#rant lacks cohesion i sorry

[sisterfhood]

Can I just say radblr has vastly improved my life and my mental health and I’m sick of the narrative that it makes you depressed or whatever. Was it an agony to be fullyconciousofthebrutalmisognythatpermeatesculturesocietyandallpersonalrelationships? Yes. Did it hurt to realize the extent that females are brutalized and abused at the hands of males? Yes. Did it hurt to realize they (men) largely don’t care about changing any of these realities and in fact actually enjoy benefitting from the oppressive systems they put in place? Indeed it did. But the pain subsides when you focus on the women in your life. I am grateful every day because a woman in my life had some intelligent/poignant/encouraging/empathetic/strong/inspiring thing to say and it changed my perspective ever so slightly. I look at so many women silently suffering in partnerships with men yet remaining completely oblivious as to why they feel bad. I see women spending all their hard-earned money to participate in a beauty industry designed by men to benefit men. I see women giving endless chances to their male coworkers, roommates, friends, and/or partners to improve their behavior but never finding success. I am so glad I figured out that this game is fucking rigged!! You can never win it!! If I had never found radblr I worry, and suspect, that I would still be playing. When I look at how women thrive despite their suffering and still manage to care so greatly about improving the earth, the future, and humanity I only see resilience and strength to continue focusing my energy on the women in my life. I’m so glad I found radblr.

[finleycannotdraw]

yo, hi,

please rant about the use of colours/shots in dead boy detectives (if you want to), that would be amazing to read!

omg hell yeah i would love to. <3 buckle up everybody!

(there were some other people in the comments who wanted to hear more as well. for convenience's sake i'm going to keep it all in one post.)

I'm not going to talk about every single frame in the last post, because there are a lot, but I'll be sure to touch on all of the ones that have a good amount of depth beyond the dramatic lighting. (sorry, Angie shot.)

...this is going to get long.

so first, this one:

With Edwin's brown coat, Niko's green coat, the brown bushes in between them, and the trees behind Edwin, this shot is cohesive and satisfying. I drew the orange lines to sort of illustrate how your eye moves across the frame; the line of eye contact, the tree branch (dashed lines) almost parallel to that, the sidewalk/grass line, and the lapels/shadows/folds of their jackets all form a general diagonal streamlined snapshot. Then the black post behind Niko, the tree between them, and the tree trunk behind Edwin continue to divide the frame vertically and add to the additional invisible "line" created by their height difference. Finally, the sky behind Niko, as well as her hair, contrast heavily and very well with the darker colors of the tree behind Edwin, though there is still white on his side (the building) and brown on hers (tree branches). If you were to take a single diagonal line from the bottom left corner to the top right, you would get two incredibly distinctly colored sections, but they complement each other so well.

This whole scene is gorgeous because of the pale sky and water up against Niko's hair and the brown tree trunks with Edwin's jacket, but I also love it because it's so simply colored. We have the classic blue+orange color dynamic, but diluted down to very pale blue and very dark brown. This shot specifically features Edwin focused at the center (the blue lines show that he is standing mostly straight up, while the trees on the borders of the frame are all leaning inwards), with Niko crouched down to fit with the shape of the hillside (orange) AND the silhouetted rocks in the foreground. Then the hillside, the shadow on the water, the general cutoff of the tree branches, and the island in the distance (purple) frame the two of them in the middle without making a Point of it. It looks very natural, especially with the dark shadows around the border of the frame. (personally sort of brings to mind Wanderer Above The Sea of Fog).

I don't think I need to add any annotations to this one. The lighting is sharp and so are the shadows. The fog and the shine on the water, his hair, and the collar of his coat are starkly lit, while everything else, including his face, is deeply shadowed. Plus it's all an ominous, murky green. It's almost the opposite of Lilith coming out of her blood-red ocean. 10/10 frame, I have no words.

I gasped the first time I saw this shot. There are so many vertical lines (orange), which make the space feel thinner: the spike, the bulletin board(?) on the far left, both doorframes, the edges of the table and boxes, the tile on the wall on the right, Maxine herself... and then there are the diagonal lines, all sort of spreading out from Maxine, which includes the table edge, the shadows, and the wall tiles again. Then there's the fact that it's all so dark, but not quite pitch black. Once again we have a green/orange combo, and the light behind Maxine being so small in the whole frame makes it very effectively claustrophobic. We also never saw her enter this room from behind, which elevates her as threatening, because the camera work makes it seem as though we, the audience, are backing away from her as she enters, and then hiding from her as well. While I am devastated by the lack of a sapphic romance arc, I have to say I was blown away by the production of this scene.

I love this one because they're arranged so neatly around the book. I didn't draw a curve over their heads, but it's easy to visualize by following Monty's hairline up to Edwin's, and then Edwin's down to Charles' down to Crystal's. The height order is perfect. Then there's the black-brown-black-brown of Monty's jacket, Edwin's jacket, Charles' jacket, and Crystal's hair. The book itself helps frame their faces (diagonal blue lines), and their clothes fall into uniform with the vertical trees behind them, creating a satisfying, natural, unobtrusive background. This is definitely more visually appealing than a shot of them leaning over and looking down at the book/camera. It's also broken up very nicely by the greenery. Plus, none of their faces are shown from the same angle! Refreshing!

Poor Monty :( but hey, he gets a really awesome shot here! We're back to orange+blue, and the angle of this shot makes it look like the vertical trees behind him are positioned diagonally (orange) to follow the dark blue shadow behind his head. We also get two light sources: one of them is the moon, and the other one comes from the same place as the music. The moonlight (blue) sort of encircles his head and cuts off at the line of trees about halfway across the frame. Both the back of his hair and the far side of his face are illuminated, which is very effective in terms of bringing him into the foreground and making him the focus of the shot even though he's not in the middle of the frame. It's also balanced nicely by having background detail on the left, with the orange trees, but not on the right, where there's nothing but dark blue behind Monty. This is also a great shot when it comes to his hair and jacket, because the jacket is used to add to the framing of his face with the dark blue background, and his dark brown hair is lit sparingly, which ties in the left side of the frame.

Like the frame with Maxine, this one has a lot of shadow and a little bit of light, and again works with an orange/blue (or teal, really) color scheme, but this one is much friendlier. The windows are larger than the doorframe and Charles isn't actually blocking the light the way Maxine did. Instead, he's illuminated from the right by Edwin's orange lantern, and the shot is balanced by highlights (blue) that stop it from becoming cramped and stressful. There are stable vertical lines (purple) and rafters and shadows spreading out from the center (orange). Charles, though he is blocking the window, is wearing a white tank top, and his skin takes on the warmth from the lantern, so he's not in silhouette and he blends very nicely with the scene. I love that he's not at the center of the shot, but instead framed almost perfectly in the right window. (Another thing I love about this show is that the characters almost always interrupt the continuity of the background even when they're positioned to be framed by it. It makes the scenes feel much more natural even while they continue to be gorgeously directed from an artistic/stylistic point of view.)

This is one of the simpler ones, but it's perfect. The Night Nurse's hair and vest are the same brownish orange, and her shirt is the same as the walls, sticking with our tried and true brown/green (easy variation on orange/blue) color scheme. She is framed in the blackness of the doorway, but once again interrupts the white doorframe on the left side. Even the lamp and the board (?) on either side of the frame fill the negative space in a natural way. Also, the vertical lines of the board, doorframe, door, and lamp aren't perfectly spaced apart, which makes the whole shot feel more down-to-earth.

There is so much going on in this shot. The beams of light (orange) are emanating from behind Edwin in a shape sort of reminiscent of wings. The angles of light/shadow and the immediately obvious position of some of the mirrors (blue) also spreads out from behind him, reinforcing the wing imagery and focus. The background is lighter than the floor, and Edwin's clothes blend in with the floor and the reflecting highlights (green) in the mirrors. It's all balanced by shadows (purple), which aren't so much shadows as they are dark-colored mirrors and the blood on Edwin's face. This shot is an unsettling combination of chaos and order, increased by the strange phenomena of mirrors endlessly reflecting into each other, especially since Edwin doesn't show up in any of them. You'd expect him to look out of place, and he mostly does, but there's just enough immediate immersion with the color scheme and light angles to make him fit perfectly. And he wouldn't fit in this shot nearly as well if he were wearing his usual clothes. It's such a good way to introduce Despair. I love this scene.

Now I needed to include these two next to each other, because they're. They're the same scene. Maren is on the porch looking down at Crystal and the boys, but the color schemes and blocking are so starkly different. Maren is wearing black, and the house is washed-out yellow and maroon, both unfriendly colors in this scene. The windows all show the gray reflections of the dead tree instead of even a glimpse inside the house, immediately showing that Maren is hiding something. Then in the shot with Crystal and the boys, they're positioned behind her on the path. Edwin is next to the brown gate and gray stones, and Charles is sort of shadowing Crystal and framed by the green bushes. Crystal's shirt is flower-patterned to match the pink petals on the ground, and her red hair and purple jacket make the whole shot more vibrant and friendly-looking than Maren's, even though Maren is supposedly the one being helpful/friendly/hospitable. The first time I watched this episode I knew I couldn't trust Maren as soon as I saw her standing on her front porch. This scene is, as Charles would say, brills.

Okay, last one, I have to stop somewhere. (I have so many more. I have. SO many more. that i could talk about. but this post is so long already). There are three windows, evenly spaced, white light and curtains framed in them. Charles is in nearly full silhouette as he opens that chest; his head and the lid of the chest intersect with the vertical window frame, and his arm runs parallel to the middle bar. He also blocks a good portion of the leftmost window, while Edwin stands in front of the one on the right. He's fully framed by the window and standing farther back than Charles, not quite silhouetted but still very dark compared to the background. When he ducks down to inspect the cabinet, his head ends up in front of the wall between the two windows. This whole scene is an excellent display of blocking/framing/lighting, just in terms of where they end up holding any given position while they talk. Once again, there's nothing artificial or manufactured about their blocking. These aren't statement shots (all film projects have a few Really Good Shots, but they're often at extremely important, pivotal, or emotional times, instead of spread out through the storyline.), which makes them even better.

I might have to make another post and include shots with Jenny, the sprites, the Cat King, Esther, and more landscape shots. There is no shortage of stunning frames and scenes, and there's no reason not to dive into the production and hidden meanings.

TL;DR: this show is an ARTISTIC MASTERPIECE. Please watch it. :)

[wolfscarr]

Helluva Broken Narrative and the most useless character..

Disclaimer: Not saying you can't enjoy this show folks. Enjoy it all you want, this is just a rant about the lack of a cohesive narrative!

I really was completely dead on posting, but I just can't get this out of my head.

I feel people should be acknowledging this far more than it has been, this is extremely important. This goes beyond just episode pacing, this goes beyond the characters....this is something that without it? There is no real show, which is....

Helluva Boss has a BROKEN NARRATIVE.

Some fans wanna claim it has this 'complex' writing and I'm sitting here going like "really? Where?"

It doesn't sorry and know why? Because Season 2 of this show, basically broke the narrative that Season 1 was building.

These past posts of mine, will show you why the narrative is broken.

Now can they continue on with the story they are telling? Yes of course they can, but it won't fix the fact that it's not coherent to Season 1, that it's not needed.

Wanna know who the most useless character in the show is now? If you guessed Stolas, you're correct! In the meaning of making Stolas this guy who did nothing wrong and who's sad....they took away his character purpose.

Stolas has ZERO purpose being within the show now, given how things have played out.

But you might say

"Well he's needed to give Blitz the Crystal and end the deal!"

Except....no, he wasn't. They could have just delivered the crystal to I.M.P. They have Blitz’ number, just call him, get a servant to send it etc.

Remembering my posts above, where you can have I.M.P. killing in Hell as a Season 1 thing?

Maybe they're just getting started with their company? So Blitz wants to supplement with killing in Hell by killing those up top so he goes to see about getting an Asmodean Crystal?

See let's backtrack here folks, the episode Oops it was mainly about Blitz and Fizz reconciling right? Which they do at the end of the episode. Now follow this, if we take into account the above, Blitz' dialogue could be.

Blitz: "Fizz look, I know what happened to you was horrible. I don't...expect you to forgive me, but I'm struggling to support myself, my daughter and my employees with my company. I....if you can just think on it, perhaps I could get one of those Asmodean Crystals?"

The scene ends and Fizz goes back to Ozzie, while along the way he's thinking about Blitz' words and how he was saved by him where in the end, Fizz agrees to send Blitz a Crystal because he's earned it from saving his very life.

Or here's another scenario, Blitz has a Crystal from the start(which he took from Verosika when they were dating), but as things get far more hectic up on Earth with more dangers. The Crystal ends up shattering after I.M.P. gets back to Hell after a job, thus Blitz goes to actually confront his past and reconcile with Fizz in order to try and get a new one.

See how easy it is now, to just remove Stolas entirely? They took away a character's purpose of being in the show....that to me, is completely disappointing. Characters, especially those that are suppose to be IMPORTANT, should have a purpose...without that? You may as well just delete them entirely.

Blitz could have had 2 whole Seasons with relating to the past and those that he hurt, that he TRULY hurt(Verosika, Fizz and Barbie) that would actually matter to him as a character. But instead, all these characters are instead shoved to the wayside, for a character who doesn't matter anymore and only actually matters because the writing is FORCING him to matter.

You can write the narrative in so many different ways with what Season 2 gives us, that completely destroys what Season 1 told us. Are we now expected to just....IGNORE AN ENTIRE SEASON?

Even still you DON’T EVEN NEED a Crystal considering I.M.P. was killing in Hell before. Which isn’t HB supposed to expand upon Hell anyway, because Hazbin was taking place in one location? Wasn’t that one of the reasons why it was made? So you make a show that's suppose to explore Hell, yet some of the episodes...don't even take place within Hell?

They can do this whole "sad Stolas is sad and Blitz is hurt and Stolas is going to give him a crystal." Thing all the way to 'try' and fix things, but it'll fix nothing....because the deal between them was retroactively made completely pointless.

The show will continue obviously, but in the back of the minds....it will be a broken narrative and Season 1 is basically buried 6 feet under. As a writer, this really annoys me....because they had how long between Seasons to nail this down? How long have we all waited just in-between episodes? This shouldn't have happened.

Yes, is storytelling hard? Obviously, none of my stories are perfect....but at least the narrative is coherent from beginning to end.

Anyway...I just...had to get this out of my head, because it was really frustrating and I want it to be acknowledged more. The narrative is important folks, if it's broken...that's not a good thing.

I'm still watching this show....if only because I'm knee deep in it now and I still somewhat actually like the characters, but what I don't like...is this broken narrative that is still hanging around with a pointless character that doesn't matter to the show anymore.

Narratives, coherent narratives are important to a story, without it? You don't have characters and you don't have a story.

^ For Part 2.

^ For part 3.

[chaifootsteps]

There are a plethora of issues regarding Vivziepop's writing, but the one that really stands out to me is her lack of themes. She has ideas, occasionally she has something to say, but she has no themes.

If you don't mind my ramblings; I have been considering an AU that is effectively divorced from the series, focusing entirely on the characters Blitzo, Barbie, and Fizzarolli. In brainstorming the story, I have been able to streamline the narrative to 3 core themes.

Masculinity, Control/Power, and Belonging.

Everything in the story is connected to one or more of these themes in regards to the characters and their motivations. Even side characters are wholly infused with these three concepts.

In my AU, FizzaRolli is not a performer, but a stray child with a group of other feral children Lord of the Flies. Blitz is the son of a circus owner who craves his father's approval even as he resents him. Barbie is an up and coming starlet brutally managed by her father who effectively curates her sense of identity as she creeps closer to the spotlight.

Much of Blitzo's story focuses on a young man coming into his own in a world that runs on toxic masculinity, balanced out by the guidance and love of his sickly mother whom he cares for. He's a young adult figuring out himself in a world and community who keeps telling him what he should be. Sub Themes of responsibility, respect, strength and the abuse of power are key cornerstones of his story.

Meanwhile FizzaRolli is the foil of Blitz's story. An orphan without parental guidance living out his coming of age in a Teenage Wasteland. Additionally, Fizz is gay, meaning his queerness colors over the themes in a fundamental way. Being in a Teenage Wasteland, Fizz is effectively in the closet because of how queerness can change others perception of him. And weakness often is associated with queerness, which has no place in a micro-society that elevates this toxic, Fight Club-esque concept of masculinity and belonging. Fizz seems to belong, carve out a space for himself in his community, but struggles come into himself. Especially because underneath it all is a severely traumatized child who never got to be a kid long enough to learn how to be a man.

And from the far other side, Barbie's relationship to these themes comes from the viewpoint of living under the patriarchy as a young woman. How girls are raised to cater to the needs of men, treated as glorified children unless they "prove" themselves over things that many men are merely handed. Her father prioritized her career above and beyond her as a person. While that isn't a trait inherently based in sexism, how he curates her life and downplays her desires and intelligence is rooted mainly in her being his daughter and thus not expected to "step out" into her own like her twin. Leaving her feeling impotent, infantalized and resentful even as she is held on a pedestal.

Control over one's self, perception, and direction.

How masculinity fosters respect and responsibility for young boys while simultaneously threatening punishment for not meeting or stepping outside of certain expectations. Especially the competitive aggression and emotional warfare in toxic masculinity

And a sense of belonging, be it in a community or an identity.

Themes help maintain a cohesion to a story, helps the characters feel interconnected and the world lived in regardless of how much emphasis is placed outside the main cast. It also helps ground the ideas of characters in an abstract way that doesn't place pressure to "prove" to the audience a character does fit the traits you as an author see in them. Most of all, it better enabled the author to pivot viewpoints and easily switch between characters so that they feel individual and not that there is a singular "voice" speaking behind them. It creates a unique soul rather than an empty skin suit for the author to don.

Sorry for the long rant.

No worries, Anon. Thanks for the ramble, it was an interesting read!

[t00fumaple]

The State of Paimon

The Fontaine AC, Furina SQ, and Roses and Muskets event spoilers possibly, rant, so not really cohesive

Sorry for all the people who expected Paimon slander, that isn’t happening here. I am Paimon’s strongest defender, she is my daughter I would never say anything mean to her!

That said, I just want to kind of defend Paimon but also rant about how the writing team has wrote her recently, or perhaps that could be localization’s team fault. I would like whoever can understand what the original text was trying to get that out there.

If you guys have done Furina’s story quest, you would know how insensitive they wrote Paimon there for no reason.

(Screenshots courtesy of Streetwise Rhapsody on YT, thank you.)

Like this is really insensitive to Furina, but I can literally excuse it by the fact Paimon is like 4, she doesn’t fully understand the situation. Paimon never found out what Furina had to go through, also Paimon legit lacks the critical thinking skills to realize “ oh wow I should lay off “ without being told to do so.

In my opinion, Traveler is even worse. Even though they don’t comment on it as frequently as Paimon. They know, they’ve seen it. All the times Furina had to suffer for those hellish 500 years just to play a part. In some capacity they understood what happened to her, Paimon hasn’t. And yet, they still force her to try and act in a play when she would never feel comfortable with the fact.

Paimon was insensitive throughout the whole quest but it’s kind of weird for most of the fandom to only point fingers at her when Traveler does the exact same thing lol

Hell, Paimon even comments on it

Like I will admit, I don’t like how they portrayed her in this quest, nor the Traveler. Especially since Furina shot up to one of my favorite characters since 4.2 dropped.

I think this quest is kind of held back by the fact they had to force Furina to be put into the position of a director, which would explain why the Traveler and Paimon are so mean to her, why they wrote them like that? Who actually knows.

Though recently in the new event, Furina has bit back now and you can see that Paimon is starting to become a little kinder to her than before. Hell they even pose together. Which hopefully means that we won’t get anymore Paimon insensitive moments.

Another character I want to mention that Paimon is especially disrespectful for, and gets mentioned a lot in how Paimon is the worst and she should be banned from this character.

Wanderer, Scaramouche, Kabukimono, bro has like 20 names and yet still goes by none of them.

To be honest, I really don’t get why people bring this guy up on how Paimon shouldn’t be as rude to him as others. Which like, it makes sense

Even after he erased himself, I’m like 99% sure Paimon is still aware that he’s tried killing the Traveler multiple times.

Paimon has every right to be mean to this guy since the Traveler are the only constant in Paimon’s life. They are her whole world, they are practically her parent at this point.

I genuinely can see from Paimon’s POV that she has no reason to feel bad for Wanderer. Even in the scene where she tells him to hurry up on his remembering shit.

To be honest, hella based Paimon at that moment. Like it’s one of the worst things to do, really insensitive but I can forgive it because the Traveler was about to die protecting his ass, also mind you, she is a toddler. My only problem is that like, it feels really out of place.

Don’t get me wrong, Wanderer is great, I love him, he’s actually amazing. But it’s good to understand that Paimon has every right to be disrespectful to him, and to be honest, he would do the exact same thing to Paimon if that happened to her.

Now I will admit, these two instances of her being disrespectful is really terrible by her, and I really blame that mostly on the writing team.

I feel like it’s just weird that they seem to write her however they like? Her character hasn’t been that consistent, she can show a lot of empathy for some characters but absolutely shred other characters for no reason?

It’s sad to see since I adore Paimon, she’s amazing but it’s really tiring to see that they’ve kind of made her really annoying, when they could’ve kept her character consistent.

It’s really sad to see, and I really hope in the future they are able to just, write her better hopefully.

That’s really just all, Paimon is my beloved and its hard being a Paimon fan in this fandom since so many people dislike her 😔

I wanted to put my thoughts out there too, it’s okay if you hate Paimon!!! I can 100% understand but it’s really sad to see because most of that is because the writing is doing a terrible job at writing her.

Justice for Paimon

[i-am-a-fan]

A rant you say?

three people want to hear my deranged thoughts.

okay.

Just so ya know, they won’t be cohesive and i’m really tired so if i don’t use proper spelling or grammar, i’m so sorry.

I’m going to just type as ideas come out so if this doesn’t flow like normal. Again, I apologize.

I both love the clones and find myself the most disappointed with them.

On one hand they are a great way to look into Mk’s psyche. They break down the character into simpler little niches that can later be used to build and expand on how a character reacts to a situation.

Porty Mk is a reflection of Mk’s impulsiveness and not wanting the people around him to leave.

Painter/ Artist Mk is a reflection on his perfectionism and strive to meet expectations.

but Delivery clone??? UGH. I’ve seen people write them very well, but they aren’t a good reflection of Mk. More so, it was horribly fat-phobic. Sure, it might show Mk’s lack of wanting to work hard, but it’s a horrible way to show it.

I say that the writers should have made Delivery clone into a Chef clone, where his love for his friends and family are amplified. It’d basically be like a mini Pigsy, but with Mk instead. This is the delivery clone in my head, I’ve replaced him. Given him a new life.

Anyways.

The main issue I have with the clones is that they are written/drawn as separate people from Mk, instead of an extension of him.

Porty Clone is rude and arrogant, but we see Mk act that way in the ‘Great wall race’ episode. Porty clone literally kidnapped Mei and a ton of unsuspecting people to Porty forever, and Mk has been shown to have a huge fear of people leaving him. Porty isn’t a bad person but more spontaneous than normal Mk, which is why he’s perfect to send in to mess with Azure Lion at the end of Season 4.

Painter clone has less screen time, but he’s a perfectionist same as Mk. He wants to keep training to defeat the lady bone demon. He wants to be perfect, make sure he knows he can handle it (the episode where they find SWK’s video game.) He tries to keep learning new skills and live up to the monkey kings expectations of him (Minor chord episode i think.) He has some self confidence issues, as seen in the episode shadow play, and Painter Mk most likely is the part of Mk’s psyche that is used to combat it.

It’s like if I took 1 song, a quartet piece for instance, and each clone is an instrument. Yeah, the instrument can play it’s part by itself and it can play other music too, but what makes it special is the fact that when these 3 instruments play together, they make a wonderful complex arrangement.

Building on this, and let me say I’m not a writer on the show I’m just a guy obsessed with legos, that all of Mk’s clones turned evil??!?!?

Like. Given the time and space, every single one of Mk’s clones had been lead by Porty to attack the original.

If the clones really are flimsy yet carbon copies of the original Mk, why did they turn evil??

Probably simply for plot purposes. But still. They could have just been annoying. But no, they kidnapped and attacked other people.

Mk’s got issues man. Get that boy into therapy.

[disco-tea]

What's your take on Spike in LMPTM? Cause it's always an ep I struggle with. I can see the viewpoint that Spike lacks true remorse and the way he speaks of Nikki is horrible, but at the same time, part of me thinks most of his rant is deliberately antagonistic and full of bluster and bullshit solely because of HOW Robin sought revenge. It always came off to me very much like "you want to fuck with my brain, I'll do the same to you". I feel like it was the action of trying to turn Spike into something he's not in order to justify the kill that makes Spike as cruel as he is in that ep.

Oooof yeah…Lies My Parents Told Me is…an episode for sure. I totally get struggling with it because honestly it’s all in the writing…it’s Like That™️ because of the writer. So just a bit of background info here: LMPTM was written by David Fury and he really hated Spike, or rather specifically the way the audience had sympathy for Spike (and that people shipped him with Buffy). And he admitted he wrote Spike that way in that episode because he ‘wanted to show the audience Spike was still a bad person even with a soul.’ He also did some other crappy stuff with that episode like deliberately casting an actress to play Anne that Fury thought looked like SMG because he thought he was making some sort of cLeVeR commentary on Spuffy. And also that’s why he named her Anne.

Anywho, it’s a little hard for me (personally) to look past the Doylistexplanation which is the writer was being an ass and wanted to get one last jab in before the series was over. And tbh even Fury aside…I don’t know what they were trying to do with Robin, I’m not sure the writers even knew tbh. I think they were just kinda throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what stuck. I don’t think they planned out Robin’s arc or role or development very well, and it probably would’ve been handled better had the episode that concluded that arc not been given to Fury, because ultimately instead of trying to write a good story, he turned it into a weapon to use against the audience like Fury does with so many of his episodes. Like see, see how horrible he is, why don’t you hate him? He’s a terrible person. So yeah, the whole thing really could’ve been handled better.

BUT, looking for a in-universe explanation, I think that is a good one. I mean the First was already messing with Spike’s head, and Robin just used that against him for revenge without really thinking of the implications outside of that.

I think in some ways the episode gets close to hitting Spike’s characterization for the season (but misses because it’s written in the interest of villainizing the character) which is that, no, Spike doesn’t want forgiveness or ‘redemption’…because he doesn’t think he deserves it. He doesn’t ask for forgiveness because he doesn’t want to be forgiven, he doesn’t think having a soul and being sorry makes up for what he’s done to anybody. That’s why he tries to hide the fact he has a soul from Buffy, why he tries to pretend multiple times in the season that nothing has changed about him. He’s not there to be forgiven or absolved, he’s there to help and try to do the right thing now and help save the world (or die trying).

Anyway, that’s my take on it. I know it’s not a very definitive one, but I think LMPTM is really one of those episodes everybody (who likes Spike at least) has to find their own interpretation of because it wasn’t written with good intentions or in the interest of a cohesive or positive character arc.

[ovaryacted]

Awwwe nic, I just saw your rant. I'm so sorry you're going through a rough patch. People truly underestimate how time consuming a nine to five job is. We want you to know that you shouldn't feel any pressure from our side, we'll read whatever you write and whenever you write, even when we have to wait for it. Don't overwork yourself because that'll help no one. Now I do understand all the frustration and dread you're feeling if you want to write but just can't. Trust me, I've been there. I am there. With college and me being a procrastinating little piece of shit, I haven't written anything in ages, even though writing is my truest passion and I wish I could be an author some day. The dread felt when you're stopped from doing things you want to do over an extended period of time is so valid. Now, this little ask of mine can't magically make you a few more hours to spare nor can it make your job any easier, but I hope you at least feel heard. Take your time, write when you have time for it. Even five minutes, just put something in that word document - that's better than nothing. You'll continue later. It'll help with the feeling of depression to at least type something, even if it's just one paragraph. And when it comes to feeling like it's a waste of time, I don't think there's a writer in the world ho hasn't felt that at some point. We see you, and we know how much hard work you put in to give us those yummy fics. Know that your following is standing right behind you and we'll eat up whatever you put out there. As someone who's been writing since I learned how to hold a pencil, I can tell you that the feeling sadly never truly goes away. But it comes less often and becomes easier to deal with. And, If you really need something to keep you going, know that hundreds, if not thousands of people would be really sad to see you go if you decided to give up on the blog. I don't know how much this helped, or even if it helped at all, but the point of the story is that we're here for you, no matter what. Love you pookie, take care!❤️❤️❤️

-🌑

This ask made me emotional in the morning, and I’ve been reading it over and over the past few days. I’ll admit, I’ve been in a rough patch for like a month, I genuinely forget how my mental health can get around January-February, which are relatively rough months for me in general because that’s when my depression spikes the most. I guess it’s a combination of the pre-birthday blues and the existential dread of getting older lmao, but idk it’s always a stressful time for me and it’s been that way since I was 16. My home life is also not the best right now, which just stresses me out more cause now I’m stressed at work and at home thanks to my inconsiderate family. (Eldest daughter things feel me?)

Honestly, I’m really thankful I have a 9-5 job and a good one at that, it gives me financial stability I’ve never had before. It’s also a job I prayed for, in the field I studied and with reputable nice people. I got very lucky, especially with the current economy in the US dealing with hyperinflation and how hard it is to get a job right now I’m very grateful. But it is a busy job, I mean I work with people who are essentially government agents and have ties to the FBI so I have pressure to do well at work. I did underestimate the amount of time I’ll have for myself working a full time job, especially after coming from a shitty part time job I had more time to do things throughout the week. I feel like I took all that free time for granted, and at least when I was in college I had several days off, now I only have like 5-6 hrs after work plus the weekend to myself and the cycle gets exhausting at some point. Usually when I come home, I have the mentality and the creativity to want to write, but lack the energy. Literally the moment I rest on my bed, I just put on Netflix and doze off, or won’t have enough brain power to make cohesive ideas so I end up hating what I write or starting over (which has happened so far). So I have the weekend to relax and write, but now I have to start studying for a big legal exam later on in the year which is my ticket to law school for 2025. I just have a lot going on right now and to prep for (adulthood I guess).

Believe me, I’m trying, and I want to create, I’ve been writing since I was 12 so this is a hobby and a skill I want to build up. I’ve been taking some time out every day to just write stuff out, and so far it’s worked. And with asks, I use the morning and my lunch break to prepare responses and edit them at home to post when I have time. I just want to upload multiple things at a time, and then I get indecisive about what to start, and end up posting nothing lmao. Plus with all the bs going on in the tags and the fandom in general, it’s annoying the hell out of me cause it’s just constant drama. But I appreciate your kind words honey, I always do, they’re encouraging and make me feel better. Adore you, I hope you’re having a good day though and taking care of yourself. ❤️‍🩹

[squidbulborb]

Mmh i Saw your post about Henry being the one possesing gr.freddy in sb and Saw your point about if William would represent Bunnies that Henry should represent bears Made me remenber that i thougth mostly at the time that the one possesing the blob was Henry keeping his promise of keeping William trapped in a laberint without éxit, becuase i wanted To keep the idea of his sacrifice working, but no it didnt aparently and the blob are the kids again

The only labyrinth with no exit in this franchise is the hellish loop the narrative that this series takes over and over again.

(I kinda ended up going in a rant here so... sorry for that)

Fnaf really shows what happens when a story has no planning, it's an incoherent list of plot points that contradict eachother and lead nowhere. This story has no themes, no moral, no point, a maze with no prize. There aren't even characters, nothing is explored or fleshed out, the games rarely tell us their personalities, motivations or goals, and when they do they are often hollow cliches.

The Fnaf lore/storyline the fandom has in the collective conscious is the result of years of gaslighting themselves into believing their own headcanons as truths. Michael Afton has no motivation or personality, no concrete evidence to be the protagonist of anything, William lacks coherent goals and characterization, he is more of a chaotic evil force of nature than a human being, Elizabeth is irrelevant to the story at best and contradictory at worse, The Crying Child doesn't even have a confirmed name, they are literally nothing.

The Emily's where relegated to irrelevance, mere footnotes on their own story, hopelessly watching everything around them wither away, like puppets on strings. The missing children, the catalyst for this ENTIRE FRANCHISE, are treated as plot devices, forgotten and ignored...

Security Breach is the last nail in this decaying coffing. There's nothing left, the people who are in charge of this series have no idea what compelling storytelling is, they don't even know how to tell a story in the first place. The Blob is the perfect symbol for these games, a pile of trash with random bits scattered throughout it, trying it's best to reach a cohesive form, to be anything, but it's just a hollow monstrosity.

Yet i still care. This franchise is broken... but I'll will put it back together... somehow...

[ddarker-dreams]

FINALLY SOMEONE SAID THE TRUTH.

I admit that i enjoyed act 3 but it feels like really rushed i have so much complain with that.

The build up until act 2 was so good it give us so much premise but the final blow si meh. Sorry that i want to share thing long rant with you

1. Why the final talk is with yae, no offense to her but we need ei to explain not to mention she witness khaenriah downfall so she can give us more information, i feel like they do it for the plot armor so they can just keep dragging this

2. So many things that quite inconsistant, the shogun is show no mercy to anyone that even did a little thing outside what she think its right, how come she can still have a talk with signora, when sara is falling like that, and also there is no clarification about sara right now.

The traveler was so done at first they refuse to help thoma and ayaka at the beginning. But they seem so happy and forget everything how come they are not RAGE ( okay maybe this is to bias and personal) when this nation provide nothing about our siblings information and also why they are not mention anything about their problem in ei stroy quest. Its nonsense! She is right in front of youu, ask about your siblings, ask about khaenriah, ask about ukmown god!!. How come they can just forget like that. Also mihoyo really waste the potential about twin things i thing ei will give us so much help bcs of the sympathy that we both rn lost our twin but noooo.

3. Kokomi seem lost some brain cell, she make a very succesfull grand intro but she become meh in act 3, how come a great strategist like her let the sus sponsorship slip just bcs they are desperate, not to mention her screen time is really small and her role seem so unsignificant and it feels lile she is a plain npc.

4. The awesome world quest that we have done doesnt get any mention at all! Inazuma owe us so much with cleansing sakura, thunder sakura, tatarigami, obarashi quest. It has so much potential that yae or ei or anyone else aknowledge what traveler has been done but nooo.

cracks knuckles... i suppose it's time for my promised dissertation. interestingly enough, you touched on a lot of the main issues i had with chapter III.

i think that if i had to pin the main issue, it's a lack of overall cohesiveness? we were jumping all over the place without the chance to ever flesh things out. inazuma is a smaller cast, but i feel like we didn't get to see any of them shine. since i'm most interested in the genshin characters, i'll break down my problems by going over everyone and their (lack) of impact on the story.

was ayaka not questioned or placed under suspicion for being close to thoma before his escape? i wanted to see her broken up over her duties as they relate to the yashiro commission, paired with having someone she genuinely cares about in danger. it would've been an interesting struggle if she was forced to choose one or the other. instead she just kinda took a back seat.

speaking of thoma, i don't even have anything to say, because he just... was there? for .0001 seconds. said "lol this sucks ig" and that's about it. i know we're going to get a story for him in the future since he's a 5* but i'm not getting my hopes up 😭 then in the raiden shogun's character story, man is peachy keen! be upset with the raiden shogun! have some inner conflict! even if it's just using loaded language because he's under surveillance for going against the raiden shogun, that'd be so cool. saying something like,

"Traveler, what's with that expression? Oh please, there's nothing to worry about. We're under the Statue of the Omnipresent God's protection. Nothing bad has ever happened here." *wink*

i also don't know what to say about gorou. he was... there....... i think. what is he fighting for? what are the stakes for him? what makes him place so much trust into kokomi? i'm out of things to say about him because i don't remember anything he did or said.

kokomi... oh kokomi... i was so hyped. so excited. i thought that maybe we could see a foil to the raiden shogun. that she'd have a moment where she's forced to realize, just like her opponent, sacrifices must be made that will hurt people who will never understand why she made them. or maybe something to show her military prowess. but instead she just accepts a mysterious patron's help (?), sees her people aging like the grateful dead from JJBA, and goes oh well. that sucks. what can ya do. oh bye traveler i guess, good luck with that. ????????????? HUH... similar case to thoma where she's gonna get a character story but like. she won't be the leader of the resistance anymore. that was her whole shtick. they took her shtick away. also she forced me to interact with more NPCs whose names i've already forgotten so i'm tilted about that still.

KUJOU SARA... AN INJUSTICE. A DISGRACE. a slap to my woman loving face. the build up was there. yae miko's comments about sara probably knowing the tenryou commission is involved in shady dealings, but is choosing not to think about it. sara being forced to confront reality and challenge her adopted father with the truth. being able to blaze a new path for herself in the process. when she started running to the raiden shogun i was ultra hyped up. sara, a devotee to the shogun for so long, was about to see her god interacting with the same people who led inazuma to this awful state. how would she react? would she stay ignorant, like yae miko so coyly said, choosing to look away in favor of following her god's footsteps? or would she be forced to recognize the raiden shogun isn't as divine as she once thought, and challenge her belief system?

we open the door to see the raiden shogun. the loading screen ensues. the camera pans to the ominous room, clouded in darkness, hinting at the ominous confrontation that is to come. the music takes a serious timbre. and then...

well fuck that potential character arc i guess. (we still don't know what sara made of any of this since she poofed out of existence from the story at this point)

kazuha also was handed a similar treatment. we've been with him for a while longer now. he is our introduction into inazuma, the one who first gets us emotionally involved by regaling us with the bittersweet tale of friendship that led him to becoming a wanted criminal. a kind soul who loves nature yet was dealt a cruel hand by fate, forced to watch his home nation turn into a hostile place, where his dear friend ultimately perished as a result. we get the scene with his friend's vision lighting back up. he parries a block from the raiden shogun, in the same area where his friend was killed by her. the parallels. the drama. except this time, he wasn't too late. he protected the traveler where he "failed" to protect his friend in the past. did he feel redemption at this? or was it a bittersweet reminder of what could've been?

WELL i guess we'll never know because we didn't get to talk to him again 😭 idk who got a bait and switch worse, him or sara. jesus christ mihoyo.

then we have signora. why is the raiden shogun talking to her? does she know about the gnosis being taken, and if she doesn't, what was her plan to get it from the archon? what does she think about scaramouche? and oh, okay, we're fighting here now. good fight + god tier music. pog pog. okay, now we've beaten her up, and raiden shogun wyd— wait no not signora her lore is still on CUPS not YET raiden shogun and— ah she's dead. okay. non nerds who didn't read artifact lore are going to know nothing about her. signora has such an interesting story, and yet... well. ok.

then we get raiden shogun redemption (?) arc. i was hype for this as well, though at that point, idk why i bothered being hype. i knew they were gonna do a cute power of friendship something or another, and i'm good with that, so long as it's executed well. what i was envisioning was like seven different buffs to correspond with the seven different visions, the dreams of those whose ambitions were stolen serving as the spear to penetrate the raiden shogun's heart of stone. maybe a hydro vision giving us extra healing for a time, with the voice acting over it being like,

"Even if the rest of the world forgets us, let our will carry you through this one final time. Succeed where we couldn't, Traveler."

so on and so forth.

but instead we got— you get the idea at this point. why bother spelling it out anymore.

at that point i was surprised the raiden shogun didn't go "oopsie woopsie!! we made a fucky wucky!!!" because that was the vibe i was getting. i love ei, don't get me wrong, but i wanted to see her challenged with what she had done to inazuma in the past year. maybe meeting NPC #2345259 who lost her sister to the vision decree or something, reminding ei of the love she held for her sister... being forced to come to terms with the extent of what she's done in pursuit of eternity.

anyway. please for the love of god mihoyo hire better writers for the main story. that is all i ask. thank you.

[bisexualsdeservebetter]

Confused bi anon here.

So I’m a woman. For almost all my life I thought I was straight. I remember back in high school where I’d comment girls outfits and fashion a lot and my friends give me the side eye. But I didn’t know shit about anything at that time and didn’t think much of it.

Skip forward to now, I still do the same. I find myself staring at girls, wishing I had their faces/bodies or just admiring their beauty. Women are so beautiful.

I think I realized I wasn’t completely straight when I started watching lesbian porn and I found that it turned me on a lot. Now it’s the only thing I watch. But back then when I was clueless and googled stuff I found people say “if you watch it or even engage in lesbian sex you can still be straight as long as you don’t feel romantic attraction to women”. Which confused me even more.

When I search what bisexuality is, it says romantic AND sexual attraction regardless of gender. So me being sexually attracted to women definitely makes me bisexual right? I’m not sure about being romantically attracted since tbh I’ve never met a woman that made me feel these emotions. I find a lot of them sexy tho.

Now idk if my lack of romantic attraction stems from internalized homophobia or not. For the past 2 years I’ve tried to unlearn a lot of the homophobic shit I grew up internalizing cuz of heteronormativity and it has been a journey. Especially when I’m surrounded by extremely homophobic and intolerant conversations society.

So idk... I’ve said a lot but I still can’t make a cohesive question lol.. I guess what I’m trying to say is, would me not being romantically attracted to women, yet, and the inability to ever come out to (cuz of it endangering my life) make me less of a bisexual?

Because even tho I tried to not feel these sexual urges but I just can’t control them. Also one last thing, I think now... I’m way more sexually attracted to women than I am to men. 😭

(Sorry English is not my first language, so my point could’ve been lost along this long ass rant lol)

Thank you 🤍

Alright so I want to preface this by saying I'm not an expert, and the only expert on how you feel is you. Also, I have never been in a situation where coming out actually threatened my life, so I don't know what living like that is like.

So first off, separating sexual and romantic attraction does more harm than good. If you are attracted to women as well as men, you're bi. Although that does count only for like real attraction, not compulsory heterosexuality of course. So like even if you haven't met a woman you want to date, if you're attracted to women then you're attracted to women, and that counts. As you said, if you're working through internalised homophobia it can be really difficult to picture yourself actually dating and being in a relationship with somebody of the same gender/sex. I think as you work through that it'll probably become easier to think about being in a relationship with a woman.

Second, staying closeted, especially for safety reasons, does not make you any less bisexual. If your life would be in danger from coming out, then it is 10000% valid and fair and understandable and reasonable to stay closeted. Please don't feel pressured to come out before you're somewhere safe, and you are personally ready to do it. I truly hope that you are someday in a place where you can safely come out and be open about your sexuality.

Finally, please don't feel like you need to rush into figuring out your identity. It sounds like you've got a lot that you're dealing with right now and I think it would probably be good to just take your time and explore your sexuality as safely as you can. That being said, nothing you listed makes you less bisexual. Again I hope that you're able to be somewhere safe someday, and if you have anything else you want to ask please feel free to send another anon.

[wolfscarr]

Helluva Broken Narrative 2. The Wasted Family.

Alright here I am with...I guess Part 2 of this Broken Narrative thing...for part 1, see the link below.

I again didn't really wanna post, but it's just been nagging at the back of my head for some time now.

DISCLAIMER: Not saying you can't enjoy the show. Enjoy it all you want, this again is just a rant about a lack of cohesive narrative.

So much like Season 2 retroactively making the whole deal between Blitz and Stolas pointless, it also has made a whole Family completely wasted to the show.

It not only made Stolas a retroactively useless character, but it has also made both Stella and Octavia wasted characters. They are now just characters....who are there, to make Stolas either look good(Octavia) or make you feel 'sorry' for(Stella) and that's...basically it.

It also ruined and yes I'm saying ruined, Stolas and Stella's relationship and what it was hinted to be at. Now you might be wondering...

"Wait...what do you mean?"

Well here it is. It seems that the episode Loo Loo Land, the one fans seem to give all this praise for and most notably the song that Stolas sings to Octavia when she had a nightmare. Except at the same time....people miss the lyrics, that basically confirm that Stolas and Stella had some sort of relationship and they are as follow.

"I use to think that I was bold. I used to think love would be fun."

There is zero way he is meaning anything or anyone else other than his relationship with Stella, but let us break down this set of lyrics.

"I used to think that I was bold."

What is the definition of Bold?

Bold= Showing an ability to take risks; confident and courageous. Courageous, confident, and fearless.

This right here, basically says that Stolas was the one to approach Stella, that he was the one to take this risk of marrying her, that he was the one who wanted to be with her, that he held no fear of being married.

Next set of Lyrics..

"I used to think love would be fun."

This right here, basically says that Stolas and Stella had some kind of relationship with getting married, he wanted to see if they could be together, to have a family, to see how things would go.

Stolas took a bold risk, by popping the question to Stella, diving right on in with his confidence and marrying her to see if it all would work out.

IT WAS STOLAS who got married.

IT WAS STOLAS who wanted Stella.

Then Season 2 happens and shows.....the complete opposite of what these lyrics just flat out told us in that song.

Season 2 shows Stolas as a scared, crying and sniveling child who....has no desire to get married and doesn't want to get married. That the marriage between him and Stella was FORCED UPON THEM and not something by their own volition. So according to Season 2, Stolas couldn't have been bold, nor could he have even wanted to find out if love would be fun...because it was NEVER his choice to begin with and he never liked Stella from the start!

It was his Father, who FORCED him to be married so that they could produce a cautionary heir. Even though I feel that's also pretty pointless when you think about it, but that's another discussion entirely.

Oh but people might say "Well she was throwing stuff at him and screaming at him, yada, yada!"

....No shit? She just found out she got cheated on, what reaction was she suppose to have? Was she just suppose to brush it off? Smile and be happy? NO.

Was it extreme to be throwing things? Obviously, but you know...when someone's pissed enough, they will throw things around and throw a bitch fit because something huge just happened to them.

Also tell me something, if the whole cheating that didn't imply hurt as per Stolas' words in Season 2....then why was Stella even throwing a bitch fit to begin with? Why did she say...

"I can't stand another moment, looking at your imp sucking face!"

"I want that cheating prick, dead!"

...But then in S2, we find out that they never got along, they never even liked eachother....so what is the dialogue even for? This dialogue means absolutely nothing. Also you can't argue for something as status or whatever, because Stella doesn't even seem to care about that, she just wants Stolas dead now.

She specifically used the words "Cheating Prick"....this suggests that...yes, she was hurt by what had happened.

Also before saying anything with regards to Stolas' words to Octavia and Loo Loo Land?

None of those statements were conclusive

2. Even if they were, this wouldn't negate that potentially Stolas and Stella didn't have good times together, that they couldn't have made fond memories. Just that in the end....Stolas realized, he didn't love her.

None of what he said, would have to point to = An arranged/loveless marriage. This is just boring by a narrative standpoint, when you could do a WHOLE LOT BETTER.

Oh but here's the real kicker in all of this folks. I'm not the only one who thought the pair had something more to them than what we got in Season 2, because as it turns out BOTH VAs for Stolas and Stella....were thinking the same damn thing.

Oh look at that, Stella's VA liking the fact that Stella may not have been evil, that she's just broken hearted and doesn't think straight as per S1. Oh and it adds up to what's above!

Oh but it gets better, because the VAs for the characters did an Insta Reel sometime back, discussing their characters.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWR2i9oLCyI/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

The video is unfortunately gone(probably taken down because of S2...), but I just put up the link to show I'm not fibbing, though if it's somehow able to be recovered, be appreciated!

But in it, Stolas' VA says "There's a lot of pain inside of her." << Regarding Stella.

It says something that their VAs put more time and thought in thinking about their characters and what their relationship was, how it affected them than the actual writers.

So it seems to me, that both of their VAs were expecting something deeper to their characters relationship, than what we got. Because what we got now is bland and boring, frankly all of what's going on now in this 'plotline' is incredibly boring, why do people even like this?

Stolas already kicked her out, Stolas already stood up to her. The only thing left is....what? Oh the divorce trial? The trial that is no doubt going to be similar to the Johnny and Amber one, because...topical and then what? Nothing, this whole thing is just not needed.

Oh and then there's Octavia, I won't go too much on this seeing as everyone else is already doing so. But girl? I'm sorry that the show seems to have made you blind and apparently unable to put 2 and 2 together, that your parents never got along.....even though straight from the horse's mouth, an eye witness being YOURSELF says that they weren't always fighting.

==

So there it is folks, this show has completely wasted Octavia and Stella, turning them nothing more into Good and Bad props for Stolas, so that the audience 'feels' something for him. This in turn has completely wasted any potential interesting Family interaction, regarding with what happened and thus made S1 even more pointless than it already is.

^ For part 3.

[sortasirius]

What's genuinely fucking me over is the fact that up until 15x18, even if you don't count the fillers, the season was shaping up in such an awesome way. Like the sexy meta narrative meta-ness, the fleshed out character arcs, the entire things really. Like it looked like a pretty well written cohesive story arc. They really managed to covey the gravity of the big bad and whatnot, and I for one was really excited after 15x18.

Then it's like they forgot where they were going with things, pulled 19 and 20 out of their old unused drafts, and decided to go through with THAT.

Like literally all the lead arcs suddenly became twisted awful, with Jack never getting closure from the 'he's just a tool' from Dean, to Dean hinting that he'd wanted to say something in purgatory, (like you said) his anger issues, Sam's relationship with Eileen, Cas' (again) just-a-tool complex and his lack of self worth and his unanswered confession.

Like the issues all of them were working through were just thrown out of the window for some bullshit nostalgia ending that failed at the nostalgia too.

After 15 fuckin years of the horrendous shit they've gone through, they've literally ended back at the start- Sam, white picket fence, no hunting vs Dean, dying on a hunt, no friend or lover, unsolved self hatred problems etc.

No wonder Jensen had trouble with the ending. It's a complete disservice to the characters and the journey they've taken.

Also like they did Alex and Misha (especially, poor dude) so dirty. Their characters did end up being just tools to the brothers, when it's clear they weren't. Bullshit.

(Sorry about this rant, but I have no SPN watching friends, and I need to let this shit out lmao)

What did you think?

Even 19 made sense in the overall meta-narrative, I was so excited last week when I saw it, because it was PERFECT.  They had defeated the big bad, all that was left was Dean and Cas and Sam and Eileen.  And...nothing?

I truly don’t think that what Jensen had a problem with was *this* ending.  I think Jensen likely had an issue with something else, maybe something we never got to see.

It’s like I keep saying...this ain’t it.  This isn’t the ending we were supposed to get, it just makes no sense at all.

I don’t know what Jensen had a problem with, I don’t know that we’ll ever know, just because...that wasn’t the story, that may have been the original plot, but they simply just ignored all of the emotional beats and narratives.  And that is not on the storytellers.

[bitchterra]

The fact that the infinity train crew had all eight seasons planned out and the fifth season was already written makes me so mad. Infinity train was the best cartoon airing and it could have been even better! The whole series was theoretically going to be cohesive as fuck and probably on par with Alta- at least in that aspect. The fact that it was as an ontology cartoon but still had a series arch was groundbreaking and I’m so made that we’ll never see it in completion. I feel like networks are just sitting on gold and doing nothing with it. In 2016 I wrote a paper about how the cartoon renaissance was ending and raunchy, dude bro, cartoons were going to be popular again and I hate that I was right!!! (Even if it is an evolved version of the dude bro cartoon.) Why does CN keep pushing ttg when shows like infinity train are right here!!! The lack of artistic integrity makes me so sad. Sorry for ranting but Hbomax and Cartoon Network stop throwing away great cartoons I’m begging 🙏

[agl03]

Hi,

I know 4,722 hours is a difficult topic so I hope you don't mind my rant but I've been rewatching season 3 and I just am so sad about it. I've been reading all the old theories that everyone was coming up with after the episode and it was all for nothing. So many inconsistencies and it wasn't a clever story it was just issues with the edit or poor continuity or seemingly a lack of communication between whoever wrote the articles etc about Will and the writers. I know they had to change the story because of issues with the actor who played Will so who knows what they're original intent was but I just get so upset because this should have been amazing, it should have been an episode beloved by the fandom as it was Elizabeth's hour to shine but the episode and the ones following it are filled with inconsistencies with Will and other bits of information we get about the planet and It and I feel that it overshadows Elizabeth's performance. The writers seemed to disregard having a cohesive story in order to surprise us with the Will revelation. The Jemma that returns doesn't seem like a woman who has just been having a picnic with her boyfriend, she seems like a woman who has barely survived on a planet by herself. It's like they got to 4722 hours and realised they could throw another roadblock that was completely unnecessary and changed the plot last minute. It's so frustrating it really is, especially when fandom theories were so much more interesting than what we got.

Sorry for the rant, feel free to ignore this, I just needed to get it off my chest.

Ps. Your blog is the best!

Hi Anon,

There is nothing we can do about Season 3 and the whole Space Rando thing now.   I read the declassified for the Season and that helped explain what the writers were going for and even more that he was nothing more than a contrived roadblock to delay getting Fitzsimmons together.  And even with needing to let the actor go I think everything played out pretty much originally as intended.   Except it was Ward who was Hive and not Space Rando, so we dodged a bullet there if you ask me.  

That is one of the eps, to this day, I have never watched in full again.  Which I hate because yes, Elizabeth was amazing.  I like to think I made up for it with watching Inescapable a bazillion times.

However, I am actually really grateful to the whole Space Rando mess.  Because without it I wouldn’t have become who I was in the fandom.

It was Space Rando that got me going on theories

It was Space Rando that got me writing it’ll be okay and calm down metas.

It was those theories that led to me starting to get asks eventually leading to hundreds a week

It was trying to (and wound up hitting) when Fitzsimmons would get together that started the Wise and Powerful Timeline that was with me until the very end.

It was in doing the theories and metas I made some of my most dear friends who have been with me through thick and thin in the show and IRL.  I don’t know how I would have literally survived without wonderful friends like @eclecticmuses @queerscifinerd @bunnykaye @agent-85 and so many more.

It was my evolution in the fandom that led me to going to cons where I made irreplaceable memories with my family and really got into Cosplaying and Disney Bounding.

So I’ll take a Space Rando who was now merely a blip in an amazing story because it led to a wonderful fandom experience and our Happily Ever After!

[detectivenyx]

🔥 kokichi? sorry if that’s too specific lmao

fool, you activated my trap card, “rant about kokichi for twenty minutes”! 

kokichi is SO BADLY WRITTEN it’s fucking painful, and it completely baffles me that everyone is like “yeah this is the Best Danganronpa Character In The Series” or even one of the best. 

like with every other Eeeegh Danganronpa Character™ the writing is at least competent. hifumi, teruteru, korekiyo, i’m absolutely going to get eviscerated for saying this but even fucking haiji towa is better written than kokichi.

i’ve got a full video planned but the gist of it is kokichi lacks vital elements to a character. he does not have his own persona; he steals most of it from nagito komaeda, and what he doesn’t steal from nagito komaeda, he steals from either celestia ludenberg or hiyoko saionji, and he’s inferior to all three characters. kokichi has no ideology, either. all three of these characters have an ideology that feels nuanced to the character and their experiences. kokichi’s ideology has one line, that he breaks in-game.

worst of all, kokichi has no motive. “end the killing game” is a goal. kokichi’s reasoning for ending the killing game is even less fleshed out than kaede’s, a character around for a literal single chapter. he virtually has none beyond “uwu it’s the right thing to do” and for your main rival, the character that’s meant to be unhinged, it’s so fucking surface level that it makes me wanna puke.

kokichi doesn’t even feel like he has agency or conflict that wasn’t just started for the sake of conflict. he has no ideology so his conflicts have to be started by him deliberately being an asshole to the team cohesion for the sake of being The Asshole. and yet characters will still conform to his whims when the plot demands it - meaning the negative connections he forms don’t at all feel genuine. what’s the point of everyone saying they hate him and will oppose him if they work with him in the next scene? 

without his lies, kokichi is absolutely nothing. there’s no character beyond the lies to give the lies context. he is literally just a plot device, not a character.

it’s absolutely my theory that kodaka wrote kokichi this badly on purpose in order to both foreshadow the ending and kind of go “hey! look what happens when people copy over my archetype without understanding what makes the archetype good!” only he failed to account for the fact that danganronpa fans are fucking morons and everyone hailed kokichi as fantastic and the best character in the franchise. 

but kokichi is fucking terrible and i absolutely plan to eviscerate his character some time next year in full.