learned that you were very kind and sweet wondering whether you were actually a Hufflepuff who sometimes disguised to hang out with slytherin until he learned that you were in the right house after being bullied by Draco

He soon had a special playlist on an iPod that you made for him full of many different rock,alternative,and punk songs that you loved always bobbing his head,tapping his fingers,and definitely dancing whenever he was by himself

He always loved whenever you got him graphic band t-shirts that you both loved and would always wear them in between wearing his uniform and to sleep especially when one of you would sneak into the other's room whenever either of you had nightmares or couldn't sleep and just wanted each other

He would always have you supplement different things from caffeine so you wouldn't have a headache or anything by making you tea,giving you milk,soda,and water,or even making different types of homemade fruit drinks that Luna would make

He always felt calm and happy whenever he got to hear you play the piano no matter what song was playing or what point he would start listening to from

Secondly I ship you with Jaime Reyes!

He would always sing in spanish to you whenever you couldn't sleep whether the two of you were in the cave or at each other's houses he would calmly sing until he felt you asleep against him

He always wore the band and rock shirts you got him whenever he was with you,out with his friends and the team,and sometimes around his family mostly his sister who didn't care about what type of music the bands made

He made sure to make you drink water,juice,or anything else in between all the caffeine consumption you'd do especially after long missions where you were exhausted but still needed energy to stay awake to fill out any type of report unless someone else did

He loved hearing you play the piano and would just zone out to you playing and would teach you spanish not only for you to speak to his family and him but also so you can sing in his native tongue which made him turn into jelly

He smiles real big every time you give him a playlist on his phone or an iPod full of many different grunge,rock,punk,and alternative music quite a bit of them in Spanish which made him fall in love with you all over again

[catlliecal]

Jirou and Mina for the character ask!!

Send me characters and I’ll answer questions on them!

Kyoka Jiro

Sexuality headcanon: Demisexual bi, with a preference towards girls. She’s had a guy crush before, but her first crush on a girl hit pretty damn hard, awakening out the disaster bi. Also polyamorous, though has only really been in monogamous relationships.

Gender headcanon: Cis girl, she/they. She did experiment around with her gender in middle school, seeing how she felt with different pronouns and if any other identity clicked with her. In the end, she found that she is comfortable with the gender assigned at birth, but also found that she clicks well with they/them in addition to she/her.

A ship I have with said character: MomoJiro. I could go on for days about how good these two are together, then being my favorite pairing for both of them. While at first this may appear as an opposites attract relationship, they actually share a lot more in common, as well as sharing their interests with each other (one of the analysis/data books has revealed that Momo has started listening to rock/punk because of Kyoka introducing it to her and sharing songs). They’re always looking out for each other, and you can easily see how they make each other happier just from being around one another. Couldn’t find a better ship involving these two of you tried.

A BrOTP I have with said character: BakuJiro. I do actually ship these two romantically together, but it’s a minor ship of mine than a major one, so I’m focusing on them platonically here. Now this is a case of opposites attract, though they both stand on equal ground with each other in terms of respect and, for lack of a better word, power in their friendship. Because of that, they get along well and enjoy each other’s company, as well as keeping each other in check.

A NOTP I have with said character: KamiJiro. While it does appear this is going to be the second canon ship between the students of 1-A, I just never really got into it. More ambivalent than actual dislike, but it’s not exactly something I’m seeking out fan content for. Their dynamic is that of an opposites attract, but there’s not the right elements present to make them work romantically. To me, they work best when they stay platonic and have a friendship full of playful teasing that knows when to take itself seriously.

A random headcanon: Bringing back an old one, that one being her having solid tech skills from working with instruments from such a young age. After all, one way to get better at something is to understand the tools used to achieve it. Plus, with her quirk being earphone jacks, I think tech knowledge can help with it.

As for a more recent one, she’s the kind of person who rarely paints her nails. Not because she doesn’t like it, but more because she’s very diligent about keeping her nails short (as it makes the bass and guitar easier to play) and feels like she wouldn’t get to enjoy the color much.

General Opinion over said character: Why don’t more people like her? She’s a really great supporting cast member! Her arc in the Culture Festival, while not battle focused, was very well done, both in terms of the themes of the series (what it means to save and reach out to people) and in terms of her character development (learning she doesn’t have to sacrifice her passion to work hard to be a Hero). She also gets really nice side moments that add nice bite to her character.

Mina Ashido

Sexuality headcanon: Pansexual demiromantic. The official analysis/data books state that she’s never liked anyone but wishes she can be in love, which encourages a lot of arospec readings of her. It’s easy to see her as cupioromantic, aromantic, grayaro, or demiromantic, the one I see her as. Friendships are very important to her, but one has never crossed that line into something more than friends. She knows she doesn’t have any real preference for any gender and just wants to have the chance to be with someone who makes her happy. Or someones, as she’s also polyamorous.

Gender headcanon: Cis girl, she/her (alt reading: genderfuild, she/they/he). So this is the first character so far where I have two headcanons in terms of gender. With the first one, she just kinda knew from the start that she’s sure of who she is, never really needing to question or test things out. With the second one, it’s the same level of assurance in which she is, playing around with how to refer to herself and how she wants to express her identity.

A ship I have with said character: TsuMina! They don’t have a ton of moments actively together, more just background stuff, but it’s enough for me! After all, this is my fave ship for both of them. They get along really well, both of them balancing each other out well to cover each other’s blind spots (I’m starting to notice a theme here). It’s energetic sunshine with level headed sunshine, and I find that appealing.

A BrOTP I have with said character: KiriMina. While the dynamic between the two was introduced in the second third of the series, I find it nice, though just platonically. The fact they went to the same middle school is interesting given the fact they didn’t seem to interact much there compared to now. They enjoy each other’s company and hang out a lot, and even give each other ideas. I just wish we got to see Mina’s perspective on things more, especially after her freeze up during the war at Jaku. Her story feels incomplete, sometimes coming off more like a part of Eijiro’s story than her own.

A NOTP I have with said character: Hmmm… I suppose SeroMina? This is definitely a case of ambivalence. I see why people ship them; I just have never really given Sero much thought at all. I shrug my shoulders when I see it, but it won’t necessarily turn me away from something involving it in the background.

A general headcanon: Bringing back another old one to say that she has a great skin care routine. It’s kinda needed in a lot of ways to make sure her body doesn’t dry up thanks to her acid. Sure, it has the tools it needs to stay healthy, but it’s still something she takes care of.

As for a new one, she’s taken a good number of roller skating lessons and almost tried out for derby (if that’s a thing over there). Her acid sliding skill we see in canon suggests a lot of practice, and given its resemblance to this actual sport, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has experiments in it! What started out as a fun activity with both her dads and mom for family bonding became a hobby, though one that she didn’t invest much in after focusing more on dance.

General Opinion on said character: I enjoy seeing her, but as I mentioned in the BrOTP section, there are parts to her story that feel incomplete, not helped at all by the recent increase in pacing. From little things to not knowing how she felt about her save back in middle school to how she’s processing Midnight’s death, she can feel more like parts of other stories rather than one that can contribute to others and stand on its own. Which is rather upsetting. I’m really grateful for fan work that fills in those gaps, but I wish we could have seen more from the published story.

[gralunaisland]

I just wanted to ask,

Is it okay for me to be a J///erza Anti?

I have my reasons for not shipping the ship, but at the same time I wonder if I'm just being difficult and trying to be "different".

One part of me is like, "J///Erza shouldn't be canon because the whole Jellal almost killed Erza, and has been the cause of her trauma ever since she was a child." But the other part of me is like, "But the fans ship it, they see that Erza has forgiven him and they have official art, even their potential future son has been drawn."

It's Okay to Be a Jerza Anti (Coming from a Jerza Shipper)

Thank you so much for coming to me with this ask! I'll give you my opinion on the subject to try to help you out.

It's completely okay for you to be Anti Jerza!

Really, everyone has a right to hate whatever ship they want to! That really comes down to personal preference, and it's very subjective, not objective.

But even beyond that, you have very understandable reasons to not like it, don't worry. I totally understand where you're coming from. The trauma Jellal inflicted on Erza at such a young age will probably never completely heal. He enslaved "willing" workers to work for him after manipulating them to think Erza was the one who had cut off their chances at escape. He killed Simon. He brutalized Erza and banished her.

Those aren't easy things to forgive. And it's really completely fine for you to not forgive those things. I'd say it just shows your empathy for what Erza had to endure, which is a good thing!

For me, the reason I ship Jerza is that I attribute all the horrible things he did to Ultear manipulating him into doing them with her magic. He thought he was doing the right thing in a dark and twisted way. I also appreciate the following arcs where Jellal is on a mission to atone for his sins and to better himself in repentance. Honestly, in my opinion, it's one of the best things Mashima has written.

But that doesn't mean you have to take that perspective! Because even though I don't blame him, it doesn't change the fact that he did commit all those harmful acts, so it's easy to see why people wouldn't like him regardless of his redemption arc.

I hope you won't feel pressured to like a ship just because other fans ship it. Fandoms seldom agree on most things, so it's natural to disagree with even a large portion of a fandom. I for one am a part of a smaller subgroup of fans who hates gr///via and all that it is (clearly haha) but there's a reason why gr///via, and Jerza, are a part of the Big Four--most people ship it. Doesn't make them right whatsoever, which is something I try to prove on this blog of mine.

I also would take official art as well as drawings of potential children as inconsequential. We shouldn't care if Mashima likes a ship or imagined their futures together. Manga authors are just as imperfect as the rest of us, so he could (and does) very well promote terrible, toxic ships. ( I talk about this topic in this post actually, I recommend checking it out!)

I hope this reassures you that your opinion matters. Don't be swayed by the masses; stand strong in what you like and dislike! >:D You got this, I believe in ya!

(Thank you for your patience!)

[wowsoboring]

Deconstructing baseless Harry Potter arguments #1: Harmony Edition

There’s a very helpful account on instagram (this instagram page merely gathers toxic harmony shippers, they don’t ship Harmione or hate all Harmione shippers, please don’t send them hate, show them love and support) where you can essentially find stupid fucking bashers who make baseless arguments. I’m all for Harmione shippers, as long as they don’t denounce Romione, bash Ron and just peacefully co-exist. To my pleasure, such people are out there: they just dont seem to be seen as often as the ones that are not nice. Maybe all I see is the mean people and the majority is nice, but in this post, I am attacking those who make baseless claims and bash Ron/Romione/Hinny/Ginny. I don’t myself hate all Harmione shippers. On top of that, as a Romione/Ron fan, i do acknowledge Ron’s character flaws along with Hermione’s and I hold them on the same pedestal.

This is copied directly from my own instagram page, granger.weasley_ on ig.

Anyways let's get deconstructing

1)

rebuttal:

Yeah okay mf; maybe don’t compare real-life relationships with fucking fictional ones. Your relationship going wrong has nothing to do with Ron/Hermione. It has everything to do with you and your ex: the *real life* people involved in it.

2)

rebuttal:

The weird subreddits and discord servers also seem to have a lot of die-hard Harmione “non-canon” shippers. They bash Ron and Romione (along with Ginny and Hinny) with a burning passion without any objective sense of remorse. They ignore all the merits of Ron’s character and bash him to push their agenda. They can’t even do so much as fucking acknowledge any of Hermione’s character flaws but still somehow manage to fixate on that one time when 11 year old Ron just shit-talked one line while Hermione had just publicly humiliated him in front of the Charms class and practically shouted at him for doing the spell wrong just before. I personally don’t because Hermione was 11 too and wasn’t that good at social cues that early on, which is more than okay. Neither am I.

Only a few people in the Romione fandom bash Hermione. And it’s not like Harmione shippers (most, not all!) don’t bash Ron and Ginny remorselessly, right? The fucking hypocrisy.

If someone considers Ron as the best member of the trio, it is their own opinion and not a fact. I do that. If you consider Harry and Hermione as the best member of the trio or in the whole wizarding world, most people don’t give a flying fuck and probably won’t argue with you because it is simply an opinion. That will only happen when you pass that off as a fact.

Statistically speaking, most (not FUCKING all) Harmione moments are in the movies. The weird dance scene especially. The passionate kiss that happens in Ron’s vision, shit like that. Ron is pushed to the sidelines in the last set of movies while Harry and Hermione show each other endless love and support. “I’ll go with you”. The books on the other hand, describe Harry and Hermione as siblings multiple times, with very little Harmione references.

3)

rebuttal:

So you don't want us to fixate on the large majority of Harmione shippers who do the exact same thing, just kissing Hermione's and Harry's ass and hating on Ron. However you will fixate on people who are most likely not EVEN bashing or hating but pointing out a few character flaws in Hermione in a fair and unbiased way. I would know, I'm a huge fan of Hermione as an individual character (in the books). The only criticism I've seen of Hermione to this day has not been bashing. In the comment section of my own fics (shameless plug) I've seen some Hermione bashing. On an ao3 comment section. And I've seen so damn fucking many people bashing Ron, Ginny, the Weasleys etc. and garner tens and thousands of upvotes on quora.

What does Ron even need excusing for? The running away incident and Krum. What does Hermione need excusing for? Canaries, contributing to Ron's insecurities by making him jealous through Cormac and Krum even though she didn't even like them (especially not Cormac, she fucking hated him). Ron wore a locket that literally highlighted his fatal flaw (insecurity) in an echo chamber. Harry kept getting annoyed when Ron wanted to check in on his family. Harry asked Ron to leave; Ron didn't say that shit in the books about Harry's parents being dead: that was plain shock value.

And sorry for repeating myself but I have seen quite a few Harmione shippers bash Ron and Ginny and excuse every single thing Harry and Hermione have done.

4)

37 upvotes on this weird comment that makes no sense? Echo chamber alert! You know what us Romione/Ron fans all have in common? We have never experienced such an echo chamber. I made a pro Ron/Romione post on reddit and got a considerable amount of people who bashed Ron and Romione in the comments.

The amount of Hermione haters is very few compared to Ron bashers. Nobody hates Hermione for being independent, determined, etc. We dislike perfect movie Hermione who’s an unrealistic image of females and seems like some sort of agenda than a real woman. Most Romione shippers/Ron fans and book fans in general (except for you apparently) dislike movie Hermione and still are fans of realistic book Hermione. Most, not all. In general, we do not claim anyone who does the exact same thing to Harry and Hermione that these sorts of Harmione shippers do to Ron, Romione, Hinny and Ginny. I say this on the behalf of all Romione shippers and Ron fans.

Ron's not a bitchy lay-about drama causing loser. That's Steve Kloves's movie Ron. In the books Ron is realistic and simplistic and apologizes whenever he causes problems. He acts up substantially twice in a span of 7 years where he is also a hormone-fuelled teenager.

This is so contradictory and juxtaposed to the point of near delusion. First you talk about how Romione shippers bash Hermione and then you bash Ron as a Harmione shipper. Mate, fighting fire with fire will get you called a hypocrite. Fix yourself.

5)

So the movies are fine when they work according to your agenda? And yes how dare he add such a (fake) chemistry fuelled moment between Harry and Hermione while defeating the entire purpose and groundwork for Romione, the sadness caused by Ron leaving and so many more things? Those Harmione moments you mention seem friendship -esque more than anything else.

Steve Kloves's moments ruined many things while just paying fan service to the Harmione fans he'd birthed through years in the course of 6 movies where he showed Ron as a, how you so eloquently describe it, lay - about drama causing bitchy loser, Harry as one dimensional and Hermione as a zero - dimensional Mary Sue who might as well be the main titular character. Obviously Harmione fans such as yourself don't see the problem with it as it fits your narrative

6)

We do care about Harry and Hermione at large. Most Romione shippers rightfully bash Draco, Pansy, etc. not particularly Harry and Hermione, that's quite rare. Harry and Hermione can get along without Ron as friends. Ron and Harry can also get along without. Hermione as friend. So can Hermione and Ron without Harry as friends or more. I don't understand your point and how what you said is any different than Romione or Ronarry’s friendship.

7)

Constant arguing is not what they do. They bicker, they apologize, and sometimes they just do it for the heck of it. They are argumentative teenager. Opposites attract doesn't work in the sense of fire and ice, it works in the case of Brownie and ice-cream. Ron is passionate, laid back and insecure. Hermione's passionate, a workaholic and not as insecure. Ron can help her get calm and composed and get her to give herself a break. Hermione can motivate Ron and re - enforce his confidence.

It wouldn't be step incest. Harry and Ginny do not regard each other as siblings. They do not look similar whatsoever. And a Harmione shipper also bashes Hinny and Ginny along with Ron and Romione? Checks out

" that fucked up Harmony" hahaha. What?

8)

Are you literally going to date someone on the basis of what Harry Potter ships they prefer? That is so shallow end depraved. Your Harry Potter ship preferences should not be the groundwork for your dating life. Please understand that. Harry Potter is a fictional world which is not real. Hogwarts doesn't exist. Magic doesn't exist. I sound like a Dursley but that's what it is: a fictional realm with fictional character. I would personally not give a fuck if my best friend or significant other was a Harmione shipper. In the case of them being a Ron basher, I would ignore it as if it was just a minor inconvenience and something we wouldn't be discussing and that's how it should be with you. Fuck BuzzFeed, your opinion on what Harry Potter ship / character is your favorite says squat about your personality and relationship with others in a romantic or platonic context. But who cares? Live your life however you want. I'll be stoic.

9)

It's not opposites attract rubbish or high school opposites attract. Ron and Hermione aren't polar opposites like I said, they are a bit different but similar too in many ways. They have a lot more in common than Harry and Hermione. Ron and Harry have the most in common. Both Ron and Hermione are passionate, loving, argumentative, caring, etc. Your argument lacks substance. It's biased trash. And what does “obhwf " mean?

---------------------------------

at the end of the day, i’m just an annoyed teenager. I try my best to be open-minded to people but only as long as they are too. I tried to use my brain more than my feelings for this post. 

[aster-ion]

Sylvie x Loki Might Not Happen and Here’s Why

***SPOILERS FOR LOKI TV SHOW***

1.  They are basically siblings

Even though they have different personalities, backstories, and physical appearances, that doesn't change the fact that they are the genetic equivalent of siblings. No matter what Timeline you're looking at, both Sylvie and Loki are the offspring of Laufey and whoever he had children with. We know this because they are Variants of the exact same person, meaning that if either of them were born to someone other than Laufey, they would have been pruned as a baby. And since they weren't, that means they must be just as genetically similar as siblings are.

Because of this, the idea of Sylvie and Loki engaging in any kind of romantic or sexual relationship is extremely disturbing to a lot of fans. It's too big an oversight to brush past, especially when the show has continued to remind us over and over that they are, in fact, both Lokis. Maybe if them being the same person wasn't such a major plot point, it would be easier to ignore the facts, but it is, and that means that Marvel is basically pushing either an incest or selfcest (depending on how you look at it) type relationship. And that’s extremely risque for a corporation as large as Marvel, especially with a character as beloved by fans as Loki. 

2.  It is terrible LGBTQ+ representation

And before anyone says anything, no, it is not because Sylvie is portrayed as female and Loki as male. I've seen a lot of Sylvie x Loki shippers say that the reason people don't like the couple is due to it being one between a male and female, but that's not true. Loki and Sylvie were both confirmed to be bisexual, meaning that they can engage in a relationship with anyone of any gender. It would be completely valid for either of them to pursue romance with someone of a different sex and still be bisexual. No one is arguing against that, and if they are, I definitely do not agree with them.

However, the problem comes in when you take into account Marvel and Disney's (who owns Marvel) long history of queerbaiting. There have been countless times that Disney advertises their "first gay character!" only for it to be a single line of dialogue or a brief shot. Marvel in particular has used the popularity of certain LGBTQ+ ships and headcanons in their fanbase to generate media popularity that they don't actually follow through with in their movies/shows. So when Loki was confirmed to be both genderfluid and bisexual in Episode Three, lots of people felt like they were finally getting a win for representation. 

But those people, myself included, appear to have been let down again. The first two official queer characters had so much potential to go off and be with anyone they wanted, but instead, the show has set them up to be in a romance with each other. Now, this wouldn't be problematic on it's own, but when you take into consideration the questionable nature of their romance from Point One as well as the fact that the show has explicitly referred to it as "twisted," it raises the question of whether or not this is actually good representation. Because the fact is, in one episode the writers went “look, it’s two queer people!” and in the next, they said “their relationship is disgusting and demented.” Marvel’s first bisexual characters being borderline incestuous/selfcestuous does not sit well with me at all.

All of this is made even more confusing when you take into account the background of the Loki crew, most notably, the director Kate Herron. She also directed the Netflix series Sex Education, which has quite a bit of very well done representation of all kinds. So how is she managing to fail so badly on this project? It makes me wonder whether she truly is just losing her touch or if this is all a misdirection. Personally, I'm hoping for the latter.

3.  It does not send the "self love" message people seem to think it does

The writers, director, and cast of Loki have said multiple times that the relationship between Sylvie and Loki is meant to act as a metaphor for self love. And in a way, that makes a lot of sense. Despite creating different identities for themselves over time, they are still ultimately the same person and therefore share a special bond because of it. And there's a lot of potential that can be done with that concept.

Loki is an extremely complex and intriguing character. He has experienced a lot of trauma in his past that has shaped him into the person he is today. And that person is clearly very broken. He has never given away or received any kind of love, with the exception of his mother and possibly his brother, Thor. Other than that, he's had no healthy friendships, romances, or perception of himself. It makes sense for him to be confused by this pull he feels towards Sylvie, who is both alarmingly alike and vastly different from himself.

Something this series does exceptionally well is breaking Loki out of his comfort zone. He is finally forced to see himself from other people's perspectives. It started with the file Mobius showed him in the first episode. Loki was able to view his actions apart from himself, and was hit with the realisation that he had been hurting people, and he didn't like that. 

Loki is also confronted by the existence of the Time Keepers and the TVA, who describe him as an antagonist and nothing more. To them, his role is to make those around him look better, even if that means he repeatedly gets the short end of the stick. Mobius mentions that he disagrees with this and that Loki "can be whoever and whatever he wants, even someone good," adding another layer of depth as to who Loki could be in the future of the series. 

Another huge moment for Loki's character development is while in the Time Loop Prison with Sif. Though he starts out annoyed with the situation and recalls not feeling apologetic when he cut off Sif's hair, the longer he is in the loop, the more he changes. Loki admits things to himself that we have never seen him say aloud, such as the fact that he is a narcissist that craves attention. Sif telling Loki over and over that he deserves to be alone makes Loki question whether or not he believes that to be true, allowing him an introspective moment where he really has to think about who he is. 

Now with all of that being said, I'd like to tie in why this is important to the writing of Loki and Sylvie. They act as a mirror to one another, representing both the flaws and strengths of "what makes a Loki a Loki." For once, Loki gets an honest, unbiased look at himself without layers of expectations or self doubt. On Lamentis, he calls Sylvie "amazing" and praises her for all her accomplishments. That's a huge moment for him because it shows that despite also finding her irritating, he can look past those traits and see someone worth being a hero underneath. And through that realisation, he begins to understand that he can also grow to love himself. That kind of character development for Loki is incredible to watch, and it's the kind of character development I want to see from this series. Unfortunately, them possibly engaging in a romantic relationship will ruin it.

Whenever I'm feeling insecure about myself and my abilities, the solution has never been to look at who I am through a romantic lens. Self love is an entirely different type of love from romantic love, so if the series tries to push this relationship as a romance, it will fail to truly represent the arc that they are trying to show.

4.  Nobody likes it 

This one's a little on the nose, but it's true. Almost no one likes this ship, and more than that, most people actively hate it. Yes, there is a small minority that like Loki and Sylvie together, but there is an overwhelmingly larger group that is disgusted and angry by the fact that the show paired them up.

After Episode 4 aired, I ranted for about an hour and a half with a friend about how much we didn't want them together. My aunt whom I have never texted reached out to me to say that she hated their relationship. My homophobic neighbour came over and told me that she would prefer any other romance to this. Friends that I haven't talked to much since school let out for summer have all agreed that they collectively dislike Loki x Sylvie. This ship has brought people together purely because everyone hates it more than they hate each other.

There is no denying that the general feedback for Loki and Sylvie being a couple has been negative, even if you support them getting together for some reason. So if there are so many people out there who don't like it, I'm confused as to how it would be approved by a team of professionals.

5.  The contradicting information we have gotten so far

Before the release of Episode Four, Kate Herron said that the relationship between Loki and Sylvie was “not necessarily romantic.” During the interview, she continued to refer to them as friends and people who found solace and trust in each other.

However, after Episode Four, the head writer, Michael Waldron, and other members of the crew spoke up about Sylvie and Loki. They said things like “it just felt right that that would be Loki���s first real love story” and “these are two beings of pure chaos that are the same person falling in love with one another.” These kinds of comments very heavily imply something romantic, directly contradicting what Kate Herron said. Even Tom Hiddleston, the actor for Loki, has assessed the situation, highlighting the differing viewpoints. He’s also said before that the end of Episode Four ultimately has Loki getting in his own way. 

Now, this could all just be a misdirection on either side to build suspense for the show, but as of right now, it is entirely unclear who is telling the truth. Though it is more likely that the statements made by Michael Waldron are more accurate (as he is the writer), there is still a slight possibility that Loki x Sylvie won’t happen. I’ll link the articles I’ve found on this topic below so you can read them and decide for yourself. 

Kate Herron Statement - https://www.cbr.com/loki-sylvie-relationship-not-romantic/ 

Michael Waldron Statement - https://www.marvel.com/articles/tv-shows/loki-sylvie-in-love 

Tom Hiddleston Statement - https://thedirect.com/article/loki-tom-hiddleston-sylvie-romance 

6.  It is still salvageable

The odds are not in our favour, I’m afraid. It is highly probable that the show will put Loki and Sylvie in a romantic relationship with each other. Yet there is still a way to salvage it and turn their bond into something incredibly satisfying. Like I mentioned in Point Three, the relationship between Loki and Sylvie has the potential to be incredibly empowering and provide both characters some much-needed growth. And I believe that while unlikely, it can still do that. 

The only mention of them being romantically interested in each other came from Mobius, who at the time was angry, betrayed, and doing anything he could to get Loki to talk. Then, at the end of the episode, right before Loki is about to confess something important to Sylvie, he is pruned. This results in no explicit confirmation from either Loki or Sylvie that they are in love with each other. The audience is left not knowing whether Mobius was correct in his speculations, and honestly, I don’t think Loki knows either.

Loki is no expert on love, as I explained earlier. It is entirely possible that he doesn’t grasp how he feels about Sylvie and defaults to romance because of what Mobius said. There is undoubtedly some sort of deep bond forming between them, and I would love to see that being explored in the next two episodes. I would love to watch Loki’s journey of realising that he doesn’t want anything romantic with Sylvie, and was simply confused by the new things he was feeling towards her. Loki even says “this is new for me” when talking to Sylvie at the end of Episode Four. Him momentarily believing that he wants to be a couple with her then shifting into them becoming friends who help each other grow is still a reality that could happen. And ultimately, I think that would benefit them both as characters as well as strengthen the overall message of the show.

In a show about self love, acceptance of yourself, and figuring out who you want to be, Loki very much needs people who support him. He has that in Mobius already, and now he’s beginning to have it in Sylvie as well. I just hope that it is done in a way that resonates with the audience and subverts expectations, which just cannot be done through some twisted romantic relationship. I’ve spoken to others watching the show and seen people talking online, and everyone seems to agree that Loki and Sylvie work much better as platonic soulmates or found family than a couple. 

Of course, my hopes aren’t that high up. While I’d love for this to happen, I’ve been let down by Marvel before and wouldn’t be surprised if they went for the easy route of pairing characters up rather than dealing with the emotions correctly. Still, I have hope for this series. Everything else about it is wonderful and perfect in every way. It has the potential to become a masterpiece and easily the best thing that Marvel has ever done. However, this romance would ruin it for me and so many others. We already feel incredibly disappointed by Loki x Sylvie being suggested, so I can’t even begin to fathom how people will react if the show makes it canon. I’m begging Marvel to please do better than this. They have a wonderful story to tell and a wonderful team to do it, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that they don’t throw that away. 

[dappersheep]

Food Fantasy: An Analysis on what killed a Golden Goose (3/3)

Ladies and gentlemen, we've arrived at our final destination.

Again before we start, we have our obligatory disclaimers. I do not own the game or its characters, nor do I claim to know the true history and likely fate of this game. I am entitled to the thoughts and opinions written within this post. Feel free to agree or disagree with the points being made.

This post also remains untagged from the main foofan tag. Only my followers will see this.

We are in the third and final stretch, and the checkpoint is past the cut.

Community

So... here we are, fellow Master Attendants.

As consumers of this piece of entertainment media, we are free to enjoy it however we wish. Appreciating what is there, creating something new from what exists, playing the game by the meta or however you want to play it (within your means and at your own risk of course). There's no one true and absolute way to experience the game.

However, just as you can enjoy something, doesn't mean you can't also point out flaws or shortcomings of the media in question. As an active veteran player, I've already pointed out the many gameplay design flaws  already. And I'd be pretty dumb to say that Food Fantasy's writing is perfect. Hell, it has a lot of holes from a worldbuilding consistency standpoint. 

And what of things from the community side? Yes, there will be times you'd see content you consider cringe, or something in fanon you don't agree with. Or there happens to be fan theories and fangirling posts you don't like the take of because of X or Y.

And that's fine. If we all happen to play the same way, like the same thing, agree on the same thing and produce the same thing, well, this would be one helluva boring community, wouldn't it?

But what if someone decides the way you're playing the game is wrong and harasses you over it? What happens if someone decides that their interpretation of the game's flavor text and lore is more important than what anyone else thought about it? What happens if someone decides that they're absolutely right, and you and everyone else who disagrees deserves to be bullied out of the fandom?

As much as I want to say we aren't part of the problem why the game is deteriorating, we are unfortunately, part of the reason why the game is as such even if most of the blame is directed towards Funtoy and Elex themselves.

⦁ Whale Authority. Whales will always be part of a gacha game's ecosystem. Without them, the game won't be able to maintain its upkeep costs, moreso  for one that services global regions instead of just one. But when a game decides to cater its decisions of what features should be prioritized and when it should be launched around only its most elite paying players' voices  -even if that influence has since tapered off-, you know there is something wrong with the publisher's management team and priorities.

⦁ Interguild drama. While I did not personally follow any of this, this has certainly been the peak of in-game tension back in the day. Poaching good players from both competitive and smaller guilds, guild mergers that often ended up making the annexed guild/s the equivalent of UK colonized India or Australia, suck-ups chummying up to guild leaders to keep a spot in an active, high ranking guild (for bragging rights!) despite never contributing much to overall damage, and just general dislike of certain players' attitudes. Actions like this have disillusioned many players about their playing experience and the reason why many eventually just lost the motivation to log into FooFan.

⦁ Cheaters. You know very well about the Hacker-teme I've mentioned before, but that was in context of Elex being incompetent with dealing with them. Here, I would like  to point out the players who are desperate to dominate  the playing field for whatever reason to the point that they would resort to cheating the ranks with forceful modifications of the APK. Whether it is to rank high in catacombs weekly, get a top spot in daily disaster damage, or weasel their way into the competitive whale ranks of a major ranking event, these are the people who have no qualms messing with the code to give themselves an easier time with the game. And if they're caught? Some pretend that they've made a mistake, some quickly sell the account to escape the blame, some others just scamper away into the dark and hide in the lower ranks where they can't be found. Others simply don't care and keep cheating until Elex decides to finally ban them... if Elex ever decides their rebates score isn't worth saving the account.

⦁ Ship wars. Ah yes, a staple of drama in any fandom. There doesn't need much explanation to this as we've all had our fair share of running into a battleground in whatever fandom we visit. Someone ships BB52 wholeheartedly? Nope, problematic 'age gaps'. Someone likes Napoleon with Pastel? Someone's bound to misinterpret their bios in order to justify that Napoleon was being abusive. Spaghetti and Borscht? Borscht is minor coded, ship her with Vodka instead. Whiskey and Pizza or Cassata? Cancelled! And I've never heard of the Foe Yay trope or pretend I don't know about it! Rarepairs? Disgusting! No fanon in my canon playground! Turkey and Eggnog? Gasp! How dare you, you pedo-shipper-even-though-you-never-said-you-shipped-them-romantically-but-that-isn't-my-point!

⦁ Character Obsession: Bias. On one hand, you love a character so much. Relate to a character so much. You have thus pulled this character into the folds of your bosom and coo at them like a mother dove and get so minutely triggered if someone so much as makes one disagreeable or joking comment about the character that you fly into an overreactive ballistic rage that would make a Canadian goose honk in fear. You don't care what they are in canon. You don't care about the possibility of mistranslation. What matters is the fanon space you carved out for them to exist in and that's all that matters. The problem with this is when this obsession takes over common sense and social etiquette and it steps into harassment territory. You begin to think: I'm the only one who 'understands' the character. I'm the only one who wishes better for the character, everyone else is out to defame them! Oh wait, you like them too? Do you like them the way *I* like them? No? Maybe if you're my 'friend', I'd let it slide. But to everyone else? No one else has the right to like them as much as I do. No one! Never mind that they're completely fictional- No one hurts my bias because in turn, they're hurting *me*!

⦁ Character Obsession: Anti. On the other hand, you hate a character so much. This character just makes you see so much red. Their smug little smirk just makes your blood boil. Their fictional backstory makes you recoil in disgust. You hate that someone else loves a character you hate so much.  You cannot *believe* that someone could be so daringly stupid to like a problematic character. They must be problematic too then. They must be hiding real life secrets that are problematic! Yes, yes. That's right. That person's a supporter of abuse. That person's into pedophilia. That person is into military lolita fashion that Japan started the trend of but clearly Japan was part of the Axis Powers! And that... that person... that person... is a roleplayer and a yaoi fangirl properly interacting with minors and adults. How dare they...!

⦁ Fan Translations.  Normally it wouldn't be a problem that a group or two or several are translating pieces of the game's lore ahead of the official. But with Elex's very delayed translations and extreme allergic reactions to translating Food Soul bios, people have become dependent on fan-translation groups to get their fix. The problem herein lies... is when the translators get drunk off the power that they are one of a handful in a small community who can magically transcribe the oriental moonrunes into English. The problem starts when the translator starts to have an inclination. The problem starts when the translator loses their professional detachment and start adding in details here and there into the fan translated product that ultimately changes the meaning and direction of the entire story. The problem is also escalated when that translator's embellished product is touted as the truth by their followers. If there was an upcoming character whose backstory is connected to a character they hated (either because of someone or they just don't like the character) and you were hoping to read the fan translation? How would you know that what you get isn't something doctored to the point it's basically fanfiction?

⦁ Social Justice Vigilantism. Sometimes someone does not have a character obsession or need it to be annoying. Sometimes, someone just wants to ring the alarm over something they find 'problematic' in order to police and sanitize the enjoyment of the media for 'everyone'. They no longer really take enjoyment out of a new Food Soul design being leaked, they no longer read the lore just to enjoy what it has to offer. Instead, they nitpick bits and pieces of the design and point it out repeatedly as a reason why the whole thing is bad. They point out bits of the story and inject their interpretations of it without really comprehending what they've read in full and react badly to it. What's worse is that they have no qualms publicly posting their reactions and eagerly and hungrily await those likes and echoes of agreement that they were right.

⦁ Circles of Influence. Everyone has a group they eventually gravitate to in a fandom. It comes with its own pros and cons. Sometimes you join a group because someone you admire is in there, sometimes you join a group because you just want to mingle and see more content. All valid reasons. Arguments can't be avoided in a group, it has to happen... But you have to take care. You have to take care to feel the change in the air of the group. When someone starts pushing people to agree with them. When your most admired people start to feel overly sensitive about certain characters or issues. When you start to feel obligated to spy on other groups outside of this one for 'nonbelievers', 'traitors' and 'heretics' who do not think the way this group does, and that bringing back bits and pieces of gossip as offerings would somehow make you more favored in the eyes of the inner clique or remain inside it. There is a gripping sense of annoyance when that person comes in to complain but you can't do anything about it but nod and agree. There is a pervading sense of fear and apprehension of overstepping an invisible boundary. There is fear that you might be next on the chopping block, after witnessing one of the others being ganged up on and thrown out without a second thought, their name spat upon like they're worth less than dirt. And so reluctant you are to give up what you have with them that when they push you to do something you are reluctant to do, all in the name of 'harmony and justice'... You do it. Even though it would mean offering yourself up to the mob with no salvation, and the stark realization that... [they] never cared about you as a friend.

And we've come to the end of this analysis trilogy. The writing got a little bit strange in this post, but honestly this is the best way I could put it. I'm aware things can and will be more complicated than the bullet points I've written but I'm just one person and I tried very hard to keep details of all the drama that happened in this fandom as vague as possible. Of course, that wouldn't work if you know what I am talking about.

The community is quiet now for the most part, the game is somewhere between limbo and the living plane. Things could be better for us, but I don't really count on it.

I wish I could leave a bit of a moral warning or something. But rather than do that, I just hope this was an entertaining read into one individual's eyes into Food Fantasy and everything that makes it up.

[dingdongputa1]

The Nalu Hate

I know my last post was about starting to like Graylu, but I’m still predominantly a Nalu fan and always will be. I just wanted to get a few thoughts out about Nalu as a whole.

Do I think it’s a perfect ship? Definitely not. There are a few things unresolved in their relationship that I still think deserved better conclusions. For example, Natsu leaving Lucy with just a note but taking Happy with him still bugs me. It could very well be that he was afraid to face her because he always wants to be strong for her or something like that, but the point is we never saw into Natsu’s head to see what he was thinking. What’s worse is that the only “conversation” they had about it was Lucy bringing it up on two occasions with Natsu getting uncomfortable. Sure, he’s not the best with words or explaining how he feels and he had every right to leave, but I think a proper resolution is still missing. You could think of Natsu getting the guild back together for Lucy as his apology, but it’s still too vague for me.

Now let’s talk about the NaLu hate. From what I’ve seen, it stems from a few different things:

1) People who don’t like Nalu shippers: From what I’ve seen, the people who ship Natsu and Lucy with other characters are overall pretty respectful. However, there’s just this vocal minority of Nalu shippers that gives the whole group a bad name. I’ve seen people say that they dislike Nalu and don’t want it to happen just because of these toxic shippers.

2) The shonen-only people: They think that shipping detracts from the story and from what I’ve seen, enjoy it when ships get setbacks (they really had a field day with the snow dolls incident). I think that Fairy Tail is special because the ships are intertwined with the story and have come to appreciate both. But to each their own.

3) The “sexual-harrassment”/stalker people: I’ve seen a few people say that Natsu groping Lucy and always invading her house makes Natsu a creep who doesn’t deserve someone like Lucy. I understand the thought process behind this and the “fanservice” is totally unnecessary at times, but I think people don’t understand that a lot of the groping is a common trope of many shonen animes. I’m not saying I fully agree with it, but I also think Lucy finds Natsu always breaking into her house endearing (as we saw when she missed him being in her house in Crocus) and knows Natsu doesn’t have any mischievous intent in the groping. They kind of just wind up in these uncomfortable situations that aren’t done on purpose.

4) This one is simple. They just don’t like Natsu, Lucy, or both as characters, and consequently dislike the ship. Personally, I like Lucy a lot, and Natsu is just okay to me; he can be so sweet at times, but I think that can get overshadowed because he’s frustratingly hardheaded. Of course, I enjoy Nalu less for the individual characters and more because of their amazing relationship.

5) The misinformed people: They say that there’s no evidence Natsu likes Lucy or Lucy likes Natsu. I think there’s been hints of Lucy liking Natsu even in the original series and at this point in 100YQ it’s pretty much undeniable. As for Natsu, he’s obviously been closer to Lucy than anyone else for some time but the only instance of attraction I saw in the original series is when he wanted to see Lucy showering at the GMG. But in 100YQ, there are multiple panels where Natsu not only shows attraction to Lucy but is possessive of her. The ship has a long way to go, but there’s currently a very solid foundation in this new series. These people either haven’t read 100YQ or miss these moments because they are usually smaller panels or one-instance things. Regardless, we now know that there is something there on both Natsu and Lucy’s ends that goes beyond their close bond as friends.

These are just some of my thoughts. At the end of the day, it obviously doesn’t matter who hates the ship or for what reason as long as you enjoy it. I personally love Nalu because the vast majority of the community is so welcoming, not to mention it has amazing fanart and fanfiction. Let’s see where they go in 100YQ!

[blueluneacy]

Your Thoughts on Pages

This is the second place fic! It ended up not having sex, but rather just sweet moments and rohan being... weird. Once I finish everything on my list, I might do a follow up to this!

Also on AO3!

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: pining, inappropriate use of stands, rohan majorly overstepping his boundaries, slight angst

“Kishibe, I really don’t understand why I needed to come all the way out here for this…” You sighed, putting your binder to the side as you allowed yourself to sit down for the tea that Rohan had insisted on. Rohan was a nice enough person, but after the time you had worked with him, you could tell that he was a fairly independent kind of writer. Other writers you edited for liked to be in contact with you, or asked for your opinion on this or that, but not Rohan. That’s not to say you didn’t have a good relationship with him, just a bizarre one. The two of you had a nice long chat when you first became his editor, and it became very clear that you were not to mess with any of his vision. No one ever dared to try and give Rohan ideas on what he should do, or try to tell him that what he was writing was not what was wanted for the magazine. You simply collected the pages once a week in a neat envelope, and you would scan it all in. It was a nice, neat and cordial relationship. You never had to get on Rohan’s case about deadlines or the content of his work, to the point where the two of you rarely communicated. It wasn’t like you disliked the man, it’s just that you had a bunch of other artists to hound about this or that, that Rohan ended up as a nonissue. He was ol’ reliable, someone you didn’t have to deal with, the dependable artist. Even if the world was falling apart, Rohan Kishibe got his pages in on time. You supposed that him calling you then should’ve made you worry, but you were too focused on the meetings you had to cancel in order to see him. 

“Oh, come on now, it’s been a long while. I figured I better be kind to my guest. And er… Butter you up before I hand over bad news.” Rohan told you, the last part of his sentence making you freeze up. Oh god, was he quitting? Were his hands broken? Was it, dear god, carpal tunnel? A million scenarios ran through your hand as Rohan sat down across from you, but absolutely none of them were what was actually going on.

“Bad news? Alright, lay it out on me. No sugar coating, the more I know, the better I can fix it. I mean, that’s literally what I’m here for, right?” You tried your best not to be nervous, already mentally writing out all the emails needed to clear out your day for this. If Rohan had bad news, then it was bad for everyone. Dark Pink Boy was easily the reason why most people bought the magazine in the first place, and you weren’t sure how everyone would take a hit if Rohan had to take an extended leave. But, he just sighed, leaning in a little, looking you right in the eye.

“I’ve run out of inspiration. Nothing is working, it seems like there’s nowhere for me to go.” He sighed, and for a moment, you actually… Relaxed. Well, alright. Rohan was going through a rut, that’s all. Perfectly natural for someone working as hard as he was. And, probably more easily fixable than carpal tunnel. Probably.

“I… I see. Well, how do you feel? Have you tried going on walks or something, or just… Well, I don’t know. Maybe reading other people’s work?” You suggested, shrugging a bit. Alright, this you could actually work this. You worked with probably over a hundred artists at this point to help them through writer’s block, and you succeeded most of the time. Why would Rohan be any different? Well, you did forget one detail.

“Other people’s work?” You actually heard him scoff at the very notion. “Of course I wouldn’t do that. My characterization is based on my observations and knowledge of real people, in order to write highly realistic characterization. My writing just wouldn’t be the same if I stooped to actually reading other people’s work. It’s a cycle of tweaking that would lead to me creating garbage.” Ah, that’s why Rohan was so difficult to work with. He was a diva when it came to his work, and it was also why you never had bothered to comment on his work in the first place. You had heard that the previous editor had tried to make Rohan tone down some of the themes in Dark Pink Boy, and it ended up in a fierce battle that left the old editor actually retiring. You didn’t want the hassle, and the readers liked the work as it was. You could hassle to make something family friendly with a smaller mangaka, you weren’t about to offend what was for all intents and purposes, the company’s bread and butter. So you bit your tongue and nodded, trying to think of some sort of solution.

“I see, I see… Well, there are plenty of fans who I’m sure would die to even talk to you, let alone help. Why not set up a meeting with a few and have some questionnaires ready? Or are you concerned they might give false answers because of who you are?” You tried, but Rohan just sighed and nodded.

“You already picked up on my concern. I know that any fan I would go to would ultimately be starstruck. I’ve tried with a few already, but it just never worked out. They were… They just weren’t the type of people my fans would enjoy. But, luckily, I do have a solution to all this. That’s where you come in.” Rohan told you, scooting just a bit closer as you let out a sigh of relief. Oh thank god, you wouldn’t have to write all those emails after all. He just needed your help with something? Thank god, you could easily do a few tasks for him. Beats trying to psychologically get this man through some sort of writer’s rut.

“Really? What is it? Just let me know, and I promise to do the best that I can.” You gave a smile, nodding a bit. Rohan could see the tension in your shoulders relax a bit, causing him to smile a little. Rohan always enjoyed your company, but he knew the relationship the two of you shared as much as he did. It was best if an editor didn’t get in the way. You knew that, and he appreciated that. It was almost embarrassing to him that he had to turn to you like this, but he quickly shed any shame he had for it. I mean, you weren’t really going to help in any way that others hadn’t helped before. If anything, this was more allowed because you were meant to be his resource. It wasn’t like you could complain.

“Well, I know you don’t idolize me. If anything, you seem frantic to get away from me.” Rohan said, a bit teasing. You jumped in to try and defend yourself, only for Rohan to continue. “Don’t worry, I know you’re busy. But, it’s perfect. You’ll be a perfect base to jump off of. Genuine, no need to impress me, and doesn’t care about influencing the end of the story.” He told you. You just sighed and pulled out your phone, already typing out the emails to clear out the rest of your day. You knew Rohan was meticulous, so this was already going to take a while. Might as well give yourself the time now. 

“Alright, ask away then. I just need to clear out my schedule so I don’t have to abandon ship on you. I think the rest of the day should be doable…” You replied, not noticing how Rohan had stood up, an eerie grin crossing his face.

“Oh, that should be more than enough. But I don’t think I’m going to be asking any questions…” You turned to look back at the man, only to find his hand hit your face, your body tumbling onto the floor. You tried to pull yourself up, only to find that you couldn’t move. You gasped, your form starting to tremble as your eyes darted to your cheek, noticing paper fluttering in what used to be the skin of your cheek.

“Kishibe, what is going on-” You spoke out, only for Rohan to climb on top of you, straddling your body. You gulped, already expecting the worst, only for his to take the paper into your hands and start to read. 

“Hmm, interesting. Those are the names of your parents, and… Oh, I see, I see!” Rohan reached over to grab a pen and notepad, jotting down a few notes. 

“W-What are you… What’s happening, why can’t I move? You’re scaring me, Kishibe..” You whimpered out, trying to find some sort of handle on your fear, leaving Rohan only to sigh.

“Of course you wouldn’t understand this. Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. I just need some information, and the easiest way to get it is to read it right from you.” Rohan’s voice was cold and methodical, as if he were just telling you the ingredients of a cereal box. You tried to get a reign on your emotions, watching as Rohan read the papers from your face, writing down the information that he liked onto his notepad, before turning the page. He was interesting to watch like this. You imagined that this was probably the way that he was when he was working, his eyes intense and focused. It was a nice look for him, really. You supposed that you never really had the time to appreciate it, but Rohan really was quite pretty. 

“You shouldn’t be thinking those things when it gets written down right before me.” Rohan pointed out, leaving you to sputter as your face turned red. If he was just bluffing, your face gave you away anyways.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! S-Stop being weird!” You tried to bite back, but Rohan just smiled a bit, leaning in a bit to read aloud from the pages.

“‘Rohan’s eyes seem so focused right now, I never noticed how pretty they were. Do you think he uses his own face as a base reference, the lighting right now is actually pretty incredible. If we weren’t like this, I might actually-” 

“Alright, that’s enough of that, I think you’ve read enough now!” You replied, starting to get a bit antsy. Was he just going to read everything you thought of him, because if so… Uh oh. Big uh oh.

Sure, you had gotten over it by now, but there was a major problem. Namely, how you felt about Rohan on a personal level. When you were only a junior editor, you had developed a minor crush on the man, falling head over heels at the first glance you had of him. Sure, you were probably over it now, but at the time, it was bad. You never really pursued it, after all, you were supposed to be working together, but this… This was about to get really embarrassing. 

But your frantic nature regarding your own life story seemed to only egg Rohan on more, determined to read as many pages as he could. So, he flipped through, apparently skimming for his own name, before he finally landed on something. You could tell it was something juicy, reading before his smile seemed to fall and his eyes widened. 

“I… I see. I didn’t know.” Rohan told you, leaning back for a moment and thinking. You averted your eyes, trying to come up with something to say in response. When you finally collected your thoughts and opened your mouth to say something though, Rohan just smiled, grabbing his pencil and instead moving to the page. “Well, we can always make adjustments here, just to see what would happen. Think of it as… Playing out a scenario.” Rohan replied, but as the pencil started to come closer to your face, you couldn’t help but snap.

“Rohan, you can’t just manipulate my emotions, it isn’t right!” You yelled, leaving Rohan to lean back, staring at you for a moment before crossing his arms, looking away as if pouting like a child.

“I thought you wanted to help me with my writing.” Oh, so he was pulling that card? You had had just about enough of whatever strange things were going on with Rohan for a lifetime, with him not even letting you process what was happening before jumping onto the next thing, working quickly and efficiently in a way that made your head spin. “You know… That was the first time you called me by my first time. I used to insist you did, but I eventually gave up. The first time was you yelling at me. Figures.” Rohan let out a bitter laugh, and you started to piece a few things together as he placed down his pencil, shaking his head a bit.

“W-Wait, Kishi-... Rohan. Just, pause for a minute. I think maybe we should… I don’t know, talk? About whatever the hell is going on right here and now?” You told him, only for Rohan to roll his eyes.

“If I tried to explain the concept of a stand to you, it would probably go over your head, and I’m not sure that it would even matter in the scheme of things, considering the-” Rohan started to go off, but you just stopped him, sighing a bit.

“Not about that. About… You. I can’t tell what’s going on in your head, and that hardly seems fair, since you know everything going on in mine. Tell me what’s going on. What’s really going on.” You tried to keep your voice cool and calm, looking over Rohan and even trying to smile just a bit. Rohan sighed, and looked at the ground, his nails digging into his palms.

“It’s stupid. I shouldn’t be thinking these things, feeling any of these things, I don’t know why they’re here and I can’t get rid of them. I shouldn’t have made you come all this way, I…” He drifted off, leaving you unsure of if he didn’t know what else to say or didn’t have the will to say it. Either way, it looked like it was up to you to save this situation. You took a deep breath, looking at Rohan intensely in hopes that it would make you look at least a little more serious.

“Rohan, make it so that I can move again, please.” Your voice was probably a little more demanding than you meant it to be, the please added more to make it seem like you were ordering him to do anything. Rohan froze up for a moment, before reaching in as closing the pages on your face. In an instant, it was like your entire body loosened up, and you looked at Rohan, just examining those eyes you found so beautiful. Rohan seemed so sheepish for his normal personality, starting to scoot off of you to give you a bit of space.

“I should let you go, I’m sure there’s some way I can get through all this. Maybe I’ll even try that reading idea of yours, if all else fails-” Oh, Rohan. You weren’t sure if he was trying to act more pathetic than he was feeling, or this was the truth, but you fell for it all the same. You sat up the best you could with him on top of you wrapping your arms around Rohan and pressing your lips against his. Was this impulsive and stupid? Oh, absolutely. But did Rohan’s lips feel warm against yours, melding together with you in a way that just felt right, like it was meant to always happen? Yes. Yes, of course. 

And Rohan’s eyes widened, his nails digging into his palms as if to make sure this wasn’t a dream, that you weren’t some figment here to haunt him. But no, you were real, you were soft, and with that confirmation, Rohan let himself melt into the kiss, moving to wrap his arms around you, to just hold you for a moment. This may be his only chance, so he might as well take advantage of it. When you finally pulled away, Rohan almost felt bad, knowing that this moment might never come again, that this moment might have been out of pity instead of true affection, that everything would now officially be at an end. And yet, wheels started to turn in Rohan’s head as he turned away, his eyes widening. 

“Oh… Now, that would be a perfect arc!” Rohan shot up from your lap, already pacing a bit and snatching up his notepad, making his way to the stairs while talking to himself. “If I take the positioning from the last chapter, we’re in the prime position to introduce a new character, so some sort of design correlating with the current theming shouldn’t be hard, if I take…” He started to go on, and you knew that in a moment or three, it was going to be impossible to pull him out of his haze. You couldn’t help but laugh. Well, at least you seemed to have solved the problem you had come here in the first place to solve.

“Well, I take it you have ideas for your next chapter. That’s good. I suppose then…” You looked around at the now cooled tea that Rohan had offered you, the awkwardness you had just induced into your relationship, and got the vibe that maybe it was time to leave. But as you gathered up your things, Rohan’s head up snapped to you, his train of thought broken.

“Hey, stay. I… I want to talk to you after I finish writing down a few things in my office. About… Us.” You noticed a light dusting of blush over his face, making your own face flush. Oh god, it was like your old crush was flaring up all over again. Lord have mercy. You looked at the ground, just nodding a bit and sitting back down.

“A-Alright. Come back quickly, okay? I… I’m glad that I could at least help you a little bit. I know I’m sort of useless as your editor, but still…” You laughed a bit to try and lighten the mood, but Rohan just shook his head.

“Oh, (Y/n). You always seem to help me. Even just seeing your face is all the help I need sometimes. I’ll be back soon. Feel free to grab what you want from the kitchen.” With that, Roha ran up the stairs to work on who knows what, leaving you alone to your thoughts, sitting in Rohan’s living room.

Leaving you to think about a kiss you probably never should’ve given, and the joy that it was most likely about to lead to.

[sirloozelite]

A Review of SWTOR

So, not too long ago, a pair of friends (frenemies more like) of mine were playing SWTOR... and suffice to say they would not shut up about it.  I’d always been aware of the game in the back of my mind, but it had never really appealed to me. MMO’s don’t really, as I would always be worried about random players sticking their nose in whilst I was trying to keep to myself. 

Still, my friends would not shut up about it, and they kept recommending it to me, despite my internal aversion to it.  Now, considering that they had both foolishly taken my advice on games to play in the past, I decided to return the favour and give SWTOR a chance. 

And boy was I glad I did.  Is SWTOR a good game? Yes... and no... and yes. It’s not perfect, it’s got problems, but it’s still a lot of fun, and I’m glad I’ve done at least one playthrough of the game. 

Upon loading up I of course had to choose what storyline I wanted to follow. Since both of my buddies had gone Jedi Knight, (though I’d argue that a certain someone made their Jedi about as deplorable as Anakin) I decided to be the awkward one and went Sith Inquisitor instead, and honestly... I think I chose perfectly!

Oh and... for those interested... here is my Inquisitor:

His name is the Sixteenth Brother! What’s his backstory? Well... that depends on who you ask! Some say he’s the 16th sibling of a Zabrak family... others say he chose the name to hide his true one. Some even say he’s a time traveller from a distant future sent back in time after accidentally finding a Sith relic in his time. Whatever the truth is matters little. All that matters is that he was great fun to play as. 

Oh and for the record, this review is based on a Free To Play experience and completion of the class storyline only. I’ve not touched the expansions yet, but intend to at some point. Any criticisms I have that are solved by subscribing are a moot point. Furthermore, it goes without saying but all of the below is my own opinions of the game. Doesn’t make them right or wrong.

The Good

There are many good things about SWTOR, almost too many to name. That said, there are some things I’d like to highlight.

The Story 

The first and foremost best thing about the game is of course, the story. Being a Bioware written game created at the same time as the Mass Effect trilogy, I expected a good story... and I was not disappointed by the tale of the Sith Inquisitor. It was the standard tale of a protagonist coming from lowly origins, in this case a slave, and advancing up the ladder of society. Nothing too revolutionary, but add in the Sith and the Empire and it was made all the more better. Frequently, poor 16th Bro would get hounded for being an alien, and each and every time he’d beat the odds, and then usually show mercy to those who had insulted him. (I played him mostly light side... though there were a few times I surrendered to the dark and zapped people)

The world building within the story was also top notch. Plenty of detail is hidden away in the codex, much like Mass Effect, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t stuff in the actual gameplay and story as well. I’d never really been a legends fan, and whilst I’m still not, I do see why a lot of people love these sorts of stories. I was invested, and that’s what mattered. 

Outside of the Sith Inquisitor, the very fact that there are seven other unique storylines and classes to play, as well as heavy character customization and role play more than make the game worthy of revisiting. There is a little bit of something for everyone it seems. 

The Characters

Another great strength of Bioware games is usually it’s characters, especially the protagonists companions. I can happily report that, at least for the Sith Inquisitor, the vast majority of the characters in the story were great. 

The three standout characters outside of the Inquisitor to me were Khem Val, Ashara Zavros and Talos Drellik. 

That’s not to say that Andronikos, Xalek, Zash and Thanaton weren’t good characters either, I just didn’t enjoy them as much as Khem, Ashara and Talos. 

Each character felt like they had their own arc. Khem Val growing to accept you as a Master and true successor to Tulak Hord was great, even if he and 16th Bro were constantly disagreeing about 16th’s methods. Despite his dislike of the decisions, I still sided with him when the time came to choose who got to control his body for good. 

Ashara going from “I’m a Jedi and I won’t go against my teachings!” to “Peace is a lie!” was good development as well. I understand that some people don’t like this character much, but she was my go to companion most of the time. She’s not quite a Sith, but not quite a Jedi either, and that made for a perfect companion for the 16th Brother, as he was hardly a model Sith either. 

As for Talos... well... he’s an archaeologist and a historian... and I’ve got a degree in history... so of course I was going to love him! Plus he was eccentric as all hell and added a nice voice of humour to the crew. His personal story about him trying to find his old mentor and carry on his legacy was heartfelt too.

As for everyone else, I was invested in their characters, don’t get me wrong, just not as much as the others. Both Zash and Thanaton were good villains that I took pleasure in ending, and Andronikos and Xalek got their fair amount of use on the field and in the ship. Everyone was friends at the end after all. 

The Voice Acting

The other good point I’d like to highlight is the voice acting, particularly that of the male Sith Inquisitor. I’ve heard people say the female voice is better, but for my experience the male Inquisitor was the perfect match of sass and sarcasm. It made every scene with him in enjoyable to watch. RPG games were a single protagonist can get a bit boring sometimes. Commander Shepard suffers from this in Mass Effect at times. I never got that feeling with the Inquisitor though. He was hilarious from the second he stepped off the shuttle on Korriban and sassed Overseer Harkun (who I totally zapped to death) to the moment he took his seat on the dark council with a surprised Pikachu look on his face. 

So yeah... super credit to Euan Morton for making the Inquisitor the dark master of sass and sarcasm! 

Outside of the Inquisitor, I can say that all the other VA’s did a great job too. I can’t think of any character that had particularly bad voice acting off the top of my head. 

Other Good Stuff

Outside of the three things I mentioned, SWTOR also has plenty of content to offer for everyone. If you want to do main missions, sure! Side quests? Sure! Space combat missions? Yep! Whatever you fancy, it’s there. There is no shortage of content to enjoy for hours on end, even as a Free To Play player like I was. 

The Bad

And now to most likely upset some people... sorry about that, but no game is perfect, and SWTOR has some flaws that could put people off playing it. This stuff is by no means a game breaking deal for me, but it did annoy me and I felt like it needed addressing. 

The Game is Tedious

My biggest complaint is that at times, usually after an hour of playing, the game can become tedious and boring to play! There were times it felt like a chore honestly, and I hate saying that because SWTOR is a good game. 

The main reason for it feeling so tedious though comes down to how you move around the maps. When you can, fast travel is your best friend and can save a lot of time, however, not everywhere has a fast travel point near it. 

This is where speeders come into play. You can buy one for a reasonable amount of credits, and they are faster than walking for sure, but not by much. 

The problem with the speeders is that it is so easy to get shot off of one by one of the random enemies you are trying to drive past (and believe me there are hundreds of them!) that is becomes aggravating to move around the map from objective to objective. Avoiding enemies isn’t hard for sure, but sometimes you have to go right past them, and after hours of fighting enemies it can get a bit tedious being shot off your speeder in one shot just because you didn’t want to waste time fighting an enemy. Once you hit your level cap, fighting random enemies is pointless after all. 

Maybe that’s just me though. I’d personally make the speeders a bit more durable. One tiny shot shouldn’t disable your speeder. Heavy fire... sure!  Doesn’t help that sometimes you can tank a bunch of shots on your speeder and escape without being knocked off, but then on another occasion you’ll be knocked off by a sneeze. 

Either way, movement around the maps can get annoying as all hell, but at least the scenery is pretty. 

The Planets

Now don’t get me wrong, I like all the planets I went to... mostly... and my issue isn’t with the planets in general. 

It’s with how bloody long it takes to complete them all.

The Story Arc quest lines for each planet can take forever sometimes and they end up going on a bit too long if you ask me. Alderaan and Hoth are the two that come to my mind the most. It felt like I spent weeks on those planets driving back and forth between areas to do simple tasks for little reward. Plus the sheer number of side quests didn’t help. I stopped doing everything that wasn’t a story or Arc quest once I hit Hoth!

Don’t get me wrong, I like side quests for sure... I just don’t like them to drag on forever! In a lot of ways, SWTOR reminds me of Mass Effect Andromeda. That game too also had side quests that went on forever. 

My one piece of advice to nay new players for SWTOR would be to ignore the side quests and focus solely on your class story quests and planet Arc quests instead. If you try and do everything, you’ll burn yourself out quickly. Unless you are a completionist of course. In that case go nuts! XD

Other Bad Stuff

Aside from my two big gripes above, which are honestly minor in reality, the only other issues I really have with the game are the boring side objectives in some missions. Nine times out of ten they equate to ‘kill a bunch of dudes’. They are easy enough to complete, as you’ll be killing things anyways, so you don’t really need to put any real thought into completing most of them. They just feel tacked on and rather pointless honestly. 

The Ugly

And now the ugly stuff. This is stuff that is between good and bad. Bad as in they annoyed me, but good as in I understand why others like them or they improved over time. 

The User Interface

Oh god the UI! When I first started the game it was so overwhelming! Pop-ups everywhere! Hundreds of tabs and side bars and tutorial boxes being spammed my way. It was not friendly to a new player who had literally just jumped in. If I hadn’t played games like Civ or XCOM in the past I might not have been able to cope with how much stuff was going on at once. 

Luckily, after a few hours of play, I began to understand the UI a bit more and became comfortable with it. I knew what was where and what did what, as well as what I didn’t need. (any PvP stuff for example) Plus the ability to edit the interface to your own liking helped a lot as well, so it wasn’t a complete lost cause, just overwhelming at first. 

Flashpoints and Heroic Missions

So, these missions are designed to be played with other players online, clearly. They can be done solo, but they take forever to do so. Endless hordes of high HP enemies, including even higher HP boss fights is not that entertaining to me, and thus very quickly became boring to me. Artificial difficulty in a way. Plus if you do die, it ain’t half a pain in the ass to get back to where you were, only to find that boss that had 5% health left when it killed you is now back to 100%. 

I gave up doing these sorts of missions and have no intention of returning to them unfortunately, which is a shame as some of the flashpoints have actual important story content in them. 

Still, if unlike me you actually have friends to help you with these, then I get why you like them, and more power to you. I just don’t enjoy them much. 

The Soundtrack

And now to really upset some people. Look... I like John Williams music scores as much as the rest of the fandom does. That said, there were places in SWTOR where it showed up and really really did not work! It almost felt like the game was just spamming random iconic tracks that sort of fit the scene, but really didn’t. 

The biggest one for me that didn’t work was the final duel against Darth Thanaton in the Dark Council Chambers. During the cutscene between the two fighting, the music started on ‘The Final Duel’ from ROTJ when they were fighting, and they suddenly it shifted to the theme from Padmés funeral when Thanaton was overpowered! I mean, I get what they were going for with the music, but the sudden shift between tracks was unceremonious and didn’t work. If they were going to use licensed movie music then they should have just chosen one track and stuck with it rather than jumping between two!

Furthermore, to me those themes were written for specific scenes in their respective movies, and thus were created to fit those scenes, not random SWTOR scenes. If anything, the entire scene should have had it’s own score written for it rather than just reuse movie tracks instead!

That said, whenever the game does use original music that isn’t from the movies, it’s fine! The ambient background for the planets is great, Alderaan’s especially, and I hated that planet! They clearly had the talent of music directors to write Star Wars sounding music, so I don’t fully get why they didn’t just go with original music all the way rather than just reuse John Williams music instead. I don’t know if they didn’t have enough money or something. If that was the case then I’d understand. 

So yeah, the music is a 50/50 for me. The original music is great. The movie music is still great, it’s just not used right. 

Other Ugly Stuff

WASD controls. They aren’t game breaking, but I’m not a great fan of them. They make my wrist hurt. I adapted, like I did with the UI, so it’s not really a big issue, but I know it could put one or two people off playing it. 

Another minor gripe is a consequence of the game being an RPG within an MMO. Other players are running around, often doing the same objectives as you. They can steal your objectives before you, forcing you to wait around for them to respawn so you can do them yourselves. Luckily there is usually other stuff to do in the meantime, and the re-spawn timer is smallish, so it’s not a huge problem. Just an unfortunate consequence. 

Conclusion

So... would I recommend playing SWTOR to people? Yes! I would. It’s a good game, even with it’s flaws. I had a lot of fun running through the Sith Inquisitor’s storyline, and I learnt a lot about the game for any future playthroughs I do. I know what to expect now and what to stay away from, so hopefully whatever class I choose to do next will be full of less annoying little things. 

That said, considering how long it took me to do the Inquisitor’s story, I feel like I’m gonna need a serious break before I can play another class. I was almost burnt out when I finished the Inquisitor, and I’ve still got the two free expansions to go!

So yeah... all in all, SWTOR is a good game,. I’d recommend it, and I’m glad I gave it a fair chance. It’s not in my top 10, but it’s one to return to. :)

So, if you’ve ever thought about trying out SWTOR before but were apprehensive about it, then I’d encourage you to give it a shot. It is free after all! Unless you subscribe. But you can at least try it for free! Bonus I say! XD

[candicewright]

Hello Candice, it might not be the right time and place to vent my opinion in, since it mainly includes twt and ytb and might cause some controversy, but you are very reasonable person and won’t slam me so I’ll just do it. I am both XZ and WYB fan. I am not an yizhan shipper yet the majority of accounts I follow are bjyx related. Why? I cannot stand most of the solo stans. The last straw for me was today’s announcement of USXiaoZhanFans🇺🇸 twitter account and all the comments below. If you want to spend the rest of the evening peacefully, do not look it up. So there is this thing... Whether you are just XZ’s fan or WYB’s fan you will occasionally come across a content that involves both of them. And that is alright, isn’t it? Since CQL has been such a huge success, and let’s be honest ~ XZ hit a jackpot with his popularity especially thanks to his outstanding acting in the said drama, it should be all well. Yet, especially XFX, are trying to either wash XZ’s part in filming CQL or wash WYB’s existence in general. They would mention almost everyone XZ has ever associated with except for WYB, claiming there are just protecting him. But are they really? Isn’t it partly their fault XZ and WYB can’t publicly interact anymore? If XZ sees his fans disliking WYB’s presence around him, what will he logically do then? And I am not even talking about those XFX slamming WYB. Before anyone can come at me for complaining just about XFX, I would like to say I did a big research on things, watched tones of toxic solo videos and content, stuff involving the 227 incident, not because I like to torture myself, but because I wanted to make my own opinion. The funny part is that I have seen just minority of MTJJ talking badly about XZ but I have seen tons of XFX slamming WYB, acusing him of not supporting XZ or even participating in the 227 incident. Of course, this might be different on various platforms, especially on weibo, but I just find this very interesting. I immediatelly dismiss all the people blaiming WYB for taking part in the 227 incident. There is no point in interacting with them because what would he achieve by that? I’m not blind, I know WYB has valued his friendship with XZ over everything else. If you don’t see it from their interviews, and choose to ignore it from the bts clips (because if they didn’t like each other they wouldn’t have interacted at all; it’s not like they were forced to do so) then you are just a big idiot. As for people slamming WYB for not supporting XZ after the hate.. Well, is that even a question? First of all, I doubt that XZ, as WYB’s senior, would like him to suffer as well. Second of all, wouldn’t it make it even worse? Third of all, silence is better than bullshit. I believe that they supported each other privately. I’ve been a long time k-pop fan so this silent treatment is nothing new for me (as some of the k-pop idols get slammed for even more ridiculous things). XFX blaiming WYB for not being dragged down by the incident as well (yeah, you see this right) are just on another level. Did he really not suffer? Didn’t he loose his good friend...? “Why the antis attacked just XZ, not WYB?” Maybe because WYB has already gone throught this and got stronger and wouldn’t keep up with their bullshit at all? It was only logical thing to tear XZ down as his popularity was insanely increasing and in the antis eyes he was the weaker prey. (Don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying XZ is a weak person, I am just stating the fact that WYB has already gone throught this and is more experienced.) .... I could go on and on but I choose not to do it. The main point of submiting this wasn’t just to “vent my anger,” but mainly to thank you guys. As I said before even though I don’t ship them I have never seen more love and understanding than here. I can clearly see you care for both of them, without being biased, and that’s what I want, what I was looking for. And how do I deal with stuff I don’t like to see or don’t feel comfortable with on bjyx blogs? I simply skip it, ignore it. 😊 It’s not that hard😊🖤 TY

Hey! It's absolutely okay to vent here. In fact, I encourage it💜 I completely understand your frustration. If I was in your shoes, I feel like I too would follow bjyx blogs because I've seen way too many toxic solos trying to bring each other's idol down. There are some really sweet solo fans though! I could name many here on tumblr and they are a delight to talk to.

I didn't have to look up that drama because it popped up on my Twitter tl. I'm glad they made that statement and the QRTs and replies are just a free block list. But yes, it's disheartening to see so much hate in fandoms that would be so much better together.

I agree that wyb had nothing to do with 2//27 and it always makes me sad to see people saying that they wish he had done more because he probably wishes so himself. But yes, It would have just made things worse if he had, and I think it's obvious that he gave xz his support privately.

I am glad that you can find a comfortable place here! We really do love them both and you can always ignore our screaming and CPN if you need to lol😂 I wish you all the best, anon💜

[gritsandbrits]

The OFFICIAL Jora Holiday Bio 🍄🌟

While far from complete here's an bio for my OC! Visual ref coming soon!!!

Full Name: Jora Ladybird Holiday

Age: 9; 15 in Omniverse

Species: Human

Hometown: Anneville, S.C.

Current Residence: Bellwood

Eye Color: Deep brown/blackish

Hair Color: Black

Skin Color: Very deep brown

Appearance: Jora is tall for her age, chubby and often wears her hair loose in a parted styled held together with bobby pins. She has a wide and round face, nose, and short uet very thick eyebrows. She wears very little makeup, and always seen wearing lacy pink gloves.

Attire: Varies by seasons and series but she typically wears vibrant or pastel hues with floral and animal motifs, cutesy designs, or polka dots. I'll make an outfit ref soon!

Personality: Jora is described as a super sweet if timid and shy young woman with a deep respect for life. However she bottles up a lot of her negative emotions which sometimes makes her a doormat or she ends up being really icy. She learns to beyter express her negativity, though she does retain emotional sensitivity time to time.

In the OS Jo had to overcome one of her biggest flaws, Bystander Syndrome, in order to protect herself and her friend. Throughout thr series she becomes more assertive, though she dislikes sounding too mean.

While she adheres to the theme of second chances, she has little tolerance for faking and betrayals and wants people to actively work on making amends or changing their ways. She knows that some people can't change, so instead of active revenge she would rather let the person's actions catch up to them, or hold them accountable. She despises assumptions that she's evil just because of her powers. She admits to harboring some resentment, but over time she learned to accept her condition and adapt to it rather creatively.

Likes & Hobbies: Designing her own costumes, watching trashy TV programs, reading, mycology, nature walks, flower pressing, DIY projects, casual/virtual pet gaming, fashion design, Green Cleaning, apple pie, chocolate and strawberry milkshakes, tea with sugar and cream, travel, meditation, quiet time

Dislikes: False accusations and slander, being picked on, people touching her hair without her permission, senseless destruction of nature, animal abuse, forcing someone to tell the truth if they're not comfortable, being pitied for her condition, spicy food, arguing and being made fun of for girly traits

Powers and Abilities

- Rot Inducement

- Fungi Manipulation

- Poison & Toxin Immunity

- Self Regeneration

- Minor Chronokinesis/Acceleration

- Athleticism

- Empathy

- Self Defense/dagger fighting style

Items: Amanita Staff & Pixie Daggers; handmade costumes

Strengths: Can regenerate limbs, slow the rate of decay, empowered by Phoenix Element, controls intensity of powers, incredibly strong against plant/nature elements, tenacity

Weaknesses: Powers are incredibly weak on glass, metals, rocks and minerals, and generally any type of syntheric or inorganic material. She also cannot complete shut this power off

Relationships

Family: Jeremy (father), Mavis (mother) Latasha (sister) Pattibelle (cousin) Ginger (family friend); Kendrix & Kenny and Belle (future kids), extended family

Friends: Team 10, Cooper, Substitute Plumbers (future), Zak, Wadi, Rex

OC Friends: Myra Hopewell, Azura, Kelly Arbol, Richard Mortis, Temika, Mama Gia, Shadé

Enemies: Pretty much the canon villains XD

OC Enemies: Kudzu, Mara Winters/Ice Queen, Cinnabar Rojo, Forever Princess, Mycopath/Cora Holiday, Guardians of Light, Supernatural/elemental threats

Love Interests: Ben Tennyson

Ship Name: Cosmic Toadstool or BenJo

Ben Tennyson is her major love interest, starting from a brief tense rivalry from their first meeting. Over time they began to see they had common ground and developed more friendly relations by the end. The Ben 10000 episode is particularly amusing in that BOTH of them were quite disgusting at the implication that their older selves dated each other. Ironically it was their older selves watching their example that lowkey led to them getting back together.

They restarted their friendship in Omniverse albeit clumsily as both hadn't seen nor heard from each other in several years. Not to mention new problems: Jora hadn't quite got over her shyness and was socially awkward, and Ben swore off romance after too many failed relationships ego and wanting to focus on his hero career. Layer seasons would see the two began to grow a romantic attraction to each other, with them getting together post series. I kinda didn't want them together right at the end of s8 to drive home the point of them navigating a romance and not just "fighting fate" or what not. So they'll get together on THEIR own terms.

Backstory: Jora appears in the original show as a recurring character and ally to the Tennysons. The joke is that her family, who were also on a cross-country road trip, would often show up at the exact same city or town the Tennysons would be in.

Original Series: Unlike Ben and Gwen, the timid Jo was born with her powers but was afraid of them as she could barely keep it in check. She also didn't start out friendly with the two having been put off by their constant quarreling. It wasn't until an encounter with Kevin Levin (hint: KIDNAP) where she tried using her powers to defend herself and Four Arms for the first time. It didn't exactly work out leaving her ashamed for being a bystander, and decided to remedy this by practicing her powers for better use. This leads up to the Camp Fear event where she played a huge part in containing and eventually purifying the corrupted Mycellium (and yes corrupted; there's something bigger going on).

There were a couple of more adventures: goinf to Chicago to meet up with her cousins Patti and Ginger for a music fesitval; time travel shenanigans, fighting Rojo and her niece Cinnabar, & battling the the Negative 10. Her relationship with Ben and Gwen also greatly improved to the point where they became genuine friends near the end of the show.

UAF: After the road trip ended, she parted ways with the Tennysons and headed back to her hometown of Anneville,S.C. While not fully copinf with her powers she had a rejuvenated sense of self confidence and decided to find more uses for her powers. This included clearing away invasive plant species around town, going into homes and clearing away toxic molds, and dabbling into the scientific side of her powers. She maintained contact with the Tennysons until a few years when life started to get too busy for any of them to remain in contact.

It was also at this point Jora would learn about the scorn "dark" elementals would face, as well as a conflict between dark elementals just wanting to live their lives in peace and a group called the Temple of Light. The Temple's goal was to rid the world of all evil but took rather underhanded methods to do it. Jo would also briefly battle a faction of Forever Knights led by her contemporary Forever Princess, and villainous entrepreneur Kudzu.

Omniverse: Six years passed and Jora got a request from Max Tennyson to join a new "initiative." She turned it down, feeling that she wasn't suited for actual superheroics and wanting to focus on her studies. She was also afraid of seeing her old friends; a small part of her wondered if they'd still recognize her after so many years.

A few weeks later Patti planned on moving to Bellwood for her new job. Jora came with her to help her move in, & it was that trip where she and Ben reunited, and met his new partner Rook Blonko. Ben mentioned about his grandfather picking out new teammates to protect Bellwood. Jora admitted that max sent her a letter but she turned him down for personal reasons. Feeling rather disappointed Ben states that there's always an open spot for her.

During her stay Jora and Rook were taken around town to get familiar with each other and the sites. Rook was curious about her relationship with Ben which she replies that they go way back but hadn't really talked to each other in years. Much of season one and two is spent with her and Ben awkwardly reconnecting. Eventually she becomes a bit of a consultant for the Plumbers and a major member of Team 10, further developing her friendship with Rook, and something much deeper with Ben.

Post Series: Jora's experiences leads her to try to form a villain rehab group, succeeding by forming the Substitute Plumbers. She also begins to use her status and fame to raise awareness on multiple issues from gentrification to widespread Plumber corruption. After a brief breakup and working solo, She and Ben 10000 reconciled and within a year of two married and had three kids over the span of ten more years. Jora became a consultant specializing in Earth customs.

Trivia

- Voice Claim is Kimberly Brooks

- Her theme is nature to contrast with Ben's aliens and Gwen's magic

- Also a bit ironic: she's a good character who protects and values life yet has a power linked to death/dying.

- Doesn't really have a signature color though she does wear a lot of white accents as white symbolizes death in some cultures

- She was made 1) because I'm salty B10 didn't have a named black girl character & 2) to give Ben a compelling/fleshed out love interest

- Jora has a Reboot counterpart! Largely the same except now she's a main fixture right from rhe beginning and has a slightly different power set

- She's not present in every single episode of the original; those times she'd be off with her family doing their own thing

- Her verse is called the Joraverse since it's a complete rewrite of the OS and OV as a whole (not strictly related to her btw but I'm also salty at more than a fee b10 things)

- Her alternate counterparts has different elements, personalities and even designs!

- If she existed her theme song would be the Japanese cover of Say So by Rainych

- Much of Jo's character is based on Card Captor Sakura since I've always been a fan of that show

- Just like how Ben has different aliens Jora has different costumes with different themes.

- In OV her costumes signify each color of the rainbow and has a pun of some sort. She even earns special items with different properties (elemental spells, alien tech, token of peace).

- While Jora appreciates all of Ben's forms she has a certain fondness for Four Arms and Grey Matter (he rescued her as Four Arms and she finds Grey Matter adorable)

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Disability and James

@zarohk asked for my thoughts on a Disability Studies/Media Studies perspective on the disability depictions in Animorphs.  [PLEASE NOTE: I am nondisabled, so if I err, please tell me so.]

I’ve mentioned before that James is one of my faves, and possibly my favorite minor character who isn’t a yeerk host.  His introduction pulls off a seemingly impossible feat through not only creating a likable Sixth Ranger, but creating a likable Sixth Ranger who comes after David.  James is also a complex, nuanced character whose disability is a feature but not a summation of his personality.  Plus, he’s a masculine boy who is all about about nurturing others, which always makes me happy.

A few places where I commend the depiction of James:

He leads a social community of disabled kids who help each other.  It’s a big part of third-wave progressivism to emphasize sub-communities and various identities helping each other out: women supporting women, queer pride, Latinx-American culture, etc.  That’s what we see with the Auximorphs, especially James.  James’s motivation is somewhere between 99% “help my roomies” and 100% “help my roomies.”  His initial response to Jake and Cassie explaining the war is “so what, a bunch of ableds are gonna get taken by yeerks, not my problem.”  It’s only when Cassie points out that the yeerks are eugenicists who murder disabled humans that he switches to “okay, I guess we’ll go fight in your stupid war.”  He insists on even the kids who won’t be fighting (Pedro, Tuan) getting the power to morph, and tells Jake that he’ll take suggestions but not orders.

He emphasizes his own and Pedro’s bodily autonomy.  James actually goes so far as to throw Jake onto the floor when Jake tries to grab his wheelchair — a move that emphasizes James has the right to move his own body around, and that that includes prostheses.  Everyday ableism too often involves random strangers taking charge of the bodies of disabled people, attempting to guide blind pedestrians or push wheelchairs around without asking permission to move a person’s body like that.  "My body, my business” is obviously a huge motif in Animorphs, and James pretty explicitly extends that to prostheses as well as fleshy limbs.

He’s nobody’s sidekick, and nobody’s fool.  When the Animorphs first tell James that they’re alien-fighting shapeshifters, he assumes that they’re here to prank the disabled kids who they think must be desperate for attention.  He barely gives them the time of day even when they prove themselves, and he doesn’t “play nice” even when they add him to the team.  James defies the cliché of the disabled kid desperate for the approval of nondisabled peers, and specifically calls it out.  He’s the leader of a semi-independent unit who has his own agenda, rather than being at the original Animorphs’ beck and call.  Like Toby and her hork-bajir, he’s here to make sure that his group and his loved ones don’t get left behind when the war ends and intersectional identities threaten their rights once again.

He kicks ass.  James is competent, tough, skillful, and self-confident with or without the Animorphs.  There’s a fairly realistic period where he has to learn the basics of morphing along with the other Auximorphs, but once he learns he’s highly effective.  He saves Jake’s life during the Air Force battle (#53), rescues the original Animorphs from Tom’s yeerk (#50), and helps Ax and Cassie escape a mob of morph-controllers who have them cornered in a subway tunnel (#52).  He’s agentic and powerful, something we don’t see enough of in disabled child characters.

He emphasizes that the more-privileged communicator has to be the one to do the work of meeting in the middle.  Cassie notes in #50 that James puts in a lot of work to communicate with Pedro (who is paralyzed) and Timmy (who has a speech disorder).  James is the one who can hear/speak in a fairly normative fashion, so James often “translates” for Timmy — but he always does so by letting Timmy finish a sentence rather than cutting him off by trying to guess what he’ll say next.  James is the one who can work the stereo in his and Pedro’s room, so he makes sure that he always lists genres and waits for a blink of confirmation before he changes the music.  James also defers to Pedro’s request for country western in spite of being a punk rock fan himself, because James remains conscious of the fact that if he doesn’t like the music he can always leave the room, while Pedro doesn’t have that option.

He’s thoroughly individuated.  James likes Blink 182 and dislikes reality TV.  He uses his morphs for agility — peregrine falcon, lion — more than firepower.  He spends a lot of time on his hair, and he treasures privacy as much as he values his friends.  He repeatedly calls Cassie and Jake on their bullshit, in spite of being visibly scared to do so as the new kid on the team.  One wouldn’t necessarily think that these are huge accomplishments (and to be clear, they’re not) but there are way way too many minor characters in wheelchairs, especially sci-fi stories, that don’t get characterized beyond their various emotions and thoughts that directly relate to their wheelchairs.

A few places where James falls into the common traps of implied ableism creeping into fiction, as written about in Narrative Prosthesis:

He gets “cured”.  The fact that James’s body is, however implicitly, depicted as a “problem” that must be “fixed” suggests that the theoretical ideal point is the nondisabled body he would have had if not for the car accident.  Like I said, it’s 100% fine if a disabled character gets written as preferring to be nondisabled, but if the series offers the unquestioned assumption that the “correct” body is the nondisabled version, then that’s... not great.

His disability is presented as a mystery that needs solving.  Like Loren, James gets presented with an implicit frame of “why are you like this?” that assumes his body is “abnormal” and therefore begs a question.  In James’s case, it comes in the form of Collette explaining why he’s disabled (a car crash) before we ever even hear from James himself.  Again, it’d be fine if this was the only time this happened, but the fact that the series “explains” almost all of the disabled characters (Taylor, Loren, Mertil, Kelly, Pedro) suggests that disability is something that needs explaining because it’s aberrant.

Some of the physical descriptions of James are a bit eugenicist.  After he first demorphs, Cassie says “standing over the group now, steady and strong, was James. He was taller than Jake, broader-shouldered... long and muscular” and describes how James helps to carry the other Auximorphs as they acquire battle morphs (#50).  James gets presented as a contrast point to the Auximorphs who remain disabled, because his body is presented as “correct” while theirs are not.  If it was just Cassie, that’d be one thing, but Ax says “unlike James, the others are physically helpless” (#50) and later Jake describes the contrast between James being strong and the other Auximorphs being “weak” and “faintly pathetic” (#53).  In the process, the descriptions tie together the ideas of being masculine, being independent, being physically strong, and being worthy of respect.  American rugged individualism, especially as it applies to white men and boys, has a dark side in that it often regards physical dependence on others as a sign of cowardice or weak will or moral failing.  That assumption underwrites some of the way that James gets described by the other Animorphs.

He gets killed.  By killing off James and his fellow Auximorphs, the series falls into the “kill or cure” narrative that Mitchel and Snyder trace throughout history for the overwhelming majority of disabled characters.  Disability is too often presented as being necessary to “solve” through death or cure, to the point where the Fries Test (designed to be a minimum threshold for disability representation, like the Bechdel Test for women) requires that disabled character(s) make it to the end of the story without being eradicated through cure or kill as the bare minimum condition that a story be somewhat less ableist.  Animorphs does not pass the Fries Test, because it eradicates its disabled characters through a combination of cures and kills.

Specifically, he gets killed to manipulate the emotions of a nondisabled character.  When Visser Three kills James, the moment is presented through Jake’s point of view, and it leads up to Jake’s decision to flush the Pool ship.  Maybe my biggest frustration is that that moment only serves to cause Jake pain and help push him off the rails.  It doesn’t change the plot of the final battle the way Tom’s death does, it doesn’t stop to give James a conscious choice the way Rachel’s death does, it just makes Jake sad and mad and reckless.  It’s the same dang dynamic as women in refrigerators: the less demographically privileged character becomes a prop for a more-privileged protagonist to have emotions about.

Anyway, to say it again: none of those individual elements of James’s story — death, cure, urgent backstory — would be necessarily problematic if there were equally-major disabled characters in Animorphs who didn’t demonstrate those elements.  It’s the fact that James demonstrates all of those elements and so do most of the other disabled characters that makes me wish the series had done better.

[katieskarlette]

Shadows Rising: A Reaction Post

Short, mostly non-spoilery version:  I liked it overall.  I give it a solid B, maybe a B+.

I was disappointed in how little Nathanos and/or Sylvanas content there was, but I think proclamations of the ship’s doom are premature.  

I’m intrigued by the first rumblings of new character development for certain characters, especially Anduin, Alleria and Turalyon.

I was rooting for Talanji so much.  She’s great. Zekhan is a cinnamon roll too pure for this world.  Sira was kind of boring. Fairshaw is so darn heartwarming I can’t stand it. I like Bwonsamdi more now. The lack of Wrathion is unsurprising but unfortunate. Nothing new with Tyrande but she’s already poised for major development in Shadowlands.

Much longer, spoilery version below.

This ended up being more of a ramble than an essay, but there’s a lot of disjointed thoughts pinging around in my head, so let’s dive in.

Overall, I enjoyed Shadows Rising.  Was it the best book ever?  No.  Not even the best Warcraft book ever.  But it was an enjoyable read.  It’s always a treat to get into the heads of characters we mostly know in passing from in-game events.  There are internal, emotional beats that cannot easily be explored in the game, and the books are a way to build the world and the characters in a more introspective, slow-paced manner.  I like that.  (That’s not to say there are no action scenes, because there definitely are.)

Talanji, Jaina, Zekhan, and Anduin were all written well and sympathetically.  Maiev’s only in a couple scenes, but she felt off to me.  Nathanos was very in-character, in all his snide, sour glory.   Flynn and Mathias are great together.

The pacing was fine.  The descriptions were good, and it all felt grounded in the game world (i.e. landmarks, ambiance, the ridiculous amount of stairs in Daz’alor...)  Each of the Horde leaders got a moment or two in the spotlight.  Despite a fair amount of chapters about Anduin, Alleria, Turalyon, and Jaina, it still felt like a Horde-centric book to me.  Not that that’s a bad thing.

Prologue:  Gayness detected on page 8!  And it’s even something I kind of inadvertently predicted.  In my reaction post for Before the Storm I wrote, “ In this book alone, it would have been so easy to have that blacksmith bringing a helmet as a gift to his long-lost Forsaken husband instead of friend.”  That’s basically what we have here.  I don’t know if they were married, and neither were blacksmiths, but the Westfall moonshiner describes one of the Forsaken slain in Arathi as “the best man I ever knew and loved.”  Tada!  See how easy it was?  Add Jago x Wilmer to the growing list of LGBT rep in Azeroth.  (Even if they’re super minor characters in the long run, it’s still great to see.)

There might be some kind of parallel to be drawn between Alleria failing Anduin (by not finding/killing Sylvanas) and Nathanos failing Sylvanas (by not killing Bwonsamdi) but my brain is too overloaded from binge-reading to articulate it right now.  Both failed their king or queen, but both were also given nearly impossible tasks. 

Alleria and Turalyon are definitely being set up as antagonists.  We are clearly supposed to side with Jaina on this, and be uncomfortable (if not outright horrified) at their torture methods.  It’s especially disturbing how they use their respective void and light powers to accomplish their goals.  I mean, on one hand it’s great that both sides of the great cosmic divide can work together, and their marriage seems stronger than it was for awhile there, but yeesh...can you not torture people?  I know, ends justify the means, slippery slope, greater evil, blah blah, but still...that’s not okay.  It’s yet another sign that the Light is not necessarily good (or the void necessarily evil).

I welcome conflict within the Alliance, though.  That’s been the Horde’s thing for long enough.  Time to see how the blue side deals with its rifts.

In chapter 2 Nathanos is annoyed when a dreadtick flies by his head.  What, was it too similar to a bird for his liking?  Heh. 

All that time in Nazmir, and we didn’t get to see a single crawg!  Harumph.

It took three chapters and 39 pages to finally get something from Nathanos' perspective, and he was much more scarce going forward than I had hoped.  The bits we did get from his perspective were great and in-character, but I wanted to get into his head more.  Most of his scenes were from the POV of Sira or the troll villain instead, and while Apari was a good character I find Sira to be pretty one-dimensional. 

I kind of got paternal vibes from Nathanos toward Sira, though.  He was like, “I’ve been undead a lot longer than you; I know how to handle the bloodlust and such.  Get it out of your system at appropriate times but learn to control yourself.  There’s more to (un)life than slaughtering people.”  She herself, though, was just “Rawr, I hate everything and want to kill anything that moves.”  I mean, I get that she’s been through some traumatic stuff, but I didn’t find myself invested in her at all.

Page 42, as a bunch of trolls are about to be slaughtered:  "Hungry birds circled, expectant of a big meal, and Nathanos so hated to disappoint."  WHAT?  Nathanos wanted to do something nice for BIRDS?  I know, the phrasing fits with his dry, sarcastic sense of humor, but considering the running joke about him hating birds, it still made me go, “Huh?”

Chapter 5 (and later on, as it turns out):  Zekhan having a soft spot for kids is too precious for this world.

Page 51:  Thalyssra's eyes were "sparkling as she gazed across the room at Lor'themar."  Awwwwwww.   There was a surprising amount of ship fodder in this book overall, with Lor’themar x Thalyssra, Turalyon x Alleria, Fairshaw, and Zehkhan x Talanji all getting a moment or two (or more.) 

Chapter 6:  Anduin says, "Turalyon, take Alleria Windrunner and investigate these deaths."  You know, Alleria...YOUR WIFE?  I don't think you need to say her last name there, genius. 

While I’m being snarky about the editing, there were at least two times where the word “grieves” was used instead of “greaves.”  I spotted a couple other little things that a better editor (or one with more time, maybe it was rushed, I don’t know) would have caught.

Chapter 7:  More matter-of-fact LGBT inclusion for minor characters, this time a lesbian troll couple who want to marry.  Yes, thank you Blizzard, keep it up.

Chapter 8:  If you’re going to make the “Zappy Boy” nickname for Zekhan canon, having Bwonsamdi be the one to wink at the camera and use it was a great decision.  I can totally imagine him saying it.

We learn the name of Varok’s wife/Dranosh’s mother:  Remda.  Although I read elsewhere that the vision Zekhan saw of the Saurfang family in the afterlife was just Bwonsamdi’s B.S., it was still cool.

Chapter 13:  Nathanos wearing cologne?  Love it.  And it’s not even to cover up the rotting smell, because apparently his new body doesn’t stink like some undead; it just doesn’t smell like a living person, either, and some find it unnerving.  So he wears cologne.  That’s such a delightful little detail, and surprisingly considerate of him.

Sira complaining about bugs:  "We'll be eaten alive."  Uh no, you'd have to BE ALIVE for that to happen. Tsk.

Nathanos being called "the pale rider" makes me think of old cowboy movies.  Like, “You greenhorns better clear out; the Pale Rider is comin’ to town and there’s gonna be trouble.  Go wake up the sheriff.”  

Sira says that while on the voyage to Zandalar the dark rangers liked to tell the tale of how Nathanos was promoted to Ranger Lord by Sylvanas.  I'm surprised he lets them gossip like that!  His quests in vanilla made it seem he wanted to keep those parts of his past on the down-low, at least from the player.

Chapter 14:  Thrall's second kid is Rehze.  *blink*  Reh-zee?  Rez?  Ruh-zay?  I guess she’s not named after anyone.  After he named his son Durak (sort of after Durotan) I assumed he’d continue the pattern with kid #2.  Maybe she’s named after one of Aggra’s relatives.  (Later I read on Wowpedia that the author actually said she dislikes the “fan service” trend of naming children after other characters so she just picked a random orcish name.  I don’t think it’s fan service, because lots of real-life people do it, but okay.  Fair enough.)

Speaking of orcish names, there’s an orc page helping out the council named Gunk.  Like, what you clean out from under your fingernails after gardening.  Gunk.  LOL

Aww, that’s no fun...Maiev's wearing a cape trimmed in white fur, not daggers.  What happened to her impeccable/deadly fashion sense?

Chapter 16:  Zekhan starting to clap at Talanji's speech and then stopping and shrinking back when he realized no one else was applauding was so freaking adorable.

Chapter 17:  Fairshaw, full steam ahead!!!  Their chemistry is everything I hoped it would be.  Learning a little about Flynn’s tragic past was both fascinating and heartbreaking.  (We learned his mom’s name: Lyra Fairwind.  R.I.P.)

Chapter 18:  Proodmoore keep has a gallery with floor to ceiling oil paintings of the Proudmoore family, extended family, and beloved friends.  It now includes Anduin.  I can’t help thinking that, in a different timeline, Arthas’ portrait would have been there.

Will wonders never case?  Ji Firepaw actually gets to do stuff!!!  GASP!

"Thrall understood that to other humans Wrynn was said to be pleasing-looking, but to the orc, Anduin simply looked like a small, pink boy swallowed by clunky armor."  So it’s canon that Anduin is good-looking in-universe.  But LMAO at Thrall’s description.

Chapter 22:  From Shaw’s POV, "These odds ranked pretty low...  Maybe just above the time he had relied completely on a shoddy network of spies embedded in a cheese business."  OMG leave Elling Trias alone!  He did his best!  LOL

Shaw wanting to hang out in a mountain meadow and whittle bird calls (perhaps even with a special someone) was so touchingly normal.  That’s the kind of characterization that the books are so much better at than the game.

I actually like Bwonsamdi more after reading this.  Not that I disliked him before, but I didn’t have a strong sense of him due to not playing Horde as much in BFA.  He’s a well-done gray character:  not good, not evil, insightful but a smartass, part of the great cycle, out for himself but also taking his duties seriously (saving troll souls from the Maw.) 

I’m not entirely sure that we needed as much from Thrall’s POV as we got.  I mean, sure, he’s a familiar character with ties to a lot of others, so it was easy to drop him into situations, and his ties to Jaina made cross-faction communication easier, but he didn’t seem as relevant to the lore of Zandalar and the Shadowlands as some other characters.

Maiev seemed OOC, especially in the Stockades scene.  I know one of the themes of the book was “people change,” and I suppose I should be happy that she has a more moderate viewpoint nowadays, dialing back the Lust For Vengeance Meter from eleven to maybe a five or a six, but it didn’t feel like Maiev.  Especially because her message of “maybe don’t go overboard with this vengeance thing” was aimed at Tyrande, of all people, someone who Maiev has had quite legitimate reasons to dislike for a very, very long time.  I could see her maybe mellowing out a little in front of fellow Wardens, but Tyrande?  Eh, it didn’t feel right to me.

No surprises from Tyrande in this.  She’s still steely cold, vengeance-obsessed, consumed by anger.  Not that I blame her, but it’s not healthy.  I know we’ll be exploring her situation more in Shadowlands, so this was more of a reminder/reinforcement of where she is right now.  It was kind of funny how Thrall, Baine and Calia tried to talk to her and she just gave them the stink eye and the silent treatment, though.

I’m fine with Anduin exploring his dark side a bit more, as long as they don’t go overboard with it.  I like him as an earnest, good-hearted character.  It’s only natural to test your limits, though, especially in times of crisis.  Power corrupts, and he’s got plenty of it, both politically and magically, so I can understand Jaina and Mathias being a bit uneasy.  Add to that the increasing themes about the Light not being as benevolent as we originally assumed, and there’s potential for interesting plot there.  In the end I want Anduin to stay firmly on the side of good, empathy, compassion, etc., but a deviation into the shadows along the way isn’t a bad thing for the story.

I imagine every single person who read about Anduin sneaking off to the Lion’s Pride Inn in Goldshire smirked about that place’s reputation on certain RP realms.  I was surprised he didn’t find scantily-clad elves and draenei dancing on the furniture.  And then it turns out Jaina was there, too.  Awkward!

Why, oh why couldn’t we have had a scene with Anduin and Wrathion hanging out (incognito, of course) in a tavern?  That was their thing in MoP, and now with Anduin desperately wanting to get away from his duties for awhile and soak up some tavern ambiance it would have been perfect.  Let Anduin show off the best taverns Stormwind has to offer.  Even though Wrathion was as much a guest at the Tavern in the Mists as Anduin was, he acted like he owned the place and Anduin was his guest, so let them turn the tables and have Anduin play host.  There could be jokes about how he better not punch Wrathion again or they’ll get kicked out for starting a bar fight.  They could have still seen the young recruits, ran into Jaina, etc.  But Anduin really needs a buddy to hang out with right now.  

And you can’t tell me after Nya’lotha fell Wrathion just disappeared again and never at least visited Stormwind to tell grandiose tales about how he stabbed an Old God, it was so heroic, and he wasn’t scared at all, and those mean adventurers were so quick to believe he’d been corrupted, but he hadn’t, and did you know Azshara was there?  And then N’Zoth almost won but KERPOW LAZERS and oh Anduin you should have seen it, etc. etc. etc.

I should be used to being disappointed about Wrathion’s absence by now, but there are SO MANY MISSED OPPORTUNITIES!

Sigh.  Moving on.

Being exposed to spoilers meant I wasn’t fooled by it, but it was still a deft bit of writing to have the dark rangers drink poison when cornered by Horde soldiers, then mention Nathanos having a vial in his coat, which he drinks when defeated--making the unspoiled reader assume he’s killing himself--only for it to be a kind of liquid hearthstone attuned to Sylvanas.  Had I not known that he survived the book I would have freaked out there.

So, like, was Bolvar just sitting there on the ground awkwardly eavesdropping while Sylvanas and Nathanos talked/argued?  Or did he use that time to sneak away unnoticed?  LOL

Which brings us to the epilogue that’s caused so much hand wringing and wailing from my fellow Blightrunner shippers.  It wasn’t the openly sentimental interaction between them that I had hoped for, but I honestly didn’t read it as the doom of the ship.  A bump, at worst.

[If you’re not interested in the relationship between Nathanos and Sylvanas, or if you’re one of those people who simply hate his character, you can skip the rest of this post.]

First of all, Sylvanas had just broken the Helm of Domination.  That was a hugely significant thing to do, both for her personally and in the cosmic scheme of things.  Her state of mind at that moment had to have been in a turmoil.  So if she was a little distracted and tense, I think that’s quite understandable.

Second, I saw other fans being upset that she threatened/wanted to strike him.  That’s not how I read it at all.  “Sylvanas could strike him, scream and hollow out his soul, but it would not correct the failing.”  She’s not saying she wants to do that, just that she could.  The instinct to lash out in violence is ingrained in all the undead; death knights have to do it or they go mad.  So for her mind to go there in a moment of high emotion seems natural to me.  She doesn’t actually attack him or verbally/physically threaten him.  People say things like “I could have killed my brother for eating the last slice of cake” or “I could’ve strangled my co-worker when she spoiled the ending of the movie” and it’s not literal.

Third, she doesn’t say “go away, I never want to see you again.”  She says “Go where you will, Nathanos, but do not be idle” and “I expect you will return to me with means to prevent [Bwonsamdi’s] meddling.”  So essentially she’s saying, “Fine, go home, regroup, come up with Plan B, and if it’s not possible to destroy Bwonsamdi at least concentrate on countering him.”  Also note that she still considers the operation to be theirs, not just hers:  “This was a blow, but one she felt sure they could overcome.”  That tells me she expects to work with him in the future.

Fourth, and granted this is before she learns of his failure, but she’s clearly happy to have him there when he first arrives.  “’My champion,’ Sylvanas purred.  ‘Your timing could not be better.  Tell me of your victory as we take these first steps together.’”  She wanted to cross into the Shadowlands with him at her side.  Hell, that’s bridal imagery...crossing the threshold together, and all that.  The only reason she tells him to go is because his work isn’t done and she still needs him on Azeroth.  But she explicitly says “I expect you will return to me.” 

Fifth, in the line from her POV about how “the unjust ladder of their lives must be dismantled,” the “they” she’s referring to is all of the denizens of Azeroth, true, but I think there’s also a tinge of bitterness there as she looks back on her own life, and her life with Nathanos.  Destiny has not been kind to either of them.

Sixth, she says “My path lies ahead” as she prepares to cross into the Shadowlands.  It’s a reminder of the scale of the forces she is trying to manipulate.  When faced with the potential fates of all the souls in the universe, her own regrets are insignificant.  She can’t stay on Azeroth any longer, even if some part of her does want to just chill out on a beach somewhere with Nathanos and watch his blighthounds chase seagulls.  She thinks “It would not be easy, but then, her mission required great sacrifice.”  Like leaving him behind.

Even this part can be interpreted different ways:  “She heard the note of hope in his voice, fragile as a fledgling dropped from the next.”  Putting aside the humor of comparing bird-hating Nathanos to a fledgling, we don’t get a value judgment about the comparison.  Sylvanas doesn’t think about him sympathetically, wanting to protect him in a vulnerable moment, but she also doesn’t think, “Geez, what a pathetic weakling.”  It goes back to that bit in Warbringers about how she can’t kill hope.  And she can’t.  Here, again, no matter how bleak things are, no matter how displeased she is at his failure, he still has hope.  And she needs that, whether she believes it or not.

When she “flicked her fingers, as if ridding herself of a speck of muck” that can be interpreted as her thinking of him in a derogatory way, but she was also talking about Bwonsamdi in the same breath so I can choose to believe that’s who she was being dismissive of.

I don’t know.  I get that some of the language is discouraging.  She describes him as having “blubbering lips” and she’s definitely not happy with him.  But these two have been through a lot, and their bond has remained strong.  I’m sure this isn’t their first fight, or the first time he’s disappointed her.  This isn’t the end for them.  Just another bump on a very long highway they’ve traveled together.

...

OMG this has turned into a monster of a post, rambling all over the place.  I hope it’s coherent enough to follow.  I’m just in lore overload at the moment (and enjoying every second.)  I know I’m forgetting things I wanted to talk about, too, but I’m going to go ahead and post it as it is.